take your choice cause it is quite close, but I'd usually use camels since the cost 20 gold less and build in 3/4 the time of a cav. Camels also will be a big help if any cav/Hcav are seen(prob. from a different enemy)
Let's do the math ! Assume equal attack/armor upgrades and no Nobility yet to simplify.Assume typical CA too.
Camels have 10 atk vs CA and kill em in 7 shots.
Cav have 8 atk and kill em in 9 shots or 29% more shot required.
CA's have 4 atk and kill a camel in 32 shots !
CA kill a cav in 38 shots or 19 % more.
This should give a very slight edge to the camel.(Certainly, not as big an edge as the difference between 19 and 29% since with less HP the camel is more likely to be killed by massed fire before doing any damage) Toss in the 20 gold camels save and you see why, I make camels vs CA civs, not cav. (don't forget compies vs CA's, but you have to average that 500 upgrade cost into the cost of each compie you build)So Washizu, you are right that on th ebattle field camels and cav are about the same vs CA.. but make camels since they save 20 gold and should have a tiny edge. However, if you go cav and enough survive, the can be upgraded to Hcav, but I find I only use Hcav w/yam since so many of my civs have scythe.. neilkaz..