How we checked our LUTs against Resolve itself

Anyone can say their conversion is accurate. We had Resolve write out its own conversion for every camera we sell, then compared ours point by point. They match to a hundredth of a step.

These are the conversions inside every PursuitLuts pack for RED, Canon, Sony and Nikon.

The method

A LUT that turns camera log into a finished picture does two things. It reads what the camera recorded, then turns that into a picture for a screen. The second part is taste. The first part is either right or wrong, and it can be tested.

So we tested it against the reference everyone already trusts, DaVinci Resolve. For each camera we added a Color Space Transform effect and set the input to that camera's log format. We set the output to DaVinci Wide Gamut and DaVinci Intermediate, Resolve's flat working format. Then we turned tone mapping and gamut mapping off. That converts the footage and adds nothing else.

Next we used Resolve's own Generate LUT to save that conversion as a 65 point cube. That's the most detailed LUT Resolve makes, and it's Resolve's own answer for every input value.

Finally we ran our conversion over the same points and compared the two, value by value.

The result

All six formats match Resolve to within a hundredth of a step on average. That's on the 0 to 1023 scale video brightness is measured on. All but the worst 1% of points are within 0.06 of a step. A stop of exposure is about 73 steps, so the gap is around a seven-thousandth of a stop.

Those same conversions sit under the look in every PursuitLuts file.

Two things the test caught

Canon. The published Canon Log formulas carry a 0.9 factor between recorded values and reflected light. Applying it puts a conversion about 11 steps from Resolve, roughly 0.15 of a stop. Resolve doesn't apply it. Without the test, we'd have shipped Canon files that were slightly dark and never known. More on Canon Log.

Nikon. Resolve has no N-Gamut entry. Nikon defines N-Gamut as exactly the Rec.2020 color range. Choosing Rec.2020 matches to the same hundredth of a step. That's now measured rather than assumed.

Check ours yourself

You don't have to take our word for it. The test takes about ten minutes and needs nothing but Resolve.

1. Add a Color Space Transform effect to a node on any clip. Set the input to your camera's color space and log gamma. Set the output to DaVinci Wide Gamut and DaVinci Intermediate. Set Tone Mapping and Gamut Mapping to None. Leave the two boxes marked OOTF unticked, since they only matter for high dynamic range video.
2. Right-click the clip thumbnail and choose Generate LUT, then 65 Point Cube. That file is Resolve's own answer.
3. Compare it with our LUT for that camera, on a second node or value by value in the two files.

You should find the conversion matches to within a hundredth of a step on average. All but the worst 1% of points should be within 0.06. If you ever measure worse on a camera we sell a file for, email hello@pursuitlabs.ai. We'll fix it or refund you.

The test doesn't measure what happens after the conversion, and it shouldn't. How contrasty the picture is, how bright areas fade and how colors look are choices. Those choices are what you're actually buying.

Why this is worth doing

Every LUT sold as a "look" quietly contains a conversion. If that conversion is off, every shot you put through it is off. The error hides inside something that's supposed to be a creative choice. Keeping the two apart means the part that should be exact is exact. The part that should be taste is yours.

The test is a script that runs before every release. If a change breaks a camera's conversion by more than rounding, the release stops.

Updated 2026-09-13. All guides