Moskva 2 vs 5

K

Kin Lau

Guest
I already have a 5, which works beautifully, and have a opportunity to get a 2 cheaply.

Anyone tried both, and could give me their thoughts on the pros & cons of the 2 vs the 5?

One thing that should be in the 2's favour would be the viewfinder. The 5's vf is rather small, so the flipup vf on the 2 looks bigger and _should_ be nicer.
 
I have hear, but never seen myself, that the optics of the Moskva-2's finder are subject to deterioration at its current age rendering the open viewfinder almost useless if it is affected. You might want to personally inspect a Moskva-2 begore you actually buy ir.

-Paul
 
How much of deterioration is that?

1954 vintage Moskva-2, Ektachrome 100VS.
 
You can still take beautiful pictures with a Moskva-2 which has a bad viewfinder. You just can't see through the viewfinder.

My point is that if one unknowingly buys a camera with a defect from half-way around the world, it may take some additional time and money to set it right. Where there is a risk and some aversion to accepting the risk, it may be preferable to examine the merchandise before paying.

I have made over 50 purchases of cameras and lenses from Sellers in the Ukraine and Russia over the past few years. Only 1 was an outright fraud, but about 25 of them were less functional than advertised. I can live with that, but my expectations are lower for 40-50 year old cameras regardless of where they come from. The Buyer simply needs to be aware of the risks.

By the way, that is a lovely photograph. Good work.

-Paul
 
I got the Moskva 2, and the viewfinder is fine. Even if the vf glass was bad, it looks like an easy fix.

Funny enough, but the person I bought both the Fed 2 and Moskva 2 from, is in Toronto. My Zorki 4, Kiev 3a and Moskva 5 are also from sellers in Toronto. Hmm... in fact, only the Zorki 2C and the J9 are from the FSU. I also have SLR lenses from there & a univ-finder coming. Most of my FSU equipment is from sellers in Canada, so as to avoid border issues, but I have gotten packages from the FSU faster than certain places in Canada (eg Manitoba).
 
A little off topic but ... does anyone have a spare 6x6 mask for the Moskva 5 that they would like to sell? :D I bought mine without and have regretted it ...

dan
 
Ok Paul, my bad - you talked about the viewfinder defect only. Still I don't quite see what can happen with it: the finder is pretty simplistic, just two spring-driven frames with pieces of glass. Mine shows no signs of any deterioration, other than minor brassing on the edges of the inner frame.
 
I don't have any personal experience with any Moskva other than the 5. All I know about the others is what I read while researching my own purchases.

http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/moskva5.html

According to this posting, which I think is Dante Stella's, there is a deterioration problem with many Moskva's which have Albada type finders. These are the finders which use aluminized lenses and have projected (floating) framelines.

Agreed that the Moskva 5 has a squinty and often inaccurate finder, but it does not have floating framelines either. Just a cautionary note to keep your expectations down if you elect to buy without first beinag able to examine first.

-Paul
 
pshinkaw said:
http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/moskva5.html
According to this posting, which I think is Dante Stella's, there is a deterioration problem with many Moskva's which have Albada type finders. These are the finders which use aluminized lenses and have projected (floating) framelines.
Click to expand...

I checked that... the Moskva 2 doesn't have floating framelines, it's a 6x9 only format camera, no 6x4.5 option (without a drill and hacksaw anyhow). He was speaking of the Super Ikonta C.

As it is, my 2 has just plain glass in the VF.
 
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