The Canon LUT you want is the official conversion for the log profile you recorded, and Canon gives it away free on its support site. Picking the wrong one of the three C-Log versions is the commonest reason Canon footage looks worse after the LUT than before.
Which Canon LUT do you need?
Two settings decide it, and both are in the camera menu: the Canon Log version and the colour gamut.
| Profile | Bodies, broadly | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| C-Log | Older Cinema EOS, DSLRs, early firmware on the R5 and R6 | The original, least range |
| C-Log2 | Higher-end Cinema EOS | Most range, flattest |
| C-Log3 | R5, R6, R6 Mark II, C70 and most recent bodies | The practical default |
Then match the gamut: footage shot in Cinema Gamut needs a Cinema Gamut to BT.709 LUT, and footage shot in BT.2020 needs the BT.2020 version. The target for anything not going to an HDR deliverable is BT.709, which is the same thing as Rec.709.
If you shot on a recent mirrorless body, you probably shot C-Log3. It was designed as a middle ground: more range than the original, easier to grade than C-Log2.
Where do you get the official Canon LUTs?
Canon publishes its conversion LUTs on its support site, filed under each camera's downloads, as .cube files. They are free, and they are the correct starting point before any creative pack. Canon's Cinema EOS manuals also describe a CMT 709 LUT (Canon Monitor Transform) for Canon Log 2 and Canon Log 3 in Cinema Gamut. It is made for viewing in standard BT.709.
Re-hosted copies on download sites are often older versions with unclear names. Take the files from Canon, keep the folder they came in, and note which gamut each one expects from its file name.
What is the best LUT for the Canon R6?
Start with Canon's own C-Log3 to BT.709 conversion, matched to the gamut you set. The original R6 got C-Log3 in firmware 1.4.0 in 2021, and the R5 got it in the same round. A body that has never been updated may still be on the original C-Log. Check the firmware version and the Canon Log setting before you choose a file.
The R6 Mark II records C-Log3 too, so the same rule applies: the conversion depends on the log version and gamut, not on the body.
Why does C-Log look wrong off the card?
The same reason every log format does: it stores a wide brightness range in a flat, low-contrast, desaturated image so that highlight and shadow detail survive to the grade. Viewed directly it is washed out and slightly green, and that is the format working. What is log footage covers why, and what is a LUT covers why a conversion gets you back to something viewable.
A conversion LUT and a creative LUT are different files doing different jobs. Convert first, add a look second. Stacking a creative LUT straight onto log gives the muddy, oddly contrasted result people usually blame on the camera.
How do you apply a Canon LUT to one clip?
In any editor: apply the conversion LUT, then adjust exposure. That order, because the conversion expects log input and adjusting first moves the footage away from what the LUT was built for.
The tool-specific versions are the same idea: Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro.
How do you convert a whole Canon card?
Here is where it stops being a five-minute job. Forty clips means forty rounds of import, apply, check, adjust. The conversion is identical every time, because it is the same transform for the same camera, so the repetition buys nothing.
Editors handle this with adjustment layers, which works when every clip was exposed the same way and needs unpicking when they were not. That is most shoots: the light changed, you rode the exposure, and three clips need less than the rest.
How BatchTone handles it
BatchTone is a Mac app for applying one LUT across a folder. It does not bundle LUTs, so you import Canon's conversion once and it stays in the library.
- Drop the folder of clips in.
- Pick the Canon conversion that matches your profile and gamut. A frame is pulled from each clip and previewed with it applied, so the judgement happens on your own footage.
- Pull the strength down on the clips that need less; the rest stay where they are.
- Export H.264 MP4 to a folder you choose. Audio is copied untouched, 10-bit HEVC from the R5 and R6 is read directly, and originals are never written to.
Encoding uses the Mac's own hardware encoder, so a card is not an overnight job. It runs on macOS 12 or later on Apple Silicon.
The same problem on other cameras: Sony LUTs and S-Log3 to Rec.709, DJI LUTs and D-Log to Rec.709, Fujifilm LUTs. The seven-day trial has everything unlocked, because only a real card from your own body can show it reads what your camera writes.
Download BatchTone free on the Mac App Store
Common questions
Which C-Log does my camera shoot?
Check the menu. Recent bodies such as the R5, R6, R6 Mark II and C70 offer C-Log3; higher-end Cinema EOS bodies add C-Log2; older bodies are C-Log. The names are close and the conversions are not interchangeable.
Are Canon LUTs free?
Canon's official conversion LUTs are free on its support site. Paid "Canon LUT" packs are third-party creative looks, which belong on top of the conversion.
Why does my Canon log footage look green?
That is normal for log before conversion. If it is still green afterwards, the conversion does not match the profile or gamut you shot.
Can I apply a creative LUT directly to C-Log?
You can, and it will look wrong. Convert to Rec.709 first, then put the look on top of that.
Does converting damage the footage?
Not if you export once from the original. Repeated export and re-import compresses it each time, which is a bigger risk than the conversion itself.