With only a few days left before the end of our trip my dad brought me my sister’s Canon PowerShot SD600 that he had been using for the last 5 weeks and told me that he was getting a “lens error, restart camera” error message on the LCD screen when he tried to turn it on. The thing had been thoroughly abused during our adventures – accidentally of course – and my mind played back incidents of it being dropped onto sidewalks, sprayed with sea water, and, what I thought brought about its ultimate demise, the time where it came into contact with a sandy beach. I didn’t have the tools to open it up then, but today I finally got around to pulling out a micro screwdriver and removed the six main screws holding the casing together. I found a great guide including pictures on how to open and fix the lens error. I used my Giottos Rocket Air to blow free a number of sand granules from around the lens and gears. I popped the battery back in and voila, the lens actually extended and opened! I reassembled the housing after cleaning sand and other particles from the pieces. The extending and retracting of the lens doesn’t sound as smooth as my SD800, so I’m not sure how much longer it will last, but at least it’s been revived for the time being.