Both Light & Byte (www.lb-ag.ch) and Profot (www.profot.ch) have online stores at their websites. Is there a reason you want to buy online?

Bryon Paul McCartney
The ViewFinder Center for Photography 
www.viewfindercenter.com

Also try www.digitec.ch they have very good prices.

I am looking for the same but Used stuff ..i.e Lighting /softbox ..etc any advice ?

Try http://www.ricardo.ch/ I have had good luck on there

also try www.ricardo.ch or de and www.ebay.ch or de. Ive found that a lot of reasonable equipmewnt can be found in germany cheaper than Switzerland, shipping costs have been reasonable, and the import duty quite low, especially on second hand products. Another place to try for new equipment is www.chillipix.ch

hope this helps

hi Moto,

thanks for your reply ,, can you plz check www.chillipix.ch

its not working

thanks

Mohamed

my apologies misspelling

http://ch-shop.chili-pix.ch/skip5shop.aspx?shop=9

or www.chilipix.ch

just go to www.toppreise.ch and pick up the best price ;-)

In the past, I have purchased a lot of my equipment from B&H Photo in NYC. For many items, their prices are so low (esp. now with the low dollar) that they are lower than local prices, even after shipping and zoll is added. The bonus is that their UPS rates are the lowest I have ever seen, so usually your items arrive in about three working days. However, in recent years, I have noticed that Swiss prices (esp. since the increase of online retailers) have become more competitive, so lately I only use B&H for specialized gear.

Another issue with buying equipment across borders is that in some cases, items bought outside of your local market are not covered by warranty, especially larger purchases like camera bodies. That means extra costs if something stops working properly. The OP seemed to be interested in studio gear and it is always better to buy specialized equipment like studio lights from a local dealer, especially things like studio lights and related equipment. When something goes wrong or you get a bad unit, you do not have to deal with the frustrating process of returning it and most pro shops have their own repair departments. 

When it comes to certain items, you know exactly what you will get and the quality should be standard issue. Gear bags are a great example. Go to a local shop to try some of them out, but then surf and shop for the lowest price online.

If you are looking for the best prices, I suggest you compare digitec.ch, architronic.ch, heiniger.ch and brack.ch. Keep in mind these stores are electronics stores, they will not have much in the way of studio equipment, but they will have cameras, speedlites and some lenses. 

If you are looking for used gear, I suggest you try fotoflohmarkt.ch, the Meta Guide, or the pinboard of the VFG. Ricardo and ebay are obvious sources, but I have never used them, there are too many ways to get scammed, especially if you do not know what you are doing.

Also, for those of you in Zürich, Light & Byte will have it's annual used/obsolete equipment sale on March 7th, it's a great chance to find special deals on equipment, so I suggest everyone check it out.

Happy shopping.

Ahh, I also forgot to mention Ott & Wyss

B&H seems very interesting, as they indeed ship to CH. They show the shipment costs, but not the tax & duties, how much are they based on your experience say if I order a camera body or lens worth more than $1000?

Well, duties can vary depending on the equipment. I recently made a purchase of over USD 3000 from BH and the duties were slightly less than the standard 7.6%. The good thing is that you do not get charged sales tax for international shipments from BH. 

It also depends which camera brand you are interested in. Some are only covered under warranty in the country where you buy it. I am a Canon Professional Service member, so I could have my cameras covered anywhere in the world, but for consumers, it's different. I would recommend, checking Digitec or one of the other suppliers mentioned for a camera. Lenses seem to be covered globally (at least with Canon) and I usually buy mine from BH. 

One thing to point out is that when you buy from BH, you will need to replace the power cable or use plug adapters for electrical items. And make sure any electrical items use a power supply that switches for different power sources, most modern electronics use these types of power supplies.

Thanks bpm, indeed when I added everyting up, toppreise.ch is the same as ordering from the US. Maybe another exchange rate period will change things...

I've been checking these sites, but unable to speak german & new to studio photography, I'm still quite clueless. Any suggestions for a starter kit? What I have in mind is a three-strobe system complete with softbox, matching stands and umbrellas in a portable case...

I would recommend that you go to this page and download the flyer (french version). On the first page you will see various offers for starter kits. Profot has a shop in Rennes, near Lausanne.

Personally, I would suggest you start with two lights if you are just starting out. Preferably, two 600 w/s heads, plus stands, umbrellas, at least one softbox, etc... You can already do a lot with one light, but two is a good starting point. Later you may want to add one or two lights depending on the size of your studio or the type of shooting you want to do. 

I will also be offering the studio weekend on 26/27 March at my studio in Zürich. It includes the Studio Lighting Course on Sat and a Studio Workshop with Model on Sun. These two courses will give you a great introduction to working with studio lighting and the course is aimed at people just getting started. We'll cover all the bases, give you an overview of the various equipment and how it works and then get to shooting and experimenting with the gear.

By the way, if you are not sure what you want to start with, talk to the people at Profot about renting a kit for the weekend to try the stuff out.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Bryon