Originally Posted by MarkS
There's boot-up time, and there's trigger time. On all the cameras I've had, both of these have been disconcerting problems. In only a half-second, smiles to frowns, babies head the other direction, and UFOs fly off into the night. One of my cameras needs to have its card reset every time it gets brought up (that company went under).
How do you know before buying a camera what kind of delay factor you're going to have?
There are several very good digital camera review sites, which list boot-up time and shutter lag (the time between when you hit the shutter, and when the camera actually takes the photo). In practice only dSLRs have near-zero shutter lag, but the point-and-shoots are getting better. Places to start your research:
DPReview.com
Steve's Digicams
Both of those sites have comprehensive reviews, although both are bit spec-heavy.
Originally Posted by MarkS
The only question would be lens quality and focus. But I bet the higher resolution of film makes up for the lower lens quality.
Film does not have a higher "resolution" than most digital cameras, particularly not at higher ISOs. In fact, you're really comparing apples and oranges. The resolution of film is measured in lines/mm or line pairs/mm, assuming an optical system that exceeds the limitation of the film. Digital sensor "resolution" is usually given in megapixels, which is somewhat irrelevant to the amount of detail and quality of the image. In both cases there are many other factors at play (e.g. pro film vs. consumer film, processing, etc.).
A good 4mp point-and-shoot will beat the pants off consumer grade film processed at a mini-lab.
A 12-16mp dSLR beats or ties any 35mm professional film, and clearly beats film at higher ISO. I shoot events with my "lowly" 8mp camera at ISO 800, 1600, or even 3200... I wouldn't dare do that with film!
Finally lens quality is always a factor, the best film or digital sensor will suffer from an unsharp lens, or a lens that exhibits severe aberrations. That is why a lot of high-end digital cameras make up for the relatively poor sensor by using Zeis optics (Zeis = double-plus good).
Honestly, though, the best test is to see an 8x10 printed at a good lab from the camera. You could do "pixel-peeping" at 800% view on your monitor all day, but if an 8x10 prints looks good, chances are the camera's quality will be fine for most people's daily use.
(Sorry that was so long... shop talk, you know.)