The linear and nonlinear optical properties of palladium nanoparticle reinforced fluorinated ethylene polymer matrix nanocomposite were investigated in this work. Synthesized through decomposition of a palladium organometallic chemical species in the bulk of fluorinated polymer films, the composites consisted of discrete, palladium nanoparticles distributed throughout the polymer matrix. The low-intensity reflectivities were measured as a function of palladium content and compared to behavior predicted using the Tourquato–Kreibig–Fresnel (TKF) theory. Optical limiting experiments using 8 ns duration laser pulses at 1064 nm yielded a 90% reduction in transmissivity with pulse fluences of nearly 1.3 × 10 4 mJ/cm 2.