It's nice to be with people who have a sense of humor!

My Nikon experience is similar. The Nikon grips that I put on my D700's were expensive, have lasted, and do not disappoint. Not quite the same as starting with a top-of-the-line camera that has its own permanent grip. But the price difference, as you know, is extraordinary; in addition, I like being able to detach and re-attach the grip depending upon how much weight I'm comfortable carrying.

And a brief aside about third party equipment. My experience with third party lenses was brief and uneven. The Tamron 90mm micro was good. The few others i tried were disappointing, and, eventually, I bought Nikon only and sometimes just waited until I could afford to do that.

Now that you mention it, I think so too. Thanks!

Thank you. At the moment,B&H seems to have the best legit price for the D. $517. I don't remember if that includes S&H. Bottom lines for me: B&H is my most "go to" on line store; and all the legit places, including Adorama, KEH, and many others, I think, have similar pricing. As came up in another topic forum, I would not go near some, like Abe's, regardless of list price.

Happy Weekend!

Thank you for sharing your personal experience / professional opinion. I expect that, with perhaps excessive caution, I'll continue thinking over the weekend and then purchase the D next week

Thank you, Steve, and everyone who has responded. You are very helpful.

I will make a point, sometime soon, to fill out background information about myself. For now, a quick sketch:
Recently, I sold a number of fine Nikon lenses. Now, having decided to keep my two Nikon D700's, I'm looking to lessen the weight while keeping a versatile lens on each. The 24-120 f/4 has been a favorite for a long time and remains on one camera. The other camera has the Nikon 50mm f/1.8, and I'm inclined to keep that around without using it regularly. I'm considering replacing the 50mm with the 60mm because I find the pics from the 60 so satisfying.

In retirement, I am a happy amateur in need of a reasonably light weight kit. (I might even give up the battery grips I attached a few years ago.) The cameras will function separately and not as backups. After much thought and experimenting, I'm pretty sure that the 24-120 on one camera and the 60 on the other camera will work fine for now and maybe forever. The notion of doing real micro shooting is not a serious consideration.

At the moment, weighing all of your inputs, I'm almost certain to purchase the 60mm D.

I hope this is not more information than you would like. And, again, thank you.

I have pretty much permanently installed my Nikon 24-120mm on one D700. After deciding to keep my second D700, I'm planning to purchase a Nikon 60mm micro, which would be pretty much permanently on it -- for walking around and for the occasional micro photo.

Question: Do you prefer the D (older) version or the newer G? I used the D version a long time ago, but I don't have hands-on experience with the G.

In retirement, I'm taking pictures for fun and not thinking about what equipment I might need for special shoots.

Thanks in advance for your reply and for taking the time to read this.

Brookie

First time posting.
During many years on nikonians.org, I heard over and over, "stay away from Abe's." So, no firsthand knowledge, but certain I'll not buy there. As for B*H, love their honesty, efficient, expertise, and efficiency.