The Leica X1 digital camera, showcased at the PhotoPlus Expo. (Click to enlarge.)

This year’s PhotoPlus Expo, the consumer photo show in New York City, is certainly on the quiet side, with Pentax, Panasonic, and Adobe conspicuously absent. But one exhibit booth that’s hopping is Leica’s. The reason? The company known for ultra-high-end cameras was showing off its idea of a compact digital camera: the 12-megapixel X1, which comes with a 24mm fixed (no zoom) f/2.8 lens (which is equivalent to a 36mm lens on a film SLR camera).

In part, what makes this camera a cut above most point-and-shoots is that it includes an APC-S-sized CMOS sensor, the type most often included in SLRs. So it should shoot well in low light without a flash, as do SLRs and the newer micro-four-thirds type of cameras from Panasonic and Olympus.

Leica is not the first camera manufacturer to make a point-and-shoot with no zoom and a large sensor. Sigma tried with its DP1 and DP2. But I liked the design of the X1 far better. Check out the “Lost In Space” look of its popup flash, which has beautifully positioned controls and buttons. It also shoots in RAW (in a DNG format supported by Adobe’s image-editing programs) as well as JPEG, and will shoot up to 3200 ISO. However, I think they need to rethink the GUI and the menu structure, which look quite stodgy and old.

One other thing also sets this compact apart from most point-and-shoots: the price. It’s around $2,000. The X1 is slated to be in stores at the end of December. If that's too rich for you blood, check out our Ratings of more mainstream digital cameras (available to subscribers) , including recommended models that cost about 1/10th the price of the X1. —Terry Sullivan