MiniDV, XLR, and High Def Differences?

Those Canons are way beyond your budget. Stop looking at the eye candy and look at the practical side of it. I have a Canon Elura 100 that has a microphone port. Get a cheap camcorder so you have more money for lights, the media you plan to record to, etc. That way when you are done you didn't blow all of your money on electronics and you concentrated on the actual project. A good video is what you want. You can get the better things later when you have more money.