Dslr camera for video?

I want to purchase a dslr camera for videos. I don want to pay more then $200 dollars for the body. I could always buy lenses desperately. It DOES NOT have to shoot at full hd 1080p. I could settle for 720p or 480p… Maybe even 360p depending on the price gap.

i just want to make sure i have full control of manual focus. I don't want an auto focus camera or camcorder. Any help is greatly appreciated.

"i don want to pay more then $200 dollars for the body."
You might have trouble finding *any* DSLR bodies for that price, even used. They very well might not have any video capability.

You would probably need to double that budget for a reasonable used camera, and triple it for a new body with kit lens. Save for a 50mm f/1.8, which tends to be very affordable and high quality regardless of brand, decent lenses also start much higher than your current price.

Manual focus means all your pictures will be out-of-focus, and with HD video, the audience will be able to tell that you take blurry pictures. The problem is an HD display capable of sufficient resolution to be able to see if the picture is in focus or not will cost you over $200. If you use the optical viewer with video, then you won't be able to focus the lens while shooting video. So if anything moves, it goes out-of-focus. A more expensive dSLR has focus assist so that the picture on the viewer is expanded to observe critical focus. But then you won't be able to "frame" the shot or follow action. If you go with 360p then the resolution is so low that focus is a moot question. Back in the 1970's consumer video cameras never had auto focus, but then the single tube imager only had about 180 lines of resolution, comparable to 360p digital, everything was a blur, focus or not. Be careful what you ask for. Cameras are made with the auto focus feature for a reason.

What you want does not exist.

Your best bet is to go with a Canon or a Nikon brand DSLR. As far as how much you want to spend, your not going to buy a new DSLR that shoots video for that price. You will have to find a used one on eBay or other similar sites. But, still that price is a little low. You are probably going to need more money if you want one that isn't damaged and other things like that.

Your probably going to want to stick to shooting in 1080p or 720p. I don't even think they make DSLRs that can shoot at 360p… If you do shoot in 480p (or any other resolutions) try to get as much light in your shot as you can. And do you best to get good, clean audio. Your videos will turn out way better.

As far as auto focus, most DSLRs don't do good auto focusing while video recording. So you your best bet to use manual focus anyways. If your doing a lot of outdoor shooting, try to purchase lcd viewfinder (or make you own)

Hope that helps!