The imaging spectrograph with spherical crystal and transmission grating have been used to obtain the high spectrally and spatially resolved images of plasma X-ray microsources (fast z-pinch) as well as of laser-produced plasma flares up to 5 mm in extent. The spectral resolution lambda/DELTAlambda = 2.10(4) have been achieved using a quartz spherical mirror with the curvature radius 500 mm. Using a transmission grating spectrometer, the spectral density of power about 10(5) W/angstrom in the ''water window'' has been measured in experiments with a fast z-pinch large pulse storage facility.