Good to average speed for a consumer camera.

The Fujifilm FinePix Z5fd's performance ranges from good to just about average, depending on what you're trying to do. Startup time is a little sluggish at two seconds, but shutdown time is almost instant. Shutter response is good at both wide angle and telephoto, at 0.55 and 0.75 seconds respectively, and even faster at 0.29 second in High Speed AF mode. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in an impressive lag time of only 0.018 second. Shot-to-shot cycle times are slower than average, at about 2.65 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, and the camera appears to capture shots continuously in single-shot mode without having to stop and clear the buffer. Continuous mode is average, at 0.52 frames-per-second for 20 large/fine JPEG frames. The flash takes 5.7 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is on the sluggish side. Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are fast enough that you shouldn't need a separate card reader.

Overall, the FinePix Z5fd is responsive enough for most average family and travel shooting situations, though its shot-to-shot time is somewhat on the slow side.

Battery
Slightly less-than-average battery life for a lithium-ion design.

The Fujifilm FinePix Z5fd uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Although battery life is about average for this 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 Z5fd accepts xD Picture Cards, and includes about 26MB of internal memory.

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity xD 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.)