Amanda

Check you battery charger. I have a Canon and it can be used anywhere in the world. All I needed was an adapter to fit in the electrical outlet. I would purchase it before you leave. It is difficult to find them in Europe. I did find one in San Sebastian in an electrical hardware store, the man who ran the store had to file it a little to work.

I just returned from a trip to Europe: I carried 4-rolls of Fuji ISO 400 film in my carry-on. Pix came out fine. As for the new high-powered scanning devices: I have heard/read that the ones that scan checked luggage might damage higher speed film (ISO 800 or 1600) but I have no personal experience with that.

Thanks Gsobotta.

My wife and I will be travelling to Spain in September. We will be bringing with us a Digital camera that we just bought. However, we will also bring a 35 mm as backup. Our plan is to just bring the digital during the day and when we are at museums and stuff. When walking around the city streets will bring the cheaper 35 mm with us. The good part is that the digital we have fits easilly in a pocket. So, it's easy to hide. You might want to think about that too. Digital cameras come in very small sizes which means you usually don't have to walk around with a camera bag. As for the uploading of pictures? Well, we bought a 512 MB card to go with it. Which means we can take more than 300 photos without having to upload them. That way we can just upload them when we get back home.

I would say get a digital, sneak. Since we bought ours we've taken thousands of pics. It is certainly the way to go forward in my opinion.

If you are worried about losing it or getting mugged or whatever, can't you take out travel insurance, or add it to a home policy you already have?

I know it's tempting fate to say it, but there is such a remote possibility of it being stolen I wouldn't worry about it unduly......... says the man who famously had the safe ripped from the wall and stolen from his hotel room in Madrid one trip....

Get it insured!!

Digital Cameras have gotten cheap and easy to use. I've got a Mavica that uses floppy disks that can be bought everywhere and cost cents. I can get up to 15 high resolution photos in each floppy or up to 55 regular pictures in the same space. It has built in flash and has some fun features in it. Most important I can see if my pictures are good ones in the place and moment, if they didn't come up ok I can take them again on the spot. It costs about $350 which I think is what I used to spend in film and developing in one month trip, and I got really disappointed when some pictures didn't come out as I expected.
Spain is full of cyber cafés with very modern computers, so you can upload your pictures without any problem at all. I've had more trouble locating a cyber café in USA than in any small town in Spain.
I go very often to Madrid, maybe 2 or 3 times a year. I was living there for 6 months last winter and I have never had any security problem. I go out at night and go partying all night long without feeling insecure. I am careful about my hand bag, but just as careful as I am at home. People in Madrid keep telling me that I have a tourist look and that I should be careful about credit cards, money, cameras and so on. Anyway, I've been lucky so far.
My father has been robbed 3 or 4 times just as he took out money from the ATM, so watch out. Funny thing, the boys who stole him were not spanish, they were rumanians, and the same pair stole him the 3 or 4 times!!!
Take your digital camera, have fun and love spanish people as they deserve to be loved.

Good advice Anchovy and Mily.
BTW does anyone know if there is a digital camara that takes good pictures inside the Prado Museum?
Saludos
Carmen

I don't know if you can take a camera inside the Museum. I took my mavica to El Escorial and when I took a picture (without flash) en employee came and asked me to put it away as it is not permited to use cameras inside. The pictures came out great, but I felt embarassed by the request to put it away. Ask in the front desk so you'll save the embarassment.
You can buy great books with fantastic pictures in the souvenir shop at the entrance.
A tip: I bought some great litographies of some of the most famous pieces in El Prado (like Las Meninas) in a small shop just besides La Iglesia del Carmen, one block away from El Oso del Madroño.They costed me less than 15.00 USD and they look much more expensive. Its a good present for yourself or for a close friend.

You are allowed to take pictures in the Prado - but flash is not allowed. The last time I was there I saw a woman taking flash pictures and she was politely asked to not use flash.

Here are a couple of my Prado pics:
Prado 1 and Prado 2

sneak: I was a professional photographer most of my life--traveled widely in many countries. I never had a camera stolen from me. The trick is not to be conspicuous with it. Don't buy a flashy camera bag, keep it in your beat-up hand valise or whatever. Or if it is small enough, in your pocket wrapped in your handkerchief. When standing in a line--or sitting to eat with your bag on the floor, put your foot on it. whenever you can, wrap the strap around your ankle. Remain aware. Remember--out of sight is out of mind.

But with digital cameras as small as they are today, you can get wondeful images with one as small as a pack of cigarettes--and as easy to conceal. My first venture into digital was with a Canon Powerfhot S200. I would have preferred a longer zoom capability--but it provided excellent images to 8X10.

Good luck, and may you have good light for your photos.