Budget compact camera with fast startup time

[Jonny_]

Hoping the collective wisdom of PH can help me here...

I have a 14 month old daughter who does cute/funny stuff on a regular basis. However... my Fuji HS20 EXR bridge camera isn't always to hand (as it's a fairly bulky thing to carry around) and my "backup" camera - a Sony Ericsson Xperia phone - takes forever to go from standby to being ready to take a photo (well, about 9 seconds in truth, but seems like forever!) and then there's a further 4 or 5 seconds between pressing the button and actually taking a photo.

By which time, of course, my little girl has stopped doing whatever I wanted a photo of and toddled off (or been distracted by Daddy's phone which she now wants to play with!).

So, what I'm contemplating is picking up a cheapish (say £80 or less) compact camera, if I can find one that will go from off to taking a photo within a second or two. Trouble is no camera manufacturer seems to list startup and shutter delay time, hence this thread.

(Ideally, something that just wakes up and takes a photo straight away if the shutter button is pressed while powered off, if such a facility exists?)

Other than the above, I don't have many criteria other than it being small and a camera! Suspect it's almost impossible to buy anything without a flash or some sort of optical zoom these days; rechargeable would be nice but happy to feed it on AA's, and in an ideal world I'd like something very small and pocketable - again, not a big issue if it's not the slimmest camera ever. Number of megapixels doesn't really concern me, again even really cheap crap has 10mp or more these days!

Any suggestions or recommendations gratefully received

[Mr Will]

A better phone? You'll struggle to beat the quick-draw of a decent smartphone (~2 seconds on my Nexus 4) plus its always in your pocket.

Failing that, I have a Canon S95 for child chasing duties but that's not exactly a budget option.

[K12beano]

Short of the Nikon technology that manages to take pictures before you press the shutter button, there is nothing, certainly not budget, that starts quickly.

I agree your best bet is a smartphone with the camera app ready!

[Mr Will]

K12beano said:

...the Nikon technology that manages to take pictures before you press the shutter button...

Even that's a gimmick in most circumstances - its no help if you don't have the lined up, focussed and ready. All it is good for is effectively reducing shutter lag.

[Jonny_]

Trouble with replacing my phone is that I'd struggle to find something remotely similar (Android phone with a slide out QWERTY keyboard - I can't get on with typing messages/emails on a touchscreen).

I had a play with a colleague's little Fuji JX370 camera today; from powered off to taking a photo took about 3 seconds which is a vast improvement over my phone. Anyone able to compare with their own compact to see if this is good/bad/average? If it's unlikely I'll do much better for minimal £££ then I'll go for the Fuji as they're shifting factory refurbed ones on the 'Bay for forty quid


Ta!