There is always going to be shutter lag with digicams. Specially with the point and shoot cameras that you are looking at. I dont know about the newer cameras, but with my old Olympus c4000, the auto focus time + shutter lag is HORRIBLE. You should buy your camera at Circuit City. From what I know, they still have a no hassle 2 week 100% return policy. Buy a camera, play with it, return it if you dont like it. There is no better way to see if that camera is for you.