OK. I am reading just that online. I tried to download the newest version ,but it won't change anything. It still says I have the olde version, even though I tried downloading it 3 times. What am I doing wrong?
Ok, this might sound like a very stupid thought, but after you downloaded the newest version, did you install it, too? Sorry. Just trying to think of easy solutions, especially since you only mentioned downloading it, but didn't mention installing it. I'll stop here.
Also, what version of Photoshop do you have? And is it "Photoshop" or "Photoshop Elements"?
The "latest" version of Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) is version 6.3. However, it's only compatible with Photoshop CS5 or Photoshop Elements 9.0. If you have earlier versions of either of these, then you can't use the latest ACR.
It looks like the Canon 50D was first supported by
ACR 5.1 (
link to Adobe), which means that it's only compatible with Photoshop CS4 (or newer) and Photoshop Elements 6.0 (or newer).
That's why I asked what version of Photoshop you have. It actually makes a difference.
There is one other way to use your .CR2 files, especially if you've got super-old versions of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. You can use Adobe's free
DNG Converter (
link to Adobe).
What is DNG? It's an open-source RAW image format created by Adobe. You know how .CR2 files are RAW files that are specific to Canon? (and .NEF files are RAW files that are specific to Nikon). You can convert your camera's proprietary RAW files into a standard DNG file, and open that DNG file in
any Adobe program (or any other program that supports DNG files).
DNG is still a RAW file, so you still get ALL the benefits of shooting in RAW. Plus, DNG files are a little smaller than your camera's proprietary RAW files (10-25% smaller?), so you can save some hard drive space, too.
"RAW vs. DNG" (ie. "Canon's CR2 vs DNG", or "Nikon's NEF vs DNG", etc) is a HUGE topic of discussion itself, so I won't get into it here. If nothing else, converting your CR2 RAW files to DNG is an alternative, especially if you've got older versions of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.
Hope that wasn't too confusing.