When the new growth on the bud sites, pistils are growing they are white, as the bud matures they turn orange, once they turn orange the bud starts to swell. What actually gets you high is the trichomes, the stuff that looks like dust on top of the buds, those start clear and they are processing light then as the plant matures they turn cloudy then they also turn amber. When the trichomes are cloudy is when they are ripe, when they turn amber they are decaying. Its best to see these little guys with a 30x loupe or a magnifying glass.
My best guess is yeah, you can take them now and have some good smoke but if you leave them for a couple more weeks you will have about 20% more of better smoke.