It's rather fitting that official Philadelphia Eagles photographer, Ed Mahan, reverted back to one of the best film cameras to capture the Birds' win against the Jacksonville Jaguars. After all, the Eagles reverted from their modern Midnight Green jerseys to their legendary Kelly Green colors. And what better way to celebrate the 2017 Super Bowl champions' past than with a retro camera?
A photograph from an article on the Eagles' website shows Ed using a Nikon F with a Photomic prism and motor drive. The article reveals that the veteran sports photographer hadn't picked up a film camera for two decades, making this charming reunion long overdue.
"It took me a while to just remember how the film cameras worked," he said. But with a whopping 50 years of experience photographing one of the NFL's most popular teams, it's not surprising that Ed slipped seamlessly back into old ways.
What he didn't miss, though, was having a limited number of shots. "By the end of the game, I had just run out of film," he said. "They gave me eight rolls of film… Once you're out of film, you're not a photographer any more".
Ed wasn't the only photographer to be using a retro camera. Another Eagles article reveals that the whole photography team took to the field with various retro cameras, including Polaroids and disposable devices.
Best of all, the Birds managed to beat the Jaguars 28-23 – perhaps Ed and his photography colleagues should shoot on film more often!
The news comes not long after social media film photography star Miles Myerscough-Harris (aka @expiredfilmclub) photographed the New York Jets with a roll of Kodak Portra 800 and a Canon EOS-1V.
If you're wondering about the significance of Kelly Green, it dates right back to 1935 – and although various shades existed, it wasn't until 1996 that the Eagles incorporated the now well-known Midnight Green into their uniforms. But occasionally the team pays homage to its many Kelly Green successes by donning the colors once again.
And what better way to photograph this historically significant hue than with a historically significant SLR camera?
If you’re into film photography, make sure you check out the best 35mm film. And if you’re into sports photography, take a gander at the best cameras for sports photography.
