Sony S-Log3 to Rec 709 without the noise and the green tint
S-Log3 is the profile every Sony shooter gets told to use and the profile most of them end up regretting for the first month. The footage looks gray, it's noisy in the shadows, and there's often a faint green cast that gets worse the more you try to fix it.
None of that is S-Log3 being bad. It's an excellent profile. It's just unforgiving of two things, and the LUT can only fix one of them. Here's the whole workflow, from camera to grade.
The quick answer
S-Log3 is a log profile. It records a flat, low-contrast image on purpose so more of the scene survives in the highlights and shadows. You fix the flatness by applying an S-Log3 to Rec 709 conversion LUT as the first thing on the clip, then grading on top.
→ Free Aprture Conversion LUT Pack, includes S-Log3 / S-Gamut3.Cine to Rec 709.
The noise and the green tint are a different matter. Those are mostly exposure and white balance, and they happen in the camera. Read the "in the camera" section below before your next shoot, because no LUT saves underexposed S-Log3.
Why S-Log3 looks the way it does
Normal video mode (or a Cine profile like S-Cinetone) bakes contrast and saturation in. It looks finished straight away, but if the sky's bright and your subject's in shade, one of them gets thrown away.
S-Log3 keeps both by compressing the whole brightness range into a narrow, flat image. The catch is that it puts your midtones quite low in the signal, which is why S-Log3 is famous for shadow noise: the shadows are sitting right on top of the sensor's noise floor, and when you convert, you stretch them out and the noise comes with them.
That's the key thing to understand about S-Log3. It's not noisier than other profiles. It just punishes underexposure more than anything else Sony offers.
The fix, in the edit
- Apply the S-Log3 conversion LUT first. In Resolve, that's a node at the start of the chain. In Premiere, the Input LUT slot in Lumetri. In Final Cut, the Camera LUT in the Inspector. In CapCut desktop, the LUT tab under Adjust.
- Now fix exposure and white balance. Once it's converted you can actually see what you've got. If it's a touch bright (it should be, see below), pull exposure down here. If there's a green cast, this is where you correct it.
- Add your look. Creative LUT, grain, whatever. On top of the conversion, never instead of it.
If you've got a whole shoot to do, apply the conversion on a shared node, an adjustment layer or the timeline level and it's one step for everything.
Sony's own LUT vs ours
Sony provides official S-Log3 LUTs and they're fine. Two reasons you might use ours:
- Sony's lands with fairly strong contrast, which looks good on its own but fights with any creative LUT you put on top. Ours is tuned as a neutral base so a look sits on it properly.
- It comes with the Apple Log, DJI, GoPro and other conversions in one folder. Most Sony shooters also own a phone or a drone, and having every conversion in one place saves a lot of hunting.
Both are free. Use whichever looks right.
The mistake that makes S-Log3 look terrible
Someone buys a cinematic LUT pack, drops it straight on the flat S-Log3 clip, and gets crushed blacks, orange skin and green shadows. They assume the LUT's rubbish.
The LUT was built for a normal (Rec 709) image. On log footage it's adding contrast to something that's had the contrast removed on purpose, and it overshoots. Every creative LUT we sell, and nearly every one on the market, expects Rec 709 underneath it unless it specifically says S-Log3 on the label.
The order is always:
S-Log3 clip → conversion LUT → creative LUT → grain / overlays
In the camera: the part that actually matters
This is where S-Log3 is won or lost, and it's the section the other guides skip.
Shoot at base ISO. Sony sensors have one or two "native" ISOs where the image is cleanest and the dynamic range is highest. For S-Log3, on most current bodies that's ISO 800, and on dual-base-ISO cameras there's a second one (commonly 12800 on the a7S III and FX3, and 2500 on the FX30). Anything between the two bases is noisier than either of them. Check your model's manual for its exact numbers, then set ISO to base and leave it there.
Expose brighter than looks right. This is the big one. Because S-Log3 puts the midtones low, the standard advice is to overexpose by about 1.3 to 2 stops compared to what the meter says, then bring it back down after the conversion LUT. It feels wrong on the day. The image on the monitor looks washed out and too bright. Do it anyway. This single habit removes most of the shadow noise people complain about.
Practical way to do it: turn on zebras at 94% or so (for S-Log3 that's roughly where skin sits when it's exposed well), or use the histogram and keep the bulk of the image right of center without clipping the highlights. Then use ND filters, not ISO, to control the exposure.
Set white balance manually. Auto white balance on S-Log3 drifts, and the green tint people complain about is often just white balance sitting slightly off, made obvious by the conversion. Set it manually in kelvin (5500 for daylight, 3200 for tungsten) or do a custom white balance off a gray card, and every clip matches.
Use the right gamut. S-Log3 is paired with a color gamut, and you want S-Gamut3.Cine for almost everything. S-Gamut3 (without the Cine) is wider and needs a different conversion. The LUT in our pack is for S-Log3 / S-Gamut3.Cine, which is what the camera picks by default.
Record 10-bit if you can. On bodies that offer it (a7 IV, a7S III, FX3, FX30, a6700, ZV-E1 and others), shoot XAVC S-I or XAVC HS in 10-bit 4:2:2. On older 8-bit bodies (a7 III, a6400), S-Log3 still works but it bands and breaks up when you push it, so grade it gently.
Should you shoot S-Log3 at all?
Not always. S-Log3 is worth it for anything with challenging light or anything you'll spend real time grading: weddings, interviews with a window in the shot, sunsets, anything that'll be delivered as a finished film.
For content you need fast, or anything shot in low light where you can't expose bright, S-Cinetone or a Cine profile is often the better call. It's a finished-looking image straight out of the camera, it's less noise-prone, and it takes a creative LUT well without any conversion step. A lot of very good Sony shooters use S-Cinetone for 80% of their work and S-Log3 for the 20% that needs it.
My rule: S-Log3 when I can expose it properly and I'll grade it. S-Cinetone when I can't or won't.
Quick questions
Why is my S-Log3 footage so noisy? Underexposure, nearly every time. S-Log3 needs to be exposed 1.3 to 2 stops brighter than the meter suggests, at base ISO. If it's already shot, a light denoise before the conversion LUT helps more than anything after it.
Why does my S-Log3 footage look green? Usually white balance. Set it manually rather than auto. If it's already shot, correct white balance in the node before your creative LUT, not after. Occasionally it's the gamut: if you shot S-Gamut3 rather than S-Gamut3.Cine, you need a different conversion.
What's the base ISO for S-Log3? 800 on most current Sony bodies, with a second base on dual-gain cameras (12800 on the a7S III and FX3, 2500 on the FX30). Check your manual, the numbers vary by model.
S-Log3 or S-Cinetone? S-Log3 for difficult light and anything you'll grade properly. S-Cinetone for speed, low light and anything you want to look good straight away. Neither is wrong.
Can I use the S-Log3 LUT on S-Log2? No. They're different curves. S-Log2 is older, a little less flat, and needs its own conversion. Most people on current bodies should just use S-Log3.
Do I need a conversion LUT if I'm using DaVinci Color Management? No. If Resolve's color management is on and it knows the clip is S-Log3 / S-Gamut3.Cine, it converts it for you. Adding a LUT on top double-converts it. Do one or the other.
