JP2001203920A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic camera which can easily transfer data between two peripheral devices having interfaces of mutually different standards. SOLUTION: The digital camera DC1 has a 1st interface 130 and a 2nd interface 13 which have different kinds of standards and a transfer means which transfers data between another digital camera DC2 connected to the 1st interface 130 and a CD-R drive 19 connected to the 2nd interface 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a novel electronic camera having at least a photographing function and a function of performing data transfer between two camera peripheral devices. Here, the electronic camera includes a digital camera and a digital video camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A digital camera basically projects a subject image onto a photoelectric conversion element through a lens, captures the image by photoelectrically converting the image into an image signal, and performs predetermined signal processing on the captured image signal. It is configured to be recorded as digital data on a removable storage medium such as a PC card. Therefore, an image captured by a digital camera is generally taken into a processing device such as a personal computer or an output device such as a printer or a display device via a storage medium.

[0003] In addition, since an image captured by a digital camera is a main source of images handled by a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a personal computer), an interface such as RS-232C or SCSI is provided on the digital camera. Some products have been commercialized so that image data can be transmitted and received online with a personal computer and its peripheral devices (such as a printer and an external storage device) via an interface.

[0004]

In recent years, personal computers have been required to have a high-speed interface for handling a large amount of data such as images in accordance with an increase in processing speed.
EEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers) P-1394 and USB (Universal Seria)
l) new serial communication standards have been proposed.

The IEEE P-1394 interface is a general-purpose interface that can cover a wide range usable not only for a personal computer but also for a product handling digital video images or a LAN (Local Area Network). It is being put to practical use. The USB interface has been proposed in order to simplify the connection between a personal computer and a peripheral device by unifying the interfaces of peripheral devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a printer, which were conventionally separate.

As described above, an interface for connecting a personal computer to various peripheral devices is being standardized.
It is difficult to unify the types of interfaces, and at present the standard interface differs depending on the peripheral device.

Therefore, for example, if the data of the image captured by a digital camera can be transferred to a printer online and printed on recording paper, the image data can be output easily and easily. It is rare that the interface provided with the printer coincides with the digital camera via a computer in which the digital camera is connected to a computer to which peripheral devices such as a printer are connected, and an image processing system by the computer is configured. Data transfer between a camera and peripheral devices such as a printer and an external storage device must be performed.

In a digital camera, since the storage capacity of a storage medium is small and the number of images that can be stored is small, images stored in a storage medium are frequently re-stored in an external storage device having a large storage capacity. If a computer system must be used even when performing such image data transfer processing, the data transfer processing itself becomes large, and a cumbersome operation is required compared to the operability of a camera. . Particularly, in a digital camera in which a storage medium cannot be detached, data can be transferred only on-line. Therefore, it is necessary to connect to a computer system every time data transfer is required, which makes it cumbersome. .

[0009] Such a situation is the same not only when data of a captured image is transferred from a digital camera to a printer or an external storage device, but also when data is transferred between peripheral devices having different types of interfaces.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem of the prior art, and an electronic camera capable of easily performing data transfer between two peripheral devices having interfaces of different standards from each other. The purpose is to provide.

[0011]

An electronic camera according to the present invention comprises:
An electronic camera having a photographing function, wherein a first interface and a second interface of different types are provided, and a first peripheral device connected to the first interface and a second interface connected to the second interface. Transfer means for transferring data between the peripheral devices.

In the electronic camera of the present invention, each of the first and second interfaces corresponds to various standards, so that the first peripheral device and the second peripheral device having different interface standards are used. It can be connected to each of the peripheral devices, and the transfer means can transfer data between the first external device and the second external device. At this time, since the transfer means is provided, there is no need to limit the number of functions to a single function of data transfer by a complicated operation like a personal computer, and data transfer can be performed easily.

In the electronic camera according to the present invention, the first peripheral device may be another digital camera.

In this configuration, data such as image data captured by a digital camera as the first peripheral device is once read into the electronic camera and transferred from the electronic camera to the second peripheral device. You.

In the electronic camera according to the present invention, the second peripheral device may be an external storage device or a printer.

In this configuration, data of the first peripheral device is once read into the electronic camera, and is transferred from the electronic camera to an external storage device or a printer as the second peripheral device. For example, when the first peripheral device is a digital camera, image data captured by the digital camera is transferred to an external storage device via the electronic camera,
Will be saved. The image data is transferred to a printer via the electronic camera and printed on a recording sheet.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an electronic camera according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking a digital camera as an example.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a rear view of the digital camera. 3 is a bottom view of the digital camera, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a signal processing system provided in the digital camera,
FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a main part of the present invention in the overall control unit constituting the signal processing system.

The digital camera 1 comprises a box-shaped camera body 2 and a rectangular parallelepiped imaging section 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the imaging section 3 is detachably mounted on the right side of the camera body 2 when viewed from the front, and is rotatably mounted in a plane parallel to the right side. Imaging unit 3
Has a macro zoom lens 301 for photographing (see FIG. 4).
The CCD (Char) for photoelectric conversion, which will be described in detail later, is provided at an appropriate position behind the macro zoom lens 301.
A Ge Coupled Device) color area sensor 303 (see FIG. 4) is provided. Macro zoom lens 301 and CCD color area sensor (hereinafter, referred to as
It is simply called CCD. Reference numeral 303 denotes an imaging device. This imaging device photoelectrically converts an optical image of a subject with each pixel of the CCD 303 and captures the image as a charge signal. In addition, a dimming sensor 305 that receives the flash light reflected from the subject is disposed at an appropriate position of the imaging unit 3.
The signal from 5 is supplied to the dimming circuit 304 (see FIG. 4).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, a grip portion 4 is provided at an appropriate position on the left end of the camera body 2 as shown in FIG.
A built-in flash 5 is provided at an appropriate position on the right end.

The digital camera 1 according to the present embodiment has two different cable connection terminals 1 as will be described later.
3 and 130, and in addition to the photographing and reproducing functions, performs data transfer between a first peripheral device externally connected to the cable connection terminal 13 and a second peripheral device externally connected to the cable connection terminal 130. It also has an intermediary function.

A memory card 8 is provided on the right side of the camera body 2.
Is provided, and the cable connection terminal 13 is provided on the upper side thereof. The cable connection terminal 13 is provided on the left side of the camera body 2 at a position opposite to the cable connection terminal 13. The cable connection terminal 13 is, for example, IEEE P-1394.
An interface conforming to the standard is used, for example, when connecting a printer or an external storage device. In the present embodiment, a CD-R drive 19 as an external storage device
(See FIG. 4). On the other hand, the cable connection terminal 130 has, for example, an interface conforming to the RS-232C standard, and is used, for example, when connecting another digital camera DC2 (see FIG. 4).

On the upper surface of the camera body 2, a switch 6 for frame advance when reproducing a recorded image is provided substantially in the center thereof.
7 are provided. The switch 6 is a switch (hereinafter referred to as an UP switch) for advancing the recorded image in a direction in which the frame number increases (the direction of the photographing order), and the switch 7 is a direction in which the frame number of the recorded image decreases. (Hereinafter referred to as a DOWN switch). The switches 6 and 7 are used to transfer captured image data stored in a digital camera externally connected to the cable connection terminal 13 to the cable connection terminal 1 as described later.
When the image data is transferred to an external storage device or a printer externally connected to the device 30, the device also functions as a frame advance switch for selecting a captured image to be transferred. DO
On the right side of the WN switch 7, an erase switch D for erasing an image recorded on the memory card 8 is provided.
On the left side of the P switch 6, a shutter button 9 is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a battery loading chamber 18 is provided on the bottom of the camera body 2, and the loading port of the battery loading chamber 18 is closed by a clamshell type lid 15. It has become. The digital camera 1 in the present embodiment uses, for example, a power supply battery in which four AA batteries are connected in series as a drive source.

As shown in FIG. 2, an LCD (Liquid) for displaying a captured image on a monitor (corresponding to a viewfinder) and reproducing and displaying a recorded image is provided on the back of the camera body 2 as shown in FIG. Crystal Dis
play) display unit 10 is provided. Below the LCD display unit 10, three push buttons 10a, 10b and 10c are provided. Push buttons 10a and 10
b is displayed on the LCD display unit 10 in FIG.
When the push button 10a is pressed, the instruction mark of ">" moves upward, and when the push button 10b is pressed, the instruction mark moves downward. When the push button 10c is pressed, the selection of the menu item indicated by the instruction mark is confirmed.

On the left side below the push buttons 10a, 10b and 10c, a compression ratio setting slide switch 12 for switching and setting the compression ratio K of the image data recorded on the memory card 8 is provided. The compression ratio setting slide switch 12 has two compression ratios K of 1/8 and 1/20.
Can be selected and set. For example, a compression ratio setting switch 1
Slide 2 to the right to set the compression ratio K = 1/8, and to the left to set the compression ratio K = 1/20. In the present embodiment, two types of compression ratios K can be selected and set, but three or more types of compression ratios K
May be selectively set.

An FL mode setting switch 11 is provided above the LCD display section 10. On the right side thereof, an operation menu call switch MENU and a power switch PS are provided.
And a shooting / playback mode setting switch 14 are provided in this order.

The FL mode setting switch 11 is a mode relating to flash light emission, an "automatic light emission mode" in which the built-in flash 5 is automatically fired in accordance with the luminance of the subject.
The FL mode is set to one of a “forced light emission mode” in which the built-in flash 5 is forcibly emitted regardless of the subject brightness and a “light emission prohibited mode” in which light emission of the built-in flash 5 is prohibited. Each time the switch 11 is pressed, each mode of "automatic light emission", "forced light emission" and "light emission inhibition" is cyclically switched, and any one of the modes is selectively set.

Each time the power switch PS is pressed, "ON" and "OFF" are alternately switched.

The shooting / playback mode setting switch 14 is
It consists of a two-contact slide switch for switching between "shooting mode" and "reproduction mode". For example, sliding to the right sets the playback mode, and sliding to the left sets the shooting mode. The photographing mode is a mode for photographing, and the reproducing mode is a mode for reproducing and displaying a photographed image recorded on the memory card 8 on the LCD display unit 10.

Operation menu call switch MENU
Is a push switch. When the switch is pressed while the shooting / playback mode setting switch 14 is set to the “playback mode”, each time the button is pressed, for example, L of the operation menu shown in FIG.
Display and non-display on the CD display unit 10 are alternately repeated. In this operation menu, items of “multi-playback”, “interval playback”, “delete” and “initialize card” related to the digital camera 1 are normally displayed. When the connection of an external storage device such as a CD-R drive or the connection of a digital camera to the cable connection terminal 130 is recognized, an item A of “external storage device control” is additionally displayed.

Here, the “multi-play” means that all the shot images stored in the memory card 8 are displayed on the LCD display unit 10.
This is a process of displaying an index on the display. In this multi-play, thumbnail images of each frame are displayed in an array according to a predetermined display format. The “interval playback” is a process of sequentially displaying captured images of a plurality of frames selected as playback images on the LCD display unit 10 at predetermined time intervals. “Delete” is a process of deleting a captured image of a selected frame from the captured images stored in the memory card 8. “Card initialization” is processing for initializing the memory card 8. Since all the stored image data is deleted in this initialization process, it is used when all the shot images are deleted at once.

"External storage device control"
An externally connected external storage device (for example, a CD-R drive 19) or a digital camera DC2 is transferred under the control of the digital camera 1 between the external storage device (for example, a CD-R drive 19) and the digital camera DC2. This is a process of performing transfer and the like. This processing is performed by the communication unit 211.
This is carried out by exchanging commands and data with the external storage device according to a.

When the item A of "external storage device control" is selected and executed by operating the push button 10a or the like, a submenu shown in FIG. This submenu has items of “copy selected image”, “move selected image”, “initialize media”, and “control external digital camera”, one of which is operated by push button 10a or the like. Is selected and executed. “Copy selected image” means to copy selected image data from a plurality of image data stored in the external storage device to the memory card 8 of the digital camera 1 or the storage medium of the externally connected digital camera DC2. This is the processing to be performed. “Move selected image” refers to moving selected image data from the plurality of image data stored in the external storage device to the memory card 8 of the digital camera 1 or the storage medium of the externally connected digital camera DC2. This is the processing to be performed. "Media initialization" is a process for initializing a storage medium used for the externally connected digital camera DC2 or external storage device. The “control of the external digital camera” is a process of remotely controlling, by the digital camera 1, processes such as a photographing operation of the externally connected digital camera DC2 and writing / reading of data to / from a storage medium. In this process, the mode of the digital camera DC2 externally connected to the digital camera 1 is substantially forcibly set to the PC connection mode (a mode in which the digital camera 1 is connected to a personal computer and processing is performed according to a command from the personal computer). The digital camera DC2 is placed under the control of the digital camera 1. Therefore, when the digital camera 1 is viewed from the externally connected digital camera DC2, the digital camera 1 is a device equivalent to a personal computer.

In the submenu shown in FIG. 9, available menu items change depending on the type of the external storage device connected to the connection terminal 13. For example, in the case of the CD-R drive 19, "initialize medium" can be used only when an uninitialized medium is inserted.

Next, a signal processing system built in the digital camera 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The camera main unit 2 mainly includes the image pickup unit 3
After subjecting the image signal captured by the CCD 303 to predetermined signal processing, processing such as display on the LCD display unit 10, recording on the memory card 8, and transfer to a personal computer is performed. Is as follows.

The CCD 303 is a macro zoom lens 30
The light image of the object formed by the step 1 is represented by R (red), G
The image signal is converted into an image signal of a color component of (green) and B (blue) (a signal composed of a signal sequence of pixel signals received by each pixel) and output to the signal processing circuit 313. The driving operation of the CCD 303 is controlled based on a driving control signal from the timing generator 314.

The timing generator 314 generates various drive control signals for controlling the CCD 303 based on the reference clock transmitted from the timing control circuit 202. As the drive control signal, for example, a clock signal such as an integration start / end (exposure start / end) timing signal and a read control signal (horizontal synchronization signal, vertical synchronization signal, transfer signal, etc.) of a light receiving signal of each pixel is applicable. These signals are output to the CCD 303. The timing control circuit 202 generates a clock signal for the A / D converter 205 in addition to the reference clock for the timing generator 314.

The signal processing circuit 313 performs predetermined analog signal processing on an image signal (analog signal) output from the CCD 303, and includes a CDS (correlated double sampling) circuit and an AGC (auto gain control) circuit. The noise of the image signal is reduced by the CDS circuit, and the level of the image signal is adjusted by adjusting the gain of the AGC circuit.

The exposure control in the image pickup section 3 is performed by adjusting the exposure amount of the CCD 303, that is, the charge accumulation time of the CCD 303 corresponding to the shutter speed, since the stop is a fixed stop. If an appropriate shutter speed cannot be set when the subject brightness is low,
By adjusting the level of the image signal output from the CD 303, improper exposure due to insufficient exposure is corrected.
That is, when the luminance is low, the exposure control is performed by combining the shutter speed and the gain adjustment. The level adjustment of the image signal is performed in the gain adjustment of the AGC circuit in the signal processing circuit 313.

The output signal of the signal processing circuit 313 is A / D
It is provided to a converter 205. The A / D converter 205 converts each pixel signal of the image signal into a 10-bit digital signal. Based on an A / D conversion clock signal input from the timing control circuit 202, each A / D converter 205 Signal) into a 10-bit digital signal.

The digital signal converted by the A / D converter 205 is converted to a black level correction circuit 206 and a WB circuit 207.
After passing through the gamma correction circuit 208, the image data is supplied to the image memory 209.

The black level correction circuit 206 corrects the black level of a digital pixel signal (hereinafter referred to as pixel data) to a reference black level.

The WB circuit 207 performs level conversion of the pixel data of each of the R, G, and B color components so that the white balance is also adjusted after the γ correction. WB
The circuit 207 converts the level of the pixel data of each of the R, G, and B color components using the level conversion table input from the overall control unit 211. Note that each color component conversion coefficient (gradient of the characteristic) in the level conversion table is set by the overall control unit 211 for each captured image.

The gamma correction circuit 208 corrects the gamma characteristics of the pixel data, has six types of gamma correction tables having different gamma characteristics, and uses a predetermined gamma correction table according to a shooting scene and shooting conditions. Gamma correction of data is performed.

The image memory 209 for inputting the corrected and adjusted pixel data has a storage capacity for one frame. That is, when the CCD 303 has n rows and m columns of pixels, n × m It has a storage capacity for pixel data for each pixel, and stores each pixel data at a corresponding pixel position. The pixel data stored in the image memory 209 is provided to the VRAM 210 via the overall control unit 211 each time storage of one frame is completed.

The VRAM 210 is a buffer memory for pixel data reproduced and displayed on the LCD display unit 10.
It has a storage capacity of pixel data corresponding to the number of pixels of the D display unit 10.

In the photographing standby state, the A / D converters 205 to γ correction circuit 208 perform predetermined signal processing on each pixel data of an image picked up by, for example, every 1/30 (second) by the image pickup unit 3. After that, while being stored in the image memory 209, the VRAM 2
10 and displayed on the LCD display unit 10. Thus, the photographer can visually recognize the subject image from the image displayed on the LCD display unit 10. In the reproduction mode, the image read from the memory card 8 is subjected to predetermined signal processing by the overall control unit 211, transferred to the image memory 210, and reproduced and displayed on the LCD display unit 10. The storage of the pixel data in the memory card 8 is as follows.
The operation is performed as described later when the imaging is instructed by the shutter button 9.

The overall control unit 211 is composed of a microcomputer, and controls the driving of each member in the image pickup unit 3 and the camera body unit 2 by organically controlling the photographing operation of the digital camera 1, and In addition to outputting the pixel data of the digital camera 1 to the connection terminal 13, the pixel data of the peripheral device connected thereto via the connection terminal 130, in this example, the pixel data of the digital camera DC 2 is read and output to the connection terminal 13. It controls the data transfer operation. The overall control unit 211 corrects high frequency components of an image to be recorded by a digital filter to correct the image quality of the transfer unit, reads out pixel data from the image memory 209, and generates a thumbnail image and a compressed image. A function of generating a recorded image for recording these images on the memory card 8, and a function of generating a reproduced image for reproducing images recorded on the memory card 8 on the LCD display unit 10.

The overall control unit 211 has a luminance determination function for determining the brightness (luminance) of the subject, a shutter speed setting function for setting an exposure control value (shutter speed (SS)) based on the luminance, and a timing control. Circuit 2
02, etc.

Therefore, when the photographing is instructed by the shutter button 9 in the photographing mode, the overall control unit 211 determines the thumbnail image of the image taken into the image memory 209 after the photographing instruction based on the recording image generating function. J is determined by the compression ratio K set by the compression ratio setting switch 12.
A compressed image compressed by the PEG method is generated, and tag information (frame number, exposure value, shutter speed, compression ratio K, shooting date, use of flash at the time of shooting,
Both images are stored in the memory card 8 together with information such as unused data). The storage in the memory card 8 is performed by a card I / F 212 for writing image data to the memory card 8 and reading image data.

As shown in FIG. 6, the memory card 8 has storage areas 81 to 85 for storing 40 frames of images at a compression ratio of 1/20, respectively. And high-resolution pixel data (for example, 1280 × 1024 pixels) compressed in the JPEG format and thumbnail display pixel data (160 × 120 pixels). For example, each frame can be handled as an image file in the EXIF format.

Further, the overall control unit 211 includes a first peripheral device connected to the cable connection terminal 130, for example, another digital camera DC2, and a second peripheral device connected to the cable connection terminal 13, for example, a CD-ROM. A function to transfer data to and from the R drive 19 is provided. As shown in FIG. 5, the transfer unit that performs this function includes a communication unit 211a that inquires and recognizes the type of the peripheral device connected to the connection terminal 13, and a pixel data of the digital camera DC2 connected to the connection terminal 130. And the reading means 211b for temporarily storing the data in the VRAM 210 via the image memory 209 or directly. These communication means 211a and reading means 211b operate based on a program for executing when "copy selected image" is selected and a program for executing when "control of external digital camera" is selected. Then, a transfer operation described later is performed. The above two programs are:
It is stored in advance in a storage unit constituting the microcomputer of the overall control unit 211.

A dimming circuit 3 is provided in the camera body 2.
04, a flash control circuit 214 and an RTC 219 are provided. The dimming circuit 304 controls the light emission amount of the built-in flash 5 in flash photography to a predetermined light emission amount set by the overall control unit 211. In flash photography, the reflected light of the flash light from the subject is received by the light control sensor 305 at the same time as the start of exposure, and when the amount of received light reaches a predetermined light emission amount, the light control circuit 304 stops the light emission of the built-in flash 5. A light emission stop signal to be output is output to the overall control unit 211.

The flash control circuit 214 forcibly stops the light emission of the built-in flash 5 in response to the light emission stop signal, whereby the light emission amount of the built-in flash 5 is controlled to a predetermined light emission amount.

The RTC 219 is a clock circuit for managing the shooting date and time. Another drive source (power supply) not shown
Driven by

Reference numeral 250 in FIG. 4 denotes an operation unit. The operation unit 250 includes the UP switch 7, DOWN switch 6, shutter button 9, and FL mode setting switch 1 described above.
1, compression ratio setting switch 12, shooting / playback mode setting switch 14, operation menu call switch MENU
It is a switch equivalent to the above.

In the digital camera according to the present embodiment thus constructed, a CD-R drive 19 as an external storage device is connected to a cable connection terminal (IEEE P-1394) 13 as shown in FIG. The contents of the transfer operation when another digital camera DC2 having only the RS-232C interface is connected to the connection terminal (RS-232C) 130 will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that the digital camera of the present embodiment is called DC1.

First, the photographing / reproduction mode setting switch 14 of the digital camera DC1 is set to “reproduction mode”, and the cable connection terminal 13 of the digital camera DC1 is
The DR drive 19 is connected. Then, the communication means 211a of the digital camera DC1 communicates with the CD-R drive 19 (step ST1), and the connected device becomes a CD.
It is determined whether or not the drive is the R drive 19 (step S
T2). If the device connected to the cable connection terminal 13 is not an external storage device, the system enters a standby state waiting for a peripheral device to be connected to the connection terminal 13 (step ST3). When the communication unit 211a recognizes that the connected device is the CD-R drive 19, the switch M for operation menu call in the reproduction mode is accompanied by this recognition.
The item A of “external storage device control” for controlling an external storage device such as the CD-R drive 19 is added to the operation menu shown in FIG. 8 displayed when the ENU is pressed (step ST4). However, at this stage, the operation menu shown in FIG. 8 is not displayed on the LCD display unit 10.

Next, an operation menu call switch M
When the ENU is pressed, the playback mode is set at this time, and the operation menu shown in FIG.
Will be displayed. Then, the push buttons 10a, 10b, 10
When the item A of “external storage device control” is selected by the predetermined operation of c, the submenu shown in FIG. 9 is opened.

Next, proceeding to step ST5, it is determined whether or not "copy selected image" is to be executed. If "copy selected image" is selected by the push button 10a or the like,
Digital camera D displayed on LCD display unit 10
The pixel data of C1 itself is read (step ST2).
6), a CD as an external storage device via the connection terminal 13
-Transfer to the R drive 19 (step ST27). On the other hand, if "copy selected image" is not selected, the process proceeds to step ST6, where it is determined whether "external digital camera control" is selected in the menu of FIG.
When "control of external digital camera" is not selected, the process enters a standby state waiting for a peripheral device such as the digital camera DC2 to be connected to the connection terminal 130 (step ST9).

On the other hand, when execution of “control of external digital camera” is selected in step ST6,
The communication unit 211a communicates with the digital camera DC2 through the cable connection terminal 130 to confirm the connection (step ST7). If it is determined in step ST8 that the connection is not established, the process proceeds to step ST9, and the same as before. It goes into a standby state. Image of digital camera DC2 on CD-R
When transferring to the drive 19, the digital camera DC2 is connected to the cable connection terminal 130 in a standby state or before that.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step ST8 that the connection is established, the digital camera DC1 switches the digital camera DC2 to the PC connection mode (step S8).
T10). The PC connection mode is a mode that the digital camera DC2 has as described above, and is a mode in which the digital camera DC2 is connected to a personal computer and controlled from the personal computer.

Thereafter, the reading means 211b reads the image in the digital camera DC2 based on the execution program, temporarily stores the image in the VRAM 210 of the digital camera DC1, and the pixel data is reproduced and displayed on the LCD display section 10 of the digital camera DC1. (Step ST11).

Next, the process proceeds to step ST12, where it is determined whether or not the switch 6 of the digital camera DC1 has been pressed.
When the switch 6 is depressed, the reading means 211b reads the next image after the currently reproduced image.
2 and temporarily stored in the VRAM 210, and the pixel data is reproduced and displayed on the LCD display unit 10 of the digital camera DC1 (step ST13). On the other hand, switch 6
If the switch 7 has not been pressed, the process proceeds to step ST14, where it is determined whether or not the switch 7 has been pressed. If the switch 7 has been pressed, the immediately preceding image of the image currently reproduced on the LCD display unit 10 is displayed. The reading means 211b reads the image from the digital camera DC2 and temporarily stores it in the VRAM 210, and the pixel data is reproduced and displayed on the LCD display unit 10 (step ST15).

If both the switches 6 and 7 are not pressed, the operation proceeds to step ST16, and it is determined whether or not the operation menu call switch MENU is pressed. If not, the operation proceeds to step ST17. Are performed in accordance with the key of (1) and the process returns to step ST12. on the other hand,
When the operation menu call switch MENU is pressed, the operation menu shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the LCD display unit 10 (step ST18). Subsequently, step ST1
9 to determine whether "external storage device control" has been selected. If not, step ST2
0, and perform processing (excluding “external digital camera control”) according to the contents of the menu.
Return to T18.

If "external storage device control" is selected in step ST19, a submenu shown in FIG. 9 is opened (step ST21). Then, it is determined whether or not "copy selected image" is selected in this submenu (step ST22). If "copy selected image" is not selected, the process proceeds to step ST23 to select another selected image. Then, a process corresponding to the contents of the menu is performed, and the process returns to step ST21. On the other hand, if "copy selected image" is selected, the process proceeds to step ST24, where the original pixel data of the image currently displayed on the LCD display unit 10 is read again from the digital camera DC2 and temporarily stored in the image memory 20.
9 and then proceeds to step ST25, where a predetermined compression process or the like is performed, and then transferred to and stored in a CD-R drive (external storage device) 19, and returns to step ST21.

In the submenu, when "control of external digital camera" is selected after "copy selected image", a mode of "control of external digital camera", that is, a mode in which images are transferred from digital camera DC2. From the digital camera DC1 to the reproduction mode in which the pixel data of the digital camera DC1 is transferred to the CD-R drive 19. Thereafter, when the photographing / playback mode setting switch 14 is set to “photographing mode”, the mode is switched to the photographing mode or the power switch PS is turned “off”.
Then, the reproduction mode ends.

Therefore, according to the digital camera of the present embodiment, the image of the digital camera DC2 is transferred between the digital camera DC2 and the CD-R drive 19 having interfaces of different standards.
-Transfer to the R drive 19 by a simple operation.

In the above-described embodiment, an interface conforming to the IEEE P-1394 standard is used for the cable connection terminal 13. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and another interface such as $ SCSI may be used. Is also good. Further, the peripheral device of the camera connected to the cable connection terminal 13 is not limited to the CD-R drive, and other external storage devices and printers can be used.

In the above-described embodiment, the cable connection terminal 130 is used as a transfer source, and the cable connection terminal 13 is used as a transfer destination. However, the present invention conversely uses the cable connection terminal 130 as a transfer destination. , Cable connection terminal 1
3 may be used as the transfer source.

In the above-described embodiment, an interface conforming to the RS-232C standard is used for the cable connection terminal 130. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and another interface such as a USB may be used. .
However, it is assumed that the type is different from the interface of the cable connection terminal 13. Also, the cable connection terminal 130
As a peripheral device connected to the digital camera, not only a digital camera having only an interface conforming to the RS-232C standard, but also a digital camera having an interface of another standard or a similar digital video camera may be used.

Although not explicitly stated in the above embodiment, if the digital camera DC1 and the digital camera DC2 have different specifications, for example, compression ratio, number of pixels, data transfer speed, timing, etc., the transfer means is transmitted to the transfer means. This can be coped with by adding a change means for changing the specification.

In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to a digital camera having a photographing and reproducing function. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be similarly applied to a digital camera having a photographing function. .

In the above-described embodiment, the transfer means for realizing data transfer is provided in the digital camera. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the transfer means is provided in the digital video camera. You may.

[0078]

As described above in detail, the present invention relates to an electronic camera having an image pickup function, wherein first and second interfaces of different types are connected to each other, and the first and second interfaces are connected to the first interface. And a transfer means for transferring data between the first peripheral device and the second peripheral device connected to the second interface. Therefore, each of the first and second interfaces can be variously connected. By complying with the standard, it is possible to connect to the first peripheral device and the second peripheral device having different interface standards, respectively, and to transfer the first external device and the second external device by the transfer means. It is possible to transfer data between devices, and because of the transfer means, it is possible to transfer data from many functions by complicated operations like a personal computer. Until the one function without the need to continue to limit may perform data transfer easily.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the first peripheral device is configured to be another digital camera, data such as image data captured by the digital camera as the first peripheral device is obtained. Is once read into the electronic camera and transmitted from the electronic camera to the second peripheral device.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the second peripheral device is an external storage device or a printer, the data of the first peripheral device is once read into the electronic camera, The electronic camera transmits the image data to an external storage device or a printer, which is a second peripheral device.

[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 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the digital camera of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a signal processing system provided in the digital camera in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a main part of the present invention in the overall control unit constituting the signal processing system of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a memory card provided in the digital camera in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 shows a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a state where another digital camera is connected to a CD-R drive.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an operation menu displayed on an LCD display unit provided in the digital camera according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a submenu displayed on an LCD display unit provided in the digital camera according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart (first half) of performing data transfer in a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart (second half) of performing data transfer in the digital camera according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, DC1 Digital camera DC2 Another digital camera 13, 130 Cable connection terminal 19 CD-R drive 211 Overall control unit 211a Communication unit 211b Reading unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] An electronic camera having a photographing function, wherein a first interface and a second interface of different types are provided.
And transfer means for transferring data between a first peripheral device connected to the first interface and a second peripheral device connected to the second interface. Electronic camera. 2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the first peripheral device is another digital camera. 3. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the second peripheral device is an external storage device or a printer.