honestly im at my wits end with this setup right now. i bought the r7 a few months ago because everyone said the autofocus was incredible for birds and wildlife but ive been using my old sigma 150-600 with the ef-rf adapter and its just... it is driving me crazy. the focus pulsing is real and i feel like i am missing 70% of my shots because the lens just decides to hunt back and forth right when a hawk takes off. i was out at the ridgefield refuge yesterday and missed a perfect shot of a short-eared owl because the lens just couldnt decide what to lock onto. it is so frustrating to spend all that money on a body just to have the lens fail me like this.

im looking for something native rf probably so i dont have to deal with the adapter lag or whatever is happening. i have about 2200 saved up and im trying to decide if i should just bite the bullet and get the rf 100-500 or if that rf 200-800 is actually worth the wait since its backordered everywhere. i also keep seeing people talk about those f11 primes but i live in washington state and it is basically grey and dark 9 months out of the year so im worried the f11 will just give me super noisy images on a crop sensor like the r7.

i really need something that can keep up with the r7s burst rate without choking. i mostly do small songbirds and the occasional raptor so reach is definitely important but i cant stand this inconsistent focus anymore. is the 100-500 long enough for birds on a crop body or am i gonna be cropping in so much that i lose all that detail? or should i look at something else entirely? i just want to go out and actually enjoy taking photos again instead of fighting with my gear the whole time...