What camera film should i use for a 35 mm cannon (snappy lx)?

i take pictures of groups of 10 to 40 people,(school) i麓ve been using 400 film which they come out ok for small groups( 3 to 8) but for larger they麓re pretty dim unless they麓re taken outside the classroom during sunlight , someone advised me to use 800 film and the pictures turned out to be much worse than even in smaller groups.(the flash does fine) . is it time to buy a another film or digital camera ? if so, which one between 150-250 $ budget
thank so much for your advice

The problem is your flash: It is too small to adequately light larger groups on the inside. Moving to higher speed film with boost your light gathering ability, but will result in more grain, particularly if it is a bit underexposed.

Frankly, I doubt that a cheap digital point & shoot will do much better. Maybe toward the upper end of your price range. The Fuji F30 has pretty good high ISO performance. A Canon or Olympus at the upper end might be ok as well. Digicams have noise at higher ISO, which is worse than grain on film. Of course, you could convert your color digital files to B&W and they look better in the noise department.

I think I would keep using the Snappy, which is a cute camera with an all right lens for its price. If you have big groups, plan on shooting outside.

Another thing I just thought of....
You could get a couple of cheap slave flashes. They are just a small flash unit that fires when the flash on board the camera fires. You can pick them up on eBay for a few dollars. You can set up a couple on each side of your group to help boost the light. You have to be careful af odd shadows when using more than one flash, but it might be worth a try.

Another thing to consider, you could get a used film slr with a 24mm fast lens, or maybe up to a 50mm. The 50mm 1.8 is a great lens, very sharp and fast, and cheap! Not very wide angle, but it might work. A fast lens is your friend! Check www,keh.com for reliable used camera equipment.

Good luck!

Try a 400 "professional" grade of film.

Use flash for your asa 400 film. You shouldn't have to push it to 800. It could be your camera. I see you use flash.... go for a digital. Check out Canon and Fugi cameras for your price range. Don't forget you need to buy a memory card.