A log curve keeps more of the highlights and shadows for grading, but the picture looks flat on the screen. A monitoring LUT shows it with normal contrast while you shoot, without changing the recording.
- If the phone supports it, set 10-bit in the codec settings: log in 8-bit is prone to banding in skies and gradients.
- Open the white balance menu and go to the curve tab. Choose a curve: If the app warns about an aggressive curve, read the advice in the window: on many phones it is better to use manual white balance with such curves.
- mLog 60%, 80% or 100% for the app's own log with adjustable sliders;
- a version of a known camera log (mS-Log3, mLog-C, mV-Log and others) if you want to use the matching conversion in your editor.
- In manual white balance choose the colour gamut that matches your conversion, for example S-Gamut3.Cine for mS-Log3.
- In Viewfinder settings set Viewfinder LUT, usually Rec.709. A LUT button appears on the shooting screen: tap it to compare with the log picture, long-press it for half-frame views.
- Expose by the zebra or false colour, not by how the LUT picture looks. Both work on the log signal.
- For editing, either save the LUT as a
.cubefile with the download button next to Viewfinder LUT, or turn on Embed LUT in the metadata settings to embed it in every clip.
Leave OETF and Color Primaries at Auto-correction: the file then tells editors which curve was used, and log footage is not shown with the wrong gamma.