CS2 vs CS3 Camera RAW

[tomoisyourgod]

Is there a massive difference between CS2 and CS3 Camera Raw?

Also what's Aperture like?

I'm looking for the best software to edit RAW files

 

[CptnJustc]

Is there a massive difference between CS2 and CS3 Camera Raw?

Also what's Aperture like?

I'm looking for the best software to edit RAW files

I've only used CS3 camera RAW a little, mostly because Lightroom / Aperture handle most of the RAW processing these days. As far as I could tell in my brief experience, the main difference is the addition of the 'fill light' feature, which acts as kind of a more broad 'shadows' slider -- basically it's like adding a fill flash effect. Looks pretty handy.

If you mean what's Aperture like in general, it's difficult to explain -- you might want to head to http://www.apple.com/aperture/quicktours/ and watch the movies there. If you mean what's it like for RAW processing, eh, it gets the job done most times when you don't need any special treatment. I'd like to see better noise reduction for high ISO shots, but for most everyday jobs, it's fine, and gets the organization and selection job done a lot more quickly than Bridge / Photoshop.

But if all you're looking for is the top-flight RAW processor, I'd have to say Photoshop, then perhaps give the edge to Lightroom over Aperture.