What is the difference between S-Gamut3 and S-Gamut3.Cine?

The brightness curve is the same S-Log3, so neither holds more detail in highlights or shadows. Only the range of color recorded differs. S-Gamut3.Cine is slightly wider than DCI-P3 and easier to grade. S-Gamut3 is wider still and aimed at ACES, Rec.2020 and archiving.

Should I shoot S-Gamut3 or S-Gamut3.Cine?

For YouTube, TV and most client work, S-Gamut3.Cine. If you are not delivering high dynamic range or wide color video, the extra range in S-Gamut3 has nowhere to go.

How do I tell which one I shot?

On many Sony cameras PP8 is S-Log3 with S-Gamut3.Cine and PP9 is S-Log3 with S-Gamut3. Newer models put the choice in a Log Shooting Setting menu. If the footage is someone else's, apply each conversion and look at a strong color: whites and grays will not change, but the colors will, and the right one looks natural.

What happens if I pick the wrong one?

Whites and grays are unchanged. Colors turn about 3.5 degrees around the color wheel on average, and come out about 3% weaker or stronger depending on which way round the mistake goes. Blue sky moves most, by about 9 to 13 percent.

S-Gamut3 vs S-Gamut3.Cine: which to shoot

Shoot S-Gamut3.Cine unless you are delivering high dynamic range or wide color video. The brightness curve is the same S-Log3 either way, so neither one holds more detail in the highlights or shadows. Only the colors are recorded differently, and picking the wrong one in post leaves your whites and grays looking fine while every color is quietly off.

Already know which you shot? PursuitLuts for Sony has a file for each.

The short version

When a Sony camera records S-Log3, you choose between two color ranges. The brightness curve is the same S-Log3 either way. So neither holds more detail in the highlights or shadows. Only the colors are recorded differently.

S-Gamut3.Cine is the one most people use. Sony says it covers a slightly wider area than DCI-P3, the color range digital cinema uses. Sony also says it's designed for easy post-production.

S-Gamut3 is wider still. Sony calls it the widest a camera can capture. Sony calls it a good choice for ACES, a color system used in film and effects work, and for Rec.2020 and archiving.

For YouTube, TV and most client work, S-Gamut3.Cine is the practical choice. If you're not delivering high dynamic range or wide color video, the extra range has nowhere to go.

How to tell which you shot

Many Sony cameras have picture profile presets. On the FX3, PP8 is S-Log3 with S-Gamut3.Cine and PP9 is S-Log3 with S-Gamut3. Check which one was used, or open it and look at Color Mode. Newer models put the same choice in a Log Shooting Setting menu.

If the footage is someone else's, try both. Put the S-Gamut3.Cine file on the clip, then the S-Gamut3 file. Look at something colorful, like a blue sky, an orange or a green. Whites and grays won't change at all. The colors will, and the right file is the one where they look natural.

The Sony pack includes both files, so you can try both on your own clip.

What the wrong one does, measured

We ran a standard color chart through our Sony files both ways round. Our Sony conversions match Resolve's own to within a hundredth of a step. So what you see below is the choice itself, not an error in the files.

Whites and grays: unchanged.
Colors: turn about 3.5 degrees around the color wheel on average.
Shot S-Gamut3.Cine, read as S-Gamut3: colors come out about 3% weaker. Blue sky swings the most, by about 9 degrees.
Shot S-Gamut3, read as S-Gamut3.Cine: colors come out about 3% stronger. Strong blues gain the most, around 13%.
Skin: shifts a little less than oranges and blues do. It's clear side by side and easy to miss on its own.

On its own, a shot converted the wrong way looks plausible. Cut next to footage converted correctly, the sky and skin won't match. No single color slider fixes it, because every color moved by a different amount.

If you use the Color Space Transform effect instead

The same choice appears as Input Color Space: Sony S-Gamut3.Cine or Sony S-Gamut3. Set Input Gamma to Sony S-Log3 either way. Here are the settings for every camera.

The PursuitLuts Sony pack includes both. The files are named Sony SLog3 Cine, and Sony SLog3 SG3 for S-Gamut3. You don't have to decide before buying.

Updated 2026-09-13. All guides