I have no personal experience with the D700 IQ, but FWIW - the above panos were shot handheld, probably in less than 10 seconds. Remember that for the stitching only you don't need a zillion pics - 5 or so is plenty (unless you want to have a real pano).
The appeal of shooting handheld and getting results of that quality is very interesting, especially given the very impressive high iso capability of the D700 makes this possible in low light.
