Fujifilm F50fd Performance

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Fujifilm FinePix F50fd Performance

Timing and Performance

The Fuji F50fd's performance is a mixed bag, ranging from quite slow to slightly above average for a consumer digicam.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	2.8 seconds	Time it takes for LCD to turn on and lens to deploy.
Shutdown	1.6 seconds	How long it takes to retract lens.
Buffer clearing time	4 seconds (3 seconds buffer clearing after 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.

Start-up time is a little sluggish, at 2.8 seconds. Shut-down is on the slow side too.

Mode switching
Play to Record, first shot	0.9 second	Time until first shot is captured.
Record to play	0.9 second	Time to display a large/fine file immediately after capture.
Display recorded image	1.9 second	Time to display a large/fine file already on the memory card.

Mode switching is pretty fast.

Shutter response (Lag Time)
Full Autofocus Wide	0.60 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at wide angle position.
Full Autofocus Tele	0.63 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, zoom lens at telephoto position.
Prefocused	0.021 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.
Continuous AF	0.64 second	This mode usually shows no speed increase with our static subject; we have no way to measure performance with moving subjects.

Shutter response is about average at wide angle with 0.60 second lag, and slightly above average at telephoto with 0.63 second lag. Prefocus shutter lag is a very snappy 0.021 second ("prefocusing" means half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure).

Cycle time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large Fine JPEG	3.07 seconds	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Single Shot mode 640x480 JPEG	3.22 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.
"Long-period" Continuous mode Large Fine JPEG	2.95 seconds (0.34 frames per second); 20 frames total; 3 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
"TOP-12" Continuous mode 3MP JPEG	0.21 second (4.87 frames per second); 12 frames total; 4 seconds to clear	The F50fd has special high speed modes where it records reduced-resolution images at almost five frames per second. "TOP-12" saves the first 12 frames of a burst, while "FINAL-12" saves the last 12.
"Long-period" Continuous mode 640x480 JPEG	3.14 seconds (0.32 frames per second); 20 frames total; 3 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over buffer length or 20 shots, whichever came first.
Flash recycling	7.5 seconds	Flash at maximum output.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a Kingston Ultimate 133x 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 quite slow, at about 3.07 seconds for large/fine JPEGs, though the camera appears to capture shots continuously in single-shot mode without having to stop and clear the buffer. "Long-period" continuous mode is also very slow, at only 0.34 frames-per-second for >20 large/fine JPEG frames. The Fuji F50fd has some higher-speed continuous modes though. "TOP-3" and "FINAL-3" modes save the first or last three full-resolution frames in a burst, at a claimed 2 frames per second (sorry, we didn't test those modes). Special 3-megapixel high speed modes ("TOP-12" and "FINAL-12") allow capture of up to 12 frames per second at 4.87 frames per second, which is better than most consumer digital SLRs. At the lowest resolution setting, speeds go back to a slow 0.32 frames per second in "Long-period" continuous mode. The flash takes 7.5 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is a little surprising considering how underpowered it is.

Download speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	1,484 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 fast enough to avoid a separate card reader.

Bottom line, the FinePix F50fd won't be quick enough to keep up with fast moving subjects (at least not at full resolution), and it won't be great for indoor flash shots, but should handle most average outdoor photo opportunities well, such as posed portraits and landscapes.

Battery and Storage Capacity

Battery
About average battery life for a lithium-ion design.

Operating Mode	Number of Shots
Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery, (CIPA standard)	230

The Fujifilm FinePix F50fd uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Although battery life is about average for the camera's 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 F50fd accepts SDHC/SD/MMC memory cards and xD-PictureCards as well, and includes about 25MB of internal memory.

Image Capacity with 25MB Internal Memory		Fine	Normal
4,000 x 3,000	Images	5	8
4,000 x 3,000	File Size	4.7 MB	2.9 MB
2,848 x 2,136	Images	16	-
2,848 x 2,136	File Size	1.5 MB	-
2,048 x 1,536	Images	31	-
2,048 x 1,536	File Size	785 KB	-
1,600 x 1,200	Images	40	-
1,600 x 1,200	File Size	625 KB	-
640 x 480	Images	195	-
640 x 480	File Size	128 KB	-

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