Mark's Sears KS500 Page

2-5-23: Bought at Goodwill online auction. 1979 to 1983 in the Sears catalog. Another source says it sold from 1978 to 1981. Along with the K1000, this was the first K-mount camera sold by Sears. I notice they dropped the Tower brand name. It's actually a re-badged Ricoh KR5, which I'm also buying in this same auction lot!. It sold for $255 in the 1979 catalog. The film advance lever is the meter on/off switch. The meter is center-weighted, using two photocells. Shutter works from 1/8th to 1/500th second. It uses button batteries for the meter. Viewfinder shows neither aperture or shutter speeds, but has a split image rangefinder which I prefer. This camera came with a 50mm F2 K-mount lens, which is good because I don't have any K-mount lenses yet. Will get an adapter so I can use all my M42 mount lenses with it. One web site I found calls it a "beater camera" you wouldn't mind losing, but that it took great pictures. I would regret losing or breaking any camera, they're all important to me. And I love it when an underdog somehow makes an outstanding photo. Hope it gets here OK.
Camera's not in yet

2-11-23: Received from Goodwill OK. No batteries inside, or corrosion. Shutter OK, lens OK, film advance OK. Go for film test if meter works.
front, as received