Much of what has been said above should be very useful to RAMI and others. In my situation, use the Nikon D7000 (new version D7100 I think) although much more expensive than what RAMI wanted to pay the results are excellent both as a still camera and as a video camera. The only video limitation (and I believe that it applies to all/most DSLR cameras is that it will only shoot a maximum of a 20 min scene, although very seldom in video/film making does a single scene last 20 mins --- note, I am not saying that the camera will only shoot for 20 mins , but rather any single video recording can only be recorded for that amount of time, the number of shoots available will depend upon the size of the SD card and the shooting resolution -- I use two 64g cards and shoot at maximum resolution and I always shoot RAW.
If you would like to see what a DSLR can achieve, there is an organisation in Australia who shoot single take video clips using multiple DSLR cameras all/most being controlled by amateur type photographers. Have a look at
Sideshow Alley and look at some of their clips. I am not involved with this organisation by respect their work.
Someone mention the sound quality. For my camera, I designed/built a +4db to -50db pad so that I can connect a professional audio player to the camera's input --- do not try plugging such a device or any other audio source (eg walkman, MP3 player, computer output, mini disc, etc) into the camera's mic input as you have a fairly good chance of melting the camera's electronics. The pad I built also has a split so that I can feed the input of a portable PA system at the same time as the camera, thus allowing me to record stereo, CD quality audio in the camera and allowing
the artist to mime the audio, thus allowing for perfect lip sync (assuming
the artist can mime !!!!!) and also avoiding any camera noise or external ambient noise (ie trucks, barking dogs, etc).
My camera (and also the top range Canon EOS DSLR cameras) are regularly used on modern films and TV productions, especially where space makes the normal professional video cameras difficult to use --- I believe the TV series House and the academy award movie 127 House were shot using these cameras.
Someone above mentioned the Zoom camera. One of our artists ( who knows absolutely nothing about video production) recently purchased herself one of the Zoom cameras (unfortunately the unit she purchased does not have the ability to connect an external audio source so she can't record
a professional sound) and has been churning out videos on a weekly basis, she has then been editing these and placing them on Youtube and her social media sites. All to great success -- her fan base has skyrocketed --- do a Youtube search for Rachael Nadine and her cover versions of Dream On, Shout For Tears and Dark Horse --- forget the audio quality, but look what a novice can achieve with a cheap Zoom camera and a bit of editing.
For a really good editing program that is quite cheap, have a look at the Serif MoviePlus X6 program.
But to get really professional results you need a camera like my Nikon (or Canon EOS) and a lot of training in video/film production. Remember that professional video making is exactly the same as professional audio making --- you need the best gear, lots of talent and many years of experience and training. In my case I have owned my own recording studio, record company and film/video company since the early 1960's and I am still learning and still am not too proud to ask those who I consider "experts" in their chosen field for help and advice. AND a good starting point for this is to go and speak to the experts in a number of photographic shops --- not the local supermarket who just happen to sell cameras at a good price !!!!!!
Hope all the above gives something to think about.
David