Video & Audio Kit on a Budget My group has a budget of ~£1000 to spend on high quality recording equipment so I need to do a little background research before I go off and advise them about what to buy. 

The aim is to be able to record high quality video with good sound. Often is the case that the sound lets the videos down. So I'm assuming that we'll need a separate sound kit.

Therefore, I am in the market for:


A video camera which records at least HD quality video and manual zoom (as well as automatic) - ~£600
A sound recording kit which either attaches to the camera, or is totally separate in which case the sound will be synced later on. - ~£200
Perhaps some lighting so help with indoor scenes - ~£200


What kinds of products do you recommend I look into? I'm relatively new to professional quality video recording so any advice is greatly appreciated.
On the audio side, I've been extremely happy with my Sony M10. It takes two batteries and MicroSDHC cards. With a pair of fully-charged eneloops, it can fill up a 16GB card and the 4GB internal memory at 24/44.1 and still have some power left. Audio quality is good, but the close-set omnis don't give you a lot of stereo separation. You will also need to manually sync your audio with your camera.

Given your budget, does it make more sense to rent gear than purchase?