The Sears KS SUPER was made by Ricoh for Sears in the 1980s. Before digital, this was a favorite model for shooting with me for a few years. The body is solid with a polycarb top and bottom, just about the right weight. Shutter is metal bladed running vertical, aperture priority auto exposure plus 100 for flash mode, and B setting. It feels good and handles well, and the lens is quite capable. However, the shutter is battery dependent.

I had one more roll of that Fujicolor Superia X-tra 400 purchased cheap and out of date from a hot thrift store and kept in my freezer until recently. On Wednesday I Loaded it into the KR SUPER. After self portraits in the mirror I drove to a few places I had not visited since before the pandemic.

First stop was Mastodon State Historic Site, where major discoveries were made about our prehistoric past.
From there I drove over to nearby Kimmswick, earliest known European settlement in Jefferson County.
The first old log house is original and dates to the year 1770.
When at the second log house, after 20 exposures on the roll, the camera's shutter locked up tight, partly open, a mechanical issue and not battery, and so my session ended.

Thursday I developed, using my usual Caffenol recipe. Since the film was old and possibly compromised, I had shot the roll of ASA 400 with camera set a full stop extra at ASA 200, and I added an extra hour of developing time, with 8 minutes in the tank.

Not knowing what I would get, when it came out of the tank, I was pleased with my results.

All images were shot hand held and with available light, including indoor.

Please click on thumbnails to see enlarged.
All images are ©2020 E.J.Kowalski.

Thanks! Ed