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.
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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%
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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

[@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

[@Minus20Design]

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

[@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.

[@gyamtsoprod2245]

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 👍

[@TheAaronalden]

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

[@bovinicide]

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

[@CarlosBarronJr]

Wow! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! Your videos are the most helpful!

[@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.

[@gillesmatheronpro]

Superb work, very useful and efficient. Thank you !

[@Wolf_1775]

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

[@hANBinhanbin]

Very helpful. Thanks for the effort making this video and sharing.

[@Deep-Travel]

Excellent and very helpful video. Thanks! And thanks for the chapters.

[@jerryvandebeek8966]

Super helpful and thanks for keeping it simple.

[@acaiv1797]

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

[@donttellhimpike2043]

Excellent, Harv.

[@RanjanSharma2001]

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

[@georgbucher6873]

Thank you very much for this very interesting and useful informations!!! Very well done!

[@Scriptshepherd]

Exactly the video I was looking for. Thank you.

[@RockWILK]

Damn. You put A LOT of work into this. Really helpful, thanks so much for sharing.

[@moc1911]

That was SUPER helpful. Thank you so much!

[@mattskiduggan]

Thanks for these videos, really informative.

[@edwintan73]

very details and easy understanding content! thanks so much!

[@YogevMontekyo]

good video. false color and zebras work well. sometimes had difficulties in getting the correct value for various skin tones and conditions, but overall system works :)

[@jeffhampton6972]

This is ridiculously helpful, thank you so very much! :D

[@mirvinj05]

Thank you sir!!! Just jumped up from an a6000 do I'm relearning everything. Just the info I was looking for.

[@UpSco8]

Incredible work!! Thanks for taking the time!

[@HarvVideoAudioStuff]

My pleasure!

[@TroyBrooksPainter]

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

[@HarvVideoAudioStuff]

Many thanks 🙏🏻

[@alocofilms]

Very good and informativ video, Thank you!

[@RKAlapana]

Thanks for this video....really a best guide for a best video...thank you so much

[@TomKaszuba]

Genius work here. Thank you very much.

[@victormultanen1981]

It is very valuable video!

[@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 !

[@Shadow_Li]

Thank you bro , huge work

[@AsiaStreet365]

Excellent video.

[@cordoar]

Thanks for your work.👍

[@AmirGhorbani-tb5kr]

Thank you, that was great!

[@JonatanCastro]

This video = GOLD

[@authorizedauthority9725]

AMAZING!

[@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

[@ValorMediaTN]

Helped so much thank you

[@frederickreed4604]

Thanks for doing this.

[@CVisions]

Thank you so much for this!

[@PhillipRPeck]

This needs more views.

[@flightographist]

Amazerful!

[@AlexanderCornel]

Nice 👍 great and helpful 👍

[@aungkophyokan7820]

thank bro… this video helps me alots

[@shotbygenaro]

LEGEND! Thank you so much man! 💯💯💯🙌🏽

[@HarvVideoAudioStuff]

😄

[@shotbygenaro]

@@HarvVideoAudioStuff so i never had time to fully reply but again thank you bro for this! ive been looking for someone to propperly explain how to set it up and know the exact percentages! really helpful! also i know you didnt mention with Slog3 ive notice the base ISO is 800 but you can go down to 200, i did some test and when you go past below 800 the exposing goes all tips up lol like the zebras, M.M and the histogram gives false information, dont know if you noticed yourself? this is with the A7IV btw and again thank you! keep it all up man!

[@olivier-unia-dharmaprod]

top.... perfect job... thank you

[@CinematographyLischkaChannel2]

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

[@iamzebra7025]

Thank you🎉

[@norgerichard]

Thank u so much bro

[@stevemaster85]

I use C1 zebra to expose for middle gray with a color checker, than overexpose + 1 and 1/3 stop for skintone ad a slight overexposure that log profiles likes. Than switch to C2 zebra 106 to check for clipping

[@Josh.Vanjani]

That was a very interesting and informative listen, Harv! I'm going to try out those values next time I film. Also, it seems you guys in the UK say "Zebra" a bit different than here in the US (where it's more like two e's). 🦓

[@patrickfalls6819]

It is because they pronounce the letter Z as "ZED," and we pronounce the letter Z as "ZEE."

[@Tugela60]

​@Patrick Falls Zed is the correct pronunciation. "Zee" is a uniquely American thing. Everywhere else in the English speaking world it is "Zed".

[@ClaesFeldt]

This was useful. You mentioned that you like S-Cinetone and i just started to use that. I suppose you then use PP11 ? Are you then using the standard settings or are you tweaking it a bit ? Thanks for the video, learnt a lot.

[@ErikHill1]

Great video Harv! Assuming this was mainly for 10 bit, what would you suggest for 8 bit out of the ZV-E10?

[@JaaeKash]

Any answers on this?

[@herbojohnson]

@@JaaeKash slog 2

[@chrisnigul]

Phantom LUT pdf says to set zebras STD+Range at 56 IRE and with a +- of 3. Did you try that setting?

[@nostalgia_box]

Very helpful! I really want to know the lut you used at 5:55 for slog3!

[@tggentil]

Thanks for the video I was looking for. If you overexposed (1.6) in Slog 3 your skin tone level should also increase right? At which level?

[@transicionesdevinilos.3120]

so deep. ty.

[@mustafagomen7084]

Thank you for this very clear video. I have a question are these settings valid for the sony A7S2? is there still great interest in filming in slog 3 with the sony A7S2?

[@HarvVideoAudioStuff]

Many thanks, yes should still work for a7S2. I always used to use slog2 when my a7S2 was my primary 👍🏻

[@gooseman294]

Great video. Insanely helpful. A couple of follow up questions. Do the SLOG values still apply if you are using a conversion LUT on an external monitor or the gamma display assist in camera? Or should they be closer to the CINE profile values since it’s being converted to a rec.709 color space? Thanks!

[@Visions_in_Toyko]

Good question, I am keen to know the answer to this as well

[@gooseman294]

@@Visions_in_Toyko I used his Slog 3 zebra numbers in camera and exposed for skin tones, the image on the external monitor was properly exposed. I didn’t bother putting zebras on the external monitor and it came out nice. I didn’t have a problem with blown out skin tones that I couldn’t recover at all which I’ve struggled with before. I guess I could have checked false color on the external monitor to see where the values fell but over all the values he’s recommended worked really well. It gave me the properly exposed image I wanted so that I could do what I needed to in post with color.

[@pierre1509]

Great video, thanks a lot. Using the Gamma Assist to display Rec709 instead of a recorded flat profile, do the zebra need to be set up such as with Rec709 or as with the flat profile ?

[@travelpatron]

Wonder to know too

[@aghaanantyab]

What percent of the gamma output is produced if I use the standard color profile on the Sony A7 III camera? 4:19

[@junyoo164]

Thank you for the great video! One question though, why do you like standard/range better for setting up the skin-tone than the lower limit? To me, lower limit seems better option because zebra shows and remains on the skin area above the limit. Zebra shows and then disappears with the standard/range mode when some part of the skin goes out of the limit range.

[@useless_name]

if you overexpose skintones (which can happen whil using lower limit), they become too pale because they loose saturation.

[@MrPhillipsTheChangeAgent]

Great video I can not find any videos that discuss this topic for individuals with darker skin tones. If you do a video like that it would get many views. Man I wish you could have grabbed a buddy with darker skin tones. Anyhow would you lower the limit for darker skin tones?

[@peterkertesz2861]

Awesome video. I just want to confirm one things - These slog3 settings (94+) and (52+-2) are when lookign at Slog3 on camera without applying a Rec709 Lut on camera, right? I like to monitor my slog3 footage while teh rec709 lut is on ( not the gamma assist) - do you have zebra numbers for those as well? thx

[@Cheekywekamedia]

Great video Harv! So, if Slog-2 has a higher zebra peak of 106% - does that mean it retains greater highlights than Slog-3?

[@andrewtaylor5103]

No, the dynamic range is just spread over a larger data range. S log 2 is also a steeper curve. These two things are why s log 2 is better suited to 8 bit codecs.

[@Filmmakers_N]

Good afternoon, do you always use zebra in 109 for outdoor shooting( s-cinetone )?

[@omerbulbul8185]

So can we use a grey card for correctly exposing wth whese hlg percentage? +And for highligts , should i see the zebras when i use these settings? (I am new on this point and living some issues sorry for my amateur questions, i just wanna learn)

[@CounterStrikeOfficialShorts]

thanks

[@mpark1206]

Thanks for the breakdown. For the skin tones, are you adjusting until you JUST see the zebras?

[@HarvVideoAudioStuff]

Thanks! No, as I set a % range I’m looking to see zebra coverage on most of the key light side. I’m not worried about a couple of brighter areas (the bit where I mention natural oils) 👍🏻

[@mpark1206]

@@HarvVideoAudioStuff ok. I just didn't know the difference between lower limit and std range. Did some tests and looks great with phantom luts. Thanks.

[@jordanbathe8772]

thank you so much! what would you use for zebras on the no PP on?

[@rgbman01]

With no PP you should be fine if you set zebras to 100+.

[@AJCoReTV]

Thx! Do you have a beginners guide for waveforms also?

[@HarvVideoAudioStuff]

Many thanks, waveforms video is coming 👍🏻

[@AJCoReTV]

@@HarvVideoAudioStuff subbed!

[@Roz-Inspire-Video]

Awesome stuff… was using lower limit but think I’m going to try stnd +- … so appreciate

[@user-ol8ry3cl3l]

Thanks! What about shooting a rock show in Slog3.cine Gamut3 when the lighting change during the show

[@blaylock1978]

Nice video, thanks! I know it isn’t your favorite method, but when exposing with an 18% gray card, I have a Z cam which uses two different zebra values one that goes from 0 to 50 and the other that goes from 55 to 100. So I didn’t really understand why there isn’t just one slider but to simplify it, what would I set either one of those two for the 18% gray card? I guess I’m just trying to simplify the process. Thank you in advance.

[@HarvVideoAudioStuff]

Hmm strange, I’ve not worked with a zcam (yet) but hope to at some point. Would the 0-50 be for grey card and 55-100 for skin tones/highlights etc?

[@blaylock1978]

@@HarvVideoAudioStuff It’s funny because I’ve found nothing in it. In the guide it just references the zebras as an assist tool but doesn’t explain it. Thank you for you help regardless. I’ll keep playing and see but your video helps understand the concept so I appreciate it and hopefully I can find the right sweet spot for the settings.

[@angelopoulis5825]

11.56 PHantom luts guide for skintones is 56 + - 3 , no?

[@shpynda]

What zebras setting for exposure skintone for S-Cinetone?

[@sammyh9542]

It’s odd that when you used the grey card to expose, you got a darker image 🤔 Works fine for me. Unless your card is off 😅

[@MikeT-yy3]

I am a stills only photographer using Sony A7M4 cameras, never use video. My zebras are set to lower limit 103+ and I always shoot in RAW, Shooting mainly people I am only interested in not clipping the skin tones. Would you agree with my settings or would you change them

[@elena_berlant]

❤❤❤

[@lostnowfound2254]

What’s the maximum output with using the s709 lut?

[@andrewheki2257]

Would you set S-Log2 zebras at 62 for ETTR?

[@bettadenu7]

So what is the zebra number for HLG 2 ?

[@ReganRoss]

I’m not sure what you’re doing. I only see zebras and a level. It doesn’t have a standard range nor does it specify lower limit. I’ve always used this to just look at highlight clipping. Where can I see these options in an A7iv?

[@AJCoReTV]

Not sure if I’m overthinking this as a novice, but wouldn’t the darker the skin tone mean raise the zebra higher? If your skin tone is brighter, then lower zebra?

[@Kroess]

The zebra's value is the brightness you're targeting for the specific area. As a dark skin should also be displayed darker than a light skin in the final image, you have to keep its brightness level lower. Otherwise, dark skin would look just the same (exposure wise) as light skin.

[@ge11erth]

what zebra settings should i use if i`m not using any Picture Profile? Creative style - Neutral.

[@gagan.dee.p]

What is the highlight clipping value of a6700 while shooting in PP Off.. i.e. with picture profiles turned off? I can't find this info anywhere.

[@FotomaniaYT]

Hello, are these zebra values ​​valid for a zve10? I see that you have full frame but my camera is apsc

[@HarvVideoAudioStuff]

Hmm I don’t see why not, the gammas should be the same so sensor size shouldn’t be a factor 👍🏻

[@matthewpcosta]

All your skin tones are going to be shifted if you stay at Iso 100 thru all those modes, they all have shifted ISOs from each other. ISO in digital cameras only shifts your gray point inyour dynamic range, hence your skin tones only, unless you cross a dual ISO.

[@standard_gauge]

I was looking at video by Gerald Undone and in it he recommended that the your Zebra levels set a little below the maximum for the gamma your are using. So CINE4 is 109% set the Zebra at say 106%. Does anyone have a view on this idea?

[@angelopoulis5825]

for s cinetone, gray card should be still at 41% , or at 50%. is 41% rule specifically for slog3? thanks

[@shpynda]

Did you find answer?

[@angelopoulis5825]

@@shpynda no. but for s cinetone, zebra skintones should be 65-70.. so use that instead. also a white card should be 81% for s-cinetone..i think the gray should be 50% but not sure

[@albertbernal7434]

So if slog2 zebras is 106 what should are lower limit be ?

[@anuraageessar_x]

Can false colour be installed on the Sony A7Cii?

[@xutsider]

so if the zebras show too much you have to change the exposure?

[@jameiealehandro]

is slog2 better than hlg3 for sony 8 bit apsc cameras ?

[@HarvVideoAudioStuff]

Hmm I’d say there’s little difference when using 8 bit, best bet is to choose what you’re most comfortable with 👍🏻

[@choukribaziz]

If zebra helps me to expose slog2 correctly then my question is will i abandon the ND filter?

[@HarvVideoAudioStuff]

Oh, no don’t do that! 😄

[@stuartcarr2150]

Really appreciate your sharing of information Harv and love your humorous delivery but please dial down the background music. Don’t get me wrong the tune is great but way too busy and distracting to be background music which I think competes with you….the main subject of the video. It’s probably you playing the guitar I’m guessing and bonus points to you if so…….nice !!! Please give some consideration to putting some uninteresting, benign elevator music behind your very interesting voice and content as there’s no need for distracting competition of your excellent creative content. Please don’t be offended, it just does my brain in trying to decipher two awesome content streams at once ! Love the music which IMHO really should be listened to solo especially if it’s your playing. Luv Ya Work 👍

[@gettriggered8404]

Still confused. Custom 1 what should my zebras be at and +- and Custom 2 what should it be? im running with phantom luts and slog3