Canon G7 vs. SLR

The term is shutter lag.
The time from when you press the shutter button down, until the photo is captured.

Many things can contribute to the lag time.

Most of this time is caused by autofocus.

For autofocus......do what the pros do.
You frame the shot and press the shutter button halfway down.
This lets the autofocus finish its work.
Then re-frame your shot and wait for the action to occur.
At the right time.....press the shutter button the rest of the way down.

That will reduce your shutter lag to less than one tenth of a second.

You can also use one of the continuous shooting modes on the G7.
You can anticipate the action, press the shutter button all the way down and hold it. The camera will continue to fire away as long as you hold the shutter button down. I believe the G7 can capture 2 frames per second.

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If you are using flash, that can also be a cause of shutter lag.
When you first turn on a digital camera, the flash capacitor is empty.
If you then take the first flash photo,
you press the shutter button and the capacitor must be charged.
This can take several seconds.

If you then take another flash shot, it will not take as long to recharge the capacitor.

So it is a good idea to waste a flash shot to charge-up the capacitor.

Also .... the red-eye reduction setting causes a longer delay before the flash can fire. As it must fire a brief burst before actually firing the flash for the shot. The brief burst of light is to cause the person pupils to contract.

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By using the two step method of pressing the shutter button, all of the flash delays occur during step one (button half-way down).
So you can get that action shot (even with flash) with less than a tenth of a second shutter lag (button the rest of the way down).

There is no point in changing your camera.
Learn to use your camera differently.

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I can identify with your frustration. I have a 2.5 year old who is really active and hard to capture good photos with him. The PS camera is simply too slow for low light actions with him. Outdoor is not a big problem. Like most parents, I have a very busy life and does not have time for photo lessons, or sit in front of a computer to use Photoshop to salvage some poor blurred images.

So I spent the money and bought the D-SLR system. I have some basic knowledge of SLR, used an old Minolta SLR from my dad in the past. I got the Canon 30D because of good low light performance and has 1.6x crop factor to give me more reach than a full frame camera. It is also fast, up to 5 fps. You don't need anything faster than this for kids. And I got the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS and the EF 70-200 mm f/2.8L IS lenses that work really well with the 30D even in low light or indoors. The camera takes great photos even in low light without flash. Flash slows you down. This system is fast and a joy to use. I hardly miss any moment. For young tods under 2, I find the 17-55mm range adequate because I still have to stay close to keep them from running into hazards. Now my kid is a little over 2.5 year old, I have started using the 70-200mm more often than before. The wider aperture f/2.8 is much more expensive than the lower end f/3.5-5.6 zooms, but you will appreciate its low light action performance once you start taking indoor photos without flash. However, you have to be more careful about focusing and the depth of field when using a wide aperture. I hardly have to do much editing, most photos turn out pretty good, good enough for framing at home, at work or the family album. And you don't need to take a lot of classes before knowing how to use the D-SLR. It is quite simple. Just play with your PS camera's Aperture priority, Shutter priority and Manual setting, and read some books, magazines or on-line free articles on your spare time. Then play with the camera a couple of days. And you'll be ready for some great photos.

The main downside is the cost and weight of this system. This costs about $5000, a bit expensive for kids photos. And you need a large messenger bag or backpack to carry all the equipment. But the photo quality is well worth it. You don't need to buy all the equipment at one time. I find the 17-55mm range adequate until my son turns 2.5, and I have kept the 70-200 mm at home until recently. My flash is staying home most of the time, since I hardly use it.

If you want to save some money, then the Rebel XT or XTi is also good, just a little slower at 3fps and lacks spot metering. And if you don't care about zoom, then you can save a lot of money (while getting high quality) using a prime lens, like the 50mm f/1.4 or f/1.8. Most of the time, I'm using the 50-55mm in the 2 and under age group. And when they grow older, you can decide what tele lens you may need. But if you want zoom lens for convenience, then you can consider the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens, which is a very good lens without IS, but at less than half the cost of the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS. For tele zoom, the Canon EF 70-200 mm f/4L (buy the IS version if budget is not a limiting issue) is fast and sharp, though not as good in low light as the f/2.8 brother. Sigma has a 70-200 mm f/2.8 at a lower cost than the Canon, if you want the wider aperture at a lower cost. The cheaper tele zooms EF-S 17-85 mm IS and the EF 28-135 mm IS are popular general purpose lenses, but they don't work as well in low light. So your keeper rate will be lower, with more blurred photos in low light (that is what originally frustrates me).

The G7 will hold on to the processing mode based on how long you show the new image on the LCD. The simplest way to bypass this is to quickly partially depress the focus button then release. This will not improve the speed to that of an SLR but it's reasonable at about one picture per second or so and the advantage is you are not carrying around a piece of luggage.

SLR's are great but not something you want to carry around at an amusement park, hiking vacation, etc., You will find yourself not taking the SLR because it's too big, too heavy and too much trouble.

I'm fortunate enough to have both. But if I had just one, I would prefer the G7 for versatility, mobility, and really great picture quality! You'll take it places you just won't go to the trouble to take an SLR.

I have found that a great way to not only decrease shutter lag, but also to decrease battery consumption is to turn the LCD display off. You can use the viewfinder but will have to adjust, as the viewfinder is not centered on the camera. This is a great camera once you can get used to the controls and such. I have taken pictures in 30 seconds that took someone with a DSLR 10 minutes to take. The G7 is a top-notch camera and I would not trade it for any DSLR.