I finally broke down and purchased a Canon 100-300 F/2.8. I was able to get a great deal in the buy&sell on a brand new lens, just in time before I leave with my daughter for the USYS National Championship. The 100-300 will be much easier than taking my 400mm F/2.8 on the plane.
I'll be pairing it with an R3, but the question I have is I think i'll also be bringing my R7 along just incase i'm frustrated with the reach of the lens after shooting mostly with the 400mm the last two seasons. I know the R3 is much better, but for sports and the 1.6x crop factor of the R7, what am i giving up if i use the R7? Is it mainly the roller shutter issue? IQ should be fine due to the games are in Florida and light will be sunny and bright all day. Am i doing myself a disservice not just using the R3 - especially after going back and forth on getting the 100-300 for a year? I was frustrated with how many shots i was missing in the final 1/3 of the field with the 400mm as it was too close to the action, but now i'm actually concerned i'll miss the reach on the other 2/3 of the field. since i'm traveling across country, the option of going with a two camera set-up is out of the picture.
I haven't gotten an RF 1.4 yet, just have an EF...that was probably my next questions, would the 100-300 be better with an 1.4 extender on the R3 (and have it move to an F/4) or just using the R7 and the 1.6 crop factor?
I primarily shooting local rodeo with r5mkii and R1 and formerly with an R7. R7 creates great images if there is good light, poor light and high ISO can be challenging.
I love the images from the R5 mkii but find myself picking up the R1 most often due to ergonomics. I shoot the 100-300 with 1.4x/2x and am impressed with images. If it was me id choose the r3. you should take both and develope your own preference,
I purchased the 100-300 before the bulk of my UPSL/NSPL soccer shooting this spring which I paired 99% of the time with the R7. As with any shooting I've done, the better I filled the frame the better the image. Other than filling the frame, I did try to keep ISO below 12800. Using 1st curtain shutter I'd usually be 1/1000 at f2.8, going down to 1/800 as needed.
