Moskva 5 pressure plate - how to adjust?

[david_weiss2]

Just bought a Moskva 5 - one question - there is a lever on the back

near the pressure plate - is it suppose to move? It looks like it should

move up and down - this is stuck between the white boxes that represent

the 6x6 format and the 6x9 format. I assume it should be pushed to the

6x9 if I want to shoot 6x9?

 

Anyone have a owners manual in English?

 

How do you adjust these plates? Looking at older messages,

that seems to be one flaw.

 

Dave

[mskovacs]

All that lever does is lock out the 6x6 or 6x9 red window slider, depending on what format you want to shoot.

[User_503771]

Based on my own experience some time ago with one Moskva 5, my first thought was to adjust it with a hammer!

 

But that's unfair -- it's simply the one that I got.

 

Can you open the "sliders" over the film number windows? Or at least the one for 6x9? If so -- as pointed out above -- that's all you need. And in that case, I'd let the sleeping dog lie.

 

If your shots are sharp across the whole frame, you've got it made. Do make sure though that the pressure plate moves freely the way it should before running film through it.

 

Good luck!

 

And by the way, I'll soon be testing out a nice little Moskva 4 that's in better condition than the 5 I tried before. Wish me luck with this one! (Yeah, you gotta love 'em....)

[david_weiss2]

Thanks everyone - yeah, red window slide seems fine. Will be testing this weekend and hoping everything is okay. From my visual inspections, I remain hopeful.

 

Dave

[christopher_graham1]

Best I can tell if it came from Russia on Ebay you should be in good shape. I haven't heard of too many of those coming in bad condition from those guys. They have a pretty good reputation despite the seemingly shady nature of them. Basically if they are in Russia and have a lot of good feedback then those cameras have been babied and CLA'ed by people who know about those cameras and all their quirks. So far all the ones I have heard of that were bought that way were good at least in recent times. I think they have been screening which ones they send out as well as CLA'ing them. If you buy it from an American or Canadian source then good luck to you. Those seem to typically be sold as antiques rather than photographic tools.

 

 

As for the English version of the manual. <a href="http://www.butkus.org/chinon/moskva_2_4_5/moskva_2_4_5.htm">Butkus.org to the rescue as usual</a>.

[mskovacs]

The biggest issue with these are worn pivots on the front standard = wobbly front standard = lens not parallel to film plane = unsharp photos.

 

The pressure plate just pushes against the film gate so it should work fine unless one or more of the springs underneath have lost their temper. (unlikely)