Good to average speed for a consumer camera.

The Lumix DMC-FZ8's performance ranges from quite fast to about average, depending on what you're trying to do. It starts up fairly quickly considering its large 12x optical zoom lens, which extends forward on power-up. Shutter response is pretty good at both wide angle and telephoto, at 0.58s and 0.64s respectively, and even faster at 0.46s in 1-Area High Speed AF mode. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure results in a blistering lag time of only 0.019 second. Shot-to-shot cycle times are slightly better than average for a long zoom, at about 1.68 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 High burst mode is also quite good, at 2.86 frames-per-second for 5 large/fine JPEG frames, and an Infinite option captures frames at the slower 0.49-second rate without any limitation (apart from card capacity) on the number of files. The flash takes 3.5 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is also above average, especially considering how powerful it is. Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, download speeds are slower than most cameras in 2007. Bottom line, the DMC-FZ8 is responsive enough to handle most family photo opportunities, and even some sporting events.

Battery
Above average battery life for a Lithium-ion design.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Although battery life is above 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 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 Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 accepts SDHC/SD/MMC memory cards, and includes about 27MB of internal memory.

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.)