I had a chance to go back and visit the camera shop where I first test-drove an AC90, a NX70 and a Canon XF100. This time I took an SD card with me, and shot some footage inside the store using the AC90 and the NX70. Couldn't shoot any footage with the XF100 as I didn't have a CF card with me, and no means of importing the resulting .MXF file into Sony Vegas Platinum Movie Studio, which is the editor software I use.

My (admittedly subjective) impressions of both cameras in terms of image quality are:

- The Panasonic has a warmer image overall, but seems a bit soft. I suspect this may be due to the camera's use of 1/4.7" sensor chips. Although it's a mystery and a bit of a marvel
to me how Panasonic manages to cram in almost 4 million pixels into a chip that's barely more than 3.8mm tall, and still get a decent image.

- The Sony has a bit more sharpness, but its overall image is cooler and a bit bluish compared to the Panasonic. Then again, it could be that the cooler, bluer image is fooling my eye into thinking the image is sharper than it really is. I think the Sony image has more 'weight' or 'gravitas' to it.

Which one to buy? Well, if Sony didn't demand almost $800 more than the Panasonic, and it didn't offer just two picture profiles ('standard' and 'cine'), it would be the camera to get. I like the Panasonic's flexible and extensive suite of controls, I'm just not sure I'm completely sold on the image quality.

Here's a short video with footage from both cameras. You be the judge as to which camera has better image quality.

Both cameras were handheld and set on full auto.

AC90 v NX70: A Quick and Dirty Comparison Test - YouTube