Need faster ability to shoot photos - less delay

For any digital camera that's small, lightweight, cute and under $250.

Shutter delay is a way of life in digital cameras. But the good news is that the delay is lessening as the technology matures. And what's interesting is, that DSLRs dont' have a lag issue at all. Or, it's nearly non existent.

But compact point and shoots, well, they know how to do it, but up until recently, camera prices made it too cost prohibitive. The good news is that according to recent news articles, many camera companies will be incorporating the CCD chips they use in their SLR lines (which give no shutter lag) into their point and shoot cameras. So look for it within the next few years.

Meantime, there are things you can do to lessen that shutter lag by as much as 80%:

1. Prefocus. Hold down the shutter half way to get a prefocus of the image you're shooting. When it changes, prefocus again. This will speed up your camera's performance during picture taking since it won't have to autofocus before it shoots the shot.

2. Use faster SD cards. Yes, there are faster cards and it does make a difference in writing the image file to the card. This is especially key if you're taking multiple or burst images.

3. Fresher batteries. Use alkalines at least. But I recommend using high energy batteries designed for digital photography. Varta is a good brand. They are usually sold in camera shops, are long lasting (because they are sold in small quantities) put out alot of energy.

4. Shoot in "sports" modes when you're in situations that require action. Night or available light modes when in night time settings. These presets can help in speeding up your shots, rather than the camera taking a split second to evaluate the conditions of the lighting.

5. Go manual. If you are manually focusing, particularly in darker settings, you can constantly refocus the image as things happen. Also, the infrared does have a range and if your image is out of that range you can end up with the camera's "best guess" or infinity setting which may not help. You can also go manual on fstops and shutter speeds as well, getting more light faster when you choose.

6. Go with a shallow depth of field.

7. Pan with the action. You can create some pretty cool shots by panning with your shot, focusing on your subject. This will create the effect of your subject in sharp contrast to the blurry background.

8. Use a flash - even in day time. This will "freeze" the image and cause your subject to "pop" in the shot. However, flash is only designed for limited range and can dissipate outside of about 20-25 feet unless you're using a zoomable flash.

9. Stick with 100-400 ISO. Going higher will cause more noise/grain in your shots, particularly in darker settings.