crepes_a_go_go

I will def try the self-timer idea on my P&S. I have a digital SLR, but I just hate to wag it because of its size.

ira

Hi P,

>Last time, my pics were ok but it's hard with low lighting. Any tips? <

What's your camera?

navgator

anaheimwoman, which camera do you have? I haven't had much to do with compact film cameras for about 6 yrs now,but at the time, most were recommending the use of 400 speed film anyway. 100 speed has the finest grain, and the colors are a little more punchy. The grain in 400 speed film these days is not noticable on 6 by 4 prints and you would struggle to notice the difference on larger prints. I have a 12 by 18 inch print from 400 film hanging in my house, which looks great, so I would recommend using 400 film for your whole trip. I did this on a trip in 2001 using an slr camera. It really isn't worth the trouble trying to change films midroll etc
As a point of interest, most camera's have a midroll rewind button. the only catch is the film tab is wound fully back into the film (some slr camera's have a function allowing the film end to be left exposed enabling easy reinsurtion back into the camera.)
You can get a 'film leader puller' to retrieve the end, but personally do not think it is worth the trouble.
Just to make a comparison, the grain on a compact digital camera set at iso 400 is alot more than a print using 400 speed film for two reasons
1) the image capture chip in most compact camera's is only 66% the size of the 35mm film, and therefore the image needs to be enlarged an extra 33% to obtain the same size print as 35 mm film. SLR digital camera's have a larger image capture chip and therefore respective prints also have less noise
2)the image capture chip is rated at the lowest iso setting of the camera. therefore if 100 iso is the lowest setting, the camera is actually under exposing the image at higher ISO settings, and using internal software to remove noise from the image. or reducing the number of pixels to achieve the same.
ISO 400 film is designed and manufactured as a 400 speed film and therefore quality is very good in comparison.
For 6 by 4 prints I doubt you would notice any difference between a film or digital image.
Another advantage of sticking with the 400 film is extending your cameras flash range when used.Personally do not recommend this for interiors and as you would know, alot of buildings don't allow flash anyway; but for other situations , it may come in handy.

I own a canon 30d digital slr camera. A bit of a pain to carry around ,but produces great images, particularly if you have a knowledge of its capabilities.

rkkwan makes a good point about sharpening images in photoshop or any other image editing program. It is very hard to sharpen an image which is blurred as a result of movement during image capture, and really is not a compromise to obtaining a clear sharp image out of the camera.Some people say, digital imaging and editing programs have made photography easy, but go out shooting with a pro for a day and you will still see it is an artform requiring alot of practice.

As you have mentioned Ira, it would be nice to know which camera patiboo owns!

navgator

Some info about carrying film through airports

http://www.ecophotoexplorers.com/filmtravel.asp

patiboo

Thanks all, especially Navgator and LoveJoy (for sharing beautiful Germany pics). I justs bought a Canon Es IS, a "bridge" camera - manual controls but not a full DSLR. Good tip about keeping settings at ISO 400 and self-timer.

noe847

I thought the ISO 400 recommendation was for film??

The self timer is a good trick.

I usually stabilize the camera on a pew if necessary.

The other thing to watch out for is the windows - you can end up with back light issues if shooting towards a window, so I find that compensating is helpful.

rkkwan

Nice thing about digital camera is that you can switch ISO on the fly, or you can have it left on AUTO on many cameras. That's one of the main benefits over film cameras.

I switch ISO all the time with my dSLR.