An apparatus for mounting semiconductor chips as flip chips on a substrate includes a chip supply, a pick-and-place system with a bonding head having a chip gripper, a flipping apparatus operable to rotate the chip from a first position to a second (flipped) position through an angle with a gripper and two cameras. The first camera determines a position of the chip before the flipping apparatus receives the chip and also determines a position of the flipped chip received by the chip gripper of the bonding head once the flipping apparatus has transferred the chip to it. The apparatus also comprises an optical switch, e.g., a rotatable mirror located in the field of view of the first camera. The mirror operates to rotate with the gripper of the flipping apparatus but at half the angle.