Sears Easi-Load Auto 600

image by Tarn McDaddo (Image rights)

The Sears Easi Load Auto 600 is a rebadged version of the Ricoh 126C Auto CdS camera for Kodapak cartridges. It was produced in Taiwan by Ricoh for the Sears & Roebuck company in the U.S.A. as part of Sears' Easi-Load camera series for cartridged film. Unlike many 126 cartridge cameras, it has an excellent Rikenon 1:2.8/43mm lens and a robust metal body. It has Cadmium-Sulfide (CdS) meter controlled exposure and a spring motor for film advance.

This camera is often confused with the Sears Easi-Load FC 600, and in fact the owner's manual for the Easi Load Auto 600 even uses the name "Easi-Load 600 FC" (sic) on the cover even though the photo on the cover and other photos throughout the manual clearly show the Easi Load Auto 600 name on the camera. These two cameras are alike in all respects except for the light meter. The lens on the Auto 600 is also labeled as a 43mm, compared to the 40mm lens of the FC 600, although it is possible they are actually the same lens. The older FC 600 uses a selenium meter that surrounds the lens, while the newer Auto 600 uses a battery-powered CdS meter that reads through a small meter lens above the camera lens.

The camera provides both scale focusing on the lens barrel for accurate focusing (range 3 feet to infinity) as well as a zone focusing pointer in the viewfinder with click stops at 3.5 feet (portrait), 10 feet (group), and infinity (landscape). The flash socket accepts standard flashcubes (not Magicubes).