The next most important thing I learned is that there seems to be a limit to the maximum size of a *.jpg file.
...
Is there such a limit?
No, there isn't. At least it's not 64MB. There may be a limit imposed by the software you're using, but it's not inherent in the image format. Usually software limits are with regards to a particular dimension of the image buffer in memory and measured in pixels though. Or total number of pixels in an image. Photoshop and Lightroom both have limits and at one point they weren't very hard to hit. Not sure where they're at today.
A 64MB JPEG is probably going to produce a TIFF many times larger (in file size) than that.
Another possible factor (especially for 3) is that the tripod mount socket on the camera isn't centered perfectly on the nodal point of the camera,
I don't know of any camera where the tripod socket is located anywhere close to the correct location for rotation. They may be centered horizontally at the center of the lens and maybe even at the focal plane, but the camera will potentially need to be rotated about a point forward of the front edge of its body, along its lens somewhere. The focal plane is not the correct place to rotate about. The front-to-back distance depends on focal length, so on a zoom lens it will also change depending on how you have your lens set.
The best bet is to use a pano head, such as the very nice and very well priced (compared to everything else) Nodal Ninja 3.
The stitching program I've always wanted to use, but still haven't, is AutoPano Pro. It can do horizontal, vertical, H+V, full 360 (in any direction) plus HDR. Perfect for cranking out those gigapixel shots.
Speaking of gigapixel, there's also the online software from GigaPan along with their motorized mounts to really make things relatively hands-free. They even have a model that can now deal with full-sized SLR bodies.
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