JP2006148740A - Image taking device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image taking device which prevents image data from being broken when dropped. <P>SOLUTION: A digital camera 2 comprises an acceleration sensor 65 and a drop determining circuit 67. The drop determining circuit 67 determines whether or not acceleration detected by the acceleration detecting sensor 65 is gravitational acceleration. When it is determined that the acceleration detected by the acceleration detecting sensor 65 is the gravitational acceleration, the drop determining circuit 67 outputs a detection signal. A dropping time calculating circuit calculates a dropping time falsely to define a compression rate depending on the dropping time. A comparing circuit 74 compares the dropping time with a time required for writing the image data. When the time required for writing the image data is equal to or longer than the dropping time, a write control circuit 78 is switched from a regular mode to a drop mode, and the image data compressed according to a compreasion rate is written in a record medium 60. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a photographing apparatus that records image data on a recording medium, and more particularly to a photographing apparatus that reliably writes image data to a recording medium.

  Currently, photographing apparatuses such as mobile phones and digital cameras are rapidly spreading. In the photographing apparatus, image data of a subject is acquired based on an electric signal output from an image sensor that receives a light beam from a photographing lens. In a digital camera, formation of image data is started in response to pressing of the shutter button, and the image data is recorded on a recording medium that is detachably attached to the digital camera as an image file in accordance with a standard such as DCF (Design Rule for Camera File system). To be recorded.

In general, electronic devices including imaging devices are vulnerable to shocks and vibrations, and therefore, attempts have been made for electronic devices to deal with the shocks and vibrations. Patent Document 1 discloses a hard disk protection device that stops a recording operation and detects a magnetic head from a recording / reproducing area when an impact or vibration is detected. As a result, the magnetic head was prevented from being damaged, and data loss due to erroneous recording could be prevented.
JP-A-6-275002

  By the way, the photographing apparatus is equipped with a detachable recording medium, a writing control circuit for controlling writing of image data to the recording medium, and the like, and the image data is transferred to the recording medium by the writing control circuit in response to pressing of the shutter button. Written.

  However, when a strong impact is applied to the photographing apparatus, for example, by dropping the photographing apparatus when the shutter button is pressed, the image data may be lost or noise may be superimposed on the image data. If the image data on which noise is superimposed is written on the recording medium, the image data cannot be read out and the image cannot be reproduced. In addition, if image data on which noise is superimposed is overwritten, the original image data is destroyed and the image cannot be reproduced.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a photographing apparatus that reduces or prevents image data from being destroyed when the photographing apparatus falls.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the photographing apparatus of the present invention, image data formed based on a signal from an image sensor is temporarily stored in a storage unit, and the image data stored in the storage unit is attached / detached. A photographing apparatus for writing on a freely mounted recording medium, a drop detecting means for detecting a fall, and a writing control means for controlling writing of image data from the storage unit to the recording medium in accordance with a detection signal from the drop detecting means With. When a detection signal is input from the drop detection unit during writing of image data, the writing control unit switches from the first mode having a long writing time to the second mode having a short writing time. And

  Further, the writing control means is controlled by an overall control means for controlling the entire apparatus, and the overall control means preferentially processes the writing of image data from the storage unit to the recording medium in the second mode. And In particular, by only writing image data in the second mode, the image data can be written faster than in the first mode.

  In addition, in the second mode, the image data written on the recording medium is the above-described calculation means for pseudo-calculating a fall time from when the fall is detected by the fall detection means to when it collides with the ground. The compression is performed so that the writing is completed within the fall time calculated by the calculation means.

  Further, it is a photographing device that temporarily stores image data formed on the basis of a signal from the image sensor in a storage unit, and records the image data stored in the storage unit on a detachably mounted recording medium, A drop detection unit configured to detect a fall; and a writing control unit configured to control writing of image data from the storage unit to the recording medium in accordance with a detection signal from the drop detection unit. When a detection signal is input from the drop detection unit during the writing of the image data, the writing control unit forcibly terminates the writing of the image data to the recording medium.

  In addition, a communication unit for transmitting image data stored in the storage unit to the outside is provided.

In addition, the counter has a timing unit that starts counting the fall time calculated by the calculation unit in response to the input of the detection signal from the fall detection unit, and the count end signal is input from the timing unit in response to the end of the fall time count. In response, the communication means forcibly terminates the transmission of the image data.

  In addition, when a detection signal is input from the fall detection unit during the transmission of the image data, the communication unit transmits a fall detection signal indicating that the gravitational acceleration is detected together with the image data.

  Further, the communication device communicates with the photographing device, and when receiving a fall detection signal indicating that gravity acceleration has been detected, the received image data is deleted together with the fall detection signal.

  According to the photographing apparatus of the present invention, the image capturing apparatus includes a fall detection unit that detects a fall, and a write control unit that controls writing of image data from the storage unit to the recording medium in accordance with a detection signal from the fall detection unit. When a detection signal is input from the drop detection means during data writing, the writing control means switches from the first mode, which requires a long time for writing, to the second mode, which requires a short time for writing. When the apparatus falls, it can detect this and transmit the image data in a shorter time, and it is possible to provide an imaging apparatus in which the destruction of the image data is reduced when the imaging apparatus is dropped.

  Further, the writing control means is controlled by the overall control means for controlling the entire apparatus. In the second mode, the overall control means preferentially processes the writing of the image data from the storage unit to the recording medium, so that the image data Can be executed more smoothly, and the destruction of image data can be further reduced.

  In addition, there is provided an arithmetic means for preliminarily calculating the fall time from when the fall is detected until it collides with the ground. In the second mode, the image data written to the recording medium is calculated by the arithmetic means. By compressing so that the writing ends within the falling time, the writing of the image data is ended before the photographing apparatus collides with the ground, and thus the image data is destroyed when the photographing apparatus collides with the ground. It is possible to provide a photographing apparatus that prevents the above.

  In addition, a drop detection means for detecting a fall and a writing control means for controlling the writing of image data from the storage unit to the recording medium in response to a detection signal from the drop detection means, the drop detection is performed during the writing of the image data. When the detection signal is inputted from the means, the writing control means forcibly terminates the writing of the image data to the recording medium, thereby preventing the image data from being destroyed when colliding with the ground. Can be provided.

  Further, it is possible to provide a more convenient photographing apparatus by including a communication unit for transmitting the image data stored in the storage unit to the outside.

  In addition, a timing unit that starts counting the fall time calculated by the calculation unit in response to the input of the detection signal from the fall detection unit is provided, and the communication unit is input from the timing unit in response to the end of the fall time count. By forcibly terminating the transmission of the image data in response to the count end signal, it is possible to prevent the image data that has been destroyed from being sent to the communication partner if the imaging device is dropped during the transmission of the image data. Therefore, it is possible to provide a more convenient photographing apparatus.

In addition, when a detection signal is input from the fall detection unit during the transmission of the image data, the communication unit transmits a fall detection signal indicating that the fall has been detected together with the image data. It is possible to notify the communication partner that the photographing device has been dropped, and it is possible to provide a more convenient photographing device.

  In addition, when the communication device communicates with the photographing device and receives a fall detection signal indicating that the fall has been detected, the communication device is destroyed by deleting the image data received together with the fall detection signal accordingly. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the use of the image data, thereby further enhancing the convenience of the imaging device and the communication device that communicates with the imaging device.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a digital camera that is a photographing apparatus according to the present invention as viewed from the front. The digital camera 2 incorporates a lens barrel 28 described later, and the lens group is held by the lens barrel 28 so as to be movable in the optical axis direction. When the power switch 6 is slid horizontally, the lens group is exposed to the outside through the lens opening 5. A strobe light emitting unit 7 for projecting strobe light is provided on the power switch 6, and a viewfinder objective window 8 facing the subject is provided on the lens barrel 28. A shutter button 10 is provided on the upper surface of the digital camera 2, and when the shutter button 10 is pressed, a recording operation of the subject image data is started. Although not shown, the digital camera 2 is detachably mounted with a recording medium such as an SD memory card or an xD picture card, and image data formed in response to pressing of the shutter button is recorded on the recording medium. Is done.

  The back of the digital camera 2 is shown in FIG. A liquid crystal panel 13 is provided on the back surface of the digital camera 2, and a finder eyepiece window 15 is provided on the liquid crystal panel 13. Next to the viewfinder eyepiece window 15 is a digital camera mode, a still image shooting mode for forming still image data and recording it on a recording medium, and a thumbnail image formed based on the image data recorded on the recording medium on a liquid crystal panel. A mode changeover switch 17 that is set to any one of a replay mode displayed on the screen 13, a moving image shooting mode for shooting a moving image of several tens of frames per second, and an operation lever that can be operated up and down to perform zooming and the like 20 is provided. Below the operation lever 20, a photo mode button 22, a selection / execution button 23 that is pressed when selecting or executing a menu displayed on the liquid crystal panel 13, a cancel operation that is pressed when canceling the menu execution, or the like. A button 24 is provided.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the electrical configuration of the digital camera 2. The digital camera 2 includes a lens barrel 28, a CCD image sensor 30, a signal processing circuit 32, a correction circuit 34, a compression / decompression processing circuit 36, an SDRAM 38, a FIFO (First In First Out) memory 40, an EPROM 42, a system controller (overall control). Means) 45, drop time calculation circuit 47, media controller 50, video encoder 52, liquid crystal drive circuit 54, acceleration sensor 65, drop determination circuit 67, AF (autofocus) detection circuit 70, altitude setting circuit 72, comparison circuit 74, A monitoring circuit 76, a write control circuit 78, and the like are provided, and these are connected to each other via a bus line 56.

  The lens barrel 28 includes a photographic lens 5, and the photographic lens 5 forms an image of a light beam on a light receiving area of the CCD image sensor 30. The CCD image sensor 30 is, for example, an interlace method in which a signal is read from one of two pixels arranged in the horizontal direction in each field, and the timing at which the signal is read is controlled by a timing generator 31. . The electric signal extracted from each pixel in accordance with the drive pulse supplied from the timing generator 31 is input to the signal processing circuit 32.

  The signal processing circuit 32 includes a correlated double sampling circuit, an amplifier circuit, an A / D conversion circuit, and the like, and CCD-RAW data is formed by digitally processing an electrical signal input from the CCD image sensor 30. . The CCD-RAW data formed by the signal processing circuit 32 is input to the correction circuit 34, where image data corrected for various items such as defective pixels, white balance, sharpness, and color tone is formed. The EPROM 42 stores various correction data referred to during image processing, drive data read out during autofocus, and the like. When the correction circuit 34 corrects CCD-RAW data, the correction read out from the EPROM 42 is stored. Correction is performed based on data and the like. The image data formed by the correction circuit 42 is temporarily stored in the SDRAM 38.

  The image data temporarily stored in the SDRAM 38 is input to the compression / expansion processing circuit 36 and compressed in a predetermined image quality mode. The compression processing of the image data is always performed according to the JPEG method according to the image quality designated by the user.

  The image data compressed by the compression / expansion processing circuit 36 is temporarily stored in the SDRAM 38. Data input / output of the SDRAM 38 is controlled by an SDRAM controller (not shown), and image data stored in the SDRAM 38 is written to the recording medium 60 via the media controller 50. The media controller 50 accesses the recording medium attached to the digital camera and writes the image data transmitted from the SDARM 38 to the recording medium 60.

  The FIFO memory 40 is connected to a video controller, a video encoder 52, a liquid crystal drive circuit 54, and the like. The liquid crystal drive circuit 54 converts input data from the FIFO 40 memory into a drive signal for the liquid crystal panel 13 and supplies the drive signal to the drive driver. To do. The drive driver drives the liquid crystal panel 13 based on the drive signal, and an image is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 13. The video encoder 52 forms a video signal based on the input data from the FIFO memory 40, and an image is displayed on a television connected to the video output circuit 62.

  The acceleration sensor 65 constitutes a drop detection means together with the drop determination circuit 67, detects acceleration in three axis directions of X, Y, and Z axes that intersect perpendicularly to each other, and responds to the acceleration detected in each axis direction. Output a signal. The fall determination circuit 67 determines whether the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 65 is gravitational acceleration based on the output signal from the acceleration sensor 65. When the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 65 is gravitational acceleration, a detection signal indicating that a fall has been detected is output.

  The AF detection circuit 70 determines the in-focus state according to an evaluation formula for evaluating the contrast state of the subject, and inputs a signal to the lens barrel 28. A motor provided in the lens barrel 28 is an AF detection circuit 70. The photographic lens 5 is driven based on the signal from to focus on the subject. Further, the AF detection circuit 70 is provided with a distance measuring circuit, whereby the distance to the subject is calculated.

  The altitude setting circuit 72 sets the height for using the digital camera based on the distance calculated by the AF detection circuit 70. In the setting of the height using the digital camera 2, the height is automatically set by half-pressing the shutter button 10 in addition to the manual method in which the user directly inputs the height using the digital camera 2 by button operation. There is an automatic system. In the automatic method, the distance is measured when the digital camera 2 is turned downward and the shutter button 10 is half-pressed. As a result, the distance calculated by the AF detection circuit 70 is input to the altitude setting circuit 72 and the digital camera 2 Is set as the height to use.

  The fall time calculation circuit 47 calculates the fall time until the digital camera 2 collides with the ground. The drop time calculation circuit 47 calculates the drop time when the digital camera 2 is dropped based on the height set by the altitude setting circuit 72 and the gravitational acceleration data stored in advance in the EPROM 42. The calculated fall time is stored in a built-in memory (not shown) as basic information of the digital camera 2.

  The monitoring circuit 76 monitors image data transmitted from the SDRAM 38 to the media controller 50, and always knows the time required for writing the image data. The time information indicating the time required for writing the image data ascertained by the monitoring circuit 76 is input to the comparison circuit 74.

  The comparison circuit 74 compares the time required for writing image data in the normal mode with the drop time. In response to the input of the detection signal from the drop determination circuit 67, the comparison circuit 74 compares the drop time calculated by the drop time calculation circuit 47 with the time required to write image data under the normal mode. When the time required for writing the image data is shorter than the drop time, the first signal is input to the write control circuit 78 in order to maintain the normal mode. When the time required for writing the image data is equal to or longer than the drop time, a second signal for switching from the normal mode to the drop mode is input to the write control circuit 78.

  The write control circuit 78 writes the image data temporarily stored in the SDRAM 38 to the recording medium 60 via the media controller 50. In response to the access permission signal from the recording medium 60, the image data stored in the SDRAM 38 is transmitted to the media controller 50, and the media controller 50 stores the image data in a predetermined location of the recording medium 60.

  When writing the image data to the recording medium 60, the write control circuit 78 controls the writing of the image data according to the signal input from the comparison circuit 74. When the first signal is input from the comparison circuit 74, the normal mode is set to take a long time for writing image data. When the second signal is input, the time required for writing the image data is short. Set to fall mode. When switched to the drop mode, the image data is sent from the SDRAM 38 to the compression / expansion processing circuit 36, JPEG-compressed according to the compression rate calculated in advance by the drop time calculation means 47, and then written to the recording medium 60.

  In the normal mode, the compression / decompression processing circuit 36 JPEG-compresses the image data so that the image quality specified by the user is obtained. Further, the compression rate of the image data is calculated based on the drop time calculated by the drop time calculation circuit 47. When the drop mode is switched, the image data is compressed according to the calculated compression rate. The compressed image data is temporarily stored in the SDRAM 38.

  The system controller 45 includes a processor (not shown), and the entire digital camera 2 such as the CCD image sensor 30, the signal processing circuit 32, the image correction circuit 34, the compression / decompression processing circuit 36, the liquid crystal driving circuit 54, and the writing control circuit 78. Is supervising. As shown in FIG. 4, when a detection signal is input from the drop determination circuit 67 during the writing of the image data to the recording medium 60, the system controller 45 performs processing other than the process of writing the image data stored in the SDRAM 38 to the recording medium 60. Stop or cancel the process. For example, input of drive pulses to the CCD image sensor 30, processing of electrical signals from the CCD image sensor 30, correction of CCD-RAW data by the image correction circuit 34, etc. are all stopped in response to detection of falling. As a result, the processing power of the system controller 45 can be concentrated only on the writing of image data, whereby the image data can be written on the recording medium 60 in a shorter time. Further, as the system controller 45 performs only the image data writing process, the data transmission bus line 56 can be used mainly for the transmission of the image data, thereby transmitting the image data. Can be expected to speed up.

  Next, the operation of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The height at which the digital camera 2 is used is set by a manual method or an automatic method, and the drop time calculation circuit 47 calculates the drop time based on the set height and the gravitational acceleration data read from the EPROM 42. The compression rate of the image data is determined in advance based on the drop time.

  When a detection signal is input from the drop determination circuit 67 during the writing of the image data, the comparison circuit 74 compares the writing time of the image data in the normal mode with the dropping time. As a result of the comparison, when the first signal is input from the comparison circuit 74 to the write control circuit 78, the normal mode is maintained, and the image data is written to the recording medium 60 with the image quality specified by the user.

  When the second signal is input from the comparison circuit 74 to the write control circuit 78, the normal mode is switched to the drop mode. The image data sent from the SDRAM 38 to the compression / expansion processing circuit 36 is JPEG-compressed according to a compression rate calculated in advance so that the writing is completed within the fall time, and is written to the recording medium 60. By configuring the digital camera 2 as described above, the image data can be reliably recorded even when the digital camera 2 is dropped, and the image data is recorded in the recording medium 60 under the normal mode as much as possible. It is possible to obtain good image data by writing to the.

  The configuration as described above is effective, for example, when the user holds the digital camera 2 to shoot a subject and fixes the digital camera 2 to a tripod. Set and input the height at which the digital camera 2 is positioned when fixed to a tripod. Along with this, the drop time and the compression rate of the image data in the drop mode are set, so that even when the digital camera 2 fixed on the tripod falls or falls, the image data is surely written on the recording medium 60. In the continuous shooting mode in which the subject can be continuously shot, image data is formed and written sequentially in response to pressing of the shutter button 10, but the digital camera 2 is dropped while the image data is being written. In such a case, processes other than writing, such as driving of the CCD image sensor 30, correction of image data, and driving of the video encoder 52, are stopped or stopped, and the writing process of the image data stored in the SDRAM 38 is executed with the highest priority.

  In the above embodiment, the write control circuit 78 is switched between the normal mode and the drop mode in response to the input of the first and second signals from the comparison circuit 74. However, the structure of the digital camera 2 is further simplified. Thus, the normal mode may be switched to the drop mode in accordance with the detection signal from the drop determination circuit 67. By switching the writing control circuit 78 to the drop mode in response to the input of the detection signal, it is possible to reliably record the image data on the recording medium 60 before the collision, and to provide a user-friendly digital camera. it can.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the image data compressed at the compression rate set in advance based on the drop time calculated by the drop time calculation circuit 47 is recorded on the recording medium 60. However, the image data to be recorded on the recording medium is For example, a postview image displayed on the liquid crystal panel immediately after pressing the shutter button may be written on the recording medium. The post-view image is a simple display of the subject image on the liquid crystal panel based on the CCD-RAW data from the signal processing circuit. Since the correction processing in the image correction circuit is omitted, the liquid crystal immediately after the shutter button is pressed. Images can be displayed on the panel. When writing such post-view image data on recording media, the time required to write the data can be expected to be shortened, so that even if the digital camera is dropped, the contents of the image can be understood. Can be recorded on media.

  In the above embodiment, when the drop time is shorter than the writing time in the comparison circuit 74, the image data compressed according to the compression rate calculated in advance is written in the recording medium 60. Not exclusively. In the above embodiment, the compression rate is set so that writing is completed within the fall time calculated by the fall time calculation circuit 47. However, in order to maintain good image quality, a compression rate is calculated by setting a lower limit on the compression rate. A post-view image may be recorded if the rate falls below the level. As shown in FIG. 6, when the writing time of the image data is shorter than the dropping time, the normal mode is maintained, and when the writing time is longer than the dropping time, the second signal is input to the writing control circuit to enter the dropping mode. Switch. In the drop mode, when the time required for writing the image data compressed at the compression rate calculated in advance is shorter than the drop time, the image data is compressed at the compression rate and written to the recording medium. When the time required for writing image data compressed at a compression rate calculated in advance in the drop mode is equal to or longer than the drop time, post-view image data is written to the recording medium. With such a configuration, even when the digital camera is dropped, an image whose contents can be easily grasped can be recorded on a recording medium, and a more convenient digital camera can be provided. .

  In the above embodiment, the image data is JPEG compressed by the compression / expansion processing circuit 36 based on the compression ratio calculated by the drop time calculation circuit 47, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the CCD-RAW data may be thinned out and recorded on the recording medium 60 so that the writing is completed within the drop time calculated by the drop time calculation circuit 47. A detection signal is input from the drop determination circuit 67 to the system controller 45, and the system controller 45 sends a compression command to the compression / expansion processing circuit 36 in response to this, and the compression / expansion processing circuit 36 thins out the CCD-RAW data. To do. The CCD-RAW data thinned out by the compression / decompression processing circuit 36 is written to the recording medium 60 via the SDRAM 38 and the media controller 50. As described above, when the CCD-RAW data is thinned out and recorded on the recording medium 60, data correction in the correction circuit 34 and processing such as JPEG compression in the compression / decompression processing circuit 36 are not necessary. Can be expected to reduce the burden on the recording medium, to reduce the amount of data written to the recording medium 60, and to shorten the processing time. When reading the CCD-RAW data from the recording medium 60 to, for example, a personal computer, it can be executed smoothly by using dedicated software. The amount of CCD-RAW data to be thinned may be changed as appropriate according to the drop time.

  In the above embodiment, the image data compressed so that the writing is completed within the drop time is written. However, the write control circuit 78 forcibly ends the writing of the image data in response to the detection signal from the drop determination circuit 67. You may make it do. As shown in FIG. 8, when the acceleration detected by the acceleration detection sensor 65 is determined to be gravitational acceleration by the drop determination circuit 67, the comparison circuit 74 compares the drop time with the time required to write the image data. If the time required for writing is equal to or longer than the drop time, the writing control circuit 78 forcibly ends the writing of the image data. By forcibly terminating the writing of the image data in this way, it is possible to reliably prevent the destroyed image data from being written to the recording medium 60 and provide a highly convenient digital camera.

  In the above embodiment, a digital camera has been exemplified. However, the present invention is not limited to a digital camera, and can be used for a camera-equipped mobile phone, for example. As shown in FIG. 9, the camera-equipped mobile phone 79 includes a communication interface (communication means) 82 for transmitting image data to an external communication device, and counts the fall time according to the detection signal from the fall determination circuit 67. Is included. A communication interface (hereinafter referred to as a communication I / F) 82 transmits image data to a host computer (communication device) to be described later via a communication antenna 80. When the counting of the falling time is completed, a count end signal is input from the time measuring circuit 85 to the communication I / F 82, and the communication I / F 82 forcibly ends the transmission of the image data accordingly. FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of a communication system including the camera-equipped mobile phone 79 and the host computer. In the camera-equipped mobile phone 79, when a detection signal is input from the drop determination circuit 67 during transmission of image data, a detection signal indicating that a drop has been detected is superimposed on the image data from the communication I / F 80 accordingly. And transmitted to the host computer via the communication antenna 80. The host computer determines whether or not the image data is complete based on the presence or absence of a stop bit added at the end of the image data. If the image data is incomplete, the image data on which the detection signal is superimposed is determined. to erase. As a result, the host computer can avoid using the destroyed image data, and image data that may have been destroyed is not transmitted to the communication partner. In this way, a highly convenient camera-equipped mobile phone and communication device can be provided.

It is the external appearance perspective view which observed the digital camera of this invention from the front side. It is the perspective view which observed the back of a digital camera. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an electrical configuration of a digital camera. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of a system controller. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the digital camera at the time of detecting fall. It is a flowchart of the digital camera which writes post view image data on a recording medium in a specific case. It is a block diagram of a digital camera that thins out CCD-RAW data and records it on a recording medium when dropped. 6 is a flowchart of a digital camera that forcibly terminates writing of image data when the falling time is shorter than the writing time of image data. It is the block diagram which showed roughly the electrical structure of the mobile phone with a camera. It is the flowchart which showed roughly the exchange of data with the mobile phone with a camera and the host computer which communicates with this.

Explanation of symbols

2 Digital camera (photographing device)
5 Photo lens 30 CCD image sensor 32 Signal processing circuit 34 Correction circuit 45 System controller (overall control means)
47 Drop time calculation circuit (calculation means)
60 Recording medium 65 Acceleration sensor 67 Drop determination circuit 72 Altitude setting circuit 78 Write control circuit (write control means)

Claims (8)

In an imaging device that temporarily stores image data formed on the basis of a signal from an image sensor in a storage unit and records the image data stored in the storage unit on a detachably mounted recording medium,
A drop detection means for detecting the fall;
Write control means for controlling writing of image data from the storage unit to the recording medium in response to a detection signal from the fall detection means,
When a detection signal is input from the determination unit during the writing of image data, the writing control unit switches from the first mode that requires a long time to the second mode that requires a short time to write. An imaging device as a feature. The write control means is controlled by a general control means for controlling the entire apparatus,
The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the overall control unit preferentially processes writing of image data from the storage unit to the recording medium in the second mode. Computation means for pseudo-calculating in advance the fall time from when the fall is detected by the fall detection means until it collides with the ground, is provided,
3. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the second mode, the image data written to the recording medium is compressed so that the writing is completed within the drop time calculated by the computing means. . In an imaging device that temporarily stores image data formed on the basis of a signal from an image sensor in a storage unit and records the image data stored in the storage unit on a detachably mounted recording medium,
A drop detection means for detecting the fall;
Write control means for controlling writing of image data from the storage unit to the recording medium in response to a detection signal from the fall detection means,
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when a detection signal is input from the drop detection unit during the writing of image data, the writing control unit forcibly terminates the writing of the image data to the recording medium.   5. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a communication unit for transmitting image data stored in the storage unit to the outside.   A timing unit that starts counting the falling time calculated by the computing unit in response to an input of a detection signal from the falling detection unit; and the communication unit performs the counting according to the end of the falling time counting. 6. The photographing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein transmission of image data is forcibly terminated in response to a count end signal input from a time measuring means.   A fall detection signal indicating that a fall has been detected is transmitted together with image data when a detection signal is input from the fall detection means while the communication means is transmitting the image data. Item 5. The imaging device according to Item 5 or 6. A communication device that communicates with the photographing device according to claim 7, wherein when a fall detection signal indicating that a fall has been detected is received, the received image data together with the fall detection signal is deleted accordingly. Communication device.

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