“Magic lantern” is a term seldom heard these days, coming from an era long beforethe Internet, TV, Radio, even cinema. One can imagine the joy and enchantment from sitting in a darkened victorian parlour and being presented with those wonderous images on glass slides, like a doorway to another place.
Living in a world now saturated with media showing just about anywhere on the globe, the ability to see through this “doorway” is somewhat taken for granted. Yet there can still be a sense of occasion, a smile slowly spreading on the face, when we dig into the past, to other places. From a darkened room, the comfort of your lounge perhaps, setting up the old projector, erecting the screen and loading those boxes of half-forgotten slides, to the joy of revisiting memories on the “big screen” can be a real retro treat.
Thinking about this led me to digging out my old Leica P155 with it’s amazing Colorplan lens. Though not one of the company’s premium models, the projector was and still is more than adequate for my needs (particularly with that lens and it’s tack sharp, contrasty rendering). To it’s credit, though, after a gentle clean of it’s drive-belt, it functions as well now as it did back when I bought it three decades ago.
Sitting down and seeing all those lovely old chromes, some not seen since honeymoon, has been and hopefully will continue to be a joy. Although “magic lantern” was long ago cast into the mists of time, I think is maybe once again apt for this little slide renaissance, this little taste of magic.
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