Tips for Filming in S-Log3 with the Sony a7S III Alpha Mirrorless Camera

For this blog post, I’m going to be taking a bit of a step back from photography and talk about cinematography. While the majority of my work is currently photography, I’m a hybrid shooter who enjoys both photography and videography. Whether I’m doing travel and street photography or lifestyle photography with models, I’ll sometimes bring along my Sony a7S III to film cinematic video content.

One of the reasons why I bought the Sony a7S III is because of the ability to film raw 4K video in 24fps, 30fps, and 60fps. As someone who takes photos and films outdoors, there are going to be times when I’m working with unpredictable natural lighting conditions. The ability to shoot raw allows for more flexibility in post-production because of the high dynamic range of S-Log files.

I’m going to be sharing some tips that I have learned and applied to my cinematography when it comes to shooting in S-Log3 with my Sony a7S III. I’ll also feature some screenshots comparing raw footage with color-graded versions done in Adobe Premiere Pro.

 
Raw footage of beautiful flowers at Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles
Vibrant colorful pink and yellow flowers at the Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles
 
 

CHOOSE THE BEST PICTURE PROFILE

The Sony a7S III has 10 different picture profiles that you’ll find in the Exposure/Color section in the Menu. You can see how the different picture profiles correlate to which gamma and color mode on Sony’s support page.

I use Picture Profile 8, which uses the S-Log3 gamma and the S-Gamut3.Cine color mode. Log footage will naturally start off looking flat and desaturated, but it provides you with the ability to color grade with a lot more freedom in post-production and retain a lot more of the important details. S-Log3 footage provides a dynamic range of over 1300%, however a picture profile will limit the range to 1300%. This is still more than plenty of range to experiment in post-production and get a variety of results in your final footage.

 
Raw image of Tokyo storefront with paper lanterns
Tokyo storefront with pink and orange paper lanterns luminating at night in Japan
 
 

GAMMA DISPLAY ASSIST IN THE SONY A7S III

 

If you want to get a better sense of the true colors in your scene but you still want to record in S-Log3 to get raw footage in post, then I highly recommend the Gamma Display Assist feature.

Before learning about this feature, I would always refer to the EV meter on my camera and try to get all of my scenes to be at +1.7, thinking that it would be perfectly exposed for post-production and color grading. Turning on the Gamma Display Assist for the Sony a7S III has been incredibly helpful for me to focus more on what I’m filming because it provides a great starting point for what I’ll be able to start off as a base in post. 

You can find this in the Display Option tab under Setup in the Sony a7S III Menu. When turned on, you’ll see that the Gamma Display Assist Type is S-Log3→709(800%). In other words, it adds a rec709 color space to your image in the monitor.

Desaturated image of boat sailing along a river in Berlin Germany
Colorful white boat sailing along the river in Berlin Germany during in the morning
 
 

USING AN ND FILTER

Whenever I’m filming, I always try to keep a base ISO of 640 and keep my shutter speed consistent with the fps I’m filming at. I don’t like changing any of the settings in the middle of filming like I do when I’m doing photography since I will commonly adjust shutter speed, ISO, and aperture based on a certain look I’m going for.

Although it’s good for S-Log3 footage to be overexposed, it’s still important to not overexpose it so much that you lose details in the shot. I use the ND16/PL Quartzline filter from Polarpro. I usually film outdoors and in the evening and night and the ND16 provides a happy medium of lowering the exposure of your image by just enough that it’s applicable for most situations when I’m outdoors - even occasionally during the day when I travel.

 
Desaturated view of Los Angeles sunset at the Griffith Observatory
Desaturated view of boat sailing along the river at sunset in Berlin
Beautiful, colorful orange sunset looking out at Los Angeles from the Hollywood mountains
Colorful sunset with boat sailing across the river in Berlin, Germany.
 
 
 

Final Words

S-Log3 footage provides a lot of freedom in post-production because of the high dynamic range. Color grading raw footage can be intimidating, but it provides a lot of reward because you get the ability to create a certain ambience to your video that you might not be able to otherwise.

Also as a heads up, log footage files are incredibly large so be sure you have an SD card with enough GB (and a few if possible) and enough hard drive space to store your footage. As someone who travels a lot, being able to store your footage on a hard drive after a long trip is a huge benefit. I have the Prograde 256GB SD card and a 12TB hard drive.

Thanks for reading and until next time.

Feel free to explore my website further:

camera gear, videoBrian Brownlos angeles photograhper, sony alpha, los angeles, lighting, tokyo, japan, berlin, color grading, s-log3, sony a7s iii, picture profile, cinematographyComment