Panorama: To Tripod or Not to Tripod

Is a tripod needed to capture a good panorama? No, but it can help. There are a few things to consider when using a tripod.

Make sure the tripod and the tripod head are level. The head is the most important. And, it is critically important that the head is level at all points as it pans through the area to be photographed. The camera must rotate through one plane if you are going to capture images that will stitch together without the need for excessive cropping. Pivoting through a plane from one point (using a level tripod and rotating the head) will help yield the maximum sized panorama after stitching. 

Can a pano be captured without a tripod? Yes, it can. The Photoshop software has improved greatly in its ability to join image files. If you follow the general rules about pano capture, chances are that Photoshop CS3 or CS4 will be able to do the stitching. The difficulty in capturing without the tripod is rotating the camera through or close to a single plane. This can generally be accomplished by using some reference line like the horizon, and rotating around a single axis (don't move or change the camera position, this is important). The image below is an example of a hand held capture that didn't follow the horizon very well. 

The problem with not having a reference line and following it is that you will usually be required to crop away a good portion of the image to get it into a rectangular format. The image below the cropped version of the image above.

Try shooting both ways, with a tripod and without. Do what works for you.