On Mon, 14 Sep 1998 19:28:06 -0600, Phouka wrote:

>My husband and I are very new to the SLR world, and
>despite many hours of searching, I cannot find any
>succinct info on film recommendations that are not
>produced by the marketing departments of the various
>film companies.
>
>We are going to Scotland in the spring and will be
>taking tons of outdoor shots and architecture shots.
>Obviously, the weather is often gray, rainy, or foggy,
>or sunny and bright -- it changes constantly. I want
>to be able to get good pictures in all of these situations
>as well as some limited interior shots.
>
>My husbands argument is that he wants to carry only
>one speed of film for everything -- no changing or
>running out, whatever. We have a Minolta 500si with
>a Tamron 28-200 lens and a 28-80 lens. As I noted,
>we're rank beginners at this.
>
>Any suggestions for what speed/type of film that would
>cover this kind of situation and give us good
>"family album" quality pictures? We may want to
>enlarge a few of the pictures to a max of 8x10.
>Or is he kidding himself that a single speed will
>be acceptable?

I would choose Kodak Royal Gold 400 - it has punchy
colors and snappy contrast for the gloomy environs
(but it is also fine in that weak Scottish sunshine...;-).
It is a conservatively-rated 400, so interior
shooting with it is possible (though one moderately
wide fast non-zoom might help here....), and exterior
shooting is easy. It is also quite sharp and fine-grained.

>Also, a friend recommended a polarizing filter or
>a haze filter for those misty morning shots --
>anything else we might want to try?

"Haze" filters do nothing for the image - but
they are fine as lens front protectors. RG-400
has plenty of color, so the false-looking color
boost of the polarizer is unnecessary. I would
save the trouble and 1.5 stops speed loss and
forget it - unless you like poster-color
prints...;-) I would keep things as simple
and compact as possible - and enjoy the trip
and the scenery...!