I elected to omit a tripod even still I do feel as you gain more and more experience, you will feel the tripod to be essential, just as I do.
One of the important details while shooting panoramas is how level the camera is.
By having the camera level, you avoid having the software not only having to deal with the
color and luminosity gradients (and attempting to make them match...) but also having to work extra hard to make the images align vertically.
The gadget that will help you, is a double axis, spirit level that attaches to the camera flash hot shoe to help you level it.
These range in price from $3.00 to more than $30. You don't need a fancy one, just an accurate one.
These are some of the ones that I found:
Note: this device fits all cameras that use a standard hot shoe format. It will not fit Minolta or Sony SLR cameras since they use their own proprietary flash mount.
