Fujifilm FinePix A500 Timing
Good to slightly slow speed for a consumer camera.

The Fujifilm FinePix A500's performance ranges from pretty good to about average, depending on task at hand. Startup time is a little sluggish, but shutter lag is better than average at both wide angle and telephoto lens settings. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in a very speedy 0.012 second delay, among the fastest on the market. Shot to shot cycle times are slightly longer than average, at about 2.24 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, for 20 or so shots. (There doesn't appear to be any buffer memory-imposed limit.) The flash takes about seven seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, slightly longer than average, particularly considering its anemic output. Connected to a computer, download speeds aren't bad (you probably won't feel a need for an external card reader), but are slower than those of many current cameras. Bottom line, while the A500 isn't suited for action photography, it should handle average landscape and portrait shots just fine.

Battery
Poor battery life with average alkaline cells, much better with rechargeable NiMH batteries.

The Fujifilm FinePix A500 uses two AA-type batteries for power, and a set of ordinary alkaline cells are included with the camera. The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of, based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions. Given the short runtime with the alkaline cells, and only moderate runtime with NiMH cells, we strongly recommend that you purchase a couple of sets of high-capacity NiMH rechargeable batteries and a good-quality charger, as they'll save you many times their cost over the life of the camera.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage
No card is included with the Fujifilm FinePix A500, although it accepts xD-Picture cards; approximately 12 MB RAM is built into the camera.

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