Tokina Disqualifies Photo Contest Winner After Reddit Flags AI-Generated Image
Tokina has disqualified the overall winner of its 2025 monthly photo contest following allegations on Reddit that the image was generated by AI. The lens company pointed to a 'breach of contest rules' and has substituted the original winning photo with one from Lee Nuttall. The contested image, submitted by Abu Elias from Oman, bore an invisible SynthID watermark, suggesting it was either fully produced by Google Gemini's Nano Banana Pro or heavily edited using Google's Magic Editor. While Reddit users pointed out discrepancies, some suggested that the watermark might stem from typical edits like sky replacement. A video on Elias's YouTube channel displays the same scene in daylight, contrasting with the sunset in the photo. Tokina has expressed regret and intends to implement additional checkpoints in its selection process. PetaPixel has reached out to both Tokina and Elias for more information.
Key facts
- Tokina pulled the overall winner of its 2025 monthly photo contest.
- The disqualification followed a Reddit post accusing the image of being AI-generated.
- The winning image had an invisible SynthID watermark from Google Gemini or Magic Editor.
- Tokina replaced the winner with a photo by Lee Nuttall.
- The photographer is Abu Elias from Oman.
- A YouTube video by Elias shows the same scene during daytime, while the photo shows a sunset.
- Tokina apologized and will add checkpoints to the selection process.
- PetaPixel has reached out to Tokina and Elias for clarification.
Entities
Artists
- Abu Elias
- Lee Nuttall
Institutions
- Tokina
- PetaPixel
- The Phoblographer
Locations
- Oman