Adobe has posted in pre-release form the next version of the Camera Raw plug-in for Photoshop CS2. Camera Raw 3.3 Beta adds support for the Canon EOS-1D Mark II N and makes official the software's support for the EOS 5D (Camera Raw 3.2 will also recognize 5D CR2's, but the processing code isn't final in that release of the plug-in).

Other changes in Camera Raw 3.3 include:

• Faster redraw speed at certain magnification levels less than 100% (though the image may appear slightly fuzzier)
  
  
• The addition of warning messages when attempting to cancel or reset Camera Raw when there are changes to non-selected images
  
  
• Refinement of the software's Bayer demosaicing algorithms for a promised improvement in the detail rendering in some instances
  
  
• Writing of IPTC-format caption information to TIFF, JPEG and PSD files saved directly from the plug-in, in addition to the XMP-format caption block as before
  
  
• Fixed DNG decoding for some camera models
  
  
• Support for the RAW files from additional cameras, including the aforementioned Canon EOS-1D Mark II N and EOS 5D, plus the Olympus E-500, SP-310, SP-350 and SP-500UZ, Pentax *ist DL and *ist DS2 and Sony DSC-R1.

Camera Raw 3.3 Beta, as well as DNG 3.3 Beta Converter, are free from Adobe's web site. Follow one of the links below to download:

• Camera Raw 3.3 Beta for Mac
• Camera Raw 3.3 Beta for Windows
• Camera Raw 3.3 Beta and DNG 3.3 Beta Converter for Mac
• Camera Raw 3.3 Beta and DNG 3.3 Beta Converter for Windows

Thanks to Peter Burian for bringing the Camera Raw beta release to our attention.