Flip Ultra HD camera

Stefan Sargent's column in the back of DV Magazine is always interesting.  Usually he shares a story about one of the unbelievable shoots he's been on, but this month he talks about using his new Flip Ultra HD consumer video cam.  I've read some good things about this camera and have been thinking of picking one up for myself.  Stefan seems to be enjoying his...

While the rest of the world is drooling over the latest fare from RED, Sony, Panasonic, the new HD-capable DSLRs, I’m in love my $150 widescreen HD gizmo. I call her Flipa.

The good thing is I’m using her professionally; I’ll get my return of investment back on day one, which just happens to be yesterday.

He goes on to talk about how he mounted it to a truck, and links to the video of the shoot.  I can think of all kinds of uses for this cam.

Canon 7D

 I'm slowly becoming convinced that my next video camera will be the Canon 7D.  It has quite a few drawbacks, especially for one-person run-and-gun shooting like I do A LOT of, but the video looks fantastic and the price tag looks even better.  I'm sure with all the accolades surrounding it, Canon will come out with a version specifically for video within a year, but I'd really like to upgrade from my PD-150 this summer.
Here's an article from Tubefilter News that lists some pros and cons:

Cons

The biggest negative is that the 7D doesn’t yet have a sensible solution for recording sound directly into camera. This means whoever’s running sound will have to record it into a small digital recorder and then you’ll sync it all up in post. Fear not though, it’s often helpful to not have your sound guy tethered to the camera and there are now programs like Pluralize ($150) that will do the heavy lifting of synchronization.
If you’re dead-set on shooting quick whip pans around a room Office-style, this may not be the camera for you. It has a rolling shutter which will produces jello-y vertical lines on quick movements. It’s also more sensitive than usual to tight patterns, so leave your plaids at home. (Note: The Red One and Sony EX-1 have these same problems)

A Dose of Reality

Here's an entertaining article about life as a Hollywood vfx artist from Cracked.com.  Worthwhile reading for anyone dreaming about life in the Big Leagues...

Everyone assumes VFX happen in an office that looks something like Mythbusters except with excited artistic types gathering around computers, talking about what kind of dinosaurs they want to make today. And for the top ranking people, the ones who get to talk on the DVD special features, it might be.
But several steps down the ladder from those guys, you have an army of peons whose job descriptions seem to have been created as part of some cruel psychological experiment. If you dream of a career making super heroes fly, these jobs are where you'll start, and you may never leave.