Well, THIS is a very interesting idea.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/1004/10...ktonsensor.asp

It's definitely a april fools joke - this part is a giveaway:
And the best thing about circular photo frames is that you won’t have to hang them straight.’




But actually, it's a pretty good idea, in theory. The lens imaging 'circle' is being
thrown away - why not have a sensor that captures it?

The viewfinder could be round (like a scope) and have 'imaging marks' to show where
a 2/3 crop would be. Viewfinders already have grids you an turn on/off at will - this could be no different.

And for say, wildlife shots, you could get a even more detailed shot, without having
to worry about being cropped off the top/bottom of the image.



The big downsides:
1) sensor cost
2) RAW formats would be even more insane - at least grids have a predictable layout.
3) Camera prisms are probably rectangular based, to save size - so body size would be even larger.


- Frank