Guide To Using Zebras With All Sony Gammas

By popular demand here is my guide to using zebras with the different Sony picture profiles. I cover all the cine gammas, S-Cinetone, S-LOG 2 and 3 as well as the HLG gammas. I did omit modes such as REC709, Pro, Cinema etc as they tend to be less popular plus there is lots of overlap with the other linear gamma examples in this video. I’ve been wanting to make this video for quite some time and it took a great deal of effort so I hope you find it helpful and interesting.

Not sure what zebras are? This is the video for you -

As promised, here are the outputs of all the gammas demoed in this video...
Cine1 - 109%
Cine2 - 100%
Cine3 - 109%
Cine4 - 109%
S-Cinetone - 109%
S-LOG 2 - 106%
S-LOG 3 - 94%
HLG - 100%
HLG1 - 87%
HLG2 - 95%
HLG3 - 100%

Connect with me on social 📲
🔴 Instagram @harv_video_audio_stuff

0:00 Intro
0:28 Heads up
1:02 Why did I make this guide?
1:59 In the menu
2:34 Standard plus range
3:05 Lower limit
3:31 Zebras to protect highlights
4:33 Protect highlights examples
6:08 Zebras to expose skin tones
7:23 Cine 1 skin tones
7:49 Cine 2 skin tones
8:14 Cine 3 skin tones
8:37 Cine 4 skin tones
8:55 S-Cinetone skin tones
10:49 S-Log 2 and 3 skin tones
12:59 HLG modes skin tones
16:11 18% grey?
17:34 Zebra tipss

[HarvVideoAudioStuff]

Enjoy guys! This was time consuming one to make so pls share etc

[calebfortune]

Been watching for years and can honestly say your color work has massively improved. Definitely not meant as a backhand compliment - there were a TON of creators that used to over push skin tone looks that lead to really odd duo tone roll off that I felt I used to see in yours. These more recent videos are a perfect balance and should definitely set the standard for some other creators in the YT community.

[markus_knoedel]

Thanks. Been a cinematographer for quite some time now, but still learned something.

[dj_wilson]

I'm so glad I found this video! This has been extremely helpful with helping me nail down exposure for Slog3. Thank you

[MinusDesign]

This is brilliant. Thank you for sharing your many insights and tips on using Zebras. What a lot of work!

[jonathangolgota]

im agree, for controlled room lighting, just using standard + plus range target for skin tones, for video product or outside room/uncontrolled lighting just use lower limit + exposure for hightlight

[grnmtnskier]

Thanks very much - extremely helpful. Just returning to video and learning how to use the a6700. Agree that the exposure meter does not appear very helpful and that is why I wanted to learn how to use zebras.

With the zebras turned on, it will be so much easier to adjust the exposure with a variable ND and just adjust to eliminate all but the specular highlights. The information regarding the correct zebra setting for the S-Cinetone profile was incredibly helpful. Thanks again.

[TroyBrooksPainter]

You’ve got a great eye for skin tone and color. Well done. Much appreciated.

[firefeethok_tui]

Thank you, this is very helpful for a newbie.

[danielirvine]

Thanks for the time you put in to this man !

[CinematographyLischkaChannel]

thanks for teaching us.
gear doesn't solve a lack of knowledge.

[TomKaszuba]

Genius work here. Thank you very much.

[Wolf_]

This is incredibly useful and just helped me figure out a few things. Much appreciated!

[Hsukhaybir]

As a photographer I know little about perfect sloshed for video .. I set my zebra at lower limit 109+ to get the best shadow quality since I shoot raw

but I was wondering when I see some people in studio or videographer literally exposing until they see highlights in the faces and then take the shot .. but now I understand that they use lower values to indicate the right exposure

Thank you learned something today !

[TheAaronalden]

Wow, what a ton of work! Thank you for taking the time and sharing!

[RanjanSharma]

Very very helpful video which I watched without blinking my eyes, Thanks for such in depth video.

[gyamtsoprod]

Thanks a lot for this precious video and sharing. I don't use zebras very often because it seems a little bit complicated to me but after watching this, I will certainly integrate zebras to my process 👍

[UpSco]

Incredible work!! Thanks for taking the time!

[bovinicide]

Very interesting and very helpful - thanks a bunch, Mr Harv!

[acaiv]

Great video, your content has definitely helped me get out of some jams.