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How good is iPhone 12 Pro-camera for Adobe Stock photos?

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
April 9, 2022
5 replies
1691 views

Hi,

I have an iPhone 12 Pro which makes - so to see - pretty good photos.

When I upload a selection of these photos to Adobe Stock, many get 'Not accepted' because of 'Technical Issues'. There is no specific explanation.

When I upload iPhone-photos to Getty Images more are accepted, but at Shutterstock a little bit less also many times because of problems like:

Rejection reasons (2)

Focus: The main subject is out of focus or is not in focus due to camera shake, motion blur, overuse of noise reduction, or technical limitations of the equipment used (e.g. autofocus searching, camera sensor quality, etc).

Noise / Film Grain : Content contains chrominance noise, luminance noise, sharpening noise, or film grain that detracts from the main subject.

Actually, my questions are:

- How good is iPhone 12 Pro-camera for Adobe Stock photos;

- Does anybody have the same problems with iPhone 12 Pro-photos.

Thanks,

Bert

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer George_F

It's important to remember that phone photos are optimized to look great on phone screens. It's certainly possible to make decent photos under the right conditions, but in most situations a dslr is going to offer better quality vs a smart phone. And DSLR photos are your competition.

I agree with you @Test Screen Name , most great photos probably aren't spur of the moment sort of situations. They are well thought out, skillfully taken, and judiciously post processed.

Community Expert

Community Expert

Actually, my questions are:

- How good is iPhone 12 Pro-camera for Adobe Stock photos;

- Does anybody have the same problems with iPhone 12 Pro-photos.

By @bertvegter

The problems are inherent to the technology (small sensor) and the phone software (in-camera "optimization"). So yes, even that phones take great pictures, they are nowhere near the quality required to take flawless pictures, especially when the conditions (especially light) are not optimal. The in-camera optimization should be dropped for raw processing with programs like Lightroom.

Technical issues with Adobe rejections includes anything that has to do with your technical ability to take pictures: noise, focus, light, colour, framing, processing, … With phones, you see countless artefacts, washed out colours and exposure issues. And Adobe is quite picky with image moderation. I have seldom a picture accepted here, that gets refused elsewhere.

All pictures are vetted the same: if you have a $25,000 camera, a $200 camera or a phone camera. The quality needs to be the same level.

If you are new to stock, you should consider these resources: https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/tutorials.html
Please read the contributor user manual for more information on Adobe stock contributions: https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/user-guide.html
See here for rejection reasons: https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/reasons-for-content-rejection.html
and especially quality and technical issues: https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/quality-and-technical-issues.html

ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer

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Correct answer

Community Expert

It's important to remember that phone photos are optimized to look great on phone screens. It's certainly possible to make decent photos under the right conditions, but in most situations a dslr is going to offer better quality vs a smart phone. And DSLR photos are your competition.

I agree with you @Test Screen Name , most great photos probably aren't spur of the moment sort of situations. They are well thought out, skillfully taken, and judiciously post processed.

George F, Photographer & Forum Volunteer

Community Expert

Community Expert

I have had a few iPhone images accepted by Adobe Stock, but in general you need optimum lighting conditions to achieve acceptable results since you have so little control over the outcome. When I'm traveling, I carry a professional-grade Full Frame Canon DSLR camera and lenses and know that the images I submit from that camera, after careful editing, are always going to be accepted by Adobe stock. I also take snap shots along the way with my iPhone 12 Pro, but those are mainly for quick posts to social media. There really is no comparison between the iPhone images and the Canon images. If you are committed to becoming a successful Adobe Stock Contributor, you'll need to move beyond the limitations of the iPhone camera platform.

Jill C., Forum Volunteer

Community Expert

Community Expert

Hello,

Basically, when manufacturers say this phone takes awesome photos, it's marketing. Every model supposedly takes better pics than the previous model and yet the senor size stays the same (for obvious reasons). iPhone says their HEIC format produces better results than JPEG - but of course, they have to due to marketing. However, it is still subject to compression artifacts, noise and so on. Generally, smartphones - iPhones, etc is good for small screens and social media, but not really good for large scale prints, as could be expected with Adobe Stock. Smartphone cameras do have a problem with noise, especially if taken in low light.

I hear you though with taking around large cameras, especially when travelling - they don't exactly fit in your pocket. However, if you want decent pics, a larger camera will obviously give better results.

Community Expert

Community Expert

See this related topic. It answers your question about phone cameras.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/stock-contributors-discussions/is-iphone-12-pro-max-decent-for-stock-photography/m-p/12831943#M41727

Adobe Stock customers expect the highest visual and technical quality for use in commercial projects. All submissions are evaluated the same, regardless of equipment. Read these links.

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert

bertvegterAuthor

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Thanks for your reaction, Nancy!

In the topics I see more people have the same issue with phone cameras. And I already thought those cameras have limitations with regards to quality, but they are so handy... Everywhere you go you have that camera with you.

I already had for years a quite handy Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 (with Leica lens), but that ended more and more on the shelf because of my phone camera. Now, in 14 days I'm going to travel and will take that Lumix with me, make photos and do the test with Adobe Stock, Getty Images and Shutterstock.

In my job as a journalist I had experience with cameras like Hasselblatt, Nikon, Canon EOS etc. but nowadays I don't want to walk around anymore with such huge cameras.

Bert Vegter

Test Screen Name

Legend

"Everywhere you go you have that camera with you" - but do you have a tripod? Don't expect to get great photos if handheld unless the lighting is really good. Most stock that sells is not a lucky snapshot, it is a carefully planned shot.