Submitted by Al …
(Adapted from The Encyclopedia of Photography ©1963)
The Big Bertha camera was first invented by Lou Walker in the 1920s. It was used primarily for newspaper sports coverage, where large distances separated the photographer in the press box from the action on the field.
The Big Bertha is a custom-made camera, usually consisting of a 4x5 or 5x7 Graflex RB Super D Press camera body combined with a powerful telephoto lens.
The most important single feature of the camera is the lens, most popular of which is the Zeiss 28-inch Triplet. Some of these cameras utilize the extremely long 40-inch and 60-inch Dallmeyer f/8 lenses. These lenses shallow depth of field necessitates highly critical focusing. This is overcome to some extent by a gearshift focusing device which allows the photographer to pre-set his focus on certain spots where action is most likely to occur during the game.
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