How does LR 1.3.1 support Nikon D300 Active D-Lighting?

Question

Is somebody able to explain in which way if at all LR 1.3.1 supports the ACTIVE D-Lighting facility of the new Nikon D300?
The user manual explains that this function works directly on the RAW file and not on the jpeg like the normal D-Lighting of the D300, therefore I guess LR supports this function in some ways.
In some german photo forums there are discussions going on if it works at all and if it works how it could work, unfortunately nobody really knows anything precise about it, just too much guesswork.
I would be very happy if it anybody, hopefully from the development team, could shed some light into this topic.
If LR doesn't support it, would it be better to shoot in jpeg fine with the active D-Lighting function switched on and do the required changes in LR based on jpeg instead of RAW?
Thanks a lot, Andreas.

Answer 1

It doesn't. The way that feature works on the RAW file is that it simply underexposes a little. Otherwise it is basically the same RAW file. The magic is all in the RAW processing. You can get the same effect on the RAW data by decreasing the ISO while keeping shutter and aperture constant. SInce Lightroom cannot read the tag in the RAW file that says, this is a active lighting image, it just interprets it as any other RAW file. I think someone from the ACR team posted on this ages ago in the ACR forum when the D300 came out. In general, do not expect Lightroom or ACR to use any of the camera maker's proprietary features if you shoot RAW. The active D-lighting effect is basically similar to the shadows, recovery and clarity control combined in an automatic adjustment. So you can mimic it yourself if you want.