Leicaflex SL / SL2: Repairing the take-up spool when the film no longer advances

Does your Leicaflex SL or SL2 wind, and does the shutter release work, but the film doesn’t advance? Before taking the camera to a repair shop, take a look at the take-up spool. On Leicaflex models, it is the most notorious age-related weak point, and the repair takes about a minute.

How to recognize the problem

Open the back and look at the right-hand spool, where the film is wound up. Typical signs include:

• The spool’s black plastic sleeve is missing entirely or partially, leaving the bare metal core exposed.
• Black plastic crumbs are lying in the bottom of the camera or in the film chamber.
• The film leader can no longer be clamped into the spool and slips out again when winding.

Why the spool sleeve breaks

The plastic Leitz used for the spool sleeve in the 1960s and 1970s becomes brittle after fifty years or more. At some point, inserting the film leader is enough to make the sleeve break away piece by piece. The tricky part: Unlike the Leica M or CL, the Leicaflex take-up spool is permanently installed. You can’t remove it and replace it with a used one, and Leica has not supplied an original part for decades. Until now, the only options were a repair-shop repair or a parts camera.

The solution: an attachment instead of disassembling the camera

Our replacement spool is an attachment that is pressed over the bare metal core of the existing spool. It takes over the function of the broken sleeve: The clamping slots hold the film leader, and the spool winds up the film again. The camera stays closed, nothing is glued, and nothing has to be disassembled.

Installation in three steps

1. Open the back: Open the camera as you would when changing the film, and remove any remnants of the old spool sleeve.
2. Press on the attachment: Slide the replacement spool over the metal core of the take-up spool from above and press it down with your fingers until it is seated at the bottom.
3. Insert the film: Insert the film leader into one of the clamping slots, wind two blank frames, close the back, and you’re done.

Here’s the full video, in real time and just under a minute and a half:

Which cameras it fits

The attachment fits the take-up spool of the Leicaflex SL and Leicaflex SL2. It is not suitable for the first Leicaflex (“Standard”), the R models from R3 onward, or the Leica CL and M series, as these cameras have a different film-transport mechanism or removable spools.

We manufacture the replacement spools ourselves in Würzburg and test every part before shipping it on an original camera. They are supplied in packs of 2: one for installation and one as a spare:

Replacement spool for Leicaflex SL, SL2 in the shop