JPH03171038A - Camera capable of recording character information - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a useless are from generating in the capacity of a recording medium by selecting the distribution of recording information between the photograph information, which the camera automatically generates, and the arbitrary input character information. CONSTITUTION:The camera is provided with a photographing operation control means 1, time measuring means 2, first information recording means 3, first transfer means 4, character input means 5, code means 6, second transfer means 7, second information recording means 9, and a recording ratio control means 8. An arbitrary character is inputted, and the inputted character is coded to be stored. Based on the stored information, the character is reproduced. The recording medium in which the character information is stored is provided with an area in which automatic recording information generated automatically by the camera is stored. The distribution of the storage area between the character information and the automatic recording information can be controlled. Thus, the useless generation of the storage capacity is eliminated.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a camera that can input text information.

[Conventional technology]

The information you want to record on your camera includes the date, time, shooting data such as the aperture and shutter speed at the time of shooting, and arbitrary characters. Among these, the requirements for date and time are currently being met through technologies such as data tracking. Furthermore, arbitrary characters are achieved by recording handwritten characters on the film surface.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-26029 proposes an apparatus that encodes characters input into a camera using a device such as a word processor, and reproduces the characters when printing.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The present invention stores the date, time, minutes, photographic data, arbitrary characters, etc. in a limited memory area of a storage medium, and stores the date, hour, minute, photographic data, arbitrary characters, etc. based on this stored information when obtaining a photographic print. This invention relates to a camera system that reproduces images on photographic prints.

In such a camera, a problem arises in how to allocate the recording amount between automatically generated recorded information and text information arbitrarily recorded by the user. In other words, there are users who only need the date and time as the camera's automatically recorded information, and there are also users who want to record and play back shooting conditions such as aperture value and shutter speed. Naturally, the amount of information will vary.

Therefore, if both users can record only the same amount of character information, the user who has a small amount of automatically recorded information will have a wasted area in the recording capacity, which is not preferable.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention enables arbitrary character input, encodes and stores the input characters, and reproduces the characters based on the stored information. The recording medium that stores the information has a storage area for automatically recorded information automatically generated by the camera, and the distribution of the storage area for these text information and the storage area for automatically recorded information can be controlled.

[Effect]

In the present invention, the allocation of recording capacity is automatically determined for recording information such as shooting information and date that is automatically generated by the camera, and text information that is input manually. There is no wastage of recording capacity in the pieces. Further, by providing means for automatically identifying the capacity of the external recording means loaded in the camera, it becomes possible to allocate each of the above information according to the capacity of the recording means.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows a conceptual diagram of the present invention.

The photographing operation control means 1 is a part that performs operations related to photographing of the camera, such as photometry operation, distance measuring operation, etc. From this photographing operation control means 1, photographing data used in each photographing is transmitted for each photographing. Output. Note that the photographing data here includes information on the brightness of a photographed field measured by photometry, information on the shutter speed and aperture value used during photographing, and object distance information based on distance measurement results.

The clock means 2 is a part that measures time for so-called data packs, and as a matter of course, time information such as date, hour, and minute is output from here.

The photographing information by the photographing operation control means 1 and the time information by the clock means 2 are temporarily stored in the first information recording means 3 for each photographed frame. The information is then sent to the first transfer means 4 to be recorded on the second information recording means 9 as an external recording medium attached to the camera.

Next, any character input by the character input means 5 is
After being converted into a code that can be treated as binary information by the encoding means 6, it is sent to the second transfer means 7 to be recorded on the second information recording means 9, which also serves as an external recording medium.

The information sent to the first transfer means 4 and the second transfer means 7 is sent to the recording ratio control means 8 before being recorded on the second information recording means 9, where it is assigned to each frame. The recording capacity is divided into photographic information and text information. That is, the total amount of information sent from the first transfer means 4 and the second transfer means 7 is determined, and the total amount is subtracted from the recording capacity determined for the photographed frame to determine the remaining amount. As a result, the character input means 5
The number of characters that can be input is optimized by feedbacking information regarding the remaining amount.

Here, 1 to 8 are provided within the camera, and 9 is a recording medium that is removable from the camera.

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the invention.

A photometry circuit 22 and a distance measurement circuit 23 are connected to the first CPUI indicated by 2l, each of which is controlled by the CPUI, and inputs photometry results and distance measurement results. As a result, the CPU 1 controls the exposure control means 24 to achieve optimal photographing conditions including focal length adjustment.

Further, a clock circuit 25 for time measurement as a data pack is connected to the CPU 1, and time information is input thereto. The clock circuit 25 includes a crystal display means 26 for external display.
is connected. A well-known character input device 28 such as a handwritten character input device or a keyboard is connected to a second CPU indicated by 27.
2 is entered.

Characters input using the input device 28 and information related to photographic information, which will be described in detail later, can be confirmed on the display device 29.

Furthermore, a memory 30 as an external recording medium attached to the camera is connected to the CPU 2.

In FIG. 2, 22 to 24 are photographing operation control means in FIG. 1, 25 and 26 are clock means, 21 is a first information recording means and a first transfer means, and 28 and 29 are character input means. 27 corresponds to the encoding means, the second transfer means, and the recording ratio control means, and 30 corresponds to the second information recording means.

FIG. 3 shows a specific example of a character input device and a display device. This basically consists of a liquid crystal display section 31 and a handwritten character input tablet 32, each of which has buttons 33 and 32 that are linked to switches.
34 and 35. The liquid crystal display section 3l includes a display section 37 that displays categories 36 that can be recorded as photographic information and whether or not they are recorded, a display section 38 that indicates the number of characters that can be input, a display section 39 that displays the number of characters that can be input, and a tablet 32. It has a display section 40 for confirming the characters to be input.

FIG. 4A shows a flow chart of the operation of the camera according to the present invention. In step 401, a state of waiting for input of a half-press switch corresponding to the first stroke (half-press) of the release button of the camera is shown. In other words, this program is activated when the first stroke of the release button is depressed and the half-press switch is turned on for photographing operation.

When the half-press switch is turned on and an affirmative determination is made in step 401, in step 402 light metering for photographing,
A ranging operation is performed.

In step 403, a release switch input waiting state corresponding to the second stroke (full press) of the release button is shown.

When the release switch is turned on and an affirmative determination is made in step 403, an exposure operation process is performed in step 404.

These operations from steps 401 to 404 are accomplished by the photographing operation control means l shown in FIG.

Then, in step 404', information regarding photography is transferred to the recording ratio control means 8 via the first information recording means 3 and the first transfer means 4.

At the same time, time information such as date, hour, and minute, which has been clocked by the clock means 2 shown in FIG. 1, is also transferred to the recording ratio control means 8.

In step 405, the film is fed and fed one frame at a time. In this state, shooting for one frame ends,
At step 406, the process waits for an input from the switch 33 linked to the button 33 in FIG. In other words, in this embodiment, when the button 33 is pressed after the photographing of one frame is completed, the character input operation is started.

If the switch 33 is recognized as being on and a positive determination is made in step 406, the process proceeds to processing such as arbitrary character input shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C, and if a negative determination is made, the process proceeds to step 407.

Step 407 indicates waiting for input of a half-press switch for the next photographing operation, and if an affirmative determination is made here, the process advances to step 429 in FIG. 4D to perform automatic information recording processing. If the determination is negative, the process returns to step 406 and switch 3 is pressed.
3 continues waiting for input. If an affirmative determination is made in step 407, it means that the next photographing operation is started without performing the arbitrary character input process, so that predetermined information among the photographing information is automatically recorded.

In the process of inputting arbitrary characters, etc. in FIG. 4B, first, it is specified which information out of the photographic information is to be recorded.

In step 408, the "DATE" part of the display section showing the items of automatically recorded information shown in FIG. 3 is highlighted, for example, reversed. It is in the form of a question.

Here, when the switch 34 linked to the button 34 is turned on, the process proceeds to step 410, where the recognition display, for example, the display area 37
``○'' is displayed in the portion corresponding to ``DATE'', and the memory capacity necessary to record the information is secured in the CPU 1 in step 411.

Step 412 detects the state of the switch 35 linked to the button 35 when step 409 is negative. That is, when the switch 35 is turned on, the user selects the "DATE" highlighted in step 408.
” It is determined that the information was not intentionally selected. Therefore, for example, “
×” may be displayed to notify the photographer. If step 412 is negative, the process returns to step 409 and 3
The standby state is maintained until either button 4 or 35 is pressed.

Regardless of whether "DATE" is selected or not, the process advances to step 413, where the highlighted display is canceled, indicating that the processing for this item has ended.

Next, in step 414, the next automatically recorded photographic information, ``BV'', is highlighted as a selection target. Then, operations similar to those shown in steps 409 to 413 are executed. After that, the emphasis on “Sv” and the “Sv”
Operations similar to steps 409 to 413 regarding v°,'
The highlighted display for TV' and the same operations as steps 409 to 413 regarding "TV", the highlighted display for "AV" and the same operations as steps 409 to 4 and step 3 for "AV" are performed, and each target User selections are made for the item.

Then, in step 415, “AV” becomes the last target item.
A determination is made as to whether or not the selection process has been completed, and if an affirmative determination is made, the process proceeds to step 416.

In step 416, the memory capacity required to record the photographic information selected by the operations 408 to 415 described above is calculated.

Next step 41? Then, the remaining memory capacity (remaining capacity) is calculated from this value and the memory capacity that is previously made usable per frame.

Based on this value, the number of characters that can be recorded is calculated in step 418, and the value is displayed in the display area 39 of FIG. 3 in step 419.

The operations of steps 408 to 419 are accomplished by the recording ratio control means 8 of FIG.

There are various methods for inputting arbitrary characters, and here we have outlined an example in which handwritten characters are input on a tablet and converted into kanji or the like.

When characters are entered on the tablet in step 420 and the button 33 is pressed to turn on the switch 33, step 4
21 is determined to be affirmative, and the process proceeds to step 422, where character conversion is performed. That is, the characters written on the tablet 32 are displayed on the display portion 40.

Next, by confirming the converted characters and pressing the button 34, the switch 34 is turned on and the input characters are registered. During this registration, the registered characters are converted into a binary code by the encoding means 6 and transferred to the recording ratio control means 8 via the second transfer means 7.

Steps 420-424 are accomplished by the character input means 5 of FIG.

In step 425, steps 416-41 of FIG.
9, the remaining number of recordable characters is sequentially displayed in connection with the calculation and display of the number of characters.

In step 426, it is recognized that the switch 35 linked to the button 35 is on, and when the switch 35 is turned on, it is determined that character input has ended.

If a negative determination is made in step 426, the process advances to step 427. Here, it is determined whether the limit of the number of recordable characters has been reached, regardless of whether the switch 35 is turned on, and if the determination is negative, the process returns to the next character input state.

If step 426 is answered in the affirmative or step 427 is answered in the affirmative, all character input operations related to the currently targeted shooting frame are completed, and in step 428, the external memory (9 in FIG. 1, 9 in FIG. The recording information is transferred to step 30) and the process ends.

If the user does not select input of arbitrary characters or the like after the photographing is completed, the automatic information recording process shown in FIG. 4D is executed.

Here, it is assumed that "DATE" has been selected in advance as the information to be automatically recorded. Therefore, step 42
In step 9, the item is highlighted, and in step 430, the necessary memory capacity is secured in CPUZ.

The identification display of the information recorded here is not limited to highlighted display.

Then, in step 431, the information is transferred to the external memory (9 in FIG. 1), and the operation ends.

FIG. 5 shows the concept of a second embodiment of the present invention.

Here, common symbols are attached to parts common to those in FIG. 1''.

A feature of the present invention is that a recording medium identification means 5l is provided for the second information recording means 9 that ultimately records photographic information and character information.

In this recording medium identification means 5l, the information recording capacity of the second information recording means 9 is identified, and the above-mentioned distribution of recorded information is performed according to the identified value.

FIG. #46 shows a flowchart of the external memory identification operation based on this second embodiment.

In step 601, it is determined whether or not a film is loaded in the camera. If the determination is affirmative, a blank feed operation of the film is executed in step 602.

Next, in step 603, it is determined whether an external memory (9 in FIG. 1, 30 in FIG. 2) is installed, and if an affirmative determination is made here, the amount of information in the memory is identified in step 604, and
In step 605, the amount of information that can be recorded in the memory for each frame is determined based on the result.

Then, in step 606, the result is displayed on the display device (display area 39). For example, if the capacity of the identified external memory is small, a message may be displayed indicating that character input is prohibited.

Note that the means for achieving the concept shown in FIG. 5 for the second embodiment can be achieved by the same thing as shown in FIG. 2, and therefore will not be described here.

Further, the second information recording means 9 shown in the present invention means a recording medium that is removable from the camera, and may be a card-type semiconductor memory that can be attached to the camera, for example. , or a recording medium attached to the film itself.

Next, FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.

In order to make the explanation easier to understand, the second information recording means 9 is a recording medium attached to a film, such as a semiconductor memory or a magnetic recording medium, and the third information recording means 7l is an IC card or the like that can be attached to the camera. Assuming an external semiconductor memory.

Regarding the operation of this embodiment, a flowchart is shown in FIG.

By the operations of steps 601 to 604, the external recording medium (in this embodiment, an IC), which is the third information recording means 71, is
When it is confirmed that a card (equivalent to a semiconductor memory such as a card) is attached, in step 901, the information medium identifying means 72 checks whether specific data is recorded in the recording medium. Here, the specific data is
For example, an IC card is an IC card in which the name of the individual photographer, the name of a tourist spot, etc. are recorded, and such information may be printed on the final photographic print based on this data.

Therefore, in step 902, information recorded in the external memory (third information recording means 71) is extracted (read) for this purpose.

In step 903, information about the memory capacity occupied by these preset information is transferred to the recording ratio control means 8, and as a result, the camera automatically generates information (first information recording means 3 and information medium Information output from the identification means 72) and manually input information (information input from the character input means 5) are sorted.

Note that here, in order to simplify the explanation, the second information recording means 9 and the third information recording means 7l are purposely made different, but this is not necessarily limited to that, and for example, Alternatively, a card-type semiconductor memory that can be attached to a camera or a magnetic recording medium attached to a film may have the functions of both the recording means 9 and 71.

FIG. 8 further shows a modification of the embodiment according to the present invention.

The feature here is that the information held in the third information recording medium 71 is transferred to the fourth information recording means 81, and for example, it is taken up as recorded information in the embodiment of FIG. Furthermore, information such as personal names does not need to be recorded for each frame, but may be recorded all at once for one film.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the third information recording means 7l
Of the information recorded in the second information recording means 9, information in a predetermined field is recorded in a recording means in a separate area and transferred all at once to the second information recording means 9 to improve efficiency.

Regarding the flowchart of the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG.
This is shown in Figure O.

When the attachment of the external memory 71 is confirmed in step 1101, the information recording medium is identified by the information medium identifying means 72 in step l102. If the specific information as described above is recorded, an affirmative determination is made in step 1103, and the process proceeds to step 1104. If not, steps 902 to 903 are performed.

In step 1l04, the personal name information, place name information, etc. recorded in the external memory 71 are changed to information automatically generated by the camera (information output from the first information recording means 3).
and a fourth information recording means 8l which is a separate area from manually inputted information (information inputted from the character inputting means 5).
will be forwarded to.

In other words, while automatically generated information and manually input information are unique to each piece, the above personal name information and place name information cannot be said to be necessary for each piece at least. In terms of efficiency, it is better to record the information in a separate area.

Next, in step 1105, a waiting operation is performed at a predetermined timing, which is set in synchronization with, for example, when the film is replaced or when the external memory 71 is replaced.

At that timing, the information recorded in the other area is transferred to the second information recording means 9, which is the final information recording medium, and the process ends.

Here, it is assumed that the fourth information recording means 8l exists inside the CPU 2 shown in FIG.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, in the present invention, the user can control information such as the date and time automatically generated by the camera, shooting information, etc. regarding character information that is finally output as printed text, and information such as arbitrary input character information. Since it is possible to select the distribution of recorded information for each recording medium, there is no wasted area in the capacity of the recording medium, which is very efficient.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the concept of the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a block diagram of the first embodiment, FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the information input and display device of the first embodiment, FIGS. 4A to 4D are flowcharts showing the operation of the first embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing the concept of the second embodiment, FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the second embodiment, FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing the concept of the third embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a modification of the third embodiment. 9 shows a flowchart of the operation corresponding to FIG. 7, and FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of the operation corresponding to FIG. 8. (Explanation of symbols of main parts) 1... Shooting operation control means, 2... Clock means, 3...
- first information recording means, 4... first transfer means, 5.
...Character input means, 6.Encoding means, 7.Second transfer means, 8.Record ratio control means, 9.Second information recording means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Photographing operation control means for controlling the photographing operation of the camera;
a clock means for measuring time to record a photographing time; first information capable of recording at least one of information regarding photographing used by the photographing operation control means and time information recorded by the clock means; recording means; second
means capable of mounting a recording medium having an information recording means;
When the recording medium is loaded, a first transfer means for transmitting recorded information from the first information recording means to the second information recording means; a character input means; and a character input means. means for encoding the input characters; second transfer means for transmitting the coded input character information to the second information recording means; 1. A camera capable of recording character information, comprising: first information that is encoded; and a control means that controls a recording ratio of the encoded input character information. 2. Photographing operation control means for controlling the photographing operation of the camera;
a clock means for measuring time to record a photographing time; first information capable of recording at least one of information regarding photographing used by the photographing operation control means and time information recorded by the clock means; recording means; second
means capable of mounting a recording medium having an information recording means;
When the recording medium is loaded, a first transfer means for transmitting recorded information from the first information recording means to the second information recording means; a character input means; and a character input means. means for encoding the input characters; second transfer means for transmitting the coded input character information to the second information recording means; and a control means for controlling the recording ratio of the encoded input character information; and an identification means for identifying the recordable capacity of the attached second recording means. A camera that can record text information.