Which mid-level dslr to buy? - 1

So I'm having trouble deciding what DSLR I want to buy. I've taken plenty of photography classes, and read plenty of books and used plenty of DSLR's for events, classes & more. But I'm ready for a step-up from an entry level DSLR. I enjoy taking portraits and shooting mainly people, events, and occasionally landscapes. I want to buy my first DSLR. Every other DSLR I've used was school owned, or a friend's. But I have plenty of knowledge. I know I want a camera that works pretty well in low light. I would like faster burst mode rates- I don't care for any of the extras like swiveling lcd's or any of that. I want it to have a decent battery life. Full HD video is preferred, resolution is kind of a big buying point as I will be printing and enlarging photos and would like them to turn out crisp, not softened or blurred at all. Basically I would like suggestions on any mid-level DSLR's from Nikon, Canon, or Sony. Please share experiences with your own mid-level dslr's if you can! Pricing doesn't matter.

There are a few options. These are the DSLRs I know about; I'm not so familiar with the very newest models. If you don't mind going second hand, then there are some good cameras out there.

The Canon 7D ticks several of your boxes. It has a fast frame rate (8fps), I believe its low light performance is supposed to be acceptable. It shoots video. It should have a good enough battery life. It has 18MP, which is a lot for a crop sensor camera. This might (I stress MIGHT) give you issues with noise at higher ISOs, but I haven't shot it extensively so I don't know to what extent that might be the case.

Alternatively there's the Nikon D700 or the D7000. The D700 is considerably more expensive because it has a full frame sensor and better low light performance than the D7000 (which is a crop sensor, i.e. 1.5x focal length). The D700 however does not shoot video while the D7000 does. The D7000 has more megapixels, but probably not enough to make that much of a difference. Both have reasonable burst rates (the D700's can be increased to 8FPS with a battery grip attached, whereas the D7000's rate is around 6fps but can't be boosted).

These are a few options to look at, but there will be other good suggestions made in this thread, so keep an eye on it.

I have a Nikon D7000 it is the highest level you can get without having a "professional" camera. I use mine for the same thing you did. And i know people say its not the camera that makes the pictures better but the pictures i took with my old camera (pentax k-x) it did make a huge difference. It is very easy to understand how to how to use it. I would also suggest getting a 50mm 1.8 also. I don't know what lenses you have already.

Check out Nikon D800.