Restored Magic Lantern

[photax]

Hi !

This is actually no camera, but maybe there is someone interested in old projection technology. I am always in a hurry to get things finished at the end of the year. Today I finalized the restoration of a magic lantern, which I bought in the early summer. The price was no bargain for this condition ( 60.- EUR / 86.- USD ), but it is complete ( often the chimney or the lens is missing ), even with the original wooden box. About 25 slides ( also in original packing ), one moving picture and two rotating kaleidoscopes are also included. There are people, who say that these old things should be leaved as they are. I don’t think so, in my opinion it is no sin to give technical antiques a new paint and the parts made of brass a refreshing bath. The Lantern was made by Jean Schoenner in Nuremberg/Germany in ca. 1890-1893. The slides are 30x10cm ( 11.8x3.95 inch ): To large for my scanner, so I took a flash- picture of them. It took only 120 years from a paraffine operated Magic Lantern to a digital high definition flat screen TV

MIK









Here is an interesting magic lantern-picture: The Sphinx from Gizeh with undamaged nose:

[herron]

Neat!

Having it complete, right down to the wooden box, is special. So is having original slides (in original packing), the moving picture and rotating kaleidoscopes!

Nice find!

And nice job with the restoration.

[PeterW]

That's a beautifully carried out restoration, Mik.

I had to blink at the size of the slides, 30 by 10 cm! They're whopping great things. The standard size for magic lantern slides in England was 3¼ inches square even back in late Victorian times.

Quite a few cheaper magic lanterns were imported from Germany and I always assumed that the same size, or maybe 82mm square, was standard in Germany as well.

On the subject of whether or not to restore my view is it depends on what it is. I think it would be a sad mistake, for example, to restore to "as new" condition a working camera used by someone like Cartier-Bresson or Larry Burrows. Cameras like those have particular historical associations.

But where a camera, or any other mechnical device, has no particular provenance I would agree with restoring it - provided it is done properly, as your restorations are. I have come across one or two quite nice cameras which have been almost ruined by a "restoration" carried out with more enthusiasm than skill.

As an example of sheer vandalism, a few years ago I almost cried when I looked in the window of a camera shop which advertised "This month only. £10 allowed on your old camera, any make, any condition, in part exchange for one of our new compact digital cameras".

Underneath the annoucement was a sign which said "There's GOLD in your old unwanted camera!"

Underneath that was a quite rare Newman & Guardia folding camera that had been sprayed all over with gold paint!!

I went into the shop and asked how much they wanted for any of the cameras they'd taken in part exchange. I was told: " We don't sell 'em. We throw 'em straight in the bin."

PeterW

[pompiere]

I would have asked how much they would give me to empty out their bin! Surely there would be a gem or two in among the instamatics and disc cameras.

[alexkerhead]

Amazing! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to see the good ole' stuff brought back to the way the makers wanted it to look.

[galenk]

When my aunt passed away years ago, I found around 2 doz of those slides, some in quite good condition and others with most of the paint chipped off. I think I still have them around in a box somewhere.

Great! work on the restoration you do good work, now i wish I would have found the lantern that went with those slides.

[photax]

Peter, once i had a similar experience: I came across a Voigtländer 9x12 Bergheil sprayed all over with green paint ( a fake "luxury" version ). A sought-after camera totally ruined and worthless

I dont think that there was a standard size for magic lantern plates in Continental Europe. Here are some examples from the 1880s - 1910s ( from 22x7cm / 8.66x2.76 inch down to 10x2.5cm / 3.94x0.98 inch ) My largest magic lantern ( a french one ) has a lenght of 65cm/25.60 inch, the smallest ( german ) 20cm/7.87 inch.

MIK