In general, producing semi-professional to professional footage comes
from the skill and experience of the people involved. You can get
semi-professional to professional footage using a $300 camera if you
light it and compose the shots well. That doesn't mean the camera has
nothing to do with getting semi-professional to professional footage - I
just want to point out that the camera itself won't produce semi-professional
to professional footage.
That said - I have some suggestions on cameras that are quite good. In the
"or under" price range:
The Panasonic HDC-SD100 uses a 3-CMOS array and records 1920 x 1080
video in the AVCHD format to SD and SDHC memory cards. I like the ring
on the lens that controls zoom, focus, white balance, shutter speed, and
iris and it actually has a viewfinder in addition to the LCD screen. Very
important it has both a mic and headphone jack. I found it difficult to handle
with all the cables attached (mic, headphones and monitor) but it’s a camera
with all the basics.
Close is the Canon HV20. It records in HDV (1080i) and 24p (60i), has a mic
input and manual controls of white balance and focus but it uses one 1/2.7”
CMOS sensor rather than 3 CCD’s. And it’s so small the handling is difficult.
The HV30 adds a 30f (Canon’s “frame mode”) in addition to 24p.
The Sony HDR-SR12 has a mic input and a good sized 120GB HDD. It uses
a 1/3” CMOS chip and like the Canon is really small. Because of the input
placement, the mic cable kept getting in my way. The HR9 (which records
to tape) is also a nice, very small, camera with the essentials. Again the
mic input is just below the lens which is rather poor placement, in my opinion.
The Canon Gl2 is in my opinion the best in your price range.
The Sony DCR-VX2100 really gives the GL-1 a run for the money. It’s really
small so no XLR inputs, but it does have a headphone jack.
You can find a used Sony PD170 in that range and it's a very nice camera
for what you want to do.
You're using Final Cut. I don't know that other software suggestions are
even valid. Premiere no longer issues a Mac OS version but you can check
into Avid if FCP isn't what you're looking for.
