Panasonic's HDC-TM300K is a high definition flash memory camcorder that recently hit store shelves. It's aimed squarely at the advanced amateur with a host of manual controls, but it also has a few features to entice novices to dig into their wallets to pay for the $1,299 ACVHD-based camcorder.

We got our hands on one and posted the review here.

Many camcorder shoppers have passed through the doors of Ritz Camera Centers. The nation's largest camera store chain declared Chapter 11 in April and at the time said it would close down about half of its stores. Now, the company is preparing to sell off its remaining stores, if it can find a buyer. In this economy, that is likely to be difficult.

But, as they say, every crisis is an opportunity. And Ritz's crisis is an opportunity for you to head over to a local store (or a Wolf Camera, which is also owned by Ritz) to check out the camcorder deals. Also note that the Ritz Camera website is not the same as the brick and mortar store - the website licenses the Ritz name but is an independent company.

Bad economy got you down? Well, Coby is counting on it. The low cost electronics maker is about to introduce their first camcorder products with bottom basement prices.

They're said to have three new models due at the end of July. The top-of-the-line (if you will) is the CAM5000 SnappHD. It records 720p HD video at 30fps, a 4x digital zoom, a 2-inch LCD, and 128MB of internal memory with an SD/SDHC card slot for adding capacity. At $100, it's considerably less expensive than products from Pure Digital and Kodak, but that price is a bit deceiving. The 128MB worth of internal memory won't store more than a few seconds of HD video so you'll have to buy a memory card as well.

Rounding out the trio is the $60 CAM4000 with VGA resolution, a 2.4-inch LCD and 32MB of internal memory with an SD/SDHC card slot. The CAM3000 is another VGA camcorder with a 4x digital zoom and 32MB of internal memory. With a price tag of $40, this seems better suited as a gift for a teenager rather than a camcorder you'd bring with you on your European vacation.

The G8 meeting of the world's industrial powers got underway in Italy this week. As part of the international diplomacy, Japan's Prime Minister gave the Pope a gift: a Sony HDR-XR500V camcorder.

No word on whether other Japanese camcorder titans like Panasonic and Canon are feeling slighted. See a video of the camcorder gifting here.

All of this raises an important question, what camcorder would you give the Pope?