Long exposure D2x

This shot was taken with long exposure noise reduction on. I think it does pretty well. ISO 100, 30 sec exposure. Birdie, Poon, or all: what is a good price to pay for the cable release so I can do longer than 30 sec exp?
I can't believe that I got the urge to do a technical test. I am not usually this technical by nature. Please excuse the dark shape in the lower left hand corner. Make sure that friends stay out of the frame
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entire shot showing very loosely where 100% crops came from:
crop from middle:
crop from middle sharpened:
crop from noise prone dark sky (note: monochromatic, and worst case scenario):

I can't believe that I got the urge to do a technical test. I am not usually this technical by nature. Please excuse the dark shape in the lower left hand corner. Make sure that friends stay out of the frame

entire shot showing very loosely where 100% crops came from:

crop from middle:

crop from middle sharpened:

crop from noise prone dark sky (note: monochromatic, and worst case scenario):
