JPH033482A - solid camera - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a solid-state camera, particularly a solid-state memory (recording/recording of information).
This invention relates to an electronic still camera using a memory device (memory device) that does not require a movable mechanism for reproduction.

[Conventional technology]

This type of electronic still camera (hereinafter referred to as 'solid-state camera'), which uses a memory element that does not require a movable mechanism for recording/reproducing information, has recently been developed into silver-halide cameras and video floppy electronic still cameras (hereinafter referred to as 'solid-state cameras'). This camera is attracting attention as a successor to the ``Sv camera'' (abbreviated as ``Sv camera'').

Sv left camera, by handling image information electronically,
Immediate playback of captured images is possible, and it also facilitates image transmission, processing of one image by computer, electronic filing of images, etc. However, in this type of Sv left camera, a small magnetic sheet called a video floppy is rotated at high speed, and the track pitch is 10 to 100 μm.
The mechanism for recording video information on the magnetic sheet at such high precision requires considerable processing precision, making it difficult to reduce the cost of the camera itself. Furthermore, an optical disk camera using an optical recording medium instead of a magnetic sheet has been proposed, but for the same reason as above, there is a limit to cost reduction.

In the above situation, the solid-state camera is expected to solve the drawbacks of the second generation camera (Sv left camera).

The concept of this type of solid-state camera system will be briefly explained below.

FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) show an example of the configuration of a camera section and a playback section, respectively, of a conventional solid-state camera system of this type. First, in Fig. 5(a), C is a solid-state camera, M
is a memory bag (memory cartridge) for storing image information. This memory back M is composed of an IC memory, a backup power source, and the like. Photographing a subject becomes possible by inserting this memory bag M into a slot of a solid-state camera C.

Various methods can be considered for connecting the memory back M and the solid-state camera C, such as a method using a normal metal connector, a method using a transmitting coil, and a method using an optical coupler.

In addition, in FIG. 5(b), R is the solid-state camera C
This is a playback device for playing back the image information taken by the Memory Back M, and the output can be connected to a regular TV monitor, video printer, still image transmitter, still image filing device, etc. It is composed of

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the conventional solid-state camera as described above, since the capacity of the memory back M is limited, there is a natural limit to the number of images that can be taken, for example, 16 Mb it.
If a solid-state memory with a capacity of Therefore, even in normal photographing, it is inconvenient to have to replace the memory cartridge M many times, and there is also the problem that the shutter opportunity is missed due to the memory running out, especially in quick photography.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art as described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a solid-state camera that does not lose a photo opportunity due to memory exhaustion during quick shooting or the like.

(Means for Solving the Problems) According to the present invention, a solid-state camera having a solid-state memory is configured to be provided with a control means for preferentially recording image information at the time of release in the solid-state memory. This aims to achieve the above objective.

[Effect]

With the above configuration, the camera of the present invention can prevent mistakes such as missing a photo opportunity due to memory exhaustion during snapshots, etc.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on examples.

(Configuration) FIG. 1 shows a configuration block diagram of an embodiment of a fixed camera according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a photographing lens, 2 is a solid-state image sensor such as a charge-coupled device (COD), 3 is a signal processing circuit, 4 is an analog/digital (A/D) converter, 5 is a memory interface, and 6 is a memory control circuit. ,7
8 is the cartridge loading switch, 8 is the light emitting diode (L
9 is a memory back (memory cartridge), 10 is a release switch (button), 11 is a shooting mode changeover switch, and 12 is a memory lock switch.

(Operation) The light beam passing through the photographic lens 1 is imaged on the CCD 2, subjected to predetermined processing by the signal processing circuit 3, converted to a digital signal by the A/D converter 4, and then loaded into a memory cartridge by the memory interface 5. switch 7
After confirming the operation, it is recorded in the memory back 9.

FIG. 2 shows a control operation sequence flowchart of the camera of this embodiment. 3(a) to 3(d) are diagrams showing an example of the memory control operation by the memory control circuit 6, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of communication data.

In FIG. 2, after the power of the camera is turned on in step S1, various information recorded in the memory is read out and the contents are displayed on the LCD 8 or the like of camera C in step S2, as shown in FIG. Next, in step S3, it is determined whether the camera shooting mode is "Normal" mode (normal shooting mode) or "Release image priority" mode, and if it is "Normal" mode, the image memory is full (from the previous read information). When (Y), a warning is issued and photographing is prohibited in step s5.On the other hand, when the memory has capacity to record at least one shot (N), the release is performed in step S6, and the memory is (Step S7).

Further, if the shooting mode is "release image priority" in step S3, the memory lock 12 is set in step s8.
to determine whether writing is possible or not, and if possible (Y
), after the release in step s9, recording is preferentially performed in the memory regardless of whether there is a remaining memory capacity (step 510).

FIGS. 3(a) to 3(d) show an example of the image memory control operation at that time, and here, a memory configuration in which 10 images can be recorded is shown.

In FIG. 3(a), 10 images have already been recorded, and the remaining capacity of the image memory is zero. Here, each number indicates that the larger the number, the newer the content. In this state, when the next photograph is taken in the release image priority mode, that is, the 10th image is replaced with the image memory No. 1, which is the oldest image data (FIG. 3(b)). Furthermore, the 12th image data is
The memory is arranged as shown in FIG. 3(c), and the memory is controlled in the same manner thereafter.

If you do not want to replace the image with a new image even in this mode, for example, by operating the memory lock switch 12 in FIG.
Write "non-erasable" information to the control information shown in the figure to lock the memory. For example, Figure 3(d) shows the memory control operation for the image No. 11 when the image No. 1 is memory locked.
This is shown below. * indicates that the memory is locked.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, a solid-state camera having a solid-state memory is provided with a control means for preferentially recording image information at the time of release in the solid-state memory.
This makes it possible to prevent mistakes such as missing a photo opportunity due to memory exhaustion during snapshots.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a control operation sequence flowchart of the camera of this embodiment, FIGS. 3(a) to 3(d) are examples of control operations of the image memory, FIG. 4 is an example of the contents of communication data, and FIG. )
, (b) is a configuration perspective view of an example of a conventional solid-state camera system. C: Solid-state camera 6--Memory control circuit 9, M--Memory back 12--Memory lock switch Camera configuration block diagram of this embodiment Fig. 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] What is claimed is: 1. A solid-state camera having a solid-state memory, characterized in that the solid-state camera is equipped with a control means for preferentially recording image information at the time of release in the solid-state memory.