Professional quality camcorder for best price?

"Professional camcorder" in my mind:
Lens diameter: 70mm or larger. More light is allowed in for the imaging chip to deal with.
Imaging chip: 3CCD or 3CMOS, 1/3" or larger. Bigger, under low light conditions, means it can deal with the little light allowed in from the lens.
Low compression video capture and storage: DV/HDV are ok for high end consumer and low end pro gear, but there are other formats like DVCAM/HDCAM (Sony), DVCPro/DVCPro HD (Panasonic), XF/MXF (Canon) and a few others.
Audio connectors are usually XLR (not a 1/8"/3.5mm stereo input) connectors.

AVCHD compression is not a good idea for fast action because of the way the compression was designed.

When these 4 items are present on/in the camcorder, all the other stuff (manual zoom control, manual focus ring, manual audio gain control, manual iris/aperture control, white balance, neutral density filters and a few other items) are available on the outside of the camcorder and much easier to access than being buried in the camcorder's menu.

If one or more of the first 4 items are not part of the camcorder's feature-set, then it drops to "prosumer" or below - regardless of the product line association the camcorder manufacturer assignment.

Generally, speaking, pro grade camcorders in the price range you state do not provide the capability (high frame rate capture) you want. A few can (more $).

To meet the "capture high speed movement in high detail" you don't want a "normal" camcorder. You want a "high speed camera" - that is, one that has the ability to capture a large number of frames per second. In north America, the standard NTSC frame rate is 30 frames per second (actually 29.97 frames per second, but that is referred to as 30 fps). Even under this standard frame rate, poor lighting conditions will likely result in not-so-good video. Adding light is the solution. When the frame rate increases (especially when the frame rate is significant, perhaps 3x more than "normal" 30 fps), even more light is required for "acceptable" video quality.

Photron, Vision Research, Fastec and others make high speed cameras. The *good* ones connect directly to a computer to record the video. They are not "general purpose" camcorders. I think they generally start at around $8,000, and you add the lens (more $) and the computer to record the video. One camera, one computer. There are a couple of "portable" units like the Fastec TS3 100-S.

Back to camcorders... A few examples at the low end of "pro grade"...

The Sony HVR-Z5 has a "smooth slow record" feature that can burst capture for a short time (3-4 seconds? at 120 or 240 fps check the manual). The Sony HDR-FX1000 does not have Smooth Slow Record.

The Panasonic AG-HVX200 may have some overcranking capability, but not what you have specified.

The Canon XF100 and XF300 series do not have high speed frame rate options you are looking for.

For high speed camceras, I don't think there is much between the low end of Casio Exilim and GoPro Hero cameras (and LOTS of added light) and Photron or Vision Research Phantom systems (used very obviously at the last World Series) that will do what you want. If you are looking for

For all I know, recording at 30 fps and slowing down using a video editor to about 15 frames per second (with frame blending) may be enough - only you can know that. I looked through
http://www.sportscad.com
http://www.sportsmotion.com
http://www.t2motion.com/products.htm

And did not come up with much - the first two use consumer grade camcorders. The last specifies 90 fps, but makes no suggestions...

Then there's http://www.allsportsystems.com/high-speed-usb-cameras.html
None are high definition video; all are small lensed and will need LOTS of light.

As for lighting... LED panels don't use a lot of power. There are "video lights" that can do the job. Lite Panels is one (good) manufacturer. There are others. The good, large, panels are not inexpensive. If normal stands are not enough, the lights can be mounted to a light tree like those used by some portable DJs (Guitar Center has the light trees).

I can't find a way to do all of this within your stated budget.

If you reduce the requirement of "professional quality camcorder" to consumer grade and eliminate the "high speed high detail" requirement it might be doable - but the lighting will be costly.