Hi there,
I am wondering whether to get digital SLR camera before moving to Switzerland. I have a regular digital 7mp camera but it looks like the SLR cameras are quite a good choice. I checked Nikon's CH site and saw that the prices are higher compared to North America which is another factor that plays a role right now. Iam looking for Nikon D60 or Canon EOS (both 10MP and for now my preferences are for Nikon...

Does anyone has a suggestion/recommendation? thanks

Pretty much everything is cheaper in America (be it the US or Canada) than it is in Europe or, well, basically everywhere else. Particularly for consumer goods like cameras (TVs, computers, bikes, clothes, etc, etc)

So unless you have a reason to wait, I strongly advise buying it there. I would expect any SLR will come with a worldwide warranty - Canon's certainly do (NOTE: most 'consumer' cameras do NOT have worldwide coverage).

I have a Canon EOS 400D and have been very happy with it. It was recently replaced by the 450D, which is reportedly quite a bit better. Over your way, I think these are called the Digital Rebel XTi and XSi, respectively.

I found this site to be extremely helpful when I was researching my camera before buying.

Do your price comparisons before you come over. When looking at the Swiss prices be aware that the sales tax is normally already in the price and not added afterwards.

http://www.toppreise.ch/index.php

http://www.preise.ch/

Hi, don't buy anything until you've been into a shop and tried each model out. I was all set to buy a Canon, then discovered my girly fingers just didn't sit comfortably around it and the button wasn't where my clicking finger naturally sat.

I ended up with a Nikon D80 because it did feel natural, and it had all the features I had outlined as important when I compared varoius models and makes.

Also beware that your warranty is likely only to be valid in the country of purchase. I thought about buying mine when I was back in Australia a few xmases ago, but the man in the shop comfirmed that any warranty claims from Europe would pretty much be laughed at.

this might be repetitive to early posts, but as rule, with the exchange rates as they are, everything in Switzerland is shockingly expensive.

You will get used to it after a while, but for the first 6 months you will suffer sticker shock when paying CHF 5 for a bottle of coke (20 ounces)

That being said...yes you should have a digital SLR...switzerland is beautiful and quite photogenic. I had a film SLR for 20 yrs and upgraded once I saw some places here. Got it from Ebay...a Nikon D300. hard to steer you, because it depends on what features you want. try camaralabs.com...he has video reviews of most of them

I bought a Nikon D90 recently in preparation for our trip to the US later this year. I was tossing up between this and the Canon 450D. I had a play with both cameras and, in the end, liked the Nikon more for various reasons. It was a bit more expensive that the Canon, but it had way more features, felt nicer to hold, etc. I couldn't be happier with the Nikon, except I still have to work out what all of those buttons do!

When looking at the exchange rate, I actually found not much of a price difference between Switzerland and the US, and some products were actually more expensive in the US once you added the tax. So it might depend on the actual sites you are looking at. In Switzerland, you can get better prices online than in the retail outlets. I saved myself over CHF 600 on the camera body and two lenses. I definitely recommend looking at www.toppreise.ch

You can use Digitec prices for comparison here: http://en.toppreise.ch/grp3_159.html

For US prices, http://bhphotovideo.com or http://adorama.com are the benchmarks for pricing.

That was true 10 years ago but times have changed. Wish I could remember which publication I just read it in but there was an article about how electronic consumer goods have fallen in price in Switzerland to the point of actually being cheaper than neighboring countries. Since we're talking cameras here here's a quick example I put together and you tell me if you still think prices are "shockingly expensive" here.

Case in point: Nikon D90 with a Nikkor 18-105mm lens

At a popular retailer in the States (Best Buy) said camera goes for $1,299.99 plus 8% sales tax for a total of around $1,414. That's about 1,644.-chf today. (1 Swiss franc = 0.862589 U.S. dollars)

source: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1217633560861


The same camera when searched for on TopPreise starts at 1,326.-chf (tax included)

source: http://www.toppreise.ch/prod_149477.html

That's 318.-chf. less than at Best Buy..!


Now who's "shockingly expensive"....?

Sure, you might find the price a bit cheaper from some online retailer in the States but not like they were 10 years ago when one could buy camera equipment (or just about anything for that matter) in the States at half of what it was being sold for here.

Thank you all - I checked some of the suggested websites and didn't find the prices higher (I am in Canada not in the US)
it looks that I won't rush buying it now and here ...
thanks again!

As you can see, Sara, everything in this forum becomes contentious.

I realize it is possible to take anecdotal information and twist it up, but most everything here is more expensive than it is in North America. If other people, who have commented here, want to debate and disagree with that fact, they are free to waste their breath and do so.

Good luck with your camera purchase.

Steve, you are probably right
But it depends on the city / country in North America (Canada vs USA) and city in Switzerland I believe. Therefore, currently I just listen and read how more expensive everything in Switzerland is adn will assess the reality once there. But some numbers on the websites are convincing

You're absolutely right, most everything (meaning food, housing, transportation, insurance plus other life sustaining needs) are more expensive here but the OP was asking specifically about cameras which can be bought here at very reasonable prices.
Now if only they could figure out a way to get all those other items as low as electronics are without our having to take a cut in pay to balance it all out..

Exactly - I shopped around for cameras for over a month, and found that what I wanted was cheaper in Switzerland. I had always heard about how cheap electronics were in the US, and because we're going there later this year, I was toying with the idea of buying a camera in the US. But I looked at BestBuy and some other sites, and once you factored in the current exchange rate, I was able to get a better deal in Switzerland. Plus, I figured that since I live here, it would be easier to have a local battery charger, and if I have any questions or problems with my camera, it would be easier to deal with that situation in Switzerland than by calling another country.

cameras are not more expensive in Switzerland. In addition, if you take into account chargers, service, etc. it is better to buy it here.

if you are looking at some specialized lenses though, you may find things to be a bit more different.

Both Nikon and Canon are good. Bear in mind that both companies compete at different price levels, for eg., D90 is about Fr.400 more expensive than the 450D. So of course it should have more features.... D60 is Fr.150 cheaper, so it has less features. From my point of view, the most important thing is to have the camera in your hand because while there is very little difference in image quality, the feel in your hand is very different.

Depending on what your looking for, Digitec.ch has great deals sometimes!!! And this is someone coming from Canada where we pay 14% tax (which is not displayed in the price on the advertisement). I bought a high end Canon 6MP camera and recently a Canon EOS 450D / Rebel XSi with 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses as well as the Canon battery grip from Digitec. They have several locations in Switzerland but there is one near Zurich Hardbrucke in Zurich Technopark.

EXACTLY!!!

On Bestbuy, the camera I was looking for costed nearly similar prices for what I could get in Switzerland via Digitec. Actually the cost ends up being lower taking into consideration the exchange rate. BUT in Canada I would have to pay 14% taxes on top of that.

There was a promotion in Migros last month that Canon 450D costs only 666Sfr, pretty good price! That would be just luck to get really cheap stuffs in Switzerland

That was a pretty good price!!!