JP3918979B2 - Electronic camera and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic camera, and more particularly to a recording control technique when a medium is exchanged in a camera having a plurality of recording media slots.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-322106 discloses a digital camera that can selectively use a plurality of recording media. This camera has means for identifying the recording speed of the exchanged recording medium, and has a function of automatically determining the shooting mode according to the recording speed.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional camera, no consideration is given to processing when the recording medium is replaced during shooting. Even when a plurality of recording media are mounted for shooting, even when the recording media is attached and detached and a recording medium is mounted in a slot different from the previous recording, recording can continue on the recording medium used at the previous shooting. If possible, it is convenient for the user.
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances. Even when a recording medium is mounted in a slot different from the previous mounting by a recording medium attaching / detaching operation, recording is continued on the recording medium used at the previous shooting. An object is to provide a possible electronic camera and a control method thereof.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
in frontTo achieve the purposeAn electronic camera according to the present invention includes an imaging device, a plurality of media mounting units on which a recording medium for recording an image acquired via the imaging device can be mounted, and a recording medium storing the latest image Information recording means for writing the latest mark information indicating the latest recording destination medium, and a recording medium having the latest mark information as a recording destination when a plurality of recording media are mounted on the medium mounting section. A recording destination automatic setting means for automatically setting; a recording processing means for recording a photographed image on a recording medium set by the recording destination automatic setting means; and a plurality of recording media mounted on the media mounting portion. Means for causing the user to specify a recording medium as a recording destination, and determining a recording medium as a recording destination according to the instruction;
  Means for performing a process of erasing the latest mark information recorded on a recording medium other than the recording medium according to the selection when the latest image is recorded on the recording medium selected according to the user's instruction;It is characterized by having.
The electronic camera control method according to the present invention is an electronic camera control method in which a plurality of recording media can be mounted, and the latest recording destination medium is stored in the recording medium storing the latest image. A step of writing the latest mark information, and a step of automatically setting a recording medium having the latest mark information as a recording destination when a plurality of recording media are mounted on the medium mounting unit;
When a plurality of recording media having the latest mark information are present among a plurality of recording media mounted on the media mounting unit and a step of recording a captured image on a set recording medium, or recording When the manual selection mode for allowing the user to specify the destination recording medium is set, instead of the automatic setting step, the recording destination recording is selected from the plurality of recording media loaded in the media loading unit. A step of causing a user to specify a medium and determining a recording medium as a recording destination according to the instruction; and when a latest image is recorded on the recording medium selected according to the user's instruction, the recording medium other than the selected recording medium And a process of erasing the latest mark information recorded on the recording medium.
[0006]
An electronic camera is an imaging device having a function of converting an optical image into an electrical signal using an imaging element, and a recorded image may be a still image, a moving image, or both.
[0011]
When this electronic camera records the latest image by performing shooting, the latest mark information is written in the recording medium of the recording destination. Thereafter, when the user performs an operation of attaching / detaching the recording medium, it is confirmed whether or not the latest mark information is recorded on the loaded recording medium. Based on the presence or absence of the latest mark information, it is determined whether or not the medium is used in the previous shooting, and the recording medium having the latest mark information is automatically set as the recording destination. Thereby, an image can be continuously recorded on the recording medium used at the time of previous photography.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Preferred embodiments of an electronic camera and its control method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0015]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. The digital camera 10 includes a photographing lens 12, an aperture 14, a CCD image sensor (hereinafter referred to as a CCD) 16 as an image sensor, an analog processing circuit 18, an A / D converter 20, a buffer memory 22, a YC processing circuit 24, and a compression. An expansion and card identification information (ID) extraction circuit (hereinafter referred to as a compression / expansion / ID extraction circuit) 26, card interfaces 28A and 28B, a main CPU 30, an EEPROM 32, an image display liquid crystal display (LCD) 34, and the like are provided.
[0016]
The taking lens 12 is composed of one or a plurality of lenses, and may be a single focal length (fixed focus) lens, or a variable focal length such as a zoom lens or a telephoto / wide-angle bifocal switching type lens. But you can.
[0017]
The main CPU 30 is a control unit that comprehensively controls each circuit based on signal inputs from the release switch 36 and other operation units 37. The operation unit 37 includes a mode dial for switching camera functions (modes), a multi-function cross key for inputting instructions in four directions, up, down, left, and right, a power switch, and the like.
[0018]
When the power switch is turned on, the main CPU 30 sends a command to the power control circuit 38 and supplies power to each part of the camera via the power control circuit 38 from a battery (not shown) or an external power source connected to the external power input terminal. And enable each circuit.
[0019]
When the camera is set to the photographing mode by the mode dial and the release switch 36 is pressed, the main CPU 30 detects this and sends a command to the photometry / ranging CPU 40. The photometry / ranging CPU 40 performs automatic exposure adjustment (AE) calculation and automatic focus adjustment (AF) calculation, performs focus control via a lens driving unit (not shown), and calculates the charge accumulation time in the aperture 14 and the CCD 16. By controlling, exposure control is performed. The CCD 16 has a so-called electronic shutter function that controls the charge accumulation time (shutter speed) of each photosensor by a shutter gate pulse.
[0020]
A clock generation circuit (CG) 42 outputs clock pulses to the CCD 16, the analog processing circuit 18 and the A / D converter 20 under the control of the photometry / ranging CPU 40 to synchronize the circuits. Further, the photometry / ranging CPU 40 operates the strobe control circuit 43 when the subject is dark. The strobe control circuit 43 controls charging of a main capacitor (not shown), discharge (light emission) timing to the xenon tube (light emitting unit) 44, and the like.
[0021]
The light that has passed through the photographing lens 12 is incident on the CCD 16 after the amount of light is adjusted by the diaphragm 14. Photosensors are arranged in a plane on the light receiving surface of the CCD 16, and the subject image formed on the light receiving surface of the CCD 16 is converted into signal charges of an amount corresponding to the amount of incident light by each photosensor. The signal charge accumulated in this way is sequentially read out as a voltage signal (image signal) corresponding to the signal charge based on the clock pulse supplied from the clock generation circuit 42.
[0022]
The image signal output from the CCD 16 is applied to the analog processing circuit 18 where white balance adjustment, gamma processing, and the like are performed. The image signal subjected to the predetermined signal processing in the analog processing circuit 18 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 20 and temporarily stored in the buffer memory 22.
[0023]
The YC processing circuit 24 converts the image signal on the buffer memory 22 into a YC signal (luminance signal Y and chroma signal C) in accordance with a command from the main CPU 30. This YC signal is stored again in the buffer memory 22. Thereafter, the main CPU 30 sends a command to the compression / expansion / ID extraction circuit 26, whereby the compression / expansion / ID extraction circuit 26 compresses the YC signal on the buffer memory 22 in a predetermined format such as JPEG. The compressed image data is recorded on the memory card 46A or 46B via the card interface 28A or 28B.
[0024]
For example, smart media (Solid-State Floppy Disk Card) is applied to the memory cards 46A and 46B. The digital camera 10 of this example is provided with card interfaces 28A and 28B corresponding to the same type of memory cards 46A and 46B, and the memory cards 46A and 46B can be interchanged and mounted on the card interfaces 28A and 28B. .
[0025]
The form of the recording medium is not limited to smart media, and various forms such as compact flash, PC card, micro drive, multimedia card (MMC), magnetic disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, and memory stick are possible and used. A signal processing means and an interface corresponding to the medium are applied. In this example, the configuration is such that two memory cards 46A and 46B can be mounted. However, a configuration in which two or more memory cards can be mounted may be used. Also, different types of recording media may be combined.
[0026]
The YC signal stored in the buffer memory 22 is provided to the YC → RGB conversion circuit 52 via the bus 50, where it is converted into an RGB image signal. The RGB image signals are output to the image display LCD 34 via the LCD driver 54. As a result, the image captured by the CCD 16 in the photographing mode can be displayed on the image display LCD 34 in real time. In the reproduction mode, the image data read from the memory card 46A (or 46B) is decompressed by the compression / expansion / ID extraction circuit 26, and is sent to the image display LCD 34 via the YC → RGB conversion circuit 52 and the LCD driver 54. Is output. Thus, the reproduced image is displayed on the image display LCD 34.
[0027]
The operation LCD display unit 56 is a means for displaying information related to the camera state, shooting mode, and the like with simple display contents such as characters and symbols based on instructions from the main CPU 30. For example, the battery remaining amount display, the display indicating the usage status of the memory cards 46A and 46B, the display of the number of shootable frames and the playback frame number (file name), the display indicating the presence or absence of flash emission, the macro mode display, the recording image quality Information such as (quality) display and pixel number display is displayed on the operation LCD display unit 56. Note that information regarding the state of the camera, the shooting mode, and the like can also be displayed on the image display LCD denoted by reference numeral 34.
[0028]
FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of the storage area in the memory card. There are two types of memory cards: a “memory card with ID information” to which identification information (ID) unique to the card is attached and a “memory card without ID information” to which no ID information is attached. The memory area of the memory card is divided into a write-protected area and a writable area. As shown in FIG. 2A, the memory card with ID information has, as a protection area, an attribute area in which attribute information is recorded and an ID information area in which ID information is recorded. . The writable area has a file management area in which file management information is recorded and an image data area in which image data is recorded.
[0029]
In the case of the “memory card without ID information” shown in FIG. 2B, the protection area is only the attribute area, and no ID information area is provided. As an alternative means, a temporary ID (temporary ID) file issued by the camera is recorded in the writable area.
[0030]
Next, the operation of the digital camera configured as described above will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the card loading process. When the process starts (step S300), the number of card slots is set to a variable N, and 1 is set as an initial value to a variable M indicating the target slot (step S310). In the example of FIG. 1, N = 2 is set.
[0031]
Next, it is determined whether or not a memory card is attached to the Mth card slot (step S312). When a memory card is inserted in the Mth card slot (when YES is determined), the process proceeds to step S314. In step S314, “M” is substituted into the slot number for managing the target slot. Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the card ID information has already been acquired for the slot number (step S316).
[0032]
When the slot has not acquired card ID information (NO determination), the process proceeds to step S318 to execute processing for acquiring card ID information from the memory card. Then, based on the result of the card ID information acquisition process in step S318, it is determined whether or not the memory card has ID information (step S320). If it has ID information (when YES is determined), the card ID information is associated with the management slot number (M) and stored in the EEPROM 32 (step S324).
[0033]
On the other hand, if the memory card has no ID information at step S320 (NO determination), the main CPU 30 automatically issues an arbitrary temporary ID and writes the data of the temporary ID to the memory card (step S322). . Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S324, and the temporary ID information is associated with the management slot number (M) and stored in the EEPROM 32.
[0034]
After step S324, the process proceeds to step S330, and M + 1 is substituted into the variable M. Next, the magnitude relationship between M and N is compared (step S332). If M does not exceed N (NO determination), the process returns to step S312 and the above-described processing is repeated.
[0035]
If it is determined in step S312 that the Mth card slot is not loaded (NO determination), the process jumps to step S330. Also, in step S316, when the card ID information (including temporary ID information) has already been acquired for the target slot and the information is written in the EEPROM 32 (when YES is determined), the process also reaches step S330.
[0036]
As a result of counting up the variable M in step S330, if M> N in step S332 (YES determination), the control of the card loading process is terminated (step S340).
[0037]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the slot selection process. The digital camera 10 includes an automatic recording mode for automatically determining a recording destination slot for image data and a manual selection mode for selecting a recording destination according to the user's intention. When the slot selection control shown in FIG. 4 is started (step S400), it is first determined whether or not the automatic recording mode is set (step S410).
[0038]
When the manual selection mode is set (NO determination), the process proceeds to step S414, and a slot number that can be selected as a recording destination slot is displayed on the screen of the image display LCD 34, and a selection instruction from the user is accepted. Then, the presence / absence of a slot selection instruction is monitored (step S416). If a selection instruction is input, the process proceeds to step S418. In step S418, the slot number selected by the user is set as the image data recording destination slot.
[0039]
On the other hand, when the automatic recording mode is set in step S410 (YES determination), the process branches to step S412. In step S412, it is determined whether or not a memory card having the same card ID as that of the memory card that recorded the image in the previous shooting is mounted on the camera. This determination is made based on the presence / absence of identity between the ID information stored in step S324 in FIG. 3 and the card ID stored in step S520 in FIG.
[0040]
In step S412, when a memory card with the same card ID as that of the previous time is attached (YES determination), the process proceeds to step S420, and the slot number where the same card ID as that of the previous time is attached is set as the recording destination slot. Set. On the other hand, in step S412, when a memory card with the same card ID as the previous time is not loaded (NO determination), the process proceeds to step S414, and the slot number selected by the user in steps S414 to S418 described above is recorded. Set as. When the recording destination slot is determined in step S418 or step S420, the slot selection control is terminated (step S430).
[0041]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of photographing control. When shooting control starts (step S500), the main CPU 30 monitors the input of a release signal (step S510). When the release switch 36 is pressed and the release is turned on (YES determination), an imaging operation is executed and an image is captured (step S512). The captured image is subjected to compression processing through predetermined signal processing (step S514).
[0042]
Next, the main CPU 30 selects the drive set as the recording destination slot (step S516), and records an image on the memory card mounted in the selected slot (step S518). After the image writing process, the main CPU 30 stores the card ID of the recorded memory card (temporary ID, if applicable) in the EEPROM 32 as data corresponding to the data item “card used for recording the latest image” ( Step S520). The memory card used for the previous recording can be specified by the information of the card ID (or temporary ID) stored in this step.
[0043]
Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the recording destination memory card has a unique card ID (step S522). If it does not have a card ID (NO determination), the temporary ID data is stored in the memory. After executing the process of writing to the card (step S524), the photographing is terminated (step S530). If the memory card has a card ID in step S522 (when YES is determined), step S524 is omitted and the shooting is terminated (step S530).
[0044]
Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. Instead of the control method described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, a mode in which the control method shown in FIGS. In the flowcharts shown in FIG. 6 to FIG. 8, the same or similar steps as those described in FIG. 3 to FIG.
[0045]
In step S316 in the flowchart of the card loading process shown in FIG. The “recording” mark is identification information given to the memory card used for the previous recording, and is recorded as a file in the writable area of the memory card (see step S523 in FIG. 8).
[0046]
If it is determined in step S316 that the slot is not a “recording” mark information (NO determination), the process proceeds to step S319, and the memory card installed in the slot has a “recording” mark. It is determined whether or not. If a “recording” mark is recorded on the memory card, the mark information is stored in the EEPROM 32 in association with the management slot number (M) (step S323).
[0047]
On the other hand, if the memory card does not have the “recording” mark in step S319 (NO determination), the data indicating “no mark” is associated with the management slot number (M) in the EEPROM 32. (Step S325). After step S323 or step S325, the process proceeds to step S330. Subsequent processing is the same as the example described in FIG.
[0048]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of control for automatically selecting a slot using the “recording” mark. According to the figure, if the automatic recording mode is selected in the determination in step S410 (when YES is determined), the process branches to step S411. In step S411, it is determined whether there is a card with a “recording” mark among a plurality of memory cards attached to the camera. If none of the cards has the “recording” mark, the process advances to step S414 to accept a slot selection instruction from the user.
[0049]
On the other hand, if there is a memory card having the “recording” mark in step S411 (YES determination), the process proceeds to step S413. In step S413, it is determined whether or not there are a plurality of cards having the “recording” mark. The “Recording” mark is a mark that is written to the memory card when the image is actually written. Therefore, if a new memory card is frequently replaced, shooting is performed on multiple memory cards. On the other hand, a “recording” mark is given.
[0050]
If the “recording” mark is issued as data without duplication as with the temporary ID, the data content of the “recording” mark is checked to determine whether or not the memory card was used for the previous shooting. Easy to distinguish. However, when the same “recording” mark is issued repeatedly, it is difficult to determine whether the memory card is the latest used memory card or a memory card used before that. . As described above, when a plurality of memory cards having the “recording” mark compete (when YES is determined in step S413), the process proceeds to step S414, and the slot selection instruction by the user is followed.
[0051]
In addition, when there is only one memory card having the “recording” mark in step S413 (when NO is determined), the slot number in which the memory card with the “recording” mark is attached is recorded. Set as the destination slot (step S422). When the recording destination slot is determined in step S418 or step S422, the slot selection control is terminated (step S430).
[0052]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of shooting control to which a step of writing a “recording” mark is added at the time of shooting. As shown in the figure, in response to the receipt of the release signal, an image is captured, and the image is recorded in a memory card mounted in a slot set as a recording destination slot (steps S500 to S518).
[0053]
After writing the image to the memory card, the main CPU 30 determines whether or not the “recording” mark is recorded on the recorded memory card (step S521). If the “recording” mark is not recorded (NO determination), the “recording” mark information is written to the memory card (step S523). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S525. On the other hand, when the “recording” mark has already been written in the memory card in step S521, step S523 is omitted and the process proceeds to step S525.
[0054]
In step S525, it is determined whether or not the “recording” mark is recorded in a memory card other than the memory card that has been recorded in step S518. Memory that does not have the “Recording” mark in the manual selection mode even when a plurality of memory cards having the “Recording” mark are loaded, or a memory card that has the “Recording” mark is loaded When a card is selected as a recording destination, the determination is YES in step S525, and the process proceeds to step S527.
[0055]
In step S527, a process of deleting the “recording” mark is performed on the memory card on which no image has been actually recorded. Thus, the “recording” mark is recorded only for the memory card related to the latest use, and thereafter, the “recording” mark conflict can be avoided. After step S527 or if NO determination is obtained in step S525, shooting is terminated (step S530).
[0056]
Also, a control method combining the control method described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8 and the control method described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 is possible. That is, for a memory card without a card ID, a temporary ID may be assigned, the ID of the memory card used for recording may be held in the EEPROM 32, and a “recording” mark may be recorded on the card.
[0057]
Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of control for detecting the free space of the memory card mounted on the camera and automatically determining the recording destination slot based on the detection result.
[0058]
When the card loading process shown in FIG. 9 starts (step S900), the number of card slots is set to a variable N, and 1 is set as an initial value to a variable M indicating the target slot (step S910).
[0059]
Next, it is determined whether or not a memory card is attached to the Mth card slot (step S912). When a memory card is inserted in the Mth card slot (when YES is determined), the process proceeds to step S914. In step S914, the free capacity of the memory card installed in the slot is detected, and the information on the free capacity is stored in a data item called Size [M] in the EEPROM 32. After step S914, the process proceeds to step S916.
[0060]
In step S916, a process of substituting M + 1 for the variable M is performed. Next, the magnitude relationship between M and N is compared (step S918). If M does not exceed N (NO determination), the process returns to step S912 and the above-described processing is repeated. In addition, when it is determined in step S912 that the Mth card slot is not loaded (NO determination), the process also reaches step S916.
[0061]
As a result of counting up the variable M in step S916, in step S918, if M> N (YES determination), the process proceeds to step S920. In step S920, the slot number of the memory card with the largest available capacity is set as the recording destination slot from the data size {M} of the available capacity of the memory card installed in each slot. In this way, the memory card having the largest free space is automatically selected, and the control of the card loading process is finished (step S940).
[0062]
Note that a control method combining the control method described in FIG. 9 and the control method described in FIGS. 3 to 5 is also possible. That is, for a memory card without a card ID, a temporary ID is assigned, the ID of the memory card attached to the camera is stored in association with the slot number, and the memory card with the ID having the largest free space is set as the recording destination. You may make it do.
[0063]
By automatically setting a memory card having the largest free space when a card is loaded as a recording destination, a photographer can collect and record a plurality of images to be photographed on one card. There is a high possibility that the image continuity or related image groups can be recorded on one card, and image arrangement after shooting is easy. In addition, since the free space is large, the photographer can continue shooting with peace of mind.
[0064]
In FIG. 9, the memory card having the largest available capacity when the card is loaded is determined as the recording destination. However, a mode in which the memory card having the smallest available capacity is determined as the recording destination is also possible. A memory card can be used effectively by preferentially writing data with the least available capacity. In addition, when a memory card in which an image is already recorded and an unused memory card in which no image is recorded are loaded, the memory card side in which the image is already recorded is automatically set as the recording destination. Therefore, there is a possibility that continuity from the previous shooting or a group of related images can be recorded on one card, and image rearrangement after shooting is easy.
[0066]
【The invention's effect】
  As described above, according to the present invention,When the latest image is recorded, the latest mark information is written to the recording medium of the recording destination, and then when the recording medium is attached or detached, the presence or absence of the latest mark information is confirmed for the loaded recording medium. Since the recording medium having the latest mark information is automatically set as the recording destination, the image can be continuously recorded on the recording medium used at the previous photographing.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of a storage area in a memory card.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of card loading processing.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of slot selection processing.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of imaging control.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of card loading processing according to another embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of slot selection processing in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of slot selection processing in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6;
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of card loading processing according to still another embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Digital camera (electronic camera), 12 ... Shooting lens, 16 ... CCD (imaging device), 26 ... Compression / expansion / ID extraction circuit (ID reading means), 28A, 28B ... Card interface (media mounting part), 30 ... Main CPU (recording destination automatic setting means, recording processing means, temporary ID assignment means, information recording means, detection means), 32... EEPROM (storage means), 46A, 46B... Memory card (recording medium)

Claims (2)

An image sensor;
A plurality of media mounting sections capable of mounting a recording medium for recording an image acquired via the image sensor;
Information recording means for writing the latest mark information indicating that the latest recording destination medium is stored in the recording medium storing the latest image;
A recording destination automatic setting means for automatically setting a recording medium having the latest mark information as a recording destination when a plurality of recording media are loaded in the medium loading unit;
A recording processing unit that records a captured image on a recording medium of a recording destination set by the recording destination automatic setting unit;
Means for allowing a user to designate a recording medium as a recording destination from a plurality of recording media mounted in the medium mounting unit, and determining a recording medium according to the instruction;
Means for performing a process of erasing the latest mark information recorded on a recording medium other than the recording medium according to the selection when the latest image is recorded on the recording medium selected according to the user's instruction;
An electronic camera characterized by comprising: An electronic camera control method capable of mounting a plurality of recording media,
Writing the latest mark information indicating the latest recording destination medium on the recording medium storing the latest image;
A step of automatically setting a recording medium having the latest mark information as a recording destination when a plurality of recording media are mounted on the medium mounting unit;
Recording a captured image on a set recording medium;
When there are a plurality of recording media having the latest mark information among a plurality of recording media mounted on the media mounting unit, or the manual selection mode is set to allow the user to specify a recording medium to be recorded. In this case, in place of the automatic setting step, the recording destination recording medium is designated by the user from the plurality of recording media mounted on the medium mounting unit, and the recording destination recording medium is selected according to the instruction. A step of determining;
Performing a process of erasing the latest mark information recorded on a recording medium other than the recording medium according to the selection when the latest image is recorded on the recording medium selected according to the user's instruction;
An electronic camera control method comprising:

Images