The Fuji F50fd's performance is a mixed bag, ranging from quite slow to slightly above average for a consumer digicam.

Start-up time is a little sluggish, at 2.8 seconds. Shut-down is on the slow side too.

Mode switching is pretty fast.

Shutter response is about average at wide angle with 0.60 second lag, and slightly above average at telephoto with 0.63 second lag. Prefocus shutter lag is a very snappy 0.021 second ("prefocusing" means half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure).

Shot-to-shot cycle times are quite slow, at about 3.07 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, though the camera appears to capture shots continuously in single-shot mode without having to stop and clear the buffer. "Long-period" continuous mode is also very slow, at only 0.34 frames-per-second for >20 large/fine JPEG frames. The Fuji F50fd has some higher-speed continuous modes though. "TOP-3" and "FINAL-3" modes save the first or last three full-resolution frames in a burst, at a claimed 2 frames per second (sorry, we didn't test those modes). Special 3-megapixel high speed modes ("TOP-12" and "FINAL-12") allow capture of up to 12 frames per second at 4.87 frames per second, which is better than most consumer digital SLRs. At the lowest resolution setting, speeds go back to a slow 0.32 frames per second in "Long-period" continuous mode. The flash takes 7.5 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is a little surprising considering how underpowered it is.

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are fast enough to avoid a separate card reader.

Bottom line, the FinePix F50fd won't be quick enough to keep up with fast moving subjects (at least not at full resolution), and it won't be great for indoor flash shots, but should handle most average outdoor photo opportunities well, such as posed portraits and landscapes.

Battery
About average battery life for a lithium-ion design.

The Fujifilm FinePix F50fd uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Although battery life is about average for the camera's size, we recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on either a fresh set of disposable batteries or a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), 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 Fujifilm FinePix F50fd accepts SDHC/SD/MMC memory cards and xD-PictureCards as well, and includes about 25MB of internal memory.

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SDHC or SD memory card at least a 1GB card, preferably a 4GB SD card, to give yourself extra space for extended outings and video. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)