Tech News: Fujifilm's 250mm f/4 Lens and 1.4x Teleconverter for GFX System
FujiFilm has unveiled a new 250mm f/4 telephoto prime lens and a 1.4x teleconverter for its GFX medium-format system (which, as PetaPixel notes, currently consists of the Fujifilm GFX 50S camera). The new Fujinon GF 250mm f/4 lens has a rugged, lightweight magnesium alloy barrel that resists dust and weather, and it is capable of functioning in temperatures as low as 14°F/-10°C. Meanwhile, the new Fujinon Teleconverter GF1.4X TC WR turns the new 250mm lens into an equivalent of a 277mm lens in 35mm terms. DIY Photography has more. Read the full Story >>

In Focus: Telling the Stories of Defectors From North Korea
North Korean defectors escape their country’s near-total isolation for the headiness of freedom. But in the process, their history is erased, notes The New York Times, which features photographer Tim Franco’s series “Unperson,” an examination of the “vaporization” of the defectors’ past. “[North Korea] is their home, they left people behind,” says Franco, who splits his time between South Korea and China. “Even if they live in a modern country, they will never be completely happy in South Korea." Read the full Story >>
Followup: Rick Smolan on How Tech Disrupted News Photography
Earlier this month we featured the The Good Fight: America’s Ongoing Struggle for Justice, a new book from photographer Rick Smolan tracing the struggle for social justice in America over the years. Smolan, who has shot for Time, Life, and National Geographic and published the bestselling Day in the Life Of book series, recently talked with the business intelligence firm L2 about how about how tech has disrupted photography. “It’s really upended the whole industry […] It’s actually probably about a third of what you were being paid thirty or forty years ago, so for a journalist it’s awful,” he says. See PetaPixel for more. Read the full Story >>

Dept of Ideas: Recreating Movie Classics, in Miniature
As a kid, Cancún, Mexico-based photographer Felix Hernandez spent hours staging scenes with his extensive toy collection. Today, he uses toys for his personal photography projects: Recreating scenes from movies he loves, including Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, and Star Wars. He builds each of his sets from scratch on a large tabletop in his studio, using a standard-issue model car set, which he modifies and paints to his exact specifications. "I’m kind of nerdy," Hernandez admits. Read the full Story >>