Fed Up

[Erin1]

I've just had yet another photo rejected by Alamy for being too soft or lacking definition. This is the favorite reason here, it seems. I thought that it might be my manual focusing, so this photo was taken using autofocus. And it was still rejected. This makes at least five photos that have been rejected in the past few months. I only upload one at a time, due to so many being rejected.

 

I've asked photographer friends if they see problems with the rejected photos, and they don't. Only Alamy does. I'm wondering if belonging to this site is worth the hassle of having photos rejected when they look fine.

[Steve F]

Hi Erin,

Sorry to hear you're having this experience with QA. Many contributors here are passing QC fine however.

 

Difficult to comment without seeing one of your photos at 100%. Can you post one on an external site? E.g. imgbb.com. And insert image using the link button below here.

 

Also, what sort of photography are you doing? Macro, or night time shots, or? What camera and lens?

Steve

[Alexander Hogg]

+ 1 with Steve F

Sorry to hear your difficulty

I don't know if you are looking at the photos at 100% but that is recommended to see if something may not look quite in focus Depends on how the focus is set up on the camera with the camera 

Sometimes it's better to use a tripod 

If it makes you feel any better I've just had 4 photos rejected because of noise which is the first time in nearly 4 years Should have gone back to Specsavers 

[KitJames]

I'm curious about your rejected photos too, I had one rejected due to soft and lacking definition and noise. I 100% zoom everything now, and do de-noise and some sharpening and some adjustments. So you're not alone with rejected photos. 

 

I looked at your current photos and I like the Charles Bridge and gondolas pictures!

[MDM]

As Steve says, it's not possible to offer meaningful advice without seeing the rejected images at 100%. If you post a few to Dropbox (which is free and doesn't come with loads of spam ads etc) and post links here, we will be more than happy to offer some advice. Please also include the EXIF data from the camera as you are probably doing anyway when uploading to Alamy. . 

[Gervais Montacute]

I like your photos. They're interesting and you look like you know what you're doing. What camera and lens do you use?

[Mr Standfast]

Nice variety of locations.

 

Unless your photographer friends have worked out the Alamy standard their opinions are moot. Working out the alamy standard takes a bit of patience.

 

Good luck.

 

 

 

 

[MDM]

8 minutes ago, Mr Standfast said:

Unless your photographer friends have worked out the Alamy standard their opinions are moot. Working out the alamy standard takes a bit of patience.

 

 

I agree with the first sentence but I think it is possible to learn quite quickly if one is willing to learn. There is of course some degree of subjectivity but the following general rules should ensure one's images do not fail Alamy QC

 

1. Make sure the main subject is in sharp focus. 

2. Don't oversharpen. 

3. Make sure there is no significant noise apparent in the image.

4. Make sure there are no dust spots apparent in the image.

5. Don't heavily overprocess which can introduce artifacts. 

 

For Lightroom/ACR users with Denoise, as long as the main subject is sharp in camera, noise is taken care of automatically up to some pretty high ISOs and it also gives a very smooth sharpening. 

 

 

 

[Ed Rooney]

Three points, Erin.

 

1. You have a good eye for photography.

 

2. You've uploaded just 34 images in 7 years. My portfolio is over 11,000 images and I don't consider myself a major contributor.

 

3. Putting aside the good advice of others in the forum about getting a 100% look at your images, I see several that have now on Alamy that look unsharp. 

 

Good luck

[Erin1]

These were shot using a Pentax K-1 Mark II. There are some shot with my now-deceased K10D. The lens on the K-1 was either an old analogue lens (Ozunon 35-75), or my Pentax 50C (50-200) lens. I used the latter lens on the most recent photo, set it on autofocus, and the shot was rejected anyway.

 

KitJames and Gervais Montacute, thanks!

 

I've used a tripod. I've used higher shutter speeds. And not long ago, one shot was rejected for noise as well as that old favorite, soft or lacking definition.

 

I'll see what I can do about posting some of the rejected shots.

[Steve F]

9 minutes ago, Erin1 said:

The lens on the K-1 was either an old analogue lens (Ozunon 35-75), or my Pentax 50C (50-200) lens.

 

Hi Erin,

Thanks for responding. Not sure you've given the proper designation for your Pentax 50-200, there's various versions of this lens. If it's e.g.

Pentax 50-200mm f/4-5.6 ED SMC DA WR

Comments online:

"Once you get used to its few shortcomings, mainly image corner softness at some apertures and focal lengths, it can produce some great images."

"The first thing I did was calibrate. It wasn’t far out, about -2 but that made all the difference. It is now sharp as anything. I would recommend this lens with the proviso that you have to calibrate it to make it sing."

Looks like there's various comments about the sharpness and image quality online. It was hard to find much in the way of formal reviews.

 

So it could be the lens. Or your shooting technique. Or something else still! See if you can get some images up, that would help.

[Sultanpepa]

Image ref. JGE601 I'm sorry to say looks fine but as soon as you start to enlarge it becomes obvious that there is no part of it absolutely tack sharp. Same with the image of headstones and cows although not to the same extent. Definitely soft and lacking definition. If I had to guess I'd say it's your equipment rather than user error. With Alamy, at least part of your subject has to be razor sharp unless you're showing motion of the subject.

[Mr Standfast]

 

 

Ozunon also made lenses for the enthusiast market, badged as, Vivitar, Soligor and Hanimex among others.  I actually had the Vivitar badged model in the early 80's.  I was quite happy with the 6x4 prints it was asked to make but I wouldn't expect it to consistently provide the results needed for Alamy QC, especially after 40 years wear and tear.

 

https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Vivitar_35-70mm_1:3.5-4.8_Macro_Focusing_Zoom_52mm

 

Good enough in their day but experts say digital sensors are more demanding.

 

 

 

 

 

[Normspics]

Try downsizing your images, if you have photoshop go to image size and reduce the photo size between 90% to 80% and view at a hundred percent for sharpness. Be frugal with sharpening also in image editing software, I try and shoot my images at between iso 200 to 400 but on Canon cameras iso 320 seems very clean. Pay attention to shutter speed and aperture f8 on many lenses is a sweet spot and keep your shutter speed high. Zoom lenses try and multiple the focal length by double for the shutter speed to reduce camera shake blur. Good luck and keep trying.

[Bryan]

On 06/02/2024 at 16:25, Erin1 said:

These were shot using a Pentax K-1 Mark II. There are some shot with my now-deceased K10D. The lens on the K-1 was either an old analogue lens (Ozunon 35-75), or my Pentax 50C (50-200) lens. I used the latter lens on the most recent photo, set it on autofocus, and the shot was rejected anyway.

 

 

I have just looked up the Pentax K-1 Mark II and note that it is a full frame 36.4 M pixel camera. Strikes me as massive overkill for Alamy shooting and just maybe that huge pixel density reveals flaws in your technique and/or lenses that wouldn't be apparent with a less densely packed sensor. I suspect that you may need some pretty special glass to get the best out of your camera.

 

As Normspics has suggested, a reduction in image size prior to uploading might help, followed by an actual pixels scrutiny of the images.

[MDM]

44 minutes ago, Bryan said:

 

I have just looked up the Pentax K-1 Mark II and note that it is a full frame 36.4 M pixel camera. Strikes me as massive overkill for Alamy shooting and just maybe that huge pixel density reveals flaws in your technique and/or lenses that wouldn't be apparent with a less densely packed sensor. I suspect that you may need some pretty special glass to get the best out of your camera.

 

As Normspics has suggested, a reduction in image size prior to uploading might help, followed by an actual pixels scrutiny of the images.

 

+1.  

 

You need quality lenses for a high MP camera. When Nikon introduced the first 36MP DSLR back in 2012 (the D800), it was a whole new learning experience and those of us who jumped in soon learned to use only top quality lenses and to focus very carefully. The ancient Ozunon lens is very unlikely to be suitable. I don't know about the 50-200 but care is needed. As well as the lens used, that camera has a form in-body image stabilisation, so that needs to be turned off when using a tripod, as it may contribute to softening if left on. Downsizing is very sensible unless you are sure the image is perfectly sharp. The monitor used to judge sharpness is also very important. Judging on a laptop is very difficult. 

 

I love using high MP cameras but I do a lot more than stock where I take advantage of the big sensors. 

 

 

 

Edited February 9 by MDM

[Cal]

You need to be prepared to hold yourself to a high standard to get photos submitted to stock libraries and/or prepare to have potential QC failures.

 

I think it's also worth adding that in my experience Alamy is quite lax on QC compared to some other places, which can be very stringent. If you aren't shooting with the best of gear in the best of conditions (most aren't), consider downsizing. Any 24MP or higher image (6000x4000 pixels for example) can be reduced by half and still be big enough to upload. A 6MP image is still enough in many cases to be practical and useful.

Edited February 9 by Cal

[Erin1]

Wow, you're giving me some excellent advice. It never even occurred to me that I might need a newer lens. One of my lenses is relatively new, but that's the one that, interestingly, is the one I've used for several shots that have been rejected.

 

Another shot was just rejected, and I'm just tired of taking photos that look absolutely fine to me, whether at 100% or 500%, but Alamy thinks they're unacceptable.

[Steve F]

4 minutes ago, Erin1 said:

Wow, you're giving me some excellent advice. It never even occurred to me that I might need a newer lens. One of my lenses is relatively new, but that's the one that, interestingly, is the one I've used for several shots that have been rejected.

 

Another shot was just rejected, and I'm just tired of taking photos that look absolutely fine to me, whether at 100% or 500%, but Alamy thinks they're unacceptable.

Hi Erin,

Thanks for some more info. Agree with the comment above - you will not get good results using a cheap / lower quality lens on a high megapixel camera.

 

If you do have a decent lens for the Pentax, can you do a comparison? Take a few identical images with each lens and compare them in an image editing programme.

Steve

[Erin1]

The best lens I have is this one: Pentax SMC Pentax-DA L 50-200mm f/4-5.6 ED WR.

 

I went out and shot a lot of photos with it on Saturday, and the photos look fine to me. Though I doubt Alamy would agree. Sorry to keep complaining; it's just so frustrating knowing that I've uploaded a photo that should pass QC, only to find out after waiting several weeks that it's not good enough.

 

What kind of lens would you recommend?

[Steve F]

2 minutes ago, Erin1 said:

The best lens I have is this one: Pentax SMC Pentax-DA L 50-200mm f/4-5.6 ED WR.

 

I went out and shot a lot of photos with it on Saturday, and the photos look fine to me. Though I doubt Alamy would agree. Sorry to keep complaining; it's just so frustrating knowing that I've uploaded a photo that should pass QC, only to find out after waiting several weeks that it's not good enough.

 

What kind of lens would you recommend?

 

Sorry it's been like this, I can understand the frustration.

 

You've got a great professional spec camera.

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentax-k-1-ii-review

 

But you've stuck a cheap kit lens on the front of it, which has known image quality issues. And the higher megapixel count of the camera is not helping hiding the lens' flaws.

 

Suggestions? Depends on your budget and interest in photography! If you only want a single walk around lens, then you need a zoom really. I have no knowledge of the Pentax system, you'd need to do your own research. 

https://www.pentaxforums.com/lenssearch/?format=ff

https://pentax.eu/collections/full-frame-lenses

YouTube etc.

 

Other option is 3rd party lenses. But you'd have to check that you don't have compatibility issues, like loss of autofocus. 

Final option is second hand, but I'd get some advice from others if you go that route.

[Steve F]

26 minutes ago, Erin1 said:

I went out and shot a lot of photos with it on Saturday, and the photos look fine to me.

you would have to post at least 1 image at 100% for the Forum to comment on that

[Mr Standfast]

40 minutes ago, Erin1 said:

The best lens I have is this one: Pentax SMC Pentax-DA L 50-200mm f/4-5.6 ED WR.

 

I went out and shot a lot of photos with it on Saturday, and the photos look fine to me. Though I doubt Alamy would agree. Sorry to keep complaining; it's just so frustrating knowing that I've uploaded a photo that should pass QC, only to find out after waiting several weeks that it's not good enough.

 

What kind of lens would you recommend?

 

A 35mm prime.  Hire one for a couple of days and you will have a reference for what is sharp.

[Brian Yarvin]

I'd like to take this further. Wouldn't it be best to pull out all the stops? Use a modern prime lens, a tripod, and either a cable release or shutter delay. Make sure your camera is at base ISO and you're shooting raw. Process the raws with Lightroom, CaptureOne, or something similar (without sharpening at first) and see how it goes. Your camera body has better potential than almost anything else made, but it must be used in a way that favorable to producing photography for publication. 

 

The ball is in your court.

[Erin1]

 

 

 

I just created this account so I could link a URL to post an image. This is one of the photos I took on Saturday, and it was taken with the 50-200mm lens.