So funny you ask this — last summer I was covering a high school tournament in a gym that was basically a dungeon, and my old EF lenses were just giving up the ghost on me. I kept getting that miserable focus hunt right when the point guard made his move, and it was driving me up the wall. I finally bit the bullet and grabbed the Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, and honestly? It’s night and day. Forget the focus breathing talk — unless you’re doing high-end narrative cinema, you won't even notice it for sports highlights. The tracking speed is just instant on the R6. If you really need that extra stop or just want to keep the budget lower, check out the Canon RF 135mm f/1.8L IS USM instead. It’s sharper than anything I’ve ever used. Just stick to native glass; it’s a total game changer for the R-series autofocus.

Agree with #1, but if you need reach, the Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8L IS USM is king. It's pricey but basically a zoom prime.

• Zero hunting
• Constant aperture

tbh if youre doing hybrid shooting and need to ditch the adapted EF glass without dropping like 3k+ on a brand new white lens, have you looked at the Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L USM?

• its insane in low light and way cheaper than the 100-300
• autofocus is stupid fast on the r6 compared to old ef stuff
• yeah its a prime so framing takes more footwork but the bokeh is gorgeous ngl idk if the breathing is a huge deal for your specific video clips, but the tracking speed alone completely saved my sanity in dark gyms...

Had a moment to think about this more and honestly im no expert but I just went through this exact same headache last week. The focus hunting is the absolute WORST when you have a court full of kids moving at warp speed. If you dont want to drop a fortune, I honestly think you should just look at any fast prime from Sigma or Tamron if you can find them for your mount. Theyre usually way friendlier on the wallet and the tracking is solid enough for gym work.

• Check out the forums over at DPReview for user-uploaded samples in low light.
• Look at some gear comparison tools online to see how different glass performs in dark arenas.
• Just search YouTube for indoor sports photography setups and skip the sponsored stuff. Basically just go with a reputable third-party brand and you cant go wrong. Good luck...

^ This. Also, I feel your pain so hard. Honestly, it’s ridiculous how much we’re expected to shell out just to get gear that actually functions the way it’s advertised. I spent the last two weeks deep-diving into forums and it feels like a total scam sometimes — you buy into a system, and then they make the old stuff just unreliable enough that you’re forced to upgrade to the latest shiny thing. It drives me crazy.

• The price jumps for "native" glass are just absurd these days.
• It feels like they lock away the best autofocus performance behind these massive paywalls.
• Why does everything have to be so bulky? My back is killing me after one game. I’m no expert, but I’m just about fed up with the whole industry acting like we’re made of money. It’s like they don’t even care about the working shooter who just wants a reliable setup without having to take out a second mortgage. I’m just sticking with my current kit for now because I refuse to be held hostage by these upgrade cycles anymore — at least until I absolutely have to.

Came here to say the same thing lol. Great minds think alike I guess.