IPhoto importing RAW, then converting to jpg--losing RAW file completely

Question

Okay, I've read through some of the posts on similar issues, but I still have some questions. I've always used iPhoto to import my RAW files (since it supported it anyway) and never had problems. I bought a new G5 and it seems like this problem has shown itself since. I went back to my G4 though, and found that all my old .NEF's are now jpg's as well. If I do a search on my computer for .NEF's it brings back nothing having to do with .NEF files.
In the past I've imported using iPhoto because of the ease of keeping track of the original files. After importing I open them in Photoshop CS with Camera Raw. I cannot do this now. The weird thing is that viewing it in iPhoto the extension that it shows is .NEF, but when I look at the file in the Finder it shows that it's a .jpg. Was there an update recently that changed anything considerably? This is a very frustrating problem. JPG files are pretty worthless to me because I can't get the same amount of info/size out of them.
Any insights to this would be very appreciated.
Thanks.
EDIT: I've forgotten to include other info. My camera is a Nikon D70 (supported by Apple). I'm using all the latest versions of OS X, and iPhoto. I have PS CS.

Answer 1

Hi heloguy,
Did you look in the Originals folders on each date?
This is a view of how the iPhoto Library looks in the Finder.
It is organized by Year folders. Inside the Year folders are Month folders. Inside the Month folders are the days of the Month. Inside the day folders are the photos you took on that day. If you imported video clips and RAW files on that day they will be in an Originals folder. If you have edited any photo imported on that day, the original will be in that folder also.
Lori