Late into the market with high prices and limited range of lenses and accessories, Leicaflex sales were below expectations and production ended in 1976.

Ludwig Leitz, head of the company was urged to begin development by photographer Walther Benser back in 1955.

To date its leading product; the Leica M mount series was a rangefinder camera, a format long abandoned by its competitors in the Far East.

The design was minimal, and the camera body was based on the Leica M. The viewfinder featured display indicators for the shutter speed setting and the light meter reading.

The Leicaflex SL featured TTL metering with a 5% selective measurement of the subject field, corresponding with the diameter of the circle of the micro prism.

There were a few cosmetic revisions including the change of the colour of the shutter dial from silver to black and the relocation of the batteries to the camera's base plate.

In 1972 a special edition was produced to commemorate the 1972 Summer Olympics, held in Munich, West Germany.

[6][7] From 1972 to 1974 a small number of Leicaflex SL MOT were produced in black, and a few in silver chrome, with 'MOT' engraved on the top plate.

These models have an internal drive shaft, which allowed an external motor to be attached for fast film winding.

A switch from black paint to black chrome plating was chosen as the former process was more expensive due to the fact that the layer of paint was thicker than the chrome plating as a result different dimensions had to be made for the different parts in order for the final result to be of the same size.

[7] By 1976 due to limited success, high cost of production and other financial constraints, Leitz discontinued the Leicaflex series.

The sales of the R bayonet lenses were not able to compensate for this loss and the entire product line became unsustainable for the company.