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Head to head

Grok Imagine Image vs Nano Banana 2

10 film scenes compared (November 2026)

Grok Imagine Image vs Nano Banana 2: 1-8 across 10 film scenes (1 tie), so Nano Banana 2 wins, from our scores.

Two image models from xAI and Google, the same 10 film-scene prompts, word for word. One image each, no retouching, no picking the best of several. Each picture was scored 1 to 10 on prompt adherence, realism and film look, and the scores were checked by an independent cross-review. The higher score wins a scene; a gap under half a point is a tie.

The score

Grok Imagine Image 1 · Nano Banana 2 8 · tie 1

Grok Imagine Image won 1 scene and Nano Banana 2 won 8, with 1 tie, so Nano Banana 2 takes the series. Nano Banana 2 looks more like a real photograph and follows the action more closely: the rider thrown clear in Eight Seconds, the leap across the gap in Roof Run, the believable captain in The Captain and the clean wide laundromat. Grok Imagine Image's one win is High Noon, where it keeps the silhouette and an empty hand while Nano Banana 2 puts a camera lens in the frame and a drawn revolver in his grip; The Witness finished level.

Shape
16:9
Made
Scenes
10, all scored

Scene by scene

In each scene Grok Imagine Image is on the left and Nano Banana 2 on the right (on a phone, Grok Imagine Image on top); the Winner tag marks who won it. Select a picture to see it full size, then use the arrows or your arrow keys to go through all 20.

  1. 01

    The Captain

    Nano Banana 2 wins
    Cinematic portraits: all 25 models
    Grok Imagine Image
    Nano Banana 2Winner

    Nano Banana 2 wins. Nano Banana 2 wins on realism and lighting: a believable weathered face with warm wheelhouse window light and a real storm sea, even though it pulls back to a medium shot. Grok Imagine Image is the closer framing, but it invents a sail and boom and stares into the lens with an HDR stock look.

    Prompt

    Cinematic close-up portrait of a weathered fishing-boat captain in his sixties on deck at first light, rain-soaked oilskin coat collar turned up, salt crusted in his grey beard, eyes fixed just past the lens on a storm he has already decided to sail into. Warm sodium glow from the wheelhouse window as the key light, cold blue dawn sea light as fill, rain droplets catching the light in the air between him and the camera. 85mm anamorphic, shallow depth of field, a film still from a prestige drama, Kodak Vision3 500T grain, true-to-life skin texture. No text, no logos.

  2. 02

    Blinds

    Nano Banana 2 wins
    Film noir: all 25 models
    Grok Imagine Image
    Nano Banana 2Winner

    Nano Banana 2 wins. Close. Nano Banana 2 edges it on realism, with a believable tired face and rain on the glass, while Grok Imagine Image has the cleaner centred composition and eyes down on the telephone. Neither throws blind shadows across his face.

    Prompt

    Wide shot at seated eye level across a cramped detective's office, the detective centred behind a cluttered oak desk, room to crop on both sides. A man in his late forties sits motionless in a rumpled flannel three-piece suit, tie loosened, collar frayed, a half-burnt cigarette between two fingers, staring at a telephone he has decided not to answer. A ribbon of smoke curls up and flattens into haze under the ceiling. Venetian-blind shadows slice across his face, the desk and the cracked plaster wall in hard parallel bars, and rain on the window throws tiny moving shadows on his cheek. The key is a streetlamp outside, hard and high through the blinds, almost no fill, 8:1, with a brass desk lamp glinting in a water glass. 35mm Kodak Double-X black and white, Cooke S4/i 32mm at T2.8, inky blacks, silvery highlights, fine organic grain, a frame from a 1940s crime picture restored in 4K. True-to-life skin, pores and stubble, no CGI look. No text, no logos, no watermarks.

  3. 03

    Red Alert

    Nano Banana 2 wins
    Thriller: all 25 models
    Grok Imagine Image
    Nano Banana 2Winner

    Nano Banana 2 wins. Nano Banana 2 follows the brief more closely and looks more like a real photograph, with clean, believable faces under caged red lamps. Grok Imagine Image puts a telephone handset in the operator's hand instead of an earphone, and its red fill is too even and slightly painterly.

    Prompt

    Wide shot at shoulder height down a cramped submarine control room, the captain centred in the foreground, crew stations receding into darkness behind him. A captain in his fifties with a salt-and-pepper beard grips an overhead pipe, eyes lifted to the hull, listening, a bead of sweat running from his temple into his collar. Beside him a sonar operator in her twenties presses one earphone to her head, frozen mid-breath. Sweat-darkened navy work shirts, valve wheels, gauges with blank dials, chipped grey paint, condensation beading on steel. The only light is caged red emergency fixtures along the ceiling, a hard deep-red top light, plus a dim green glow from a blank sonar screen as a cool rim on her cheek; 10:1. ARRI Alexa Mini LF, Zeiss Supreme Prime 25mm at T1.5, shallow focus, slightly handheld, Vision3 500T emulation with heavy grain in the reds, crimson grade with crushed blacks, a frame from a taut naval thriller. True-to-life skin with sweat sheen, no CGI look. No text, no logos, no watermarks.

  4. 04

    The Witness

    Tie
    Drama: all 25 models
    Grok Imagine Image
    Nano Banana 2

    Tie. Tie. Nano Banana 2 follows the brief more closely, with her centred and every prop present, while Grok Imagine Image has the more natural window sidelight and richer film feel. Both score level on realism.

    Prompt

    Medium close-up from the jury box at seated eye level, the witness centred, a tall arched window glowing behind her and dark panelling on both sides. A woman in her sixties sits very straight in a worn wooden witness stand, navy wool coat buttoned to the throat, both hands folded tightly over a handkerchief, knuckles pale. She has just been asked the question: her chin lifts a fraction and her eyes, wet but steady, hold on the person asking. A 1970s municipal courtroom: varnished oak with nicks and water rings, a brass rail, a sweating water jug. Dust motes drift through broad shafts of late-morning sun from the window, the 5600K key, across her shoulder and half her face, with soft bounce from pale plaster at 4:1. 35mm Kodak Vision3 250D, Cooke S4/i 75mm at T2, amber and walnut palette with soft green shadows, visible grain, a frame from a 1970s courtroom drama. True-to-life skin, fine wrinkles and face powder, no CGI look. No text, no logos, no watermarks.

  5. 05

    3am Laundromat

    Nano Banana 2 wins
    Neon night: all 25 models
    Grok Imagine Image
    Nano Banana 2Winner

    Nano Banana 2 wins. Nano Banana 2 is the closest literal match and looks more like a real photograph: a symmetric wide through the window with pink and cyan neon and wet pavement. Grok Imagine Image has all the key elements too, but its dryer drums show exaggerated CGI swirls.

    Prompt

    Wide shot through a laundromat's front window from the empty street at 3am, the woman centred on a plastic chair, a row of unbranded front-loading dryers with plain, unlabelled controls and dark displays stretching behind her across the frame. A woman in her early thirties in an oversized mustard cardigan over a plain grey T-shirt sits with knees drawn up, absorbed in a dog-eared paperback with a plain cover. Behind her the drums spin, clothes tumbling in blurred colour behind round glass doors. Scuffed linoleum, a flickering ceiling tube. The key is cold overhead fluorescent at 4000K, slightly green, while unlettered pink and cyan neon in the window rims her hair and paints the wet pavement in the foreground. Drizzle streaks the glass. ARRI Alexa 35, Canon K35 24mm at T2, Black Pro-Mist 1/8 for halation on the neon, Vision3 500T emulation, green and magenta night palette, fine grain, a frame from an indie late-night drama. Real fabric pilling and natural skin, no CGI look. No text, no logos, no watermarks.

  6. 06

    High Noon

    Grok Imagine Image wins
    Western: all 25 models
    Grok Imagine ImageWinner
    Nano Banana 2

    Grok Imagine Image wins. Grok Imagine Image follows the brief more closely, with a centred silhouette, dust swirl and horizontal flare on a bleached street. Nano Banana 2 puts a camera lens barrel in the foreground and a drawn revolver in his hand, and his face is lit rather than a silhouette.

    Prompt

    Extreme wide shot from ground level at the end of a dusty frontier street, the gunslinger a dark silhouette dead centre against the white glare of sunlit sand, false-fronted timber buildings on both sides in one-point perspective. A lean man in his forties stands square to camera in a long canvas duster, flat-brimmed hat tipped low, right hand loose beside his holster, body patient. A spinning dust devil crosses the street between him and the lens, tearing up grit and straw. Weathered boardwalks, bleached boards with no signs. The key is the noon sun directly overhead, hard and white at 5600K, throwing short black pools of shadow under the hat brim and the eaves, no fill, heat shimmer near the ground. 35mm Kodak Vision3 50D, Panavision G-Series anamorphic 40mm at T5.6, deep focus, a horizontal flare across the sky, bleached sand and bone palette, fine tight grain, a frame from a classic widescreen western. Real dust and sun-cracked wood, no CGI look. No text, no logos, no watermarks.

  7. 07

    Roof Run

    Nano Banana 2 wins
    Action: all 25 models
    Grok Imagine Image
    Nano Banana 2Winner

    Nano Banana 2 wins. Close. Nano Banana 2 follows the brief more closely, with a clear leap across the gap and the woman crouched behind him, with cinders glowing in the smoke. Grok Imagine Image has the more dynamic airborne leap with strong motion blur, but the woman waits on the car he is jumping to.

    Prompt

    Low-angle wide shot from the roof of a speeding wooden carriage, an outlaw mid-leap across the gap to the next carriage, centred against the sky with room to crop on both sides. A wiry man in his thirties in a sweat-stained cotton shirt, leather braces and a battered felt hat is fully airborne, coat flaring, arms flung forward; behind him a woman in her late twenties with a red neckerchief crouches, ready to follow. Coal smoke and steam stream back from the locomotive over a blurred scrubland plain. The key is late-afternoon sun at 4000K from camera left, raking across the riveted roofs, with a warm rim on the leaper's shoulders and cinders glowing in the smoke. Panavision Millennium DXL2, Panavision C-Series anamorphic 50mm at T4, a 180-degree shutter blurring the background and the flapping coat while faces stay sharp, ochre and slate-blue palette, light grain, a frame from a big-budget frontier adventure. Real wear on wood and leather, no CGI look. No text, no logos, no watermarks.

  8. 08

    Eight Seconds

    Nano Banana 2 wins
    Fast motion: all 25 models
    Grok Imagine Image
    Nano Banana 2Winner

    Nano Banana 2 wins. Nano Banana 2 wins clearly on the action: the rider is thrown clear over a kicking bull, with the wardrobe right. In Grok Imagine Image the rider is still sitting upright and the bull trots rather than bucks.

    Prompt

    Medium wide shot from just outside the arena fence, slightly low, rider and bull centred with open dust on both sides. A rider in his late twenties in fringed tan leather chaps, a plaid snap-button shirt and a plain protective vest is thrown clear into the air, one gloved hand flung high, hat tumbling away, his face pure astonishment. Beneath him a heavy brindled bull twists mid-buck, hind legs kicked skyward, churned dirt bursting outward. A sparse row of middle-aged adult spectators stands behind the pipe fence, softly out of focus. The key is low evening sun at 3200K behind the bull, just outside frame on camera right, backlighting the dust into a golden cloud and rimming the bull's hair, the bright dust itself filling at 3:1. RED V-Raptor, Arri Signature Prime 125mm at T2.8, a 1/2000 shutter freezing every clod and bead of sweat, compressed background, honey and amber grade, soft highlight roll-off, gentle grain, a frame from a modern rodeo drama. True-to-life skin, sweat and grit, no CGI look. No text, no logos, no watermarks.

  9. 09

    Caravan

    Nano Banana 2 wins
    Golden hour: all 25 models
    Grok Imagine Image
    Nano Banana 2Winner

    Nano Banana 2 wins. Close. Both follow the brief about equally, but Nano Banana 2 looks more like a real photograph: a clean backlit line with leg-stripe shadows toward the camera and spindrift off the crest. Grok Imagine Image has a strong cobalt and amber palette, but its near-night sky looks composited.

    Prompt

    Extreme wide shot from a dune crest, slightly above the caravan, the line of camels crossing the centre of the frame on a gentle diagonal, the lead handler near the middle. Twelve dromedaries walk roped nose to tail, laden with woven saddlebags and rolled rugs. The handler, a man in his sixties in an indigo cotton robe and wrapped headcloth, walks with a long stick, gaze on the horizon. The sun sits a hand's width above the horizon behind the caravan, golden at 2800K, throwing impossibly long shadows across the dunes toward camera, each leg a thin dark stripe. Wind lifts a veil of sand off the crests into the light, every ripple in sharp relief, and the open sky gives cool blue fill. IMAX 65mm film, an 80mm spherical prime at f/8, deep focus, Kodak Vision3 50D, nearly invisible grain, amber and cobalt palette, a frame from an epic desert saga. Real fabric weave and camel hair, no CGI look. No text, no logos, no watermarks.

  10. 10

    Twister

    Nano Banana 2 wins
    Storms: all 25 models
    Grok Imagine Image
    Nano Banana 2Winner

    Nano Banana 2 wins. Nano Banana 2 wins on realism, with the most convincing faces and wet fabric, though it adds a Ford badge and 4x4 decal and its chasers face the camera. Grok Imagine Image follows the brief a little more closely, with the radar screen turned away, but its faces are smooth and plasticky.

    Prompt

    Wide shot from behind a storm chasers' pickup on a gravel farm road, the truck, a lone white farmhouse and a massive wedge tornado stacked through the centre of the frame. Two chasers stand in the truck bed: a woman in her forties in a soaked olive rain shell holding a plain handheld radar unit with its screen facing away from camera, and a man in his thirties bracing against the cab, hair whipped sideways, both still in awe. The funnel churns with debris over the wheat. The key is a yellow-green light breaking under the shelf cloud from the west, flat and eerie at 4500K, lighting the clapboard and the wheat while the storm above is near black, 8:1. Sony Venice 2, Zeiss Supreme Prime 21mm at T5.6, deep focus, rain streaks blurred at a 180-degree shutter, sickly green and slate grade, light grain, a frame from a disaster film shot on location. The truck has plain bodywork, no badges or decals, and an empty rear licence-plate recess. Real mud and wet fabric, no CGI look. No text, no logos, no watermarks.

Nano Banana 2 is also sold as Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview. It is one image per model, so treat the result as a snapshot, not a benchmark.