The entire "Rebel" line are under $1000 for both a body and kit lens. Any DSLR and lens combination will generally yield fairly impressive quality compared to a non-DSLR. But each lens has a character and which lens is best depends on what you want.
Lenses capable of low focal ratios can help draw attention to your subject by using selective focus... your intended subject is tack-sharp and yet the background is deliberately blurry. Also low focal ratios lenses can naturally capture images in lower light because the lens collects more light when the shutter is open. The trade-off is that as you decrease the focal ratio, the range of distances nearer and farther from the focused distance at which subjects will appear reasonably well-focused will be narrower -- but that's what helps you create a deliberately de-focused background.
The lowest possible focal ratio is typically part of the lens name and is listed as a value of f/__._ such as f/1.8... or as a range f/__._-__._ such as f/3.5-5.6. If listed as a range, the first number is the lowest possible focal ratio available when the lens is at it's widest angle (shortest focal length) and the second number is the lowest possible focal ratio available when the lens is at it's narrowest angle (longest focal length).
The "sharpness" of the iamge is largely dictated by the lens.
Canon's newest bodies offer their new "STM" lenses which feature their stepper motor technology -- this will be of interest to you. The stepper motors focus a bit faster than their traditional motor... but are almost completely silent. Most cannot be heard by the built-in microphone on the camera when shooting video. While they are faster to focus than the traditional motors, they aren't quite as fast as Canon's USM motors (which are also extremely quiet). For better audio quality, you may want to consider a higher quality external mic -- such as one of the many Rode VideoMics available on the market.
If your goal is primarily to shoot video AND if you expect the camera to subject distance to change as you film, then you may seriously want to consider the Canon EOS 70D. This has the best video focusing system on the market. All other cameras have to perform "focus hunt" to track live video -- you can notice the camera hunting for correct focus distance when you watch a video. The 70D has a unique and new focusing system and is not only faster to determine if an image is correctly focused... if focus adjustment is needed, the 70D knows if the focus is too close or too far (it knows which way to go) AND it knows how far to adjust focus. It's quite a nice system. The price of the 70D will break your $1000 budget.
The currently marketd Rebel bodies include the T3 (the start of the entry bodies), the T3i (it was the high end Rebel almost 3 years ago) and the T5i (the current top of the Rebel line). The 70D is a mid-range body... it's just above the Rebel line.
Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da
