JP2824987B2 - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera, and more particularly, to an electronic camera having a function that can be remotely controlled by an external control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an electronic camera is configured to operate on a battery power source. When the electromotive force of the battery decreases, it is necessary to replace or charge the battery.
This battery replacement and charging work is troublesome for the user.

Therefore, in a conventional electronic camera, in order to save power consumption, reduce the frequency of battery replacement and charging work, and increase the number of shots, generally, when a shooting operation is not performed, Power is supplied to only the minimum necessary components such as a system controller (CPU), and power is supplied to the entire system when a release switch or the like provided on the electronic camera is operated and a photographing operation is instructed. Like that.

[0004]

By the way, it is desired to connect an external control device such as a personal computer to the electronic camera and remotely control the electronic camera by the external control device.

However, as described above, during non-shooting, power is supplied to only a part of the electronic camera, and power is supplied to the other parts only when a release switch or the like provided on the electronic camera is operated. Therefore, even if an external control device such as a personal computer is connected to the electronic camera, the electronic camera cannot be remotely controlled by the external control device.

The present invention has been made under such circumstances, and in an electronic camera having a function that can be remotely controlled by an external control device, erroneous operation when the external control device remotely controls the electronic camera is prevented. It is another object of the present invention to provide an environment in which remote operation can be smoothly performed.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic camera according to a first aspect of the present invention is an electronic camera having a function that can be remotely controlled by an external control device. Operation mode instructing means for instructing whether or not an operation mode in which operation is performed according to
Power supply means for supplying power to each component of the electronic camera; and power supply of the power supply means when an operation mode for performing an operation according to a remote operation by the external control device is instructed by the operation mode instruction means. If the state is not an appropriate state, a warning means is provided for performing a warning operation indicating to the user that the operation according to the remote control by the external control device cannot be performed.

[0008] An electronic camera according to a second aspect of the present invention includes:
An electronic camera having a function that can be remotely operated by an external control device, comprising: an operation mode instructing unit that instructs whether an operation mode is an operation mode in which an operation is performed according to a remote operation by the external control device, and the electronic camera of the external control device. Determining means for determining a connection state to the electronic camera; and when the operation mode instructing means instructs an operation mode for performing an operation in accordance with remote control by the external control device, the determination means connects the external control device to the electronic camera. If the state is not an appropriate state, a warning means is provided for performing a warning operation indicating to the user that the operation according to the remote control by the external control device cannot be performed.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the electronic camera is remotely controlled by the external control device, the operation mode in which the operation is performed by remote control when power is not supplied from the power supply is set. When a switch operation for setting is performed, it is possible to warn the user that the operation mode for operating by the remote operation cannot be set.

In the second invention, when the electronic camera is remotely controlled by an external control device, the operation is performed by remote control when the external device and the electronic camera are not connected. When a switch operation for setting a mode is performed, it is possible to warn the user that the operation mode for operating by the remote operation cannot be set.

[0011]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of an electronic camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

This electronic camera comprises a photographing lens 1, an exposure control means 2 such as a shutter having an aperture function, a CCD,
, An image sensor 3, a sample and hold circuit 4, an A / D converter 5, a memory control unit 6, an interface circuit 7, a hard disk device, an external storage device such as a memory card,
It has a clock generation circuit 9, a system controller 10, an internal storage device 11, a liquid crystal display 12, a power supply terminal 13, and a battery 14.

The electronic camera is connected to an external control device 15 such as a personal computer and can be controlled by the connected external control device 15. When the external control device 15 is connected, power for the entire system is supplied from the external control device 15 via the power supply terminal 13, and a control signal is input via the interface circuit 7. Also,
When the external control device 15 is not connected, power for the entire system is supplied from the battery 14 via the power terminal 13. However, power is supplied from the battery 14 only to the system controller 10 during non-shooting, and to the entire system when switches SW1 and SW2 described later are turned on and a shooting operation is instructed. The power terminal 13 has a battery terminal T1 and an external control device terminal T2.

The system controller 10 includes a switch SW1, a switch SW2, an auto switch AUTO, a manual switch MANUAL, and a lock switch LOC.
K, various switches such as a remote switch REMOTO are connected. When the switch SW1 is turned on, the exposure control unit 2 controls the aperture amount and prepares for photographing such as determining the shutter speed. When the switch SW2 is turned on, the shutter is opened and photographing is performed. Auto switch AUTO, manual switch MA
A “NUAL”, a lock switch “LOCK”, and a remote switch “REMOTO” are switches for setting an auto mode, a manual mode, a lock mode, and a remote mode, respectively. The auto mode is a mode in which the exposure is automatically controlled to take a picture, the manual mode is a mode in which the exposure is manually controlled to take a picture, the lock mode is a mode in which the photographing operation is prohibited, and the remote mode is a mode in which the external control device 15 controls the entire system. This is a mode for performing control. Each of the above switches is configured so that when one switch is on, the other switches are off.

When exposure is performed under the control of the exposure control means 2, the optical image of the subject from the photographing lens 1 is incident on the image pickup device 3, is photoelectrically converted, and is output as an analog image signal. Therefore, the sample and hold circuit 4 samples and holds the analog image signal from the image sensor 3, and the A / D converter 5 performs A / D conversion on the sampled and held image signal. The A / D-converted image signal is temporarily recorded in the internal storage device 11 under the control of the memory control unit 6, and further stored and recorded in the external storage device 8 via the interface circuit 7. At this time, the image sensor 3, the sample-and-hold circuit 4, the A / D converter 5, and the memory control unit 6 operate while taking timing based on the clock signal generated by the clock generation circuit 9.

Next, the photographing operation of the electronic camera will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The system controller 10 first determines whether or not the lock switch LOCK is on (step S1). As a result, the lock switch LOCK
Is turned on, the determination in step S1 is performed again.
This means waiting for the lock switch LOCK to be turned off to release the lock, and performing the photographing operation after the lock is released.

On the other hand, if the lock switch LOCK is turned off and the lock is released, the remote switch REM
It is determined whether or not the OTE is turned on (step S
2). As a result, if the remote switch REMOTE is turned on, the external control device terminal T2 of the power terminal 13 is turned on.
Is checked to determine whether the external control device 15 is connected and power is being supplied from the external control device 15 (step S3). As a result, when the external control device 15 is not connected, or when the power is not supplied from the external control device 15 even if the external control device 15 is connected, the process returns to step S1 to invalidate the on operation of the remote switch REMOTE. I do.

On the other hand, if the external control device 15 is connected and power is supplied from the external control device 15, the remote mode is set (step S4), and the process returns to step S1. In step S4, when a control signal is input from the external control device 15, a photographing operation according to the control signal is performed.

At step S2, the remote switch RE
When it is determined that the mote is off, it is determined whether or not the switch SW1 is turned on (step S).
5). As a result, if the switch SW1 is turned off, the process returns to step S1, and if the switch SW1 is turned on, it is determined whether or not the auto switch AUTO is turned on (step S6). As a result, if the auto switch AUTO is turned off, the manual switch MA
It is determined whether or not "NUAL" is turned on (step S7). As a result, if the manual switch MANUAL is turned off, the process returns to step S1, and if the manual switch MANUAL is turned on, the manual mode is set (step S8) and the process proceeds to step S10. In step S8, a shutter speed, an aperture value, and the like designated by a manual operation are set.

In step S6, the auto switch AUTO
When it is determined that is turned on, the automatic mode is set (step S9), and the process proceeds to step S10. In step S9, photometry is automatically performed, and a shutter speed, an aperture value, and the like are automatically determined and set based on the photometry result.

In step S10, it is determined whether the switch SW2 has been turned on. As a result, the switch SW2
Is not turned on, the process returns to step S5. On the other hand, when the switch SW2 is turned on, the exposure is controlled by controlling the exposure control means 2, and the image signal obtained by the exposure is temporarily recorded in the internal storage device 11 and stored and recorded in the external storage device 8. (Step S11), ends.

As described above, by enabling the remote mode to be set when the power is supplied from the external storage device 15 connected thereto, the electronic camera can be controlled by the external storage device 15. Become. Further, in the remote mode, power is supplied from the connected external storage device 15, so that the life of the battery 14 can be extended.

[Application Modification of First Embodiment] In the first embodiment, the remote switch R provided on the camera body side is used.
When the remote mode is set by turning on the EMOTE, the remote control is automatically set when the external control device 15 is connected and the power is supplied from the external control device 15 without providing the remote switch REMOTE. The mode may be set.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, when the external control device 15 is not connected and the power is not supplied from the external control device 15, that is, the power is supplied from the battery 14. In this case, even if the remote switch REMOTE provided on the camera body side is turned on, the remote mode is not set, and the photographing operation cannot be controlled by the external control device 15. In this case, the user cannot control by the external control device 15 because of a failure of the camera body, or because the external control device 15 is not connected, or that power is not supplied from the external control device 15. It was inconvenient because it was not possible to determine whether this was due to the above.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, the power source is the battery 14
When the remote switch REMOTE provided on the camera body is turned on while the
A warning that the remote mode cannot be set is issued.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of an electronic camera according to the second embodiment. The hardware configuration of this electronic camera is almost the same as that of the electronic camera according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and only the differences will be briefly described.

In the electronic camera according to the second embodiment shown in FIG.
Mode setting switches in the electronic camera according to the second embodiment of FIG. 1, ie, auto switch AUTO, manual switch MANUAL, lock switch LOC.
K, switches MD0 and MD1 are provided instead of the remote switch REMOTO.

The switches MD0 and MD1 are in an auto mode when both are off, a program mode when the switch MD0 is on, a program mode when the switch MD1 is off, a lock mode when the switch MD0 is off, and a lock mode when the switch MD1 is on. When both MD0 and MD1 are on, the remote mode is set.

Next, the photographing operation in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
A description will be given based on the flowchart of FIG.

The system controller 10 first determines whether or not the switch MD0 is on (step S).
21). As a result, if the switch MD0 is off, it is determined whether the switch MD1 is on (step S22). As a result, if the switch MD1 is off,
That is, if both the switches MD0 and MD1 are off, the auto mode is set, and the switches SW1 and SW2 are set.
The photographing operation according to the auto mode is executed in response to the operation (step S23), and the process ends.

When it is determined in step S22 that the switch MD1 is on, that is, when the switch MD0
Is OFF and the switch MD1 is ON, the lock mode is set. Even if the switches SW1 and SW2 are operated, the photographing operation is prohibited (step S24), and the process ends.

If it is determined in step S21 that switch MD0 is on, it is determined whether switch MD1 is on (step S25). as a result,
If the switch MD1 is off, that is, the switch M
If D0 is on and switch MD1 is off, the program mode is set, and a shooting operation according to the program mode is executed in response to the operation of various switches (step S26), and the process ends.

On the other hand, if the switch MD1 is on, that is, if both the switches MD0 and MD1 are on, the power supply terminal 13 is checked to
It is determined whether or not power is supplied from (step S27). As a result, when power is supplied from the battery 14, that is, when the external control device 15 is not connected and power is not supplied from the external control device 15, the switch operation for setting the remote mode is performed. Is performed, a warning is displayed on the liquid crystal display 12 indicating that the remote mode cannot be set (step S28), and the process ends.

If it is determined in step S27 that power is not being supplied from the battery 14, that is, if the external control device 15 is connected and power is being supplied from the external control device 15, the remote mode is set. If the switch operation for setting has been performed, the remote mode is set, the photographing operation based on the control of the external control device 15 is executed (step S29), and the process ends.

As described above, when the switch operation for setting the remote mode is performed while the power is not supplied from the external control device 15, the remote mode cannot be set on the liquid crystal display 12. Since the warning is displayed, the user can know from the external control device 15 the reason why the camera cannot be controlled. Note that the warning that the remote mode cannot be set may be sounded by a buzzer or the like without depending on the display.

[0038]

As described above in detail, according to the electronic camera of the present invention, in an electronic camera having a function that can be remotely controlled by an external control device, the electronic camera can be remotely controlled by the external control device. Erroneous operation can be prevented, and an environment in which the remote device can be smoothly performed can be prepared.

For example, when remotely controlling the electronic camera by the external control device, when the power is not supplied from the power supply or when the external device and the electronic camera are not connected, the remote control is performed. When a switch operation for setting an operation mode in which an operation is performed by an operation is performed, the user is warned that the operation mode in which the operation is performed by the remote operation cannot be set, whereby the user The reason why the electronic camera cannot be remotely controlled by the external control device can be appropriately known.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an electronic camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a shooting operation of the electronic camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing an electronic camera according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a photographing operation of an electronic camera according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 Interface circuit 10 System controller 12 Liquid crystal display 13 Power supply terminal T1 Battery terminal T2 External control device terminal 14 Battery 15 External control device

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An external control deviceMachine that can be remotely controlled by
NohAn electronic camera havingAn operation to perform an operation according to a remote operation by the external control device
Operation mode instructing means for instructing whether or not the operation mode is set;  For each component of the electronic cameraElectric powerSupply power supply
meansWhen, By the operation mode instruction means, the external control device
The operation mode to operate according to the remote control
If the power supply state of the power supply means is proper
If not, the user is given a remote
Warning that operation cannot be performed
Warning means for performing actions An electronic card characterized by having
Mela. (2)Machine that can be remotely controlled by an external control device
NohAn electronic camera havingAn operation to perform an operation according to a remote operation by the external control device
Operation mode instructing means for instructing whether or not the operation mode is set; The connection state of the external control means to the electronic camera.
Determining means for determining; By the operation mode instruction means, the external control device
The operation mode to operate according to the remote control
In this case, the electric power of the external control device is
When the connection status to the child camera is not proper
Responded to the user by remote control by the external control device.
Warning that indicates that the operation cannot be performed.
With notification means An electronic camera, characterized in that: