In the raw

[ameerat42]

Hi All.
[Prolog: I have just been given a Sigma DP1 camera. I had read a bit about it before when I was following up on the "Foveon" sensor and thought, "Hmm!!..." I was at the time, fascinated to see that it was referred to as either a 14 MP or a 4.6 MP sensor. Well, I can now say it's a 4.6 MP sensor as far as resolution goes.

BUT, it's a BIG sensor: 20.7mm x 13.8mm, and CMOS and in three layers, one for each of R, G, B, and WITHOUT a Bayer filter in front. Another BUT is that it's only got a fixed fixed lens of f=16mm (f=28mm equivalent). The only few shots I've taken so far have given me "very clean" looking images compared to other P+S cameras, even in jpeg.]

So, I have started using Sigma Photo Pro 2.4 (2008) for raw image processing. I don't know how featured it is as far as other programs (LR, DPP, CS4) go. Below is a screen print of the interface. I have two questions...
1) Are there any free plug-ins available for Adobe CS2 (not CS4) that will read Sigma's "x3f" files of 2008 and later? (CS2 has the file extension but it cannot parse the files I have.)
2) Are there any free, more-featured raw processing programs? (Implied: does this one look any good?)
Thanks, Am.