Thank you all very much. The idea of not using a LUT might be the way to go. I just wanted a quick way to correct the LOG footage. The number of choices is daunting and I can’t delve too much into color, so when I learned about rec709 I thought I had found my quick solution. But when I added the LUT it was like pulling down the curtains! Yipes!
I would really hope to get better exposition without the LUT: in fact, the LOG footage never seemed underexposed to me. We shot in both LOG and RAW 4K. I’m actually a film director, and editor. I don’t know much about cameras or color. It looked good in the monitor on set and didn’t seem underexposed as LOG in Premiere.
The important question for me now is: how can I correct the LOG footage without darkening it? You did suggest some methods of correcting it manually but I’m a little bit color blind and don’t have a whole lot of time or knowledge of color, so a headstart like a LUT would have been great.
Any other suggestions would be much appreciated. I would be happy to provide any specs I can. Thanks!