Replicating S-Cinetone in Older Sony Cameras
- Veres Deni Alex
- 3 days ago
- 8 min read
Older Sony cameras don't have S-Cinetone included in the Picture Profile menu, but fear not, because there is a very similar Color Mode which you can use torecreate the look on your older cameras.
Why am I trying to replicate S-Cinetone in 2025? Because a couple Sony film simulations are based on it, and not everybody has the newest camera models incorporated with S-Cinetone, or maybe we are trying to match our older cameras with the newer ones, and get the same kind of colors. So let's get into it.
S-Cinetone Overview
S-Cinetone is a picture profile built to resemble Sony's VENICE iconic cinematic look and colors, renowned for optimising skin tones and providing a film-like color to videos and photos. S-Cinetone was firstly introduced in the Sony FX9. Since then, Sony slowly started introducing S-Cinetone in pretty much every mirrorless camera, offering a choice for a great picture profile straight out of camera without the need for exensive color grade like on S-Log3 footage. This profile is available on various models within Sony's Cinema Line, including the FX3, FX6, FX9, and many of the Alpha series cameras released from the a7S III onward.
What sets S-Cinetone apart is its unique tonal curve, which combines elements of traditional Rec.709 with film-like characteristics. This results in softer gradations on both ends that enhances skin tones and overall image richness. Filmmakers can achieve vibrant visuals with less effort, making it ideal for projects with tight deadlines or limited budgets.
This results in vibrant skin tones and a pleasing overall look that mimics traditional film aesthetics.
But it also has special characteristics, like desaturating highlights and shadows just like film, ensuring beautiful skin tones and overall colors in all tonal ranges, even when overexposed.
While S-Cinetone offers slightly less dynamic range compared to S-Log3, it compensates with its user-friendly approach, allowing creators to focus on storytelling rather than labor-intensive color grading. This makes S-Cinetone a valuable tool for both seasoned professionals and aspiring filmmakers looking to create amazing work with minimal hassle.
Kodachrome and S-Cinetone
Through my exploration of Kodachrome colors, I gained a deep appreciation for the distinctive aesthetic that this iconic film aimed to achieve. Kodachrome is celebrated for its vivid yet natural color reproduction, which has captivated photographers for decades.
As I delved into the characteristics of Sony's S-Cinetone, I was struck by the similarities between the two. Both Kodachrome and S-Cinetone offer a rich color palette that enhances skin tones and delivers a cinematic quality, making them appealing choices for visual storytelling. Kodachrome's unique processing method results in exceptional archival stability and a pleasing contrast that has made it a favorite among travel and nature photographers.
Generally with Kodachrome, at least the Kodachrome 25 and the 50's Kodachrome, the main distinct characteristics are the Orange shifted Reds, amber or golden skin tones and variable blue shifted skies, either towards light ocean-blue, or velvety blues.
From what I've noticed in online references of Kodachrome, skies usually shift from Velvet-Blue to Ocean-Blue, seemingly depending on exposure. Greens typically seemed perfectly balanced and slightly shifted towards cyan, but I also found Kodachrome having greens shifted towards olive green, and magentas were shifted towards red. Likewise, S-Cinetone, shifts its reds towards orange, skin tones are amber or rose-pink, and blues are either cyan or violet depending on exposure. Suggesting that Sony may be drawing inspiration from one of the most cherished film color profiles to develop its own color science.
Of course these are only assumptions, but linking Sony's strong presence and history in the Cinema world where the predominant and most beloved films used were Kodak colors, it doesn't seem that far-fetched. I wonder if there is any connection between the two, and if Sony tried consciously to recreate the same colors through S-Cinetone. Actually, in my journey of creating Sony film simulations, I found recreating Kodak colors much easier with a Sony camera due to its naturally warmer colors, similar to Kodak films. This made me wonder if Sony aimed to align its color science with one of the most beloved color profiles in cinematic history.
Since Sony's Venice is one of the most used cameras in cinema, it would make sense to base Sony colors with influence from Kodak films, but again, these are only personal assumptions after analyzing both Kodachrome and S-Cinetone.
I have a couple article showcasing my Kodachrome film simulations, and you can check them out right here.
S-Cinetone colors are not perfect
But that doesn't mean S-Cinetone is perfect straight from the box.
Contrary to the popular belief, I personally don't think S-Cinetone has perfect colors straight out of camera, without adjusting the picture profile. But luckily, the only thing you need to change to instantly get better colors, is to raise the Color Phase by +2 levels and increase Saturation to your taste.
Of course, you can take it further by using Color Depth, Kelvin, and the Color Filter to refine the look even more. But these 2 simple tweaks are enough to make S-Cinetone truly pop.
S-Cinetone by default can have magenta skies and skin tones fall on the yellow side in certain occasions, which is not most desirable. By lifting the Color Phase by +2, we are actually shifting all colors clockwise. Meaning blues shift towards cyan and yellow towards orange, fixing all colors.
Replicating S-Cinetone in older Sony cameras
There's already a guy that gave a shot at replicating the S-Cinetone on his Sony a7III using Pro Color Mode, and he did a fair job, but I found a better and easier way of doing it.
For Color, he chose Pro color mode, but after comparing all color modes on the vector scopes, I found that Pro color mode is not coming anywhere close to S-Cinetone. The color shifting is quite different.
All color modes GIF
Pro color mode and s-cinetone color compared
After checking all color modes on the vector scope, you can notice how Pro color mode is not the best option if we want to replicate S-Cinetone. I found that Still color mode looks almost identical in terms of base color mapping, with some noticeable differences—like more saturated yellows. So basically just switch to Still and you will get very similar colors.
S-Cinetone and Still color mode overlapping
Of course, Still color mode has some differences and lacks some special characteristics of his older brother. S-Cinetone reacts differently to light, desaturating when overexposed, to ensure beautiful skin tones throughout all tonal ranges. So you won't be able to fully replicate S-Cinetone only by choosing Still color mode, but it's the next best choice on an older Sony model.
S-Cinetone simulation recipe
Black Level +2
Gamma Cine4/Movie
Black Gamma Middle -5
Knee Manual 85% +4
Color Mode Still
Saturation +2
Color Phase -2
Color Depth
R-2
G
B
C
M
Y
Cine4 comes closest to S-Cinetone gamma, and can be used as an alternative for cameras that don't have S-Cinetone Gamma curve. If your camera doesn't have Cine4, use Cine1, but that will be lower on contrast in comparison, so you'll have to fix it by reducing the Black Point and Black Gamma to negative values. You can also use Movie Gamma as an alternative to Cine1-4, but it will have a higher contrast.
For example
Black Level -5
Gamma Cine1
Black Gamma Mid -7
How to adjust Sony's Picture Profile menu
You can adjust these settings on your own liking depending on the scene.
Of course, Sony’s color science has evolved over the years, so the same color mode—like Still—can look noticeably different across camera models. For example, the A7 III will render colors with a magenta cast compared to a newer model like the A6700. This is important to keep in mind when aiming for consistency. While you cannot match perfectly cameras, you can match them pretty closely simply by matching the WB shift and using Sony's Picture Profile menu.
Luckily I found a couple ways to color match different Sony models inside the camera and wrote step by step guides on this matter on the film simulation Blog.
So how do you match older cameras to S-Cinetone?
Luckily, by djusting things like WB Color filter tint and Picture profile we can match color closer in-camera. But it takes some knowledge to do so. I’ll share some adjusted recipes specifically for the RX100 VI and A7 III, but the basic ideology is to compensate for the predominant color cast. I also adjusted other parameter to match them closer in terms of contrast and color depth, and here is the recipe:
S-Cinetone simulation recipe - Sony a7III
Black Level +2
Gamma Cine4
Black Gamma Middle -5
Knee Manual 80% +4
Color Mode Still
Saturation +2
Color Phase -1
Color Depth
R-2
G
B
C
M
Y
AWB - G0.5
S-Cinetone simulation recipe - Sony RX100
Black Level +2
Gamma Movie
Black Gamma Middle -5
Knee Manual 80% +4
Color Mode Still
Saturation +2
Color Phase -2
Color Depth
R-2
G
B
C
M
Y
AWB - G0.5
The science behind the technique
Both cameras have a magenta cast, but the A7 III is noticeably stronger, while the A6700 handles white balance much more accurately. The first step to bringing them closer is adjusting the white balance—adding more green to counteract the magenta. I also used the Color Phase setting to shift hues slightly, helping better match the blues and reds.
While the colors still won’t be identical, this method gets them much closer—especially helpful if you're using film recipes on an older camera and want a more consistent look.
The main take away is to to adapt each recipe by raising saturation by +2 levels, lowering the color phase by 1-2 stops, and pushing the color filter towards green if you camera is magenta
Keep in mind, perfect color matching isn’t possible in-camera. True precision requires advanced tools like HSL, which are only available in editing software like Lightroom, Capture One, DaVinci Resolve, or Premiere Pro.
But these recipes eill give us a good results without the need to color grade.
S-Cinetone vs S-Cinetone Simulation recipe
Let's check a comparison between S-Cinetone vs S-Cinetone Simulation recipe
Scopes comparison
They look quite similar with minimal differences. So if you want to match our older cameras, this is the best option straight out of camera.
Conclusion
Adapting film recipes to older cameras
Film Simulations based on S-Cinetone can be well adapted to older cameras only by switching the color mode to Still and by lowering the Color phase by -1 or -2 from the original recipe, and adjusting the color filter depending on your camera color cast. If you camera is highly magenta, start pushing a bit more green into the image, while if it's green casted, start oushing a bit more magenta into the scene. Keep the other settings the same.
S-Cinetone and Still color mode are similar, but they react differently to light, so you won't get the exact same image. Even so. If you have an older camera and wanted great looking color without the need of color grading, I wanted to share a way of getting S-Cinetone recipe for your older Sony models.
Share this article with anybody that might find this recipe helpful
Sony Film Simulation recipes
If you want amazing colors, check out my Film Simulation Bundle—a project I’ve spent the past few years perfecting. It includes 80+ in-camera film simulations for Sony cameras, designed to enhance your colors and drastically reduce (or even eliminate) the need for editing.
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