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Shooting Junior College football offers several advantages over college ball due to less congestion on the sidelines, the ability to move up and down the field with the action, and an appreciation by the players of the resulting images.

Football is another sport where the big white glass lenses dominate.  My equipment is definitely in the minority.  I even use a lens that is considered by many to be too slow and optically substandard.  Of course, I like to disagree.  Yes, the 80-400 VR lens is slow to focus, but football action is not that fast (compared to flying birds)  and a little pre-focusing can reduce any focus deficiencies.  Optically, the 80-400 can hold its own but you won't get the shallow depth of field desired by some of the sports magazines.

The 80-400 excels in the zoom range.  It's easy to pinpoint action by zooming towards the subject and it allows you to capture images of the action as it approaches.  With a fixed length telephoto, many images would be missed.

To view additional images, click here.