Applying for a Film production course next year at Uni and as per the portfolio I need 5 minutes of miving image text to show.

I'm all ready to shoot, story boards sorted, effects ready to go but I realised the camera I have doesn't actually work.

So, I need suggestions for a good quality Video Camera. My budget is around £500 - £700, few things, I'll need a handheld one for obvious reasons (I don't expect you can get much more at that price anyway), it'll have to be good quality, durable, use SD Card/Flash memory and I really only want suggestions if you've used the camera, know if it's reliable and how well it responds to different types of lighting and if the built-in mic is any good since I don't have enough to fork out for a good quality boom or anything.

Andif you can, tell me if it has a decent battery life. The locations I'll be shooting are about a 40 minute drive from where I live, so if the battery starts dying I can't just pop inside, plug it in and have a cuppa.

Also, my tripod is on its last legs, so if anyone knows a of a decent quality one that fits in the budget as well then that'd be great.

Thanks!
Desp.