Well... I have been hit with this question lots and lots of time... if people are paying me 2 cents everytime they ask this question, I will be a very rich man.
Anyway, I would not go so far as to tell anyone not to buy from any shop or expo (people can sue my pants off)... and since no one is paying me 2 cents everytime this question is being brought up... I will not try my luck.
Anyway before going into where to buy the cameras and the accessories, there are a few terms that everyone needed to know.
1) Grey sets - this is legit sets from overseas... somehow they flow into Singapore (legally or illegally). These sets are normally not covered by warranty in Singapore. Note that for Canon, all camera body and lenses bought from overseas or from shops selling grey sets, will not be covered by warranty. As for Nikon, their camera body must be bought in Singapore and from shops selling local sets... lenses wise, they can be bought from overseas with international warranty.
2) Local Sets - well, these are sets that are sold in Singapore by shops that bring their products in from an authorise distributor or direct from the brand headquarter. The sets are covered by local warranty, which mean you can sent these sets down to their respective service centers for servicing (free if you are within warranty period - condition applied).
3) Shop Warranty - I have been seeing quite a number of shops offering this option when you buy products from them. Don't be mistaken... this are shops that offer you servicing for the products inhouse and not by the service centres... it is a different matter.
Okay... now which shops to get your cameras from? Well... for megastores and electronic shows, they sold the products by the suggested retail price. All brands had a suggested retail price for shops selling their product, and this price is normally higher than street price.
But I never say don't go down to the megastores... megastores and electronic shows normally offer very very good deals on cameras that are end-of-line already... recently I have seen an Olympus E-PL1 camera going at the crazy price of S$4XX in an electronic show!
Also at times, you might be seeing products that you can not find in other shops, being sold in megastores. The reason is simple, small shops normally don't bring in rare items or they keep their inventory very small to minimise loses or to ensure that they do not need to keep stock for too long. So many of the products cannot be found in small shops might be found in megastores (who had a bigger margin).
Well... there are a couple of shops in Funan (TK foto, SLR-revo, John3:16), Penisula Singapore (Cathay Photo), Sim Lim Square (notably a sixth floor shop - Orient Photo), Ang Mo Kio (MScolor) that sold cameras and their accessories at a reasonable price.
However before going down to grab your camera and stuff... be sure to email them, call them and whatever to get quotation first. That would save you lots and lots of trouble. The above few shops that I have mentioned, all sold local sets, so warranty are covered.
There are some shops that do not sell local sets (their product are all legit and entered singapore legally though)... these shops sold grey sets and many offered shop warranty.
When you buy something, be sure to ask if it was grey or local sets.
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