iPhone 17 Pro Max Apple Log 2 to Rec 709: shoot it, convert it, grade it
Everyone does this once. You hear that Apple Log is what serious iPhone shooters use, switch it on, film something you're proud of, then open the clip and find a gray, milky version of what you saw on the screen.
If that's you right now, nothing's wrong. The footage is fine, and the fix takes about as long as reading this sentence.
The quick version
Apple Log 2 is a flat color profile. It's designed to be converted, not watched. You fix it by applying an Apple Log 2 to Rec 709 conversion LUT as the very first thing on the clip, then adding whatever look you want on top.
→ Free Aprture Conversion LUT Pack, which includes Apple Log.
What you shouldn't do is drop a cinematic LUT straight onto the flat footage. That's where the crushed shadows and the radioactive skin tones come from, and I'll explain why further down.
What Apple Log 2 actually is (in two paragraphs)
Normal iPhone video bakes in the contrast and saturation Apple thinks the scene should have. It looks good instantly, but it's already finished, so if you push the color or contrast hard it starts to fall apart.
Log squashes the whole brightness range into a low-contrast image so the bright sky and the dark shadows both survive. Apple Log 2 is the newer version on the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. It uses the same curve as the original Apple Log with a wider color space, which gives you more color information to work with. So the flatness isn't a bug. It's the point. You just have to develop it.
Which iPhones shoot Apple Log 2
Apple Log needs an iPhone 15 Pro or later. Apple Log 2 needs an iPhone 17 Pro or later, so the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max can do it and the standard iPhone 17 can't. The Pro Max also records ProRes RAW, which I'll come back to.
If you can't find Apple Log 2 in your settings, check which model you've got before you check anything else.
Pick your camera app
You can shoot it in the native Camera app, but most people use one of two free apps.
Blackmagic Camera feels like a proper cinema camera. Manual controls, support for Apple Log 2 and ProRes, and a preview LUT so you're not judging a gray image by eye.
Final Cut Camera is Apple's own. You pick the codec (HEVC, ProRes or ProRes RAW), resolution, frame rate and color space, and the clips go straight into Final Cut Pro. Switch on Preview with LUT and the screen shows you something watchable while the file records flat.
The preview is only for your eyes. It doesn't change what's recorded.
Getting Apple Log 2 to grade cleanly: what to do on the shoot
The conversion LUT can only develop what you gave it. A few things on the day decide whether footage grades beautifully or goes noisy the moment you convert it.
Expose a touch bright. Underexposed log goes noisy in the shadows. Push it slightly brighter than looks right, without clipping the highlights. Use the histogram or zebras so you can see where clipping starts, and don't trust the flat preview.
Lock white balance and exposure. Auto white balance drifts mid-shot, and then your conversion LUT does something slightly different to every clip. Set it manually and keep it consistent.
Mind your shutter. Aim for a shutter speed around double your frame rate (1/48 or 1/50 at 24fps) for natural motion blur. In bright daylight that usually means an ND filter, otherwise everything looks like a video game.
Watch the heat and the storage. If the iPhone hits thermal limits it can reduce your recording settings mid-shoot, and ProRes files are big. Shade, breaks and a clear phone before you start make a bigger difference than people expect.
ProRes, HEVC or ProRes RAW
Apple Log 2 works in both ProRes and HEVC. HEVC files are much smaller. ProRes is easier on your computer when editing and holds up better when you push the grade. If it's a shoot you care about, use ProRes.
ProRes RAW is the top tier. It lets you adjust white balance and ISO after the fact, and Final Cut Pro supports it on Mac (11.2 or later) and iPad (2.3 or later). For most edits, Apple Log 2 in ProRes is plenty. RAW earns its storage when the lighting is mixed or the moment can't be reshot.
The fix, step by step
- Import the clip and apply the Apple Log 2 to Rec 709 LUT first. Not a creative LUT. The conversion one. In Resolve that's the first node. In Premiere it's the Input LUT slot in Lumetri. In Final Cut it's a Custom LUT effect (see below). In CapCut desktop it's the LUT tab under Adjust.
- Now look at the exposure. Once it's converted you can actually judge it. Nudge exposure, contrast or white balance if the day was harder than you thought.
- Then add your look. Creative LUT, grain, whatever you like. Always on top of the conversion, never instead of it.
That's the whole workflow. If you've got a timeline full of iPhone clips, put the conversion on an adjustment layer or a shared node and you won't have to do it forty times.
Final Cut Pro: turn off the automatic LUT
When you import Apple Log or Apple Log 2 footage, Final Cut applies a camera LUT on its own so it looks less flat. It's convenient, but it can distort skin tones and clip highlights.
Switch the automatic LUT off in the Inspector and the clip goes back to flat log. Then drag a Custom LUT effect onto it and pick your Apple Log 2 to Rec 709 conversion. Put your creative LUT on an adjustment layer above.
Working in ProRes RAW? Set Processing to iPhone ProRes RAW, set RAW to Log to Apple Log 2, and then apply the same conversion LUT.
The mistake that makes iPhone footage look terrible
Someone buys a cinematic LUT pack, drags it onto a flat Apple Log 2 clip, and it looks like a mistake. Blacks gone to zero, skin glowing, highlights clipped. They decide the LUT is rubbish.
The LUT was built for a normal (Rec 709) image. Fed a flat log image, it's adding contrast to something that's had the contrast deliberately removed, so it overshoots. Every creative LUT we sell expects Rec 709 underneath it unless the label says otherwise.
There's a mirror version too. Apply a log conversion LUT to footage that was never shot in log and you get extreme orange, oversaturated color. If your clip looks fine flat, it probably isn't log.
The order is always:
Apple Log 2 clip → conversion LUT → creative LUT → grain / overlays
Get that right and a LUT pack looks like the demo. Get it wrong and nothing you buy will ever look right.
→ Cinematic LUTs, built to sit on top of converted footage.
Should you shoot Apple Log 2 at all?
Not always. It's worth it for anything with strong contrast (golden hour, a bright window, a night street) and anything you're going to spend time grading.
For a quick clip you're posting straight from your phone with no editing, standard video is the right call every time. Log with no conversion is worse than standard, not better.
My rule: log for anything I'll actually edit, standard for everything else.
Quick questions
Can the standard iPhone 17 shoot Apple Log 2? No. It needs a 17 Pro or later.
Why does my Apple Log footage look gray? Because it's log. Apply a conversion LUT first and it comes back to a normal image.
Do I need ProRes to shoot Apple Log 2? No. It works in ProRes and HEVC. ProRes grades more easily, HEVC saves space.
Why is my footage bright orange after I applied a LUT? Almost always a log conversion LUT on non-log footage. Check the clip really was recorded in Apple Log 2.
Do I still need a conversion LUT if I grade in Resolve with color management? If you've set color management up correctly for your footage, it does the conversion for you. Most people haven't, and a LUT gets the same result in one click.
Can I use the same LUTs in other editors? Yes. LUTs are software independent, so the same .cube file works in Resolve, Premiere, Final Cut and CapCut.
If the clip looks a bit plain after conversion, a little film grain on top does more than another LUT. → Cinematic Grain
