When you first buy a new digital camera, take it for a test drive to make sure it’s functioning correctly.

Don’t expect problems but understand that, like all electronic products, there may be occasional “lemons.”

Many merchants let you return a faulty camera without penalty for up to two weeks from the purchase date. After that time, a problematic camera needs to be seen by an authorized camera repair dealer. So give the camera a good workout before the time runs out with the seller.

To test a digital camera, use it

The best way to test a digital camera is simply to take it out and use it. If your digital camera came with alkaline batteries, they will run out quickly. For the most reliability, always do the testing with fully charged, batteries.

Shoot all types of subjects, inside and out, with and without the flash; in low light and in sunlight. Try the different exposure, metering, focus and scene modes; scroll through the menus and use the various settings.  Zoom in and out,. Take macro shots. Photograph colorful subjects to see how the camera handles a variety of colors.

Light, sight and sound

Check the LCD display for bad pixels, tiny dots on the screen. While a LCD may have no bad pixels, a few are normal and they don’t show up in photos. If the number of pixels are excessive, exchange the camera.

A digital camera may emit sound when it focuses, when the lens is zooming in or out or when Continuous AutoFocus is enabled. Unless the sound is very loud or unusual, consider it normal.

If your camera has a hot shoe, slide an external flash into it. It should slide on and off easily but firmly. On rare occasions, a hot shoe may be too tight.

Reset the camera if needed

If after you test your camera doesn’t seem as it was when you first tried it, reset it. You may have inadvertently changed a menu. Resetting changes all settings to the factory default: those originally set by the manufacturer.

Most digital cameras lenses have minor quirks lens distortions. There are work-arounds either at the time you take a photo or when editing it. However, if your camera exhibits any of the following to an extreme, consider exchanging it.

Distortions and hot pixels

• Vignetting - darker corners at edges of a photo, known as vignetting. Vignetting is from the side of the lens becoming visible and can occur when a lens is at wide angle.
• Fringing - A blue, purple or other color around the edges of a high contrast subject such as branches against a bright sky. The fringing is most noticeable when shooting at wide angle.
• Corner softness - Edges of an image may appear soft when taking shots at the widest angle and aperture. The softness may be barely noticeable and can be corrected when editing an image.
• Light drop off when using the flash - light may drop off in the corner of photos when the built-in flash is used at wide angle however the fall off should not be extreme. Most camera flashes are not very powerful and should be used within the specified range for each focal length for optimal results.
• Hot pixels - white dots against a dark background that look like stars in an evening sky.  To test this, take a picture with the lens cap on. Take a long exposure and then look at the image for excessive dots. Realize that  every camera will have hot pixels if you take long enough exposures.

It needs to be pointed out again that many of these things are normal. If a problem doesn’t jump out at you, don’t pixel peep to the extent that you won’t enjoy your camera.