Canon Log 2 or Canon Log 3, and which LUT you need

They're different curves. A LUT built for one is wrong for the other. The error is small enough to miss and large enough to matter.

Already know which you shot? PursuitLuts for Canon has a file for each, converted the way Resolve does it.

Shooting Log 3? Canon Log 3 and Cinema Gamut in DaVinci Resolve has the exact settings, the 0.9 factor that makes a correct conversion look dark, and what triple base ISO on the C80 does not change.

The short version

Canon Log 2 holds the most range and is the flattest of the Canon curves. It gives you the most room to adjust later.

Canon Log 3 holds less range and keeps more contrast. It's quicker to work with and needs less adjusting to look normal.

Neither is better. Log 2 gives you more to work with. Log 3 gives you less to do.

How to tell which you shot

Open the clip in Resolve and look at the Metadata panel, or check the camera's picture settings. Cameras that offer both usually record the choice into the clip. If you can't find it, try the Log 2 file and then the Log 3 file. The wrong one looks noticeably off in the shadows and mid tones, and it's hard to fix by eye.

The Canon pack includes both files, so trying both on your own clip costs nothing.

The curve and the color range are separate settings

Log 2 and Log 3 are gammas, meaning brightness curves. Cinema Gamut is the color space, meaning the range of colors recorded. The Color Space Transform effect asks for both. Mixing up which box is which is a common mistake. Here are the settings for every camera.

Something we measured and couldn't find written anywhere

Canon publishes its log formulas with a factor of 0.9. It relates recorded values to reflected light. Applying it or not changes the result by about 0.15 of a stop.

We had Resolve write out its own Canon conversion and compared it with the formulas both ways. Resolve reads Canon Log without that 0.9 factor. Done that way, our conversion matches Resolve's to within a hundredth of a step on video's 0 to 1023 scale. Done the other way, it's about 11 steps off.

Fifteen hundredths of a stop isn't visible on one shot. It shows when a Canon clip is cut against another camera converted correctly. That's exactly when it's expensive to discover.

Updated 2026-09-13. All guides