I have no issues cutting bet 5D2 and EX1. A bit of CC would be enough if required. I too, use 2 batteries + 8Gb n 16Gb card for half a day. I think one more 16Gb would be good.

24mm 2.8 at 8f works fine with merlin-diy. I have to work more on stabalizing my shots. I use 32GB Kingston for my recording, and hardly ever show the side bar. I have some 4GB CF Sandisk II, but hardly ever need them. Couple of canon batteries seem to be sufficient, intend to get some cheap $15 ones from ebay.

Though you can always make the difference, but if you color correct properly, you can mix hv30 with 5d.