DEATH wrote:What can someone find in a average store that isn't utter crap? Film type? Kodak colour?
In an
average store? Nothing, from what I've seen.* Digital is the hot new thing, so digital cameras are on the forefront of camera marketing. Film is "old hat" unless one is interested in photography as a craft, so film and film camera equipment are marketed to a smaller crowd that doesn't buy their equipment at Wal-Mart or Staples or Radio Shack in the first place.
* Fujicolor, Kodak Gold, and BW400CN are perfectly serviceable if not exceptional films. They have an advantage in that they are cheap and available. But they are of little use if he has fuck-all to choose from except disposable cameras, which are really terrible.
You're going to NYC though, yes? Visit B&H Photo at 34th Street & Ninth Ave. in West Manhattan. They are a serious-business camera store and you will have plenty to choose from if you are looking to buy something.
DEATH wrote:Recommend me a decent film camera, and a good film type for landscape (colour) shots.
Track down a Shanghai Shenhao or a Calumet XM, get a box of basically any 4x5 Fujichrome ISO-100 from B&H, and rock out on large format - there's nothing better. At the very least go medium format; get a heavy tripod and something in 6x6, 6x7, or 6x9. Landscape photography doesn't need the particular advantages of 35mm (speed, ease of use, lots for frames on a roll for rapid shooting), but it does need image quality and the capability for making large prints, and that's much easier to come by in a bigger format.