JP3907665B2 - Electronic camera system, electronic camera, and control method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic camera system, an electronic camera, and a control method, and more specifically, to an electronic camera system, an electronic camera, and a control method including an electronic camera and a camera control device that controls the electronic camera.

A system is known in which an electronic camera is connected to a computer, and a shooting command is issued from the computer to the electronic camera body to execute a shooting operation. (See Patent Document 1)
JP-A-5-219422

  In a state in which the electronic camera and the computer are connected, there are two types of photographing: a photographing operation performed by operating the shutter button of the electronic camera and a photographing operation by a photographing command sent from the computer without operating the shutter button. Is possible. In such a system, the same shooting sequence is processed regardless of which of the two types of shooting operations is performed.

  The present invention executes different shooting sequences between a shooting operation performed by operating a shutter button of an electronic camera and a shooting operation according to a shooting command sent from a computer without operating the shutter button, and when necessary. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic camera system, an electronic camera, and a control method capable of instantly photographing with a shutter button of a camera body.

An electronic camera system according to the present invention is an electronic camera system having an electronic camera and a camera control device connected to the electronic camera, wherein the camera control device transmits a shooting command to the electronic camera. The electronic camera includes a shutter button for instructing a photographing operation, a photographing command receiving means for receiving the photographing command, a buffer memory capable of storing unprocessed image data for a plurality of screens, and the buffer memory When the unprocessed image data stored therein is subjected to image processing and transferred to the camera control device, and when there is unprocessed image data in the buffer memory, the shooting command receiving unit outputs the shooting command. when the received, prohibits the execution of the photographing operation by the imaging command, the transfer hand Run the transfer operation by, if there is an unprocessed image data in the buffer memory, when the photographing operation is instructed by the shutter button to interrupt the transfer operation by the transfer means, the photographing operation by the shutter button It is characterized by having an operation control means for executing.

An electronic camera according to the present invention is an electronic camera connectable to a camera control device, and includes a shutter button that instructs a shooting operation, a shooting command receiving unit that receives a shooting command from the camera control device, and a plurality of screens. A buffer memory capable of storing the unprocessed image data, transfer means for processing the unprocessed image data stored in the buffer memory and transferring the processed image data to the camera control device, and an unprocessed image in the buffer memory If there is data, the upon receiving the imaging command by the imaging command receiving means, said photographing command prohibits the execution of the photographing operation by, executes the transfer operation by the transfer means, unprocessed in said buffer memory If there is image data and a shooting operation is instructed by the shutter button, the transfer means That suspends the transfer operation, and having an operation control means for performing a photographing operation by the shutter button.

The electronic camera control method according to the present invention includes a shutter button for instructing a photographing operation, a photographing command receiving unit for receiving a photographing command, a buffer memory capable of storing unprocessed image data for a plurality of screens, and the buffer memory. An electronic camera having transfer means for processing unprocessed image data stored therein and transferring the processed image data to a camera control apparatus, and a camera control apparatus having a shooting command transmission means for transmitting the shooting command to the electronic camera a control method for an electronic camera system including, when there is an unprocessed image data in said buffer memory, said upon receiving the imaging command by the imaging command receiving means prohibits the execution of the photographing operation by the imaging command A transfer operation by the transfer means, and unprocessed image data in the buffer memory In some cases, when the photographing operation by the shutter button is instructed suspends the transfer operation by said transfer means, and executes the photographing operation by the shutter button.

According to the present invention, priority is given to the transfer from the buffer memory to the camera control device with respect to the shooting instruction by the shooting command, so that the transfer from the electronic camera to the camera control device can be performed smoothly. On the other hand, since a shooting operation is given priority to a shooting instruction by operating the shutter button, a photo opportunity is not missed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 10 denotes a computer main body, 12 a monitor for displaying the output of the computer main body 10 as an image, 14 a mouse, 16 a mouse button, and 18 a keyboard. An electronic camera 20 is connected to the computer main body 10 via a data transfer cable 22 such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus).

  FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of the present embodiment. As is well known, the computer main body 10 has an operating system on hardware, and further has application software on it. Elements that are not directly required for understanding the configuration of the embodiment, such as the CPU, the memory, and the memory management system of the operating system, are omitted.

  Reference numeral 30 denotes a hard disk as an auxiliary storage device, and 32 denotes a file system constituting an operating system, which has a function that enables application software to input and output files without directly controlling the hardware. Such file systems are well known. Reference numeral 34 denotes a disk input / output interface for the file system 32 to read / write data from / to the hard disk 30.

  Reference numeral 36 denotes a drawing management system included in the operating system, which has a function of generating an image without application software directly controlling the hardware. Reference numeral 38 denotes a video interface that converts image data generated by the drawing management system 36 into a video signal suitable for the monitor 12.

  Reference numeral 40 denotes an input device management system constituting the operating system, which provides means for receiving user input without application software directly controlling the hardware. The input device management system 40 includes a USB host system serving as a host when using a USB device. 42 is a keyboard interface to which the keyboard 18 is connected, 44 is a mouse interface to which the mouse 14 is connected, and 46 is a USB interface.

  The electronic camera 20 is connected to the USB interface 46 via the USB cable 22 and can exchange control commands, status signals, image data, and the like with the application software via the input device management system 40.

  Reference numeral 50 denotes remote shooting application software for operating the electronic camera 20 and managing images taken by the electronic camera 20, and communicates with the electronic camera 20 to obtain an image taken by the electronic camera 20; From the camera control means 54 for setting various parameters of the electronic camera 20 and controlling the photographing thereof, the data display means 56 for displaying the image and other information from the electronic camera 20 on the screen of the monitor 12, and the electronic camera 20 File management means 58 for storing and managing the transferred photographed image data in the hard disk 30 is provided.

  FIG. 3 shows a part of the appearance of the camera 20. Reference numeral 60 is a power button, 62 is a liquid crystal display panel, 64 is a shutter button, 66 is an operation button, 68 is a menu button, 70 is a set button, 72 is a playback button, and 74 is a USB connector.

  When the menu button 66 is pressed, the control menu of the camera 20 is displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal display panel 62. The user can change the setting of the electronic camera 20 by operating the operation button 66 and the set button 70. When the shutter button 64 is pressed, shooting is performed. The captured image data is stored in the image storage device of the electronic camera 20 as a JPEG file. When the user operates the playback button 72, the captured image stored in the image storage device is played back and displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal display panel 62. These functions so far do not differ from conventional electronic cameras.

  FIG. 4 shows a schematic block diagram of the electronic camera 20. However, FIG. 4 shows only functional blocks necessary for understanding the functions of this embodiment. The imaging unit 76 includes a photographic lens and an imaging element, and outputs a photographic image as image data. The main storage device (buffer memory) 78 temporarily stores the image data from the photographing unit 76 and provides a memory space necessary for performing various processes in the electronic camera 20. The image storage device 80 stores image data temporarily stored in the main storage device 78 as a file, and includes a flash memory card as a removable recording medium. Reference numeral 82 denotes a USB interface, and 84 denotes a display unit including an image reproduction circuit and a liquid crystal display panel 62. Reference numeral 86 denotes a control unit that controls the entire camera 20, and reference numeral 88 denotes a button / switch unit that transmits the operation of the switch 60 and the buttons 64 to 72 described in FIG. 3 to the control unit 86.

  FIG. 5 shows a display screen example of application software that operates on the computer 10 and operates the camera 20. This software is software for remotely operating the electronic camera 20 connected via the USB cable 22 and operates on the computer 10.

  110 is a connection button for instructing connection with the electronic camera 20, 112 is a shooting button, 114 is a timer shooting button, 116 is an interval shooting button, 118 is a save button, 120 is a delete button, and 122 is an end button.

  The connection with the electronic camera 20 is established by operating the connection button 110, and a shooting command for instructing the electronic camera 20 to execute shooting is issued by operating the shooting button 112. An image captured by the electronic camera 20 is transferred to the computer main body 10 via the USB cable 22 and displayed as a reduced image in the captured reduced image display area 124. Reference numerals 124a to 124d denote reduced image examples. When any of the reduced images 124 a to 124 d displayed in the photographed reduced image display area 124 is selected with the mouse, the selected image is displayed large in the photographed image display area 126. At the same time, various information of the image is displayed in the image information display area 128.

  When the timer shooting button 114 is operated, a timer shooting setting dialog shown in FIG. 6 is displayed, and the user can input an arbitrary number of seconds in the timer time input field 130. The computer body 10 issues a shooting command to the electronic camera 20 after the number of seconds input in the timer time input field 130. In response to this, the electronic camera 20 performs photographing and transfers the photographed image to the computer main body 10.

  When the interval shooting button 116 is operated, an interval shooting setting dialog shown in FIG. 7 is displayed, and the user can input the shooting interval time in the shooting interval input field 132 and the number of shots in the shooting number field 134. The computer main body 10 issues a shooting command to the camera 20 for each shooting interval time input in the shooting interval input field 132 until the number of shots input in the shooting number input field 134 is reached. As a result, the number of times of shooting that has been input in the number-of-shots input field 134 is intermittently executed at the time interval input in the shooting interval input field 132.

  By operating the save button 118, the image selected on the reduced-capture image display area 124 is saved as a file in the hard disk of the computer main body 10. A storage destination in the hard disk can be selected by a known method.

  By operating the delete button 120, the image selected in the captured reduced image display area 124 is deleted.

  By operating the end button 122, the connection with the electronic camera 20 is disconnected, and the application software ends.

  FIG. 8 shows an operation flowchart at the time of timer shooting in the present embodiment. First, the timer shooting setting dialog shown in FIG. 6 is displayed (S1). When the OK button is input and an instruction to perform timer shooting is given (S2), the camera waits for the time input in the timer shooting setting dialog (S3), and issues a shooting command to the electronic camera 20 (s4). When photographing is successful (S5), the photographed image data is transferred to the computer main body 10, and the reduced image is displayed in the photographed reduced image display area 124 (S6). When shooting fails (S5), the timer shooting failure dialog shown in FIG. 9 is displayed to indicate to the user that timer shooting has failed (S7).

  FIG. 10 shows an operation flowchart of interval shooting in the present embodiment.

  First, the interval shooting setting dialog shown in FIG. 7 is displayed (S11). When a cancel button is input in the dialog, the process is terminated (S12). When the OK button is designated (S12), it is checked whether or not the number of shots input in the interval shooting setting dialog is 1 or more (S13).

  When the input number of shots is 1 or more (S13), a shooting success counter for counting the number of successful shootings is set to 0 (S14). The photographing process is executed (S15), and when photographing is normally performed (S16), 1 is added to the photographing number counter (S17). When the number of loops from S15 to S19 is smaller than the number of shots input in the interval shooting setting dialog (S18), the process waits for the shooting interval time input in the interval shooting setting dialog and repeats S15 and subsequent steps. When the number of loops exceeds the number of shots input in the interval shooting setting dialog (S18), the interval shooting result dialog shown in FIG. 11 is displayed and the process ends. In FIG. 11, the number of shots successfully taken (shooting number counter) and the number of shooting errors are displayed. The number of shooting errors is a result of subtracting the shooting number counter from the number of shots input in the interval shooting setting dialog.

  FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of the shooting command issuance process by the application software on the computer main body 10. In any case of normal shooting, timer shooting, and interval shooting, the computer main body 10 issues a shooting command at a predetermined timing, transmits it to the electronic camera 20 (S21), and waits for a response from the camera 20 (S22). Normally, when receiving a shooting command, the electronic camera 20 performs shooting after executing a series of pre-processing such as focus and exposure adjustment processing, and transmits the shooting success or failure to the computer main body 10.

  In the computer main body 10, when photographing is successful (S 23), normal termination processing such as obtaining photographed image data from the electronic camera 20 is executed (S 24), and when photographing is unsuccessful, error termination processing is performed. (S25).

  With reference to FIG. 13, the imaging | photography data processing method in the electronic camera 20 is demonstrated. In the electronic camera 20, the captured image data is temporarily transferred to the main storage device 78 of the electronic camera 20, and then compressed by a known encoding method such as JPEG, and then filed in the image storage device 80 of the electronic camera 20. Or transferred to an external device (here, the computer main body 10).

  Since both the compression encoding and the storage in the image storage device 80 and the transfer to the external device take processing time, one image data is divided into a plurality of processing unit blocks as shown in FIG. Every time, the data is stored in an auxiliary storage device or transferred to an external device. When the processing of one processing unit is completed, the processing is interrupted in order to check whether an event such as pressing of the shutter button has occurred. When saving or transferring is resumed, it starts from the next processing unit block.

  When the processing of all the processing unit blocks included in one image is completed, the image data for the one image is deleted from the main storage device 78. However, if new photographing is performed by the electronic camera 20 before the processing of all the processing units is completed, new image data is also stored in the main storage device 78 so as not to overlap with image data already in the main storage device 78. Stored in Therefore, the capacity of the image storage device 80 of the electronic camera 20 is sufficient to store a plurality of photographed image data simultaneously.

  FIG. 14 shows a flowchart of the photographing operation in the electronic camera 20. The shooting operation of the electronic camera 20 will be described with reference to FIG. The control unit 86 of the electronic camera 20 operates by an event drive method. FIG. 14 shows only a part of the message processing loop of the control unit 86 that is related to shooting and data processing associated therewith, and is shown in a simplified manner.

  When the shutter button of the electronic camera 20 is pressed (S31), shooting is performed, and the shot image data is stored in the main storage device 78 of the camera 20 (S32). Thereafter, the process returns to the normal event processing loop.

  When a shooting command is received from an external device (here, the computer main body 10) (S33), it is checked whether unprocessed image data is stored in the main storage device 78 of the electronic camera 20 (S34). In this embodiment, priority is given to image data storage or transfer to an external device over execution of a shooting command from the computer main body 10, so that when image data remains in the main storage device 78, the shooting command transmission source An error is returned to (S35). When no image data remains in the main storage device 78 (S34), a shooting command is executed and the shot image data is stored in the main storage device 78 (S36). Thereafter, a normal end is returned to the transmission source of the photographing command (S37), and the original message loop is returned.

  In the message loop, it is determined whether there is image data in the main storage device 78 (S38). When unprocessed image data remains in the main storage device 78 (S38), compression, storage, or transfer is executed in the processing unit shown in FIG. 13 (S39).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, basically, even when the electronic camera 20 is in a state where remote shooting by the computer main body 10 is possible, shooting by the shutter button 64 of the electronic camera 20 is possible. Moreover, even if there is unprocessed image data in the main storage device 78 (buffer memory) of the electronic camera 20, the processing can be interrupted and shooting can be performed.

  When a shooting command is received from the computer main body 10, shooting is performed when there is no unprocessed image data in the main storage device 78, but when unprocessed image data remains in the main storage device 78, the shooting is performed. The command is rejected.

  In summary, the priority of each process is the highest when shooting with the shutter button 64, followed by the shot image data processing, and the lowest shooting command from the outside.

  With such a configuration, even when timer shooting or interval shooting is instructed from the outside, shooting can be performed by operating the shutter button 64 of the electronic camera 20 without interrupting the setting.

It is an apparatus block diagram of one Example of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of a present Example. 1 is an external view of an electronic camera 20. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an electronic camera 20. FIG. It is an example of a display screen of remote photographing application software. It is an example of a display screen of timer shooting settings. It is an example of a display screen of interval shooting settings. It is an operation | movement flowchart of timer imaging | photography in remote imaging | photography application software. It is an example of a timer shooting error display screen. It is an operation | movement flowchart of interval imaging | photography in remote imaging | photography application software. It is an example of an error display screen for interval shooting. It is an operation | movement flowchart of the imaging | photography command issuance in remote imaging | photography application software. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement on the main memory device of the electronic camera. 4 is an operation flowchart of the electronic camera 20.

Explanation of symbols

10: computer main body 12: monitor 14: mouse 16: mouse button 18: keyboard 20: electronic camera 22: data transfer cable 30: hard disk 32: file system 34: disk input / output interface 36: drawing management system 38: video interface 40: Input device management system 42: keyboard interface 44: mouse interface 46: USB interface 50: remote shooting application software 52: camera image acquisition means 54: camera control means 56: data display means 58: file management means 60: power button 62: Liquid crystal display panel 64: Shutter button 66: Operation button 68: Menu button 70: Set button 72: Playback button 74: USB connector 76: Imaging unit 78 Main memory (buffer memory)
80: Image storage device 82: USB interface 84: Display unit 86: Control unit 88: Button / switch unit 110: Connection button 112: Shooting button 114: Timer shooting button 116: Interval shooting button 118: Save button 120: Delete button 122 : End button 124: Reduced shooting image display area 124 a to d: Reduced image example 126: Shooting image display area 128: Image information display area 130: Timer time input field 132: Shooting interval input field 134: Shooting number field

Claims (3)

An electronic camera system having an electronic camera and a camera control device connected to the electronic camera,
The camera control device includes a shooting command transmission unit that transmits a shooting command to the electronic camera.
The electronic camera is
A shutter button for instructing a shooting operation;
Shooting command receiving means for receiving the shooting command;
A buffer memory capable of storing unprocessed image data for multiple screens;
Transfer means for processing the unprocessed image data stored in the buffer memory and transferring the processed image data to the camera control device;
If there is an unprocessed image data in said buffer memory, said upon receiving the imaging command by the imaging command receiving means prohibits the execution of the photographing operation by the imaging command, performs the transfer operation by the transfer means When there is unprocessed image data in the buffer memory and the shooting operation is instructed by the shutter button, the operation control means for interrupting the transfer operation by the transfer means and executing the shooting operation by the shutter button An electronic camera system comprising: An electronic camera connectable to a camera control device,
A shutter button for instructing a shooting operation;
A shooting command receiving means for receiving a shooting command from the camera control device;
A buffer memory capable of storing unprocessed image data for multiple screens;
Transfer means for processing the unprocessed image data stored in the buffer memory and transferring the processed image data to the camera control device;
If there is an unprocessed image data in said buffer memory, said upon receiving the imaging command by the imaging command receiving means prohibits the execution of the photographing operation by the imaging command, performs the transfer operation by the transfer means When there is unprocessed image data in the buffer memory and the shooting operation is instructed by the shutter button, the operation control means for interrupting the transfer operation by the transfer means and executing the shooting operation by the shutter button And an electronic camera. A shutter button for instructing a shooting operation, a shooting command receiving means for receiving a shooting command, a buffer memory capable of storing unprocessed image data for a plurality of screens, and an image of the unprocessed image data stored in the buffer memory An electronic camera system control method comprising: an electronic camera having a transfer means for processing and transferring to a camera control device; and a camera control device having a shooting command transmission means for sending the shooting command to the electronic camera,
If there is an unprocessed image data in said buffer memory, said upon receiving the imaging command by the imaging command receiving means prohibits the execution of the photographing operation by the imaging command, performs the transfer operation by the transfer means When there is unprocessed image data in the buffer memory and a shooting operation is instructed by the shutter button, the transfer operation by the transfer means is interrupted and the shooting operation by the shutter button is executed. And a control method of the electronic camera system.

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