The big C, the great, gray, monster monorail. I had one of those, ugly as they come but bulletproof performers.

Cool lens, should make some interesting images.

I hope so! I went downstairs today and found the lens board had fallen out of the camera and the lens had bounced on the concrete basement floor. Seems to all be in working order, but it has a nice dent in the hood. I have no clue how that happened, but made sure to re-attach firmly and check it before I went back upstairs.

I don't think I own a single LF lens that doesn't have a dent or crack in the hood.

Actually, I can see exactly what happened by looking at this photo - the top bracket was not in place. Arrgh. *headdesk*

A very nice lens. Back in the day when I still shot 4x5 film, I only used Schneider or Zies lenses. I did have a Nikor 300, and it did perform pretty well, but I found the color bias to be slightly different than from the other two brands. I used a Linhoff Technica, which was easy to carry around, but not a great studio camera. I never used 'the gray monster', but they had a reputation for being tanks. Since the popularity of digital photography, you can find lots of good condition, second hand view camera lenses at a good price. Conversely, new lenses have become more expensive, IMHO. Have fun!