How to easily Monitor your Sony S-Log3 Footage (FX3, A7CII, ZV-E1)

If you're shooting on Sony mirrorless cameras like the FX30, FX3, A7CII or ZV-E1, you already know that properly exposing your S-Log3 footage usually means overexposing by around 1-2 stops. That’s great for dynamic range — but it can make monitoring your shot tricky, because your camera’s screen displays a flat, overly bright image.

Run & Gun Filmmakers simply don't want or can't look at the histogram, the EV meter or Zebras all the time. Here's the solution that made my life easier.

 

The Easy Solution: In-Camera Display LUTs

Sony cameras have a great built-in feature called Display LUT on the newer models like the Sony A7CII, ZV-E1 but also the Cinema Line has this feature of course (FX3, FX30 etc.)

This lets you load a LUT onto your camera to see how your footage will look after color grading — without baking it into the actual recording (but you can bake it in as well if you want to). However, using just any standard LUT won't fully solve the problem. Your footage will often still appear way too bright because of the intentional overexposure required for S-Log3.

Now how can you rely on what you see on the sceen?

That’s exactly why I created a dedicated Sony S-Log3 Display LUT in my new Sony Cinematic LUT Pack. It doesn’t just apply cinematic colors — it also compensates perfectly for that extra exposure. You get accurate color and exposure previews directly in-camera, making run-and-gun filmmaking much simpler. No more constantly checking your histogram, zebras or EV-meter!

 

How to install it to your Sony camera?

Super easy. Just drag the LUT you want to display onto your SD card into the specific folder you see in the screenshot below!

PRIVATE 👉🏼 SONY 👉🏼 PRO 👉🏼 LUT 👉🏼 Put your LUT inside that folder

 

 

I also just dropped a new Video on my Youtube channel about how I use these LUTs to color grade my Slog3 footage within a few minutes: