Nice camera With A Major Flaw

Two years ago I bought my wife a Canon A70 digital point-and-shoot. It's a decent camera, but it's alarming the number of bad photos we've taken with it. The reason is obvious: The shutter simply will not release the moment you press it. There is always an annoyingly long delay as the autofocus/autoexposure/auto-red-eye-reduction do their things. I cringe every time I think of how many perfect moments we've missed because of that camera, especially while chasing our fast-moving now three-year-old daughter. Thankfully, I kept my T4 Yashica point-and-shoot film camera—at least we have something to look at.

I have to admit, the SD500 is an astonishingly beautiful little camera, and I bought it after reading customer reviews on this site implying it wasn't plagued with a long shutter delay. Well, unfortunately, that's simply not true. It is just as annoyingly slow as the A70, and typical of every digital point-and-shoot I've ever come across. And it’s not just my opinion, either. Just go to any kid’s birthday party and you’ll hear a chorus of “I missed it” complaints from digitally-equipped family and friends as the parents scramble to re-light the candles for a second take.

I am a pro photographer, so maybe my $8000 Canon 1Ds MIIs and EOS1Vs and M-series Leicas and Contax G2s and Hasselblad CM500s have me expecting too much. But then again, even my $15 plastic Holga goes the moment you push the shutter button. Whatever the reason, if you suspect you need a camera that takes a picture when you want it to, you should probably wait a little longer.