Panasonic DMC-FX500 Performance

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 Performance

Timing and Performance

Overall good speed for a consumer camera.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	2.7 seconds	Time it takes for LCD to turn on and lens to deploy and capture a picture.
Shutdown	1.3 seconds	How long it takes to retract lens.
Buffer clearing time	2 seconds (2 seconds buffer clearing in LF JPEG)	Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't retract their lenses and shut down until the buffer is cleared.

About average times here.

Mode Switching
Play to Record, first shot	0.9 second	Time until first shot is captured.
Record to play	0.8 second	Time to display a large/fine file immediately after capture.
Display recorded image	1.3 seconds	Time to display a large/fine file already on the memory card.

Mode switching times are better than average.

Shutter Response (Lag Time)
Full Autofocus Wide	0.61 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position.
Full Autofocus Tele	0.64 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position.
Full Autofocus Wide Flash Enabled	0.87 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position, auto flash enabled.
Prefocused	0.008 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

Shutter response is about average at both wide angle and telephoto, at 0.61s and 0.64s respectively. Enabling the flash increased shutter delay to 0.87s, which is pretty good. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in a lag time of only 0.008 second, which is excellent.

Cycle Time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large Fine JPEG	1.76 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Single Shot mode 640x480 Normal JPEG	1.43 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Early shutter penalty?	YES	Some cameras don't snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.
Continuous mode Large Fine JPEG Burst Mode	0.55 second (1.82 frames per second); 3 frames total; 0.6 second to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Continuous mode 640 x 480 JPEG Burst Mode	0.40 second (2.48 frames per second); 5 frames total; 0.5 second to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Continuous mode Large Fine JPEG Unlimited Mode	0.90 second (1.11 frames per second); 20+ frames total; 2 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Continuous mode 640 x 480 JPEG Unlimited Mode	0.55 second (1.81 frames per second); 20+ frames total; 1 second to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Flash recycling	5.6 seconds	Flash at maximum output.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a SanDisk Extreme III SD memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity also affects cycle times and burst mode performance, with higher ISOs generally increasing cycle times and reducing burst performance.

Shot-to-shot cycle times are pretty good considering the large file size, at about 1.76 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, and the camera does capture frames continuously at this rate. (That is, given a fast enough memory card, it doesn't have to pause every few frames to wait for the card to catch up.) The DMC-FX500's continuous shooting modes perform about average in Burst mode (just under 2 frames per second for only 3 large/fine JPEGs). However, the Unlimited option slows down to 1.11 frames per second for large/fine JPEGs, but captures as many frames as the memory card has space for. The FX500 also offers a high-speed burst mode of up to 6 frames per second, but at a reduced resolution of 2-megapixels. The flash takes 5.6 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is about average.

Download Speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	3,175 KBytes/sec	Typical Values: Less than 600=USB 1.1; 600-769=USB 2.0 Low; Above 770=USB 2.0 High

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are good.

Bottom line, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 has about average timings, good enough for standard photography. Full resolution continuous modes aren't fast enough for high-speed action, but may be fast enough to keep up with moving children.

Battery and Storage Capacity

Battery
Average battery life for a lithium-ion design.

Operating Mode	Number of Shots
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery, (CIPA standard)	280

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Although battery life is about average, 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 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 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX500 accepts SDHC/SD/MMC memory cards, and includes about 50MB of internal memory.

Image Capacity with 53.5MB Internal Memory		Fine	Normal
3,648 x 2,736	Images	10	20
3,648 x 2,736	File Size	5.1 MB	2.6 MB
3,072 x 2,304	Images	14	29
3,072 x 2,304	File Size	3.6 MB	1.8 MB
2,560 x 1,920	Images	21	41
2,560 x 1,920	File Size	2.5 MB	1.3 MB
2,048 x 1,536	Images	32	63
2,048 x 1,536	File Size	1.6 MB	843 KB
1,600 x 1,200	Images	52	98
1,600 x 1,200	File Size	1.0 MB	546 KB
640 x 480	Images	249	404
640 x 480	File Size	215 KB	132 KB

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SDHC or SD memory card at least a 1GB card, preferably a 4GB one, 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.)