2. CHOOSE THE RIGHT FILM

If you have a 35mm camera or have chosen to buy one, you need good film. Don't think of this in terms of the best brand name film, because most of the generic films will perform just as well as the name brands. Just buy whatever is on sale, and keep what you're not using in the fridge. Film "keeps" longer if you keep it cold, much like cheese, fruit, leftovers, and truncated human body parts. Wait… Forget we mentioned the last one.

There are two kinds of film out there, but please pretend that there's only one. You should NOT buy slide film. It's called slide film, because it's the film you use to make slides. Tricky, eh? The makers of slide film are responsible for every excruciating instant of boredom that you spent as a kid watching your grandparents' vacation slides. They are to be shunned and hated wherever they go. (Not your grandparents-the makers of slide film.)

You SHOULD buy Color print film. (Or Black and White print film, if you're an art- house wannabe.) Print film is the kind that "prints" off as 4X6 or 8X10 pictures and then gets stuck into all those photo albums that get chucked into the attic as soon as they're full (if the pictures were taken by someone who is not SYW-savvy, of course).

If, as we've suggested, you have decided to purchase print film, the only other choice you're faced with is what film "speed" to buy. A film's speed is a measure of its sensitivity to light, measured either as "ISO" or "ASA." Don't worry about what these abbreviations mean. It doesn't matter, and frankly, we don't care. All that matters is that you know what to buy. Now, this sensitivity to light means that a 200 ISO film would capture an image on film twice as fast as a 100 ASA film. Slower speeds give you clearer pictures, but they also are more prone to blurriness if your picture subject is moving around. Use the following chart as a guideline:

100 ISO/ASA Slow Film Good for sunny, outdoor conditions, less "grainy" 200 ISO/ASA Medium Film Good compromise for indoor/outdoor use 400 ISO/ASA Fast Film

Good for indoor use, low light conditions, or action shots