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Part 1 now live!! The Christmas mini shootout with the C300 (pre-production), F3, FS100, hacked GH2 and more!! | Philip Bloom | Blog
Philip has posted the first part of his Canon C300 comparison, with some interesting conclusions:

Bang for buck the clear winner was the GH2 with the Driftwood hack but this is purely on resolution. The F3/ C300 are damn close to each other and the FS100 not far behind. Part 2 moves onto skin tones and low light where the camcorders come into their own. I also take a look at how well each of the internal codecs hold up to colour correction and grading.

Shootout reveals Panasonic GH2 resolution at Canon C300 level | Andrew Reid
| EOSHD
Andrew Reid at EOSHD looks at Philip's results and rates the cameras from best (C300 and GH2) to worst (AF100 and Canon 7D):

Although that is not the full story. For example I prefer gradation, tonality, colour and shadow areas in my 5D Mark II footage to the GH2. Stuff shot on the 5D looks great on a plasma TV. As anyone who has plugged in both the 5D and GH1 into a plasma will remember, the GH2 can still look a bit grey and digital in comparison sometimes like its older sister. The 5D has a very organic look. The 7D is better for certain shots than the AF100 as well. They’re nice cameras, but not for wide establishing shots of finely detailed landscape and architecture like above.

Canon C300 video – Grand Union Canal, Hertfordshire, UK | The Bui Brothers | Blog
Meanwhile, the Bui brothers also got to spend time with a C300 and have posted a few blog posts about it. The latest one has footage from the first shoot with the camera:

I shot for one hour during sunset… well during sunset time… it was massively overcast as you can see so it kept getting darker and darker. The last shot of the video might look a bit odd because it is so much brighter than the rest, that is because I opened up the 85mm lens to 1.2 and bumped up the ISO a bit. This camera really can perform in low light.

Video is half the battle - Audio is the Rest | Quick guide into audio recording
| Daniel Freytag | Blog
A introductory tutorial to getting better sound, along with a warning:

The fourth step, which ruined my shot a few weeks ago, is to check the battery level. The H4n won't warn you. There is no alert that the batteries are low and the device might run out of power. While I did an interview with a race organizer my batteries (which seemed pretty O.K. before) died. The H4n did not stopped the recording and saved my file, but it turned off and gave me a corrrupted and unusable file. I had to redo this interview. :(

Cameramaker Red claims espionage | Karen Idelson | Variety
Did Arri get some information that helped them in the development of the Alexa?:

In its complaint, Red asserts that during the time Bravin was hacking Band's email account, Band Pro and Red were discussing a possible joint venture. Red says Band's emails contained detailed descriptions of the technology used in Red's cameras and Red's plans for introducing new models and features.

Red alleges that Bravin passed that information to Arri, giving Arri an unfair competitive advantage, especially with respect to the launch and marketing of the Arri Alexa camera.

What’s Cool – The Ikan iLED-One Light | Rob Ruscher | Blog
Short video review of a useful portable light:

The Ikan iLED-One did an amazing job of getting extra light into the tools, machines, and hands of the worker. I was a little worried that the tungsten bulb wouldn’t play nice with the daylight balanced ID 500, but I was wrong. It added a nice golden punch and looked great. Having the set up that Ikan put together made for some pretty awesome options. I connected the light to my tripod, light stands, cables, tools, benches and pipes. Pretty cool right?

How To Make Money In Production: The Answers | El Skid | Wide Open Camera
In his own inimitable style, El Skid offers tips on how to break into the business:

If you have no ambitions towards DoP’ing big feature films or commercials then there are plenty of opportunities around to sling a camera for smaller productions. Sports and music productions in particular tend to need multiple camera units and they tend to have less money so you can often pick up work in those areas. What you won’t do is earn much money. As always, the more kit you own the more attractive you’ll be.

5 Reasons You Must Pursue Whatever Scares You | Tasra Mar | Blog
More advice on how to get ahead in the business:

Fear is not always helpful. Most people have fears of loss: home, people, possessions, memories. Those fears can paralyze and limit healthy decision making. Think about your most frequent or biggest fear and take it to the extreme… what’s the worst that could happen?

From 'Drive' To 'Melancholia,' Here's Why 2011 Marked a Shift In the History of Cinematography | Jamie Stuart | Indiewire
Another article about the death of film:

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" proved that David Fincher understands digital cinematography better than any other working filmmaker. He has made four digital features and five on film. As a result, he understands that digital works best when the lighting is built primarily around practical sources and the aperture is wide open. His approach on both "The Social Network" and his latest work, both shot by Jeff Cronenweth on the RED, is basically an extremely upscaled studio version of DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) filmmaking.

I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping... | Roger Ebert | Sun Times
Roger offers a half-dozen reasons why movie revenue is dropping, from smart phones and streaming, to ticket prices and lack of choice:

6. Lack of choice. Box-office tracking shows that the bright spot in 2011 was the performance of indie, foreign or documentary films. On many weekends, one or more of those titles captures first-place in per-screen average receipts. Yet most moviegoers outside large urban centers can't find those titles in their local gigantiplex. Instead, all the shopping center compounds seem to be showing the same few overhyped disappointments. Those films open with big ad campaigns, play a couple of weeks, and disappear.

Edward Burns and the Socialization of Indie Cinema | Christina Warren | Mashable
Edward Burns has adopted social media in a big way:

Edward Burns credits Ted Hope for convincing him to join Twitter. Hope, a prominent independent film producer in New York City, explained to Burns it was crucial that he find 500 followers to share and promote his message. Hope’s thesis — which he has since revised to include 5,000 fans — is that connecting with the people that really care about your work is the most effective way of getting things seen.