Magnetic x-ray and neutron scattering, SQUID magnetometry, and heat capacity measurements of Fe{sub 0.5}Zn{sub 0.5}F{sub 2} in a field are presented. The zero field cooled (ZFC) x-ray results exhibit no true phase transition. Discordantly, the temperature derivative of the uniform magnetization ({ital M}) displays a peak, which has previously been interpreted as reflecting random field Ising model critical heat capacity. We demonstrate that the ZFC {ital dM}/{ital dT} peak, in common with other indirect heat capacity measurements, instead reflects the effects of nonequilibrium ZFC long range order.