Camera not good enough

[bobdabiulder]

Hey guys. So, after I'd spent some time editing, uploading and keywording 20 pictures - all passed QC - I get an email from alamy today. They said a QC glitch allowed my pictures to pass by, even though the camera I have "does not produce images technically strong enough" for alamy. What? My pictures looked great, and they passed. How could a glitch be so big as to allow 20 pictures to pass QC? I'd say this likely isn't an isolated incident, either.

[IanGibson]

I'd say that the glitch doesn't have to be that big - that's the nature of glitches, I guess.

 

Whether or not it's isolated, I don't suppose anyone here knows for sure.  What I can say is that it has never happened to me.

[Allan Bell]

It would help us to know which camera you are using for the posted images.

 

Allan

[bobdabiulder]

Sorry, the WX500. Its pretty good, for the price of $300. All my pictures that I submitted are good quality, and are above the minimum megapixel threshold, by a lot, so image size isn't an issue.

[Brian Yarvin]

Bob, size isn't normally the issue with these sorts of rejections. Instead, it will be something like noise, color fringing, or some other technical glitch. I would also say that price - at that level anyway - doesn't settle things either. Many cameras in that price range deliver the goods. 

 

And photo buyers aren't looking for "good quality," they seek specific qualities that allow the images they buy to be used in a very wide variety of ways. Expectations are high and it's our job as photographers to exceed them.

[Allan Bell]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the Sony WX500 only has a 1/2.3 type sensor which for professional markets is, in Alamy's eyes, simply not good enough to produce the end result required by their customers. By coming to Alamy you are entering the professional market.

 

The minimum size sensor Alamy seem to accept is the 1" sensor as in the Sony RX100 series, and other manufacturers cameras now too.

 

I have images on Alamy from the RX100 as do many others on this forum.

 

If you wish to continue contributing to the Alamy library and pass QC on a regular basis then you need to change your camera for one with a larger sensor.

 

Allan

[MDM]

Perhaps you drew a little too much attention to youself with your other thread - getting such a negative reputation in such a short space of time does require something special . I've not seen anybody have a retrospective failure before. This is one of the best forums I've ever been on and I know most people don't give red arrows for nothing - I don't give red arrows at all by the way but it's not hard to see why you got them - maybe time for a rethink. And read what as Allan and Brian say.

[bobdabiulder]

Fun.

[Jill Morgan]

Possible a new person in QC who is not doing their job properly?  Or someone accidentally hit a pass button? Can't say as I have ever heard of a retroactive fail either.

 

Has Alamy removed your images, as if I click on one, it tells me they can't find the image I"m looking for.

Jill

[Allan Bell]

Fun.

 

 

Maybe someone in the QC team looked at your images and thought they were good enough to pass but forgot to look at the metadata to check the camera specifics.

 

Sorry to give you this bad news.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

Hope you can see past these troubles and continue with Alamy in the future as I can see you have an eye for an image.

 

Allan

[Allan Bell]

Possible a new person in QC who is not doing their job properly?  Or someone accidentally hit a pass button? Can't say as I have ever heard of a retroactive fail either.

 

Has Alamy removed your images, as if I click on one, it tells me they can't find the image I"m looking for.

Jill

 

 

Yes they have been removed Jill.

 

Allan

[chrumu]

In general I'm a supporter of cleaning up the library, because there's really too many pictures on Alamy which somehow sneaked in despite QC and are obviously (i.e., already by the preview) not up to a professional standard. 

 

In the OP's case the previews looked ok, so I can't judge on their quality, but due to lack of other evidence I assume Alamy's judgement is correct and based on image quality, not the camera model. There's one thing I don't understand: What about the first four pictures of the OP? Of a usual submission only a few pictures get QC inspected, so a technically bad picture can sneak in. But I thought the initial four pictures all get inspected very thoroughly, so either they are good enough or they are not. It's strange that Alamy only noticed after a few days that they consider the quality of the first four pictures to be insufficient.

 

 

 

Christoph

[bobdabiulder]

Edit: i agree ^^^

 

The problem for me is this: first of all, I don't really have a budget for a new camera, as I just bought the WX500 in April, so I won't be in the market for a new one for at least, at LEAST a year. Also, I like have lots of zoom, which is something the rx100's lack. Which logically leads me to DSLR, but those are even more expensive.

[Brian Yarvin]

Ummm ... Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, and maybe even Pentax all have cameras in that price range (possibly used?) that would work really well. What I suspect though is that it's not just the camera you buy, it's the way a person shoots and post-processes. Submitting in-camera jpegs from a thousand dollar camera could doom you just as easily.

 

Bob, please remember that this is a high-stakes game. We are all challenged to do better every day. It's part of the craft.

[John Richmond]

To compete and earn money in a professional environment you have to invest.  In time, in perfecting technique, in suitable equipment.  It's part of the start up costs and needs for any business.  Stock photography is no different.

[bobdabiulder]

My main goal in joining Alamy was to do this as a hobby, maybe make a couple bucks on the side, even though I know the yield won't be very high with that method. My goal isn't to be someone with 10,000+ images making lots of money. Thats why I am not really considering DSLR yet.

[IanGibson]

To compete and earn money in a professional environment you have to invest.  In time, in perfecting technique, in suitable equipment.  It's part of the start up costs and needs for any business.  Stock photography is no different.

I'll second that.

[bobdabiulder]

I don't disagree with that by any standards. I too believe that in order to compete, you need to invest. The thing is, as more of a hobby for me, it's still a couple years out for me to be able to justify at least $500 on hobby equipement. I've had over 3 years to learn how to use cameras, but only recently has it been an interest bigger than just pictures of trips. I was at best buy earlier today for a different product, and I spent a bit of time playing with the cheaper DSLR they had in stock. No problems with using them. My pictures would've passed QC if it weren't for purely technical reasons. So it all goes back to money.

[Brian Yarvin]

Bob, Alamy asks for more because it offers more. Agencies that are higher up in the pecking order ask for even more - and offer far more. What it's starting to sound like is that you believe you're ready to take a step up from microstock and you're not exactly there yet. An equipment upgrade, and possibly a software upgrade to go with it (that's what it took for me), is all that stands between you and that next step.

 

I don't want to join the crowd in pressuring you to do it. It's a decision you'll have to make yourself and one you shouldn't feel you have to make until you yourself are good and ready.

[Phil Preston]

 

Fun.

 

 

 

Maybe someone in the QC team looked at your images and thought they were good enough to pass but forgot to look at the metadata to check the camera specifics.

 

Sorry to give you this bad news.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

Hope you can see past these troubles and continue with Alamy in the future as I can see you have an eye for an image.

 

Allan

For my last but one submission to Alamy, I inadvertently removed the image metadata when exporting to jpeg, but they all passed OK, so wonder if they are more interested in image quality (and file size of course) these days, rather than what camera they were taken with?

[Jill Morgan]

I use a Canon T4i (650D) which is a consumer level camera, but overall takes fairly good images.  I also use consumer level lenses (although I have my eye on an L lens) and have had excellent success with Alamy QC.  I do end up with a lot of images that end up in the bin due to the lower quality of the lenses. Especially at the high end of the telephoto.  I get quite a bit of vignetting. I usually end up having to downsize a lot of images shot at the high end of the telephoto, but they quite often turn out well once downsized.

 

Alamy used to post their Acceptable Camera List, but took it down about a year ago.  If they are going to continue disqualifying images based on the camera and not the image itself, then they should repost that list.  That would save some people from buying cameras that aren't going to cut it. 

 

I was at a sheep herding competition this past weekend and was a bit disappointed in some of the long lens shots, but that is the price of not having the quality lens one needs for those type of images.  Other images at a closer range came out well.

 

If you can, try to sell the camera you have and purchase a used Canon or Nikon consumer level camera that is accepted by Alamy. In the long run you will do a lot better.  

 

Jill

[M.Chapman]

If your priority is to contribute to Alamy, whilst on a very low budget, as part of your hobby, I suggest selling the WX500 on eBay (should get £150) and buying something secondhand with a larger sensor and less zoom range, and possibly fewer megapixels. If you ask the forum for their recommendations on suitable cameras and your budget, they are sure to help, for example see this thread. Although I would say that if your budget is very low, there's no way you'll get a camera with a 30x zoom that will reliably pass Alamy QC.

[Bill Brooks]

Some of you are all being too polite, and doing Bob a great disservice, in telling Bob that he should upgrade his camera.

 

Based on Bob’s portfolio I think upgrading his camera will not help, until he upgrades his photography.

 

So Bob my advice is to use the camera you have to practice your hobby, and when you improve your photography then, and only then, upgrade your camera.

[Connor Panzavecchia]

Hey guys I've recently purchased a Sony A5000 and i was wondering if that camera is good enough. I think it is I've taken some amazing photos with it so please check them out and tell me what you think, thanks.

[bobdabiulder]

 

Some of you are all being too polite, and doing Bob a great disservice, in telling Bob that he should upgrade his camera.

 

Based on Bob’s portfolio I think upgrading his camera will not help, until he upgrades his photography.

 

So Bob my advice is to use the camera you have to practice your hobby, and when you improve your photography then, and only then, upgrade your camera.

What so you mean, based on my portfolio? I am not offended, but rather I'm curious as to what you mean by that. Did you see the pictures I uploaded before the retroactive QC removal, or just based on quantity?