I like a challenge. Been buying more faulty stuff to attempt to fix. A(nother) Nikon D700, with charger battery and strap for £99. Allegedly it doesn't store photos to the memory card, and the aperture control mechanism is faulty. Old cameras now, as they were announced way back in July 2008. This one must have been lying about unused for years, as the little used battery would only charge to 60%. That might improve with some usage... or the opposite.

Reckoned the easier bit to fix would be the memory card issue, as bending the pins in the socket is the usual problem. Nope, those pins were all dead straight. Insert an ancient card. Format the card in the camera, a step I suspect the sellers didn't try, and test. Result, without a lens fitted, was the above. File stored, so no problem there. Check the stored photo, and the shutter count, which is embeded in the photo file's EXIF data, had been a mere 2,170 clicks. No wonder it looked very good condition in the photos. Updated the firmware, gave the camera a thorough clean, and copied all my setup settings from the other (old and working) D700 via the memory card. That last bit is really handy. A second camera setup the same in seconds.

Think I know a limited way around the described aperture fault, but will leave that for another night.