A raw files isn't really an image. It is a collection of data. Basically, its all the data captured by each sensor in your camera. The image you see is generally a jpg preview or interpretation of that data.
If you are using Photoshop to edit raw files, make sure you have latest version of Adobe Camera Raw, available here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html
Version 3.6 of Adobe Camera Raw adds suport for the camera you mentioned above.
To remove noise, you have several tools at your disposal. Within the ACR plugin, there are a couple tools to reduce noise. Play with the Luminance Smoothing and Color Noise Reduction. Personally, I don't like these tools and don't invest time in using them.
The Photoshop CS2 Reduce Noise filter is decent. It allows a fair amount of control, letting you adjust settings on a per channel basis. I didn't like this tool at first, but it is growing on me.
I've been using the Noise Ninja plugin. It allows a lot of control over how the image is affected. You can apply the noise reduction selectively without the added task of making layer masks and such. Its very handy.
For sharpening, after the noise has been removed, I use the Smart Sharpen filter in Photoshop CS2 most of the time. It works well enough.
Some books talk about exercising noise reduction and sharpening on channels instead of the entire image, which is what the CS2 Reduce Noise allows you to do now. (Off topic a bit, but the new B&W Conversion tool in CS3 will allow you to work with channels directly, saving you the trouble of scanning the channels palette for the best take on B&W for the image.)
Make sure if you are working with RAW files in Photoshop that you keep your camera raw plugin up to date. If you find that bridge won't display raw thumbnails, for instance, then its probably an outdated ACR plugin that doesn't support your camera.