I’m going on a bit of a photo trek in the Caribbean and South America and I’m desperately trying to decide between a digital kit and film.

The digital images I’ve seen in photo mags seem to lack the colour intensity and sharpness of similar slide images. Faces lack detail and the images, while noise-free, have a plasticky smoothness to them.

However, plenty of mags run digital shots and I’m told this is “the future”.

I’d certainly appreciate the convenience of digital (tiny cards vs. bulky cartridges) but even high end digital lacks what a cheap SLR and a roll of ISO100 slide film can produce.

Am I being too picky? Does anyone else notice the difference?

FYI it’s basically come down to D80 vs. F80 (N80 for you Yanks). I’d be using Nikon’s 18-35 and 35-70 f2.8 on the film camera and 12-24 plus 35-70 on the D80. I’m well-versed in Photoshop and I can make good prints.

Any help would be appreciated.