Nikon is one of the most respected and trusted companies in the photography market. But even buying a branded camera will not save you from a factory defect if you do not check it upon receipt.
Frame quality and usage
The first thing to look for when buying a new camera is whether there is evidence of its use. There should be no scratches, scuffs or chips on the plastic parts and the lens, and there should be no screwdriver marks or deformed areas on the screws.
The next check is the number of captured frames. Even if the camera is in perfect condition, it could have had time to shoot several hundred frames and return it before the expiration of the two weeks prescribed by law. Take a couple of shots and look at the file names - the numbers that will be displayed indicate the sequential number of the captured photos.
The next tests will be to check focus for a DSLR. If you are buying a regular small camera with automatic modes, you can skip this step. In a photography store, employees provide a special lined printout with millimeter marks. Set the maximum aperture opening parameters (they depend on your lens, this will be the smallest number, for example, 1.6, 2.8, 4) and aim at the center line, next to it there will be a corresponding inscription. After shooting, check that the labels above and below the center strip are readable and blurred evenly. If there is no such printout, use a regular ruler and a white sheet of paper, making your own mark as the focus line.
To check for dead white pixels (these are areas of the camera's matrix that are mechanically damaged and do not participate in the creation of the image, therefore they are always black or always white), close the camera lens cap, set a fast shutter speed of about 1/80 and ISO sensitivity 100. Take a picture. It will turn out to be completely black - but with a 100% increase in the picture, it will allow you to see all the defects of the matrix. To check for black pixels, you will need to do the same, only on a white sheet of paper.
Battery
Take the camera in your hands, evaluate how comfortable it fits in the palm of your hand, shake it gently to see if the battery is loose inside (this means either a bad mount or replacing the battery with something else of the wrong size). By the way, the battery itself must also be checked - it should not be deformed or swollen.
There is another nuance with Nikon batteries. The manufacturer has officially recognized the presence of a defect in some series of batteries, leading to their explosion - this means that such a battery can cause irreparable damage to your camera at any time. Please check the battery type and series. If the battery type is listed as EN-EL15, then the ninth place in the serial number can be E or F - this will mean just a defective batch. In this case, replace the battery.
