Ok,  
 
I consider myself a "newbie", mainly because I have about 30 different camera combos sent my way.  I have become extrmely confused.  Could someone give me a break down of a camera combo that is better than the Coolpix/FC-E9, by better I mean the virtual tour itself will be sharper. I am looking for a moderately priced combo and a high end combo.  I still wish to do a 2 shot virtual tour.  I am also using Stitcher DS and Tourweaver 3.0.  Any help would be greatly appreciated. Below is a link to one of my virtual tours.  Will a new camera combo make these look better.  
 
http://www.erealtyweb.net/tours/98 [...] .8.07.html  
 
 
Thank You Everyone,  
 
Chris  
 

Hi Chris,
 
If these are your images, then they look fine to me already (a couple of mis-aligned seam issues and one or two issues with blending leakage on your tripod cap, but the photography looks sound)
 
The problem in answering your question is, a "high-end combo" that gives BETTER than the example will not be using two shots.
 
Here's your solutions with the best quality last:
 
2 Shot Combo:
Nikon P5100 with FC-E8 lens
 
4 Shot Combo:
Canon or Nikon Digital SLR with Sigma 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye lens
 
6 Shot Combo:
Nikon DSLR with Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye lens
 
At the risk of a shameless plug, we sell all these systems...
 
Tip: Your "tripod cap leakage" is (I'm guessing) because you are adding the cap in Stitcher then using Smart Blend. To fix this you have to render to spherical using Smart Blend then add a cap afterwards....

Could you go into a little more detail about the tripod cap leakage. Thank for the information.

Badders,  
 
What could be causing the mis-aligned seams?

Look at the shot in the kitchen, straight down at the tripod cap. You'll see a small "vent" of smeared pixels coming out of and into the tripod cap. This happens when you apply smart blend as part of the render settings to an image that you've already added a nadir image or "tripod cap" to.

What caused the mis-aligned seams? I don't know without seeing the source hemis. Could be you knocked the tripod, didn't turn the rotator properly, used the camera shutter release instead of a remote release or self timer.
 
But the most probable option is that Stitcher didn't pick out the circle on the hemis correctly. Re-load them and take a look.

Chris
For 2 fisheye stitching, the set up you have with the FC-E9 and a Coolpix, I think you mentioned its an 8400, is pretty good. The image quality in the tour is good too.  
 
The sticking point is you still want to do 2 fisheye stitching but get better quality.  
 
Andrew's combo with the new Coolpix P5100 and an FC-E8 might be better with its 10 megapixels and newer camera technology. I'm not familiar with the camera but I think he has some source photos link posted in one of these threads you can download and try stitching.
 
One thing you can try is zooming a little on your Coolpix. If the 8400 is like my 5400 and 8700, the "circle" leaves a lot of "black" between the edge of the circle and the frame border. By zooming so the edge of the circle is really close to the edge of the frame, the circle will have a lot more pixels and therefore more resolution.
 
The lenses that can do two fisheye stitching into a full spherical/cubic image are very few. The FC-E8, the FC-E9, the Coastal Optics 4.88mm and the rare Nikkor 6mm.
 
The FC-E8 and E9 work on the Nikon Coolpix line of cameras which are good upscale point & shoots, but they are "point & shoots."
 
The Coastal Optics 4.88mm costs $4500 and is available with a Nikon or Canon mount.
 
A few Nikkor 6mm lenses have sold on eBay lately for $33,000. That's correct, thirty three thousand dollars. They only fit Nikon cameras
 
That's the end of the list of lenses that you can do 2 fisheye stitching with. There just aren't anymore.
 
Moving up to 3 fisheye stitching is the Sigma 8mm on a dSLR with a full frame sensor. The Sigma is $650+/- and full frame sensor cameras start at about $3000. You will have a small hole on the tripod that 3 fisheyes won't cover, but a tripod cap will.
 
Four fisheye stitching is possible with the same Sigma 8mm on a dSLR camera with an APS-C/DX sensor like the Nikon D40 or Canon XT, each about $550. There will be the same small hole on the tripod.
 
The Nikkor 10.5mm is about $650 and needs 6 shots around horizontal with the camera in portrait postion, plus at least a Zenith (top) shot for a spherical/cubic image. It works on any Nikon dSLR with starting prices at $550. There will be a larger hole at the bottom than the Sigma leaves if you don't shoot a Nadir (bottom) shot.
 
There are many other lenses that can produce spherical/cubic images but require even more shots to cover the interior of the sphere/cube. What might interest you is the lists of Cameras, Lenses, Panheads, etc used for the World Wide Panorama project project http://timhatch.com/projects/wwp-equipment/
 
In the last few years of Tim Hatch's compilation, the Sigma 8mm and the Nikkor 10.5mm are by far the most used lenses.
 
Hope that helps Chris

"A few Nikkor 6mm lenses have sold on eBay lately for $33,000. That's correct, thirty three thousand dollars. They only fit Nikon cameras"
 
The SphereCam - a set-up worth its weight in gold? - twin 6mm/Nikons:
http://www.nearfield.com/~dan/phot [...] /index.htm

Jim
I saw that one time.
 
iPIX had a "one of" set up made with 2 Coastal Optics lenses for full 360° video