I understand (ref) that I can do my own post processing to get the same effect that Active D-Lighting gives.
But does the in-camera ADL get applied to the raw image data or is it only done to the accompanying jpeg (when shooting RAW+JPEG) It might be nice to see the preview image with that effect, knowing that the Raw image is still unmodifed.
If it only affects the jpeg, what does ADL do when shooting RAW only?
Answer
No and yes, mostly no though :)
ADL does not affect RAW data directly. However it sometimes affects exposure, which therefore gives you a different RAW file under the same circumstance with ADL turned Off.
Trying this on a Nikon Coolpix A, with ADL off, on a given scene I get 1/320s F/2.8 @ ISO 800 but as I increase a ADL from Low to Extra-High, the shutter-speed goes up incrementally, seemingly by 1/3 stop on each step: 1/400s, 1/500s, 1/640s, 1/800s. This says that ADL is trying to preserve more details in highlights, this always happens at the expense of shadow noise.
However, this depends on the scene and results in a less predictable camera experience. It may give you a better exposure but I strongly suggest you get to know the metering system and use Exposure-Compensation (EC) as needed which puts things in your control.
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