Apple has released an update for Aperture and iPhoto users to address the compatibility with certain raw digital cameras. The Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.3 offers support for an additional four cameras from renowned manufacturers such as Canon, Sony and Nikon.

On the Support section of its website, Apple sheds some light as to what its Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.3 does. “This update extends RAW file compatibility for Aperture 2 and iPhoto ’08 for the following cameras,” says Apple, listing the four cameras in question.

- Canon EOS 50D
- Nikon D90
- Sony DSLR-A900
- Nikon Coolpix P6000

Additionally, the Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.3 also “addresses issues related to specific cameras and overall stability,” says the company. Supported languages in this package include Dansk, Deutsch, English, Español, Finnish, Français, Italiano, Japanese, Korean, Nederlands, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese (as usual), Svensk, and last, but not least, Traditional Chinese.

System requirements are Mac OS X 10.4.11,or Mac OS X 10.5.3 or later, since this is what Aperture 2 and iPhoto need to run.

Aperture, Apple's professional photography application, was designed to assist professional photographers in post-production work. It is currently available at version 2.1.2, introducing an open plug-in architecture, which allows users to employ third-party imaging software right from within the program. Aperture 2.1 also includes the in-house-developed plug-in Dodge & Burn, which adds brush-based tools for dodge (lighten), burn (darken), contrast, saturation, sharpen and blur. With the release of Aperture 2.1, Apple added support for more third-party software to be integrated with Aperture. The updated delivered image editing plug-ins for "localized editing, filters and effects, noise analysis and reduction, fisheye lens correction" and others. As of March 28, 2008, owners of previous versions of Aperture can upgrade to Aperture 2.1 for free.

iPhoto is another Apple-made software application. It is exclusive to the Mac OS X operating system. As part of the iLife suite of applications, it comes bundled with every new Macintosh computer. iPhoto can import, organize, edit, print and share digital photos. It automatically organizes your photo library, and makes editing very easy.

Download Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.3 (Free)