Free NEF file conversion on a Mac?

I have a Nikon DSLR and I've been told shooting in RAW is the best. This saves the photos as a NEF file type, and Photoshop (CS4) doesn't seem to want to open it for editing. Is this something I can change in PS, or is there a free method of converting the pictures so I can edit them in Photoshop?

AND, if I do convert them prior to editing in Photoshop, is it still going to have the benefits of shooting in RAW, or should I just save the time and keep shooting in JPG?

I primarily want to experiment with HDR photos, and I use Photomatix to fuse them together - and this does open NEFs. But for single images I want to be able to use Photoshop.

Your camera may be new enough to require Photoshop CS5 or better.

There's NOTHING free about a Mac.

Check your CD's that came with your camera. You should have a program designed to process RAW (NEF) files.

Most of us have been using Lightroom to process our RAW file for at least the past 3 years or more

If you are a student, you can buy Lightroom 4 for under $100 in your student store

Shooting RAW is not always the best. It takes up tons of space and can be tiring to process.

I've been using this software called rawker to process my NEFs on my mac until i got photoshop.
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/19693/rawker
it's quite simple but it gets the job done. It also has a couple of simple sliders (for saturation, brightness, etc can't rmb if there's WB). I guess it does give you a little more freedom than JPEGs, but I would give it a miss.much better to use photoshop for your RAWs. (I'm using CS4, and haven't had any problems opening RAW files from my D2x. Maybe you're missing a plug-in or you're using a very new camera model)

As fhotoace notes your camera comes with a disc that contains the program(s) to convert your BEF images to either JPEG or TIFF which should be your first recourse to convert NEF [Nikon Electronic Format] images. A point rarely considered is that Nikon guarantees that its software upgrades will always be backward compatible - meaning that once you edit images using Nikon software any upgrades will also be able to edit earlier nikon-edited images.

It is true that once converted to JPEG or TIFF then other software programs such as Photoshop or Lightroom might be preferred but that is no reason to ignore the value and benefits of the Nikon software that comes with your camera.