The fast computation of Zernike moments from normalized geometric moments has been developed in this paper. The computation is multiplication free and only additions are needed to generate Zernike moments. Geometric moments are generated using Hatamian's filter up to high orders by a very simple and straightforward computation scheme. Other kinds of moments (e.g., Legendre, pseudo Zernike) can be computed using the same algorithm after giving the proper transformations that state their relations to geometric moments. Proper normalizations of geometric moments are necessary so that the method can be used in the efficient computation of Zernike moments. To ensure fair comparisons, recursive algorithms are used to generate Zernike polynomials and other coefficients. The computational complexity model and test programs show that the speed-up factor of the proposed algorithm is superior with respect to other fast and/or direct computations. It perhaps is the first time that Zernike moments can be computed in real time rates, which encourages the use of Zernike momentfeatures in different image retrieval systems that support huge databases such as the XM experimental model stated for the MPEG-7 experimental core. It is concluded that choosing direct computation would be impractical.