JPH0678196A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] A compact recording medium unit can be easily attached and detached, and a recording medium that fits the situation at the moment can be selected and mounted. [Structure] The image pickup section is composed of an image pickup sensor 21 and an image pickup board 22, and 23a, 23b, and 23c are a syscon board, a compression board, and a memory control board, respectively. Reference numeral 23d is a flexible printed circuit board, which connects the memory controller board 23c and the connector 24. Reference numeral 31 denotes a connector on the recording unit 3 side, which mechanically and electrically couples the camera unit 2 and the recording unit 3 together with the connector 24 on the camera unit 2 side. Reference numeral 33 is a board for interface between the recording medium 32 and the camera unit 2. The connector 31 on the recording unit 3 side is also provided on the board 33.
Reference numeral 34 is a convex portion that engages with the engaging concave portion 25 of the camera unit 2 and serves as a guide when the recording unit 3 is mounted on the camera unit 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera for recording image information on a recording medium such as an IC memory card and a hard disk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a digital camera for digitizing a picked-up image signal and recording it on an IC memory card has been commercialized. In addition, the format for digitizing still images and recording them on an 8mm video tape is being decided.
In recent years, development of a system for recording a still image with a digital signal has been active.

Further, in addition to the recording medium such as the IC memory card and the 8 mm video tape mentioned in the above-mentioned conventional example, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, etc. can be considered as the recording medium.

[0004]

When the above-described recording medium is used in a conventional electronic camera, each of them has the following drawbacks, and there is no optimal recording medium for a camera at present.

The IC memory card has a small recording capacity and is expensive.

8 mm video tapes have slow data access.

Hard disks are vulnerable to shock and vibration.

Magneto-optical disks are vulnerable to shock and vibration and are expensive.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a conventional problem, and is compact and allows a recording medium unit to be easily attached and detached. Further, a recording medium corresponding to the situation at that time is selected and attached. An object is to provide an electronic camera that can do this.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic camera according to the present invention includes a recording medium, a drive device for the recording medium, an image sensor for capturing at least an image of a subject, and the image sensor. A unit composed of a camera having a mounted substrate and an interface having a connector for electrically and mechanically connecting it, which is arranged on the side opposite to the grip of the camera body and the photographing optical axis. The medium is any one of an IC memory, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, and a tape-shaped recording medium. Furthermore, the unit is attachable to and detachable from the camera body regardless of the type of recording medium installed in the unit, and the connector is inserted in the shooting optical axis direction of the camera body. It is desirable to be located behind the camera body with respect to the mounted board.

[0011]

According to the present invention, a user can select a recording medium suitable for a shooting situation, the convenience is small, and the unit can be easily attached and detached.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a plan sectional view (a) and a rear view of an electronic camera according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the recording unit of FIG. 1 and 2, 1 is an electronic camera body, 2 is a camera unit including an image pickup unit, 3 is a recording unit, 4 is a lens, and 5 is a grip. The details will be described below.

The image pickup section includes an image pickup sensor 21 and an image pickup substrate 2.
It is composed of two. A drive pulse generator for driving a sample hold circuit, an image sensor 21, and the like, which will be described later, is mounted on the image pickup substrate 22. 23a, 23
Reference numerals b and 23c respectively represent a system control board (hereinafter abbreviated as “syscon board”), a compression board for compressing image information, and an A / D conversion section for A / D converting the output of the image sensor 21 and this A / D conversion. And a memory control board (hereinafter abbreviated as “MEMORN board”) including a memory such as a DRAM for storing A / D converted information in a unit and a memory controller for controlling the memory. Reference numeral 23d is a flexible printed circuit board that connects the memory control board 23c and a connector 24 described later. 24 is a connector on the camera unit 2 side, 31 is a connector on the recording unit 3 side,
The camera unit 2 and the recording unit 3 are mechanically and electrically coupled to each other by the connectors 24 and 31. 32
Is a recording medium such as an IC memory or a hard disk drive (HDD). By arranging the connector 31 in the thickness direction of the recording medium 32, the size of the recording unit 3 in the planar direction is minimized. Reference numeral 33 is a substrate for interface between the recording medium 32 and the camera unit 2, and the connector 31 on the recording unit 3 side is also provided on the substrate 33. 34 is engaged with the engagement recess 25 of the camera unit 2,
It is a convex portion that serves as a guide when the recording unit 3 is attached to the camera unit 2.

Image pickup substrate 22 on which image pickup sensor 21 is mounted
As described above, the image sensor 21 such as the sample hold circuit
Since a circuit that is better placed closer to is mounted, it occupies a relatively large area on a plane orthogonal to the imaging optical axis of the camera.
Therefore, by arranging the position of the connector 31 of the recording unit 3 behind the image pickup substrate 22, the size of the camera is reduced.

The recording unit 3 is inserted into the camera 2 from the rear side (upper side in FIG. 1), guided by the engaging recess 25 of the camera 2, and attached to the camera 2 by coupling the connectors 24 and 31 together. To be done.

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram of an electronic camera to which the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is applied. In FIG. 3, 41 is an imaging lens, 42 is a light amount control member such as a diaphragm and shutter, 43 is a solid-state imaging device such as CCD, and 44 is an S for sampling and holding the output of the solid-state imaging device 43.
/ H circuit, 45 is an A / D conversion circuit that converts the value sampled and held by the S / H circuit 44 into a digital value, and 46 is D
A memory such as a RAM, 47 is a second storage medium (see FIGS.
Interface circuit with the recording medium 32), 48 is a storage medium such as a hard disk, 49 is a timing signal or sample hold pulse for driving the solid-state imaging device,
A timing signal generator for generating A / D conversion pulses, 410 is a memory controller for controlling reading / writing of memory, and refresh operation of DRAM, 4
Reference numeral 11 is a first recording trigger switch, 412 is a second recording trigger switch, 413 is a lock switch for prohibiting reception of each switch of the camera, 414 is a microcontroller for controlling the system such as a photographing sequence, 415 is a 1 is a connector corresponding to each of the connectors 24 and 31 of FIG. 1, and includes an interface circuit 47 and a recording medium 48 in the recording unit 3 of FIG.

The image recording operation of the electronic camera configured as described above is not directly related to the gist of the present invention, but will be briefly described.

When the first trigger switch 411 is pressed, the brightness of the subject is detected by a photometric sensor (not shown). The shutter speed and aperture of the control member 42 are adjusted based on the output of the photometric sensor.

When the second trigger switch 412 is further pressed, the subject image converted into an optical image by the taking lens 41 is formed on the CCD 43 by the adjusted control member 42, and the formed optical image is formed. It is converted into an electric signal by the CCD 43. Then, after the image signal output from the CCD 43 is held in the S / H circuit 44 for a predetermined period,
It is input to the A / D conversion circuit 45 and converted into a digital image signal.

The digital image signal is temporarily stored in the memory 46 and then recorded in a predetermined area of the HDD 48 via the connector 415 and the I / F circuit 47.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, by making the recording unit detachable from the camera, the IC memory card 8 mm, which is resistant to shock and vibration, can be used in the case of rough usage such as news shooting. A recording unit such as a video tape can be mounted, and a large-capacity recording unit such as a hard disk or a magneto-optical disk can be mounted for indoor shooting such as in a studio. You can select the optimum recording unit and shoot.

Further, since the recording unit is located on the side opposite to the grip of the camera, the recording unit corresponding to the above various recording media can be easily replaced.

Further, the direction in which the recording unit and the camera are attached / detached is in the photographing optical axis direction of the camera, and the connector of the recording unit is arranged rearward of the camera with respect to the image pickup board of the camera, whereby the size of the camera is reduced. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan sectional view (a) and a rear view (b) of an electronic camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the recording unit of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram of an electronic camera to which the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Electronic Camera Main Body 2 Camera Section 3 Recording Unit 4 Lens 5 Grip 21 Imaging Sensor 22 Imaging Board

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An interface including a connector for electrically and mechanically connecting to a camera side having at least an image sensor for capturing an image of a subject and a substrate on which the image sensor is mounted, a recording medium, and the recording medium. In the electronic camera, the unit including the driving device of the camera is detachably attached to the camera body in the shooting optical axis direction, and the unit is arranged on the opposite side to the grip of the camera body and the shooting optical axis. An electronic camera characterized by. 2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is any one of an IC memory, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, and a tape-shaped recording medium. 3. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the unit is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the camera body regardless of the type of recording medium mounted on the unit. 4. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the connector is inserted / removed in the photographing optical axis direction of the camera body. 5. The electronic camera according to claim 4, wherein the connector is located rearward of the camera body with respect to the board on which the image sensor is mounted.