I am trying to find a camera that can take a picture without touching the
camera, download it and print it immediately.  Let me see if I cam make it
clearer.  I want to mount a camera on a beam about 15' - 20' off the
ground.  Connect the camera to a laptop about 25' away and be able to
capture and print 4" x 6" pictures.

What I tried:  I hooked up a web cam that was capable of capturing still
images at 1.3 MP resolution.  I used a couple of USB extenders (the active
kind) and some software on my laptop to capture and print.

Almost perfect...  The problem is that the webcam is really designed to
take a picture of a person's face at about 2'.  I am trying to take a
picture at 15' and the people looked like fuzzy ants.  What I need is a
camera with a better lens, and perhaps a little better resolution.  1.3 MP
is OK, but 2+ MP would be better.  A flash might also be helpful but not
usually essential.

We tried a regular digital camera (an old 2.1 MP camera) and the IR remote.  
The pictures were great, but the camera kept going to sleep, and people
don't want to wait an hour or so for someone to climb out and retrieve the
memory card...

The hard requirements are:

It must have a resolution of 1.3 MP or better (color of course).

It must have a USB interface and be able to be powered and triggered from a
distance.  There is no problem getting power and data cables to the camera,
but it will generally not be accessible to an operator at the time the
pictures are taken and printed.

I would like to find something inexpensive.  Under $100 would be great, but
would go higher for the right camera.