With an update released today, Apple's photo applications now can handle raw images from Nikon's new mainstream SLR and some new high-end compact cameras. The Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 3.7 means iPhoto, Aperture, and Mac OS X can handle the unprocessed images from Nikon's D5100, Fujifilm's FinePix X100, Olympus' E-PL2 and XZ-1, and Samsung's GX-1S. For those who don't install the update, Apple rolls the support into later versions of Mac OS X.
Raw photos enable more flexibility for editing, for example letting photographers adjust exposure and white balance. The flexibility comes at a cost, though: software makers must add support for proprietary raw formats, and photographers must process the photos to produce JPEGs or other formats that people without special software can view.