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By Pravit Gandhi··8 min read

How to grade N-Log footage

How do you grade N-Log footage? Nikon's reference point, the official N-Log LUT, the 10-bit rule and the Resolve node setup Nikon publishes.

To grade N-Log footage you normalize it first, with either Nikon's own N-Log 3D LUT or a color space transform, then grade on top. In DaVinci Resolve, Nikon's published route is a color space transform with input color space Rec.2020 and input gamma Nikon N-log, your grade in the middle, and a second transform to Rec.709 at the end. The rest is detail around those two steps.

What N-Log is

Nikon describes N-Log as a logarithmic gamma curve designed to take full advantage of sensor dynamic range, offering a balance between highlights and shadows, and optimized for 10-bit movie recording. It states the intent directly: N-Log recording is intended for footage that will be processed using color grading post-production. The flat look of an ungraded clip is the format working correctly. In Nikon's words, although the N-Log gamma curve captures a wide range of tones, the raw footage will seem to lack contrast.

Range depends on body and format. For the Z6III, Nikon states that the dynamic range with H.265 10-bit MOV selected and ISO as low as possible, which is ISO 800, is 13 or more stops, quoted as 1300 percent.

The one reference number Nikon publishes

Sony and Panasonic both publish full code value tables mapping 0, 18 and 90 percent reflectance to specific IRE levels and 10-bit code values. Nikon does not. What it publishes is a single anchor, in its Professional Services guidance for filming N-Log: if your recorder has a waveform display, you can film an 18 percent gray color chart and adjust exposure for a video signal level of 35 percent IRE, equivalent to a 10-bit code value of around 372. That places middle gray lower than several other log formats do, so do not carry a target across from another system. Put the seven published curves on one 10-bit scale and N-Log's 372 sits below S-Log3 at 420 and V-Log at 433, and above Canon Log 3 at 351.

The 10-bit rule, and why older bodies needed a recorder

On the original Z 7 and Z 6, and again on the Z 7II and Z 6II, N-Log was available only over HDMI to an external recorder. Nikon's guidance: connect a recorder that supports 10-bit video over a Type C HDMI cable, set HDMI then Advanced then Output data depth to 10 bit, and set the N-Log setting to On, which the menu itself labels as unable to record to card.

Later bodies removed that constraint. On the Z6III, N-Log is supported with N-RAW 12-bit NEV, ProRes RAW HQ 12-bit MOV, ProRes 422 HQ 10-bit MOV, or H.265 10-bit MOV, all internal. That explains the contradictory advice online: a tutorial for a Z 6 says you need a recorder, one for a Z6III does not, and both are right.

ISO and exposure

On the Z 7II and Z 6II, Nikon states that during N-Log recording ISO cannot be set lower than ISO 800, nor to values from Hi 0.3 to Hi 2. On the Z6III, Hi 0.3 through Hi 2.0 remain unavailable. Nikon recommends base sensitivity, which is body specific: ISO 800 and ISO 6400 on the Z6III, ISO 800 and ISO 4000 on the Z 9 and Z 8.

The Z 9 added low ISO options for N-Log, from Lo 0.3 to Lo 2.0, putting sensitivity roughly 0.3 to 2.0 EV below ISO 800. There is a cost, and Nikon spells it out: the maximum output level for videos recorded at low ISO sensitivities drops due to loss of highlight data. Its mitigation is to move the zebra threshold to match, around 230 for Lo 0.3 to Lo 1.0 and 200 for Lo 2.0.

Otherwise Nikon says to set the zebra threshold to 250 for blown highlights, and for skin to set the mid-tone range value to 110 with a range of plus or minus 20, describing 110 as 18 percent gray for light skin tones. The shadow advice is the part people miss: shadow detail is hard to check on the waveform, so turn off view assist and look at the actual N-Log image. View assist, Custom Setting g13 on the Z6III, enhances contrast for the preview only, so it is hiding what you are trying to judge. Nikon's general principle is to control exposure with the aperture and an ND filter rather than ISO or shutter speed. For another format's version, see how to expose S-Log3 correctly.

Set Picture Control, Active D-Lighting, High ISO NR, Skin softening and Portrait impression balance are all unavailable while recording N-Log on the Z6III. A picture control is a look, and N-Log exists to not bake one in.

Where to get Nikon's LUT

Nikon publishes the conversion itself, free, from the Nikon Download Center, in two packages. The N-Log 3D LUT, version 1.06, covers the Z 9, Z 8, Z 7II, Z 6II, D780, Z 7, Z 6 and Z f, with 33-point .cube files named to indicate that they convert N-Log full range to Rec.709 full range. The newer N-Log LUT, version 2.00, contains five .cube files: one technical LUT converting N-Log to Rec.709, plus four creative looks named Film Bias, Film Bias Bleach Bypass, Film Bias Offset and Achromic. Its guides cover a wider list including the ZR, Z5II, Z50II and Z6III.

Nikon states the N-Log 3D LUT also works in Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple Final Cut Pro X, with the caveat that it neither endorses that software nor guarantees its operation. To install in Resolve, use Open LUT Folder under Project Settings and Color Management, drop the LUT in a sub-folder, then Update Lists and Save.

The node setup Nikon publishes for DaVinci Resolve

Nikon's video editing guide gives a complete recipe against DaVinci Resolve 18.6, current as of April 2024. Two values are not guessable, so follow it exactly.

In Project Settings under Color Management, set color science to DaVinci YRGB, timeline color space to DaVinci WG/Intermediate, and 3D lookup table interpolation to Tetrahedral. Set output color space to Rec.709 Scene on Windows or Rec.709-A on macOS.

On the Color page, build a serial chain of at least three nodes. On the first, add a Color Space Transform with input color space Rec.2020, input gamma Nikon N-log, output color space DaVinci Wide Gamut and output gamma DaVinci Intermediate. On the last, add a second transform running the other way, ending at Rec.709, with output gamma Rec.709 on Windows or Rec.709-A on macOS. Grade in the middle nodes.

The value people get wrong is the input color space. N-Log's gamut is Rec.2020, not Rec.709 and not a Nikon-specific gamut, and Nikon's guide sets it explicitly. A log gamma with the wrong gamut produces an image that looks plausible and is wrong in the saturated colors. The same LUT versus transform decision is covered in S-Log3 to Rec.709 conversion.

Data levels, the setting that quietly ruins a grade

This is the most common cause of N-Log footage that looks nearly right and will not sit properly. If you recorded to an external HDMI recorder, Nikon instructs you to check that the Data Levels option in Resolve matches the camera's HDMI Output range setting. Right-click the clip in the Media Pool, open Clip Attributes, and set Data Levels to Video if the camera was on Limited range, Full if it was on Full range. Get this wrong and your blacks and whites are offset before any transform runs.

Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro

Both will apply Nikon's .cube file: load it as an input transform and grade after it. Watch out in Premiere for color management having already detected the clip and applied its own conversion, in which case adding the LUT stacks a second transform on the first. That is a well documented complaint for N-Log specifically, covered in Premiere is applying a LUT to my log footage. If Lumetri is where your time goes, our Lumetri alternative breakdown covers what changes when the transform lives outside the editor.

Leumos AI includes N-Log among its ACES based input transforms. It is a browser-based grading studio in closed beta with a waitlist at leumos.ai, and it grades and renders rather than edits. The wider case is in grading log footage without DaVinci Resolve; if your machine is the reason you are looking, read your grading performance problem is not your Mac.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need the N-Log LUT to grade N-Log footage?

No. Nikon's own Resolve guide uses a Color Space Transform instead, with input color space Rec.2020 and input gamma Nikon N-log. The LUT is more portable because it also loads in Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro. Both are free, and only one should be running.

Why does my N-Log footage look flat and gray?

That is what a correct N-Log file looks like before a display transform. Nikon's own description is that the raw footage will seem to lack contrast. Apply the LUT or a color space transform. If it still looks wrong, check Data Levels against the camera's HDMI output range.

Premiere Pro auto-converts my Nikon N-Log footage to Rec.709. How do I stop it?

Premiere's color management detects log formats from clip metadata and tone maps them. Turn off Auto tone map media in Sequence Settings, or override the clip's color space through Modify or Interpret Footage, then apply your own transform. Do not run both.

Can I record N-Log internally on my Z 6 or Z 7?

No. On the Z 7, Z 6, Z 7II and Z 6II, Nikon states that N-Log is recorded only to an external 10-bit HDMI recorder. Internal recording arrived later: the Z6III supports N-RAW 12-bit, ProRes RAW HQ 12-bit, ProRes 422 HQ 10-bit and H.265 10-bit.

Sources

All Nikon, fetched 2026-08-15: