Moskva-2

<p>Well just want to tell a bit about my "Dream came true" story. Basically I grew up in Moscow, Russia and started being involved in the amateur photography in 1979. I always dreamt about Moskva-2. That camera was sort of a mystery for me. Everybody read about it, but none of my friend ever seen one or touch it. It was simply unavailable nowhere in Moscow because it was discontinued for more that 20 years. Of medium format camera we had a choice of Lubitel 166B, or Kiev6C, or Etud. Well Lubitel I had, and I honestly did not like it. The focusing process for a beginner was terrible, than the gear coupling of the focusing and taking lenses went uncoupled and I managed to waste five films before I discovered that failure. Well I should not delay the film development but I did. Kiev 6C cost 600 rubbles at the moment and it was a fortune for 11-12 year old kid as well as for my parents. And Etud, I wish to find one and post a picture it would provoke an unstoppable laugh. So back to the story. Moskva-2. For me that camera always had something in it. May be that was its German appearance. Definitely its parent was Zeiss-Super-Ikonta. Well nobody deny that. Moskva’s bellows and fording rangefinder compensator looked so different from the Zenits and plastic Lubitel of the 1980-es. But, I did not have Moskva-2, could not find one nowhere. My father never had it and he said that in the 1950-es when he grew up (he has got his Zorki in 1954) Moskva was expensive and generally unavailable. Couple years ago I went to Moscow and went to the art marked called Vernisage-Izmailovo, that is a tourist trap, but if someone knows how to navigate there it is Ok and I have got my Moskva-2, for about 20 bucks. Here it is. It is made in 1955 and it is not in mint condition which is not that bad, means it did not pass through the hands of the “Swiss-army-Leica” makers.</p><div></div>

<p>Originally I thought just to put in on the shelf to decorate my house, but then I decided to clean it up a bit and to give it a shot. So I mount it on the tripod and asked my kids to work as models a little bit. They were not happy but managed to stay put for a short period of time.</p><div></div>

<p>Well it is not a friendliest camera for a user, rewinding knob is weird and I could not attach modern cable release because it did not fit. And definitely Moskva-2 not the one that I would recommend to use for a casual shot of kids but I am pleased with the picture quality, sharpness is decent in the center and is Ok on the margins. I heard that it has the best results at the F8 and I had to use F4.5 may be next time outdoor I will get better results.</p><div></div>

<p>I have had occasion to own a couple of Moskva-3's. I bought them, in part, because I'm half Ukranian. They worked reasonably well, though the VF was very small. Only thing I couldn't get over was the <i>smell</i>. Both cameras, from different sources, smelled like burnt petroleum.</p>

It will be interesting to see more, maybe outdoors.

<p>Paul,<br /> Moskva-3 is a plate camera. It was produced for the short period of time and only 11385 copies were made and only a few of them are still around. Therefore it is highly desirable collectible camera disregarding of the smell. As of mine surprisingly it smells as good as my newer Olympus OM1n. Probably they used a lubricant called "solidol" for your cameras.<br /> Charles, I am going to try it out soon. It is too windy today in MD.</p>

<p>Moskva 2 and the two versions of the M4 as well as a M5. The best so far was the M4 with the pop up finder.The M2 is a real mess, from a seller in the US for $20.00.</p>

<p>The other M4 and M5 are still works in progress as I'm still finding a light leak in one and reskinning the other. The shutters are very easy mechanisms to work on, the lenses certainly adequate and the viewfinder (not rangefinder) a definite improvement over the Super Ikonta C. The cases are not leather but some kind of plastic composite material that really works well at protecting the camera.</p>

<p>Mine smelled of some sort of oil, not unpleasant.</p>

<p>I also have the Moskva2 and thought the threads were striped when I tried to attach a cable release until I read Kozma's post.Do they take a special cable/thread?</p>

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<p>Do they take a special cable/thread?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I think that all old Soviet cameras had different thread for the cable release. I checked my Zorky-6 and my modern cable does not fit. It fits however into Fed3 and Kiev4A those were made in early 70-ies. </p>

<p>My Moskva 5 takes a standard cable release. Its a great camera though I am not a fan of the viewfinder location. I was thinking some day to install a cold shoe for my Voigtlander brightline finder.<br>

Does your Moskva 2 have the Soviet "Moment-1" shutter or the German Compur?</p>

<p> Mine Moskva has got Moment 1. According to Abramov KMZ put German Compur and Compur-Rapid only in 1947 and 1948.</p>