Adobe embraces latest Canon, Nikon, Sony SLRs

Adobe Systems has updated Photoshop's ability to deal with raw-format images from several of the latest SLR cameras with its new version 4.6 of the Camera Raw plug-in. Adobe's John Nack has the download links.

Photoshop now supports raw images from Sony's 24-megapixel monster the A900.
(Credit: Sony)

Less than a month after beginning beta testing, the final version is out with support for Canon's newer entry-level EOS 1000D, its brand-new mid-range EOS 50D, Nikon's freshly released mid-range D90 and full-frame D700, Pentax's newest entry-level model, the K200D, and Sony's ambitious 24-megapixel full-frame Alpha A900.

Also released is a new version of the DNG Converter software, which can help out people with older, more limited, or slower-moving software handle the newer file formats by converting them into Adobe Digital Negative (DNG) format. Raw files, which are taken directly from camera image sensors with no in-camera processing such as sharpening or colour balance, preserve more detail than JPEG but require manual processing. And keeping up with the numerous proprietary raw formats is a lot of work for software companies.

The software also supports some higher-end compact cameras that can produce raw images, including the Sigma DP1, the Olympus SP-565 UZ, and the Nikon Coolpix P6000.

The new cameras are also supported in Lightroom 2.1, currently in beta. And if the fleeting lag between the Camera Raw plug-in beta and the Lightroom 2.1 beta is anything to judge by, the final version of Lightroom 2.1 should arrive soon.