[DownhillGoat]

So long story hopefully short:

My mom wants a digital camera for Christmas. The problem is every digital camera she's had in the past she's hated. Everytime she uses it she longs for the days of her 35mm, and I get to hear about how her $20 35mm took 'better' pictures.

Now her defenition of 'better' from what I can tell means less delay between pressing the trigger and taking the picture. She basically hates the lag she's got in her camera(s).

To make things complicated she doesn't want to outlay the money for a DLSR, which, IMO, would eliminate the problem.

So, I'm on a quest to find a camera that she doesn't hate. Features, in order of her priority:

- takes 'quick' pictures (her words, not mine). I gather this is mostly lag between pressing the shutter button, letting auto-focus do its thing, and taking the photo. But apparently it's also the load time of turning the camera on.
- good picture quality
- lots of pre-set scenery settings (she wants it to have full-featured auto settings, but doesn't want to get into custom settings)
- decent optical zoom

By the sounds of it, I think she would prefer a compact point-and-shoot, rather than the semi-compact (IE Canon SX40 HS, Nikon L310). However, if she can get a 'faster' camera out of the semi-compact she'd probably be swayed.

I know this probably sounds rediculous, but help is much appreciated before I pull the rest of my hair out.

Right now I'm kind of looking at the Canon ELPH 520, or ths SX40 HS (simply because I'm more familiar with the Canons, and can help her out with it a little easier than I could a Nikon or Sony), however I've got no brand loyalty in this quest.

TIA