MOSKVA, a swear word to you, or are you a fan?

hairygit

Hi everyone, so this group has reached 70 members, but there seems to be very little activity. So I'll throw this into the arena, Who out there likes Moskva cameras? Personally I have recently bought two of them, and I think they are great fun to use, and take really nice photos, but I have seen in other web articles that many people have the opinion that one should steer well clear of them:confused: So, who else in this group has one, what are your experiences with them, and what goes wrong with them I know a lot of Ikonta fans will be throwing up at the very thought of a Moskva, but let's face it, the soviets nicked (sorry, war reparations) the original plans and tooling for them, and the coated lenses were one of many improvements made by them So come on, what do you own, and what do you think????
 

Removed Account2

I have a MOCKBA 5, and are tooling up to put it to good use, after som TLC.
Mine is a bit worn, but I guess people had other things on their mind in the 90's than taking good care of their picture taking machines.
I have a hunch many of them where put to semi-professional use in USSR too, since the big negative allowed for some less-than-perfect darkrooms around in the empire.....

I also had the pleasure of working with a MOCKBA 4, which was a dandy, in a travelling camera project limited to only 8 particapitants. Nice and sturdy camera, that no doubt was a fine picturet aking tool when it was new.

I rate the MosKva's alongside of most german folders, save for a couple top brands, Zeiss was mentioned, Adox stand to be mentioned and Franka too. I have heard reports that users rate the optics on their Moskva as better than run-of-the-mill Zeiss nettars with their 4,5 lenses, but cannot verify that.

EP
 
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hairygit

So glad to know I'm not the only one that likes Moskva folders So come on other members, have you got one?, ever had one? or ever used one? I'm particularly interested in anyone who owns or has used a Moskva 3, as these seem very rare, and for whatever reason use plates rather than roll film:confused:
 

Removed Account2

Plates? You mean sheet film? Or did the russians actually launch a camera so late in history, dedicated to glass plates? (haven't seen onee either)
If that was the case I'm impressed over the russian total unpredictability!
 
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hairygit

According to camerapedia and the very few other articles I've managed to fund all state that the Moskva 3 is a 6x9 plate camera, hence my curiosity about them, I know the odd one I've seen on e-bay fetch vast amounts of money:munch:
 

Removed Account2

I think the Moskva 3 used sheet film, which was also known as planfilm and could be confused?

I have 6 6x9 sheet film holders here in front of me on the desk................
 

sdotkling

Maybe this discussion is too old to reply to, but there aren't many people I can talk about Mockvas with.

I really like mine, if "like" means feeling self-satisfied I got it to work after wrestling it to the ground and making it light-tight.

The lens is very sharp, especially on the far side of f8, and the negatives are terrifically huge for a 35mm man like myself. The film transport is a bit of a challenge since I covered up most of the small red window on the back with black tape to prevent light leaking in.

I also disassembled the rear cover/pressure plate assembly, enlarging the sloppily-manufactured dark slide with black duct tape so it covered the film-number window.

It's not the most graceful machine to use, either, but I manage. I usually mount it on a tripod since I'm using the darkest red filter most of the time. The tripod socket on the body is pretty flimsy, so I use the one on the leather case instead.

Re-reading my review might sound like complaining, but no, I really like the thing!
 
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hairygit

Never too late to talk about Moskva! Which model is yours? :confusedo you shoot black and white or colour?:confused: Let's face it, most of us could never afford a super Ikonta, but in reality I can't see a lot of difference in the negative or print quality! So stick with the Moskva, the results can be rather good!
 

sdotkling

Only black and white, I've been sticking to Fuji Neopan Acros, which is the cheapest major brand I can find. My goal is to do waaaay long exposures of city scenes, like the first French photographers did back in 1850. They had to do 45 minute exposures (!) because the plates were so slow, but I think I'll be satisfied with 10 secs. That means I'll be shooting either late in the day or very early, piling on the filters and developing for the slowest filmspeeds I can. Why? I dunno. To make the people go away, I guess...
 
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hairygit

Hi John, you've had your Moskva for nearly 5 months now, how are you getting on with it?:confused:
 
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hairygit

Glad to hear you're using your Moskva, a lot of people buy one, play with it once, then use it as an ornament:confused: The problem you are having with the 6x6 mask is not uncommon, I have had that problem, and also with the 6x4.5 mask on a couple of lubitel tlrcameras (even though the mask in those is made of plastic), but after all, you don't buy a 6x9 camera to take 6x6 photos I assume your enlarger can handle 6x9 negs, so why not make some prints, then scan them? seems a much better option than messing with light boxes and di###al camers, and much cheaper than a 6x9 negative scanner. Another thing I often do is make contact prints 6x9, then scan those, you would be surprised how good the results are Look forward to seeing some pictures upladed, keep playing, and enjoy
 

PaulC

I, too, had problems with too much light getting through the red windows - it seems to be the main issue with these beasts but they were probably designed for slower films and B&W rather than colour. I've now discovered that the pressure plate can easily be removed so I am going to see if some rings of black velvet will improve matters without obscuring the film number. Overall, though, it is a very nice camera apart from that one issue.
 

moto-uno

Got two of these from the Ukraine and the first thing I did was put them in a bright window for a week to remove the aroma(worked great). As squinty as the rangefinder window is, they both produce sharp images(a priority of mine). One had a light leak that was a bit of a bitch to find.Finally I put a quartz halogen headlight bulb inside it (in a darkened room) and lo and behold I was finally able to see the teeny pinhole,I light smear of black silicone seal and all is fine.Must say of all the little quirks these cameras have,I still keep pressing the folder release button to take pictures.
Regards Peter
ps;I don't see any posted images?
 

mrred

Time to take a walk with mine.



This was from last summer. My last roll of Neopan 400 too.
 
  • Jean Noire
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jadphoto

Hi, new to the group, but not to photography.

Had a Moskva V for a short time, had a hard time coming to grips with the left-handedness, reminded me of my first SLR-an Exacta, but a leaky bellows was the deal breaker. Now have an Iskra, which I love, and a couple of Retinas that are incredible.

I work in a hybrid workflow, shooting film, mostly 120 and 4x5, then scanning and printing digitally. We're on a septic system and our son, a water quality geologist for the state of Washington, suggested that darkroom effluent would be a bad idea.

I teach photography at the local community college so I do have access to a "real" darkroom when needed.

JD
 

Bill Ward

Hi. I'm Bill and I just joined this group. I have a collection of folders, including a Moskva 4, which is in good shape and a Moskve 2, which is jammed. The results from the 4 are very impressive, but like most FSU cameras, it's pot luck.
 
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