JPH09163209A - Digital camera, image pickup device and image pickup means controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the handling and to reduce the power consumption. SOLUTION: A personal computer 150 connecting to a digital camera unit 100 receives an image and only when a key of a key board 154 of the personal computer 150 is depressed, the digital camera unit 100 executes image pickup. A CPU 151 of the personal computer 150 controls so as to select the mode of power supply 110 of the digital camera unit 100 or power consumption reduction except the time during the camera setting processing or during display onto a display device 153 or during execution of still image pickup processing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention belongs to the technical field of digital cameras in which a digital camera unit is connected to a small portable computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a digital camera, for the purpose of displaying, viewing, editing, and organizing photographed images, the camera is used to display a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC).
(Hereinafter abbreviated as ") is generally performed. Digital cameras can be classified into at least two types according to the image data transfer method. One is a method of storing captured images for multiple screens in the image memory inside the camera, and then transferring them using a cable or memory card. The other is a method in which a high-speed digital interface is provided in the camera and the PC, and the image data is transferred to the PC almost at the same time as the image capturing.

As an example of the latter, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-112147
There is an example described in Japanese Patent Publication. In the case of such a camera, there is a problem that the camera has to be carried with the PC and a high-speed digital interface is required, but it is not necessary to have a large-scale memory in the camera, so that the cost can be reduced. It has the advantage of being configurable. Also, since the PC has a standard man-machine interface such as a display, keyboard, and mouse,
The user can operate the camera in a familiar operating environment.

[0004]

However, in the case of the above-mentioned conventional add-on type camera, the power for the camera is supplied from the battery of the PC, and an appropriate power source is used for the purpose of prolonging the usage time of the entire device. You have to manage it.

An object of the invention of the present application is to provide a digital camera which solves the above problems in a digital camera having a digital interface, is easy to handle, has a good captured image, and consumes less power. It is a thing. Therefore, specifically, the first object of the present invention is to reduce the power consumption of the digital camera unit and the computer.

A second object of the present invention is to capture and record an image that substantially coincides with the still image capturing timing intended by the user.

A third object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily determine whether or not the user has taken the photograph intended.

A fourth object of the present invention is to reduce the power consumption of cameras and computers.

A fifth object of the present invention is to change the photographing mode by a usage method that is easy for the user to understand.

A sixth object of the present invention is to effectively use the disk capacity of a computer.

A seventh object of the present invention is to effectively use the disk capacity of a computer and reduce the power consumption.

An eighth object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily view, edit, and organize images taken in the past.

A ninth object of the present invention is to make it possible to quickly attain an appropriate photographing state when the photographing operation is started.

[0014]

Therefore, the digital camera according to the present invention achieves the above object by the following configuration.

(1) Image pickup means for converting an optical image of a subject into an electric video signal, conversion means for converting the electric video signal into a digital video signal, and a digital interface capable of communicating with external information equipment. A digital camera comprising a digital camera unit equipped with the digital camera unit, the digital video signal being input from the digital camera unit, and an information device that acquires a captured image via the digital interface. Control means for controlling the image pickup means of the camera unit, storage means for storing a video signal and the like, display means for displaying a picked-up image and shooting-related information, and operation input means for a user to input an operation of the digital camera. And the digital key is held only while a key of the operation input means intended for photographing is roughly pressed. Digital camera, characterized in that for the implementation of the photographing La unit.

(2) The information device captures an image at a time when a key of the operation input means, which is intended to be photographed, is substantially released from the digital camera unit as a photographed image. The listed digital camera.

(3) The information device displays on the display means a photographed still image at approximately the same time as the storage during the period in which the photographed video signal is stored in the storage means. The digital camera according to (1) above.

(4) The information device is operated during the camera setting process by the operation input of the operation input unit, or displayed on the display unit, or at the time other than each time during the still image shooting process. The digital camera according to (1) above, characterized in that the power supply of the digital camera unit is turned off or a mode for reducing power consumption is entered.

(5) The information device operates at high speed when a key intended for normal shooting included in the operation input means is double-clicked or when a key intended for normal shooting is pressed while holding down the control key. The digital camera as described in (1) above, characterized by shifting to a mode for performing continuous shooting.

(6) The information device deletes the image stored in the storage means at the time of shooting when a key of the operation input means intended for deletion is pressed immediately after shooting. The digital camera according to (1) above.

(7) The information device does not store the image immediately before that in the storage means when the key of the operation input means intended to be deleted is pressed immediately after shooting. 1) The digital camera described above.

(8) When the disconnection of the digital interface connecting the information device and the digital camera unit is detected, the information device automatically activates software for viewing and processing the past image memory. The digital camera according to (1) above.

(9) The information device stores the immediately preceding camera parameter when turning off the power source of the digital camera unit or shifting to a mode for reducing the power consumption, and when starting the next photographing. The digital camera described in (1) above, wherein the digital camera is restored by the stored camera parameter value and shooting is started.

(10) Image pickup means for forming an image signal, image display means for displaying the image signal,
The operation means, the recording means for recording the image signal formed by the image pickup means in response to the operation by the operation means, and the image signal formed by the image pickup means before the image signal is recorded by the recording means. When displaying by the display means, the image signal is displayed by the image display means at a low resolution, and when recording the image signal by the recording means, the image signal formed by the image pickup means is displayed by the high resolution. An image pickup apparatus comprising: a control unit that causes the unit to display.

(11) When the image signal formed by the image pickup means is displayed on the image display means before the image signal is recorded by the recording means, the image signal has a low resolution and is displayed as a moving image. The image pickup apparatus according to (10) above, wherein the image is displayed by the following method.

(12) The image display means is provided in an external device, the image pickup means is provided in an image pickup unit different from the external device, and the image pickup unit and the external device are detachable. The above (1
0) The image pickup device described above.

(13) A display for receiving and displaying an image signal from an image pickup means for forming an image signal, an indicating member, a selecting member, and an icon representing the image pickup unit together with icons for other functions. A command for starting the image pickup operation in the image pickup means by operating the selection member after indicating the icon representing the image pickup unit by the pointing member while displaying on the display is given to the image pickup means. An image pickup means control device, comprising: a control means for transmitting.

(14) The above-mentioned (13), characterized by further comprising setting means for arbitrarily designating and setting at least one of the pointing member and the selecting member from among a plurality of operating members. Imaging means control device.

(15) A display for receiving an image signal from an image pickup means for forming an image signal and displaying the image, a pointing means having a button, an icon representing the image pickup unit together with icons showing other functions. The image pickup unit is displayed on the display, and the icon representing the image pickup unit is clicked by the button of the pointing unit to indicate the image pickup unit. Then, the image pickup unit is overlapped with a predetermined icon of the other icons by drag and drop. And a control means for transmitting a command for ending the image pickup operation to the image pickup means, in the image pickup means control device.

[0030]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the first embodiment of the present invention is an embodiment of the present invention. An image pickup means for converting an optical image into an electric video signal, and the video signal A digital camera unit equipped with a conversion means for converting into a digital video signal and a digital interface capable of communicating with an external information device is provided as an information device capable of acquiring a photographed image from the digital camera unit. In a digital camera configured by connecting via an interface, a process is performed so that a photograph is taken only while a key intended for photographing is pressed and a finder moving image is displayed.

The second means of carrying out the present invention is such that the image at the time when the photographing key is released is taken in as a photographed image.

According to the third means implementation of the present invention, the captured image is displayed on the display during the file writing process.

The fourth means for carrying out the present invention is such that, except for the time for performing the camera setting process, the viewfinder display, and the still image shooting process, the power supply of the camera is turned off or the process for reducing the power consumption is performed. is there.

The fifth means for carrying out the present invention is such that, when the photographing key is double-clicked or when the photographing key is pressed while holding down the control key, the mode shifts to the high-speed continuous photographing mode.

The sixth means of the present invention is so constructed that, when a key intended for deletion is pressed immediately after photographing, the image file is deleted.

The seventh means for carrying out the present invention is such that, when a key intended for deletion is pressed immediately after photographing, the immediately preceding image is not written as a file.

The eighth means of implementing the present invention is such that the viewer software is automatically activated when an interface disconnection is detected.

The ninth means of carrying out the present invention is such that, when the power of the camera is turned off, the immediately preceding camera parameter is stored and the value is restored at that value when the next shooting is started.

[0039]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a digital camera apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numeral 100 in the figure denotes a digital camera, and 1
Reference numeral 01 is the image pickup unit, and 102 and 103 are an image pickup lens and a CCD image pickup element built in the image pickup unit 101. The image sensor 103 generates a reference clock 104.
A driving circuit for driving the like, 105 a correlated double sampling circuit (hereinafter abbreviated as a CDS circuit), 106 an A / D converter, 107 a digital signal processing circuit for converting the signal of the image sensor 103 into a predetermined video signal , 108 is FI
An FO memory, 109 is a digital interface circuit (hereinafter abbreviated as I / F), and 110 is a power supply circuit capable of ON / OFF.

150 is a personal computer (P
C), 151 is a CPU, 152 is an internal memory, 1
53 is a display, 154 is a keyboard, 155 is mouse keys, 156 is a digital interface, 157.
Is a disk memory. 157 is not necessarily a disk-shaped medium, but may be a storage device that can be handled like a disk, such as a flash memory. Further, 158 is a graphics controller such as VGA, and 159 is a power source in the PC.

In this apparatus, the digital interfaces 109 and 156 are general-purpose parallel ports for PC, for example, removable PCMCIA standard interfaces, and have an ability to transfer digital data at a speed of several megabytes / second. have. The digital camera 100 is, for example, in the shape of a PCMCIA card, and is configured so that it can be inserted into the PCMCIA slot of the PC 150 to take a picture. It is assumed that power is supplied from the power source 159 on the PC 150 side to the digital camera 100 side via the interface.

Next, the operation of this apparatus will be described. Lens 10
The image captured through 2 is photoelectrically converted by the image sensor 103 driven by the drive circuit 104, noise-removed by the CDS circuit 105, digitized by the A / D converter 106, and, for example, brightness / luminance by the signal processing circuit 107. It is processed into a general color video signal such as a color difference signal. The circuit from the image pickup lens 102 to the FIFO memory 108 has almost the same configuration as a conventional video camera. The interface circuit 109 is PCMCIA
It has an electrical / mechanical interface defined in 1., a memory area indicating attribute attributes specified or recommended by PCMCIA, and registers for performing card configuration. Further, the power supply circuit 11 of the digital camera 100
It has a function to control ON / OFF of 0 and a clock speed of the drive circuit 104.

Normally, when starting using the digital camera 100, the CPU 151 of the personal computer 150 is used.
Interface 10 via interface 156
9, the communication conditions are set, the power supply 110 of the digital camera 100 is turned on, and the clock speed and the like are set. When actually transferring a digital image, image data at a speed determined by the drive circuit 104 is sequentially written in the FIFO memory 108. The I / F 109 monitors this amount of data, and when a predetermined ratio to the total capacity of the FIFO memory 108 is reached, an interrupt is requested to the PC side, and the PC 150 receives the data stored in the FIFO memory 108. The FIFO memory 108 operates so as to absorb the difference in data speed between the digital camera 100 side and the PC 150 side in this way.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 2, the PC
The processing procedure of 150 will be described.

There are two types of shooting with this apparatus: a finder mode and a still image mode. The viewfinder mode displays moving images on the display in order to determine the timing and composition of photos, and transfers images between interfaces using techniques such as image compression and pixel thinning, so that the frame rate may be sacrificed slightly. Is making faster. Since the image quality is important in the still image mode, all image data is transferred.

FIG. 2 shows the operation of the application software for photographing a camera on the PC 150, and shows an operation in the application software. In step S201, a key for instructing photographing, for example, "space bar" or "space bar" is displayed. Mouse button "
It is detected whether or not the photographing key is pressed, and if not, this key detection S201 is repeated. If the key is pressed, the card enable (PC
Start power supply to the MCIA card, perform card configuration, address allocation), power on the inside of the digital camera 100 at S203, set automatic exposure, white balance, autofocus related settings and parameter settings of the signal processing circuit 107 at S204. I do.

Next, in S205, a vertical synchronizing signal (hereinafter, V
(Hereinafter abbreviated as “D”), and in step S206, a finder image for one screen is transferred to the memory 152. Next, in step S207, the contents of the memory 152 are changed to the graphic controller 158.
And display it on the display 153. If the shooting key is continuously pressed at the time of S208, the control proceeds to S205.
Then, S205 to S208 will be repeated.
This mode is the viewfinder mode, and the user can view the updated images one after another as moving images on the display.

Next, if the key is not pressed at the time of S208, the viewfinder mode is ended and the still image mode is entered to capture the still image.

In S209, the VD is waited, and in S210, an image for one screen is loaded into the memory 152. in this case,
The image data is high quality data that is not subjected to thinning processing. Next, in step S211, the image data in the memory 152 is written as a file in the disk memory 157. In this case, if the CPU 151 is used to perform a process such as JPEG, which causes less image quality deterioration for the compression rate, the disk capacity can be effectively utilized.

Subsequently, in S212, the power of the digital camera 100 or the entire card is cut off in order to save power consumption. At this time, the last automatic exposure and white balance,
Set camera parameters such as autofocus information to P
It is recommended to store it in C150. By doing this, the next time you return to shooting mode, you can recall that value and resume immediately. Also, S211 and S
The order of 212 may be reversed, and in this case, the power consumption can be reduced by the file writing processing time of S211.

As described above with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 2, the user is in the finder mode while the shooting key is pressed, and the screen when the shooting key is released is captured as a still image. High-definition still images can be captured at the desired timing and composition. Also, because the image is transferred and displayed only while the key is pressed, the power is turned on.
The battery will not be consumed more than necessary because you forget the FF operation, and power consumption can be greatly saved.

In this description, the card power supply is turned on / off each time a picture is taken, but if the processing time related to the configuration is desired to be reduced rather than saving the power consumption of the card interface, the card power supply is turned on.
The enable S202 may be executed immediately after the camera application software is started, and the execution after S201 may be omitted. In this case, in S212, only the camera power supply 110 is turned off.

Further, the operation shown in the flow chart of FIG. 3 is also effective. That is, the power of the card and the camera are turned on and the initialization of S202, S203,
S204 is performed after the application is started, and the power is not turned off even after the file writing S211.

Generally, in a digital circuit, the pin signal is HI.
A large amount of power is consumed when changing from LOW to LOW and from LOW to HI. Therefore, power consumption can be saved by simply stopping the high-speed multi-bit data bus when it is not needed. In addition, power can be saved by stopping writing and reading in the FIFO memory 108 as well. In this method, the power consumption of the digital camera 100 is smaller than that in the method shown in the flowchart of FIG.
9 and 156 and the power consumption of the FIFO memory 108 can be saved, and it is not necessary to operate the power supply or initialize each time photographing is performed. If the interface or FIFO memory has a low power consumption mode (such as one using a chip enable signal),
By switching to this mode, more power consumption can be saved. It is also effective to give a command to the driving circuit 104 and lower the clock frequency to reduce the power consumption.

In the flow charts shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when the viewfinder mode is switched to the still image mode, the image contents sent to the graphic controller 158 at the end remain displayed on the display 153. The person can check the image at the same time as the filed still image on the viewfinder of the display 153.

When there is no difference in image quality between the finder mode and the still image mode, the operation of the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is performed.

That is, the image captured in S206 is
In S210, the file is written as a still image as it is. In this method, the image actually written is displayed frozen on the display while the process of S210 is performed, so that the user can easily confirm the image taken.

In the description of the present apparatus, a device for writing a still image file has been described. However, if still images are continuously taken in at a constant interval and written as a moving image file format, the device also serves as a moving image camera. In this case, it can be realized by repeating S209, S210, and S211 in FIG. 2 for a predetermined time.

Although the above description is based on the assumption that power is supplied from the PC 150 to the digital camera 100, the power saving operation of the present invention is the same when the camera has an independent battery.

As described above, in the apparatus of this embodiment, the camera or its interface is operated only for the time required for shooting, and power is saved as soon as shooting is completed. Therefore, a portable personal computer using a small battery is used. But you can use it for a long time.

This device is compatible with the digital camera 100 and P
Since the C150 is removable, it is possible for the user to pull out the digital camera 100 even while the camera is performing a shooting operation. In this case, since the PC 150 detects the state of the FIFO memory 108 by using the interrupt signal as described above, it is not possible to receive the signal suddenly and the software may hang up.

In order to prevent such a situation, the software periodically checks whether the interface is connected or whether the camera side responds within a predetermined time, and when it is determined that the interface is disconnected, As the end processing of the photographing mode, it is preferable to cut off the power supply, cancel the interrupt setting, release the assigned I / O address, and the like. Furthermore, application software automatically
When the screen for shooting is switched to a mode such as a viewer mode for editing and organizing images taken in the past, the user can directly perform editing work, and an embodiment having such a configuration is also possible.

(Second Embodiment) Generally, a portable PC 15
At 0, since the disk memory 157 has a limited capacity, it is impossible to store a large amount of unnecessary image data on the disk. Therefore, it is preferable to confirm and delete the unnecessary image data and the image data that could not be captured successfully on the spot.

The second embodiment for performing the process of deleting unnecessary files will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 5 shows the processing from S205 of FIG. 2, which is S501, S502, S503, S504, S.
The processing of 505 is provided. After writing the file to the disk memory 157 in S211, the image contents of the memory 152 are displayed again in the display 153 in S501.
To be displayed. This is because, strictly speaking, the image displayed in S207 does not match the image written in the file.

Next, in S502, a key intended to be deleted, for example, "DEL", "BACKSPACE", "ES".
It is determined whether a key such as "C" or "D or d" has been pressed. If Yes, for further confirmation in S503, a message such as "Can I delete this image file?" Is displayed, and after confirming the deletion instruction in S504, in the actual processing of S505. Delete the file.

By carrying out such a processing procedure, it is possible to confirm the photographed image every time the photograph is taken, and there is no need to store an unnecessary image file, so that the disk capacity can be used efficiently. .

On the other hand, as a similar method, a method is conceivable in which the images are collectively shot to some extent, and then the images are reproduced by an image viewer or the like and deleted / arranged while being confirmed. Therefore, it is possible to judge whether or not the photograph has an appropriate expression by comparing with the actual subject, so that the disc can be used more efficiently.

(Third Embodiment) In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the process of deleting a file immediately after shooting has been described. However, since data access to a disk generally consumes a lot of power, It is desirable to reduce the number of disk accesses as much as possible in order to extend the battery life. Therefore, it is possible to consider a processing procedure for determining whether to write a file immediately after shooting and before accessing the disc.

FIG. 6 shows a method of the third embodiment for confirming disk writing. FIG. 6 shows the processing from S205 of FIG. 2, and the processing of S601, S602, and S603 is provided.

After the still image mode is entered and the still image is loaded into the memory 152 in S210, the image contents of the memory 152 are displayed on the display 153 in S601, as in FIG. 5 of the second embodiment. Next, in S602, a confirmation message such as "Are you sure you want to save this image?" Is displayed. If Yes in S603, the process proceeds to S210, and if No, the process proceeds to S212 and ends.

By carrying out such processing, it is possible to judge whether or not an image is required before writing the image data in the file, so that the disk capacity can be effectively utilized and the power consumption of the disk is also reduced. Can be reduced.

(Fourth Embodiment) Next, the processing method of the fourth embodiment for high-speed continuous shooting or moving picture shooting in this apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7 shows from S208 in FIG. 2, and if S208 is Yes, whether the instruction is a double click (press the same key twice within a predetermined time) in S702. Make a decision. This is Y
If it is es, the continuous shooting flag is set to 1 in S704 as the continuous shooting mode, and 0 is set to the normal mode in No. The images are loaded into the memory in S209 and S210, the image is displayed in S705, and the file is written in S706. The continuous shooting flag is confirmed in step S707. If the continuous shooting mode is not set, the processing ends. If the continuous shooting mode is set, step S708 is performed.
It is determined whether or not there is an instruction to end the continuous shooting, and if there is no end instruction, the process returns to S209 to repeat shooting. S7
If there is a termination instruction at 08, this repeating process is terminated.

With the above operation, this apparatus can perform high-speed continuous shooting or moving picture shooting.

Here, the display processing of S705 is performed before the file processing of S706 is the display 153.
This is for the purpose of minimizing the delay of the image displayed on the screen from the image viewed directly by the user, which facilitates the user to adjust the composition of the photograph.

In step S702, the double click is determined. This is particularly effective when the key assignment intended for photographing is "mouse key", and the usability is similar to that of other image display / editing software. Therefore, there is little confusion in the operation of the user. In addition, for example, "CTRL", "S"
HIFT ”,“ ALT ”,“ FN ”,“ COMMAN ”
A process of interpreting the continuous shooting mode when the shooting key is pressed while pressing the control key such as “D” or “OPTION” may be used.

As described above, by using the processing procedure of the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to display and record a moving image by the continuous shooting mode by operating a specific key.

In the embodiment, the image pickup unit and the external device are connected by wire for communication, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it may include wireless communication of image signals and commands.

Although not shown, the digital camera 10
When 0 is connected to the PC 150, the CPU 151 may detect this and display the camera icon on the display 153. In that case, a trash can icon and a recording medium icon are simultaneously displayed on the display. When the camera icon is clicked once with a pointing device such as a mouse built in or connected to the PC 150, the display state of the camera icon changes and it is displayed that the icon has been selected. In this state, by pressing a return key (not shown) of the PC 150 or by double-clicking the camera icon from the beginning with the mouse button, the CPU 150 issues a command for starting the photographing operation to the digital camera 100.
Send to Then, the imaging operation may be started by this.

By doing so, the PC 1 can be operated without providing a special release switch on the digital camera side.
There is an effect that the image pickup operation can be easily executed only by operating the 50 pointing devices. Moreover, there is an effect that the operation for starting the image pickup can be performed visually and intuitively. Further, with such a configuration, the imaging operation using the camera can be operated with the same operation feeling as the operation in a general-purpose OS (operation system), and the general-purpose OS is used as application software.
It can be operated with the same operation feeling as in (Operation System), and has good compatibility with a general-purpose OS as application software.

Although not shown, the image pickup operation can also be started by operating the return key after selecting the icon with the cursor movement key while the camera icon is displayed on the display of the PC 150. The present invention also includes such a thing.

In order to further start the image pickup operation, in the present embodiment, in addition to the method described above, a combination of a plurality of arbitrary keys may be set as a shortcut key. The imaging operation can be started by simultaneously operating a plurality of keys having different combinations. Then, the above combination can be set on the screen by opening a setting screen on the display. For example, it is possible to set the image pickup operation to be started by simultaneously pressing the alphabetic keys of the control keys "CTRL" and "T". And this combination can be set in any way according to the preference of the operator. For example, it is possible to set to start imaging when the shift key and the expansion key called "F1" are pressed at the same time.

It should be noted that while the camera icon is clicked by the pointing device button, the camera icon is moved to the trash can icon by a drag and drop operation, and the pointing device button is released to take an image. A command for ending the operation may be transmitted to the digital camera 100. With such a configuration, the operation for ending the imaging can be executed with an operation feeling similar to the operation of the general-purpose OS, and the operation can be performed without a sense of incongruity and by extension with less operation error.

Further, by constructing in this way, P
It is not necessary to provide a special dedicated switch for starting or stopping the image pickup of C150, and the start and end of the image pickup can be performed by also using a keyboard or a pointing device of an ordinary computer.

[0088]

As described above, the present invention is easy and
It is possible to provide a digital camera that can be effectively photographed and used. Specifically, there is an effect that the power consumption of the camera and the computer can be reduced by the first means of the present invention.

By the second means of the present invention, there is an effect that it is possible to shoot and record an image which substantially coincides with the still image shooting timing intended by the user.

The third means of the present invention has the effect that it is possible to easily determine whether or not the user has taken the photograph intended.

The fourth means of the present invention has the effect of reducing the power consumption of the camera and computer.

According to the fifth means of the present invention, there is an effect that the photographing mode can be changed by a user-friendly method of use.

The sixth means of the present invention has an effect that the disk capacity of the computer can be effectively used.

According to the seventh means of the present invention, there is an effect that the disk capacity of the computer can be effectively used and the power consumption can be reduced.

The eighth means of the present invention has an effect that it is possible to easily browse, edit, and organize images taken in the past.

According to the ninth means of the present invention, there is an effect that when the photographing operation is started, the proper photographing state can be promptly obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a basic flowchart of an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a fourth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 Digital Camera 101 Imaging Unit 102 Imaging Lens 103 Imaging Device 104 Driving Circuit 105 Correlated Double Sampling Circuit 106 A / D Converter 107 Digital Signal Processing Circuit 108 FIFO Memory 109 Interface Circuit 110 Power Supply Circuit 150 Personal Computer 151 CPU 152 Memory 153 Display 154 Keyboard 155 Mouse and mouse key 156 Interface circuit 157 Disk memory 158 Graphic controller 159 Power circuit

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Kenichi Kondo 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yuji Koide 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Kya Non non corporation

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup means for converting an optical image of a subject into an electric video signal, a conversion means for converting the electric video signal into a digital video signal, and a digital interface capable of communicating with an external information device. A digital camera unit configured to connect the digital camera unit to an information device that receives the digital video signal from the digital camera unit and acquires a captured image via the digital interface, wherein the information device is the digital camera. A control means for controlling the image pickup means of the unit, a storage means for storing a video signal and the like, a display means for displaying a picked-up image and shooting related information, and an operation input means for a user to input an operation of the digital camera. The digital camera is provided only during a period in which a key of the operation input means, which is intended for photographing, is roughly pressed. Digital camera, characterized in that for the implementation of the shooting unit. 2. The digital device according to claim 1, wherein the information device captures an image at a time when a key of the operation input unit, which is intended to be captured, is substantially released from the digital camera unit as a captured image. camera. 3. The information device displays, on the display means, a captured still image at approximately the same time as the storage during a period in which the captured video signal is stored in the storage means. The digital camera according to claim 1. 4. The information device is digital except for each time during a camera setting process by the operation input of the operation input unit, a display on the display unit, or a still image shooting process. 2. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the power supply of the camera unit is turned off or a mode for reducing power consumption is entered. 5. The information device, when the key intended for normal shooting included in the operation input means is double-clicked, or when a key intended for normal shooting is pressed while holding down a control key, a high speed continuous operation is performed. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the digital camera is switched to a mode for photographing. 6. The information device, when a key of the operation input means intended to be deleted is pressed immediately after photographing,
The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the image stored in the storage unit is deleted at the time of shooting. 7. The information device, when a key of the operation input means intended to be deleted is pressed immediately after photographing,
The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the image immediately before that is not stored in the storage means. 8. The information device, when detecting disconnection of a digital interface connecting the information device and the digital camera unit, automatically activates software for browsing processing of past image memory. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the digital camera is a digital camera. 9. The information device stores the immediately preceding camera parameter when turning off the power of the digital camera unit or shifting to a mode for reducing power consumption, and when starting the next shooting, 2. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the digital camera is restored by the stored camera parameter value and the photographing is started. 10. An image pickup unit for forming an image signal, an image display unit for displaying the image signal, an operation unit, and an image signal formed by the image pickup unit in response to an operation by the operation unit. Recording means for recording, and when displaying the image signal formed by the imaging means before recording the image signal by the recording means by the image display means, the image signal is displayed at low resolution by the image display means. An image pickup apparatus comprising: a control unit that causes the display unit to display the image signal formed by the image pickup unit with high resolution when the image signal is recorded by the recording unit. 11. When the image display unit displays the image signal formed by the image pickup unit before recording the image signal by the recording unit, the image display unit displays the image signal as a moving image at a low resolution. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the image is displayed. 12. The image display means is provided in an external device, the image pickup means is provided in an image pickup unit different from the external device, and the image pickup unit and the external device are detachable. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the image pickup apparatus is provided. 13. A display for receiving an image signal from an image pickup means for forming an image signal and displaying the image, an indicating member, a selecting member, and an icon representing the image pickup unit together with icons of other functions. A command for starting the image pickup operation in the image pickup means by operating the selection member after indicating the icon representing the image pickup unit by the pointing member is transmitted to the image pickup means while being displayed on the display. And a control unit for controlling the image pickup unit. 14. The image pickup unit according to claim 13, further comprising a setting unit for arbitrarily designating and setting at least one of the pointing member and the selecting member from a plurality of operation members. Control device. 15. A display for receiving an image signal from an image pickup means for forming an image signal and displaying the image, a pointing means having a button, an icon representing the image pickup unit together with icons showing other functions, While being displayed on the display, the icon representing the imaging unit is clicked and instructed by the button of the pointing unit, and then dragged and dropped to overlap with a predetermined icon among the other icons, thereby the And a control unit that transmits a command for ending the image pickup operation to the image pickup unit.