How sharp is your Moskva?

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My wife gave me a Moskva 2 and Jupiter 9 & 12 in contax mt. for Christmas. The Jupiters are outstanding but the Moskva is not really sharp. I really don't expect it to perform like a modern camera but it's just not sharp at any distance or aperature. Looking at the negs it's an overall problem equal in the center and the edges. It doesn't seem to be a focus issue since there isn't anything sharp in front or behind the point of focus. It's just soft. For those of you that have a Moskve is yours sharp? I know this is a relative term but how does it compare to your 35mm negs? It may be that I'm expecting too much.

Thanks!
 
I believe I saw some pictures taken by Moskva somewhere at this site, can't find them anymore to give you link :(
I've never owned Moskva 2, but ocassionally just to feel MF I shoot a few films using my friend's Moskva 2 and Moskva 4 we had in photostudio for pioners (kinda soviet boyscouts). It was sharp AFAIR and I never get any close with 35mm to result of one picture I got from that camera (I mean 18x24 cm image on photopaper... don't remember with camera it was, I don't have that picture nor negative anymore... enlarger for 6x9 was always problem for me).
I guess it's something wrong with optic...
 
Here's a picture taken with my Moskva-4 and detail from same.

I suggest that you check your rangefinder accuracy using ground glass at the film plane and a loupe. Mine was off and you can see the results after I made the correction.

While the Moskvas are not known for gilt-edge sharpness, they should give reasonable results which yours apparently isn't.

I also have a Moskva-2 but have yet to take pictures with it. It's rangefinder also required adjustment.

Walker
 
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I have a Moskva 5 that is TACK sharp! But it wasn't that way when I got it. I had to take a Big piece of ground glass and a 10x or better loupe and get the lens focused at inf. To do this you need to get it on a tripod and turn it to the inf. focus stop and check it (I used the top of mountain range about 4 miles away). If it is off you need to set the lens to inf on the scale marking and loosen three small set screws on the outer edge of the front lens assembly. Turn the lens assembly inside that knurled ring without moving that knurlled outer ring out of position from inf. I used a small piece of rubber glove on the end of my finger on the front element and kept checking it. The same procedure can be used on a Kodak Tourist II with the syncro 800 shutter and Anastar lens. Worked great and I get nice sharp negatives from both. I have a Moskva 4 on the way and I suppect that it will need the same treatment. Another way is to observe the ground glass and adjust the focus until it is focused at inf. then loosen the screws and hold the lens just the glass in position while moving the focus adjustment back to inf. then gently tighten the set screws. Others may have a better way of doing this but it worked for me. Dave
 
I have a Moskva-2, farily sharp. There's a shot done with it in my gallery (the fountain one).

Yours may have a misaligned rangefinder - a fairly common problem with these folders.
 
Just an idea. But what would happen if the camera wasn't unfolded completely? I don't have a Moskva. I think that happened to my old Voigtländer folder that I got from my grandfather.
/m
 
The Moskva, while no Rolleiflex in terms of edge to edge sharpness, should be sharp enough to blow away any 35mm camera. Your has a serious problem - my guess is either the focus was reassembled incorrectly after a repair or perhaps a lens element installed backwards. I cannot recall if the glass comes completely free from its mount in the Industar 24, but lenses that have this "feature" are often reassembled incorrectly.

I trust the rangefinder agrees (roughly) with the focus scale?

Moskva 5 - either Velvia 50 or Ilford FP4+ - 1st and last are tripod shots.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=13442&cat=500&ppuser=2540

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=14425&cat=500&ppuser=2540

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=14426&cat=500&ppuser=2540
 
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Is there any sort of play in the lens struts, or does the lens assembly have any play on the vertical axis (yaw, in aviation terms)? Folding cameras are inherently subject to focusing inaccuracies due to the nature of their construction.
 
Thanks for all the information. My rangefinder and focus scale agree and the camera is very tight and has no looseness in the struts. I think I will use some ground glass on the back and adjust the front element as described above. I suspect this is the problem. When the weather clears I'll give it a try and post the results.
 
For infinity, a distant utility pole will be good for the range finder adjustment. I have 2 moskva -5. The 1959 model has very flat film rails but the rangefinder has some play. The focusing is accurate as long as you dial from 1.5 m to infinity. In my 58 model, the film rails were not flat and the center bowed up. I'm in a process of fixing them. There's a very little play in focusing. For a very accurate focusing, dialing from 1.5m to infinity is still the best way.

pangkievrange
 
I find that the moon is a little too bright - I use a distant radio tower. Its very tall and narrow, so I can get the RF alignment very accurately.

A note of caution if this is your first foray under the hood of a Moskva or a Super Ikonta. Do not diassemble the rotating prisms unless there is a problem with them. If they are not properly reassembled within one gear tooth, then your rangefinder image will move diagonally rather than horizontally. Its pretty tedius getting this right and I've had the problem on 3/4 cameras with this type of rangefinder.

When you reassemble, you set the lens in the infinity position, and the rangefinder. Overlay the gear meshing the two together without disturbing either, then lay the focus scale on top, making sure the tab for the RF is properly engaged, and again, not disturbing the settings of either the RF or the lens.

If you are in there, it is worth doing a relubrication so you don't get stuck with a stiff focus wheel. The Super Ikonta instructions are close enough to be of help: http://www.davidrichert.com/camera_rebuilds.htm

ENJOY!
 
I haven't been into an Iskra, but that type of behavior is what you see when you have a rangefinder mechanism that relies on a spring-loaded mechanism in one direction. It probably just needs a cleaning.
 
Mike Kovacs said:
I haven't been into an Iskra, but that type of behavior is what you see when you have a rangefinder mechanism that relies on a spring-loaded mechanism in one direction. It probably just needs a cleaning.
Click to expand...

I went inside the iskra before. I only fixed the vertical alignment issue. I did not get an uniform patch. The infinity is at 1/4 of the length from left. The base is shorter than kiev so that the tolerance (compensation of error) at a close distance is limited.

pangkievrange
 
I've a Moskva 5, tatty looking, but razor sharp.

As others have said, you need to check it out: RF accuracy, lens focus and whether or not it is "square". Make yourself up a ground glass, and check it with a decent loupe.
 
My Moskva 5 is quite sharp. I've attached a photo taken with mine lately. It was enlarged and a B&W version given as a Christmas gift.
 
Hi - the most common source of fuzziness on all the Moskva models is that the lens is not exactly parallel to the film plane. This is caused by the struts being out of alignment. As the lens is quite long, you don't have a whole load of depth of field anyway even at f22 and even tiny shift in the lens plane will seriously affect focus and you may not be able to get any sharp images. It needs to be checked by by someone familiar with these cameras. I have also found that it is a very light camera and like all light cameras it is hard to hand-hold really steady. My Moskva 5 was adjusted for me in St Petersburg when I bought it and it produces sharp images. Best of luck sorting it out - they are great cameras!
 
My Moskva 5, that I got from WLewisIII is outstanding. The sharpness is great and the DOF is very good
 
Thanks for the excellent advice! I now have my Moskva 2 cooking. As advised I set my camera on a tripod cut some ground glass for the back and vied the image at infinity. Terrible, very soft i,age that didn't get better with focusing. I removed the besel around the front of the lens (footage scale ring) adjusted the focus untill it was tack sharp with a 10x loupe and reinstalled the ring. Now everything is very sharp at all distances.

Thanks for the help!

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=5045
 
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