Sales of Leica analogue and digital compact cameras fell by 55 percent recently mainly because their range had reached the end of its product life. Much hope has been placed in the new D-LUX 2, on sale since the end of November.

The legendary former-East-German camera company has had a lot to put up with since its glory days. First Japanese cameras outsold them on price and innovation. Then German reunification left the whole of the East in the doldrums for at least two decades. Now the galloping switch to digital has placed the natural elecronic companies firmly in the driving seat.

Although Leica Sports Optics has seen a 34 percent growth in the final half of 2005, the camera division is still struggling with an improvement of 6.7 percent from a low base.

So, will the D-LUX save the day for this famous marque, once the cream of world photography? It certainly has something of the look of the famous M4, and the quality can’t be contested. Amazon reviews give it 5 stars out of 5.

The Leica D-LUX 2 has an 8.4 MP CCD, a 4x optical zoom lens and built-in image stabilization. Three format-shooting gives a choice of 16:9 widescreen, 4:3 and 3:2.

Check out this model at $795, U.S. Authorized, customer reviews 5/5.