Moskva-5

Leica CL + Zeiss Jena 24mm f2.8 Macro

A Soviet medium format rangefinder with bellows that produces 6x9cm negatives. What’s not to like!

The Moskva-5 is surprisingly easy to use, once you get accustomed to everything being ‘on the wrong side’ compared to the rangefinders I have used before.

The lens is an Industar-24, which is also labeled Moment-24 on a different part of the lens. It’s a 105mm f3.5. Considering it’s medium format, that would be the equivalent of something like a 70mm f2.4? Maybe even wider and faster actually, because the negative is larger than a typical medium format. I am still not sure exactly how the conversion works.

This is my husband’s second attempt at procuring a medium format rangefinder with bellows. The first was an Agfa Isolette, which was cosmetically pristine but had light leaks and other problems. The Moskva looks like it was well-used, but seems to be in full working order, and the bellows are free of light leaks. We are putting a roll of film through it now and will soon see the results.