Opinions please: best films for the beach

[scotty smith]

I have the good fortune of being able to spend a week in Cabo San Lucas over New Years, and Im thinking about just taking a Bessa R2 with a 35/1.7 and the 90/3.5 and maybe the 21mm , and leaving the DSLR and the Minolta A2 behind.

Im pretty used to using Portra 400 NC for the higher latitudes in my rangefinders, but do you think with all the light, a slower film, such as Reala would make more sense? Ive been to Cabo several times, but only with digital stuff. Ive shot Kodachrome in Hawaii in my previous life, but I would prefer to stay with C-41 stuff now. Anyway, does anybody have advice on this horrendously painful predicament I find myself in? (I'll try to be brave.....)

Scotty

 

[Poptart]

Hmm . . . is it a nude beach?

 

[wlewisiii]

In C41, I'd grab as much Reala as I could stuff into my bag. It's my favorite color negative film - fairly saturated colors but still able to do skintones decently. But I have to admit that since I haven't done it before, on my next trip to someplace like that I'm going to stock up on the Kodachrome 64.

William

 

[ywenz]

and brush up on your "shoot from the waist" skills

 

[bmicklea]

I'll second the Reala suggestion - but I'd rate is at 80 as I've had some bad experiences with even slight underexposure. With all the light it shouldn't be a problem.

If you're planning on shooting in the evening then I'd go with either NPH or Superia 400 depending on budget. Again I'd rate it down one notch.