All this video stuff is a tough call. It greatly depends on what you want to do with it and which features you're most willing to compromise on.
If you want to film through a spotting scope it will rule out the dslr's right off the bat. The best cam for that would be the Canon M30/M31. Smaller sensor, great image stabilization and pretty good HD image quality.
My TM700 is about as big as you can get and still film through a scope, but you have to be at least a half mile away to get it to work.
The #####.com Point and Shoot Scope)cam adaptor is an incredible tool for digiscoping 720HD video and stills through a scope.
For the ultimate in image quality a Panasonic DMC-GH2 that just came out seems to be the ticket. It will cost $1500 though with a 14 - 140mm zoom lens and can't be used for digiscoping. Bulky and you can't just shove it in your pocket.
The ultimate in image stabilization is the Sony CX550 or their new CX700.
The ultimate for doing slowmotion is the Panasonic TM700 or new TM900 as they do 1080/60p video that can be slowed down half or to 0.4 speed and output for youtube or BluRay perfectly frame for frame.
The ultimate color and sharpness is the TM700 per last years reviews. I would tend to agree having tested a bunch of cams this year. I'm not counting DSLR's here as they're out of your budget range listed above. A Canon 5dmkII is incredible with a super huge piece of glass, but it will cost you almost $10k to get the range of lens you have on the new camcorders. There is virtually no image stabilization in spite of what they claim with most of the DSLR's.
Here's my set up and what it takes to really take advantage of full HD video.
Panasonic HDC-TM700 = $850
16gig Class 6 SDHC card = $100
Extra battery = $150
Century Optics 2x converter = $450
#####.com Scope)cam Adaptor = $180
Slik CF613 Ultra light carbon tripod = $225
Manfrotto 128 micro fluid head = $75
i7-920 pc w/ 9 gigs of ram and 2T drives = $1250
Sony Vegas Movie Studio 10.0 Platinum Pack = $125
Vizio 32" HDTV that actually plays 1080/60p video = $600
If you really want to go down the HD route, just remember there's point creep involved
In the end of the day I've found it to be as rewarding as anything I've done in a long time.
Here's few of my clips from this year with the TM700. You'll be able to see all the digiscope footage as it has the black corners or what they call vignetting. It's also no where near as sharp as the straight footage.
http://www.vimeo.com/11787542 Digiscope sample
Remember there's always a better setup and you'll get pretty close to great stuff with a $350 Canon M31 or a Panasonic TM60 if you use it well. You can go crazy and spend $12k on a Red and get junk.
Sorry for the long rant, but that is my take from a year of playing pretty seriously with the newest latest and greatest in consumer HD.
Cheers,
Pete