Grads are useful, & I carry full sets of soft, & hard, cuts, but they're often not practical, especially when handheld, or panning, & tilting.
One thing the Canon dSLRs do right is clip highlights. The AF100, FS100, & F3, all do it in an ugly way. What they need is feature that causes all the color channels to clip equally. Instead they clip independently of each other, which sometimes leads to ugly highlights, most often yellow. These color casts can be corrected in post, but shouldn't need this extra step.
The RED One is a remarkable camera, but can be slow to fire up, & is best treated as a full on cinema camera. Just like Cooter I love using the new generation of small cams, in my case the AF100. All of my work is fast paced, much of it on the road, & without camera assistants, so being able to work, & travel, stripped down without a matte box, NDs, & rails, is a luxury. More often than not the dynamic range is fine, but occasionally not, & on those days I long for RAW.
The Alexa is another great camera with a great look, & many DPs love it's simplicity, & familiarity. These same DPs hate menu driven systems, but there's no arguing with the higher resolution of the RED, & ARRI will eventually respond.
Having seen the SCCE on the big screen I'd happily use all but one of camera's tested. I'm no longer a huge fan of filming on dSLRs, due to form factor, & looking positively soft on the big screen, but I've got some great 5D footage, & will continue to use them when they fit the bill.