The Great Leica Take-up Spool Kerfuffle
If you shoot film in a vintage Leica you may need one of these beauties!
Let’s say you’re lucky enough to acquire a vintage Leica at a good price. When the package arrives you breathlessly open the box, take the camera out, click the shutter at fast and slow speeds, confirm that the lens focuses smoothly, and check that the rangefinder images line up at infinity. So far so good. Then you turn the folding latch on the bottom to “auf-open,” lift off the bottom plate and peer inside. Everything looks as it should, except for one little thing—there’s no take-up spool! Without this “simple” little device, which slides over the take-up shaft and has a clip to grab onto the film leader, you’re dead in the water! Regrettably this scenario is all too common. The bad news: Leica take-up spools have not been listed in the Leica catalog for decades. The good news: There are at least three ways to solve the problem: Purchase genuine used Leica take-up spools at a Leica specialist or online, obtain workable spools from Leica copy cameras, and check out the new 3D-printed German-made easy-load spools sold by Ausgeknipst that may be more convenient than the originals!
The origin of the Leitz take-up spool goes back to one supplied in the original Leica 1 (Model A) of 1925, and its design was little changed over the years, except for adding a textured, spring-loaded pop-out section at the bottom end of the spool. The latter is the one used in III-series and early M-series Leicas to facilitate grabbing the take-up spool and pulling it out of the body for loading. Starting with the Leica M4 all later M-series Leicas (other than the M5) have a non-removable, 3-slot “easy-loading” take-up shaft. In all quick-loading Leica M’s, the film is pushed firmly into the take-up slot as you reattach the bottom plate by means of a little round “flower-shaped” projection inside its right-hand end. The “pusher” is affectionately known among Leica fans as a “rose” or “tulip.” The Leica M5 is unique in having a slotted easy-loading spool that either can be left in the camera (the usual procedure) or removed for manual loading or adjustment at the user’s discretion.
Fortunately, there are only two basic varieties of removable Leica spools—the original type 14021 that will fit all Leicas from the Leica l (Model A) of 1925 to the Leica IIIf of 1956, and the type 14022 disigned for the Leica IIIg of 1957-1960, and all M-series Leicas (except for the M5) that have removable spools, including the Leica M3, M2, M2R, and M1. There are minor variations within these two types that have separate 5-letter catalog designations, but these are mostly of interest to collectors who want to be sure their vintage Leica is fitted with precisely the “correct” spool for their model. In short, functionally it doesn’t matter whether your pre-1957 Leica is fitted with a SPULM or a SVOOP (14015) take-up spool, but if it’s a IIIg or an early M it requires a SPOOM, aka 14022. You can also use FILCA Leica cassettes in a pinch, but most Americans prefer the convenience of standard pre-loaded 35mm cartridges.
A sad story from 20 years ago—and its current reverberations
Here’s a July 29, 2004 post on Leica & Rangefinders Forum by “r.s.”
“Was looking for a new take-up spool for my M3 and contacted Leica in New Jersey. The old number of the spool was 14022 but it’s now # 042-253-003-000). The price? USD 134.00. Insane. I bought a used one on eBay for $38 instead,”
Well, you can no longer get a genuine Leica spool (any kind) directly from Leica but here are some current listings for used ones on eBay:
Leica 14021 take up spool mint in box, for screw-mount body up to lllf, $149.00 or best offer.
Leica M take up spool for IIIg, M1, M2, M3 etc. pre-owned, $54.99 plus $5.80 shipping.
Leica 14022 take-up spool 14022 for Leica lllg, M1, M2, M3 in box US seller, $95.00 or best offer.
RARE Leica lllf take-up spool marked Leitz Canada MIDLAND, $225.00.
If you’ll settle for a black painted brass Russian- or USSR-made take-up spool originally fitted to a Fed or Zorki screw-mount Leica copy you can easily snag them for $10-$20 apiece (one guy from Kiev will even sell you 50 for $149.00 with free shipping!), but they’ll only work reliably in Leicas made from 1925 to 1956. Later Leicas with removable spools use a slightly different configuration as noted above.
A German upstart from Würzburg
There is a rich literature (and countless videos) now dating back nearly a century, detailing the best ways to put film in a bottom-loading Leica. But that may soon come to end if Vlad, the owner of Ausgeknipst, a small eBay store based in Würzburg, Germany has his way. The business specializes in 3D printed accessories for vintage cameras. Both Vlad and Antonio (his co-founder and business partner) started Ausgeknipst as a camera and lens repair, and resale enterprise, but as both gentlemen studied plastics engineering, their focus has shifted to design and manufacture. The Leica Spools (there are two versions) are the fruit of these labors. Here are 3 eBay listings that may be of interest to potential Leica spool users:
The Snap Out Film Coil SVOOP 14021 Quick Load Spool for Leica l to Leica lllf: Brand New, $33.95 plus $11.12 shipping. It works similarly to the Leica M5 take-up spool of 1971 (Leica part number14192) and this 3D printed Quick Load Spool eliminates both trimming the film leader as well as the need to constantly remove and reinsert the spool in your pre-lllg model Barnack Leica or similar camera. Note: Many Leica experts do recommend trimming the film leader to standard specs to avoid any problems such as film chips fouling the shutter curtains.
Snap Out Movie Coil Quick Load Spool like SPOOM for Leica M3, M2, M1 and IIIg: Brand New, $36.83 plus $11.12 shipping. Similar in concept and operation to the unit listed above but designed to fit early Leica M models cited as well as the Leica IIIg, which uses an M-type spool.
Film Leader Cutter substitute for Leica ABLON, by Ausgeknips
Film Cutter Like Leica Ablon Film Cutter Long Trimmer Mask by Snap Out: Brand New, $22.35 plus $11.12 shipping. Film cutter for bevelling 35mm film. The film roll is not included in the scope of delivery. The “L” version is mainly suitable for use with Barnack L39 cameras. The “S” version is more suitable for M-series models. Please specify your choice when ordering. Note: Original Leitz ABLON leader trimmers are readily available online, but they’re not cheap. The least expensive clean one we could find was $125.00; the costliest, a mint condition example complete with knife and leather knife case at a cool $455.70!
Advantages of the Ausgeknips quick-load spool, by the selller:
Versatile compatibility: This film spool fits perfectly with all older Barnack Leicas with L39 screw bayonet (also called LTM), except the G-series.
Easy handling: Thanks to the quick-change design, you no longer must remove the spool from the housing when inserting the film.
Comes with a removal tool: If you do want to change the spool, you can do so easily with the removal tool included in the scope of delivery. Screw it on - pull it out - done!
Compatible with: Leica I (Model A), Leica I (Model C), Leica II (Model D), Leica Standard (Model E), Leica III (Model F) Leica IIIa Model G), Leica IIIb Leica IIIc Leica IIId Leica IIIf, and in addition, l- and ll- versions of the “c” and “f” lines.
Editor’s note: Since we were not able to conduct a hands-on evaluation of any of the ingenious accessories offered by Ausgeknips included here, we reserve judgment on their quality, durability or performance. However, the company does have a 99.7% eBay rating, and posted reviews of their products are overwhelmingly positive.
Many thanks to James Lager for providing all the pictures of Leitz/Leica items used in this article.