Image viewer advice

I asked about this a while back, and got some advice, but nothing has quite fit the bill, so I'll try to be a bit more specific.

I had been previewing RAW files from my XT using the Microsoft plugin to the Windows picture viewer. This worked great, as it let me zoom in very close, as well as providing a high-quality rendition of the image if you were willing to wait a few seconds for processing. Unfortunately, this viewer has not been upgraded to handle 30D RAW files.

Someone here suggested Breeze Browser, and while that is a nice program, it only allows you to magnify or zoom in on a small portion of the image at a time. Not very practical.

I then tried Picasa from Google, and while it zooms up to 400%, and works great on JPEGs, Adobe files, and XT RAW images, it does not handle 30D RAW images (although it tries to , and gives you what might make some groovy blacklight posters).

Of course, I could use Camera Raw in PS, but I really just want a program that will allow me to quickly scan through RAW images so I can delete the duds without having to fire up PS and jump through all those hoops. However, since I often shoot small birds, I really need to zoom in on specific parts of the image to check for focus.

I am really surprised that so many image viewing/organization programs have such limited zoom capabilities. Can anyone suggest other options, or show me where I am overlooking capabilities in the programs I have tried?

Thanks.

Have you tried DPP and the Quick Check Tool? Select all and hit ALT-Q.

Thanks. I have not used DPP as I am used to PS CS2, but I'll give it a look. I have discovered (in the last half-hour) that Canon's Zoom Browser will let you zoom in if you are in Zoom mode, and ask to view the original image. It then converts the RAW file into a TIFF file, which you can then zoom in on. A bit clunky, but usable. If anyone else has suggestions, they would still be appreciated.

FastStone viewer (free) works well for me. It has a wide range of features built in, lets you zoom and scroll around at will. Even allows you to compare up to 4 raw images on screen at the same time...

Thanks. I will try it.

I use CS2 Bridge for all my RAW handling, it works well. I use the number keys to rate from 1-5, and delete the 1s or 2s, depending on the situation. Zooming in is a two step process unfortunately.

Take a look at idImager. idImager.com. There is a free lite version. The light box in that version is limited to 4 images, but the other versions will allow up to 30 images loaded. I believe it will zoom up to 4000%. Not sure why anyone would want to do that... It's not just a viewer, but a full image management app. It does support the 30D RAW files.