Thanks all.

They were scanned by my local Fuji lab. I have a scanner at home but rarely get good results on it.

Is there a film I can switch to that will improve the situation with regard to the graining?

I will try those settings. Thanks again.

the amount of Grain (on film) or noise, (on digital images) is directly proportional to the ISO rating of the film / ISO setting of the digital camera.

Up to ISO 200, there is barely noticable speckling on the image – ISO 400 produces noticable speckling – ISO 800 produces very noticable speckling – ISO 1600 produces speckling which noticably degrades the image quality.

Appologies if you already know this, but a doubling of the ISO speed = a doubling of the film / sensors sensitivity to light = a reduction of 1 stop in exposure duration / aperature setting for any given setting.

What this means in practical terms is that on a sunny day, ISO 100 is plenty sensitive enough to give excellent results, but on a dull day would require
a much longer exposure time or an opening up of the aperature. On that same dull day, ISO 400 rated film would be able to go 2 f-stops more closed in aperature OR could use a shutter speed 2 stops faster to get the same image as that ISO 100, in the same level of available light.

Personally, when i used film at the Airport / at Airshows, i generally loaded ISO 200 as a good all round mix of speed and quality, but would have a roll of ISO 400 ready as a back-up. Now that i have gone digital, i can switch ISO settings between shots, but still find that i only have to use ISO 100 or 200 settings most often.

A usefull tip i can give is to really, really work on holding and panning that camera / lens combination to give you the confidence to bring shutter speeds down if neccesary – it can pull you out of a mess if you have “slow” film loaded

I hope this made sense / is of some help

Michael

PS the best solution is to re-mortgage the house / rob a bank and buy some lenses with seriously BIG bits of glass on the front like the press use…. 🙂