Moskva 4 6x6 mask

[Muggins]

I posted about a year ago with this question, no luck, and I've yet to find one since so I'll try again.

I have a Moskva 4 which someone has modified to take 6x4.5 pics. However as result I now have a 6x4.5 mask - to convert back to 6x6 would leave me unable to use the smaller format, as the extensions to the mask are kind of heavily engineered.

The occasional Moskva 5 mask turns up on the Well-known Auction Site, but I've yet to see a Moskva 4 one.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Adrian

 

[rxmd]

I think the masks should be compatible between the two. In the Moskva 5 at least the mask doesn't really do a lot except mask the film a little bit; film counting goes via a different window anyway, and in the viewfinder you have a switch with a 6x6 mask within the 6x9 field of view.

For 6x4.5 you need to hack the body as well, at least to give you a film counter window and a viewfinder. Are you sure it's only the mask that has been heavily engineered in your case? Can you provide some pictures? It might be easier just to get another camera, they're not that expensive.

Philipp

 

[Muggins]

I'd be very surprised if the masks are compatible.

Moskva 5: http://rafcamera.com/sca/other/m5fg_6x6.htm

I can't even find a photo of a 4 with the back open to show the mask but, rather than the pressed steel of the 5, it is two pieces of sheet metal, joined by two fine sprung wires that clip into the film gate and (presumably) sit just in front of the film. The later 4 with the flat top, a la the 5, might share a mask, but the earlier ones don't.

Pictures are awkward unless I borrow a digital. Yes, there is other engineering - the hole in the back and pressure plate have been neatly done, with a cover (off another type of camera) over the new window - but only the alterations to the mask are a problem. So I have a back with three windows. The viewfinder obviously defeated the chap who did it, as he resorted to two pieces of card in the front window rather than altering the pop-up 6x6 viewfinder. They are a fiddle to install and remove, but work surprisingly well. Much like the rest of the camera, I guess.

If I had any sort of workshop I'd make one...

Adrian

 

[Muggins]

Bit of a zombie thread, but I've finally got my elbow in gear and remembered it...

Attached is a pic of a Moskva 4 mask (as modded for 645 - see the extra bits of tin in the sides of the film gate) - very different to that for a 5. Other than the likelihood of getting an apres-vodka special, which I'm told is a big risk with Moskvas, I'm trying not to buy another camera, as I've got quite enough already... I guess, though, one day I might have to if one doesn't turn up.

Adrian