What's a cheap video camera for only YouTube videos?

What type of video camera do you use?

• So I've been starting to put some videos on youtube about horseback riding. The thing is I can't find a good video camera. I tried 2 and one had bad quality while the other was blurry when taking motion shots. Also how do your make your background like a collage like this background? http://www.youtube.com/user/arablover123%E2%80%A6 So my two questions are, whats a good video camera you use And how do you make a background like the one in the web-link above? Thanks!

• Answer:

  Capturing horseback riders to video is interesting. Because there can be fast action, you *should* use a camcorder that records low-compression, high-quality video. I have been very successful capturing barrel racing, jumping, and other equine sports using my Sony HDR-HC1 and HDR-FX1. While they are no longer made, there's the Sony HVR-A1U and HDR-FX1000 that replaced them. Both are miniDV tape based. Use of and AVCHD compressing camcorder will be frustrating - and while possible to get decent video with them, only those at the higher end recording at 24mbps (best quality) will get close. The background you see is done in editing - not at capture. Sony Vegas and Apple Final Cut can do that - but it takes awhile. And it takes a decent computer to edit - in addition to a good creative imagination that has been trained - or at least taken some time to learn - the video editor's capabilities. One of the reasons you get "blurry motion shots" is because of the motion - the camcorder has no idea what it is supposed to focus on. That's where manual focus is very useful. The other reason is not using a tripod or other steadying device. Shooting handheld merely adds shake and again, the camcorder does not know what to focus on.