using 35mm vs Digital camera?

Film itself is a good tutor of photography:

Every time you trip the shutter you spend money; therefore it pays to ensure you've got the right shot prior to tripping the shutter. Digital can make you lazy - just keep reshooting until you get it right and this is precisely how not to take photographs.

You didn't specify print or chrome (slide) film. If print, then it's generally better to over-expose a little - say up to a stop. If it's a slide film, then you're better off under-exposing about 1/2 a stop. Slide film is very fussy and you're well advised to stay clear until you are fairly confident.

Film has a better exposure latitude than digital (esp print film), so the whites take longer to burn out and the shadows can gain better definition.

Get a film leader retriever so you can change films mid-roll - very useful for when you have the 'wrong' film loaded and you come across a scene that requires a different treatment. You can just rewind the existing film, load up the preferred and swap back at a later date. Just remember to write the frame number down and load back to [frame number]+1.

BEFORE you use your dad's camera, get use to manually exposing on your digital (if it can) to give you some idea of how to change settings to get it right prior to shooting. Or play with the 35mm camera without film loaded to get used to the exposure meter.

The 35mm camera is a thing of the past. Even with two flashes the 35mm, cameras are a piece of junk. Have you ever taken a picture that will represent something in your life, all of the sudden they don't develope like you thought it would? Well that is the number one problem we all had with 35mm cameras. In the other hand a digital camera with flash are awesome. Why, because you can really see the picture how it is before you pay to develope. With digital cameras you won't Even need a flash because they are equipped with what they call LUX. LUX is The International System unit of illumination, equal to one lumen per square meter. A 5 LUX digital camera or cam-corder is not that good to use in the dark. A 0 or 1 lux is what we all must use so we won't miss any detail when shooting at night or in dark places. Sometimes the cameras are equipped with night-shot. witch is better than 0 LUX. I would advise you to purchase a digital camera ASAP. The camera might cost you $300.00 but the image on paper will be priceless. Enjoy and have fun.

I think Mick hit most of my answers - there is more latitude in film, meaning more tones available between blacks and whites. It is also more expensive to shoot, so it forces you to really consider your shots - no shot-gunning and hoping you get a good one. Use this as an opportuity to really plan a shot.

The negatives of film are - a delay in seeing your result, and the fact that it is much more difficult to "change ISO" with film as each roll is a single ISO value. The delay in seeing the result can create some problems. If you see the result a couple of days after you take the shot, you may have forgotten the settings you used and any other particulars about the shot. You may want to have a small notebook with to jot down any notes.

The biggest advantage to a 35mm film camera is that you end up with a real, hold in your hand negative. That's nifty.

Digital otherwise rivals 35mm in almost all ways.

You got good info from the previous posts, I still like my film camera better than my digital camera.

Get your dad to show you the basics, or you will waste a lot of film.