Best camera for dance performances and photos?

I'm a dancer and have been thinking of buying a camera that's great for recording dance performances as well as taking great photos. Lately I've been filming dance performances with my iPhone 5 but unfortunately I'm not able to film many as the memory isn't much. I'm totally open to different cameras but I WOULD like a camera that's somewhat lightweight as well as portable. The camera should be able to film well even in low lighting and I'd like the resolution to be high so the videos and photos turn out looking great. As for the price, my budget is $650-$700.

Since most dSLRs shut down from overheating after about 15-20 minutes of video capture (read their manuals) and have file segmentation issues (also in the manual), you probably should be asking the question in camcorders - not cameras.

Current camcorders (and cameras) use flash memory or hard disc drive storage. There's no film involved. They capture video.

Good in low-light = LARGE lens diameter to let as much light in to the imaging chip as possible and LARGE imaging chip system to deal with what little light is available. Hopefully the performances are on stage and well lit so true "good low light behavior" is not exactly a requirement.

Ideally, you want to get the largest lens diameter and imaging chip you can afford. But it is the large lens and imaging chip that make the camcorders big - but you want small. You will also want a tripod or other steadying device and you will probably want a rechargeable high capacity battery from the camcorder manufacturer.

In your price range, including a tripod, case and battery - and maybe an external mic - you are into the Canon HFFm series. And we don't know if you want to edit the video it captures - you may need a computer upgrade, purchase decent video editing application and get some external hard drives for video project files…

Assuming you are the dancer that will be recorded, I recommend looking at the GoPro.

- small and lightweight
- easily mountable to different locations and angles - might be nice to get the camera somewhere on the side without impeding others.