I guess I will see what happens when things quieten down Globally.
Love my A9ii/200-600 with Arts Sony e-Guide set ups – it feels like cheating somehow.

Hi Barry, I feel your pain and while the adapted lenses aren’t perfect they are a reasonable alternative with some caveats. Though I can’t speak to adapted Nikon lenses, my experience with the large Canon primes with a Sigma MC-11 have been largely favorable. In most circumstances the tracking is excellent, though occasionally in backlit/contrasty situations it struggles and fails to “rack”. Manually AF’ing to get the lens in near or pre – focus allows the lens to snap into absolute focus. This is rare, occurring less than 5% of the time and my 500 IS II f/4 with a 1.4x III tc produces fabulous images paired to a a7riv (or a9).

Perhaps, I’m “old school” but I’m still of the mindset that one invests in lenses/system rather than a body per se. As Artie will attest, there is nothing on the market which will perform to the level of the a9(ii) or will produce images with the cropability (is that even a word?) of the a7riv. IMHO, the Sony lens line up still has some holes in its offerings and as you’ve observed is priced out of reach for many enthusiasts. For whatever reason, I couldn’t bring myself to liquidate my collection of Canon equipment. Though I am ever hopeful that the Canon R5 will be true game changer especially if it offers a9 like af with a higher MP sensor, the prospects are uncertain. We’ll find out in a few months whether my thinking was strategic or idiotic?

Consequently, would I recommend going out a buying large Nikon/Canon primes and experimenting? Probably not. If you have access to these large primes, enjoy experimenting, and can part with around $100 us for an adapter, it’s a functional alternative while you save ridiculous sums of $ to buy the Sony primes.