Documentary filmmakers - What is the best handheld camera that I can get for $1000?

Marty Tichnell: Thanks so much for the detailed answer, L! My husband is an audio engineer, so we have the sound covered already. I will need to get a tripod and possibly my own lighting; I have some very close friends who are photographers that I'm hoping can assist with their own lighting, but I may have to invest in some of my own if what they have isn't sufficient or if they aren't available on some days. Any other suggestions for camcorders in the $600-$800 range - or would you say the Canon HF M500 is my best bet?...Show more

Season Confalone: I've been using a Sony HDR-FX1, HDR-FX1000 and a few others along with a good tripod, video lights, camera crane, several mics (XLR connectors), headphones, cases, and bunches of other stuff. The camcorders rarely capture video when handheld.The last "documentary" was essentially a "training" item for animal emergency/disaster response. Yes, this is a hobby.Camcorders are preferred for video (and audio) capture. I am not! aware of any camcorders in your budget range with an interchangeable lens system. There are dSLRs in your price range that have interchangeable lens systems, but they overheat (after about 20 minutes of continuous video capture), have limited audio capabilities and files size limitations (29 minutes - then auto shut down) among other issues. These are all in the manuals. This does not mean dSLRs cannot capture good video - they can - but they are not camcorder replacements.Since you say you have no experience, you probably should stick with camcorders. In your price range - assuming a good tripod, and a couple of mics and some video lighting is needed, too, your video capture device budget is probably more in the $600 range. Like a Canon HF M500.You can add lenses to this camcorder's 58mm lens diameter screw-on mount - even a DoF adapter which will allow for the "interchangeable lens" capability (using dSLR lenses). The good DoF adapters are not inexpensive. The low end-Do! F adapters invert the image when recording, so there is some a! wareness (and perhaps an extra step) you need to work through.We assume your computer and video editor can deal with the AVCHD-compressed video so not additional budget is required there. And you have already planned for long-term video storage that is separate from your computer....Show more