Weekly News Roundup

A wrongful ban, an eclipse from the edge of space, and a handful of genuinely interesting new gear.

This week in photography: Leica quietly removes a Oskar Barnack Award finalist, a sports photographer's Instagram is wrongly disabled by Meta, a camera flew 92,000 feet above Spain to catch last week's eclipse, and Sandmarc brings a real 96mm telephoto to iPhone.

A Sports Photographer's Instagram Was Wrongly Disabled by Meta

A working sports photographer had his Instagram account permanently disabled after Meta mistakenly claimed his content violated the platform's rules against the sexualization of children. This is a genuinely alarming story for any photographer who relies on Instagram as a portfolio or a client facing presence, since it shows how easily an automated moderation system can misclassify legitimate professional work and how difficult it can be to get that decision reversed. Worth knowing about regardless of your genre, since the underlying risk, a platform's automated systems making a serious, career affecting error with limited recourse, applies to anyone building their presence there.

Leica Quietly Removes a Finalist From the 2026 Oskar Barnack Award

Leica has removed one of the 12 shortlisted finalists for the 2026 Leica Oskar Barnack Award, one of the most prestigious prizes in photography, under circumstances PetaPixel is reporting exclusively. Full details remain limited, but a removal at this stage of a major prize, rather than the usual announcement of winners, is unusual enough to be worth watching as more information comes out.

A Camera Flew 92,000 Feet Above Spain to Capture Last Week's Total Solar Eclipse

As the dust settles on last week's total solar eclipse, popular YouTube channel Veritasium has shared footage from an ambitious shoot in which the team sent a camera 92,000 feet into the air above Spain, capturing the eclipse from the very edge of space itself. In a separate and equally remarkable effort, photographer Noah Wetzel spent nine months preparing with Red Bull Air Force athlete Mike Brewer to photograph a wingsuit flight through the eclipse, working from nearly a mile away with a Canon EOS R5 II, a 600mm lens, and remotely triggered flashes during just 84 seconds of totality. Between the two, last week's eclipse is shaping up to be one of the most thoroughly and creatively documented celestial events in recent memory.

Experts Warn New Reflecting Satellites Could Blind Astrophotographers

Amateur astronomers and astrophotographers may need to exercise real caution as enormous new reflecting satellites begin appearing in the night sky, with experts warning they have the potential to cause eye damage to anyone observing or photographing them directly. This follows earlier warnings this year about the growing number of satellites threatening dark sky photography generally. Worth factoring into your planning if night sky work is part of your practice.

Sigma Patents Several Unusual and Ambitious Lens Concepts

Patent filings spotted by Asobinet show Sigma has patented a range of lens concepts, including an ambitious and genuinely unusual 400-1500mm f/14-18, alongside more conventional entries like a 150-600mm f/5-6.3 and a 200-800mm f/6.3-8. Patents do not always become real products, and when they do it can take years, but the sheer ambition of that first lens, extreme reach paired with an extremely dark aperture, is worth a moment's genuine curiosity even if it never ships.

TTArtisan Announces the AF 85mm f/1.8 Neo

TTArtisan has announced the AF 85mm f/1.8 Neo, a new, extremely affordable full-frame portrait prime for Sony and Nikon mirrorless cameras. A fast 85mm at this price point is a genuinely useful addition for photographers in the Collective working in portraiture who want real subject separation without a serious investment.

Brightin Star's APO 35mm f/1.7 for Leica M Is Finally Available

First teased at CP+ 2026 back in February, Brightin Star's new APO 35mm f/1.7 ASPH lens for Leica M mount is now finally available to order. Unusually for the brand, it is launching first on Kickstarter rather than through standard retail. For Leica M shooters who have been waiting on this one since the initial announcement, it is worth checking the campaign directly.

Kodak Releases New Large Format Film and Bulk Roll Products

Kodak has quietly released new large format film and bulk roll products in recent months, arriving alongside a genuinely strong set of recent financial results for the company. Worth a look for large format and bulk rolling film shooters in the Collective, even though the products themselves are not brand new news this week.

Godox and Sandmarc Round Out the Week With Two Small but Useful Releases

Godox's latest lighting release is not a light at all, but an electric suction mount accessory that lets photographers attach flashes and other lighting equipment in unusual or otherwise inaccessible places, a small but genuinely practical addition for anyone doing location lighting work. Separately, Sandmarc has announced a new 96mm telephoto lens for iPhone, promising real optical quality performance at a focal length historically only achievable through digital zoom, worth knowing about for anyone who treats their phone as a serious secondary camera.