If your main goal is to learn composition, lighting, and exposure efficiently, digital is the better tool than film. It gives instant feedback, lets you experiment more, and costs far less per shot. Even a phone can be enough to practice framing, light, and shadow.

Between film types, black-and-white can help you pay attention to tone, contrast, and shape, and it’s generally simpler if you also want to learn film developing. But it won’t inherently teach composition better than color. With digital, you can shoot in color and convert to black and white later, which lets you study both.

Film can still be useful if you specifically want the discipline of slowing down, taking notes, and thinking carefully before each exposure. But for learning fundamentals quickly, the lack of immediate feedback and ongoing cost make it less practical.

So the wisest option is: use digital (or even your phone) to learn composition and lighting, and choose black-and-white film only if you also want to learn the film process itself.