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Author Message   Jagstang Tinkerer Username: Jagstang Post Number: 21 Registered: 01-2013 Rating: N/A Votes: 0 Posted on Tuesday, May 28, 2013 - 07:46 pm:    Those lens have autofocus driven by an in-lens motor right? Nikon has two types; the cheaper kind used on the 18-55 and 55-200 where you must move a switch to over ride the AF (it's basically a little motor driving the AF in place of where the screw would mate with the in-body motor, using a shaft to turn the focus ring). My understanding is that "real" AF-S lens that apparently place the motor around the focus mechanism, and drive the focusing directly. I suspect, given the small size of these lens and that they are aimed at the consumer market, it's probably something like the former type (especially if it's the standard 10-30), making for a more fragile mechanism. Either way, I'm sure those lens use some type of nylon or plastic gears and sand is probably fatal. Take it to a repair facility, but it's probably terminal. My advice for future beach trips is to either get an old beater point and shoot if you require digital, or an underwater/sealed (not just splash resistant) 35mm like a Minolta Weathermatic or Sealife Reefmaster (these can be had for $5-20 depending on model and accessories). If you are going to the beach often, look at a used Pentax Optio WG-2 or something like that which is also sand-proof. For more specific advice, I'd check out some other forums (photo.net, dpreview, or thephotoforum all cover modern stuff) and see if they can help; this forum mainly only deals with older manual-focus stuff, but you'll probably hear the same thing. Good luck though.