TOYO Optics Lens Test

Found this Auto TOYO Optics 28mm f2.8-f22 at a thrift store. Never heard of the name.  The lens is all metal and has a solid build feel.  Its has a MC (multi-coated) designation on the lens and designated with SN790080.

More on what I found about TOYO Optics of Japan at the bottom of this post. 

The mount is Olympus, but the lens and adapter together is somewhat loose.  Although it functionally works, the looseness was annoying when photographing - may try another adapter.

The 28mm on the crop-sensor NX1 is the 35mm equivalent of 42mm.  That's a nice sweet spot for general street photography.  The focus ring has a rubberized grip that was nicely dampened. 

The photographs shown here were as-shot.  Missing are some black & white images, and full open (f2.8mm) bokeh images.  

Overall the images are clean and clinical, but the 'resolving optics' on digital camera is suspect since at full zoom-in on a photo editor, the image seems pixelated.  

An internet search found the following history for this lens:

TOYO Optics from Japan was active during the 1970s and 1980s, producing a range of third-party lenses often sold under names like TOU/Five Star and Toyo Optics. These lenses were typically marketed as affordable alternatives to OEM glass and were distributed through department stores.

Here’s what’s known about the company and its legacy:  The company behind TOYO Optics appears to be Toyo Kogaku Kogyo, which later became part of TOYOTEC Co., Ltd., a broader optical manufacturing group in Japan. TOYOTEC’s roots trace back to 1944, with various reorganizations and mergers through the decades. By the 1980s, they were producing optical components and lenses for consumer cameras. TOYO lenses were often manual focus zooms and primes, such as 28mm f/2.8 and 70–210mm f/4–5.6.  Build quality varied—some users found them solid and reliable, while others noted issues like zoom creep or softness wide open.  Many of these lenses were rebadged or OEM versions made by other Japanese manufacturers like Cima Kogaku, known for producing lenses under brands like Cimko, Paragon, and Ensinor.