There is no shortage of opinions on which film to use.   In general, professionals use slide film because they are shooting assignments that require the use of slide film.  However, as we enter the era of electronic imaging, negative film has become a more competitive medium for the reasons outlined below:

•  -  Negative film can handle a much wider exposure latitude, sometimes up to 7 stops.  This means that even if your miss the exact exposure by one or 2 stops, you can still salvage a decent image.  With a static scene, the photographer has time to calculate the best exposure but with race cars, you don't have time to change exposure compensation when they are speeding by at 200 plus mph.

•  -  Negative film has certain advantages for electronic scanning.  Greater exposure latitude also means that you have more information on negative film which can potentially result in better scans.   For the next couple of years, there will be an increased number of images generated from scanning film thus giving negative film a competitive advantage.   

•  -  The quality of 400 ASA speed "negative" film is better than 400 ASA "slide" film.  Therefore, if you plan to use a high speed film, your better choice may be "negative" film.

•  -  With negative film, most of an image's color, hue, and density will be determined in the darkroom or in an electronic imaging program instead of in the camera as with slide film.  This means that using filters with negative film will not be quite as effective as with slide film.  However, I try to get my images processed and printed without color compensation so the full affect of filtering is more evident.  

There are a few other thoughts to consider when shooting with negative film:

•  -  Don't under expose negative film.  In fact, some photographers make a habit of over exposing negative film by half a stop or more by adjusting the film's ISO downward.  (e.g.  shoot 200 ASA as 150 ASA)

•  -  ASA 200 has improved immensely in the last few years and it is now difficult to differentiate from 100 ASA film.  200 ASA film compares more favorably to 100 ASA film than 400 ASA does to 200 ASA.  

•  -  Negative films from the big manufacturers are all excellent.  However, most photographers have a preference for the Kodak Gold and Fuji Superia lines of emulsions as they are available worldwide.

The conversion to digital was a lot easier than I would have thought.  Almost everything known about film imaging can be applied to digital imaging. Plus, you get all the benefits of digital which seem to be minimized by those that only have film based equipment. 

For example, a 4-8 mega pixel images is just as sharp and can be blown up just as much as a film based image which is theoretically equivalent to a 35 mega pixel digital image. In fact, I purchased a 4 mega pixel D2H because of its faster handling and appearance of images with greater clarity. I still haven't figured out why. Below are some additional advantages of digital:

• On a digital camera, the ISO number can be changed by rotating a dial.  With film, you have to change film or carry more than one body.

• The NEF raw data file contains a tremendous amount of information.  The exposure of an image can be changed after the image has already been captured.  You get a second chance.

• The exposure latitude of digital is similarly expanded due to the capability of the raw file.

• Due to burned out highlights, shooting with film is generally limited to the first and last 2 hours of each day.  Digital can be used throughout the day. 

There are a few other thoughts to consider when shooting with a digital camera.

• I can get 300+ 6-MB NEF files on a 2 Gig CF card.  Sure beats changing film every 36 shots when taking action images.

• Scanning negative or slides is a time consuming process. While the affect of dust and scratches can be minimized, scanning can lead to capturing the grain of the film.  

After film, batteries are the most important consumable in photography.  I occasionally use an old Nikon F and guess the proper exposure. Very traditional, lots of fun, but not always the most appropriate method under more complicated exposure conditions.  Batteries provide capability; matrix metering, auto focus vibration reduction, etc.  On most of the more modern cameras, run out of power and you won't be able to expose film under any condition. 

Always use the type of batteries recommend by the camera manufacturer and below are a few tips to insure continue camera operation:

• If your camera can use them, always carry a backup set of lithium batteries.

• Lithium batteries operate in very cold situations and have extremely long shelf lives.

• Always mark and use rechargeable batteries in sets; mixing will reduce battery life.

• Some rechargeable batteries can lose 1% of their battery life every day.

• Some rechargeable batteries need to be fully exhausted before recharging regardless of what the manufacturer recommends.