Ahead of the upcoming NFL season, the Atlanta Falcons football team made the switch from Nikon to Sony cameras and lenses – and the whole process was made possible by KEH.
The team traded in just shy of 20 DSLRs and mirrorless cameras – including what look like 13 Nikon D6es, 4 Nikon D800s and a pair of Z cameras – along with a mountain of lenses and accessories. This made it possible to upgrade to the latest Sony bodies.
"KEH was able to bring our team to a new era of photography by taking all of our old gear and trading it in, allowing us to purchase Sony bodies and lenses," says Brandon Magnus, senior manager of photography with the Atlanta Falcons.
"Sony A9 IIIs are what we have for the bulk of our game day gear, and then we also have [the Sony] A1," adds Shanna Lockwood, the Falcons' manager of photography.
"I use that for studio stuff, portraits and that kind of thing. It's been great, honestly… it's not as big a learning curve as I expected coming from Nikon. It's pretty intuitive and immediately I was taking photos that I had in my head that I wanted to take with the new autofocus system."
ABOVE: Watch the Falcons' photo team talk about the trade-in
Back in May, the team announced that it had partnered with KEH as its official provider of camera gear in a step towards increased sustainability. Not only has that move helped the planet, and helped the Falcons upgrade their equipment, it also means that customers can get their hands on kit that has photographed sporting history.
"The Falcons team sold the Nikon gear that they were using. One of the really cool things is, that Nikon gear is now available on KEH and KEH.com," says Noah Treshnell, CEO of KEH.
"As a photographer, you can be holding that gear that the Falcons used to shoot those close important moments in-game, and there's something really cool and special about that."
It was a win-win on all sides. For the team's photographers, it was handled with military precision so as not to disrupt their work. "The process of trading in our gear with KEH was one of the smoothest processes I've ever been a part of," notes Magnus.
"KEH came in, evaluated all of our gear, gave us the best value for all of that gear, and then on the day of actual trade it was quick and seamless – probably done in less than an hour."
Of course, the biggest winner is our pale blue dot – and the fact that one of the world's biggest sports franchises is helping the environment and trading in equipment, rather than buying new, sends a great message.
"[It] made sense from a business perspective, but it also made a lot of sense in terms of community and the circular impact on the environment," says Treshnell.
"Our business in circular, so as we get bigger, the circularity impact gets bigger, that's a positive impact for the world, and I know that's really important to the Falcons."
Take a look at the best Sony cameras and the best Sony lenses. And if you're looking to switch in the opposite direction, check out the best Nikon cameras along with the best Nikon Z lenses for mirrorless and best Nikon lenses for DSLRs!
