Average speed for a consumer-oriented digital SLR.

The DMC-L1's performance is pretty good here, though shut-down time is a little slower. Full autofocus shutter lag is about average (with 14-50mm kit lens), but "prefocus" times (half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure) are on the slower side compared to other SLRs at 0.24 second. Add Live View mode and Live View plus flash and the times get longer, taking 0.67 to 0.76 seconds respectively. When you add the 5.5 second recycle time, and daylight fill flash shots are unbearably slow. Shot-to-shot cycle times are below average for an SLR, at about 1.22 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, but the camera seems to capture unlimited frames at this rate with a two-second buffer clearing time. In Continuous-mode, speed is also below average at a bit over two frames/second, again with no apparent buffer limit, except when shooting RAW + large/fine JPEG, when burst length was limited to six shots in succession. Flash recycling time is actually quite good at 5.5 seconds after a full-power shot. Connected to a computer, download speeds are fast enough to avoid needing a separate card reader. Bottom line, the DMC-L1 is fairly responsive, ready for fast action shots at sporting events and children's birthday parties, but a little slower than most SLRs.

Battery
Good battery life without live preview, average with live preview mode.

The Panasonic DMC-L1 uses a custom rechargeable LiIon battery for power, and a battery and charger are included with the camera. Even though runtime is quite good without live preview, we strongly recommend picking up a spare battery and keeping it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings, or if live preview is used often.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

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

Storage
The DMC-L1 accepts SD/SDHC cards, though no card is included with the camera.

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SD/SDHC memory card at least a 1GB card, preferably a 2GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)