FILM... Probably the most important bit of gear. It doesn't
matter how much you spend on a camera, you must have film, and
the right stuff.

Buying dubious film stock, or that which is 'out of date' is not
to be recommended for holiday use. You may never go back so buy
good stuff.

Having said that, most expensive is not necessarily the best.
look for offers, and buy several rolls at once. I always buy in,
at least, 10's at Jessops - this gets an extra 10%off - so if one
roll is a 30 metre tin of mono film at over £30, the saving is
worthwhile.

Bulk buying is a good way to get lots of good film cheaply - but
beware of bulk loaders. I have tried 2, and both scratched the
film BADLY. I load in a changing bag by feel.

It is also a fact that many 'own brand' films are very good buys.
They are often the SAME film as in boxes costing over twice as
much.

Look where a film was made -  Italy probably means 3M's - what
was, once, Ferrania. Germany could mean Agfa, and Japan
is likely to be Konica or Fuji. I like Fuji colour films, but
that is a very personal thing.

I am not aware of Kodak selling film to anyone else.

Most holiday makers will be using colour print, and as such, 100
or 200 ISO is quite enough speed - ISO is a measure of a film's
sensitivity to light, the higher the number, the more sensitive
the film.

In bright sun, they are quite fast enough, and most basic cameras
are designed to use such films in sunlight. Faster films, 400 ISO
and above will allow use without flash or, in effect, increase
flash range in dark conditions. You will almost always find that
the faster the film, the lower the quality. ( Contrast drops and
grain size increases. )


Other films to consider are colour transparency, excellent for
huge projected results - but not advised for anything but
extremely accurate exposure systems. Compacts, especially the
cheaper models, have fairly crude exposure metering.

Black and white is still a good bet for many types of shot and
comes into it's own if you do your own processing. I still like
B&W best of all. Bulk loaded mono Ilford FP4 rated at 200 ISO
costs me about £1.50 for a 36 exposure roll, and only a few pence
to process to negatives in my 'home brew' developer. Thus, I take
lots of B&W shots.