SCL-PP-037PICTURE PROFILE

Low Light Grain

Designed to emulate high-speed film, this formula uses a cinematic gamma to handle contrast while encouraging grain. It's perfect for low-light situations, adding texture and atmosphere to shots.

No sample photos for this recipe yet. Use Contribute photo below to upload the first frame from your Sony Alpha.

Community & tweak proposals

Discuss and vote on the best colour recipe variants for Low Light Grain

Please in the navigation bar to write a comment.

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.

White balance

White Balance Shift

AWB (Priority White)

TemperatureAWB (Priority White)ColourCamera decides the temperature per frame — consistent only if the light is

The colour temperature the camera balances for. Set it higher than the actual light and the image renders warmer; lower and it renders cooler.

Overall tone

Overall this reads close to neutral — whites stay white, so the recipe’s colour character comes from the Picture Profile or Look rather than from the balance.

How Temperature, A/B and G/M combine

Three dials, one result. Temperature declares what light you are claiming to shoot under, and the two shifts nudge the outcome off that declaration.

The part that trips almost everyone: a higher Kelvin number produces a warmer picture, not a cooler one. The number describes the light, not the output. Tell the camera the light is 8000K — very blue — and it compensates by adding amber, so the file comes out golden.

That is why Temperature and Shift A/B are really one amber–blue axis in two different units, and why a warm Kelvin paired with a B shift is not a contradiction. It is a broad warm base with part of it deliberately pulled back. It buys precision the Kelvin dial cannot give on its own: a single 100K step is worth about 15 mired down at 2500K but only about 1 mired up at 9900K, so the shift is the finer control at the warm end and the coarser one at the cool end.

Shift G/M is the second axis, and Kelvin never reaches it. It is the tint control: G cancels the green cast of fluorescent light and open shade, M goes the other way.

Camera settings

Picture Profile

Black Level-11ContrastBlacks crushed hard — deep, punchy shadows with dense contrast

Adjusts the master black level. Lower (−) values deepen the shadows for rich, punchy blacks. Higher (+) values lift the shadows for a soft, matte, film-like faded look without affecting highlight contrast.

GammaCine4ContrastFilm curve with firmer contrast in the dark areas

Selects the gamma curve that defines overall tonal response and contrast foundation. Options range from standard contrast (Movie/Still) to smooth filmic curves (Cine1–4, S-Cinetone) or ultra-wide dynamic range for grading (S-Log2/S-Log3, HLG).

Black GammaWide +7ContrastShadow detail opened well up — airy, visible dark areas

Controls contrast specifically in low-luminance shadow regions. 'Range' (Narrow/Middle/Wide) sets the shadow width affected, while 'Level' (-7 to +7) darkens or lightens that shadow zone to fine-tune shadow texture.

KneeManual 82.5% 0ContrastFirm roll-off — highlights compressed to hold detail

Controls highlight compression to preserve bright details and prevent highlight clipping. Auto mode handles highlight rolloff automatically; Manual mode lets you set the compression start threshold (Point: 75%–105%) and roll-off steepness (Slope: -5 to +5).

Color ModeBlack & WhiteColourSaturation removed entirely — monochrome

Determines the color matrix and color space reproduction type. Matches color rendering characteristics to the chosen Gamma (e.g. S-Cinetone for natural skin tones, Cinema/Pro for rich movie colors, or ITU709 for standard broadcast).

Saturation0ColourColour intensity left neutral — standard camera baseline

Adjusts overall color intensity across all channels. Higher values yield vibrant, vivid colors; lower values produce muted, desaturated tones. Range is -32 to +32 — dramatically wider than Creative Look saturation.

Color Phase-2ColourPalette nudged slightly green

Shifts the entire color spectrum hue globally. Negative (-) values shift all colors towards green; positive (+) values shift colors towards red/magenta. Useful for subtle global hue correction or matching camera bodies.

Color Depth

R+3ColourReds slightly deeper

Red channel. Increase (+) for darker, richer reds — lipstick, skin. Decrease (-) for lighter, paler reds.

G+2ColourGreens slightly deeper

Green channel. Increase (+) for darker, richer greens — foliage. Decrease (-) for lighter, paler greens.

B+7ColourBlues much deeper and richer

Blue channel. Increase (+) for darker, richer blues — clothing, streets. Decrease (-) for lighter, paler blues.

C+7ColourCyans much deeper and richer

Cyan channel. Increase (+) for darker, richer cyan — sky, water. Decrease (-) for lighter, paler cyan.

M+4ColourMagentas much deeper and richer

Magenta channel. Increase (+) for darker, richer magenta — skin tones, lipstick. Decrease (-) for lighter, paler magenta.

Y-5ColourYellows much paler and lighter

Yellow channel. Increase (+) for darker, richer yellows — Asian skin tones. Decrease (-) for lighter, paler yellows.

Detail

Level0DetailSharpening at the camera default

Sets the master sharpening level (−7 to +7). Negative (−) values soften edge contours for an organic, film-like texture; positive (+) values sharpen fine details.

AdjustManualDetailDetail sub-settings dialled in by hand

Selects Auto for automatic camera detail processing or Manual to unlock full manual tuning of V/H Balance, B/W Balance, Limit, Crispening, and Hi-Light Detail.

V/H Balance+2DetailHorizontal detail favoured — edges thicken left and right

Adjusts the sharpening balance between vertical and horizontal edge lines. Range is -2 (accentuates vertical lines) to +2 (accentuates horizontal lines).

B/W BalanceType3DetailBlack and white detail balanced

Selects the sharpening edge balance between dark borders (Black Detail) and bright borders (White Detail), from Type1 (black-edge heavy) to Type5 (white-edge heavy).

Limit3DetailEdge enhancement capped hard — halos suppressed

Caps how far detail sharpening can go (0 to 7), preventing white halos and harsh over-sharpened edges around high-contrast areas.

Crispening7DetailSharpening kept well off noise — cleaner grain

Sets the noise threshold limit (0 to 7). Higher values prevent the camera from sharpening subtle sensor noise in flat uniform areas like skin tones, water, or sky.

Hi-Light Detail4DetailBright areas given the most edge definition

Adjusts detail sharpening level (0 to 4) specifically in high-luminance highlight zones to maintain smooth highlight rolloff or boost bright texture.