Re: Photoshop CS and Noise
Hey there - if you're still here... :)
Be very careful with sharpening. The higher the ISO or more dark areas in the shot (or if it's underexposed), the worse the noise will show up with much sharpening applied to it. Pick up Scott Kelby's Adobe Photoshop CS for Digital Photographers, you can probably find a version of it cheap on ebay seeing as CS isn't the current version. There's a whole chapter on sharpening. Nothing wrong with CS, I'm using it too!
One thing, I wonder if some of the problem might be with your workflow. The way I'm reading it is that you're converting the raw file, then convert it to a jpeg first? Use the Adobe converter (assuming your camera works with it), do your editing in 16 bit (check the info at the bottom of the converter screen) and set the final image/print size. Once you're done with everything except sharpening, apply it - carefully. Finally, change it to 8 bit (Image > Mode > 8 bit) and save as a jpeg.
Edit: Hmm... I think you'll need to upgrade to CS2 to use the 30D - if even that has been updated to work with that camera. Did you buy the version of CS that came with Image Ready? If so, you might have to upgrade the suite instead of just Photoshop ($350 vs $150). That's why I haven't upgraded yet, but my camera is old enough that it works with CS.
Re: Photoshop CS and Noise
Hey! I have been doing photo editing for a very long time and during this time I have used a huge number of different programs but I am most satisfied with Photoshop. By the way, I buy all the necessary presets and so on at https://sleeklens.com/
On this site you can find absolutely everything you need to work in Photoshop.