Welcome.
I know of three cameras that meet your criteria:
The JVC GZ-HD3 is a nice starter camera that records to a 60GB HDD
with manual controls and a mic input. It can be found for around $800.
I like the new JVC GZ-HD7. I’ve seen these on line for as little as $1,200.
A really nice Fujinon lens makes a huge difference and full manual controls
is important. Three 1/5’ 16:9 progressive scan CCD’s are pretty impressive
for a camera in this price range. It records directly to a built in 60GB hard
drive.
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. For me the jury is still out on the CMOS.
And it’s so small the handling is difficult.
Most of the cameras are just fine for recording the audio - if, IF, you have a good mic.
What you're looking for is a good shotgun mic. That in itself is a generic term
that means any long barreled mic. You want a good condenser (externally
powered) mic with a “lobar” pick up pattern to put on your boom pole. Lobar
pick up means the mic focuses its audio pick up to a narrow area. This is why
you want to use a boom pole to get the mic as close the the actor as possible
- you’ll get clean dialogue tracks with less ambient noise.
http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/
Sennheiser is the mic most used by professional sound recordists. They are expensive
and worth it. Check out the ME-66 and the ME-67. The MKH60 is the best if you
can afford it.
http://www.audio-technica.com/
Audio-Technica is cheaper. Check out the AT835B. It’s a workable mic, a little
muddy and not as directional as it should be. The AT835ST is a good mic for the
price, but it, too, sounds a bit muddy - the vocals don’t sound crisp enough for me.
http://www.azdencorp.com/
I’ve never used Azden mic’s. They’re inexpensive and I don’t hear too many
good things about them, but if that's all you can afford it's MUCH better than
using the camera mic.
A good mic is an investment. It will last longer than your camera - why skimp?
A great place to check prices and purchase is B&H Photo.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/
The further away the mic is from the actors, the higher the volume needs to be.
The higher the volume, the more “noise” you get. Your goal is to have a very
high signal to noise ratio - more signal (the dialogue) less noise (the background).
Even a very good, expensive Sennheiser mounted on the camera will pick up
a lot of background ambiance because it’s far away from the actors.
So you need a boom pole. This can be as simple as a painters pole with a microphone
shock mount on it - or a 3 or 4 section, expandable Carbon Fiber, Graphite Fiber
or Aluminum boom pole. The lighter the pole the better. Expandable is also very
convenient. A pole that’s a fixed six or eight feet (painters pole) can pose problems
if you’re shooting in a small space like a bathroom or small apartment or if the
boom operator needs to be twelve to fifteen feet away to be out the the lights.
