Continuous shooting speed varies with lenses

I shoot basketball with a 7D and two Canon lenses: 100mm and 35mm.

Both lenses are of recent vintage and good for f2 if I need it.

But the camera's continuous shooting speed is much slower with the 35mm lens.

Anyone know why?

What 35mm lens?

I set my 1D4 to focus priority in burst shooting, so the camera will not shoot if it has not attained focus. If you do this with a lens that has a slow focus motor, the burst rate will slow down because the camera cannot attain focus fast enough to support 10 fps.

Lots of threads on 7D FPS/AF variations... Is a known issue/feature.. Lots of info that might be helpful and answer your questions

From what I understand, 7D has to slow from full frame rate to allow time for metering and focusing. Some places I've heard it just slows for metering, but I also think for focus. It's not an "issue", it just is. The camera needs time to meter and focus.

Your 100/2 is a USM lens. Your 35/2 is not. USM is faster focusing.

You can test your camera and lens combo.... Just use AE Lock. That stops the metering delay, and it should speed up if that's the only thing slowing the camera.

You also might check your settings... I know there's a Custom Function that prioritizes focus accuracy vs drive/shooting speed. You tell the camera which is more important to you. (Personally I don't really see the point in having lots of missed focus shots, so I put the emphasis on focus accuracy in my cameras.)