Canon PowerShot SD600 Timing
Good speed for a consumer camera.

When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually a lag time or delay before the shutter actually fires. This corresponds to the time required for the autofocus and autoexposure mechanisms time to do their work, and can amount to a fairly long delay in some situations. Since this number is rarely reported on (and even more rarely reported accurately), and can significantly affect the picture taking experience, we routinely measure both shutter delay and shot to shot cycle times for all cameras we test, using a test system Dave designed and built for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, with a resolution of 0.001 second.) Here are the numbers we collected for the Canon PowerShot SD600:

The Canon SD600's performance here is pretty good overall, with a quick startup time and very good shutter response at both wide angle and telephoto. The flash takes about five seconds to recycle, which is about average. Though the Continuous mode captures only 2.11 frames per second, it does this continuously, without having to stop the series and clear the buffer. Connected to a computer, download speeds are quite fast as well. Bottom line, the SD600 is a responsive little camera that should do quite well in most situations, and while its Continuous mode is just a hair slow, you'll have ample opportunity to catch those wiggly kids with its long series.

Battery
Short battery life with the LCD on, very good when LCD is switched off.

The Canon PowerShot SD600 uses a custom rechargeable 4.8V, 1600 mAh LiIon battery for power. The table above shows maximum run times based on our power measurements and the rated performance of its battery using the CIPA battery standard. Given the short run time with the LCD enabled, you should definitely consider purchasing a second battery to pack along on extended outings.

Storage
The Canon SD600 accepts SD/MMC cards; a 16MB starter card is included the camera.

I strongly recommend buying at least a 128MB card, preferably a 256MB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings.