Not all cameras are created equal.

In the case of the two cameras you mention the Panasonic has a resolution of around 800K where as the Sony has a resolution of 1Mb. In theory then the Sony will have the superior picture.

Will this result in a noticeable difference in your final movie. Hard to say as there are so many variables (types of shot taken, exposure, etc) and of course the final output medium may have a say.

My guess would be that transfer to a standard DVD with shooting conditions being equal for both cameras, then the difference should not be too bad.

Having said that perhaps some other contributors have more experience in this area.