"Picky Details" for the Fujifilm FinePix E500 digital camera
(Timing, Power, and Storage Info)

Timing

When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually a lag time or delay before the shutter actually fires. This corresponds to the time required for the autofocus and autoexposure mechanisms time to do their work, and can amount to a fairly long delay in some situations. Since this number is rarely reported on (and even more rarely reported accurately), and can significantly affect the picture taking experience, I routinely measure both shutter delay and shot to shot cycle times for all cameras I test, using a test system I designed and built for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, with a resolution of 0.001 second.) Here are the numbers I collected for the Fujifilm E500:

Power

The Fujifilm E500 uses two AA batteries for power. It ships with a pair of alkaline AA cells, but as always, I strongly recommend using rechargeable NiMH cells. The table below shows projected run times based on NiMH cells with 1600 mAh true capacity.

With a worst case run time of 93 minutes in capture mode with the LCD turned on, and running from "standard" 1600 mAh capacity NiMH cells, the E500's battery life isn't terrible, but isn't too impressive either. With the LCD off though, runtime in capture mode stretches to more than five and a half hours, and run time in playback mode is more than four hours. When the camera powers down to "sleep" mode after a period of inactivity though, it can stay on all day with almost no effect on battery capacity. (Note that all of the numbers above are based on 1600 mAh batteries, to facilitate comparison with cameras I've tested in the past. Modern NiMH cells with true (as opposed to advertised) capacities of 2100 mAh would stretch the worst-case run time to more than two hours.) As always, I strongly recommend purchasing a couple of sets of high-capacity NiMH AA cells and a good charger to maintain them. (See my Battery Shootout page for test results from a variety of batteries, and read my review of the Maha C-204W to see why it's my new favorite AA-cell charger.)

Storage Capacity

The Fujifilm stores its photos on xD memory cards, and a 16 MB card is included with the camera. (I strongly recommend buying at least a 64 MB card, preferably a 128 MB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings.) The chart below shows how many images can be stored on the included 16 MB card at each size/quality setting.