Good to average speed for a consumer camera.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50's performance is good to average, depending on what you're trying to do. Start-up time is a little slow, considering that the lens doesn't extend or retract. Shutter lag at wide angle and telephoto zoom settings is good, but "prefocus" times (half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure) are impressive, with a shutter delay of only 0.024 second. Shot-to-shot cycle times are a little better than average, at about 1.25 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, and the camera captures frames continuously at this rate. Continuous-mode speed is good, especially at the high setting, at a bit over two frames per second, for up to three shots in succession for large/fine JPEGs. An Unlimited Continuous mode captures at a slower rate (about 1.75 fps), but is only limited by memory card capacity. The flash is fairly quick to recycle at 4.5 seconds after a full-power shot. Connected to a computer, download speeds are on the slow side, so you might consider a separate card reader. Bottom line, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 is responsive enough for most family photo opportunities, and may keep up with wiggly kids fairly well, though some performance areas are just average.

Battery
Moderate battery life with the rechargeable LiIon battery pack.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 uses a custom rechargeable LiIon battery for power, and a charger is included with the camera. Though runtimes are moderate, I strongly recommend picking up a spare battery and keeping it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings. (See our battery shootout page for information on actual measured capacities of various NiMH brands and capacity markings.)

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 Lumix DMC-FZ50 accepts SD/MMC memory cards, and a 32MB card is included with the camera.

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity SD/MMC memory card at least a 512MB card, preferably a 1GB 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.)