Which LUT converts S-Log3 to Rec.709?

Sony publishes a Look Profile pack for S-Gamut3.Cine/S-Log3 containing LC-709, LC-709 Type A, Cine+709 and an S-Log2-709 conversion. LC-709 and LC-709 Type A are low-contrast grading bases; Cine+709 is the finished, ready-to-watch conversion. s709, introduced with VENICE, is Sony's film-like alternative and holds up as a delivery grade on its own.

What is the difference between S-Gamut3 and S-Gamut3.Cine?

They share the same S-Log3 tone curve and differ only in colour primaries. S-Gamut3 is the wider container, intended for heavy VFX or an ACES pipeline; S-Gamut3.Cine is smaller, sits closer to real camera primaries and grades more predictably. Sony's shipped .cube files are built for S-Gamut3.Cine, so applying one to S-Gamut3 footage returns oversaturated colour. Use a colour space transform with the gamut set explicitly instead.

Where does 18% grey sit on S-Log3?

Sony documents 18% middle grey at 41 IRE and 90% diffuse white at 61 IRE on S-Log3. The waveform will look flat and lifted compared with standard gamma — that is correct for log, not a sign of overexposure.

What is s709 and should I use it?

s709 is a Sony monitor look introduced with VENICE, rendering subtler colour and a softer, lower-contrast tone curve close to film. On VENICE the older 709(800) look was renamed R709 and s709 sits alongside it. It is designed for on-set monitoring but is good enough to deliver on, and an sP3D variant covers DCI P3 monitoring.

Why does my Sony footage look wrong after applying a LUT?

The usual causes are a gamut mismatch (a S-Gamut3.Cine LUT laid over S-Gamut3 footage), a monitor LUT already baked into the recording on set, or a transcode that dropped the log metadata. Confirm what the camera actually recorded before grading, and check whether anything was baked in on the day.

06 · Reference · ~5 minute read · updated Aug 2026

Sony LUTs Guide

Which S-Log3 LUT to reach for, why S-Gamut3 and S-Gamut3.Cine are not interchangeable, and how to lay the conversion down in your edit app — without losing an afternoon to oversaturated skin tones.

Not sure what any of the terms below mean? Skip straight to the confidence check — it tells you if your footage is fine without needing to understand why.

One thing worth knowing up front: this guide covers both standard S-Log recordings and RAW. X-OCN and 16-bit linear RAW are for the highest possible image quality when you have the storage and the post time to match; S-Log3 with the right LUT gives you perfectly good, broadcast-ready footage with far less overhead — most jobs only need that. Whichever you shot, switch between them at the top of the workflow builder below.

If you're producing

Deciding before the shoot and don't have an editor yet? You can still choose the log and gamut pairing and the delivery LUT in the workflow builder — that decision stands on its own — and export it as a PDF to hand off later. Already shot and just need to know it's fine? Run the confidence check below instead.

If you're editing or grading

Jump straight to building the workflow — pick what was shot, the delivery LUT, and your app, for a step-by-step setup plus a printable pre-shoot sheet.

The easy confidence check

Catalyst Browse (free, from Sony)

SONY SUPPORT ↗

If you want one sanity check before handing footage off, open a clip in Sony's own Catalyst Browse. It reads the camera's colour space and gamma from the file rather than guessing, and will preview the clip with a look applied. If the preview looks like a normal, well-exposed picture, the metadata is intact and the workflow builder below will carry that same read into your edit app.

Worried about what your footage actually is?

For XAVC recordings, the gamma and colour space are written into the file and a free tool like MediaInfo will show you exactly what's tagged — no camera or Sony software required. The one thing it will not settle for you is S-Gamut3 versus S-Gamut3.Cine, which is the mistake that actually costs people time. If nobody wrote it down on the day, the safest check is a shot of a grey card or a known colour chart: lay the .Cine conversion over it and if the saturation runs hot, you shot S-Gamut3.

Build your workflow

This part's for whoever is setting up the edit — an editor, DIT or colourist. Pick what was shot, the delivery LUT and the app, and it'll lay out the exact steps — plus a printable pre-shoot sheet you can hand off.

Standard (S-Log)

RAW / X-OCN

+ Show technical detail (gamut specs, LUT internals)

+ Planning before the shoot? See pros & cons of each stage

For deciding before you roll — weigh these before you commit to a setting on the day.

STAGE 1 — LOG + GAMUT

S-Log2 / S-Gamut

ADVANTAGE

Fine if the body only offers it, and slightly less flat on a small monitor than S-Log3.

TRADE-OFF

Narrower usable range than S-Log3 and a colour space almost nothing in post expects any more — avoid on a current Cinema Line body.

S-Log3 / S-Gamut3.Cine

ADVANTAGE

The default choice on every current Sony. Sony's own LUTs are built for exactly this pairing, so everything downstream just works.

TRADE-OFF

Slightly less gamut headroom than full S-Gamut3 — irrelevant on all but the most extreme grades.

S-Log3 / S-Gamut3

ADVANTAGE

The widest colour container Sony offers — worth it for heavy VFX or an ACES pipeline.

TRADE-OFF

The most mixed-up setting in Sony post: it looks identical to S-Gamut3.Cine in the menu, and a .Cine LUT over it comes back oversaturated. Flag it clearly for your editor.

STAGE 2 — LUT / DELIVERY TARGET

LC-709 / LC-709 Type A

ADVANTAGE

Low-contrast conversions built as a grading base — they leave headroom for a colourist instead of finishing the image.

TRADE-OFF

Looks flat and unfinished straight out of the box. Not what to hand a client as a viewing copy.

Cine+709 or s709

ADVANTAGE

Finished, ready-to-watch Rec.709. s709 is Sony's film-like look and holds up as a delivery grade on its own.

TRADE-OFF

Bakes in a look. Anything you want to change later has to fight the LUT.

Rec.2020 HDR (PQ or HLG)

ADVANTAGE

Matches the 4K/UHD HDR spec some platforms require, using the wider gamut you shot.

TRADE-OFF

Only worth it if the delivery calls for it, and harder to preview without an HDR monitor.

No LUT — grade natively

ADVANTAGE

Full creative and dynamic range control — the best result if you have the time and a colourist.

TRADE-OFF

Slowest option and needs a trained eye and correct colour management.

STAGE 3 — EDIT APP

Premiere Pro

ADVANTAGE

Reads Sony XAVC gamma and colour-space metadata on most current bodies.

TRADE-OFF

RAW and X-OCN often need the input transform set by hand.

DaVinci Resolve

ADVANTAGE

The most complete colour management for Sony — S-Gamut3 and S-Gamut3.Cine are first-class input transforms.

TRADE-OFF

Still worth a per-clip check that it picked the right gamut.

Final Cut Pro

ADVANTAGE

A clean per-clip Log Processing field, and Sony log is well supported.

TRADE-OFF

Fewer manual overrides than Resolve, and Mac-only.

Avid Media Composer

ADVANTAGE

Rock-solid for larger episodic and turnover-heavy workflows.

TRADE-OFF

No reliable auto-detection — every clip must be set manually or baked in at transcode.

Downloads

Sony Look Profile (3D LUT) — official packs

DOWNLOAD ↗

Sony's own Look Profile downloads: one pack for S-Gamut3.Cine/S-Log3, one for S-Gamut/S-Log2, plus a technical summary PDF describing what each conversion does.

S-Gamut3.Cine/S-Log3 pack — what's inside

DOWNLOAD ↗

SLog3SGamut3.CineToLC-709, …ToLC-709TypeA, …ToCine+709 and …ToSLog2-709. LC-709 and Type A are grading bases; Cine+709 is the finished conversion.

Catalyst Browse

SONY SUPPORT ↗

Free Sony clip browser. Reads the camera's own colour space and gamma from the file and previews with a look applied — the fastest way to confirm what you actually shot.

s709 and the VENICE looks

READ ↗

Sony's own breakdown of s709 — the film-like monitor look introduced with VENICE — and how it sits alongside R709 (the renamed 709(800)) and the sP3D LUTs for DCI P3 monitoring.

Sony ships its Look Profiles as packs per log/gamut pairing rather than per camera body. Match the pack to the gamut you recorded, not just the log curve: SLog3SGamut3.Cine… files expect S-Gamut3.Cine footage, and laying one over S-Gamut3 will oversaturate. If you shot S-Gamut3, use a colour space transform with the gamut set explicitly instead.

Common hiccups

Tap one open — most people only need the first two.

S-Gamut3 and S-Gamut3.Cine crossed over

−

The most common Sony one by a distance. The two share the same S-Log3 tone curve and differ only in colour primaries, so nothing looks broken until you convert — at which point a .Cine LUT over S-Gamut3 footage comes back oversaturated, usually most obviously in skin and anything red. Sony's shipped .cube files are built for S-Gamut3.Cine. If you shot full S-Gamut3, use a colour space transform with the input gamut set explicitly rather than the shipped LUT.

The monitor LUT was baked into the recording

Sony bodies can apply a look to the SDI/HDMI output for monitoring only, or bake it into the recording itself — and the menu wording makes the difference easy to miss on a busy day. If it was baked in, applying the same conversion again in post double-corrects the image. Confirm with whoever monitored on set before you grade, and if the log image already looks like a finished picture, that's your answer.

Cine EI versus Custom mode

On the Cinema Line bodies that offer it, Cine EI holds the sensor at its base sensitivity and carries your exposure index as metadata, so nothing is baked into the recording. Custom mode applies gain to the recording itself. Footage from the two modes grades differently even at the same nominal ISO — worth knowing which one the shoot was in before you start matching shots.

S-Log3 looks washed out — is it overexposed?

No. Sony documents 18% middle grey at 41 IRE and 90% diffuse white at 61 IRE on S-Log3, so the trace sits high and flat compared with standard gamma. That's the curve, not the exposure. Judge exposure on a waveform against those anchors, or monitor through a LUT — never by eye on the raw log image. The exposure & log reference has the numbers per camera and ISO.

The tag didn't survive a transcode

Log and gamut metadata usually doesn't survive a transcode to ProRes or H.264 — the pixels are unchanged but the label is gone, and every app downstream is then guessing. Ask whoever transcodes to put the log and gamut in the filename. It costs nothing on the day and saves an afternoon later.

More tools

01b · Data

Sony Data Calculator

X-OCN and XAVC file sizes per hour for the Cinema Line.

Open

03 · Exposure

Exposure & Log Reference

IRE, false colour and log zones per camera.

Open

07 · Reference

ARRI LUTs Guide

The same guide for LogC3 and LogC4 footage.

Open

06 · Reference

Sony LUTs Guide

Which S-Log3 LUT to use, and how to set it up in your edit app.

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Written by Keith Ingram, Glasgow-based Director of Photography.

Need a DoP for the shoot itself, not just the LUTs afterward? See Director of Photography services — Glasgow-based, available across Scotland, the UK and worldwide.