JP2001223977A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera which mounts different kinds of picture recording media simultaneously and utilizes merits of them sufficiently. SOLUTION: When the different kinds of picture recording media are mounted on the digital camera simultaneously, a preferential medium to be used preferentially is fixed based on the characteristic of the respective picture recording media to frequently use only the preferential medium or the preferential medium in recording of a photographed picture and the reproducing and displaying of a recorded picture. In the case of mounting a semiconductor memory card and a hard disk card as the picture recording medium, e.g. the semiconductor memory card which is smaller in power consumption and higher in an input/ output speed than the hard disk card having a large a recording capacity is used preferentially, and the hard disk card is inputted and outputted through the semiconductor memory card.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital camera for recording a photographed image on a removable recording medium, and more particularly, to a digital camera to which different types of recording media can be mounted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A digital camera repeatedly photographs an image at a substantially constant cycle, and records the photographed image on a removable recording medium in accordance with a recording instruction given by a user during that time. The image recorded on the recording medium is used later by another device such as a personal computer. Generally, a digital camera is provided with a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and an image recorded on a recording medium can be reproduced and displayed on the display device.

A removable recording medium is required to be non-volatile, that is, not to lose recorded contents even when power is not supplied, and it is desirable that the recording medium is small and lightweight. Due to such a demand, a semiconductor memory card having a built-in nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory has been widely used as a recording medium. In recent years, hard disks having a card-like outer shape have been developed to be highly compact, and some digital cameras use this hard disk card as a recording medium. A digital camera capable of mounting both a semiconductor memory card and a hard disk card has been proposed.

There is a great difference in characteristics between a semiconductor memory and a hard disk. A semiconductor memory has a feature that input / output can be performed at high speed and power consumption required for input / output is small. On the other hand, the unit price per capacity is relatively high. On the other hand, the hard disk has the features that the unit price per capacity is relatively low and the recording capacity is large, but the input and output are relatively slow and the power consumption is large because it is driven mechanically.

[0005]

Generally, a digital camera has a built-in battery as a power supply, and various circuits of the digital camera operate with power supplied from the battery. Therefore, in order to keep the operable period, that is, the photographable period as long as possible, it is necessary to suppress power consumption. From this viewpoint, it is preferable to use a semiconductor memory card rather than a hard disk card. However, from the viewpoint of reducing the frequency of card replacement and improving usability, it is preferable to use a hard disk card having a larger recording capacity than a semiconductor memory card.

As described above, the recording medium has advantages and disadvantages according to its characteristics. In order to achieve both reduction in power consumption and ease of use, it is necessary to make full use of the features of the recording medium as much as possible. In the future, various recording media are expected to be developed due to technological advances, and demand for digital cameras capable of simultaneously mounting different types of recording media is expected to increase. However, it is not possible to make full use of the characteristics of each recording medium simply by allowing different types of recording media to be mounted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and broadly provides a digital camera in which different types of image recording media can be simultaneously mounted and their characteristics can be fully utilized. The purpose is to: Further, specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera which consumes less power for storing an image and is easy to use.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a digital camera using a detachable image recording medium, wherein a plurality of different types of image recording media can be mounted at the same time. , When a plurality of different types of image recording media are mounted, one image recording medium is set as a priority medium and the other image recording medium is set as a non-priority medium based on predetermined characteristics of each image recording medium. Give priority to media.

In this digital camera, when a different type of image recording medium is mounted, any one of the image recording media is used as a priority medium and is used preferentially. For example,
Unless there is a special reason, only the priority medium is used, or the priority medium is used more frequently than other image recording media. The determination of which image recording medium is to be the priority medium is made based on the characteristics of the image recording medium. Therefore, the digital camera can sufficiently exhibit the features of the image recording medium used as the priority medium.

Here, it is preferable that the predetermined characteristic is power consumption, and the image recording medium with low power consumption is a priority medium. The consumption of the battery, which is a power supply, is suppressed, and the period during which the image can be captured is extended.

The predetermined characteristic may be an input / output speed, and an image recording medium having a high input / output speed may be a priority medium. I can quickly input and output images with huge information,
The operating speed is improved.

The non-priority medium may be used via the priority medium by copying an image between the priority medium and the non-priority medium. By collectively copying a certain amount of images when copying images between the two media, the frequency of input / output of the non-priority medium can be made lower than in the case where the input / output of the non-priority medium is directly performed. Thereby, for example, even when the power consumption of the non-priority medium is large, the power consumption can be reduced, and the time required for input / output can be shortened even when the input / output speed of the non-priority medium is low. . In addition, the timing of copying images between both media,
It can be different from the time when other circuits consume power, and the peak power consumption of the entire digital camera can be suppressed even when the power consumption of the non-priority medium is large.

Power may be supplied to the drive unit of the non-priority medium only when copying an image between the priority medium and the non-priority medium. In this way, it is possible to avoid wasting power consumption when the non-priority medium is an image recording medium that consumes power other than during input / output, such as a hard disk card.

The digital camera described above can preferentially use the priority medium when recording the photographed image on the image recording medium. The captured image will be preferentially recorded on the different types of mounted image recording media that have excellent characteristics such as power consumption and input / output speed, thereby reducing power consumption when recording the captured image. Alternatively, recording of an image can be completed in a short time, and the next photographing can be started immediately.

Here, when the free space for recording the image is exhausted in the priority medium, the image may be copied from the priority medium to the non-priority medium so as to make free space in the priority medium. In this way, the priority medium can be reliably used until both the priority medium and the non-priority medium have no free space. Therefore, the features of the priority medium are fully exhibited regardless of the recording capacity of the priority medium.

The above digital camera can preferentially use the priority medium when displaying an image recorded on the image recording medium. That is, when reproducing and displaying an image, if the characteristics of the image recording medium on which the image is recorded are excellent, the image recording medium is preferentially used, and if not, another image recording medium is preferentially used. Here, since it is necessary to read the image from the image recording medium on which the image to be reproduced and displayed is recorded at least once, when reproducing and displaying only one image, the characteristics of the image recording medium are not excellent. However, there is no special meaning in defining priority media. However, when reproducing and displaying an image, in most cases, a plurality of images are sequentially displayed, so that it is useful to determine a priority medium.

For example, when displaying an image recorded on a non-priority medium, another image is copied from the non-priority medium to the priority medium together with the image to be displayed, and the image copied to the priority medium is displayed. I do. By copying another image together with the image to be displayed from the non-priority medium to the priority medium, reading the copied image from the priority medium and displaying the image,
When an image to be reproduced and displayed is switched to another image, the probability that the image is read from the priority medium instead of the non-priority medium is increased, and the characteristics of the priority medium are easily exhibited.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in a digital camera using two image storage media, an image is copied between two image storage media in units of a predetermined amount, and the image is copied. 2 each time you finish
The power supply to at least one drive unit of one image storage medium is stopped.

In this digital camera, an image is copied between two image storage media.
Perform as a unit. After the copying is performed, the power supply to the drive unit of one or both image storage media is stopped. By increasing the predetermined amount, which is a unit of copy, the frequency of copying can be reduced, and power consumption required for copying can be suppressed. Moreover, by stopping power supply after copying, unnecessary power consumption can be avoided. The stopped power supply may be restarted when needed. For example, when stopping the power supply to the drive unit of the image storage medium of the copy destination, immediately before the next copy,
Further, when the power supply to the drive unit of the copy source image storage medium is stopped and an image is written to the image storage medium, this is performed immediately before the writing.

The image storage medium for stopping the power supply to the drive unit may be a removable non-volatile medium.
The image storage medium in this case is for recording images such as a semiconductor memory card and a hard disk card.

The image storage medium for stopping the power supply to the drive unit may be a fixedly mounted medium. The image storage medium in this case is not for recording images, but is for temporarily storing captured images, for example.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a digital camera according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG.
4 to 4 show the appearance of the digital camera 1 of the present embodiment,
FIG. 5 shows the circuit configuration. 1 is a front view of the digital camera 1, FIG. 2 is a rear view, FIG. 3 is a side view, and FIG. 4 is a bottom view.

The digital camera 1 comprises a substantially rectangular parallelepiped main body 2 and an imaging section 3 (shown by thick lines in FIGS. 1 to 4). The imaging unit 3 is attached to a side surface of the main unit 2,
A photographing lens 301 is provided on the front surface. Shooting lens 30
Reference numeral 1 denotes a zoom lens with a macro function, which has a fixed aperture. Photographing lens 301 inside imaging section 3
Behind, a charge-coupled device (CCD) 30 serving as an imaging device
3 are arranged (see FIG. 5). The CCD 303 is configured as a color area sensor by alternately two-dimensionally arranging three types of pixels that are selectively sensitive to red (R) light, green (G) light, and blue (B) light. I have.

A signal processing circuit 313 for processing an analog signal output from the CCD 303 is provided in the image pickup section 3.
D303 generates a signal for instructing the operation timing such as the start of photoelectric conversion and the output of accumulated charge, and
Generator 314 and shooting lens 3
The zoom motor 306 changes the focal length of the zoom lens 01, and the focus motor 307 changes the focus of the taking lens 301.
Is provided. The imaging unit 3 is also provided with a dimming circuit 304 and a dimming sensor 305 for performing automatic dimming control in flash photography, an AF sensor 308 that detects a distance to a subject to be photographed, and an optical finder 31. .

The digital camera 1 is configured so that most of the photographing lens 301 can be accommodated in the image pickup section 3 during non-shooting. Take the storage position. The zoom motor 306 is also used for moving the photographing lens 301 between the photographing position and the housing position. Further, the imaging unit 3 is provided with a lens sensor 309 for detecting whether the photographing lens 301 is at the photographing position or the accommodation position.

A grip portion 4 and a flash portion 5 are provided on a front surface of the main body 2, and a shutter button 9 is provided on an upper surface of the main body 2. The shutter button 9 emits a signal S1 when half-pressed, and further emits a signal S2 when fully pressed. The digital camera 1 has a shooting lens 3
Automatic focus adjustment (AF) function that automatically focuses the object 01 on the object to be photographed, and CC according to the brightness of the object to be photographed
Automatic exposure adjustment (A) for automatically adjusting the exposure of D303
E) function, and the signal S1 instructs the start of AF control and AE control. The signal S2 instructs photographing of a recording image and recording of image data representing the photographed recording image.

As shown in FIG. 2, on the back of the main body 2,
A transmissive liquid crystal display (LCD) 10, six push-button switches 11, a power switch 12 and a four-contact switch 13, a slide switch 14, and two light emitting diodes 15a and 15b are provided. L
The CD 10 displays a photographed image and a message to the user. The switch 11 is used for various settings related to the operation of the digital camera 1, and the power switch 12 is used for instructing start and stop of power supply from the power supply to each unit.

The four-contact switch 13 has a single operating member and four
It consists of four contacts and constitutes four switches 13a to 13d. The switches 13a and 13b are used for setting the focal length of the photographing lens 301, that is, for instructing zooming.
The switches 13c and 13d are connected to the CCD 30 in the AE control.
3 is used to instruct exposure correction.

The digital camera 1 has a photographing mode, a reproducing mode, and a menu mode.
Is used to set these modes. The shooting mode is
In this mode, an image is captured by the CCD 303 and image data representing the captured image is generated. The photographing and the generation of the image data are repeatedly performed at a substantially constant cycle (for example, 1/30 second). When the signal S2 is issued by operating the shutter button 9, an image for recording is photographed in accordance with the signal S2, and the image is recorded. Is recorded on a recording medium. In the shooting mode, images to be shot one after another can be immediately displayed on the LCD 10 to provide a live view. At this time, the LCD 10 functions as an electronic viewfinder.

The reproduction mode is a mode in which image data recorded on a recording medium is read and the image is displayed on the LCD 10. In playback mode, switch 13
“a” and “13b” are used for an instruction to switch the image to be displayed. When the switch 13a is operated, the image recorded on the recording medium is displayed next to the image being displayed.
By operating 3b, the image recorded before the image being displayed is displayed. The menu mode is a mode in which a guidance message is displayed on the LCD 10 and settings relating to the operation are made in accordance with the operation of the switch 11.

The light emitting diode 15a is turned on while power is supplied from the power supply to each part, and the light emitting diode 15a is turned on.
“b” lights up while the recording medium is being input / output. The light emitting diode 15a is also used to notify a user of a decrease in power supply voltage.

On the back surface of the image pickup section 3, two push-button switches 16a and 16b are provided. Switch 1
Reference numeral 6a is used to instruct whether or not to display the live view on the LCD 10 in the shooting mode, and the live view display is switched on / off each time the switch 16a is operated. When shooting is performed exclusively using the optical viewfinder 31, the power consumption can be suppressed by turning off the display of the LCD 10. The display of the reproduced image and the guidance message in the reproduction mode and the menu mode are performed regardless of the operation of the switch 16a. Switch 16
b is used to indicate whether or not to perform macro shooting.

The digital camera 1 uses four AA batteries E connected in series as a power source, and a removable memory card 8 as a recording medium for recording image data. Two memory cards 8 can be inserted. The memory cards 8 and their operation control will be described later in detail. As shown in FIG. 4, the main body 2 has a battery chamber 18 for storing a battery E, and two card slots 17a, 17a.
A card compartment 17 is provided for storing the memory card 8 and has a battery compartment 18 and a clamshell-type lid 19 for opening and closing the card compartment 17 on the bottom surface of the main body 2.

In the card slot 17a, a USB card or a voice card can be inserted instead of a memory card. The cover 19 is provided with an opening 19a for exposing a terminal portion of the USB card, and the digital camera 1 can be directly connected to an external device by connecting a cable to the terminal of the USB card.

As shown in FIG. 3, a D
C input terminal 20 is provided, and digital camera 1
Operates not only with a built-in battery E but also with electric power externally supplied via a terminal 20.

The circuit configuration of the digital camera 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The signal processing circuit 313 provided in the imaging unit 3 includes a correlated double sampling (CDS) circuit and an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit. The CDS circuit reduces the noise of the analog signal output from the CCD 303, and the AGC circuit adjusts the level of all the signals from the CDS circuit according to the gain. The gain of the CDS circuit can be changed by the overall control unit described below.

The main unit 2 has an overall control unit 211 for controlling the entire digital camera 1. Overall control unit 21
1 is R which describes the control program and control parameters.
OM211a and RAM2 used for temporary storage
11b, and is connected to an operation unit 250 operated by a user. The operation unit 250 includes various operation members such as the shutter button 9 and the switch 14 described above, and transmits an operation by a user to the overall control unit 211.

The main unit 2 processes an A / D converter 205, a black level correction circuit 206, a white balance (WB) circuit 207 in order to process the output signal of the CCD 303 supplied from the signal processing circuit 313 and generate image data. ,
A gamma correction circuit 208 and an image memory 209 are provided. The A / D converter 205 converts the analog signal from the signal processing circuit 313 into a 10-bit digital signal, and the black level correction circuit 206 adjusts the black level of the digitized signal to a reference level.

The WB circuit 207 uses a level conversion table supplied from the overall control unit 211 so that an appropriate white balance can be obtained after the next γ correction.
The signal levels of the R, G, and B color components are individually converted. The overall control unit 211 sets a conversion coefficient (gradient of characteristic) of each color component of the level conversion table for each captured image. The γ correction circuit 208 performs non-linear processing on the signal from the WB circuit 207 so as to be suitable for display.

From the signal processing circuit 313 to the γ correction circuit 208
Through the processing described above, image data representing an image captured by the CCD 303 is generated. Image memory 209
Stores the image data thus generated for one frame. The image memory 209 has a storage capacity corresponding to the number of pixels of the CCD 303, and stores a signal generated from an output of each pixel at a position corresponding to the pixel. The processing results of the circuits from the black level correction circuit 206 to the γ correction circuit 208 are actually stored in the RAM 21 of the overall control unit 211.
Although provided to the next circuit via 1b, in FIG. 5, from the black level correction circuit 206 to the image memory 209 are connected by broken arrows in order to clarify the flow of processing.

The main unit 2 includes a VRAM 210 used as a buffer memory when displaying an image on the LCD 10,
A backlight light source 10a of the LCD 10 and a card interface (I / F) 212 for writing image data to the memory card 8 and reading image data from the memory card 8 are also provided. The VRAM 210 has a storage capacity corresponding to the number of pixels of the LCD 10,
When displaying a live view or a reproduced image, the overall control unit 211 extracts signals at predetermined pixel intervals from image data read from the image memory 209 or the memory card 8 and writes those signals to the VRAM 210. . The image memory 209 and the VRAM 210 are composed of a DRAM that requires power supply for holding stored contents.

The main body 2 further includes a timing control circuit 202, two motor drive circuits 216 and 217, a real-time clock (RTC) 219, a flash control circuit 220, a power supply circuit 218, and a voltage detection circuit 21.
3 is also provided. The timing control circuit 202 generates a reference clock, which is the minimum unit of the operation cycle, and supplies a control clock to the timing generator 314 and the A / D converter 205 according to an instruction from the overall control unit 211.

The motor drive circuits 216 and 217 respectively drive the zoom motor 306 and the focus motor 307 in accordance with an instruction from the overall control unit 211. RTC
Reference numeral 219 is for managing the date and time of shooting, and is always operated by power from a power source (not shown) different from the battery E.

The flash control circuit 220 controls light emission of the flash unit 5 and its preparation in accordance with an instruction from the overall control unit 211. In the digital camera 1, automatic light control is performed in flash photography. The overall control unit 211 instructs the flash control circuit 220 to emit light and at the same time starts light reception by the light control sensor 305. At the same time as receiving a signal indicating that a predetermined amount of light has been received from the dimming circuit 304, the flash control circuit 220 is instructed to stop emitting light.

The power supply circuit 218 detects the power supplied from the outside via the DC input terminal 20, and supplies the power when the power is supplied from the outside, and the battery E when the power is not supplied from the outside. Power is supplied to the CCD 303 and the image memory 2
09 and so on. The power supply from the power supply circuit 218 to each unit is controlled by the general control unit 211. The power supply to the card slots 17a and 17b for driving the memory card 8 and the image memory 209 is performed by the power supply to other circuits such as the CCD 303. Independent of supply.

The voltage detection circuit 213 detects the voltage of the power supplied by the power supply circuit 218 and, when the voltage is lower than a predetermined value, notifies the overall control unit 211 of the detection. In response to this, the overall control unit 211 controls the light emitting diode 15a.
Flashes to inform the user that the power supply voltage is low.

When the photographing of the recording image is instructed by the signal S2 in the photographing mode, the overall control unit 211 immediately prepares for photographing such as AE control and causes the CCD 303 to photograph the recording image. Then, the image data of the captured recording image is read out from the image memory 209, tag information is generated, and both are given to the card I / F 212 to be recorded on the memory card 8. At that time, the overall control unit 211
Image data is compressed according to the JPEG method. Also,
The overall control unit 211 generates a different image data by extracting a signal from the image data at a predetermined pixel interval, and causes the memory card 8 to record this as well. This image data represents a thumbnail image having a size several times smaller than the taken high-resolution image. The tag information includes information on shooting conditions such as exposure, in addition to the frame number and shooting date and time.

FIG. 6 schematically shows the structure of data recorded on the memory card 8. One frame of image information includes tag information, compressed high-resolution data of 1600 × 1200 pixels, and thumbnail image data of 80 × 60 pixels, and has a data amount of about 1 MB. The number of frames of an image that can be recorded on the memory card 8 naturally depends on the recording capacity of the memory card 8. When an audio card is inserted, an audio file can be recorded for each frame, and information about a link to the audio file is written in a tag.

As described above, the digital camera 1 has the two card slots 17a and 17b, so that two memory cards 8 can be inserted at the same time. The number of types of memory cards 8 that can be inserted into the card slots 17a and 17b is not limited to one. For example, a semiconductor memory card and a hard disk card can be inserted at the same time.

In the digital camera 1 having a fixed aperture in the taking lens 301, AE control is performed by adjusting the photoelectric conversion time (electronic shutter speed) of the CCD 303. The AE control is performed by the overall control unit 211 based on a known APEX system. The brightness of the shooting target required for AE control is
Determined from the generated image data. That is, in the image data, the sum of the signal intensities of the pixels corresponding to a predetermined range (for example, the center portion) of the CCD 303 is set as the brightness of the imaging target.

As described above, the AE control is started together with the AF control in response to the signal S1, but only the brightness of the object to be photographed is detected until the signal S2 is issued. For the first time when the shooting of
Adjust the electronic shutter speed. Meanwhile, the electronic shutter speed is kept constant. This makes it possible to perform the image data generation processing at a constant cycle, and it is possible to prevent the control processing of the overall control unit 211 from becoming complicated.

When the object to be photographed is dark and the electronic shutter speed calculated from the detected brightness becomes a speed at which camera shake may occur, the electronic shutter speed is set to the camera shake limit speed and included in the signal processing circuit 313. The gain of the AGC circuit is increased to compensate for the lack of exposure of the CCD 303. This makes it possible to provide an image in which the imaging target is expressed with good brightness even when the imaging target is somewhat dark. If the subject is too dark to compensate for the underexposure even if the gain is maximized, shoot at the camera shake limit speed and set the gain to the maximum, and warn that there is a possibility of underexposure. Urge the user to take appropriate measures, such as taking a flash.

In the digital camera 1, in order to quickly record and reproduce an image while reducing power consumption,
When different types of memory cards 8 are mounted, a memory card to be used preferentially is determined according to the characteristics of each memory card. Hereinafter, a card used preferentially is referred to as a priority card, and other memory cards are referred to as non-priority cards. The priority card is determined by the overall control unit 211.
The memory card with low power consumption among the installed memory cards is set as the priority card, and the memory card with high input / output speed is set as the priority card when there is no difference in power consumption.

Information including the type, the recording capacity, the free space, and the like is described in each type of memory card.
Read and store them. Then, the characteristics of the memory card are determined from the type, and a priority card is determined based on the difference in characteristics between the memory cards.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of card information acquisition processing when a memory card is inserted. This processing is one subroutine of a program describing the processing performed by the overall control unit 211. First, the card slots 17a, 1
At least one of the memory cards 7b detects that a memory card has been inserted (step # 2), and if no insertion has been detected, returns to the main routine without performing any operation. Whether or not the card is inserted is determined by the card slot 17
The determination is made based on the signals from the contacts provided at a and 17b.

When a memory card is inserted, the type, recording capacity, and free space are read from the memory card.
The numbers of 7a and 17b are acquired (# 4). Then, the acquired information is written in the mounting status table to update the contents of the table (# 6), and the process returns to the main routine.

The mounting state table is created by the overall control unit 211 in the RAM 211b when power supply is started, and is blank in an initial state. FIG. 7 shows an example of the contents of the mounting status table. In this example, the card slot 17a of the slot number 1 has a recording capacity of 400 MB,
A hard disk card having a free space of 270 MB is mounted, and a semiconductor memory card having a recording capacity of 64 MB and a free space of 12 MB is mounted in the card slot 17b of slot number 2.

The processing shown in FIG. 8 is performed at regular intervals during recording and reproduction, and also when the lid 19 is opened and closed again. Therefore, when a memory card is removed from the card slots 17a and 17b or another memory card is inserted, the mounting status table is updated.

Hereinafter, the priority use of a memory card in the digital camera 1 will be described, taking as an example a case where a hard disk card is mounted and further a semiconductor memory card is mounted. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when recording a photographed image on a memory card in the photographing mode. This process also
This is one subroutine of the program of the overall control unit 211. In FIG. 9, for simplicity, the semiconductor memory card is referred to as “card S” and the hard disk card is referred to as “card H”.

First, the supply of electricity to the image memory 209 and the two card slots 17a and 17b is stopped (# 10).
2). This is to avoid wasteful power consumption during a period in which the memory card is not driven and a period in which the image memory is not used.

Next, with reference to the mounting status table, it is determined whether or not the mounted memory card (at least one when two are mounted) has a free space corresponding to one frame of an image. (# 104). If there is no free space for one frame in the inserted memory card, a warning is displayed indicating that recording cannot be performed (# 110), and the process returns to the main routine.

If there is free space for one frame in the inserted memory card, it waits for the start of shooting of the recording image by the signal S2 (# 106). When the image for recording is started, it is determined whether or not a semiconductor memory card is mounted in addition to the hard disk card (#
108).

When a semiconductor memory card is inserted, power supply to the image memory 209 is started and the data size, which is a parameter representing the amount of image data in the image memory, is set to 0 (# 200). Then, a signal is output from the CCD 303 that has finished capturing the image, and image data representing the captured recording image is generated by processing from the signal processing circuit 313 to the γ correction circuit 208 (# 202). The data is stored in the image memory (# 204).

Here, the signal output from the CCD is not performed for all pixels, but a signal is output from only some pixels forming a predetermined number of lines. Therefore, the generated image data represents a part of the image. However, as described below, signal output from the CCD and generation of image data are repeatedly performed, and finally, image data representing the entire image is obtained.

Next, the data size is increased by the amount of the stored image data (# 206), and it is determined whether or not the data size is equal to or larger than a predetermined value (# 208). This predetermined value indicates the amount of data to be recorded on the semiconductor memory card at one time (hereinafter, referred to as a recording unit amount), and is, for example, an integral multiple of the recording capacity of one sector of the semiconductor memory card. This recording unit amount is set to an amount smaller than one frame of image data. If the amount indicated by the data size is equal to or larger than the recording unit amount, the process proceeds to step # 210 for recording on the semiconductor memory card; otherwise, the process proceeds to step # 230.

In step # 210, power supply to the card slot in which the semiconductor memory card is mounted is started. Next, with reference to the mounting status table, it is determined whether or not the semiconductor memory card has free space for one image frame (# 212). This determination is first performed only once for the image being processed. When there is free space for one frame of the image, and when the determination is not made for the second time or later, the image data in the image memory is moved to the semiconductor memory card by the recording unit amount for recording (# 214). The data size is reduced by the amount (# 216). Further, the free space of the semiconductor memory card in the mounting status table is updated to a value reduced by the recording unit amount (# 218).

Then, returning to step # 208, the processing up to step # 218 is repeated until the amount indicated by the data size becomes smaller than the recording unit amount.

If it is determined in step # 212 that there is no free space for one frame in the semiconductor memory card, data is moved to the hard disk card to make free space in the semiconductor memory card. First, power supply to the card slot in which the hard disk card is mounted is started (# 220), and data of as many images as possible is stored in the semiconductor device within the free space of the hard disk card by referring to the mounting status table. Copy from the memory card to the hard disk card (# 222). Then, the power supply to the card slot of the hard disk card is stopped (# 224), and the copied image data is deleted from the semiconductor memory card (# 226).

Therefore, if the free space of the hard disk card is sufficient, the data of all the images on the semiconductor memory card can be moved to make the entire recording capacity of the semiconductor memory card free. After erasing the data in step # 226, the free space of the semiconductor memory card in the mounting status table is updated to a value increased by the moved data amount, and the free space of the hard disk card in the mounting status table is also reduced by the moved data amount. The updated value is updated (# 228). Then, the process returns to step # 214 to perform processing for recording the image data in the image memory on the semiconductor memory card.

If it is determined in step # 208 that the amount of image data in the image memory indicated by the data size is smaller than the recording unit amount of the semiconductor memory card, power supply to the card slot of the semiconductor memory card is stopped (# 23
0), it is determined whether or not output from all the pixels of the CCD has been completed (# 232). If the output of all pixels has not been completed, the process returns to step # 202, and the above processing is repeated.

When output of all pixels is completed, power supply to the card slot of the semiconductor memory card is started (#
234), the unrecorded image data in the image memory is recorded on the semiconductor memory card (# 236), all the image data in the image memory is deleted (# 238), and the power to the image memory and the card slot of the semiconductor memory card is removed. The supply is stopped (# 240). Then, the process returns to step # 104 to prepare for shooting of the next recording image.

Before shooting a recording image, step #
At 104, it is confirmed that at least one free space for one frame of the image is present in either the semiconductor memory card or the hard disk card. In other words, it is possible to continue recording the captured image until both the semiconductor memory card and the hard disk card have no free space.

According to the above processing, when both the semiconductor memory card and the hard disk card are mounted, the features of the semiconductor memory card, that is, the power consumption is low and the input / output speed is high, are sufficiently exhibited. In addition, the advantage of the hard disk card that the recording capacity is large can be utilized.

Further, every time the input / output of the semiconductor memory card and the hard disk card is completed, the power supply to the card slot in which they are mounted is stopped, so that unnecessary power consumption by the memory card does not occur.
In order to supply power only to the image memory that temporarily stores image data when it is necessary to hold the memory,
Power consumption can be further reduced.

When no semiconductor memory card is mounted,
When only the hard disk card is installed,
After the determination in step # 108, power supply to the stopped image memory is started (# 300), and a signal is output from the CCD that has finished capturing the image to generate image data (# 302). . Then, the generated image data is stored in the image memory (# 304).

The signal output from the CCD is performed for the same number of pixels as in step # 202. However,
The generated image data is not immediately recorded on the hard disk card. That is, it is determined whether or not the output from all the pixels of the CCD has been completed (# 306), and the processes of steps # 302 and # 304 are repeated until the signal output of all the pixels is completed. Therefore, unrecorded image data representing the entire image is stored in the image memory.

After the image memory stores the image data for all the pixels of the CCD, power supply to the card slot in which the hard disk card is mounted is started (# 30).
8) All the image data in the image memory is recorded on the hard disk card (# 310), the image data in the image memory is erased (# 312), and the power supply to the image memory and the card slot of the hard disk card is stopped (# 310). #
314). Then, the free space of the hard disk card in the mounting status table is updated to a value reduced by one frame of the image (# 316), and the process returns to step # 104 to prepare for shooting of the next recording image.

Also in this case, the power supply to the card slot is stopped during the period when no hard disk card is input, so that useless power consumption can be avoided. Since the hard disk card is driven mechanically and consumes a considerable amount of power even when no input / output is performed, the effect of reducing power consumption by stopping power supply during a period when no input is performed is significant.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in reproducing and displaying an image recorded on a hard disk card in the reproduction mode. This process is also one subroutine of the program of the overall control unit 211.
Also in FIG. 10, for simplicity, the semiconductor memory card is described as “card S” and the hard disk card is described as “card H”.

First, the supply of electricity to the image memory 209 and the two card slots 17a and 17b is stopped (# 40).
2). Next, it waits for an instruction to start reproduction and display of an image (# 404). This instruction is given by operating the switch 13c. By operating the switches 13a and 13b prior to the operation of the switch 13c, it is possible to specify the number of the recorded frame image to be displayed. If there is no such designation, it is assumed that the image recorded at the head of the hard disk card has been designated.

When an instruction to start reproduction display is given, it is determined whether or not a semiconductor memory card is mounted by referring to the mounting status table (# 406). It is determined whether there is more than three frames of the image (# 408). This will be done in a later step # 502
Is a preparation for copying data for three frames of an image to a semiconductor memory card.

If there is free space in the semiconductor memory card, power supply to the card slot in which the hard disk card is mounted and the card slot in which the semiconductor memory card is mounted is started (# 500). The image data of the frame is copied to the semiconductor memory card (# 502). Here, the data to be copied includes the data of the designated image and the image of one frame before and after the image. If the specified image is the first image, copy the data of the last image as the image data of the previous frame, and if the specified image is the last image, copy the data of the last image as the data of the next image. Copy the image from.

After copying the data, the power supply to the card slot of the hard disk card is stopped (# 50).
4). Then, the data of the designated image is copied from the semiconductor memory card to the VRAM 210 (# 506),
The image is displayed on the LCD 10 (# 508).

Next, it is determined whether or not the end of the reproduction mode is instructed by operating the switch 14 (# 510).
When the end is instructed, the power supply to the card slot of the semiconductor memory card is stopped (# 518), and the process returns to the main routine. When the end is not instructed, it is determined whether or not an operation of the switches 13a and 13b is instructed to switch the image to be reproduced and displayed (# 512). If the switching has not been instructed, the process returns to step # 510 and waits for the end of the reproduction mode or the instruction to switch the display image.

When the switching is instructed, it is determined whether or not the data of the image to be newly displayed exists in the semiconductor memory card, that is, whether or not the data is included in the data copied in step # 502. (# 51
4). If there is, the process returns to step # 560 to display the image (# 508).

If the data of the image to be newly displayed does not exist in the semiconductor memory card, the data of the image of the three frames copied in step # 502 is deleted from the semiconductor memory card (# 516). Then, step # 500
Then, the data of the image to be newly displayed and the image data of each frame before and after are copied from the hard disk card to the semiconductor memory card (# 502), and the new images are displayed (# 506, # 508).

If it is determined in step # 406 that the semiconductor memory card has not been inserted, or
If it is determined in step 408 that the attached semiconductor memory card has no free space for three frames of the image, power supply to the card slot in which the hard disk card is attached is started (# 600). The image data is copied to the VRAM (# 602). Then, power supply to the card slot of the hard disk card is stopped (# 604), and an image is displayed on the LCD (# 606).

Next, it is determined whether or not the end of the reproduction mode is instructed (# 608). When the end is instructed, the process returns to the main routine. When the end is not instructed, it is determined whether or not the switching of the image to be reproduced and displayed is instructed (# 610). If the switching has not been instructed, the process returns to step # 608, and waits for the end of the reproduction mode or the switching of the display image is instructed. When the switching is instructed, the process returns to step # 600 to newly perform the switching. The image is displayed (# 602, # 606).

As described above, when a semiconductor memory card having a free space for three frames of images is mounted, the input / output of the hard disk card is performed via the semiconductor memory card with this as a priority card. In most cases, when displaying and displaying an image, the user displays not only one frame but also several frames before and after. By copying the frames before and after the specified image from the hard disk card to the semiconductor memory card in advance, the frequency of reading from the hard disk card in such a case can be reduced, reducing power consumption and playing back. It is possible to quickly display an image. In addition, every time data is read from the hard disk card, the power supply to the card slot is stopped, so that the power consumption can be further reduced.

Although the number of images to be copied from the hard disk card to the semiconductor memory card at one time is three here, this number may be another value.
For example, it is possible to copy the data of the designated image and the images of the two frames before and after the designated image at a time. However, if the number of images to be copied at one time is too large, there is a high possibility that the copied images will not be displayed, thus increasing waste. Considering that point, the number of images copied at a time from the hard disk card to the semiconductor memory card is
About 3 to 5 is appropriate.

As described above, in the digital camera 1 of the present embodiment, when two different types of memory cards are mounted, one of them is given priority over the other based on the characteristics of both. By using the memory card, the characteristics of a memory card having excellent characteristics can be fully utilized in both recording a captured image and reproducing and displaying the recorded image.

Although the digital camera 1 of this embodiment has two card slots and two memory cards that can be installed at the same time, the number of card slots is increased so that more memory cards can be installed. You may. Also in that case, it is still useful to preferentially use one of them based on the characteristics of the installed memory card.

[0093] Although an example in which a memory card is used as an image recording medium has been described above, the present invention is also applicable to a configuration using an image recording medium of another form. It is expected that various image recording media will be developed in the future, but the present invention also increases their utility value.

[0094]

According to the digital camera of the present invention, when a plurality of different types of image recording media are mounted, a priority medium is determined based on their predetermined characteristics, and the priority medium is used preferentially. The frequency of use of an image recording medium having excellent characteristics increases, and the features of the image recording medium can be fully utilized.

For example, by using an image recording medium that consumes less power as a priority medium, it is possible to suppress the consumption of a battery serving as a power supply and prolong a photographable period. Also, by setting an image recording medium with a high input / output speed as a priority medium,
The time required for image input / output can be shortened, and the operation speed can be increased.

By copying the image between the priority medium and the non-priority medium, and using the non-priority medium via the priority medium, the frequency of input / output of the non-priority medium can be reduced. Thus, power consumption can be reduced and the time required for input / output can be shortened. Furthermore, the timing of copying an image between the two media can be shifted from the timing of power consumption of other circuits, so that the peak power consumption of the entire digital camera can be suppressed.

Here, if power is supplied to the drive unit of the non-priority medium only when copying an image between the priority medium and the non-priority medium, the non-priority medium can be used in addition to input / output. Even in the case of a configuration that consumes power, wasteful power consumption can be avoided.

By preferentially using the priority medium when recording the photographed image on the image recording medium, the power consumption required for recording the image can be suppressed, and the next photographing can be started immediately. .

In this case, when the free space for recording the image runs out of the priority medium, the image is copied from the priority medium to the non-priority medium, and the free space is created in the priority medium. The priority medium can be used until both media have no free space, and the features of the priority medium can be fully utilized regardless of the recording capacity of the priority medium.

By preferentially using the priority medium when displaying the image recorded on the image recording medium, it is possible to reduce the power consumption at the time of reproduction display and to improve the usability.

For example, when displaying an image recorded on a non-priority medium, another image is copied from the non-priority medium to the priority medium together with the image to be displayed, and the image copied to the priority medium is displayed. If the image to be reproduced and displayed is changed, the probability that reading from the priority medium rather than the non-priority medium is increased is increased, so that the image to be reproduced and displayed can be quickly switched or power consumption can be reduced. Become.

The digital copying apparatus according to the present invention, in which an image is copied in units of a predetermined amount between two image storage media and power supply to at least one of the two image storage media is stopped each time the image copying is completed. In a camera, by increasing the predetermined amount, which is a unit of copying, the frequency of copying can be reduced, so that the power consumption required for copying can be suppressed. Consumption is also avoided. Therefore, consumption of a battery as a power supply is suppressed, and a period during which an image can be captured is lengthened.

Here, when the image storage medium for stopping the power supply to the drive unit is a removable non-volatile medium,
Power consumption can be reduced by taking advantage of its non-volatility. Further, when the image storage medium for stopping the power supply to the drive unit is a fixedly mounted medium, if the medium is non-volatile, its features are utilized, and the image is temporarily stored even if it is not non-volatile. For this purpose, power consumption can be reduced by utilizing the use of the temporary storage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the digital camera.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the digital camera.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the digital camera.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the digital camera.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a structure of data recorded on a memory card mounted on the digital camera.

FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of the contents of a mounting status table for managing information of a memory card obtained by the digital camera.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of a process of acquiring information of a memory card in the digital camera.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing for recording an image shot by the digital camera on a hard disk card.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing for reproducing and displaying an image on a hard disk card in the digital camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 digital camera 2 main body unit 3 imaging unit 8 memory card 9 shutter button 10 LCD 17a, 17b card slot 31 optical finder 205 A / D converter 206 black level correction circuit 207 WB circuit 208 gamma correction circuit 209 image memory 210 VRAM 211 overall control Unit 212 card interface 218 power supply circuit 250 operation unit 301 photographing lens 303 CCD 313 signal processing circuit 314 timing generator

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kenji Nakamura 2-3-13 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka City Inside Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hitoshi Yano 2-3-3 Azuchicho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi No. 13 Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5C052 AA01 AA17 DD02 GA02 GA04 GB01 GB07 GC05 GE08

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A digital camera using a detachable image recording medium, in which a plurality of different types of image recording media can be mounted at the same time, when a plurality of different types of image recording media are mounted. A digital camera characterized in that, based on predetermined characteristics of each image recording medium, one image recording medium is set as a priority medium, and another image recording medium is set as a non-priority medium, and the priority medium is used preferentially. 2. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined characteristic is power consumption, and an image recording medium with low power consumption is set as a priority medium. 3. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined characteristic is an input / output speed, and an image recording medium having a high input / output speed is set as a priority medium. 4. The non-priority medium is used via the priority medium by copying an image between the priority medium and the non-priority medium. A digital camera according to claim 1. 5. The digital camera according to claim 4, wherein power is supplied to a driving unit of the non-priority medium only when an image is copied between the priority medium and the non-priority medium. 6. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein a priority medium is preferentially used when recording a photographed image on an image recording medium. 7. The free medium according to claim 6, wherein when the free space for recording the image runs out of the priority medium, the image is copied from the priority medium to the non-priority medium to make free space in the priority medium. Digital camera. 8. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein a priority medium is preferentially used when displaying an image recorded on the image recording medium. . 9. When displaying an image recorded on a non-priority medium, another image is copied from the non-priority medium to the priority medium together with the image to be displayed, and the image copied to the priority medium is displayed. The digital camera according to claim 8, wherein: 10. A digital camera using two image storage media, wherein an image is copied in units of a predetermined amount between the two image storage media, and at least one of the two image storage media is copied each time the image is copied. A digital camera for stopping power supply to a drive unit of the digital camera. 11. The digital camera according to claim 10, wherein the image storage medium for stopping power supply to the drive unit is a removable non-volatile medium. 12. The digital camera according to claim 10, wherein the image storage medium for stopping power supply to the drive unit is a fixedly mounted medium.