Checking out a new camera

[duranash]

I have a new DSLR arriving soon, and wonder what kind of process other use to "check-out" the unit --- beyond "just go out and take pictures"!  Certainly spending some time with the manual, then seeing if all the obvious features seem to work as advertised would seem an obvious step.  I hear comments at times about stuck pixels.  If I shoot a black card with a long exposure, would that show any pixel issues?  Any thoughts or suggestion will be appreciated.

[Bob Atkins]

Reading the manual (several times!) and taking pictures is certainly the best way to check out a new camera.

If you want to look for stuck or hot pixels, you can take a 60 second exposure with the lens cap on, but be warned that if you look closely enough for defects, you'll probably find some. The higher the ISO setting, the more problems you'll probably find.

However if those defects don't show up in your normal images, then they're basically not worth worrying about. Just about every digital camera has some pixels that aren't quite "normal".