Digital Camera with no shutter delay

I'm looking to buy a new digital camera. For the most part it will be used to take pictures of our new son. But we'd like it to be pretty flexible, for taking reasonably good pictures of groups of people and action shots.

The biggest priority for me is that it not have the standard 1+ second delay between pressing the button and the photo being taken.

I'd also like to pay somewhere below $300.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I've heard that SLR cameras don't have the delay, but also that they're usually closer to $1000.

Thanks in advance.

I'm looking for the same feature, no shutter delay. I am also looking for the camera to have removable batteries AA so I can use it in foreign counties without the need to recharge the internal battery. It would be nice to be able to take a rapid sequence of pictures to capture sports. Does one exist like this?

As far as minor lag times, I think the Panasonics come out on top. Here are the specs for my Panasonic Lumix:
Action Details Time, seconds
Zoom from Wide to Tele 36 to 432 mm (12 x) 2.5
Half-press Lag (0->S1) Wide angle, nine point AF ~0.5
Half-press Lag (0->S1) Wide angle, High speed 3 point AF ~ 0.3
Half-press Lag (0->S1) Telephoto, nine point AF ~0.6
Half-press Lag (0->S1) Telephoto, High speed 3 point AF ~0.5
Half to Full-press Lag (S1->S2) LCD live view or EVF, IS mode 1 (or off)
~0.04
Half to Full-press Lag (S1->S2) LCD live view or EVF, IS mode 2 ~0.08
Full-press Lag (0->S2) LCD live view, wide angle, High speed AF ~0.5
Off to Shot Taken LCD live view ~2.7
Shot to Shot Flash off 1.3
Shot to Shot Flash on (red eye off) 1.8
Shot to Shot Flash on (red eye on) 2.0

The Panny will also shoot in burst mode at up to 3 frames per second, with the shutter held down. However, mine does use proprietary batteries, not AA.

Which model Panasonic Lumix

I have the DMC-FZ7. However, the DMC-FZ8 has been out for a few months. They both sport the highly reputable Leica lens. The FZ8 has more mp and an advanced processor, and can be had for quite a bit less than $300.

These cameras are quite big, Are there any smaller ones that have the features?

With any decent zoom, it's doubtful. But hey, there are a thousand different cameras out there, and there may be one that meets all your requirements. Good luck.

I'm looking for a similar camera to what you want and I found some Kodak camera's that claim "best in class" click-to-capture speed of 0.23 seconds. Look up the Z712 IS, Z812 IS, and Z1012 IS. They are also on the large side, but seem like really nice cameras. I think I'm going to go test them out; cameras are on sale at Best Buy.