I have used both digital and film to do stitched panoramas. Digital "film"
is free, but I prefer shooting with my OM because I can change lenses and
feel more confident in the quality and control I have. Mostly shoot with a
21mm, but have also done panoramas with 50, 28, and 8mm. I usually try to
overlap by 1/3, which might be wasting some film, but gives me options
sometimes.
I have tried hand-held, but honestly haven't had the best of luck. It is
true that getting your tripod leveled up perfectly is just about impossible.
Bogen/Manfrotto (http://www.manfrotto.com -- select Photo Tripods & Heads,
then QTVR from that page.) sells several items that are supposed to make
panorama photography easier. One is a leveler which goes between your tripod
and head. A second (more expensive) part allows you to center your camera
above the film plane axis so that your pan is centered dead on. Haven't
purchased either of them, but have been seriously tempted.
I started out using Photoshop for stitching, but for now I just shoot the
photos, scan it all into Photoshop for some sharpening, balance, etc., then
use PhotoVista for the stitching. They have a free download of their
software so you can see the interface (poor to fair) and the output (good -
excellent). http://www.mgisoft.com/webtools/photovista/pv_main.asp (Hit the
"Try It" link on the page.) They also have a Panorama Gallery link on that
page. (You will probably have to download their viewer, but it is well worth
it once you hop into a fisheye panorama. (Full spherical view, not just a
panorama)).
Panoguide.com ( http://www.panoguide.com/ ) has a section about software,
their comparison page is at
http://www.panoguide.com/software/compare_stitch.html and a nice gallery on
another page ( http://www.panoguide.com/gallery/ ). When you view a
panorama from this page, look over on the right side of your screen for a
box including equipment used, number of photos in the group, and software
used to create the photo.
Just found this site: http://www.panphoto.com/ while hunting for
information for you and haven't really explored it much.
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