Images encoded with Log C (C is for Cineon; the original Cineon log encoding is based on the density of color film negative) can be identified by their flat and desaturated nature. Whites and blacks are not extended to their maximum values. The reason for this: the Log C curve is a logarithmic encoding for images, the encoding has a grayscale characteristic similar to a scan from negative film.

Because of the fundamental differences between digital cameras and negatives, the color characteristics remain different, though. Logarithmic encoding means that the relation between exposure measured in stops and the encoded signal is linear (straight) over a wide range. Each stop of exposure increases the signal by the same amount.