The folks at Egami have stumbled across a Sony patent revealing what looks like a curved image sensor. Why is this a big deal? Well apparently a curved sensor not only leads to an increase in the lens’ performance, but at the same time could reduce the size of the lens as well. There has been rumors suggesting that Sony could be introducing a full frame camera to their NEX lineup, possibly the NEX-9 if the rumors are to be believed, and Egami believes that such a curved sensor would allow the NEX-9 to go full frame. However it should also be noted that by using such a sensor, current generation A and E mount lenses will not be compatible. Could this patent just be Sony trying out new ideas, or do you think the NEX-9 (or whatever Sony will call their full frame NEX-camera) will come with a compatible lens lineup of its own? We won’t speculate too much but let us know your thoughts in the comments below!