{"id":22960,"date":"2026-04-27T12:34:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T12:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webdesignrace.com\/photography_blog\/2026\/04\/27\/tokina-pulls-photo-contest-winner-after-reddit-claims-it-was-ai-generated\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T12:34:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T12:34:28","slug":"tokina-pulls-photograph-contest-winner-after-reddit-claims-it-used-to-be-ai-generated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webdesignrace.com\/photography_blog\/2026\/04\/27\/tokina-pulls-photograph-contest-winner-after-reddit-claims-it-used-to-be-ai-generated\/","title":{"rendered":"Tokina Pulls Photograph Contest Winner After Reddit Claims it Used to be AI-Generated"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tokina<\/div>

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This symbol first of all received the yearly pageant however used to be later pulled.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lens producer Tokina has pulled the whole winner of its 2025 per thirty days photograph contest after a \u201cviolation of the competition regulations.\u201d <\/p>\n

It comes after a Reddit publish ultimate week titled \u201cLens maker Tokina falls for AI symbol in photograph pageant,\u201d which referred to as out the successful symbol and admonished Tokina for now not knowing the photograph is allegedly a faux. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhether or not it is a utterly false photograph or closely upscaled, that is simply unacceptable and shameful for a digicam lens corporate to award,\u201d reads the publish that used to be shared to r\/cameras. <\/p>\n

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Screenshot of the preliminary announcement. | Reddit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tokina apparently reacted to the Reddit publish and changed the successful symbol with a photograph by means of Lee Nuttall. Each month there’s a selected winner, however this award acknowledges the most productive shot from all 12 winners from 2025. It’s selected by means of \u201call staff who’re occupied with growing production, logistics, and promoting Tokina lenses.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to now introduced general winner\u2019s paintings used to be disqualified because of the violation of the photograph contest regulations,\u201d Tokina writes on its web page. \u201cOur apologies for this taking place [sic]. We can rethink the choice procedure by means of organising further checkpoints earlier than making ultimate judgments.\u201d<\/p>\n

PetaPixel<\/em> has reached out to Tokina to elucidate what precisely the violation used to be.<\/p>\n

Is it In point of fact an AI Symbol?<\/h2>\n

The picture has an invisible SynthID watermark, which means that it used to be both completely AI-generated by means of Google Gemini\u2019s Nano Banana Professional, or it used to be considerably altered by means of one in every of Google\u2019s photograph enhancing equipment like Magic Editor. <\/p>\n

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In addition to the SynthID, the Reddit person additionally highlighted the inconsistencies within the symbol. However now not they all are as they seem: the person status 2d left seems like he’s dressed in a odd masks to start with look, however it\u2019s in truth a baseball cap pulled down low with a 2d piece of headwear on most sensible.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lots of the commenters at the Reddit publish, who’re possibly photographers, agree that the picture is AI-generated. The Phoblographer<\/em> additionally condemned the judges for now not requesting the RAW information. However now not everybody is sure it\u2019s fabricated. <\/p>\n

One Redditor issues out that the SynthID watermark may just point out that the photographer changed the clouds, got rid of an object, or upscaled it, quite customary edits that photographers make to their pictures on apps like Lightroom and Photoshop, the adaptation is if the photographer did use one in every of Google\u2019s photograph enhancing equipment, it routinely provides the SynthID to turn that AI used to be used. <\/p>\n

That very same Redditor additionally shared a video from the photographer\u2019s YouTube web page, which seems to be the similar scene because the photograph. <\/p>\n

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