HDR is often a matter of tools and taste

, but when you shoot panos, you're likelier to get a high dynamic range, so it's a good tool to have in the box. I've moved mostly to Enfuse these days, for simplicity. Most of the panostitchers out there can be
used as a frontend to enfuse. But y'know, that's when you've let your brain get swallowed by panostitchery.