I will be taking my first trip to italy this year. Rome, Florence, Milan and Venice. <BR>I am thinking about taking pictures in black and white of the main tourist attractions in each city to later have framed. my question is, in your opionion do I put only black and white film in my camera to do this or, are there places there that actually sell black and white pictures. I don't want to limit myself to only black and white picture taking and hate the idea of lugging around two cameras and looking like a typical tourist. i love all the advise from all of you that have already been to Italy. By the way I live in N.Y. and all over the city are people selling back and white photos to the tourists here. thanks

Dear Mary - I just came back from Milan and Venice, and there were black and white available to purchase in most areas. BUT!!! we took both color and black and white photos (alternating rolls of film) and the B&W are much more beautiful than the color - I don't really know why... Consider the alternating rolls of film thing, or if you're travelling with someone, one take color, one take b&w. <BR>Enjoy!!

Another vote for taking two cameras. We always take a little point and shoot w/color film, mostly for snapshots of us in front of _______ (name tourist spot) and then a "real" camera with b&w film for lots of scenery photos and unusual pictures of tourist spots. My p&s is pretty good, so I get great color photos from it and it is super tiny (APS type). The b&w are always our favorites though, they make us feel like real photographers. We usually end up with more b&w shots than color.

Pack one camera. Bring both kinds of film. I do it every trip. It works pretty well for me.

Mary, <BR> <BR>Have you thought about using colored film and having it developed in brown tones? I like that better than just black and white. It looks older too. <BR> <BR>Robbyn

Hi, Mary, <BR>Most professional photo labs (and any competent amateur with a darkroom) can produce framable B&W from good color negatives. I do it all the time. Now, if you want color slides instead of color prints, it's a slightly different story but acceptable results are still possible. So the easiest approach is one camera with good color negative film, then print the B&Ws after you've used the color snaps as "proofs." You want to use a fine grained color negative film, which usually (but not always) means a slower film speed (ASA100 instead of 400 or 800, for example), but I think you'll find the results acceptable for B&W enlargements up to 8x10 in., maybe bigger if focus is ultra sharp (assuming a 35mm camera). <BR>Happy snapping! <BR>

Thanks for all of your responses to my question!! all good ideas. thanks especially to robbyn, I never knew that you could develope color pictures into brown tones. that is exactly the look i am wanting and did not know how to create. do all developing places know how to do that?? very interesting. thanks again.

Over the long run, you may want to consider investing in one of the newer APS cameras -- they allow you to change film mid-roll, so you can take a few color, switch rolls, take a few black and white, and switch back. (They also allow you to alternate between panoramic shots and regular as well).

Further to that post - you may want to consider investing in a digital camera. The initial outlay is a little steep, but I've already more than recouped my costs by not having to buy film. And if you don't like the way a picture looks, you can delete it right then & there on the spot.

If you are using a 35mm SLR, you may be able to change rolls in mid-roll easily too. Mine do it in no time at all, and I do it often. If you have a manual camera, you can do it too, but it is a little trickier. You have to be able to stop the rewind before the leader goes all the way in to the roll. I don't know if any point and shoots have this feature. If you can't do this, and don't want to miss some color shots by alternating film, I vote for the two camera option with real b&w film in one, or use one camera and have them converted to black and white later. Depending on the type of camera, if you carry two cameras you will look more like a photographer than a tourist. I just lugged too big SLRs, a backpack, and a tripod all over Washington, D.C. for three days, but it was worth it. Many locals are photographers too. I like to blend in too, but as an avid amateur photographer, I would almost never consider doing so at the expense of not taking photos. Besides you are a tourist, so it is ok to look like one.

Take two cameras. There are prime "Kodak moments" that could happen randomly and that you might prefer on one type of film vs. the other. We did that on our last trip to Spain; I had the color, my husband had the B&W. Worked just fine.