After my 73/1.5 arrived yesterday I was anxious to give it try and begin with first light since it is a 1.5 and I was going to focus on wide open, or nearly so for my first round. These photos are from my driveway or backyard in Tucson AZ that gives me a good landscape shot to the north that is well it by rising Sun and the plants in my backyard that gives a diversity examples of plants with differing colors, contours, and spines that catch the morning light.
The new edition of the 73/1.5 appears to me to be better constructed than some of my prior MS-Optics lens that felt fragile and called out to be careful, my Petz for instance that I like as a lens but is one pf the careful use lenses. The focus knob is reasonably damped and focuses easily but has a short throw. The aperture is clickless and can be moved easily and I found I had to be careful with it. I captured images close in, plant portraits at 1.5 and while I shot landscape at 1.5 I found I liked 1.7 or 2 better. I have not yet used the lens at something like 5.6 wanting first to see the lens character at 1.5 or so. I like that the lens is 49 mm so I can use ND filters I have for my 1966 LLL but have not yet tried them on this lens.
I should note I spent my career doing technology, now retired I have gone seat of my pants, impressions, and trying to get what I like. I will leave the technical assessments to others, These are impressions are just that doing what I like no more no less.
Wide open or nearly no and portrait distance there is good subject separation and 3D, colors are interesting and with better light I think I could get more glow from this lens. I did not like it at 1.5 for landscape as much, but even 1.7 or 2.0 is vast improvement while retaining the depth in the image. I looked at it stopped down further and at distance is reasonably sharp, but nowhere near enough that this lens would be my choice for a distant shot. To have a foreground object framed by a slightly out of focus background is more what my first impression would be good use of the lens. In general I think it is a portrait lens, including plant portraits and I think it will shine there rather than for more distant views. For landscape in the end I think something like a 90 mm F2 voigtlander will be my choice for short telephoto landscape, although it has muted character. I will try some F 4 or 5.6 for distant objects, and I want to try some low light at F1.5 before my LLL 3.5/1.4 arrives so I can test that, I probably have a few days before that happens.
Dec 17, 2025 at 12:05 PM
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