delay between pressing button and taking picture

I HAVE HAD NUMEROUS SONY DIGITAL CAMERAS. EVERY TIME I TAKE A PICTURE WITH FLASH, BETWEEN PRESSING BUTTON AND SHUTTER REACTING THE PERSON MOVES OR SCENE CHANGES SO SLIGHTLY THAT THE PICTURE ARE USUALLY TERRIBLE. WHAT TYPE OFDIGITAL CAMERA DO I NEED TO BUY SO THE PICTURES WILL BE AS POSED THE SECOND I PRESS IT , AND ALSO QUICK MULTIPLE FRAMES OR SHOTS?

ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

thank you so much.

i am looking at the sony dsc-H50B as a DSLR.

i hope its a good one.

Well, the H50B isn't a dslr at all. It's what's called an "ultra zoom," large lens, but still a point and shoot. DSLR is a digital single lens reflex and that would be like the Sony Alpha cameras.

thanks agai. is the a350 a better choice or should i look at the nikon d80?

Technically the new Panasonic G1 mirror-less "SLR", announced Samsung NX series, and announced Olympus micro-three fourth cameras are technically not SLRs but perform like them.

Anyhow what you are referring to is called shutter lag and assuming the camera is on and powered up (Many Point and shoots range from 2-3 seconds while almost all DSLRS are under .25 seconds), is a combination of priming the Auto Focus/ Auto Exposure at half press (As stated above) and recording the image from the sensor to digital card. The final measurement is the time it takes to recover after the shot is recorded (Max Frames Per Second is the total of this). Many cameras will allow you to shoot continuously after you set the focus and this is the continuous mode (Many of the super/ultra zooms/advanced digital cameras on the market offer 13+ Frames Per Second at the same focus for X number of shots) this mode is sometimes called sports continuous mode or action continuous mode.

Many of the point and shoot cameras in fact can do 3 up to an astounding 10 FPS (Without the sports continuous mode on) now days- The DSC HX1 can do 10 FPS with a mechanical shutter and the Canon SX 1 can do 4 FPS (The switch from CCD to newer developed CMOS Sensors allow much faster speeds) . By comparison the Nikon D40 can only do 2.5 FPS and the D60 does 3 FPS. The D80 can do 5 FPS. The a350 can only do 2.5 FPS. So the short of it is some digital cameras on the market can in fact shoot just as fast as SLRs. They still power up slower though....

Basically the metric you want to look at is the AF/AE metric and the FPS metric and that will tell you which is better for your needs. You also may want to look at some cameras with sports continuous mode (Most of the Superzooms offer it)

yeah, I forgot about those, John. Good catch. One thing about the point and shoots that do up to 10fps (or higher, the Olympus SP line can do bursts over 15 fps) is that the quality of the image drops when you shoot in high bursts like that. For high bursts like that, you really need a CMOS like the DSLRs offer, as John put it.

In the end, pitting a Canon DSLR against a Nikon DSLR, it really is a dead heat. They are both outstanding cameras.

It is lower quality (Anything over 3-4 MP if posted only on the web, but not printed out, is wasted anyhow)... but boy is it fun.... In all honesty the Nikon P90, Olyumpus SP line, Kodak Z line of superzoom easy shares, and Fuji s8000/81000 are really for the soccer moms/Nascar dads and for those who just want to goof off with a camera (In otherwords a Toy for both more advanced Armature/Professional photographers). The Zooms are way too long (Without Tripoding) especially the 24X and 26X zooms, the sensors too small for how many MP are pushed into them, and the lenses produce way too many aberrations. The Price is the real tip off (A 500+mm Equivalent lens) for under $400 and even under $250 as of this writing. They are what they are, and will take acceptable family photos especially of kids playing sports, Good for shots of the Garden, shots at family functions, vacation shots, shots of the family dog, etc etc....

I really want to get my paws on a Canon SX 1 or Sony Hx1 and see if they really do shoot full res at 4 and 10 FPS. Both the SX 1 and HX1 are bridge cameras....

If you can find one in a store to try, the Fuji FinePix s100FS more or less handles like an entry level SLR. I would recommend it over an entry level SLR if you don't want to completely dwelve into the SLR territory or are on a very tight budget, as they designed the lens first then the camera around the lens and did a fine job of it. The camera essentially is a SLR with a lens permanently affixed to it. Everyone was of course shocked when Fuji announced it in 2008 as most people who would want a beast like the s100FS would likely just buy an entry level SLR instead of such a SLR like bridge camera with a fixed lens....

If you are on a very tight budget and willing to give up some control and a viewfinder (but will get a very easy to use camera with good glass) the Nikon CoolPix L100 is selling under 270 and takes beautiful photos, is very responsive, and has a 15X zoom.

If you have the cash (AKA you want to spend in the 1.5K-2K+ price Range) a Nikon D300 with Nikkor 18-200mm VR Lens, Canon EOS 1D Mark III, or Sony Alpha700 all with quality 18-200mm lenses would be the Cadilac version of what we are talking about (A step to step and a half under what the pros would use ). If you want to save a bit on lenses, Sigma has been turning out some good quality camera glass and Tamron has been turning out acceptable budget lenses... Keep in mind that all of these lenses are of higher quality than what is on most of these superzooms. Nikkor camera glass is some of the best, if not the best, camera glass on this planet and that is very much reflected in the price- but is well worth it if you can afford it.

THANKS FOR ALL THE INFORMATION AND HELP. I THINK, AFTER ALL OF THE SEARCHING I AM LOOKING AT THE NIKON D90 AS BEAT ALL AROUND. $ NOT THE ISSUE.

Well if money really isn't your issue, then why not invest in an entry level DSLR like the Canon XSi? You'll have full res for 12MP, no shutter delay, and far superior optics. And if you get into photography as a hobby, you can then upgrade to a better body and use your existing lenses. And even if you don't and just shoot it on auto, you're far better off.

The D90 is Nikon's top tier of amateur D-SLR that came out late last year. It does video and has Nikon's new CMOS sensor, 4.5 FPS, and live view. It can also do video.... Its a nice camera-- get a Nikkor 18-200mm lens with that and you should be very happy with it.

Why Nikon released its SLR named D90 and its CoolPix Superzoom product the P90 I don't know?? The D300, D700, D3, and D3x ( we are talking 8,000 camera) are what Nikon self labels as their professional level DSLRs.