JP2005020398A - Camera system and digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera system and a digital camera capable of protecting image information obtained by photographing without damaging convenience. <P>SOLUTION: By a radio tag held by a user, authentication information for authenticating a holder is transmitted as radio signals. By the digital camera 10, the radio signals are received through a reception circuit 60 and an antenna 62. By a CPU 40, control for limiting access to an image file stored in a memory card 52 by photographing is executed corresponding to the authentication information indicated by the received radio signals. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a camera system and a digital camera, and in particular, a camera system using a digital camera having a function of storing image information indicating a subject image obtained by shooting and a function of accessing the stored image information, and The present invention relates to the digital camera.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, with the increase in the resolution of image pickup devices such as CCD (Charge Coupled Device) and CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensors, the demand for digital cameras has increased rapidly. Is widely recognized by the public, and an environment that anyone can use easily has been established.
[0003]
However, this type of digital camera, unlike a silver halide photographic camera, can easily see an image (subject image) indicated by image information recorded in the camera.
[0004]
Therefore, while there are many opportunities to lend a digital camera to others, it is necessary to protect image information recorded in a built-in memory such as a semiconductor memory element, or a removable recording medium such as a smart media or a compact flash. The advantage of a digital camera that the photographed image can be easily viewed on a display unit such as a liquid crystal panel provided in the digital camera should not be impaired. In addition, protecting the image information through a complicated operation impairs convenience for the user.
[0005]
Therefore, there is a demand for an environment in which access rights to image information of a digital camera can be controlled without the user being particularly conscious.
[0006]
As a technology that can be applied to meet this demand, conventionally, a portable wireless tag and a main body are used, and an input means that allows a user to input a processing command to the main body, and a wireless tag. And a detection unit that detects a wireless tag when the distance is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, and based on a detection result by the detection unit, there is a technique for performing control to permit or prohibit input by the input unit (for example, (See Patent Document 1).
[0007]
By applying this technology to a digital camera, input of a processing command to the digital camera can be permitted or prohibited depending on whether or not the user has a wireless tag. The image information thus obtained can be protected.
[0008]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2000-2222059 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, although this technique can protect image information obtained by shooting, in this case, it is also prohibited to input commands other than commands related to accessing image information (for example, commands related to shooting). There was a problem that convenience was lost.
[0010]
For example, when lending a digital camera to another person, only access to the image information recorded so far is prohibited and permission to shoot is permitted, but this cannot be realized with the above-described conventional technology. Convenience is greatly impaired.
[0011]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a camera system and a digital camera that can protect image information obtained by photographing without impairing convenience. .
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the camera system according to claim 1 comprises authentication information storage means in which authentication information for authenticating the holder is stored in advance, and transmission means for transmitting the authentication information as a radio signal. A wireless communication device, image information storage means for storing image information obtained by photographing, receiving means for receiving the wireless signal, and the authentication information indicated by the wireless signal received by the receiving means. And a digital camera provided with control means for performing control for restricting access to the image information stored in the image information storage means.
[0013]
According to the camera system of the first aspect, the authentication information for authenticating the holder is stored in advance by the authentication information storage unit by the wireless communication device, and the authentication information is transmitted as a wireless signal by the transmission unit. Note that transmission according to various communication standards such as the Bluetooth standard and the IrDA standard can be applied as the transmission of the radio signal by the transmission unit. In addition, as the authentication information, it is possible to apply information of any one of numbers, alphabets, symbols, etc., or a combination of a plurality of these.
[0014]
On the other hand, in the present invention, image information obtained by photographing is stored in the image information storage means by the digital camera. The image information storage means includes a storage element such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory), a flash EEPROM (Flash EEPROM), and a smart medium (Small). -Portable recording media such as flash (CompactFlash), ATA (AT Attachment) cards, microdrives, floppy disks, CD-Rs (Compact Disc-Recordables), CD-RWs (Compact Disc-ReWritables), magneto-optical disks, etc. Connected to a fixed recording medium such as Or the like can be used external storage device provided in over server computer or the like.
[0015]
Here, in the digital camera according to the present invention, the wireless signal transmitted by the transmitting means of the wireless communication device is received by the receiving means, and the control means responds to the authentication information indicated by the received wireless signal. Then, control for restricting access to the image information stored in the image information storage means is performed. The access restriction includes prohibition of access (reading, updating, and deleting) to image information and prohibiting some of these reading, updating, and deleting.
[0016]
That is, in the present invention, access to the image information is restricted by the digital camera in accordance with the authentication information indicated by the wireless signal received from the wireless communication device, so that an authorized user of the digital camera can access the present invention. Only by carrying the wireless communication device, image information obtained by photographing can be protected without impairing convenience. Therefore, since the wireless communication device of the present invention should be carried by a legitimate user, a small-sized device such as a wireless tag that has a built-in semiconductor memory and is powered by electromagnetic induction and operates without a battery is used. It is preferable to apply.
[0017]
Thus, according to the camera system of claim 1, authentication information for authenticating the owner is transmitted as a wireless signal by the wireless communication device, and the wireless signal is received and received by the digital camera. Since control is performed to restrict access to image information obtained by shooting according to the authentication information indicated by the radio signal, image information obtained by shooting can be protected without impairing convenience. it can.
[0018]
According to the present invention, as in the invention described in claim 2, the digital camera further includes collation information storage means that preliminarily stores collation information corresponding to the authentication information, and the control means receives the received information. The access may be controlled based on a verification result between the authentication information and the verification information indicated by the wireless signal.
[0019]
As a result, by making authentication information different for each wireless communication device, it becomes possible to restrict access to image information for a user who possesses a wireless communication device compatible with another digital camera. Image information can be protected. The verification information includes all the information that can authenticate the authentication information, such as the same information as the authentication information, information including a part of the authentication information, encrypted information from which the authentication information can be derived, and the like. Information is included.
[0020]
Further, according to the present invention, as in the invention described in claim 3, the authentication information is information indicating any of a plurality of predetermined levels of authority, and the control means of the digital camera includes the authentication information. Control for restricting the access may be performed according to the authority indicated by.
[0021]
Thereby, as a restriction | limiting of the access to image information, the restriction | limiting according to the authority given to the user can be implemented, and the convenience can be improved. Note that the types of authority include the authority of the owner of the digital camera of the present invention, the authority of the person other than the owner and who is permitted to use all processing related to access to image information of the digital camera. The authority of a person who is permitted to use only a part of the processing related to access to image information of the digital camera can be exemplified.
[0022]
Further, according to the present invention, as in the invention described in claim 4, the control unit performs control to limit a use condition to a predetermined condition when the authentication information is not received by the receiving unit. Can be.
[0023]
This prevents unauthorized use of the digital camera even in the case where the digital camera moves away from the legitimate user who owns the wireless communication device of the present invention and may be illegally used by others. it can. Note that the predetermined condition includes a condition related to restriction of photographing operation in addition to a condition related to restriction of access to image information.
[0024]
On the other hand, in order to achieve the above object, the digital camera according to claim 5 is an image information storage means for storing image information obtained by photographing, and a radio signal indicating authentication information for authenticating a user. And a control means for performing control to restrict access to the image information stored in the image information storage means in accordance with the authentication information indicated by the wireless signal received by the reception means. It is equipped with.
[0025]
According to the digital camera of the fifth aspect, the image information obtained by photographing is stored by the image information storage means. The image information storage means includes storage elements such as RAM, EEPROM, flash EEPROM, smart media, compact flash, ATA card, micro drive, floppy disk, CD-R, CD-RW, magneto-optical disk, etc. A portable recording medium, a fixed recording medium such as a hard disk, or an external storage device provided in a server computer connected to a network can be used.
[0026]
Here, in the digital camera according to the present invention, a wireless signal indicating authentication information for authenticating the user is received by the receiving means, and according to the authentication information indicated by the received wireless signal, by the control means, Control is performed to restrict access to image information stored in the image information storage means. The access restriction includes prohibition of access (reading, updating, and deleting) to image information and prohibiting some of these reading, updating, and deleting.
[0027]
Therefore, according to the digital camera of the fifth aspect, when a legitimate user carries the wireless communication device that transmits the authentication information of the present invention, the digital camera operates in the same manner as the digital camera in the camera system according to the first aspect. Therefore, similarly to the first aspect of the invention, it is possible to protect image information obtained by photographing without impairing convenience.
[0028]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, an external configuration of the digital camera 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
[0029]
In front of the digital camera 10, a lens 21 for forming a subject image, a strobe 44 that emits light to irradiate the subject when necessary, and a viewfinder used to determine the composition of the subject to be photographed. 20 is provided. Further, on the upper surface of the digital camera 10, a release button (so-called shutter) 56A that is pressed when performing shooting and a power switch 56B are provided.
[0030]
Note that the release button 56A of the digital camera 10 according to the present embodiment is pressed down to an intermediate position (hereinafter referred to as “half-pressed state”) and to a final pressed position beyond the intermediate position. A two-stage pressing operation of a state (hereinafter referred to as a “fully pressed state”) can be detected.
[0031]
In the digital camera 10, the release button 56A is pressed halfway to activate the AE (Automatic Exposure) function and set the exposure state (shutter speed, aperture state), and then AF (Auto Focus). , Automatic focusing) function is performed to control focusing, and then exposure (photographing) is performed when the button is fully pressed.
[0032]
On the other hand, on the back of the digital camera 10, an eyepiece of the above-described finder 20, a liquid crystal display (hereinafter referred to as “LCD”) 38 for displaying a photographed subject image, a menu screen, and the like are photographed. There is provided a mode changeover switch 56C that is slid and operated when setting a shooting mode that is a mode to be performed and a reproduction mode that is a mode for reproducing a subject image on the LCD 38.
[0033]
Further, on the back surface of the digital camera 10, a cross cursor button 56D and a forced light emission switch 56E that is pressed when setting the forced light emission mode, which is a mode for forcibly causing the flash 44 to emit light during photographing, are further provided. It has been.
[0034]
The cross-cursor button 56D has a total of five arrow keys indicating four upward, downward, left, and right directions of movement in the display area of the LCD 38 and a determination key positioned at the center of the four arrow keys. Consists of two keys.
[0035]
Next, the configuration of the electrical system of the digital camera 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
[0036]
The digital camera 10 includes an optical unit 22 including the lens 21 described above, a charge coupled device (hereinafter referred to as “CCD”) 24 disposed behind the optical axis of the lens 21, and an input analog. And an analog signal processing unit 26 that performs various analog signal processing on the signal.
[0037]
The digital camera 10 also performs an analog / digital converter (hereinafter referred to as “ADC”) 28 that converts an input analog signal into digital data, and performs various digital signal processing on the input digital data. And a digital signal processing unit 30.
[0038]
The digital signal processing unit 30 includes a line buffer having a predetermined capacity, and also performs control to directly store the input digital data in a predetermined area of a memory 48A described later.
[0039]
The output terminal of the CCD 24 is connected to the input terminal of the analog signal processing unit 26, the output terminal of the analog signal processing unit 26 is connected to the input terminal of the ADC 28, and the output terminal of the ADC 28 is connected to the input terminal of the digital signal processing unit 30. . Accordingly, the analog signal indicating the subject image output from the CCD 24 is subjected to predetermined analog signal processing by the analog signal processing unit 26, converted into digital image data by the ADC 28, and then input to the digital signal processing unit 30.
[0040]
On the other hand, the digital camera 10 generates a signal for displaying a subject image, a menu screen or the like on the LCD 38 and supplies the signal to the LCD 38, and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 40 that controls the operation of the entire digital camera 10. A memory 48A for storing digital image data obtained by photographing, a memory 48B for storing various parameters and maps in advance, and a memory interface 46 for controlling access to the memory 48A and the memory 48B. Has been.
[0041]
Further, the digital camera 10 includes an external memory interface 50 for enabling the portable memory card 52 to be accessed by the digital camera 10, and a compression / decompression processing circuit 54 for performing compression processing and decompression processing on the digital image data. It is configured to include.
[0042]
In the digital camera 10 of the present embodiment, a VRAM (Video RAM) is used as the memory 48A, a flash memory is used as the memory 48B, and a smart media (Smart Media (R)) is used as the memory card 52. Yes.
[0043]
The digital signal processing unit 30, the LCD interface 36, the CPU 40, the memory interface 46, the external memory interface 50, and the compression / decompression processing circuit 54 are connected to each other via a system bus BUS. Therefore, the CPU 40 controls the operation of the digital signal processing unit 30 and the compression / decompression processing circuit 54, displays various information via the LCD interface 36 to the LCD 38, the memory interface 46 to the memory 48A, the memory 48B, and the memory card 52, and Each access through the external memory interface 50 can be performed.
[0044]
On the other hand, the digital camera 10 includes a timing generator 32 that mainly generates a timing signal for driving the CCD 24 and supplies the timing signal to the CCD 24, and the driving of the CCD 24 is controlled by the CPU 40 via the timing generator 32.
[0045]
Further, the digital camera 10 is provided with a motor drive unit 34, and driving of a focus adjustment motor, a zoom motor, and an aperture drive motor (not shown) provided in the optical unit 22 is also controlled by the CPU 40 via the motor drive unit 34. The
[0046]
In other words, the lens 21 according to the present embodiment has a plurality of lenses, is configured as a zoom lens that can change (magnify) the focal length, and includes a lens driving mechanism (not shown). The lens drive mechanism includes the focus adjustment motor, the zoom motor, and the aperture drive motor, and these motors are each driven by a drive signal supplied from the motor drive unit 34 under the control of the CPU 40.
[0047]
Further, the release button 56A, the power switch 56B, the mode changeover switch 56C, the cross cursor button 56D, and the forced light emission switch 56E (generally referred to as “operation unit 56” in the figure) are connected to the CPU 40, and the CPU 40. Can always grasp the operation state of the operation unit 56.
[0048]
In addition, the digital camera 10 includes a charging unit 42 that is interposed between the strobe 44 and the CPU 40 and charges power for causing the strobe 44 to emit light under the control of the CPU 40. Further, the strobe 44 is also connected to the CPU 40, and the light emission of the strobe 44 is controlled by the CPU 40.
[0049]
On the other hand, the digital camera 10 includes an antenna 62 and a receiving circuit 60 for receiving a radio signal transmitted from a radio tag 70 (see also FIG. 3), which will be described later, and the receiving circuit 60 is a system bus. Connected to BUS. Therefore, the CPU 40 can acquire the information (authentication information described later) indicated by the radio signal received by the antenna 62 and the reception circuit 60 according to the control of the operation of the reception circuit 60 and the control.
[0050]
Next, the configuration of the wireless tag 70 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the wireless tag 70 includes a memory 74 composed of a nonvolatile semiconductor memory element in which authentication information is stored in advance, and an antenna 76 for transmitting the authentication information to the outside as a wireless signal. , Is provided.
[0051]
Note that the wireless tag 70 according to the present embodiment is operated without a battery by being supplied with power by electromagnetic induction, and the digital camera 10 according to the present embodiment has power supplied to the wireless tag 70 by electromagnetic induction. Is provided with a power supply unit (not shown). The wireless tag 70 may further include an information writing unit for writing authentication information or the like in the memory 74, or the authentication information or the like may be written in the memory 74 using an external writing device.
[0052]
FIG. 4 schematically shows the format of the authentication information according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the authentication information according to the present embodiment includes a header part necessary for communication processing, an ID (Identification) information part for authenticating the owner of the wireless tag 70, and an ID information part. And a checksum part for confirming that the data is normal.
[0053]
The digital camera 10 according to the present embodiment is sold with the wireless tag 70 configured as described above attached. Information stored in the ID information section (hereinafter referred to as “ID information”) is stored in advance in the memory 74 as unique information that is different for each digital camera. Here, as long as the ID information is different information for each digital camera, any one of numbers, alphabets, symbols, etc., or a combination of a plurality of these types may be used.
[0054]
On the other hand, in the memory 48B of the digital camera 10, the same information as the ID information of the authentication information stored in the memory 74 of the attached wireless tag 70 is stored in advance as collation information.
[0055]
The user of the digital camera 10 uses the digital camera 10 while holding the wireless tag 70. At this time, the possession position of the wireless tag 70 is a position within a range where the wireless signal transmitted from the wireless tag 70 can be received by the digital camera 10 (for example, the distance from the digital camera 10 is within 15 cm). Position).
[0056]
Next, an overall operation at the time of shooting of the digital camera 10 according to the present embodiment will be briefly described.
[0057]
First, the CCD 24 performs imaging through the optical unit 22 and sequentially outputs analog signals for R (red), G (green), and B (blue) indicating the subject image to the analog signal processing unit 26. The analog signal processing unit 26 performs analog signal processing such as correlated double sampling processing on the analog signal input from the CCD 24 and sequentially outputs the analog signal to the ADC 28.
[0058]
The ADC 28 converts the R, G, and B analog signals input from the analog signal processing unit 26 into 12-bit R, G, and B signals (digital image data) and sequentially outputs them to the digital signal processing unit 30. To do. The digital signal processing unit 30 accumulates digital image data sequentially input from the ADC 28 in a built-in line buffer and temporarily stores the digital image data directly in a predetermined area of the memory 48A.
[0059]
The digital image data stored in the predetermined area of the memory 48A is read by the digital signal processing unit 30 under the control of the CPU 40, and the white balance is adjusted by applying the digital gain according to the predetermined physical quantity, and the gamma Processing and sharpness processing are performed to generate 8-bit digital image data.
[0060]
The digital signal processing unit 30 performs YC signal processing on the generated 8-bit digital image data to generate a luminance signal Y and chroma signals Cr and Cb (hereinafter referred to as “YC signal”), and the YC signal. Is stored in an area different from the predetermined area of the memory 48A.
[0061]
The LCD 38 is configured to display a moving image (through image) obtained by continuous imaging by the CCD 24 and can be used as a finder. When the LCD 38 is used as a finder, the LCD 38 is generated. The YC signals thus output are sequentially output to the LCD 38 via the LCD interface 36. As a result, a through image is displayed on the LCD 38.
[0062]
Here, when the release button 56A is half-pressed by the user, after the AE function is activated and the exposure state is set as described above, the AF function is activated and focus control is performed, and then the fully-pressed state is continued. In this case, the YC signal stored in the memory 48A at this time is compressed in a predetermined compression format (in this embodiment, JPEG format) by the compression / expansion processing circuit 54, and then is transmitted via the external memory interface 50. And recorded as an electronic file (image file) in the memory card 52.
[0063]
Next, the access right setting process according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows the flow of processing of the access right setting processing program executed by the CPU 40 every predetermined time (1 second in the present embodiment) when the playback mode is set by the mode changeover switch 56C. It is a flowchart.
[0064]
First, in step 100 of the figure, the authentication information is received from the wireless tag 70 by outputting the authentication information reception request to the receiving circuit 60. In the next step 102, the authentication information is received in step 100. Is determined to be received normally, and if the determination is affirmative, the routine proceeds to step 104.
[0065]
In step 104, the ID information in the received authentication information is collated with the collation information stored in the memory 48B, and in the next step 106, it is determined whether or not each information is matched, and an affirmative determination is made. If YES in step 108, the flow advances to step 108 to set so that an image file already stored in the memory card 52 can be accessed, and then the access right setting processing program ends.
[0066]
On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step 102, that is, if the authentication information cannot be received normally, and if a negative determination is made in step 106, that is, the ID information in the received authentication information and the memory 48B. If the collation information stored in the memory card does not match, the process proceeds to step 110, where it is set so that access to the image file already stored in the memory card 52 is impossible. The right setting processing program is terminated.
[0067]
By this access right setting process, the ID information that the authentication information is received from the wireless tag 70 is executed every predetermined time (1 second in the present embodiment) and matches the collation information stored in the memory 48B. While the authentication information included is received, it is determined that the authorized user is using it, and all the image files stored in the memory card 52 can be accessed. When the authentication information including the ID information that matches the verification information is not received, it is determined that the digital camera 10 is separated from the legitimate user, and all the image files stored in the memory card 52 are stored. Access to is prohibited.
[0068]
Note that the setting that disables access to the image file in the above step 110 sets “hidden file” as the directory attribute of the memory card 52 for all the image files stored in the memory card 52 at that time. It can be performed by intentionally changing the contents stored in the FAT (File Allocation Table) of the memory card 52, or accepting commands relating to image file access thereafter.
[0069]
Similarly, the setting that enables access to the image file in step 108 is canceled for the image file in which “hidden file” is set as the directory attribute of the memory card 52 by the processing in step 110. In addition, by the processing in step 110, the changed part is restored to the original for the image file in which the FAT of the memory card 52 is intentionally changed, or a command that is not accepted by the processing in step 110 is accepted. Etc.
[0070]
As described above in detail, in the camera system using the digital camera 10 and the wireless tag 70 according to the present embodiment, the wireless tag 70 transmits authentication information for authenticating the owner as a wireless signal, and the digital camera 10 Therefore, control is performed to restrict access to the image file obtained by shooting according to the authentication information indicated by the received radio signal, and shooting without loss of convenience. The image file obtained by can be protected.
[0071]
In addition, the camera system using the digital camera 10 and the wireless tag 70 according to the present embodiment further includes a memory 48B in which verification information corresponding to the authentication information is stored in advance, and the authentication information indicated by the received wireless signal and the verification information. Since the control for restricting access to the image file is performed based on the result of the comparison, the wireless tag 70 corresponding to another digital camera 10 is possessed by making the authentication information different for each wireless tag 70. The user can be restricted from accessing the image file, and the image file can be protected more reliably.
[0072]
Further, in the camera system using the digital camera 10 and the wireless tag 70 according to the present embodiment, when the authentication information is not received by the receiving circuit 60 and the antenna 62, the use condition is limited to a predetermined condition (this embodiment) In this embodiment, the digital camera 10 is moved away from the legitimate user who has the wireless tag 70, and the other person is in control of the image file stored in the memory card 52 at that time. Even if there is a possibility that the digital camera 10 may be illegally used, unauthorized use of the digital camera 10 can be prevented.
[0073]
In the present embodiment, when the unique authentication information is transmitted from the wireless tag and the ID information of the authentication information does not match the collation information stored in advance in the digital camera, it is already stored in the memory card 52. Although the case where access to the recorded image file is prohibited has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and the authentication information is information indicating one of a plurality of predetermined authorities, The CPU 40 of the digital camera 10 may perform control for restricting access to the image file in accordance with the authority indicated by the authentication information received from the wireless tag 70.
[0074]
Note that the types of authority at this time include the authority of the owner of the digital camera 10, a person who is authorized to use all the processes related to access to image files other than the owner and possessed by the digital camera 10. The authority of the person who is permitted to use only a part of the processing related to the access to the image file that the digital camera 10 has, and the like can be exemplified by the CPU 40 via the receiving circuit 60 and the antenna 62. Access to the image file is restricted according to the authority indicated by the received authentication information.
[0075]
Thereby, since the restriction according to the authority given to the user can be implemented as the restriction of the access to the image file, the convenience can be further improved.
[0076]
In the present embodiment, the case where the wireless tag 70 to which power is supplied by electromagnetic induction is applied has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a type having a built-in power source for driving. It is also possible to adopt a mode in which the wireless tag is applied. In this case, compared to this embodiment, the transmission distance of the wireless signal from the wireless tag can be increased, so that the flexibility with respect to the mounting position of the wireless tag can be improved.
[0077]
In the present embodiment, the case where access to an image file stored in the memory card 52 is restricted according to received authentication information has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, The access to the digital image data stored in the memory 48A can be limited according to the received authentication information. Also in this case, the same effects as in the present embodiment can be obtained.
[0078]
In the present embodiment, as a use condition that is restricted when authentication information from the wireless tag 70 is not received, a condition regarding access to an image file stored in the memory card 52 at that time is applied. Although described, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a condition relating to a shooting operation may be applied as the use condition. In this case, unauthorized use of the digital camera 10 can be prevented at a higher level than in the present embodiment.
[0079]
In this embodiment, the case where image information (image file) of a still image is applied as the image information of the present invention has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, a moving image image Information (image file) may be applied. Also in this case, the same effects as in the present embodiment can be obtained.
[0080]
The configuration of the digital camera 10, the wireless tag 70, and the authentication information (see FIGS. 1 to 4) according to the present embodiment is an example, and can be changed as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention. Needless to say.
[0081]
Furthermore, the processing flow of the access right setting processing program (see FIG. 5) described in the present embodiment is also an example, and it goes without saying that it can be changed as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention.
[0082]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the camera system of the present invention, the wireless communication device transmits authentication information for authenticating the owner as a wireless signal, and the digital camera receives and receives the wireless signal. In accordance with the authentication information indicated by the wireless signal, control is performed to restrict access to the image information obtained by shooting, so that the image information obtained by shooting is protected without impairing convenience. The effect of being able to be obtained.
[0083]
Further, according to the digital camera of the present invention, since a legitimate user carries the wireless communication device that transmits the authentication information of the present invention, the digital camera operates in the same manner as the digital camera in the camera system. In addition, it is possible to protect the image information obtained by photographing without deteriorating the convenience.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an external view showing an external appearance of a digital camera 10 according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electric system of the digital camera 10 according to the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a wireless tag 70 according to the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a format of authentication information according to the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of an access right setting processing program according to the embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Digital camera 40 CPU (control means)
48B memory (collation information storage means)
52 Memory card (image information storage means)
60 receiving circuit 62 antenna (receiving means)
70 wireless tag 74 memory (authentication information storage means)
76 Antenna (Transmission means)

Claims (5)

An authentication information storage means in which authentication information for authenticating the holder is stored in advance, and a wireless communication apparatus comprising a transmission means for transmitting the authentication information as a radio signal;
Image information storage means for storing image information obtained by photographing, receiving means for receiving the wireless signal, and storing the image information according to the authentication information indicated by the wireless signal received by the receiving means A digital camera provided with control means for performing control to restrict access to image information stored in the means;
Including camera system. The digital camera further includes collation information storage means for preliminarily storing collation information corresponding to the authentication information,
The camera system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs control to limit the access based on a verification result between the authentication information and the verification information indicated by the received wireless signal. The authentication information is information indicating any of a plurality of predetermined authority levels,
The camera system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit of the digital camera performs control for restricting the access according to an authority indicated by the authentication information. 4. The camera system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs control to limit a use condition to a predetermined condition when the authentication information is not received by the receiving unit. 5. Image information storage means for storing image information obtained by photographing;
Receiving means for receiving a radio signal indicating authentication information for authenticating the user;
Control means for performing control to restrict access to image information stored in the image information storage means according to the authentication information indicated by the wireless signal received by the receiving means;
Digital camera equipped with.

Images