Removing tiny locked screws

[dlminehart]

I have a little digital Canon A75 camera whose autofocus no longer works properly. It stopped after my daughter took it to the beach, and I suspect a bit of sand got into it. From reading online forums, it seems this camera is prone to such focus problems.

Canon wouldn't cover it under the warranty, wanting $120 to fix a $180 camera. So, I decided to try cleaning it myself. Unfortunately, a couple of the tiny (2mm topped) phillips screws holding it together were really locked in tight, and their phillips indents are now rather rounded, with screws still stuck.

Any suggestions on how to proceed?

[pelligrini]

I don't have a solution for the screws, but you might try picking up a used one on ebay. If you're patient you could find one for around $20.

The CCD on my old A70 went bad and I found a used one for $18. Even though I had bought a smaller & better resolution camera I liked having the A70 to go with the accessories I have for it; wide angle & telephoto lenses and expecially the waterprooof case.

[Hellrazor]

Sears make a small screw extractor kit. I loaned it to our IT guy at work when he broke the head off of a screw in a laptop.