S Log Exposure/LUTs

[Tony Brennan]

The in built LUTs affect the zebras and brightness readings on the F3 viewfinder and LCD. When using the LUTs and recording the 444 S log output, how do you judge correct exposure in the camera? Is the only way with an external 444 waveform monitor?
It would be great to be able to send the LUT out of the SDI and still view the full S Log image in LCD or viewfinder of the camera.
For example, if you expose S Log so that it just reaches 100%, then turn on a LUT, the camera would have to be stop down further to hold the same highlight information. So if you make eposure judgments with the LUTs on you could be sacrificing latitude.
How is everyone judging exposure with SLog?

[Alister Chapman]

The histogram is not effected by the LUT's.

[Tony Brennan]

Thanks Alister,

I will check that out. Although the histogram is not my favorite exposure tool.

[Alister Chapman]

Oops. I got that one wrong. I checked today and LUT's do change the Histogram. Sorry my bad.

Of course.... if you have a Convergent Design Gemini you can add a LUT to you monitor out with that.

[Tony Brennan]

It's a pitty as it does make the in built LUTs in the camera less use full. Not being able to correctly monitor exposure at the camera will make the LUTs useless to me. I will just have to use monitors with a LUT. Hopefully Sony make make a change to that in a firmware upgrade.

[Duke Marsh]

If I recall the v1.3 firmware later this year will let you get S-Log out of A and a LUT out of B.

[Leonard Levy]

How does the LUT affect zebras on the Flip out viewfinder?
If zebras incorporate the LUT then it should be useable for setting exposure as long as you understand what the LUT is doing and how much additional latitude you actually have in sLog.
I never look at histograms anyway.

[Duke Marsh]

The zebra would have to go down to about 40 to be accurate on white skin, and it only goes down to 50.

[Alister Chapman]

It wouldn't always go down that far. It will depend on your overall scene. A WFM or Histogram is more suited to S-Log exposure as this allows you to see your entire exposure range thus lets you choose how you expose. You don't want to always under expose. If your scene is a low key scene then you can afford to expose with higher levels than a high key scene. Under exposing and then lifting in post will increase noise which is normally undesirable.