Hi all,

I am getting more into the video side of things (mainly a portrait photog) and am having a little bit of an uphill battle learning to work with log.

I have a first gen R6 which can shoot in Clog (709, 2020) and Clog 3 (709, 2020 and Cinema Gamut).

I am finally feeling comfortable on the grading side of things (using DaVinci Resolve Studio 18.5) but am a little confused about exposing properly, esp at night time in low light settings.

Here is what I have gathered to far:

Native ISO for Clog is 400

Native ISO for Clog3 is 800

Coming from the photo side of things I thought that I can bump up the ISO to get the right exposure but this has lead to a lot of noise in the footage.

I am now understanding that for video we must stick to the base ISO…is this correct?

Some videos I have watched mentioning going in multiples of 800…so 800. 1600. 3200.

I think we’re supposed to overexpose log by 1.5 stops but if that isn’t possible due to certain lighting conditions, how can I get the best (min noise) end product?

I have tried denoising in DR and it takes away from the sharpness quite a bit.

Topaz AI Video denoiser does a decent job but takes some of the saturation away from the reds.

However, I want to make sure I can getting everything right in camera so I do minimal denoising later.

Currently here is my workflow

Import into DR > add to timeline > color space transform onto node to move from clog3 cinema gamut to rec 709 and cineon for the first phase > second node, add Kodak LUT from the “film looks” luts.

I shoot with a Canon R6 Mark II and record in C-Log3. I’ve tried Canon’s official LUTs and experimented with different color spaces like Rec.709, Rec.2020, and Cinema Gamut.

Most of my footage is of animals such as; deer, bears, dogs, ducks, geese, bobcats, etc. all shot in 4K. These videos are just for fun, and I like to share some of them on Instagram Reels and TikTok.

That said, I’ve been struggling to get a good color grade. The few clips I’ve managed to shoot and grade just feel off, colors look strange or flat, and I can’t seem to get that vibrant, natural look. For those working with Canon C-Log3:

• Do you rely on Canon’s LUTs or use custom ones?

• Do you manually convert to Rec.709 or use a LUT as a base?

• What color space and gamma settings do you find give the best results?

• Any tips for making colors pop in a realistic way?

Would really appreciate any advice or shared experiences. Thanks in advance!