Shooting HDRI's

You'll need a digital SLR camera with interchangeable lenses is the ideal solution, but almost any camera will work if you can lock the aperture, lock the focus, and lock the white balance. Auto-bracketing (AEB) option is convenient.

AEB settings by camera model

Wider lenses best. The farther away physically that you are the better because it helps to reduce your reflection in the ball. A zoom lens (i.e.: 70-300mm)

wide angle rectilinear lens over a fisheye

Generally f8 or f11 are the sharpest overall areas within a lens.

Watch out for your feet and clothes!

Shoot RAW or JPEG

shoot in 2 EV increments when shooting Raw and shoot 1 EV increments when shooting in the JPEG format.

3-9 shots depending on your project.

Contrast. Don't shoot on a bright day at noon.

Stanford Camera

Industry Examples:

Stuart Little used a chrome ball.

Spider Man 2 and 3 used fish eye lens and HDRCAM chirpy to save time and money

843 HDRI's

30,348 exposures

HDR VIDEO CAMERAS

Spheron:

- 20 f-stops of dynamic range
- full HD resolution 1920 x1080
- 24 and 30 fps, possibly up to 60 fps
- saves to fiber coupled storage server
- records 5 hours of EXR frame sequences

Civetta:

faster, cheaper, higher resolution.

The SpherCamHDR uses a single-line CDD in a constant revolution, scanning the full environment as it turns. Especially in low-light situations, that can take a long time, and it's even slower when you max out capture resolution (because it has to turn slower).
The Civetta is built on Canon technology, and snaps fullframe pictures with a 15mm fisheye. That makes it more of a traditional panobot, with all the speed and resolution advantages. If you had the patience and real skills in lathing and milling, you could build such a panobot yourself. Except, it wouldn't look as slick, and it wouldn't be as easy to use.