At AbelCine, one of the most common questions our techs get these days is about lens coverage with different cameras. It’s no wonder that we get these inquiries, as there is an endless stream of new cameras coming out, all of which have different sensor sizes and specs. We frequently get questions like this: “Does my 16mm lens cover the Blackmagic Cinema camera sensor?” or “Does my lens cover 6K on the Red Dragon camera?”

Recently, a client who purchased a Sony PMW-F3 from AbelCine gave me a call with a “quick question”. He had just updated his camera with the S-Log recording option and discovered that he could now set his camera’s sensitivity in a number of different ways. He could set the camera’s gain, ISO or, with the S-Log mode turned on, he could set an Exposure Index (EI). He wanted to know the difference between these settings, and which was best to use.

At AbelCine, we offer a class on video formats that covers a variety of different terms and compression formats. One of the more common questions I'm asked is, "What's the difference between uncompressed video, Raw, and Log recording?" With so many cameras these days offering different recording options, combined with the popularity of external recorders, it's no wonder there are a lot of questions about this topic.

With more and more cameras shooting in flat-looking Log modes or RAW, the topic of LUTs on set and their implications in post have become big points of discussion. At the same time, there are many cameras that utilize the more traditional Scene Files for control of color and contrast. Furthermore, there are cameras like the ARRI ALEXA and RED EPIC that offer their own unique types of image control. With all these different formats, the difference between LUTs, Looks and Scene Files can be confusing, so in this article I explain the terms and discuss how these files are applied.