JP5045661B2 - Digital camera - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a digital camera system in which a plurality of digital cameras are connected to perform cooperative operation.

Conventionally, there has been a demand to print out images taken with a digital camera directly with a printer without using a personal computer, and various systems have been proposed by various companies and are actually released as products. Further, as an interface standard, for example, even a portable device having a simple function without using a large device such as a personal computer by reducing the burden on the master side in the USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard can be easily hosted. USB On-The-Go (OTG) has been released as an additional standard of USB 2.0 as a standard that can play a role. If this is used, even a portable device can easily serve as a host. Also, the roles of the host and peripheral devices can be exchanged as necessary.

Various standards such as Bluetooth standard, wireless LAN (IEEE802.11 etc.), IEEE 1394, IrDA (Infrared Data Association), IrBurst (next generation IrDA), etc. have been proposed as standards for transmitting and receiving data between devices. Once such an infrastructure is in place, data will be exchanged more frequently between small devices such as digital cameras, printers, PDAs, mobile phones, and USB hard disks, regardless of manufacturer or model. It is clear that it will be followed.

In addition, digital cameras themselves have been announced in a short cycle by a wide variety of products from various companies, and the price of products that have been released a little earlier has greatly decreased, making it easier to obtain. Under these circumstances, many homes have multiple digital cameras. As described above, when it becomes an environment where a plurality of cameras are owned or an environment where a plurality of cameras can be easily used, there is a demand for using a plurality of cameras in a case where a single camera is not used.

In addition, a system has been proposed in which operation data such as zoom and focus is sent from the master camera to the slave camera, and based on that, the slave camera takes a picture, compresses the taken picture and sends it to the master camera to check the shot image. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1 ). In addition, in an electronic camera connected via communication means, the camera with a specific key pressed functions as the master, and the slave operates the master to shoot, erase the slave image data, Has been disclosed (see, for example, Patent Document 2 ). In addition, a camera control server that links a plurality of cameras via a network has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 3 ).

In addition, a system has been proposed in which digital cameras are connected to each other and the other digital camera is operated by one digital camera, where the playback image of the slave camera is transferred to the master camera and displayed at the same time as the frame number. (For example, see Patent Document 4 ). In addition, a system has been proposed in which shooting information such as a shutter value, an aperture value, and an exposure correction value is transferred to a slave camera and shot based on the shooting information (see, for example, Patent Document 5 ). In addition, a system for capturing a common image by connecting a plurality of digital cameras having different functions has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 6 and 7 ). In addition, a trigger system has been proposed in which a plurality of cameras are controlled and each camera performs shooting at a higher speed than single shooting (for example, see Patent Document 8 ). In addition, a video camera system is disclosed in which a parent and a child device take a picture with a synchronization signal from the parent device, and the data is transmitted and received (see, for example, Patent Document 9 ). In addition, an imaging apparatus that changes the capacity of an image to be transmitted and received according to the data transmission capacity is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 10 ).
JP-A-8-84282 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-284696 JP 2000-113166 A JP 2000-134527 A JP 2001-8089 A JP 2001-111866 A JP 2001-169173 A JP 2001-166374 A US Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0118958 JP 2002-101226 A

The various standards described above prescribe how to transfer data, and do not prescribe the behavior of each camera when a plurality of digital cameras are connected. Currently, a digital camera incorporating Bluetooth is announced, but functionally it is as simple as transferring data between cameras or instructing another camera to press the shutter.

In the present invention, the usage status of each memory camera used in each camera and the setting status of each camera are displayed together on the monitor of the master camera during the cooperative operation, and the monitor confirmation of the video from the slave camera is performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital camera system that can manually set the size of a display screen.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention of claim 1 is characterized in that when connected to another digital camera via a communication line, and connected to the other digital camera via the connection means, Display means for displaying image data, display instruction means for instructing the display means to display image data recorded in the other digital camera, and the other digital camera based on an instruction from the display instruction means Transfer instruction means for instructing to transfer image data for display having a predetermined number of pixels, detection means for detecting the amount of image data recorded in the other digital camera, and A comparison unit that compares the detection result with a predetermined value, and the transfer instruction unit compares the image data recorded in the other digital camera as a result of the comparison by the comparison unit. If over data amount is larger than the predetermined value, the data amount of image data is instructed to create a display image data of a small number of predetermined pixels than the predetermined value with respect to the other digital cameras In addition, when a display image data creation end signal indicating that the creation of the display image data has been completed is received, an instruction is given to transfer the created display image data . That is, since only image data sufficient to be displayed on the display means is transferred, the transfer time is shortened. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided connection means for connecting to another digital camera via a communication line, and display means for displaying image data when connected to the other digital camera via the connection means. Display instruction means for instructing the display means to display image data recorded in the other digital camera, and a predetermined number of pixels for the other digital camera based on an instruction from the display instruction means. Transfer instruction means for instructing to transfer the display image data, and the display instruction means corresponds to the display image data until the transfer of the display image data of the predetermined number of pixels is completed. when instructing the display means to display the image data of the thumbnail image, it issues an instruction of the transfer by the display instructing means, the image data for the thumbnail image If you do not get in, wherein the image data of the thumbnail image by transfer before the display-image data of the number of the predetermined pixels, and instructs to display the image data for the thumbnail image It is said. Further, according to the invention of claim 3, the display image data of the predetermined number of pixels is the number of pixels corresponding to substantially the entire screen of the display screen determined based on the number of pixels of the display means or the display screen. Is the data for the number of pixels corresponding to each one screen when the image is divided into predetermined screens.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the main functions of a digital camera used in the digital camera system of the present invention.

The taking lens 101 is a zoom lens and is driven in the optical axis direction by a driver 113. Here, the driver 113 includes a zoom driving mechanism and its driving circuit for the zoom lens, and a focusing driving mechanism and its driving circuit for the focusing lens, and each is controlled by the CPU 112.

The photographing lens 101 forms a subject image on the imaging surface of the image sensor 103. The image sensor 103 is a photoelectric conversion image sensor that outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the light intensity of the subject image formed on the image pickup surface, and a CCD type or MOS type solid state image sensor is used. The image sensor 103 is driven by a driver 115 that controls the timing of signal extraction. A diaphragm 102 is provided between the photographing lens 101 and the image sensor 103. The diaphragm 102 is driven by a driver 114 equipped with a diaphragm mechanism and its drive circuit. The imaging signal from the solid-state imaging device 103 is input to the analog signal processing circuit 104, and processing such as correlated double sampling processing (CDS) is performed in the analog signal processing circuit 104. The imaging signal processed by the analog signal processing circuit 104 is converted from an analog signal to a digital signal by the A / D converter 135.

The A / D converted signal is subjected to various image processing such as contour compensation and gamma correction in the digital signal processing circuit 106. The digital signal processing circuit includes a luminance / color difference signal generation circuit for recording. The buffer memory 105 is a frame memory that can store data for a plurality of frames imaged by the image sensor 103, and the A / D converted signal is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 105. The digital signal processing circuit 106 reads the data stored in the buffer memory 105 and performs each process described above, and the processed data is stored in the buffer memory 105 again. The CPU 112 is connected to the digital signal processing circuit 106, the drivers 113 to 115, and the like, and performs sequence control of camera operation. The AE calculation unit 1121 of the CPU 112 performs automatic exposure calculation based on the image signal from the image sensor, and the AWB calculation unit 1122 performs white balance adjustment calculation. A bandpass filter (BPF) 1124 extracts a high-frequency component in a predetermined band based on an imaging signal in a focus detection area provided in the imaging region.

The output of the BPF 1124 is input to the next evaluation value calculation unit 1125, where the absolute value of the high frequency component is integrated and calculated as a focus evaluation value. The AF calculation unit 1126 performs AF calculation by the contrast method based on these focus evaluation values. The CPU 112 adjusts the focusing lens of the photographing lens 101 using the calculation result of the AF calculation unit 1126, and performs a focusing operation. An operation unit 116 connected to the CPU 112 includes a power switch 1161 for turning on / off the camera, a half-press switch 1162 and a full-press switch 1163 for turning on / off in conjunction with the release button, and various types of shooting modes. A setting button 1164, an up / down (U / D) button 1165 for updating a reproduced image, an erasing button 1166, a transfer button 1167, and the like are provided. Here, the power switch 1161 is interlocked with a select dial (FIG. 3, details will be described later) for switching the function of the camera to the photographing mode, the reproduction mode, or the cooperative mode. When these switches and buttons are operated, a signal corresponding to the operation is input to the CPU 112.

Reference numeral 118 denotes a battery made of nickel metal hydride, lithium ions, or the like. The voltage or capacity of the battery is detected by the capacity / voltage detector 119 and sent to the CPU 112. The capacity / voltage detection unit 119 charges the battery 118 as necessary. When the subject brightness is low, the strobe 122 is caused to emit light. When the camera is operating in cooperation to transfer data, the data transfer display LED 123 emits light. Reference numeral 124 denotes a buzzer that warns when a camera malfunctions.

In addition, the CPU 112 has a storage unit 1128 for storing various data and a timer 1127. The storage unit 1128 stores the peak value of the evaluation value and the corresponding lens position. The timer 1127 is used for measuring the half-press timer time. The image data that has been subjected to various processes by the digital signal processing circuit 106 is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 105 and then recorded on an external storage medium 111 such as a memory card via the recording / reproducing signal processing circuit 110. When recording image data in the storage medium 111, data compression is generally performed in a predetermined compression format, for example, the JPEG method. The recording / playback signal processing circuit 110 performs data compression when recording image data on the external storage medium 111 and decompression processing of the compressed image data transferred from the external storage medium 111 or another camera. Reference numerals 120 and 121 denote interface circuits that perform data communication by connecting to other external devices such as a digital camera wirelessly or by wire. A plurality of these interfaces may be provided.

A monitor 109 is a liquid crystal display device for displaying various setting menus when displaying a captured subject image, photographing, reproducing, or performing a cooperative operation, and includes image data recorded in the storage medium 111 and other cameras. It is also used when reproducing and displaying image data transferred from. When displaying an image on the monitor 109, the image data stored in the buffer memory 105 is read, and the digital image data is converted into an analog video signal by the D / A converter 108. Then, an image is displayed on the monitor 109 using the analog video signal.

The contrast method of the AF control method employed in this camera will be described. In this method, there is a correlation between the degree of image blur and the contrast, and focusing is performed using the fact that the contrast of the image is maximized when the image is in focus. The magnitude of the contrast can be evaluated by the magnitude of the high-frequency component of the imaging signal. That is, a high-frequency component of the imaging signal is extracted by the BPF 1124 and the absolute value of the high-frequency component is integrated by the evaluation value calculation unit 1125 as the focus evaluation value. As described above, the AF calculation unit 1126 performs AF calculation based on this focus evaluation value. The CPU 112 adjusts the focusing lens position of the photographing lens 101 using the calculation result of the AF calculation unit 1126, and performs a focusing operation.

FIG. 2 shows a case where two digital cameras are operated in cooperation to try to photograph the same subject. Here, the camera that is actually operated is referred to as a master camera, which is referred to as a digital camera A, and a camera that operates cooperatively based on the operation of the master camera is referred to as a slave camera, and this is referred to as a digital camera B. Further, here, a case where image data of the digital camera B is transferred to the digital camera A by the wireless interface 121 or the USB cable 205 is shown. In the figure, the same functions as those in FIG. A release button 201 corresponds to the half-press SW 1162 and the full-press SW 1163 shown in FIG. Reference numeral 202 denotes a select dial which is integrated with the power switch 1161. FIG. 3 shows a display example of this select dial. Here, the camera power-off, normal shooting, normal playback, cooperative shooting, and cooperative playback modes can be selected. In the following description, in the case of cooperative operation, it is assumed that both the master and slave cameras are set to this cooperative shooting or cooperative reproduction mode. A multi-select switch 203 corresponds to the setting button 1164 and the U / D button 1165. Reference numeral 204 denotes an external storage medium insertion portion such as a compact flash card (registered trademark), and reference numeral 120 denotes a connection terminal portion such as a USB or IEEE1394, which is configured to be capable of two systems of wired connection. Reference numeral 121 denotes a wireless connection I / F unit such as Bluetooth. An LCD monitor 109 displays only the monitor of the camera A during the cooperative operation. In this case, the LCD monitor of camera A displays not only the image captured or reproduced by camera A but also the image captured or reproduced by camera B as shown in the figure. The LCD monitor of camera B is turned off to save power. At this time, the LED 123 lights up to indicate that data is being transferred in a coordinated operation. At this time, the LED of the camera B is also lit. When two or more digital cameras are operated cooperatively, only the master camera A and the camera that is the target of the cooperative operation are turned on.

Next, the operation of the master camera A during the cooperative operation when the plurality of cameras are connected will be described with reference to FIGS. First, in step S101 in FIG. 4, it is confirmed that the power switches of the master camera A and the slave camera B are turned on. Thereafter, the CPU 112 of the master camera A controls the master camera A or the slave camera B based on a flow according to a program that will be described later. Here, the relationship between the master and the slave will be described first. As described above, in the USB and Bluetooth standards, in order for the camera A to control the camera B, it is necessary to set a master and a slave. In the USB On-The-Go standard described above, the relationship between the master and the slave is first set according to the shape of the connected connector. That is, by connecting the Mini-A plug of the connection cable for USB connection to the camera A side and connecting the Mini-B plug to the camera B side, the camera A is set as the master camera and the camera B is set as the slave camera.

Once the relationship between the master and the slave is determined in this way, the following operation mode is taken between these cameras according to the present invention. (1) The master camera A can control the slave camera B, but the slave camera B cannot. (2) Even if the slave camera B is set to the cooperative operation mode, it can perform normal camera operation independently. However, even if a normal operation instruction is given during a cooperative operation, it cannot be executed, and the normal operation is started after the cooperative operation is once completed. (3) When an instruction is given from the master camera A when the slave camera B is operating as a normal camera, the slave camera B stores the instruction, and in principle, after the normal operation ends, the master camera A stores the instruction. An instruction from camera A is executed. (4) The relationship between the master and the slave continues until the master camera A instructs to cancel or until a predetermined time elapses after the cooperative operation is finished.

If the power is turned on in step S101 in FIG. 4, it is confirmed in step S102 at which position the select dial 202 of the master camera A is set other than the power off. If it is set to the position for normal shooting or normal playback, the process proceeds to step S103, and the conventional normal camera alone is operated. If it is set to the position for cooperative shooting or cooperative playback, the process proceeds to step S104, and it is confirmed whether or not the connected camera is a digital camera. If it is not a digital camera, the process proceeds to step S103 to perform normal shooting or normal playback operation. If it is confirmed that the connected peripheral device is a digital camera, then, in step S105, the data transfer method in which transfer is possible between the master camera A and the slave camera B is confirmed. If a plurality of transfer methods that can be connected are confirmed, a transfer method with the fastest transfer rate is selected from these transfer methods in step S106. Instead of automatically selecting the transfer method with the fastest transfer rate in step S106, a transfer method with a good line quality with the lowest error rate may be selected. Of course, a method of manually switching these may be used. In addition, when there are multiple transfer methods, the first transfer method is set in advance to avoid user confusion, and when that transfer method is not possible, it is automatically or manually set to another transfer method. You may make it do.

In step S107, the power states of all connected cameras including the master camera A are confirmed. The detailed flow of power supply confirmation will be described later with reference to FIG. When the confirmation of the power supply of all the cameras is completed, an instruction signal is sent to the slave camera B to turn off the monitor of the slave camera B in step S108. This is because in the cooperative operation mode, the operation of the slave camera B is performed from the master camera A, and the LCD monitor is not seen on the slave camera B side. Of course, even during a cooperative operation, it may be better to turn on the LCD monitor in some cases, so it may be selected as appropriate. In step S109, the master camera A sends a signal instructing the slave camera B to send the camera state information of the slave camera B to the master camera A.

Here, the camera status information is broadly divided into items that must be set at least for shooting and recording, and items that identify the cameras that operate cooperatively and indicate the details of the camera performance and incidental items. . The former includes exposure conditions, metering method, WB, AF information, exposure correction, contour enhancement, gradation correction, saturation setting, shooting sensitivity, distance measuring method, bracketing, continuous shooting setting, flash setting, multiple confirmation setting, non There are compression rate settings including compression, the number of recorded pixels, etc. The latter includes camera type information such as manufacturer name, camera model name, model number, product number, program software version number, memory card type and capacity, shooting Number of shots, remaining capacity, number of remaining frames, single / continuous shooting interval, maximum continuous shooting number, presence / absence of strobe, strobe guide number, battery type, capacity, remaining capacity, battery usage information, shutter The aperture setting range and settable interval, the reproduction / recording mode discrimination of the slave camera B, the presence / absence of a flag indicating that the slave camera B is cooperatively connected and data transfer is in progress, and the like. The presence or absence of such camera information varies depending on the camera. Here, details of the multiple confirmation setting will be described later. The data transfer flag is a flag for distinguishing when the slave camera B is operating alone or when the master camera A is operating in cooperation with another slave camera. Based on the presence or absence of the data transfer flag, the master camera A and the slave camera B turn on the data transfer display LED 123 as shown in FIG. However, the master camera A is not particularly inconvenient even if this LED is not lit, but the slave camera B side is very effective when the LCD monitor is turned off during the cooperative operation. Furthermore, when there are two or more slave cameras, only one of the slave cameras may perform shooting, recording, or data transfer in cooperation with the master camera A. In this case, the user can confirm which camera is actually operating in cooperation by discriminating this data transfer in progress flag and turning off the data transfer display LED of the slave camera that is not operating in cooperation. . Further, when data is transferred between two slave cameras, it is preferable that the LED of the master camera A is lit in addition to the LEDs of the two slave cameras being lit. As described above, since the LEDs are lit only during a period during which data is actually transferred, it is possible to reduce power consumption in all the cameras as compared with the case where the LEDs are continuously lit during the cooperative operation.

In step S110, the master camera A receives the information, and the camera information of the slave camera B received in step S111 is displayed on the LCD monitor 109 together with the camera information of the master camera A. Of course, information may be displayed individually for each camera. The transmission instruction in step S109 is periodically performed during the period of the cooperative operation, and the latest information of the slave camera B is always received by the master camera A, and the latest information is displayed as necessary. At this time, based on the camera information sent from the slave camera B, the total number of remaining frames of all connected cameras, the transfer speed of the image data described above, and the like are also displayed. FIG. 34 shows a display example of the camera information described so far.

In step S112 of FIG. 5, items to be set related to the overall cooperative operation are displayed in a menu, and it is confirmed that the items are set as necessary in step S113. If it is confirmed that the setting has been completed, the items set in the slave camera B are transmitted in step S114. Items to be set here include date and time setting, folder name information when recording by slave camera B during cooperative operation, file name information, instruction information on whether or not the file at the time of cooperative recording is different from the normal folder, camera Information for instructing the number of recorded pixels when the types of images are different, switching the cooperative shooting / cooperative playback mode of the slave camera B, setting detailed items in each mode, and sending and transferring the set items to the slave camera B There are settings such as the number of retries in case of failure. Of these, the folder name information and file name information are automatically set by the CPU 112 based on the camera information received so far, and are displayed or transmitted to the slave camera B. Details of these will be described later. Among these items, items that can be set in the step of cooperative shooting and cooperative reproduction described later will be described. In addition, as a method of switching the cooperative shooting / cooperative playback mode of the slave camera B, the slave camera B may be switched on its own instead of being switched from the master camera A. It is also possible to set here whether the shooting / playback screens of the master camera A and the slave camera B are to be displayed in a multi-display or individually on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera A.

Further, in this step S112, if the memory card is not inserted into the camera set as the recording camera that actually records the photographed image data on the memory card, or if the inserted memory card is full from the beginning, or It also displays a menu for the processing method when it becomes full during recording. FIG. 36 shows a display screen example in this case. There are three processing methods: (1) inserting or exchanging a card, (2) transferring to another recording camera, and (3) overwriting old data (only when the card is full). However, the setting shown in FIG. 36 is not necessarily indispensable. If not set, the card insertion or exchange instruction display surrounded by the thick frame in (1) is simply the default setting. (2) is an option when a plurality of recording cameras are set, and image data is transferred to another recording camera when the remaining capacity of the memory card of any of the set recording cameras is exhausted. The case of selecting (3) is set when, for example, old data is not necessary and only the most recent predetermined number of shooting data is to be stored. The actual card confirmation sequence based on these settings will be described later with reference to FIG.

In step S115, the setting of the select dial 202 is confirmed again before actually starting shooting and reproduction in the cooperative operation. Here, if a mode other than cooperative shooting or cooperative playback is set, the process returns to step S103 in FIG. If the cooperative shooting mode has been set, the process proceeds to step S116 to proceed to the cooperative shooting step. Details of this content will be described later. If the cooperative reproduction mode is set, the process proceeds to step S117 and proceeds to the cooperative reproduction step. Details of this content will also be described later. In step S118, it is confirmed that the cooperative operation modes in steps S116 and S117 have been completed. The above-described data transfer flag is used to determine whether or not this cooperative operation has been completed. The data transfer flag of all the cameras that are operating cooperatively is confirmed, and if the cooperative operation of all the cameras has not ended yet, the process returns to step S115. If the cooperative operation of all the cameras is completed, the timer is started in step S119, and if it is within the predetermined time in step S120, the process returns to step S115. When the predetermined time has elapsed, in step S121, the master camera A is turned off and a power-off instruction is issued to all slave cameras.

In this way, since the slave camera side does not know when the instruction from the master camera A is received, the half-press timer on each slave camera side is invalidated together with the setting of the cooperative operation, and the camera that has completed the camera operation at the end is determined. It is more effective to configure so that the entire camera is turned off when the half-press timer time of the camera elapses. Or, in the case of cooperative operation, a half-press timer time that is different from the case where each camera operates alone may be required, so a new half-press timer that operates for cooperative operation is newly provided. A half-press timer may be set. Of course, when a plurality of slave cameras are connected or the like, the end of the cooperative operation is detected for each slave camera in step S118, and a timer corresponding to each slave camera is started in step S119. You may comprise so that the power supply of a camera may be turned off.

Thereafter, if it is determined in step S122 that any one of the operation members of the master camera has been operated, in step S123, the master camera is turned on and all slave cameras are instructed to turn on, and the process returns to step S101. The power-off state described so far does not mean turning off all the power of the camera, but entering the standby state or the sleep state so that the operation can be resumed based on some external operation or signal. Point to. Of course, in step S121, the power supply may be completely turned off for both the master and the slave instead of such a standby state. In that case, in order to turn on the power of each camera again, the power switch of each camera may be turned on manually instead of step S122 or step S123.

In the description so far, as a method for confirming that the cooperative operation mode is set, in step S102, the state of the select dial 202 set by the user is determined. In addition to this method, there is a method of determining the type of peripheral device connected to the I / F unit 120 and automatically setting the cooperative operation mode. The description will be limited to the setting and canceling method of the cooperative operation mode with reference to FIG. In step S140 in FIG. 6, the CPU 112 identifies whether the peripheral device connected to the I / F unit 120 is a digital camera after the power is turned on. If it is a printer, personal computer or the like, the process proceeds to step S143 to perform the operation in the normal operation mode. If it is determined that the digital camera is connected, the process proceeds to step S141, and thereafter, the operation in the cooperative operation mode is performed. The cooperative operation mode set at this time continues until it is determined that the connection is released in step S142, and if released, the process proceeds to step S143 and thereafter operates in the normal shooting mode. Of course, the cooperative operation mode may be manually canceled when it is not desired to perform the cooperative operation even during connection.

Next, power supply confirmation will be described. When checking the power supply during the cooperative operation, it is possible not only to check the battery voltage or the like of the camera operating in a cooperative manner, but also to charge a camera with a small remaining capacity from a camera with a sufficient remaining capacity. This is to prevent one of the power supplies from dropping during the cooperative operation when the power supply voltage and the remaining capacity are greatly different between the connected cameras. When the battery state changes greatly between cameras, the simplest method other than this is to supply the power of a camera having a sufficient power supply capacity to another camera as it is. However, in the case of the above-mentioned USB O-T-G, only supply up to 8 mA is guaranteed, and this current is insufficient to operate the camera directly. As a specific charging method, a power supply pin (Vbus terminal) based on the USB O-T-G standard is used to charge a camera with a small remaining battery level from a camera with a small remaining battery level. Based on the flow of FIG. 20 and the display example of FIG. 35, the flow of power supply confirmation will be described.

In step S2001 in FIG. 20, first, the battery types of the master camera and the slave camera are confirmed. In step S2002, one of two confirmation methods is selected according to the confirmed type. When the battery type is a battery of a type that detects the remaining amount with a voltage such as nickel metal hydride, the process proceeds to step S2003, which is the first confirmation method, and the battery voltage is confirmed. If the battery type is a battery of a type that detects the remaining capacity such as lithium ion, the process proceeds to step S2004, which is the second confirmation method, and the remaining battery capacity is confirmed. In step S2005, each voltage is compared with a predetermined value corresponding to the voltage or the remaining capacity. When the comparison result is larger than the predetermined value for all the cameras, the power supply confirmation flow is terminated. If there is a camera whose comparison result is smaller than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step S2006, where it is determined whether the battery types between the cameras are the same. If they are the same, the process proceeds to step S2007. If they are not the same, the process proceeds to step S2008, and the camera name with a small remaining battery capacity and the battery replacement of the camera are displayed corresponding to each case. FIG. 35 shows an example of this warning display. In step S2008, the selection menu in the lower bracket in FIG. 35 is not displayed. This display is continued until the battery is replaced in step S2009, and when it is determined that the replacement is completed, this flow is ended. In step S2007, the display includes the selection menu in the lower brackets in FIG. In this display, the default is set to No. In this case, the process waits for the replacement in step S2011, and when it is determined that the replacement has been completed, the flow ends. If it is determined that Yes is selected in FIG. 35, the process proceeds to step S2012 to start charging and display that charging is in progress. Here, the Vbus pin described above is used for charging. The display during charging uses the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera A or the above-described LED 123 for data transfer display. However, the LCD 109 monitor of the master camera A is preferably turned off after a predetermined time for power saving.

In step S2013, completion of charging is determined. If it is detected that the charging has been completed, this flow is terminated. If it is determined that charging is still in progress, the flow proceeds to step S2014 to determine whether or not an instruction to stop charging has been issued. As a method for setting the charging stop instruction, the stop instruction can be selected together with the charging display on the LCD monitor 109 screen described above (not shown). If it is determined in step S2014 that a charge stop instruction has not been issued, the process returns to step S2010. If it is determined that a charge stop instruction has been issued, the charge is stopped in step S2015, and the process returns to step S2002. By selecting battery charging in this way, the remaining battery capacity between cameras can be leveled.
《Cooperative shooting sequence》
Next, a cooperative shooting / recording sequence will be described with reference to FIGS. If it is confirmed that the master camera A and the slave camera B are set to the cooperative shooting mode, the master camera A transmits to the master camera A the moving image shot by the slave camera B to the slave camera B in step S201. Send a signal to instruct. In step S202, the moving image data sent from the slave camera B is received and displayed by the display method based on the monitor screen setting in step S203. In this step S203, not only the moving images of the master camera A and the slave camera B are simultaneously displayed in multiple, but also one of the screens is displayed, or the user monitors a moving image having an optimal screen size according to the transfer rate of the communication line. Set to be able to. The display setting can be changed at any time during display. The detailed flow of step S203 will be specifically described based on the flow of FIGS. 21 and 22 and the display examples of FIGS.

In FIG. 21, a multi-screen as shown in FIG. 37 is displayed in step S2101. Here, the moving images from the master camera A and the slave camera B that are operating in cooperation are displayed on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera A on a multi-screen. In step S2102, it is determined whether the setting button 1164 is set to single screen display. If it is not set to a single screen, the process returns to step S2101 to continue the multi-display. If it is set to single screen display, the process proceeds to step S2103 to determine whether the camera of the single display screen is the master camera A or the slave camera B. If it is set to display the image of the master camera A as a single image, the process advances to step S2106 to display the moving image data of the master camera A on a large screen corresponding to the size of the almost entire surface of the LCD monitor 109. If the image from the slave camera B is set to be displayed as a single image, the process proceeds to step S2104 to detect the transfer rate of the image data with the slave camera B set to display the image on a single screen. The transfer rate detected in step S2105 is determined. If the transfer rate is sufficiently large, the process proceeds to step S2106, and the moving image data from the selected slave camera is displayed on a large screen corresponding to the size of the almost entire surface of the LCD monitor 109. If the transfer rate is lower than the preset rate, the process advances to step S2107 to display on a small screen of about 1/2 to 1/10 of the LCD monitor 109 screen. A display example at this time is shown in FIG. Here, a case where a moving image from the slave camera B is displayed is shown. After the single screen is displayed, the process proceeds to step S2108 in FIG. 22 to determine whether or not the currently displayed image is set to be changed to an image from another camera.

If it is set to change the image of the camera to be displayed, the process advances to step S2109 to select another set camera, and the process returns to step S2103. If it is not set to change the camera to be displayed, the process advances to step S2110 to determine whether or not it is set to return to the multi-screen display. If it is set to return to the multi-screen display, the process returns to step S2101 to display the multi-screen. If the multi-screen display is not set, the process advances to step S2111 to determine whether or not the display screen size (dimension) is set to be changed.

Here, as a screen change setting method, if the user operates the setting button 1164 to select a screen size setting menu from various setting menus (not shown), for example, if a small screen is being displayed as shown in FIG. For example, the text indicating whether or not to change to a large screen is superimposed on the moving image. When the word “decision” is selected here, a large screen image as shown in FIG. 39 is displayed in step S2111. FIG. 39 shows a case where a menu for selecting whether to change to a small screen is superimposed on the large screen display. The reason for selecting the large screen and the small screen in this way is as follows. If the transfer rate of moving image data is high, there is no problem on a large screen or a small screen, but if the transfer rate is low, displaying on a large screen that is almost full of the display screen in this way will reduce the screen update cycle. . If the subject is still, there is no problem, but if the subject is moving, the movement of the subject becomes unsightly when the update cycle is lowered. In such a case, the subject can be smoothly tracked even if the transfer rate is low by reducing the display screen. If the screen size (dimension) has not been changed in step S2111, the process proceeds to step S2114 to determine the size of the currently displayed screen. If the screen is displayed on the large screen, the process returns to step S2106. If the large screen display is continued and the small screen is displayed, the process returns to step S2107 to continue the small screen display. If the screen size has been changed in step S2111, the process advances to step S2112 to determine whether the single displayed screen is that of the master camera A or not. If it is an image of the master camera A, there is no meaning of the screen switching described above, so the process proceeds to step S2106, and the large screen is displayed regardless of the switching setting. If it is determined in step S2112 that a single image of the slave camera is displayed, the process advances to step S2113 to determine the size of the currently displayed screen. If it is displayed on the large screen, the display is changed to the small screen display and the process returns to step S2107 to continue the small screen display thereafter. If it is displayed on the small screen, the display is changed to the large screen display. Returning to S2106, the large screen display is continued thereafter.

So far, the operation when the transfer rate is determined and the display screen size is automatically changed has been described, but this may be performed manually. In other words, the screen can be displayed in either a large or small screen size regardless of the transfer rate, and the user can select a large or small display size according to the subject. Also in this case, the display screen size can be changed by operating the setting member 1164 as described above. Further, when it is desired to speed up the update cycle at a low update rate, a configuration similar to a so-called streaming method in which image data compressed by MPEG or the like is simultaneously reproduced while being received can be employed. Although the display example in the case of one slave camera has been described here, the same applies to the case where there are two or more slave cameras.

This completes the description of the monitor screen setting step in step S203 of FIG. 7, and then the description from step S204 is performed. In step S204, exposure calculation (AE), distance measurement calculation (AF), and white balance calculation (AWB) are performed for each camera, and the results are reflected in the moving image to the LCD monitor 109 described above. In step S205, it is determined whether the shutter button is half-pressed and the half-press switch 1162 is turned on. If not, it is determined in step S206 whether a shooting camera and a recording camera are selected. If it has been selected, the process returns to step S202 to continue displaying the moving image. If it has not been set or if it is desired to change the setting, the process proceeds to step S207 to determine whether or not the setting button 1164 has been operated, and if it has not been operated, the process returns to step S202. If the setting button 1164 is operated, the process advances to step S208 to display a menu for selecting a photographing camera and a recording camera and setting photographing conditions and recording conditions. FIG. 40 shows a display example at this time.

First, from this menu display, an item of “shooting / recording camera setting” is selected in order to check whether the camera to be shot and the camera to be actually recorded on the memory card are set. Here, the photographic camera refers to a camera that records the image data obtained by actually exposing the subject in the buffer memory. The recording camera is an external storage such as a memory card for recording the image data captured by the photographic camera for a long period of time. A camera that records on a medium. Of course, instead of the memory card, a camera configured to store in the internal memory for a long time may be used.

In this display example, items for setting shooting / recording conditions (details will be described later) are also displayed. In the figure, items surrounded by a thick frame indicate items that have already been set or selected. When an item of setting of the photographing camera is selected from among these, a setting menu of the photographing camera shown in FIG. 41 is displayed. As can be seen from the figure, there are currently three cameras that operate cooperatively, including the master camera (camera A), and by default, all three cameras are selected as cameras for photographing. Here, when the setting button 1164 is operated to select an item of non-selection, no image is taken even if the full-press SW 1163 is pressed on the master camera, including the master camera. Further, even if a camera has been selected as a shooting camera, shooting with that camera is naturally not possible immediately after shooting, such as when image data is being read from the image sensor. In this case, the CPU 112 selects another camera that is selected as a camera for shooting and is in a shooting enabled state, and issues a shooting instruction to that camera.

By setting in this way, the next shooting can be performed immediately with the other camera selected as the shooting camera without waiting for the completion of shooting with one camera, greatly reducing the shooting interval of the entire system. Is done. At this time, it is preferable to display the camera name on the LCD monitor 109 so that the photographer can know the actual photographing camera described above (not shown). For the determination of the photographing enabled state, a release permission signal or a buffer full signal described in step S215 and step S332 in FIG. 10 is used.

FIG. 42 shows an example of menu display when a recording camera is set. Here, the display of the cameras that operate in the same manner and the setting status thereof are also displayed, and the default setting is to record with all cameras. In the case of recording with this recording camera, as in the case of the shooting camera described above, when image data is being written to the memory card, the memory card is not inserted, or the inserted memory card is full In some cases, even if a recording camera is selected, the camera cannot actually record. Therefore, also in this case, the CPU 112 selects a camera that is set as a recording camera and is in a recordable state, and issues a recording instruction to the camera. At this time, it is preferable to display the recording camera name and the recording progress status on the LCD monitor 109 so that the user can know the recording status (not shown). This recordable state is determined in step S401 and step S404 in FIG.

The combination method when selecting the camera for actually photographing and the camera for recording described above is arbitrary. For example, it is assumed that the photographing camera is selected as camera A and camera B, the recording camera is selected as camera B, and the camera A and camera B are simultaneously photographed. In this case, in principle, the image data taken by the camera B is recorded on the memory card of the camera B, and then the taken image data transferred from the camera A is recorded on the memory card of the camera B. That is, while the captured image data of the camera A is being received by the camera B, the captured image data of the camera B is recorded in parallel with the camera B. The recording time as a whole can be shortened. When the shooting camera is selected as camera A and camera B, the recording camera is set as camera C, and when shooting is performed simultaneously with camera A and camera B, the recording order of the captured image data of camera A and camera B to camera C Is optional. On the other hand, when the camera A is selected as the photographing camera and the cameras B and C are selected as the recording cameras, recording is continuously performed on only one of the cameras B and C. When the camera memory card is full, the next camera will record. This recording flow will be described in detail in the coordinated recording portion of FIGS.

As will be understood from the above description, one of the major features of this cooperative operation camera system is that the camera for shooting and the camera for recording do not necessarily have to be the same camera. Thus, even if the camera is normally set so that shooting is prohibited when no card is inserted, shooting prohibition can be canceled and normal shooting can be performed in the cooperative mode. FIG. 29 shows a flow for canceling the photographing prohibition.

In the figure, it is checked in step S2901 if a card is inserted in the camera. If it is not attached, the process proceeds to step S2902, and if it is attached, the process proceeds to step S2903 to check the remaining capacity of the card. If there is a sufficient remaining capacity of the card, photographing with the camera is permitted in step S2904. If it is determined in step S2904 that the remaining card capacity is insufficient, the process advances to step S2902. In step S2902, it is determined whether or not the camera is set to the cooperative mode. If not, shooting with the camera is prohibited in step S2905. If the cooperative mode is set, in step S2906, the prohibition of photographing with the camera is canceled, and the process proceeds to step S2904 to allow photographing with the camera. In this way, even if the corresponding camera is ready for shooting, a warning display is displayed on the LCD monitor 109 that no card is inserted or the remaining card amount is zero.

In step S208, as shown in FIG. 40, a menu for setting various shooting / recording conditions for the set camera is displayed together with a setting menu for the shooting / recording camera. Here, when the item of setting of shooting / recording camera is selected, a camera selection screen for setting shooting / recording conditions shown in FIG. 57 is displayed. In the figure, in order to reduce the complexity of user settings, an item that the same setting is used for both the master camera and the slave camera is set by default. When this item is selected, all setting items are set in advance by the master camera. The second item is an item for setting the same setting for the slave camera at the same time as the setting for the master camera. If you want to make settings for each camera, select the camera you want to set individually from the third item. For each of the cameras set by selecting the second and third items, shooting conditions and recording conditions are set based on FIG. 40. However, it changes according to the menu setting displayed at that time. A detailed screen of the setting contents to be performed is shown in FIG. 43 as a list for explanation.

As can be seen from this figure, there are so many setting items that it is complicated to set all the setting items when the second and third items are selected. Alternatively, some items may not be set or may be forgotten. Therefore, in this case as well, as in the first case, the above-described shooting / recording conditions are set in advance for all cameras with predetermined items. Specifically, for example, the exposure control is set to P (program), the metering method is set to center-weighted metering, the white balance is set to auto white balance, the compression ratio is medium, the number of recording pixels is set to VGA, and the exposure correction is set to 0. Keep it. In addition to the shooting / recording conditions, for example, when setting the time, the time error between the cameras can be eliminated by making the settings of the master camera and the slave camera the same. This time adjustment may be set in step S208, but may be set in step S112 in FIG.

Also, if different types of cameras are connected to operate in a coordinated manner, the functions of the cameras are different, so the item contents set by default and the settings set by the master camera A are used. The same setting item as the item cannot always be set by the slave camera B. When setting for such a camera, the CPU 112 discriminates a value that can be set by the slave camera B from the camera information of the slave camera B, and automatically selects a value closest to the set value to select the slave camera B. Set to. Of course, the user may select and set a setting close to the setting of the master camera A from the camera information of the slave camera B displayed on the LCD monitor 109.

Further, among the exposure condition items, the program value, shutter priority value, aperture priority value, and manual item are not identical in the slave camera B, and the shutter value and aperture value determined in accordance with the items set in the master camera A. May be set to the slave camera B. Alternatively, the user can set shooting conditions that can be set by both cameras by looking at the LCD monitor of the master camera A. In this way, since a setting different from the initial setting may be set for the slave camera B, it is displayed on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera A in order to confirm the actual setting value.

Furthermore, when cooperative shooting is performed with cameras from different manufacturers, picture creation differs depending on the company. In such a case, a correction value for correcting the difference between the cameras is simultaneously sent to the slave camera B when items such as photometry, white balance, saturation, and contour correction are selected. In this way, the slave camera B does not necessarily have the same setting as that of the master camera A. In this case, a warning is displayed on the LCD monitor 109.

The operation flow for setting the shooting / recording conditions in step S208 described above will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step S2801, it is determined whether or not to individually set cameras for which conditions are set. If it is selected not to make individual settings, the process advances to step S2802. Here, it is determined whether or not the default setting is selected for all cameras. If the default setting has been selected (first item in FIG. 57), the process advances to step S2803, and the slave camera B has been selected to match the setting of the master camera A (second item in FIG. 57). If so, the process proceeds to step S2804. In step S2804, it is determined whether or not any setting is selected from the various setting items shown in FIG. If it is not selected, the selection is awaited, and if any item or set value is set, the process proceeds to step S2805. In step S2805, it is determined based on the camera information of the slave camera B whether the same setting is possible in the slave camera B.

FIG. 58 shows a display example when the photometry method is selected. When spot metering is selected here, spot metering is set in both master camera A and slave camera B. At this time, if there are a plurality of slave cameras, all the slave cameras are determined. If it is determined that the slave camera B can be set to the same setting as the master camera A, the process proceeds to step S2806 to instruct the slave camera B to set the selected setting and to the LCD monitor 109 in step S2807. And the setting result of the slave camera B are displayed. At this time, if the type of camera is different and correction is required as described above, the correction value is also sent out in step S2806. If it is determined in step S2805 that the slave camera B cannot be set, the process proceeds to step S2808, a setting impossible warning is given on the LCD monitor 109, and another setting is selected in step S2809 so that the selection result is set. To instruct.

FIG. 59 shows an example of a display for warning and setting change. According to this display, since the camera B has only the center-weighted metering method and the multi-metering method with respect to the spot metering selected in FIG. 58 described above, it is displayed to select from these methods. Although the user selects here, it may be automatically selected by the master camera A. In step S2807, the setting result is displayed. When there are a plurality of slave cameras, step S2806 or step S2809 is selected for each slave camera for one setting item, and the selection result is displayed. When the setting or confirmation of one item is completed, the process proceeds to step S2810. If another setting has been selected, the process returns to step S2802.

If the default setting is set for all the cameras in step S2802, and the process proceeds to step S2803, the slave camera B uses the items such as the exposure condition and the shutter value previously selected in step S2803. Whether it can be set is determined based on the camera information of the slave camera B. If all items and values can be set in the slave camera B, the process proceeds to step S2811, and the slave camera B is instructed to perform default settings. In step S2807, the setting values of the master camera A and slave camera B are set to the LCD monitor 109. To display. If there are items or values that cannot be set in the slave camera B in step S2803, the process advances to step S2808 to select another value after warning. Also in this step S2803, when there are a plurality of slave cameras, all are confirmed and displayed. A display example is the same as in FIG. If it is selected in step S2801 to individually set, the process proceeds to step S2812, and the setting completion for each camera is awaited.

Next, the detailed contents of the photographing / recording conditions described so far will be described with reference to FIG. When the item of setting shooting conditions is selected on the screen of FIG. 40 described above, a screen for selecting normal setting items and setting items for cooperative operation shown in FIG. 43 is displayed. When normal setting items are selected here, exposure control, metering method, white balance, exposure correction, focus, contour coordination, tone correction, saturation setting, and sensitivity items are displayed. The next screen will be displayed.

The items of exposure control are screens for setting P (program mode), S (shutter priority mode), A (aperture priority mode)), and M (manual). Here, when set to S or M, the shutter speed setting is further displayed, and when set to A and M, the aperture value setting is further displayed. The metering method is a selection screen of multi-metering / spot metering / center-weighted metering. White balance is a manual setting screen for individual color temperatures of auto, sun, light bulb, fluorescent lamp, and the like. Exposure compensation is selected from a total of 12 compensation values in ± 1/3 steps. The focus is a selection screen for selecting whether the AF area is selected automatically or manually, and a selection screen for selecting whether the AF operation is continued (C-AF mode) or not (S-AF mode). Contour coordination, gradation correction, and shooting sensitivity are respectively auto and manual selection screens, and saturation setting is a selection screen for chroma manual setting and monochrome setting.

The cooperative operation setting item is a setting item unique to the case where the camera is set to cooperative operation. During normal shooting other than during the cooperative operation, only the items for setting the part related to the normal operation among these items can be displayed and set. In addition, except when the continuous continuous shooting described later is set, basically when the full push switch 1163 of the master camera is pressed, each camera is individually and simultaneously shot based on the set normal setting items. .

When recording conditions are selected, the compression rate and the number of recording pixels are set here. The compression rate is selected from high compression / medium compression / low compression, and the number of recording pixels is selected from VGA / XGA / SXGA. If the cameras use image sensors having different numbers of pixels, the number of recorded pixels can be set to be the same here.

Of the setting screens described so far, the normal setting item screen is well-known in conventional cameras, so it is omitted here, and the case where the setting item during cooperative operation is selected will be described in detail below. A camera in which a setting item during cooperative operation is set enables shooting with various characteristics.

-AF setting-
The AF setting will be described. Usually, in cooperative shooting, a method of performing AF calculation for each camera and shooting according to the calculation result for each camera is common. On the other hand, the AF principle and the focusing algorithm differ when the type of camera differs between cameras that perform cooperative photographing. That is, even if the subject is the same, it is inconvenient because the focusing accuracy and the focusing time differ depending on the camera. In such a case, this inconvenience can be solved by causing all the slave cameras to immediately set the shooting distance obtained by the master camera. FIG. 44 shows a display example of a setting screen for this purpose.

-Shooting timing-
A case will be described in which the shooting timing item for setting the shooting timing of the master camera and the slave camera is selected. A display example of the selection screen in this case is shown in FIG. By default, an item of shooting with all shooting cameras is set, and when the full-press switch 1163 is pressed, shooting is simultaneously performed with all of the set shooting cameras. On the other hand, if the item of shooting with only one camera is selected, after the release of the master camera, only one camera that can be released is automatically identified from the cameras that are cooperatively connected, and that camera is automatically identified. Shoot with.

A shooting mode corresponding to the setting result of the shooting timing item and the setting results of the shooting camera and the recording camera set in FIGS. 41 and 42 described above will be described based on the flow of FIG. In step S2301, it is determined whether or not the full push switch 1163 of the master camera A is turned on. If the full push switch 1163 has been turned off, the process proceeds to step S2302, and it is determined whether or not the half push switch 1162 has been turned on. If the half-push switch 1162 has been turned off, this flow ends. If it has been turned on, the flow returns to step S2301. If it is confirmed in step S2301 that the full-press switch is turned on, it is determined in step S2303 which of the above-described shooting timings is set. If it is set to shoot with one camera, the process proceeds to step S2304. If it is set to shoot with all the shooting cameras, the process proceeds to step S2305. In step S2305, it is determined whether or not all the set photographing cameras can be released. If it is determined that shooting is possible with all cameras, the process proceeds to step S2306, and an exposure instruction is given to all the shooting cameras set. When exposure with a predetermined shutter time is completed, recording is instructed to a predetermined recording camera in step S2307. This predetermined recording camera will be described in detail in the section of cooperative recording.

After completion of the recording instruction, the process returns to step S2302, and it is determined whether or not the half-press switch 1162 is turned on. The sequence for simultaneously shooting and recording with all the shooting cameras set up to here is finished. In step S2305, instead of waiting for all the photographing cameras to be in the release permission state, if the full-push switch 1163 is turned on, an exposure instruction is sequentially given from the set photographing cameras from the cameras that can be released. May be.

If it is set in step S2303 that only one camera is set, the process proceeds to step S2304, where it is determined whether or not the master camera A is set as a shooting camera. This is because when a plurality of cameras including the master camera A can be released, priority is given to the release by the master camera A. If the master camera A is not set as a shooting camera, the process proceeds to step S2309. If the master camera A is set as a shooting camera, the process proceeds to step S2308. In step S2308, it is determined whether or not the master camera A is ready for release. If it is not ready for release, the process proceeds to step S2309. If release is possible, the process proceeds to step S2310 to give an exposure instruction to master camera A itself.

When the exposure is completed, the process proceeds to step S2307. If it is determined in step S2308 that the master camera A is not yet ready for release, the process advances to step S2309 to determine whether a release permission signal is received from the slave camera B set as the photographing camera. If the release permission signal has not been received, the process returns to step S2304, and if it has been received, the process proceeds to step S2311. In step S2311, it is determined whether or not the slave camera that has received the release permission signal is a slave camera that has been recorded before this shooting. If it is the first cooperative shooting operation, or if the slave camera is different from the slave camera recorded as a result of the previous shooting operation, the process proceeds to step S2307. If a release permission signal has been received from the same slave camera as the slave camera previously recorded in step S2311, the process proceeds to step S2312, where an exposure instruction is issued again to the same slave camera, and then the process proceeds to step S2307. .

As can be seen from the flow of this shooting mode, when there are a plurality of slave cameras that cannot be released by the master camera A and can be released, the shooting order between these slave cameras is arbitrary. However, if they are recorded arbitrarily on different cameras, rearranging becomes troublesome. Furthermore, in order to avoid transferring to another camera even if it can be recorded simultaneously with the shooting camera, if you take a picture with a slave camera and then record again, the camera that was shot immediately before will continue to take a picture. If it is possible, take a picture again with that camera. If the camera is set and the release is not possible, the camera is recording in the camera's buffer memory and the camera cannot accept the next release until this operation ends. It is. In this way, if the full-push switch 1163 is pushed once and then the full-push switch 1163 is pushed again, it is possible to continue shooting with another camera.

Up to this point, the case of single shooting has been described based on the flow of FIG. 23, but the method of selecting a shooting camera or recording camera is basically the same in the case of continuous shooting. In other words, regardless of single shooting or continuous shooting, it is possible to shorten the interval from when the full-press switch 1163 is once released until the next full-press switch 1163 is pressed again. The timing of this continuous shooting will be described later with reference to FIG. In addition, even if shooting with the previously taken camera becomes impossible for some reason other than during recording in the buffer, shooting with another camera can be continued immediately, so that a photo opportunity is not missed.

-Bracketing setting-
The bracketing setting and shooting method will be described based on the flow of FIGS. 24 to 26 and the display examples of FIGS. 45 to 49. FIG. 46 shows an example of a setting screen at the start of bracketing setting. As shown in FIG. 46, any one of the bracketing shooting items of exposure, WB, shooting distance, zoom position (field angle), and gamma is selected for each camera. Here, the shooting distance bracketing refers to a method of shooting several images by shifting the shooting lens by a minute distance back and forth with respect to the focus lens position obtained by AF calculation. 46 shows a case where camera A is set for WB bracketing and camera B is set for gamma bracketing.

The setting and exposure at the time of bracketing shooting will be described based on FIG. If it is confirmed in step S2401 that the setting of the bracketing item displayed on the setting screen of FIG. 46 is completed, the process proceeds to step S2402 to determine whether or not the bracketing item selected for each camera is the same. To do. If they are the same, the process proceeds to step S2403. If they are not the same, the process proceeds to step S2404. In step S2404, a correction value for bracketing shooting with each camera is selected, and each camera is instructed to set that value. In this way, instead of instructing each camera to set the value directly, it is also possible to instruct each camera only about the correction step width for the bracketing item and the total number of shots, and to perform bracketing shooting for each camera accordingly. It is. In step S2405, it is determined whether the exposure of each camera is completed based on the full-press switch 1163 being turned on. If the full-press switch 1163 has not been pressed, the process returns to step S2402 to prepare for the case where the setting is changed. If it is confirmed in step S2405 that the exposure with each camera is completed, the process proceeds to step S2406 to determine whether this exposure is the final exposure set as bracketing. If it is not the final exposure yet, the process returns to step S2402 to continue the bracketing, and if it is the final exposure, the bracketing photographing is ended. In this way, since different bracketing items can be set for each camera, image data under many shooting conditions can be obtained simultaneously by one shooting.

If it is determined in step S2402 that the same bracketing item has been selected, the process proceeds to step S2403, where it is determined whether the number of times of shooting as bracketing is only one. In normal bracketing shooting with a camera alone, the shooting time slightly shifts.On the other hand, during cooperative shooting, different correction values are used for multiple cameras operating in a coordinated manner. It is possible to obtain bracketed images for the number of cameras that are set and operate in cooperation at the same time. FIG. 47 shows an example of a setting screen displayed after setting the same item. Here, by default, normal bracketing is set. If it is determined in step S2403 that the same time bracketing in FIG. 47 is selected, the process proceeds to step S2409 in FIG. 25. If it is determined that the normal bracketing is set, the process proceeds to step S2407. In step S2407, it is determined whether or not it is set to change the step width between the cameras for the same selected bracketing item.

FIG. 49 shows a selection screen display example in this case. In the figure, the camera A shows a case where a step of 1/3 step is selected and the camera B selects a step of 1 step. Also here, an item that the step width is not changed is set by default. If it is determined in step S2408 that the default step width is not changed, the process advances to step S2404 to select a correction value for bracketing shooting with each camera alone, and set the value for each camera. Instruct to set. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S2405 to wait for the completion of exposure. If it is determined in step S2407 that the step width for each camera is set, the process proceeds to step S2408, and the correction selected for each camera based on the selection result shown in FIG. Instructs to select and set a value. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S2404 to wait for the completion of exposure.

If the second item of the same time bracketing in FIG. 47 is selected, the process advances from step S2403 to step S2409 in FIG. Here, it is determined whether or not the selected bracketing item is a shooting distance. If the shooting distance item has been selected, the process proceeds to step S2410. If an item other than the shooting distance has been selected, the process proceeds to step S2411. Here, the master camera A is set to an appropriate condition determined by the master camera A itself, and each camera is instructed to set a value obtained by changing the slave camera B by a predetermined step width from the appropriate condition. In step S2412, the process waits for the end of exposure. If not, the process returns to step S2409. FIG. 50 shows a display example for selecting the shooting distance item in step S2409. In step S2410, it is determined which item has been selected from the selection screen of FIG.

When the first item in FIG. 50 is selected, the process proceeds to step S2411. As described above, the focus lens of the master camera A is set to the focus lens position and the focus lens position of the slave camera B is moved from the focus position as described above. Each camera is instructed to set a position shifted by a predetermined distance. The second and third items in FIG. 50 correspond to the case where the focus lens position of the slave camera B is independent of the focus lens position of the master camera A. In this case, the process proceeds from step S2410 to step S2413, and if the second item in FIG. 50 has been selected, the third item has been selected in step S2414. In this case, the process proceeds to step S2415. In step S2415, it is determined whether or not the focus lens position is set annually for each of the master camera A and the slave camera B. When the setting is completed, the process waits for the end of exposure in step S2412. However, in this case, the exposure is not performed when the full push switch 1163 of the master camera A is turned on, but when the subject enters the shooting position set by each camera after the full push switch 1163 is turned on, for each camera. It is automatically exposed. As a result, it is possible to perform unattended shooting of a subject at a plurality of lens positions by releasing the master camera A only once. When the third item is selected in the display of FIG. 50, a screen display for setting the shooting distance for each camera is subsequently displayed, but illustration is omitted.

Description will be made regarding a case where the item of photographing at a plurality of peak positions, which is the second item in FIG. 50, is selected in step S2413. In this case, since the manual distance is not set, the process proceeds to step S2414. In step S2414, the master camera A determines its own focus lens position and the focus lens position of the slave camera B, and instructs to set the focus lens at the position determined for each camera. In step S2412, the exposure of each camera is completed. Wait for. The detailed operation of step S2414 will be described in detail based on the flow of FIG. 26 and the evaluation value fluctuation diagram of FIG.

In step S2414, it is determined whether or not a peak of a predetermined value or more has been detected in the focus evaluation value obtained by moving the entire lens movement range by the contrast AF method. For example, when two persons are at different positions in the front-rear direction, there may be a plurality of peaks in the focus information (evaluation value) from the same distance measurement area, as indicated by P1 and P2 in FIG. . Alternatively, when there are a plurality of ranging areas, the peak position may differ depending on the ranging area. In such a case, in the present system, for each peak position detected by the master camera A, shooting lens position information (for example, master camera A) is transferred from the master camera A to the slave camera B so as to capture images at different peak positions for each camera. Shooting distance: X1, and shooting distance of slave camera B: X2).

The operation flow in this case will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step S2601, the focus lens of the master camera A moves over the entire movement range from the closest distance to infinity. In step S2602, the evaluation value in the portion corresponding to the AF area of the image pickup signal obtained from the CCD 103 at predetermined intervals during this movement is calculated by the AF calculation unit 1126 and stored together with the lens position corresponding to the storage unit 1128. In step S2603, the presence / absence of a peak position greater than or equal to a predetermined value is determined from the stored evaluation value. In step S2604, first, an instruction is given to set the focus lens position of the master camera A to the maximum peak position. In step S2605, an instruction is given to set the focus lens position of the slave camera B to the second and subsequent peak positions. For the third and subsequent peak positions, if there are a plurality of slave cameras, an instruction is given to set different peak positions by the number of slave cameras. Conversely, when the number of peak positions is smaller than the number of shooting cameras, an instruction is given to set the maximum peak positions for a plurality of cameras. As a result, cooperative shooting can be performed at different peak positions at the same time.

-Burst setting-
The continuous shooting will be described with reference to FIG. Since the detailed contents will be described in the cooperative exposure described later, only the items to be set will be described here. There are three types of continuous shooting modes described below during cooperative operation. Here, the case of continuous shooting with two cameras will be described. (1) When the full-press switch 1163 of the master camera is turned on, the two cameras each independently perform continuous shooting (this corresponds to the case of FIGS. 51B and 51C, which is referred to as normal continuous shooting here). ). (2) When the full push switch of the master camera is turned on, continuous shooting is first performed with one camera, and when the buffer memory of the camera becomes full, continuous shooting is started with another camera (FIG. 51 (d), ( This corresponds to the case of e), which is called continuous continuous shooting). (3) If the full push switch of the master camera is turned on, continuous shooting is performed alternately with the two cameras (corresponding to the cases of FIGS. 51 (f) and (g), which is here the high-speed continuous shooting) Called). FIG. 52 shows an example of a setting screen for the above three types of continuous shooting methods.

-Flash setting-
A display example for setting the strobe is shown in FIG. 53, and an explanation of the actual shooting state is shown in FIG. 54 and FIG. In FIG. 53, by default, the first normal light emission item is set. As in the case other than the cooperative operation, the normal light emission means that the flash is automatically emitted from all the selected photographing cameras when the luminance is low. Further, in the following description, a case in which a strobe is built in the camera will be described, but the same applies to an external strobe.

In this system, strobe light emission and the amount of light emission can be set for each slave camera from the master camera. The second item in FIG. 53 will be described. The case where this setting is made is, as shown in FIG. 54, a case where a subject with a depth or a subject with a depth is taken when photographing a collective subject. In this case, cameras (here, cameras B and C) are arranged around the subject in addition to the camera for photographing the main subject (here, camera A), and the cameras arranged around these are used only for illuminating the subject. To do. In this way, when there is a camera with a built-in flash for cooperative shooting, it is convenient because it is not necessary to prepare a separate flash for additional lighting. In addition, the cameras B and C do not emit only the strobe light, but the image may be erased in accordance with an instruction from the master camera after shooting with the strobe light as usual and recording it on a memory card. Alternatively, the cameras B and C may not be recorded on the memory card after shooting with the strobe light, but may be instructed from the master camera to end the camera operation when the shot image data is once recorded in the buffer memory. . When this second item is selected in FIG. 53, a screen for selecting a camera to emit light is displayed next on the LCD monitor 109, but the drawing is omitted.

The case of selecting the third item in FIG. 53 will be described with reference to FIG. In this case, contrary to the second case, as shown in FIG. 55, the same subject is photographed by a plurality of cameras at substantially the same position. At this time, if all the shooting cameras are turned on, the amount of illumination on the subject may become excessive. For example, when shooting with two cameras, the strobe of one camera may not be turned on, Set the amount of light emitted by the camera's strobe to any light amount between non-flash and full flash When the third item in FIG. 53 is selected, a screen for setting the strobe light emission amount shown in FIG. 56 is then displayed. Here, it is possible to select five levels of intensity between 0 to 100% of the amount of emitted light, but this may be set directly as a numerical value or set in an analog manner. You may do it. The third setting can also be used when recording with a master camera using a strobe of a slave camera equipped with a strobe when shooting with a master camera without a strobe.

The operation flow of the strobe light emission set based on FIG. 53 so far will be described based on FIG. It is checked in step S2701 if the half-press switch 1162 is turned on. If it has been turned on, the process advances to step S2702 to check whether or not a photographing camera is set. If it has not been set, the camera is set based on the setting screen of FIG. If the setting has been completed, it is checked in step S2703 what setting the flash emission method of each camera is set to. The subsequent operations differ depending on the item selected based on the setting screen of FIG. 53 described above.

First, if it is selected to emit normal light, the process proceeds to step S2704 to instruct the camera selected as the photographing camera to prepare for flash emission. Thereafter, in step S2705, it is determined whether or not the full push switch 1163 is turned on. If not, the process advances to step S2706 to determine whether the half-press switch 1162 is turned on. If it has been turned on, the process returns to step S2705 to wait for the full-press switch 1163 to be turned on. If not, the process returns to step S2701 to wait for the half-press switch 1162 to be turned on. If the shutter button is fully pressed in step S2705, the process proceeds to step 2707 to instruct the camera set as the photographing camera to emit the flash and start photographing. At this time, the strobe may be uniquely determined by all the photographing cameras and may emit light when the subject is dark.

If it is determined in step S2703 that a camera that only emits flash is set, the process advances to step S2708 to check whether the setting of the camera that emits light has been completed. If the setting of the light emitting camera has not been completed, the system waits for the end of the setting. If the setting has been completed, the process proceeds to step S2709 to instruct the cameras other than the camera set to emit the flash to prohibit the light emission. In step S2710, a strobe light emission preparation instruction is issued to the camera set to emit the strobe light. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S2705 to wait for the full-press switch to be turned on. In step S2707, the camera set to emit the strobe is instructed to emit light, and the camera set to the photographing camera is instructed to start photographing.

If it is set in step S2703 to change the amount of emitted light, it is determined whether or not the setting of the amount of emitted light of each camera set as the photographing camera is completed in step S2710. If it has not been completed, the setting is waited. If it has been completed, the amount of emitted light set for each photographing camera is notified in step S2712. In step S2713, a strobe light emission preparation instruction is issued to the photographing camera.

-Multiple confirmation-
This cooperative camera system has a function of recording two images taken by the same camera or different cameras on the LCD monitor 109 and recording only necessary image data after viewing the result. . Details of this function will be described later in detail with reference to FIGS.

The description of the setting related to step 208 in FIG. Subsequently, returning to step S205, if it is confirmed that the half-press switch 1162 is turned on, the process proceeds to step S210 where it is confirmed whether bracketing is set. If it has been set, the correction condition for bracketing shooting is sent from the master camera A to each slave camera in step S211, and if it has not been set, the process proceeds to step S212 in FIG. In step S212, shooting conditions for AE, AF, and WB are determined for each camera based on the calculation result in step S204 described above.

In step S213, it is determined whether the setting determined by the master camera A is used instead of the shutter speed and aperture value determined by the slave camera. If it is not used, the process proceeds to step S214, and the recording conditions such as the shutter speed, aperture value, shooting distance, WB, etc., and the recording conditions such as the compression rate of the slave camera determined based on the calculation on the slave camera side. The slave camera is instructed to transmit to the master camera A, and as a result, the calculation results sent from the slave camera are displayed on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera in step S216. If the shooting / recording conditions set by the master camera A are used in step S213, these shooting / recording conditions are sent from the master camera A to the slave camera in step S215. Since the setting in step S208 described above may be reset several times before the full-press switch 1163 is pressed, the latest information set from the master camera A is sent in step S215, and step S216 is set. Is displayed on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera A.

In step S217, an instruction signal is sent to the master camera A to send a release permission signal indicating that those cameras can be released to the photographing cameras set in step S208 described above. Of course, this release permission signal is also generated by the master camera A itself. If the release permission signal from the photographing camera set by the master camera A is received in step S218, the process proceeds to step S219.

In this case, it is not necessary to wait for release permission signals from all cameras. If there is a camera that does not receive the release permission signal among the photographing cameras set in step S218, the process proceeds to step S220, and waits for the release permission signal to be received for a predetermined time. If it is within the predetermined time, the process returns to step S218 and is repeated. When the predetermined time has elapsed, in step S221, the LCD monitor 109 is displayed in a shooting disabled state, and in step S222, a camera name that cannot be captured is displayed. Since it is necessary for the user to reset the shooting camera, for example, to reset the shooting camera, the cooperative shooting sequence is terminated. However, the cooperative shooting sequence as a whole is continued with the camera from which the release permission signal is detected.

In step S219, it is determined whether or not the full push switch 1163 of the master camera A is turned on. If not, the process proceeds to step S223 to determine whether or not the half-press switch 1162 is turned on. If the half-press switch is kept on, the process returns to step S219 and waits for the full-press switch 1163 to be pressed. If it is detected in step S219 that the full push switch 1163 is turned on, the process proceeds to the cooperative exposure sequence in step S224. Details of the cooperative exposure will be described later. When the cooperative exposure sequence is completed, it is determined in step S225 whether or not the half-press switch 1162 is turned on. If it is turned on, the process returns to step S219, and if it is not turned on, this cooperative imaging sequence is finished. On the other hand, if it is detected in step S223 that the half-push switch 1162 has been turned off, the process returns to step S115 in FIG. 5 to newly confirm the selection dial mode.
<< Cooperative exposure sequence >>
Next, the cooperative exposure sequence will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 9 shows a coordinated exposure sequence in the master camera A itself, and FIG. 10 shows a sequence of the master camera A for the slave camera B to perform coordinated exposure. First, when the master camera A is set as a photographing camera, it is confirmed in step S301 in FIG. 9 that the master camera A is in a release enabled state, and then the exposure conditions determined as a result of AE, AF, and AWB calculations. To expose the subject. When the exposure is completed, the image data captured in step S302 is recorded in the buffer memory 105. In step S303, it is determined whether or not the recording in the buffer memory 105 is completed. If the recording is in progress, the process returns to step S302. When the recording is completed, the process proceeds to step S304. In step S304, it is determined whether the buffer memory 105 of the master camera A is full (full). If it is full, no further photographing is possible, and the process proceeds to the step of cooperative recording in step S311. Details of this cooperative recording will be described later. If it is determined in step S304 that the buffer memory 105 is not full, the process proceeds to step S305, where it is determined whether single shooting or continuous shooting is set.

If it is set to single shooting, the process proceeds to the cooperative recording step of Step 311. If continuous shooting is set, the process proceeds to step S306, where it is determined whether or not the full-press switch 1163 is continuously turned on for continuous shooting. If it is determined that the full-press switch 1163 is turned off, the process proceeds to the step 311 of cooperative recording. If it is determined that ON is continued, the process proceeds to step S307. Here, it is determined whether bracketing is set. If not, the process proceeds to step S308 to set a shooting interval for continuous shooting. This shooting interval will be described later. If the shooting interval is set, next shooting conditions are set in step S309. However, since this setting is a condition at the time of bracketing, in this case where bracketing is not set, the same condition as before is set.

Thereafter, the process returns to step S301, and the subject is exposed again according to the set photographing interval in step S308. If bracketing is set in step S307, the process proceeds to step S310, where it is determined whether shooting of the final image of bracketing shooting is completed. If it is not the final image, the process advances to step S308 to set the shooting interval, and the next bracketing shooting condition is set in step S309. Thereafter, the process returns to step S301, and the subject is exposed according to the set shooting interval in step S308 and the bracketing setting conditions in step S309. If the final image shooting has been completed in step S310, the process proceeds to step S311 to perform cooperative recording.

Before the description after step S311 cooperative recording, the shooting interval or shooting timing at the time of continuous shooting described above will be described based on FIG. In the figure, (a) shows a period during which the full push switch 1163 of the master camera is on. Here, for each camera, the number of frames that can be continuously shot is 4 frames, the continuous shooting speed is T1 (sec / frame) for the continuous shooting interval of the master camera A, and T2 (sec / frame) for the continuous shooting interval of the slave camera B. To do. (B) and (c) respectively show the shooting timings of the master camera A and the slave camera B during normal continuous shooting. In this case, when the full-push switch 1163 is turned on in the master camera A, shooting is started simultaneously for each camera, and the CPU of each camera detects that four frames have been shot, or the buffer memory of each camera is full. When this is detected, continuous shooting is terminated regardless of whether the full-press switch is on or off. As can be seen from this figure, the continuous shooting interval varies when the shooting screens of the two cameras are combined in the order of the shooting time.

(D) and (e) show the shooting timings of the master camera A and the slave camera B during continuous continuous shooting, respectively. In this case, when the full push switch 1163 of the master camera A is turned on, the master camera A first starts continuous shooting (d). When the master camera A shoots four frames and the buffer memory 105 is full, it receives a continuous shooting start signal from the master camera A, and the slave camera B continues continuous shooting (e). This allows continuous continuous shooting for the number of cameras operating in a coordinated manner. The cooperative exposure flow in this case is different from the operation flow of FIG. 9 or FIG. 10 described so far, and will be described later with reference to FIG. Further, even when the above-described normal continuous shooting is set, when the item of shooting with one camera is set in the shooting timing setting item described in FIG. The continuous continuous shooting operation shown in (d) and (e) of FIG.

(F) and (g) show shooting timings of the master camera A and the slave camera B at the time of high-speed continuous shooting. In this case, based on the continuous shooting speed information in the camera information sent from the slave camera B, the CPU 112 of the master camera A makes the overall continuous shooting interval narrower than the original camera shooting interval and at equal intervals. Set as follows. Next, the case where there are two cameras will be described. If the continuous shooting interval during high-speed cooperative shooting is T (sec / frame), T = (T2) / 2 (sec) when T1 and T2 have a relationship of (T2) / 2 <T1 ≦ T2. / Frame) continuous shooting speed (interval). In the case of FIG. 51, since the continuous shooting interval of the slave camera B is long, when the master camera A alone is viewed, the continuous shooting interval is slightly longer, but as a whole, the continuous shooting interval is ½ of the continuous shooting interval of the slave camera B. Photographed at intervals. When the continuous shooting intervals of the master camera A and the slave camera B are equal, the continuous shooting speed can be doubled compared to the continuous shooting with a single camera. Specifically, the shooting timing of the slave camera B may be shifted by a half period of the shooting interval of the master camera A. Similarly, three-times continuous shooting speed is possible when three cameras perform high-speed continuous shooting.

The photographing interval calculated and recorded in the recording unit 1128 is read out and set in step S308, and the master camera A is instructed to start exposure in step S301. The same applies to the slave camera B described below with reference to FIG. As for the shooting timing of the slave camera B, a shooting instruction signal may be sent from the master camera A to the slave camera B, but the shooting start signal and shooting interval of the first frame are transmitted from the master camera A, and thereafter You may control by slave camera side CPU. The continuous shooting interval for the entire system calculated in this way is displayed on the LCD monitor 109. Even in the case of the second continuous continuous shooting, control may be performed so that the continuous shooting speed of the fast camera matches the camera with the slow continuous shooting speed of the two cameras. As a result, double continuous shooting is possible at the same continuous shooting speed. If it is known from the beginning that the master camera A and the slave camera B are the same type of camera, it is not necessary to determine the camera information of the slave camera.

As a result of the operations from step S301 to step S310 in FIG. 9, the image data for one exposure is recorded in the buffer memory 105 of the master camera A in the case of single shooting, and it is fully pressed in the case of continuous shooting. Depending on the ON time of the switch 1163, one time or a plurality of image data is recorded. In the cooperative recording step of step S311 in FIG. 9, the image data is recorded from the buffer memory 105 described above to a memory card that is a long-term storage medium. When all recording to the memory card is completed, the process proceeds to step S312, where it is determined whether bracketing is set. Here, bracketing is set for single shooting. If it is determined in step S312 that bracketing is not set, the cooperative exposure sequence is terminated. If it is determined in step S312 that bracketing is set, it is determined in step S313 whether or not the final shooting of bracketing has been completed. If it has been completed, the cooperative exposure sequence is terminated. If the final shooting has not been completed, the process proceeds to step S314. Here, it is determined whether or not the half-press switch 1162 is turned on. If it is determined that it is not on, the process returns to step S115 in FIG. 5 to wait for the next operation. If it is determined that the on-state continues, the process returns to step S210 in FIG. Set to Master Camera A.

Next, a cooperative exposure sequence of the master camera A with respect to the slave camera B set as a photographing camera will be described with reference to FIG. Here again, the confirmation of various settings and the operation instruction are made by the master camera A, so the flow of FIG. 10 is considerably overlapped with the flow of FIG. First, in step S331, an exposure start instruction signal for instructing the start of exposure is sent from the master camera A to the slave camera set as the photographing camera. As a result, the slave camera B is exposed for a predetermined time, and when the exposure is completed, the image data is recorded in the buffer memory of the slave camera B. In this step S301, file name information and folder name information when the slave camera B records image data on the memory card of the slave camera B together with the exposure start instruction signal are simultaneously transmitted. Such information will be described in detail in the step of cooperative recording described later. Further, as described above, when it is set to perform continuous continuous shooting, it is necessary to configure so that an exposure start instruction signal is transmitted to the slave camera B after the continuous shooting of the master camera A is completed. The flow in that case will be described later with reference to FIG.

In step S332, a release permission signal indicating whether recording of the image signal generated by exposing the slave camera B to the buffer memory is completed and the next release is possible, and the buffer of the slave camera B. A transmission instruction signal is transmitted so that the slave camera B sends a buffer full signal indicating whether or not the memory is full. In step S333, it is determined whether or not the above-described release permission signal has been received by the master camera. If received, the process proceeds to step S335. If not received, the process proceeds to step S334. In step S334, it is determined whether or not the above-described buffer full signal has been received. As long as this buffer full signal does not come, the process returns to step S333 and waits for reception of the release permission signal. If the buffer full signal is received in step S334, the process proceeds to step S341 to instruct the slave camera B to perform cooperative recording. Details of this cooperative recording will also be described later. If the master camera receives the release permission signal in step S333, the process proceeds to step S335, where it is determined whether single shooting or continuous shooting is set.

If single shooting is set, the process proceeds to the cooperative recording step of Step 341. If the continuous shooting is set, the process proceeds to step S336, where it is determined whether the full push switch 1163 of the master camera A is continuously turned on for the continuous shooting. If it is determined that the full-press switch 1163 is turned off, the process proceeds to the cooperative recording step in step S341. If it is determined that ON is continued, the process proceeds to step S337. Here, it is determined whether bracketing is set, and if not, the process proceeds to step S338 to set a shooting interval until the next shooting. The setting of the shooting interval is the same as that in step S308 in FIG. If the shooting interval is set, the next shooting condition is sent to the slave camera B in step S339. However, since the step of step S339 is a condition at the time of bracketing, in this case where bracketing is not set, the same condition as before is transmitted. Thereafter, the process returns to step S331, and the slave camera B is instructed to expose the subject again in accordance with the set shooting interval in step S338. If bracketing has been set in step S337, the process proceeds to step S340, where it is determined whether shooting of the final image of bracketing shooting has been completed. If it is not the final image, the process proceeds to step S338 to set the shooting interval, and the next bracketing shooting condition is sent to the slave camera in step S339. Thereafter, the process returns to step S301 to instruct to start exposure of the subject in accordance with the set shooting interval in step S338 and the bracketing setting conditions in step S339. If the final image shooting has been completed in step S340, the process proceeds to step S341 to instruct cooperative recording here.

As a result of the operation from step S331 to step S340 in FIG. 10, the image data for one exposure is recorded in the buffer memory of the slave camera B set for shooting in the case of single shooting, and in the case of continuous shooting. One time or a plurality of image data are recorded according to the ON time of the full-press switch 1163. In the cooperative recording step of step S341 in FIG. 10, image data is recorded from the buffer memory described above to a memory card that is a long-term storage medium. When all recording to the memory card is completed, the process proceeds to step S342, where it is determined whether bracketing is set. This is bracketing for single shooting. If it is determined in step S342 that bracketing is not set, the cooperative exposure sequence is terminated. If it is determined in step S342 that bracketing is set, it is determined in step S343 whether or not the final shooting of bracketing has been completed. If completed, the cooperative exposure sequence is terminated, and if the final shooting has not been completed, the process proceeds to step S344. Here, it is determined whether or not the half-press switch 1162 of the master camera A is turned on. If it is determined that it is not on, the process returns to step S115 in FIG. 5 to wait for the next operation. If it is determined that the on-state continues, the process returns to step S210 in FIG. Send to slave camera B.

In the sequence of cooperative exposure so far, when the full push switch 1163 of the master camera A is pressed, both the master camera A and the slave camera B are exposed almost simultaneously. When continuous shooting with one camera is completed and continuous shooting is continued with another camera, as described above, this flow is different. A case where continuous shooting is continuously performed by the master camera A and the slave camera B will be described based on the sequence of FIG. First, in step S351, it is determined whether or not the full push switch 1163 of the master camera A is pressed. If not, the sequence is terminated. If it has been pressed, it is first exposed by the master camera A and recorded in the buffer memory 105 in step S35. At this time, although not shown in this flow, the image data is processed for recording in parallel with the start of recording of the image data in the buffer memory 105, and recording is also started on the memory card of the master camera A. In step S353, it is determined whether or not the buffer memory 105 is full when the recording of the image data in the buffer memory 105 is completed. If it is not yet full, the process returns to step S351, and photographing and recording in the buffer memory 105 is repeated as long as the full push switch 1163 is pressed.

If it is detected in step S353 that the buffer memory 105 is full, the process proceeds to the next step S354. In step S354, if the full press switch 1163 has not been pressed, the sequence of continuous shooting is terminated, and if the switch has been pressed, the process proceeds to step S355. In this step S355, an exposure start instruction signal for instructing the slave camera B to start exposure is sent, and if the buffer memory of the slave camera becomes full after the exposure is completed and image data is recorded, this is performed. A transmission instruction signal for instructing transmission of a buffer full signal is transmitted. Also in this step S355, the file name information and folder name information when the slave camera B records the image data on the memory card of the slave camera B together with the exposure start instruction signal and the buffer full signal transmission instruction signal described above are simultaneously transmitted. Such information will be described in detail in the step of cooperative recording described later.

The content of step S356 shows the operation in the slave camera B. On the other hand, the flow in FIG. 11 is a flow explaining the operation of the main camera A. For reference, it is written that the data is written in the buffer memory. In step S357, it is determined whether or not a signal notifying whether or not the buffer memory is full is sent from the slave camera B. If the buffer full signal has not been sent yet, the process proceeds to step S358, and it is determined whether or not the full push switch 1163 of the master camera A is continuously pressed. If the full-press switch 1163 is continuously pressed, the process returns to step S355, and continuous continuous shooting with the slave camera B is continued. When it is detected in step S358 that the full press switch 1163 is not pressed, the cooperative exposure sequence is terminated. As in the case of recording by the master camera A, in step S356, recording is also performed on the memory card of the slave camera B in parallel with writing the captured image data in the buffer memory of the slave camera B. If a buffer full signal is received from the slave camera B in step S357, the process proceeds to step S328.

In this step S328, it is determined whether or not another slave camera other than the slave camera B is selected for continuous continuous shooting, and if it is selected, the process proceeds to step S354, and as described above, a new slave camera is used. Continue continuous shooting. If no other slave camera is selected, this sequence is terminated. In the description so far, the description has been focused on the basic operation of continuous continuous shooting. However, when bracketing shooting is added to this, it can be considered in the same manner as described in FIGS. Omitted.
《Cooperative recording sequence》
The cooperative recording sequence will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 12 shows the sequence of cooperative recording at the master camera A, and FIG. 13 shows the sequence of cooperative recording at the slave camera B in response to an instruction from the master camera A. First, FIG. 12 will be described. In step S401 in FIG. 12, the memory card of the master camera A such as presence / absence of a card and card full is checked. Details of the confirmation of the recording card will be described later with reference to FIG. After the confirmation of the memory card, it is confirmed in step S402 whether image data is recorded in the buffer memory 105 of the master camera A. If it has been recorded, the image data in the buffer memory 105 is recorded on the memory card in step S403. In order to confirm whether the memory card after recording is full or not, the recording card is confirmed again in step S404. After checking the memory card, the process proceeds to step S405. If it is determined in step S402 that there is no data in the buffer memory 105, the process directly proceeds to step S405. In step S405, it is determined whether or not the master camera A is set as a recording camera. If it is not set, the process proceeds to step S406, and if it is set, the process proceeds to step S407.

In step S407, it is determined whether or not there is a slave camera set to transfer image data to the master camera A. If there is no slave camera to transfer, the cooperative recording sequence is terminated. If there is a slave camera to be transferred, the transfer source camera is selected in step S408, the image data is transferred from the slave camera in step S409, and the process returns to step S402. Details of the cooperative transfer in step S409 will be described later. If there are multiple source slave cameras, this loop is repeated. If the master camera is not set as the recording camera in step S405, the transfer destination slave camera is selected in step S406, and the image data recorded in the buffer memory 105 of the master camera A is stored in this slave camera in step S410. Forward. In step S411 after the end of transfer, the transferred image data once recorded on the memory card of the master camera A is erased, and the cooperative recording sequence ends.

In the cooperative recording sequence so far, as shown in step S403 in FIG. 12, the master camera A is stored in the memory card of the master camera A before confirming whether it is set as the recording camera. Because of the reason. If the captured image data is recorded in the buffer memory 105 of the master camera A and then transferred to the slave camera without being recorded on the memory card, the transfer may fail for some reason. In this case, once the data recorded on the memory card is transferred again, or the transfer is stopped and recorded on the memory card of the master camera A as it is, the loss of important captured image data can be prevented. When it is desired to end from shooting to completion of transfer at an early stage, writing to the memory card in step S403 may be omitted. Alternatively, the time required from shooting to completion of transfer can be shortened by simultaneously starting writing to the memory card in step S403 and starting transfer to the slave camera as the transfer destination in step S410. Further, the original image data after completion of transfer is erased in step S411, but it may be possible to select in advance whether to erase or leave as it is. For that purpose, it is preferable to display on the LCD monitor 109 whether or not to erase after the transfer of the image data.

Next, cooperative recording with the slave camera B will be described with reference to FIG. In step S421, the memory card of the slave camera B such as the presence or absence of a memory card or a full card is confirmed. Details of the confirmation of the recording card will be described later with reference to FIG. After the confirmation of the memory card, in step S422, the master camera A instructs the slave camera B to transmit a buffer data presence / absence signal indicating whether image data is recorded in the buffer memory of the slave camera B. Based on this signal, in step S423, it is confirmed whether or not shooting data is recorded in the buffer memory of the slave camera B. If it has been recorded, in step S424, an instruction signal is transmitted so as to record the image data in the buffer memory on the memory card. In order to confirm whether the memory card after recording the image data is full or not, the recording card is confirmed again in step S425. After checking the memory card, the process proceeds to step S426.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S423 that there is no image data in the buffer memory, the process directly proceeds to step S426. In step S426, it is determined whether or not the slave camera B is set as a recording camera. If it is not set, the process proceeds to step S427. If it is set, the process proceeds to step S428. In step S428, it is determined whether or not the slave camera B is set to transfer image data from another camera. The other camera includes the master camera A. If there is no other camera to transfer, the cooperative transfer sequence is terminated. If there is another camera to be transferred, the transfer source camera is selected in step S429, and image data is cooperatively transferred from the other camera in step S430, and the process returns to step S422. If there are multiple transfer source cameras, this loop is repeated.

If the slave camera B is not set as the recording camera in step S426, the transfer destination camera is selected in step S427, and the image data recorded in the buffer memory of the slave camera B is stored in the transfer destination camera in step S431. Forward. The transfer destination camera includes the master camera A. In step S422 after the transfer is completed, an instruction signal instructing to erase the transferred image data recorded on the memory card of the slave camera B is sent out, and this cooperative recording sequence is ended.

Details of the card confirmation described in step S401 and the like will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, in step S3001, it is determined whether or not a memory card is inserted for each camera that is set as a recording camera among the cooperatively operated cameras. When the slave camera B is set as the recording camera, the master camera A instructs the slave camera B to transmit a memory card presence / absence confirmation signal, and the master camera A determines based on this instruction. . If there is a camera that has been determined that a memory card is inserted in step S3001, the process proceeds to step S3003. If there is a camera that has been determined not to have a card inserted, the LCD of the master camera A is determined in step S3002. A warning that there is no memory card and the name of the camera in which no memory card is inserted are displayed on the monitor 109. FIG. 60 shows an example of this display.

In step S3004, it is determined whether it is set to transfer to another recording camera. This is a case where the second item shown in the display example of FIG. 36 is selected. If transfer is not set, the process returns to step S3001 to wait for the user to insert a memory card. At this time, the no-card warning and no-card camera display shown in FIG. 60 continues unless a user inserts a memory card into the camera set for recording or changes the setting of the recording camera. If it is set in step S3004 to transfer to another recording camera, the process advances to step S3005 to select a recording camera that can be transferred at that time. In place of FIG. 60, a no card warning and a destination camera are displayed. FIG. 61 shows a display example in this case. This display example also serves as a display when the card is full. When the selection and display of the transfer destination camera is completed, the card confirmation sequence is terminated.

If it is confirmed in step S3001 that a memory card is inserted, it is determined in step S3003 whether the memory card inserted is in a card full state in which no more image data can be recorded. When determining the slave camera B set as the recording camera, the master camera A sends an instruction signal instructing the slave camera B to transmit a card full confirmation signal, and the master camera A is based on this signal. Determines if the card is full. If the card is not full, this sequence is terminated. If the card is full, the process proceeds to step S3007 to display a card full warning and a card full camera name on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera. FIG. 62 shows a display example in this case.

Next, in step S3008, it is determined whether or not it is set to be overwritten when the card is full. For this purpose, it is determined whether or not the third item to be overwritten is selected on the screen of FIG. If it is set not to be overwritten, the process advances to step S3004 to determine whether or not transfer to another camera is set. If it is set to overwrite, the process advances to step S3009 to display the card full and the card full camera name on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera. FIG. 63 shows a display example in this case. When this display is finished, the card confirmation sequence is finished. In the case where the various warnings described above are displayed in this sequence, an audio warning is also given at the buzzer 124 for a predetermined period at the beginning of the warning.

Of the steps of cooperative recording described so far, when writing into the memory card of the master camera A in step S403 in FIG. 12, or when writing into the memory card of the slave camera B according to a write instruction from the master camera A in step S424 in FIG. A method for managing data file names or folder names will be described below.
During cooperative operation, there are cases where image data of a common subject taken by a plurality of cameras is recorded, or image data is transferred between cameras and recorded in another digital camera. At that time, it is necessary to record the image file so that it can be edited as easily as possible after shooting or transfer. That is, it is necessary to make the recording form distinguishable between the case where recording is performed by a single camera and the case where recording is performed by cooperatively operating a plurality of cameras. In order to realize this, here, camera information of a plurality of cameras photographed or transferred in a coordinated operation is recorded in association with photographed image data.

Based on FIGS. 64 and 65, file names and folder names and camera information at the time of recording during the cooperative operation will be described. As already explained briefly in step S114 in FIG. 5, the CPU 112 of the master camera A merges the file name information, the folder name information and the information of each camera operating in cooperation based on the camera information of each camera. Create merged camera information. Master camera A records image data in its own memory card based on these pieces of information. When the master camera A issues a shooting instruction or transfer instruction to the slave camera B, the file name, folder name, and merged camera information based on these information are transferred to the slave camera B at the same time. Alternatively, the file name and folder name for recording by the slave camera B may be created based on the file name information and folder name information sent from the master camera A by the slave camera B.

FIG. 64 shows the folder name and file name when recorded on the memory card of each camera based on the file name information and folder name information. Here, a case is shown in which three cameras, camera A, camera B, and camera C, are operating cooperatively. When the camera A and the camera B are individually photographed and recorded by the same type of camera, a folder named Nikon01 is created by default in each camera, and DSC001, DSC002, DSC003,... File names are given in this order. In FIG. 64, a folder called NikonABC is a folder used during the cooperative operation, and shows that the three cameras A, B, and C are operating cooperatively. This folder name is transferred in advance to each slave camera in step S116, and a file at the time of cooperative operation is recorded therein together with file name information. Of course, it may be sent each time a shooting instruction or transfer instruction is given to the slave camera.

Of the files in the folder NikonABC of the camera A, a file called camera information ABC is a file in which the camera information of each slave camera and the camera information of the master received in step S110 in FIG. The data referred to as camera information ABC is also transferred to cameras B and C in step S114 in FIG. 5, and is recorded in a folder named NikonABC created by each camera. Here, as described in step S104 in FIG. 4, the camera information sent from each camera includes information different for each shooting such as various shooting conditions and the number of remaining frames. Therefore, in the merged camera information, information that does not change during the cooperative operation such as the meter name, the camera type, and the battery type is collectively recorded for all the cameras that operate cooperatively.

A file named DSC001ABC in the folder NikonABC of the camera A and subsequent files are files of image data actually captured by the camera A. The shooting number 001 is followed by a symbol ABC indicating the shooting data when the three cameras A, B, and C cooperate. However, in order to indicate that this file was shot by camera A, A comes first after the shooting number. The order of B and C is arbitrary. The next file name is DSC004ABC, which indicates that two pictures were taken by the slave camera before the picture was taken by camera A. Such setting of the file name is performed by setting the file name information in the shooting order in step S112 in FIG. 5, and when the exposure start signal is sent from the master camera to each slave camera in step 331 in FIG. At the same time, by sending the shooting number information, each slave camera can grasp the entire shooting number. In this manner, camera B records image data having a file name of DSC002BAC first. Of course, in step S112, it is possible to set the camera number in order for each camera. The same applies to the next file name DSC007ABC, DSC005BAC of camera B, DSC003CAB of camera C, and the like.

Files from DSC010ABC to DSC013ABC are files recorded during continuous continuous shooting described with reference to FIG. However, both the camera A and the camera B are set to four sheets that can be continuously shot. Here, continuous shooting is first performed with the master camera, and after the master camera buffer is full, continuous shooting is continued with the camera B. Since the buffer of the camera B is further full, the case where two pictures are continuously shot by the camera C is shown. The files DSC001B and DSC002B in the camera A are files that are recorded by transferring to the camera A a file that was previously recorded alone by the camera B. In this case, a B is added to the end of the file name so that the transfer source camera can be identified to distinguish it from the DSC001 file that originally existed in the camera A.

The details of the image file described so far will be described next. For example, in FIG. 64, the image file DSC002BAC in the camera B has a data arrangement as shown in FIG. That is, one piece of image data is recorded as a file in which an image data area in which captured image data is recorded and an area in which various data at the time of shooting are recorded are associated with each other. The various data includes a file name in which the camera information of the cameras operating in cooperation as described above is recorded together and information for identifying the operation of the camera operating in cooperation. This makes it possible to identify the master camera name, slave camera name, and shooting camera name when this file is recorded. Although omitted in FIG. 65, various shooting conditions such as normal shooting date, shutter speed, and aperture value are also recorded in this area.

In the cooperative recording so far, the case has been described in which all captured image data is recorded in one of the cameras set as a recording camera. Next, a case where only image data selected from photographed image data is recorded will be described. Even during cooperative shooting, particularly in bracketing shooting, a large amount of similar image data is recorded on the memory card. Even if the images are recorded in association with each other or between the cameras by the file names and folder names as described above, it is troublesome to confirm these large numbers of images later. By selecting only necessary image data in advance at the time of shooting and recording it on the memory card, this confirmation operation can be made smooth. Furthermore, in the case of multiple shooting, only the optimum image data is selected in advance from the image data taken by bracketing for each camera as described above and recorded, thereby reducing memory card consumption and checking time. I can do it.

A mode for selecting a recording screen will be described based on the flow of FIGS. 31 and 32 and the display screen examples of FIGS. 66 and 67. This mode is set in steps S112 and S113 shown in FIG. It may be set as necessary after entering the cooperative shooting mode. A specific setting method is to select the item of selection of this recording screen by using the setting button 1164 from the menu displayed on the LCD monitor 109 as in the case of setting other items in step S112 in FIG. (Illustrated). After setting here, cooperative shooting is started in step S116 in FIG. If full-press switch 1163 is pressed, it is first determined in step S3101 in FIG. 3163 whether this recording screen selection mode is selected. If it has not been selected, the process proceeds to step S3102. After that, all captured image data is recorded on the memory card in accordance with a normal cooperative recording method.

If the recording screen selection mode has been selected, the process advances to step S3103. Here, the captured image data is recorded in the buffer memory 105 in response to the full-press switch 1163 being turned on. Here, recording to a memory card is not performed. The slave camera B is also instructed to record the image data captured by the slave camera B only in the buffer memory of the slave camera B. However, as will be described later, once all the photographed image data is recorded on the memory card, only the necessary image data may be left and erased. When the recording to the buffer memory is completed, next, in step S3104, the image data recorded on the buffer memory 105 is first reproduced on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera A by the master camera A. FIG. 66 shows a reproduction image and menu display for processing selection.

Here, as the playback image data, the name of the camera that played the image data, the shooting frame number, and the selection menu display, the next screen is displayed, the multiple screen is confirmed, the selection screen is recorded, the image recorded in the buffer Four options for erasing all data are displayed at the same time, and one of these items is selected to select a recording screen. In step S3105, it is first determined whether or not an item for displaying the next screen is selected from the above-described four items. If not selected, the process proceeds to step S3110.

If it is determined that the item for displaying the next screen has been selected and an instruction to change the screen has been issued, the process proceeds to step S 3106, where it is determined whether other image data is recorded in the buffer memory 105. If other image data is recorded in the buffer memory 105, the process returns to step S3104 to display the other image data recorded in the buffer memory 105 on the LCD monitor 109. If the display of the image data recorded in the buffer memory 105 of the master camera A has been completed, the process proceeds to step S3107, and the image recorded in the buffer memory of the slave camera B is displayed on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera A. indicate. In step S3108, it is determined whether or not to change the reproduced image from the buffer memory of the slave camera B as in step S3105.

If the item to display the next screen is selected and a screen change instruction is given, the process advances to step S3109 to determine whether other image data is recorded in the buffer memory of the slave camera B. If no selection is made here, the process advances to step S3110. If the item to display the next screen is selected and a screen change instruction is given, the process advances to step S3109 to determine whether or not other image data is recorded in the buffer memory of the slave camera B. If other image data is recorded in the buffer memory, the process returns to step S3107 to display the other image data recorded on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera A. If the display of the image data recorded in the buffer memory of the slave camera B has been completed, the process proceeds to step S3110. In step S3110, it is determined whether full-press switch 1163 is turned on.

If the full-press switch 1163 is turned on, the process returns to step S3103 to record the captured image data in the buffer memory 105 of the master camera A, and the slave camera B captures the slave camera B in the buffer memory of the slave camera B. Instructs to record image data. In this way, a plurality of image data can be recorded in the buffer memory of each camera by repeatedly pressing the full-press switch 1163 until the buffer memory of each camera becomes full. In this case as well, it may be recorded on the memory card of each camera as described above.

If it is determined in step S3110 that the full press switch 1163 is not turned on, it is determined in step S3111 in FIG. 32 whether or not the screen change item has been selected from the selection menu in FIG. If a screen change instruction has been given, the process proceeds to step S3112. In this step S3112, it is determined whether or not the currently displayed screen is the image of the master camera A. If it is the image of the master camera A, the process returns to step S3104, and if the image of the slave camera B is displayed. Returning to step S3107, the image of slave camera B is displayed. If a screen change instruction has not been given in step S3111, the process proceeds to step S3113. In step S3113, it is determined whether or not a recording instruction item has been selected on the screen displayed in FIG. If the item to be recorded has not been selected, the process proceeds to step S3118. If it is selected to record, the process proceeds to step S3114 to instruct the master camera A or slave camera B to record the image data selected from the image data recorded in the respective buffer memories. In S3115, cooperative recording is performed.

If the cooperative recording is completed, an instruction is given to erase the image data recorded in the buffer memory 105 of the master camera A or the image data in the buffer memory of the slave camera B in step S3116, and the process proceeds to step S3117. Here, the instruction to erase the buffer memory is the same as the instruction to permit overwriting of new image data to the buffer memory. Further, as described in step S3103, if all the photographed image data has been recorded on the memory card, an erasure instruction is given to other image data other than the selected image data. In step S3117, it is determined whether or not the recording of the selected image data for all cameras has been completed. If selection recording has not been completed yet, the process returns to step S3107 to display the captured image data of the slave camera B and repeat the same operation. If selection has been completed for all cameras, this sequence is terminated.

If the recording instruction has not been instructed in step S3113, the process proceeds to step S3118, where it is determined whether or not the item of multiple confirmation is selected. If it is selected, the process proceeds to step S3120. If it is not selected, the process proceeds to step S3119. In step S3119, it is determined whether or not the item to be deleted is selected on the screen of FIG. If the item “delete” has not been selected, the process returns to step S 3111 to wait for a display screen change instruction. If it is determined that the item to be deleted is selected, the process advances to step S3116 to instruct to delete the image data recorded in the buffer memory of each camera.

If the item of multiple confirmation is selected in step S3118, the process proceeds to step S3120. Thereafter, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 67, the image data recorded in the buffer memories of the master camera A and the slave camera B are displayed in multiple on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera A. In FIG. 67, the image data recorded in the buffer memory 105 of the master camera A is first displayed on the screen of the left half camera 1. At this time, the screen of the right half camera 2 is not displayed yet. If the selection of the screen of the camera 1 has not been completed, the item of displaying the next screen is selected and the process returns to step S3104 in FIG. 31 to display the next screen on the screen of the camera 1. Thereafter, the reproduced image is reproduced in multiple display.

When the setting of the camera 1 is completed in this way, the item of selecting the camera displayed in the upper part of FIG. 67 is selected, and the screen of the camera 2 is similarly set in step S3121. If the setting has not been completed, the process returns to step S3107 in FIG. 67. When setting of the screen of camera 2 is completed, it is determined in step S3122 whether or not a screen obtained by multiplexing the screens of camera 1 and camera 2 is confirmed. 67. If the item to confirm multiple is selected from the selection menu on the upper screen of FIG. 67, the multiple screen shown in the lower portion of FIG. After this display, the process returns to step S3113 to determine whether to record the respective display screens on the memory cards of the respective cameras or to reselect the recorded image data.

If the item to be recorded is selected in FIG. 66, the process advances to step S3114 to instruct the master camera A and the slave camera B to record the selected image data. If the item to be reset is selected, the process advances from step S3113 to step S3118. If there is no instruction for multiple confirmation in step S3122, the process directly returns to step S3113. Here, only the original image data suitable for multiplex display is recorded on each memory card, but the multiplex result screen may be recorded simultaneously.

《Cooperative playback sequence》
The cooperative reproduction sequence in step S117 in FIG. 5 will be described based on FIGS. If the select dial 202 has been set to the cooperative playback position, the master camera plays back one frame of the last shot image in step S501 in FIG. In step S502, during the above-mentioned single frame playback, the slave camera B is instructed to transfer shooting information such as shooting date and time corresponding to each frame number to all image data recorded in the slave camera B. To do. In the next step S503, it is determined whether or not thumbnail playback has been set using the setting button 1164. If not, the process proceeds to step S520 in FIG. 16, and a single screen is displayed according to the operation of the U / D button 1165. Display. If it is detected in step S503 that thumbnail playback has been set, it is first determined in step S504 whether the thumbnail image of the slave camera B has already been received by the master camera A. If not received, in step S505, the slave camera B is instructed to transmit a thumbnail image and transferred. Details of this transfer sequence will be described later.

Here, it is assumed that thumbnail images of the respective image data are created in advance and recorded together with the respective image files, and the created thumbnail images are transferred. When reception of the slave image is completed in this way, the playback screen is set to either single camera (single) playback screen display or multiple camera (multi) playback screen display in step S506 in FIG. Make sure that

If it is determined in step S506 that the multi-playback is set, the process proceeds to step S507, and the thumbnail images of the master camera A and the slave camera B are displayed in a multi display. In step S508, it is determined whether an individual image is selected from the displayed thumbnails. If no individual image has been selected, the process proceeds to step S509. If the U / D button 1165 is operated to select the next thumbnail image, the process returns to step S507 to display the next thumbnail image. If there is no instruction to update the thumbnail image in step S509, the process proceeds to step S510. In step S510, if the select dial 202 is set to a mode other than the playback mode, this sequence is terminated. If not, the process returns to step S506. If it is set in step S508 to select an individual image, the process proceeds to step S520 in FIG.

If it is set in step S506 to reproduce the single screen, the thumbnail image of the master camera A is first displayed in step S511. Next, it is determined whether or not an individual image has been selected from the thumbnail images displayed in step S512. Here, if it is set to reproduce an individual image, the process proceeds to step S520 in FIG. 16, and if no individual image is selected, the process proceeds to step S513. If it is determined in step S513 that the thumbnail update operation is not performed, the process proceeds to step S510. If it is determined in step S513 that the U / D button 1165 has been operated to select the next thumbnail image, the process advances to step S514. In step S514, it is determined whether the thumbnail image of the master camera A has been completed. If it has not been completed yet, the process returns to step S511 to display the next thumbnail image. If it has been completed, the thumbnail image of the slave camera B that has been transferred in step S505 is displayed. indicate.

FIG. 68 shows an example of this display. In the figure, the upper screen shows a case where playback images from the master camera A are displayed as thumbnails on four small screens. Since the master camera A has recorded up to 11 frames, the ninth, tenth, and eleventh images are displayed. The second small screen is displayed. When the UP button 1165 is subsequently pressed, the first, second, third and fourth small screens of the slave camera B are displayed as shown in the lower part of FIG. If it is determined in step S516 that an individual image has been selected from the thumbnail images, the process proceeds to step S520 in FIG. 16, and if not selected, it is determined in step S517 whether or not an operation has been performed to display the next thumbnail image. If it is determined that the U / D button 1165 has not been pressed, the process proceeds to step S510. If it is determined that the U / D button 1165 has been pressed, it is determined in step S518 whether the thumbnail image of the slave camera has ended. If not completed, the process returns to step S515 to display the next thumbnail image. If it has been completed, it is determined in step S519 whether or not there is a thumbnail image of another slave camera. If there is, the process returns to step S515 to continue displaying a thumbnail image of a new slave camera. When the reproduction of the thumbnail images of all the slave cameras is completed in step S519, the process returns to step S520 and the reproduction of the master camera is started. In this way, thumbnail images of the master and slave cameras are displayed repeatedly in succession.

In the description so far, the thumbnail images are displayed in order for each camera in which the image data is recorded. However, the thumbnail images may be displayed in the order of shooting including the slave camera B (not shown). That is, since the shooting date and time of each image data recorded from the slave camera B to the slave camera B has already been transferred to the master camera A in step S502, it is easy to display thumbnails in the shooting order based on this date. In this case, it is not necessary to set the multi-screen setting determined in step S506.

Next, a sequence for reproducing one screen will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step S520, it is determined whether the selected image is the master camera A or the slave camera B. If the image of the slave camera B is selected, the transfer image size for transferring the selected image from the slave camera B is selected in step S521. Regarding the transfer image size, there are two cases: image data recorded in the slave camera B is transferred as it is, and image data created by thinning out the original image data for display of the master camera A is transferred. Details will be described later with reference to FIG. In step S522, the transfer image data of the size selected in step S521 is transferred from the slave camera B to the master camera A. Details of this transfer step will be described later.

In step S523, if the transferred image is compressed, it is decompressed and displayed on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera A. If the image selected in step S520 is that of the master camera A, the image data recorded on the memory card of the master camera A is decompressed as necessary, and one screen is displayed in step S523. When displaying the image data of the slave camera B in one screen in step S523, since the small image data of the thumbnail image of the slave camera B has already been transferred to the master camera A in step S505 in FIG. If the display image described above is displayed after the small image data is displayed, the waiting time required for transfer and decompression is reduced from setting to display. Even in the case of the master camera A, it is better to display thumbnail images while waiting for decompression.

Further, if the process proceeds from step S503 in FIG. 14 to step S520 and the slave image is set to be displayed on one screen, the master camera A has not yet received any image of the slave camera B. When transferring in step S522, first, the image data for the thumbnail image is transferred and displayed for the time being, and if the image for display on the LCD monitor 109 is transferred during that time, the image is displayed from the user setting. The feeling of discomfort can be alleviated even a little.

In step S524, it is determined whether or not the displayed image is instructed to be transferred to another camera by pressing the transfer button 1167. If instructed to transfer, the process proceeds to step S532 in FIG. 17, and if not instructed, the process proceeds to step S525 to determine whether or not an instruction to erase the display image has been issued by pressing the erase button 1166. If it is not instructed to delete, the process proceeds to step S530. If it is instructed to delete, the process proceeds to step S526. In step S526, the camera in which the erase-instructed image is recorded is determined. If the erase-instructed image is recorded in the master camera A, the erase-instructed image data recorded in the memory card of the master camera A in step S527. If it has been recorded in the slave camera B, the slave instructs the slave camera B to delete an erase instruction signal that instructs the slave camera B to erase the image data to be erased recorded on the memory card of the slave camera B in step S528. Send to camera B. If the display image is deleted in step S527 or step S528, the next screen is selected to display the next image data on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera A in step S529. Thereafter, the process returns to step S520 and the one-screen display is continued.

If the display image is not erased in step S525, the process proceeds to step S530 to determine whether there is an instruction to change the display image. If it is determined that there has been a change instruction using the U / D button 1165, the process returns to step S520 to continue displaying the selected image. If it is determined that there is no change instruction, the process proceeds to step S531, where the select dial 202 is set to a mode other than the playback mode, and if it is determined that a playback stop instruction has been issued, the cooperative playback is terminated. Returning to S523, the display of the selected image so far is continued. Also in the case of this one-screen display, as with the above-described thumbnail image display, if the U / D button 1165 is continuously pressed, the display of one camera is completed once the display on one camera is completed. Continue to do so. Further, the one-screen display of each of the master camera A and the slave camera B may be displayed in multiple.

Also in the case of this one-screen display, as in the case of the thumbnail display described above, since the shooting date and time are known, the images may be displayed in the shooting order including the slave camera B. This is particularly effective when it is desired to check captured images in the order of time passage as in the above-described high-speed continuous shooting.

If it is determined in step S524 that there is an instruction to transfer the display image, the process proceeds to step S532 in FIG. 17 to determine the camera in which the display image is recorded. If it is determined that the camera in which the displayed image is recorded is the master camera A, the process proceeds to step S533, and the selected image data recorded in the memory card of the master camera A with respect to the transfer destination slave camera B. Forward. In step S534, the transfer is completed, and a recording instruction signal for instructing to record the transferred image data once recorded in the buffer memory of the slave camera B of the transfer destination on the memory card of the slave camera B is transmitted. Thereafter, the process returns to step S525 in FIG. 16 to determine whether or not to delete the displayed transferred image.

If it is determined that the camera in which the image transferred in step S532 is recorded is a slave camera, the process proceeds to step S535, and the slave camera B in which the display screen is recorded is instructed as the transfer destination camera. Thereafter, at 536, an instruction is given to select and transfer image data from the memory card of the slave camera B as the transfer source, and the selected image data is transferred. In step S537, it is determined whether the display image transfer destination camera is the master camera A or another slave camera. If the transfer destination camera is the master camera A, the transferred image data recorded in the buffer memory 105 of the master camera A is recorded in the memory card of the master camera A in step S538. If the transfer destination camera is another slave camera, in step S539, the slave camera is instructed to record the transfer image data recorded in the buffer memory of the slave camera in the memory card of the slave camera. Send an instruction signal. When step S538 or step S539 is completed, the process returns to step S525 in FIG. 16 to determine whether or not to delete the displayed transferred image.

In the case of slide show reproduction, all of the processing from step S520 to step S525 and step 530 in FIG. 16 are automatically repeated. Even in this case, the reproduction order may be set so as to be the photographing order including the slave camera B.

Details of the transfer image size selection shown in step S521 will be described with reference to FIG. When displaying the recorded image of the slave camera B on the display LCD 109 of the master camera A and trying to transfer the image data from the slave camera B, if the amount of transferred image data is large, it takes a long time to transfer and the display starts from the setting. The waiting time until the time becomes longer, and the user feels uncomfortable. Such a situation occurs when, for example, image data recorded without compression is transferred, when compressed image data is expanded and transferred, or when the number of pixels of the image sensor of the slave camera B is very large. This is the case when the amount of data is large even after a large compression.

First, a transmission instruction signal is transmitted to the slave camera B so that the data amount of the selected image of the slave camera B is transmitted to the master camera A in step S3301 of FIG. In step S3302, the data amount of the image sent from the slave camera B is compared with a predetermined value. Here, the predetermined value is a value that shows sufficient resolution when displayed on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera A. If it is determined in step S3302 that the amount of recorded image data is smaller than the predetermined value, it is determined that the transfer time is short, and the image data recorded in the memory card of the slave camera B is directly used for the slave camera B in step S3303. An instruction is given to transmit image data, and this routine ends. The case where the data amount is small corresponds to the case where the uncompressed data amount is small from the beginning and the case where the data amount is reduced by compression.

If it is determined in step S3302 that the amount of recorded image data is larger than the predetermined value described above, the process proceeds to step S3304 to send an instruction signal to the slave camera B so as to create display data for the master camera A. . In step S3305, based on the instruction signal, the slave camera B is instructed to send a display data creation end signal indicating that the creation of display data has been completed. In step S3306, the reception of the display data creation end signal is awaited. If received, the process proceeds to step S3303 to instruct the created image data to be transferred image data.

This transfer image size selection can also be applied to the transfer of thumbnail images in step S505 in FIG. As described above, the thumbnail in step S505 is transferred as it is created and attached to each image data in advance. On the other hand, when an image data file in which no thumbnail image is created is recorded, or when the thumbnail screen at the time of reproduction can be selected, for example, as 4 divisions or 12 divisions, the thumbnail image in step S505 in FIG. It is sufficient to instruct to send out the data thinned out in accordance with the number of divisions described above at the time of transfer.

Up to this point, the description has been given of the case where the image data is displayed almost entirely on the LCD monitor 109 screen. However, if you want to enlarge the image in detail or want to scroll to display the full screen, the entire image is displayed. Data may be needed. Even in such a case, before transferring all the image data, first, the above-mentioned image data for full screen display is transferred, and once displayed on the LCD monitor 109, all the image data is transferred in the meantime. By doing so, user discomfort can be reduced.
《Cooperative transfer sequence》
The cooperative transfer sequence will be described with reference to FIGS. First, in step S601, a transfer source camera to which image data is transferred is determined. If the transfer source camera is the master camera A, the process proceeds to step S602. If the transfer source camera is the slave camera B, the process proceeds to step S610 in FIG. In step S602, the master camera A transmits to the master camera A a transmission start signal that informs the slave camera B that transmission of image data is to be started and a reception completion signal that notifies the slave camera B when reception of the image data is completed. A reception completion signal transmission instruction signal for instructing to transmit is transmitted. In step S603, the data transfer display LEDs of the master camera A and the slave camera B are turned on to display that the image is being transferred between the master camera A and the slave camera B.

In step S604, it is determined whether or not a reception completion signal is transmitted from the slave camera B. If the master camera A receives the reception completion signal from the slave camera B, the transfer image data is recorded in the buffer memory of the transfer destination slave camera B. The cooperative transfer sequence is terminated assuming that it has ended. If the reception completion signal has not been received in step S604, it is determined in step S605 whether the transfer is still in progress or the transfer has failed. If it is determined that the transfer is still in progress, the process returns to step S603 to transfer the image and continue the display during transfer. If it is determined that the line has been interrupted for a predetermined period or longer, or has been completely disconnected, it is determined that transmission has failed, and a transfer failure warning is issued in step S606. As this warning method, there are a display (not shown) on the LCD monitor 109 and an audio warning on the buzzer 124. At this time, also on the slave camera B side, an audio warning by a buzzer and the above-described data transfer display LED blinks in place of the LCD monitor which is turned off.

In step S607, it is determined whether or not this transmission failure has reached a predetermined number (N times). If the predetermined number of times has not been reached, the process returns to step S602 to start transmitting image data to the slave camera B again. If the number of transmission failures reaches N times, a transmission impossible display is performed on the LCD monitor 109 in step S608, and an audio warning is given by the buzzer 124. At the same time, in step S609, a menu for allowing the user to select a subsequent process is displayed.

FIG. 69 shows a menu display example of processing items in this case. Here, (1) transfer is stopped here, (2) transfer is automatically started after a predetermined time, (3) if there is another transferable method, that method is selected, (4) transfer Four options for changing the destination camera are displayed. If you select an option other than canceling the transfer, you can set a predetermined time until retransfer according to the contents on the next screen, set another transfer method that can be operated, However, a display example of the screen is omitted.

A case where the image data transfer source camera is the slave camera B in step S601 will be described with reference to FIG. In this case, first, in step S610, the transfer destination camera is determined. If the transfer destination camera is the master camera A, the process proceeds to step S611, where the master camera A transfers all thumbnail image data and image data recorded on the memory card to the transfer source slave camera B. Instructed to start transmission of the designated image data to the master camera A and the transfer image data designation signal for designating one of the image data designated to be transmitted and the above-mentioned LCD monitor display image data. When transmission of the transmission start instruction signal and image data to be completed is completed, a transmission completion signal transmission instruction signal is transmitted to notify the master camera A of the transmission.

Here, for all the thumbnail image data and the image data designated to be transferred among the image data recorded on the memory card, the transfer image data is selected immediately when there is an instruction to start transmission from the master camera A. Then, transfer starts from slave camera B. On the other hand, with respect to the LCD monitor display image data, the slave camera B once performs processing for reproducing the image data from the memory card of the slave camera B to obtain display data, so that there is some time delay before the transfer starts. In such a case, as described above, a thumbnail image with a small amount of data is first transmitted and displayed on the LCD monitor 109 of the master camera A, and display image data is created and transferred during that time. This reduces the sense of discomfort due to display delay. In addition to the above-described three types of image data, the image data transferred during the cooperative transfer may be audio data or text data.

If the transfer destination of the image data is a slave camera other than the slave camera B in step S610, the process proceeds to step S612. Here, the master camera A transfers a transfer image data designation signal for designating image data to be transferred from the image data recorded on the memory card of the slave camera B to the slave camera B of the transfer source, and a transfer destination camera instruction. When the transmission of the signal, the transmission start instruction signal for instructing to start transmission of the designated image data to the other slave camera of the transfer destination, and the transfer image data is completed, the master camera A and the other slave cameras are notified of the completion. A transmission completion signal transmission instruction signal is transmitted. In step S612, the various signals described above are transmitted to the transfer source slave camera B. At the same time, in step S613, the transfer destination camera instruction signal and image data from the transfer source camera are prepared for reception. A reception preparation instruction signal for instructing transmission and a reception completion signal transmission instruction signal for informing the master camera A and the slave camera B that reception of the transferred image data has been completed are transmitted.

If image data transfer is started in step S611 or step S612, the data transfer display LEDs of the master camera A and slave camera B are turned on in step S614, and the image is being transferred between the master camera A and slave camera B. Is displayed. When image data is transferred from the slave camera B to another slave camera, in order to confirm that not only the slave camera transmitting / receiving the image data but also the master camera A is performing cooperative transfer. Display during transfer. In step S615, image data is transferred when master camera A receives a transmission completion signal from slave camera B (when transferring from slave camera B to master camera A) or a reception completion signal (when transferring between slave cameras). Determine whether the process is complete. If the master camera A receives the transmission completion signal or the reception completion signal, this sequence is terminated assuming that the transfer image data has been recorded in the buffer memory 105 of the master camera or the buffer memory of the transfer destination camera.

If the reception completion signal is not received in step S615, it is determined in step S616 whether the transfer is in progress or the transfer has failed. If it is determined that the image is still being transferred, the process returns to step S614 to continue the display during image transfer. If it is determined that the line has been interrupted for a predetermined period or longer, or if it has been completely disconnected, it is determined that the transmission has failed, and a transfer failure warning is displayed on the LCD monitor 109 in step S617, or an audio warning is given by the buzzer 124. To do. At this time, also on the slave camera side, an audio warning by a buzzer and the above-described LED for data transfer blinking instead of the LCD monitor being turned off. In step S618, it is determined whether this transmission failure has reached a predetermined number of times (M times).

If the predetermined number of times has not been reached, the process returns to step S610 and transmission of image data from the slave camera B is started again. If the number of transmission failures reaches N, a transmission impossible warning is given by the LCD monitor 109 or buzzer 124 in step S619. At the same time, in step S620, a menu display for responding to the user is performed, a transfer process is performed in accordance with the selection of the menu display, and the transfer sequence ends. The contents of this menu display are the same as in step S609. Here, N and M are arbitrary natural numbers.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the digital camera in the digital camera system by this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the to-be-photographed object in cooperative operation | movement. It is a figure which shows an example of the display of a selection dial. It is a flowchart explaining the camera sequence at the time of cooperation operation | movement. It is a flowchart explaining the camera sequence at the time of cooperation operation | movement. It is a flowchart explaining the camera sequence at the time of cooperation operation | movement. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of cooperative imaging. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of cooperative imaging. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of cooperative exposure. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of cooperative exposure. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of the cooperative exposure at the time of continuous continuous shooting. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of cooperative recording. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of cooperative recording. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of cooperative reproduction. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of cooperative reproduction. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of cooperative reproduction. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of cooperative reproduction. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of cooperative transfer. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of cooperative transfer. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of a power supply confirmation. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of a monitor screen setting. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of a monitor screen setting. It is a flowchart explaining an imaging | photography form. It is a flowchart explaining the setting of bracketing and the sequence of exposure. It is a flowchart explaining the setting of bracketing and the sequence of exposure. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of multiple peak position detection and setting. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of strobe light emission setting. It is a flowchart explaining the setting sequence of imaging | photography and recording conditions. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of cancellation | release of imaging | photography prohibition. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of a recording card confirmation. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of a recording screen selection. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of a recording screen selection. It is a flowchart explaining the sequence of transfer image size selection. It is a figure which shows an example of the monitor display of camera information. It is a figure which shows an example of the monitor display for a battery remaining shortage warning. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display for setting the process at the time of card non-insertion or full. It is a figure which shows an example of the monitor display for a monitor screen setting. It is a figure which shows an example of the monitor display for a monitor screen setting. It is a figure which shows an example of the monitor display for a monitor screen setting. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display for a photography / recording camera and setting of photography / recording conditions. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display for setting a photographing camera. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display for setting a recording camera. It is the figure which showed the item set in the setting menu of imaging | photography / recording conditions in order. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display for setting the camera which applies AF result. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display for setting the timing at the time of cooperative imaging. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display for setting the bracketing item of each camera. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display for setting a bracketing timing. It is a figure which shows an example of an evaluation value change in AF contrast method. It is a figure which shows an example of the monitor display for setting the correction step width | variety for every camera at the time of bracketing imaging | photography. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display for performing bracketing setting of shooting distance. It is a figure which shows the imaging timing of each camera at the time of continuous shooting. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display which shows selection of the kind of continuous shooting. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display which sets the light emission form of FIG. 54, FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the flash light emission form at the time of cooperative imaging. It is a figure which shows an example of the flash light emission form at the time of cooperative imaging. It is a figure which shows an example of the monitor display which sets the light emission quantity of strobe. photograph. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display for selection of a recording condition setting method. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display for selecting the setting method of a photometry system. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display which shows the warning at the time of a photometry system setting. It is a figure which shows an example of the warning display when the card | curd is not inserted. It is a figure which shows an example of the warning display when the card | curd is not inserted or it is full. It is a figure which shows an example of the warning display at the time of a card full. It is a figure which shows an example of the warning display at the time of a card full. It is a figure for demonstrating the folder and file at the time of cooperative recording. It is a figure for demonstrating the internal structure of the file at the time of cooperative recording. It is a figure which shows an example of the monitor display for selecting a recording screen. It is a figure which shows an example of the monitor display for selecting a recording screen. It is a figure which shows an example of the monitor display when changing a list display screen continuously. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu display which selects the warning at the time of data transfer failure, and a subsequent process.

Explanation of symbols

101 Photography lens
102 Aperture
103 Image sensor
104 Analog signal processor
105 Buffer memory
106 Digital signal processor
108 D / A converter
109 LCD monitor
110 Recording / playback signal processing unit
111 External storage media
112 CPU
113 Lens drive unit
114 Aperture drive
115 Image sensor driving unit
116 Operation member
118 battery
119 Battery capacity / voltage detector
120 interface
121 interface
122 Strobe
123 LED during data transfer
124 Warning buzzer
135 A / D Converter
1122 AWB calculation unit
1124 Bandpass filter
1125 Adder
1126 AF calculation unit
1127 timer
1128 storage unit
1162 Power switch
1162 half-press switch
1163 Full push switch
1164 Setting button
1165 Up / Down button
1166 delete button
1167 Transfer button
201 Shutter button
202 Select dial
203 Multi-select switch
204 Card insertion part 205 Connection cable

Claims (3)

A connection means for connecting to another digital camera via a communication line;
Display means for displaying image data when connected to the other digital camera via the connection means;
Display instruction means for instructing to display the image data recorded in the other digital camera on the display means;
Transfer instruction means for instructing the other digital camera to transfer display image data having a predetermined number of pixels based on an instruction from the display instruction means;
Detecting means for detecting a data amount of image data recorded in the other digital camera;
Comparing means for comparing the detection result of the detecting means with a predetermined value,
The transfer instruction means, if the comparison means compares the image data recorded in the other digital camera with a larger amount than the predetermined value, the image data to the other digital camera. A display image data creation end signal indicating that creation of the display image data has been completed, and instructing to create display image data having the predetermined number of pixels smaller than the predetermined value. When received , the digital camera is configured to instruct to transfer the created display image data . A connection means for connecting to another digital camera via a communication line;
Display means for displaying image data when connected to the other digital camera via the connection means;
Display instruction means for instructing to display the image data recorded in the other digital camera on the display means;
Transfer instruction means for instructing the other digital camera to transfer display image data of a predetermined number of pixels based on an instruction of the display instruction means;
The display instruction unit instructs the display unit to display image data for thumbnail images corresponding to the display image data until transfer of the display image data of the predetermined number of pixels is completed ,
If the image data for the thumbnail image is not acquired when the transfer instruction is given by the display instruction means, the image data for the thumbnail image is preceded by the display image data for the predetermined number of pixels. And instructing to display the image data for the thumbnail image .   The display image data of the predetermined number of pixels is the number of pixels corresponding to almost the entire screen of the display screen determined based on the number of pixels of the display means or each when the display screen is divided into predetermined screens. 3. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the data is data corresponding to the number of pixels corresponding to one screen.