Long Lens

<p>Found this at Si.com. Definitely a long lens!<br>

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4dv5cEgFw1qm9rypo1_1280.jpg</p>

<p>What would Freud say? What's the story with that photo? How long a lens is that? And what's he shooting?</p>

<p>Reminds me of "Big Bertha," a lens designed for sports photography that was a little more than five feet long and weighed more than 100 pounds. </p>

<p>(Details and photo scan from "TELEPHOTO and WIDE-ANGLE PHOTOGRAPHY," ©1959, The Modern Camera Guide Series.)</p><div></div>

<p>Definitely long. After WWII many big old reconnaissance lenses were sold off as surplus and (according to the Lens collector's Vade Mecum) were adapted for sports photography (cricket is mentioned) and also for wildlife. 36 inch lenses were often used in this way. It goes on to say that although these lenses were f6.3 and faster they were best used at f10 when sharpness and colour improved. Some were also used for astronomy.</p>

<p>In the photo my guess is the lens hood goes from the nearer end to the first ring and the heavy weight of the lens is balanced by the long tube and camera at the other end so maybe a 48inch lens. Is that a sports location in the background?</p>

<p>But definitely long.</p><div></div>

<p>Below is a picture of my Vivitar 800 F8 lens from the 70's. Nikon F body attached at the top and a P&S camera at the bottom. It is a real "long focus" lens, not telephoto, since it contains only a single cemented doublet in the front and a long focus tube. The quality wan't too bad.<br>

<img src="http://www.mdougherty.com/100-THEPHOTOEXPERIENCE/170-EQUIPMENT/images/Vivitar-800-vertical-900pxlht-jpeg.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p> </p>

<p>I would say that scoreboard is almost certainly for baseball, given the number and spacing of digits after the teams. So this is, perhaps, an outfield position for shooting the batter.</p>

<p>Travis, "Big Bertha" ain't a lens. She's a long lens SLR, most commonly used for sports photography. Some Berthas were made by Graflex Inc. and predecessors, others by newpapers, others, Jim Frezzolini designs, by General Research Labs. Gandolfi, who made large format SLRs as well as view cameras, built cricket cameras around their SLRs. Same idea, different country.</p>

<p>Here's a link to a story about how AP planned to use their Berthas to shoot the 1952 World Serious:</p>

<p><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=SiEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA3-PA213&lpg=RA3-PA213&dq=graflex+%22big+bertha%22&source=bl&ots=_VcMhKgMjf&sig=N2OK-7ZgsY-6QKRmttDCfDqa0tU&hl=en&ei=9brNSpLIGMfR8Aa4yID5Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=37#v=onepage&q=graflex%20%22big%20bertha%22&f=false">http://books.google.com/books?id=SiEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA3-PA213&lpg=RA3-PA213&dq=graflex+%22big+bertha%22&source=bl&ots=_VcMhKgMjf&sig=N2OK-7ZgsY-6QKRmttDCfDqa0tU&hl=en&ei=9brNSpLIGMfR8Aa4yID5Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=37#v=onepage&q=graflex%20%22big%20bertha%22&f=false</a></p>

<p>Colin, the lens in the link the OP provided isn't attached to a 4x5 or larger -- the classic Bertha incorporates a 5x7 Graflex -- SLR, it is attached to a smaller camera. That ring towards the rear is typical of long focus lenses for cine cameras.</p>

<p>Thank you for the clarification, Dan. Great link as well!</p>

<p>The Original Big Bertha was the German's huge railway mounted gun during World War One in France<br>

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bertha_(howitzer">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bertha_(howitzer</a>).<br>

Though I suspect the real original was a freindly lady behind the Allies line.</p>

<p>Sorry, neglected to to state that the lens is 4000mm and it is shown in a baseball stadium. It does not say what brand. Tried to find the picture again but it was one of those asides that you never find twice.</p>

<p>Sure looks like an Astro Berlin. Check out the focus ring that was common to these lenses. They're German lenses and some were used in the German Olympics. A 1,000 mm Astro Berlin telephoto came up for sale on Ebay a few years ago and was supposedly used by the 3rd Reich. The price of $800 was very reasonable considering its possible historical significance in my opinion but I simply didn't want to bid on it. <br>

<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=astro+berlin&hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=lJnvT5miOoP02QWzprXqCw&ved=0CFYQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=781">https://www.google.com/search?q=astro+berlin&hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=lJnvT5miOoP02QWzprXqCw&ved=0CFYQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=781</a></p>

<p>"Though I suspect the real original was a freindly lady behind the Allies line."</p>

<p>No, Bertha Krupp von Bohlen. In WW-I the German army used a 42 cm howitzer made by Krupp that was nicknamed "Dicke Bertha." If you ask Google to find "Bertha Krupp von Bohlen" it will return accounts of her life. She doesn't seem to have been stout.</p>

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<p>What would Freud say?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Steve, sometimes a lens is just a lens! ;-)</p>

<p>It looks like an Astragon lens that was sold by Sterling-Howard in the late '50s.</p>

<p>Here is an ad for the 800mm version.</p><div></div>