I love CS3 but I can no longer use modern cameras

I would love to upgrade my camera but for me Photo editing is key. I am no longer interested in shelling out thousands of dollars on new software or even hundreds for upgrades because I can always edit a jpg with my PSCS3.

Here is what I need. Anyone who is familiar with CS3 (Probably CS4 and CS5) ability to edit RAW images? That is what I need, I need an affordable program that I can easily adjust my RAW images on. Something similar to Photoshops ability but will allow me to upgrade my camera.

Oh and please don't say that limited slow software that comes from Canon. That's not a option. Thanks. I assume this question is fairly unique, as how many people wont upgrade their camera simply because of photo editing software.

You just need to convert them to DNG format with the free DNG converter on Adobe's site. Easy as pie!

Damo77 wrote in post #11950645
You just need to convert them to DNG format with the free DNG converter on Adobe's site. Easy as pie!

Yep, that'll work.

Cannon's DPP, although not fancy, works just fine for RAW conversions. Batch 'em if you must. Create TIFF's for images you'd like to really work on in CS3. I don't understand your decision to just stop any future hardware upgrades based on a dislike of DPP or a refusal to ever upgrade your pixel level editor.

Unfortunately, the digital world dictates that all of our tools become obsolete sooner rather than later... Just wait until you get a new camera and then you need a new computer to deal with the larger file sizes and memory requirements. (I just went through that myself.)

Gary

Just get the converter.

Damo77 wrote in post #11950645
You just need to convert them to DNG format with the free DNG converter on Adobe's site. Easy as pie!

That's your best bet, but I'd suggest doing a month's free try-out of Lightroom 3.3 because it embodies significant improvements over the version of ACR in PSCS3. Try it and then you will be in a position to make an informed decision about whether you want to spend the ~$250 for it.

I have CS3 but for Raw processing my main app is Lightroom. However, as was said the Canon Raw processor Digital Photo Professional is a very good tool for quick conversions as well as for "prepping" a file for editing in CS3. I'd strongly advise installing it, even if you are looking at doing a DNG conversion or going for Lightroom. Because it's Canon software it can give you a "jpeg-like" image to start with and is good either to use or as a "reference" for your other software.