Guide

Log vs Rec.709: when to apply a LUT.

Updated November 4, 2026

Most “my LUT looks wrong” problems come down to one question: is your footage log or Rec.709? Here's how to tell, which kind of LUT goes where, and the order that works in any editor.

What's the difference?

Rec.709 (ITU-R BT.709) is the standard color space for HD video. Footage shot with a camera's normal picture profile is already in it: contrasty, saturated, and ready to watch.

Log footage is recorded with a logarithmic curve that fits a wider range of brightness into the file, keeping more highlight and shadow detail for grading. Straight out of the camera it looks flat, gray, and desaturated. That's expected: log is meant to be converted before anyone watches it.

How to tell which one you shot

• It looks flat and washed out in your editor and on the camera's playback without a viewing LUT: it's probably log.
• Check the setting you recorded with. Log has a name in the picture profile, gamma, or color menu (see the table below). If you used a standard or "natural" profile, it's Rec.709.
• Phones: the default camera app records standard video, and many recent phones record HDR by default (on iPhone, HDR video is based on HLG). HDR isn't log, but it isn't Rec.709 either; for a standard SDR edit, let your editor convert it, or turn HDR video off when you shoot. Apple Log is a separate option you turn on yourself on supported iPhone Pro models.

Camera makers publish free conversion LUTs for their log formats on their websites, and DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, and Final Cut Pro include built-in conversions for many of them.

Two kinds of LUT

• Conversion (technical) LUTs translate one color space into another, such as S-Log3 / S-Gamut3.Cine to Rec.709. They must match your exact log format and gamut, and their job is accuracy, not style.
• Creative (look) LUTs change the mood: warmth, contrast, film-style color. Most creative LUTs, including all of Filmsilk's, are built for Rec.709 input. A few are made for a specific log format, and their description will say so.

The order that works

1. Balance the shot. Set exposure and white balance so the image is correctly exposed and neutral. With log, it's cleanest to do this before the conversion (in Resolve, in a node before the conversion node), because the conversion can clip extreme highlights and shadows.
2. Convert log to Rec.709, once. Use the conversion that matches your camera's log format and gamut, or your editor's color management. Skip this step for footage that's already Rec.709.
3. Add the creative look. Apply your creative LUT after the conversion and start at 60–80% strength. Looks hit hardest on saturated colors and skin.
4. Finish. Fine-tune saturation, contrast, and skin tones after the look, and check your scopes before you export.

Where the conversion goes in each app

DaVinci Resolve

1. On the Color page, add a node for the conversion. Either right-click it and choose LUT to pick your camera's conversion LUT, or add the Color Space Transform effect and set the input to your camera's color space and gamma and the output to Rec.709 (Gamma 2.4 is the usual choice for Rec.709 delivery).
2. Add your creative look in a node after it.
3. Alternatively, set Project Settings → Color Management to DaVinci YRGB Color Managed and Resolve converts many supported log formats for you.

Premiere Pro

1. In recent versions, Premiere's color management can detect many log formats automatically: in the Lumetri Color panel's Settings tab, turn on Color Manage Auto Detected Log and Raw Media.
2. If a clip still looks flat, select it in the Project panel, choose Clip → Modify → Color, and override the media color space with your camera's format. Or load your camera's conversion LUT in Basic Correction → Input LUT.
3. Apply the creative look in Creative → Look, and use Intensity for strength.

Final Cut Pro

1. Final Cut Pro often detects log media on import and applies the matching camera LUT automatically.
2. To check or change it: select the clip, open the Info inspector, set Metadata View (bottom left) to General, Extended, or Settings, and pick the right option in Camera LUT. Camera LUTs are applied before clip effects.
3. Add the creative look with the Custom LUT effect and set strength with its Mix slider.

In apps without built-in log conversion, apply the maker's conversion LUT first and the creative look second. Step-by-step loading instructions for each app are in How to use a LUT in any editor.

Common mistakes

• A creative look straight on log. The look expects contrast and saturation that aren't there yet, so the result looks muddy or strangely colored.
• Converting twice. For example, Final Cut Pro or Premiere already converted the clip and you added a conversion LUT on top. The result: crushed blacks, clipped highlights, and oversaturated color.
• The wrong conversion. S-Gamut3 and S-Gamut3.Cine, or D-Log and D-Log M, aren't interchangeable. A mismatch causes color shifts that no look will fix.
• Treating HDR phone video as log. HLG is an HDR format, not log. Convert it with your editor's color management, not a log LUT.
• Grading underexposed log. Underexposed log footage gets noisy once it's converted. Follow your camera maker's exposure guidance for log.

See the order for yourself

Open the free LUT previewer, load a still from your log footage, put your camera's conversion LUT in Step 1 and a creative look in Step 2, then remove Step 1 to see why the order matters. It runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.

Where Filmsilk fits

All 24 Filmsilk looks are creative LUTs built for Rec.709 input, so they go in step 3, after any conversion. You can try every look on your own frame before you buy. The Collection is $29 one-time; Filmsilk Complete is $39 and adds Studio, where you can adjust any look and export your own .cube.