Moskva-5 and Velvia 50

It seems we are all going through a Velvia phase around here. Not my

finest work, and I don't think I'll be loading Velvia 50 in the

Moskva-5 again. Its great when it works but using a tripod with a

folding camera is not my cup of tea. 400 speed minimum henceforth!

 

<p><b><a

href="http://www3.sympatico.ca/mskovacs/pv/Moskva-5/Moskva-5.html">Moskva-5

Photos</a></b>

Mike, that door shot is nicely detailed - I would love to see that about 11" wide.

Those are all very nice shots. The tripod is a pain, but it really adds clarity to pictures from that long lens.

Very nice; I actually like the last two the best. Of course, this just reminds me of why I

need to add a Moskva to my collection. I'd be happier with Tri-X in it, but that's a different

set of games... :)

 

Thank you,

 

William

Those elephants are priceless!

<p>

Persevere with the tripod ... (it could be my last transparency roll of the year, but I've just put some Provia100 into the Bessa.)

Great stuff. If it's still availble, give Konica's Impressa 50 a try-wonderful film.

Nothing wrong with those Mike. I like the elephants and leaves.

 

I think a tripod is necessary with slower speed slide film, and with the faster speed stuff (Provia 400) you might run out of shutter speeds on a nice day. I tend to stick to 100 speed slide film. I think 200 or 320 speed for B+W film is about right (depending on conditions of course). I'd maybe put higher speed film in mine if I had an ND filter around.

 

Still, I am getting better and hand-holding this beast. But for what slide film can do and costs, I think the tripod is worth the effort.

 

Paul

Nicely done, Mike. I'll bet those shots, especially the doors, would stand up to any quality criteria you could name. With that combination you have a mini 4x5 in your coat pocket.

I love the look of Velvia, especially on an overcast day and agree with all of the above that a tripod really brings out the potential of a 6x9 folder. Also, Velvia is tough to get perfect with a contrasty scene.

 

You may want to try a negative film like Kodak 100UC for summer daylight scenes. 400 is nice but you will run out of shutter speeds as mentioned unless you wish to use f/22 or even f/32 as is found on my Record III

 

I'm glad to see that your 4 year old has a flair for creativity.

I think your photos demonstrate that the Moskva can produce quality images. Despite all the usual excuses (cell focusing lens, poor quality control etc.), the quality is clearly there.

 

The Moskva?s poor reputation (IMO) is due to the poor design of the shutter release, which is very violent and invariably introduces camera shake upon release. Using a tripod doesn?t help that much as there is no cable release on the shutter ? all the cable does is activate the same top mounted shutter release. If you reach in and release the shutter directly instead of using the top mounted button you will notice the difference.

 

It would be great if someone could contribute a modification that would make it easy to fire off the camera by using the shutter directly instead of going through the release button and that horrible linkage.

 

Michael Schub

Paul, you won't run out of shutter speeds on the Moskva with ISO 400 film. Sure, the shutter only goes to 1/250, but the aperture can be stopped down to f/32 -- which would be (barely) good for ISO 1000 in Sunny 16 conditions. TXP in Diafine, anyone?

Thanks all - I was pretty disappointed with the results, but not the fault of the camera. The biggest blunder was when my meter got nudged off ASA 50 to 100 and I had some underexposure. Its called task saturation, taking photos and minding that your energetic 4-year old doesn't fall into a ravine.

 

I can post some enlargements of the elephant shot if there is interest. I believe it was stopped down to f/11 or f/16 and I know it was rangefinder focused. I can see a difference in sharpness between the centre and the far corners, but its pretty sharp overall. I'm going to repeat the same shot with my Rolleiflex and see whether edge to edge resolution will beat out film area.

 

I have no problem with tripods, in fact all of my nature work is done this way. It just doesn't seem to jibe with my idea of using a folder. That, and the socket on the door is close to useless since neither of my two heads will mount to the camera without clearance problems! I could only use the base mount and tilt it for verticals.

 

There most certainly is a cable release socket on the release. The camera also has a self-timer which would work in a pinch. I find the release is smooth enough, after service no different than my Zeiss Ikonta 521/16 which seems to have been the mechanism the Soviets copied. The problem is that its on the LEFT side. Someone suggested using your thumb to release when shooting vertical and that is indeed the best way. Horizontal shots are clumsy, no doubt about it. I do have a soft release that I use on the Rollei when hand-holding, so maybe its worth a try on the Moskva.

 

Its true I won't run out of shutter speeds with f/32 but setting the aperture accurately becomes a problem as the settings become spaced closer.

 

I finally build my shutter speed tester on the weekend and the Moment-24C checks-out perfectly. My Compur Rapid on the Ikonta is running a stop too slow on the fast speeds! Don't quite know what to do about that.

Great shots. I have just traded a rollei orange filter to a roll of velvia 50 which i plan to use either in my super ikonta or in the old rolleiflex. Never used slide film before (yes i do have a handheld meter;) )so i'm pretty curious.

Fantastic "shots". The Tessar formula still reigns after all these years.

Great shots a question though did you see any vignettiing by the bellows.

Are this full frame scans?<BR>

BTW May I use one of your images in our guest gallery?<P>

 

Regards,

John.D <P>

<a href="http://www.johndesq.com/moskva5">Reminiscence Moskva-5</a>

Michael ; here I use to use the Moskva 5 bolted to our process camera; to shoot artwork. It this situation; a remote air release is used; and slowly squeezed off. There is no vibration then; the camera is bolted to a 1 ton process camera. The camera makes nice 6x9cm slides of low res artwork; but the camera lens is not optimized for closer distances. It is not an opinion; but the results of controlled tests with our camera; and several distances. An old Kodak Medalist is way sharper at close distances; and the lens front never has any tilt problems; but one has to mess with 620 films; unless the camera is converted. Here my two Moskva 5's were from Ebay many years ago; the first one was only 20 dollars; before they were rediscovered. <BR><BR>

Long ago many of use used Verichrome in folders; when the asa was 50; and it was ortho film. This films could be developed under red safelight. Super-XX was then asa 100; but only in 35mm and Bantum. The asa definition was more conservative then; so multiply these numbers by say 1.5 to 2 for modern numbers. Camera shake problems with folders were probably alot more understood long ago; because the masses used folders alot; and didnt like duds then either. With a typical 8 shot 2x3" camera; one cannot afford alot of duds. In kodacolor for 116/616 and 620/120; many had just 6 shots; instead of 8; the rest ussed for lab calibration.

In the 1950's many of us took BB guns to school; for markmanship classes. Here one learned to shoot targets; slowly squeezing off the trigger; for better accuracy. This is also what our 4H club Photo club teacher had us do with camera shutters; to reduce camera shake. In both cases one is getting better results when smoothly firing off a shot; not jerking the gun or camera. In both cases it is a statistical thing; which varies with the shooter and their shooting skills.