Late one afternoon last week I went up in the mountains with a friend who wanted to photograph some aspens behind a beaver pond in that light. For fun, I took along my 8x10 and some lenses I wanted to compare. I made one setup and shot all the lenses focusing on the same tree beyond the pond. For reference, I started with an old 300mm Protar which I knew to be pretty decent - maybe even a little better than that. I suppose it might even be a cult lens of sorts. It was followed by an old Goerz 300mm Syntor which proved (using a microscope on the neg) almost as good if stopped down. A 420mm Goerz Dogmar was next and was a disappointment. I'm going to take it apart and make sure it is assembled correctly and do a better test on it. The pleasant surprise was a 480mm Rapid Rectilinear of unknown parentage that I purchased as front and rear elements and assembled in a cardboard tube with a slot for a Waterhouse stop. It was right up there with the Protar, too. Lastly was a 600mm Protar Series V (an old one with Waterhouse stops). Now, whether it was the lens or just my ability to focus f/18 after sunset, this one didn't grab me. It was even across the entire neg but a little on the soft side. Still a cult one, I guess, especially if you were looking at the huge contact print it could produce. It will get retested in better light and more careful focusing. There is no doubt that these old lenses have a nice "look".