How to choose a Log grading app for iPhone
Plenty of App Store apps can “apply a LUT to Log”, from general video editors to dedicated grading tools. Feature lists look alike. What separates them is the detail below. Try each point with your own footage and the answer becomes obvious.
1. It supports your log format, and recognizes it
Apple Log, Apple Log 2, D-Log M and D-Log differ in curve or gamut. A good tool identifies the format from file tags or camera metadata and lets you correct it. “Supports Log” is not enough; check which formats.
2. It uses the camera maker's official restore LUTs, per model
Apple and DJI publish official Log to Rec.709 LUTs, and different DJI camera generations use different tables. Starting from the official table gives you the image the maker designed. A generic table, or one table for every DJI camera, shifts the colors.
3. It asks what your LUT expects
LUTs you buy or download take either Log or Rec.709. The tool should let you say which and place the LUT accordingly; otherwise you get LUTs that look wrong. Also check whether an Apple Log LUT works correctly on Apple Log 2.
4. Adjustments sit under the LUT
Professional grading sets exposure and white balance before the LUT (“grading under the LUT”): +1 stop behaves like opening the camera one stop, and the LUT rolls highlights off gently. Many apps only stack adjustments after the LUT, where the same move clips highlights and lifts blacks more easily.
5. 10-bit all the way
No 8-bit conversion on import, higher precision while processing, and a 10-bit HEVC export option. One 8-bit step anywhere can band skies and walls.
6. How it handles HDR
Can it export HDR (HLG)? Is the HDR version graded separately, or derived from the SDR grade? What does Log default to? Will it look washed out where HDR is not supported? See Export HDR or SDR.
7. Pricing, and how far the free version goes
One-time purchase, subscription or per-feature unlocks all exist. What matters is whether the free version completes the basic workflow, restore → basic adjustments → 10-bit export, or whether export and official LUTs are paywalled.
How Develop Log handles the seven points
| Criterion | Develop Log |
|---|---|
| Formats | Apple Log, Apple Log 2, D-Log M, D-Log, D-Log2, plus HLG and Rec.709; identified from file tags and DJI metadata, can be set by hand |
| Official restore | Natural uses Apple's and DJI's official LUTs, with DJI tables chosen per camera model |
| Imported LUTs | Choose the input on import (Rec.709 or Apple Log); other log formats are converted to the equivalent Apple Log first (Pro) |
| Adjustment order | Exposure, white balance, contrast and wheels before the look, in linear light and in stops; curves, secondary and texture after |
| Precision | Imports the original file from Photos, processes in 16-bit, exports HEVC 10-bit |
| HDR | Exports HLG; HDR follows the SDR grade; Log defaults to SDR |
| Free | Restore, primary grading, official looks, 10-bit SDR / HDR export and Live Photos are free; Pro adds secondary, texture, LUT import and AI Grade |
Finally: test with your own footage
Take a Log clip with high contrast, a face and some sky. In each app, run restore → white balance → exposure +1 stop → export, and compare skin, highlights and sky gradients. Ten minutes tells you which app works.