Panasonic is running an interesting promotion through September 30, 2009…users who trade in a “full-size 2/3”, ½” or RED camcorder” can purchase the AJ-HPX3700 P2 HD VariCam camera for $29,995 USD, which is a savings of 30K off the $59,995 list price. I wonder why they are reducing the price so much for tradeins? Is it that those other cameras are smoking them in sales? Or I wonder if they are they just trying to cement an already-expanding presence in the market? I don’t have any further fine print or details on this offer, but it certainly seems like Varicam shoppers could pick up a Red body for $17,500 and use that for a quick (and hefty) discount on the new solid-state P2 model.

HPX3700 features:
Three 2/3” native 2.2 megapixel CCD imagers
10 bit, 4:2:2 independent frame AVC-Intra recording as well as DVCPRO HD
Dual-link 10 bit 4:4:4 RGB output for uncompressed recording on external devices
Five P2 card slots for up to 5 hours of continuous, full 1920 x 1080 recording on 64GB solid state memory cards
HD outputs for live event production

The offer email I saw said to direct questions to pbtsinfo@us.panasonic.com. We of course recommend purchasing from FreshDV sponsor Midtown Video, a Panasonic Authorized Dealer who we’ve confirmed can deliver this trade-in offer to users. For a reseller list of from Panasonic, see this PDF link.