Camera Choice for a Documentary?

Hi, I'm thinking of making a documentary and was wondering what would be the best camera for me to use. Budget isn't really a major issue just as long as I don't spend $10,000. The cheaper the better of course.

I keep hearing about how HD is so much better than SD but I don't understand anything at all about filmmaking. I'm scared to buy a camera and not be able to use it correctly or something. Does the instructional video that comes with the camera suffice or should I take courses in film making first?

Many say that the Panasonic DVX100B is a good camera but it seems to be SD. Again I don't understand the difference at all. Others say to buy the Panasonic AG-HVX200A. Which of these is better? If you know of a better camera than these 2 for shooting a good documentary please tell me about it! Please talk to me as if you are talking to an idiot in filmmaking because that is what I am. Should I get 2 cameras? Or is one enough?

Thanks!
 
I prefer film over HDV anyday

Well you have to figure out what medium are you going to show your final product. That pretty much answers what to buy. If your final project is for new media (internet like youtube) then a minidv or hdv camera would suffice. But if your looking to go higher like 35mm filmout or high def, then i would look into going to super-16 film. I have a canon xha1 with a sgpro 35mm adapter and even though it looks similar to film, it's just not film. I justi recently bought at 16mm bolex and looking Eclair NPR for sound/sync work. But I worked with film before. Look here and it might give you an idea which direction to go.

http://motion.kodak.com/AU/en/motion/Products/Customer_Testimonials/The_True_Cost/index.htm
 
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