HK1027633B - Camera and camera system - Google Patents

Description

Camera and camera system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a camera capable of communicating with an external device through interfaces of various specifications.

Background

Now, various technologies for communicating between a camera and a personal computer via a serial interface have been developed.

For example, Japanese patent laid-open Nos. H10-75390 and H10-136245 disclose techniques relating to a camera system in which a camera and a personal computer communicate via a serial interface of standards such as RS232C, USB, and IEEE1394, and image data is exchanged with each other.

In the communication, the camera performs various communication operations by a power supply such as a lithium battery or an alkaline battery incorporated in the camera body, or by a household power supply supplied from a DC adapter, for example.

However, when a communication operation is performed by a power supply such as a lithium battery or an alkaline battery incorporated in the camera body, a battery capacity is exhausted during the communication operation, and an operation is interrupted. At this time, communication cannot be resumed without exchanging the battery.

In addition, for example, in a digital camera or the like, since power consumption is large, it is necessary to connect the power source to a household power source through a DC adapter when performing a communication operation or the like. However, when the communication operation is performed by the household power supplied from the DC adapter, the DC adapter must be connected in addition to the serial interface, which is troublesome to operate.

On the other hand, USB, IEEE1394, and the like in the current serial interface specification have a power supply terminal (for example, a power supply voltage of 5V for USB) and a GND terminal, and a user desires to use these terminals in combination, but in the above-described prior art, there is no mention at all of a case where power is supplied from a personal computer through the above-described serial interface.

In addition, although CCD cameras have been developed which often receive power supply only from a personal computer, they have limited use because they do not have a power supply that operates independently.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a camera that prevents interruption of communication operation due to a dead battery capacity during communication with an external device such as a personal computer and that does not require an external power supply during the communication.

In order to achieve the above object, a camera according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an internal power supply and an electric circuit driven by the internal power supply, the camera including: a terminal for communication with a personal computer; a power supply terminal for receiving power supply from the power supply in the personal computer; a connector portion electrically connected to a personal computer, a detection circuit for detecting that the personal computer is connected to the connector portion; and a power supply control circuit for controlling the power supply in the personal computer to supply power in place of the built-in power supply when the detection circuit detects that the personal computer is connected.

The camera provided in claim 2, characterized by comprising: a power supply is arranged in the shell; a plurality of camera operating devices for executing a predetermined camera operation; a connector device for electrically connecting with a personal computer; a detecting device for detecting that the personal computer is electrically connected to the connector device; and a power supply control device for controlling the power supply to the camera operating device by selecting one of the built-in power supply and the power supply in the personal computer; the connector device includes a power supply terminal for receiving power supply from a power supply in the personal computer; the power supply control device selects a built-in power supply when the personal computer is not connected to the connector device, and selects a power supply in the personal computer when the detection device detects that the personal computer is connected.

A camera according to claim 3, comprising: a power supply is arranged in the shell; a camera including a circuit driven by the built-in power supply, the camera including a terminal for communication with a computer and a power supply terminal for receiving power supply from the power supply in the computer; a connector device for electrically connecting with the computer; and a power supply control device for controlling the power supply of the power supply in the computer to the circuit instead of the built-in power supply when the computer is connected.

The camera according to claim 4, comprising: a camera operation mechanism for executing a predetermined camera operation; a power supply is arranged in the shell; a power supply terminal for receiving power supply from a power supply in the external device; a connector section electrically connected to the external device; a detection circuit for detecting that the external device is connected to the connector portion; and a power supply control circuit for selecting one of the built-in power supply and the power supply in the external device as the power supply of the camera operating mechanism based on a detection result of the detection circuit.

A camera according to claim 5, comprising: a plurality of electric circuits for executing a predetermined camera operation; a built-in power supply installed in the camera; a connection terminal for connecting an external device including a power supply; and a power supply control circuit for selecting one of the built-in power supply and the power supply of the external device connected through the connection terminal as the power supply of the plurality of electric circuits.

A camera system according to claim 6, comprising a camera and an external device connectable to the camera, wherein the external device includes: a communication terminal and a power supply circuit of an external device for electrically connecting to the camera; the camera comprises: a connection terminal at the camera end for electrically connecting with the external device; a plurality of electric circuits for executing a predetermined camera operation; a built-in power supply installed in the camera; and a power supply control circuit for selecting one of the built-in power supply and the power supplies of the external devices connected through the connection terminals as the power supplies of the plurality of electric circuits.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be further explained by the description of the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a camera configuration according to embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the power supply Vcc1, PCVcc, and the periphery of the communication connector of the digital camera body 200 in detail.

Fig. 3 is a detailed configuration diagram showing an external device 54 connected to the communication connector 43 of the digital camera body via a connection cable 53.

Fig. 4 is a detailed diagram showing an external device communication section and an external device attachment detection section of the camera according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the image processing circuit 42.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing a main routine of the camera of embodiment 1.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the details of the external device connection interrupt processing routine.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing in detail the routine of the subroutine "camera operation end processing".

Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing in detail the procedure of the subroutine "communication correspondence processing".

Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing a main routine of the camera according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing a routine of a subroutine "camera operation processing".

Fig. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the camera according to embodiment 3.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a camera configuration according to embodiment 1 of the present invention. The camera is composed of a digital camera body 200 and a variable focal length lens interchangeable lens 100 detachably attached to the digital camera body 200.

Of course, a lens-integrated type is also possible.

First, the detailed configuration of the interchangeable lens 100 will be described.

In fig. 1, a photographing lens for forming an image of a subject is composed of a positive lens 2 and a negative lens 4. A diaphragm mechanism 3 is disposed between the positive lens 2 and the negative lens 4. The diaphragm mechanism 3 is driven and controlled by a diaphragm motor 10 operated by an output of a diaphragm driving circuit 12. The initial position and the stop position of the diaphragm mechanism 3 are detected by a diaphragm encoder 7. The positional information detected by the aperture encoder 7 is input to the lens control circuit 1, and is fed back from the lens control circuit 1 to the aperture driving circuit 12.

The positive lens 2 is driven and controlled by a lens motor 9 through an output operation of a focus drive circuit 11. The initial position and the stop position of the positive lens 2 are detected by a focus encoder 6. And the position information detected by the focus encoder 6 is input to the lens control circuit 1, and is fed back from the lens control circuit 1 to the focus drive circuit 11.

A zoom operation ring 5 for zooming by an operator is provided behind the negative lens 4. The photographing lens (the positive lens 2 and the negative lens 4) is driven and controlled by a zoom motor 14 by the operation of the zoom operation ring 5 or the output operation of the zoom drive circuit 13. The focal length that varies with the zoom drive is detected at any time by the zoom encoder 8. Then, the positional information detected by the zoom encoder 8 is inputted to the lens control circuit 1, and is fed back from the lens control circuit 1 to the lens drive circuit 13.

In this way, the photographing lens (the positive lens 2 and the negative lens 4) moves in conjunction with the rotation of the zoom operation ring 5 or the drive control of the zoom motor 4, and the focal length is changed. The lens control circuit 1 comprehensively controls the focus drive circuit 11, the diaphragm drive circuit 12, and the zoom drive circuit 13 based on the outputs of the focus encoder 6, the diaphragm encoder 7, and the zoom encoder 8. The lens control circuit 1 performs predetermined communication with the digital camera body 200 side configured as described below via the communication line 15 and the communication connector 16.

The detailed structure of the digital camera body 200 will be described below.

In fig. 1, the subject light having passed through the interchangeable lens 100 described above enters a movable mirror 17 which is a half mirror at about the center. An auxiliary mirror 18 is provided on a central rear portion of the movable mirror 17 so as to reflect the subject light therebelow. A splitter optical system 19 including two optical systems for performing 2-image splitting is provided in the direction of the reflection optical axis of the auxiliary mirror 18, i.e., in the vertical direction in the drawing. The illustration is simplified in this figure for ease of illustration. A line sensor 20 is provided at an imaging position of the subject image formed by the separator optical system 19. The row sensor 20 is electrically connected to a row sensor drive circuit 28.

The auxiliary mirror 18, the separator optical system 19, the line sensor 20, and the like constitute a well-known focus detection device by a phase difference method.

The body control circuit 36 obtains the interval of 2 images from the signal input through the line sensor drive circuit 28, and obtains the focus position. In order to drive the photographing lens (positive lens 2) to the focus position, the driving amount of the positive lens 2 in the interchangeable lens 100 is calculated, and the driving amount data is transmitted to the interchangeable lens 100 through the communication line 38 and the communication joint 39. The lens control circuit 1 that has received the drive amount data performs predetermined focus drive and performs focus adjustment.

On the other hand, a focal plate 24, a pentaprism 25, and a finder eyepiece optical system 26 are disposed on the reflection light path of the movable mirror 17. The reason why the above-described finder eyepiece optical system 26 is provided in addition to the LCD monitor 37 as a monitor for the subject is as follows: that is, when the camera operator shoots while looking at the optical finder, the camera fixing performance is improved more than when shooting while looking at the LCD monitor 37, and hand shake is less likely to occur.

The movable mirror 17 is driven by a mirror drive circuit 27, and the shutter 21 is driven by a shutter drive circuit 29. A low-pass filter 22 and an area sensor 23 for capturing an image of a subject and converting the image into a video signal are disposed behind the shutter 21.

When the movable mirror 17 is raised and the shutter 21 is opened, an image of the subject is formed on the area sensor 23, and shooting is started based on a predetermined timing signal. When the shooting ends, the shutter 21 becomes a closed state. The area sensor 23 is controlled by an image processing circuit 42, converts a subject image of an image into an analog video signal, and outputs the analog video signal to the image processing circuit 42. The detailed configuration and operation of the image processing circuit 42 will be described below together with its peripheral circuits.

A switch input circuit 35 and a flash discharge circuit 34 for object illumination are also disposed in the digital camera body 200. The switch input circuit 35 detects states of a plurality of switches such as an operation switch, an electronic dial, and a lens attachment switch, which are not shown in the drawing, and inputs the states to the body control circuit 36. The flash discharge circuit 34 emits predetermined auxiliary light to the subject.

A photometry sensor 44 for measuring the brightness of the subject is provided at a predetermined position above the pentaprism 25 and the finder eyepiece optical system 26. The photometry sensor 44 measures the luminance of the subject light under the control of the photometry sensor driving circuit 40. When the interchangeable lens 100 having the above-described configuration is attached, the digital camera body 200 can communicate with the interchangeable lens 100 via the communication line 38 and the communication connector 39.

In addition, a communication connector 43 to an external device is mounted on the digital camera body 200. In practice, when an external device is connected, the communication connector 43 can communicate with the external device and exchange data with the external device through the external device communication circuit 33. A mounting detection circuit, not shown, is further incorporated in the communication connector 43 with the external device, and the mounting detection circuit detects whether or not the external device is mounted, and transmits the result to the body control circuit 36. The communication connector 43 is composed of a data line and a power supply terminal for communication, and can supply power from an external device.

The external device may be, for example, a personal computer, a printer, or the like, but is not limited thereto. The communication connector 43 may be a communication connector such as USB or IEEE1394, and may be connected to the external device through a dedicated connection line.

The body power supply 30 supplies electric power to each circuit in the digital camera body 200. The power supply detection circuit 31 detects the state of the body power supply 30 and inputs the result to the body control circuit 36. The power supply control circuit 32 controls power supplied to each part of the digital camera body 200 by the control of the body control circuit 36. The detailed connections of the body power supply 30, the power supply control circuit 32, the power supply detection circuit 31, the power supply terminal of the communication connector 43 with the external device, and the configuration of the peripheral circuits will be described below.

Next, the configuration around the power supply Vcc1, PCVcc, and communication connector of the digital camera body 200 shown in detail in fig. 2 will be described.

As shown in fig. 2, the body control circuit 36 is connected to a power supply Vcc1 in the digital camera body 200 through a diode D2, and is connected to a PCVcc supplied with power from the communication connector 43 through a diode D1. Power supplies may be received from two power sources. Therefore, the body control circuit 36 can operate with the power supply PCVcc even in a state where the power supply Vcc1 in the digital camera body 200 cannot be supplied.

The power supply Vcc1 and the power supply PCVcc are also inputted to the power supply control circuit 32, and the power supply control circuit 32 supplies one of the power supplies to each circuit of each camera under the control of the body control circuit 36.

In this embodiment, it is considered that the serial interface is a USB or the like, and when a serial interface capable of supplying a higher voltage (for example, IEEE1394 or the like) is used, a voltage step-down circuit is separately provided.

Although not used in this embodiment. However, if an overcurrent protection device such as a polymer switch is used between the power supply terminal of the communication connector 43 and the PCVcc of the external power supply line, the stability of the power supply can be further ensured.

The camera circuits 52 include various electric circuits such as the image processing circuit 42 and the LCD monitor 37 shown in fig. 1.

In this figure, details are omitted, and there is no particular limitation to the power supply line from the power supply control circuit 32 to each circuit 52 of the camera, and various power supply lines may be provided depending on the characteristics of the circuit, and different power supplies may be supplied to each circuit block by the control of the power supply control circuit 32. The power supply Vcc1 may be connected to the power detection circuit 31 to detect the state of the camera power supply at any time.

The communication contacts D-, D + of the communication connector 43 are input to the body control circuit 36 via the external device communication circuit 33, and communication is enabled between the body control circuit 36 and an external device not shown in the drawing.

The external machine communication connection detection portion 51 is for detecting whether an external machine not shown in the drawing has been connected to the above-described communication connector 43, and transmitting the result thereof to the body control circuit 36.

The connection detection of the external device may be performed by a mechanical switch or may be performed based on the result of communication between the external device and the digital camera body 200. In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, a method of monitoring the voltage of power supply PCVcc of an external device for electrical detection is employed. A load resistor R1 is added to one end of the communication contact D + and is provided to meet the USB specification and perform speed conversion during communication.

Fig. 3 is a detailed configuration diagram showing an external device 54 connected to the communication connector 43 of the digital camera body and a connection cable 53.

As shown in the figure, the external device 54 is driven by an ac power supply 59. The ac power supply 59 is connected to the power supply circuit 58, and the dc voltage is supplied to the control circuit 57 and the interface circuit 56. The control circuit 57 is a circuit for controlling the operation of an external device including a CPU. The interface circuit 56 is a circuit for performing data communication with the camera. Power is supplied to the camera from the PCVcc and GND terminals of the communication connector 55. The interface circuit 56 converts the dc voltage of the power supply circuit 58 into a dc voltage for a camera, and supplies the dc voltage from the power supply terminal PCVcc. The control circuit 57 performs data communication with the camera side through the terminals D +, D-of the communication connector 55.

Next, details of the external device communication section and the external device attachment detection section of the camera according to embodiment 1 shown in fig. 4 will be described.

In fig. 4, the CPU60 corresponds to the body control circuit 36 and the external device communication circuit 33 shown in fig. 2. The CPU60 manages various controls. The communication contacts D-, D + of the communication connector 43 are directly connected to the input terminal of the CPU60, and communication between the CPU60 and an external device is possible via the communication contacts D-, D +.

In the present embodiment, the CPU60 can set a communication terminal to the open drain, and therefore, even if the digital camera body 200 and the external device have a slightly different power supply, the CPU can communicate with the external device without providing a special circuit.

Further, a load is connected between the communication contact D + and the power supply terminal PCVcc of the external device via a resistor R1. This is because the form of the communication connector 43 used in the present embodiment is the USB standard, in which the external device detects that a load is applied to the power supply of the external device side by any one of the communication contacts D +. D-, and then determines the communication speed based on the detection result.

The power supply PCVcc voltage of the communication connector 43 is input to the power supply terminal of the CPU60 through a diode D1, and is divided by resistors R2 and R3, and is also connected to the input terminal PCVcc check terminal of the CPU 60. When a voltage divided by resistors R2, R3 is inputted to the CPU60 when a voltage is applied to the PCVcc, the voltage of the PCVcccheck terminal will rise from the ground level. Thus, the CPU60 can detect whether or not an external device is mounted by detecting the rise in the voltage of PCVcc or monitoring the level of the voltage PCVcc.

When a connection cable for connecting the camera and the external device is attached to the communication connector 43, the switch may detect the displacement of the mechanism in conjunction with this, and the attachment of the external device may be detected.

Next, a detailed configuration of the image processing circuit 42 shown in fig. 5 will be described.

In fig. 5, the image processing circuit 42 controls operations related to image processing under the control of the control section 75 controlled by the body control circuit 36 of the digital camera body 200. The area sensor 23 converts the imaged subject image into an analog video signal and outputs the analog video signal to the image processing circuit 42.

In the image processing circuit 42, a signal processing circuit 72 performs predetermined signal processing including conversion of the analog image signal into a digital signal, and the processed signal is transferred to a buffer memory 73 and a memory 74. The electronic image stored in the buffer memory 73 is displayed on the LCD monitor 37. The memory 74 is freely attachable to the digital camera 200, and can be electrically rewritten, and can maintain the storage of an electronic image even when the power of the digital camera body 200 is cut off. When monitoring the image stored in the memory 74, the image data is read out from the memory 74 to the buffer memory 73 and output to the LCD monitor 37 for display.

The operations of the memory 74, the buffer memory 73, the LCD monitor 37, the signal processing circuit 72, and the area sensor driving circuit 76 described above are controlled by the control circuit 75 under the control of the body control circuit 36.

Next, a main routine of the camera according to embodiment 1 will be described with reference to a flowchart of fig. 6.

For example, when the battery is inserted and a power switch, not shown, is turned on or various interrupts are generated, the program is entered and initialization of various variables is first executed (step S1). Next, the body control circuit 36 detects the state of the digital camera body 200 (step S2), detects the connection state of the interchangeable lens 100, and the like (step S3).

Then, after a predetermined time has elapsed, a display timer for entering a standby state of the power saving mode is started (step S4), and if the timer has not ended (step S5), predetermined imaging processing (step S6) and display processing (step S7) are executed. It is then detected whether or not the camera operation is performed (step S8).

When a camera operation is being performed, a prescribed camera operation process is executed in accordance with the operation (step S9). Then, the presence or absence of the release operation is detected (step S10). When the release operation is operated, a predetermined release process is executed (step S11). On the other hand, when the timer ends (step S5), the standby preparation process for shifting to the power saving mode is executed (step S12), and the standby state is shifted.

When the connection to an external device is made, an interrupt signal generated by the input of the signal PCVcc check is detected by the body control circuit 36, and an interrupt process for connecting an external device described below is started. On the other hand, the main program can receive the communication interrupt processing as needed, and when the interrupt processing signal is input, the main program returns to the program step in execution before the input of the interrupt signal after the communication interrupt processing is executed promptly.

The external machine connection interrupt handler will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of fig. 7.

When the processing device connection interrupt processing is started by inputting a signal to the terminal PCVcc check, a subroutine "camera operation end processing" described below is executed first to end the processing that is currently performed and place it in a communication preparation state (step S21).

Next, the power supply control circuit 32 switches the power supply source to the external device (step S22), and performs communication with the external device (step S23). Communication with an external machine is performed under control of the external machine side.

Next, a subroutine "communication correspondence processing" described below is executed, and various processing corresponding to the above-described communication are executed (step S24). Then, it is checked again whether or not the external device is connected (step S25), and when connected, the above-described processing of steps S23 to S25 is repeated, and when the external device is not connected, the main routine is returned.

The subroutine "camera operation end processing" described above will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of fig. 8.

When the routine advances, the display of the LCD monitor 37 is first stopped (step S31), and the driving of the area sensor 23 is terminated (step S32). Then, the write end processing of the memory 74 is executed (step S33), the drive stop processing of the adjustment section is performed (step S34), and a standby instruction is sent to the interchangeable lens 100 (step S35).

Next, the power supply of the adjustment section is cut off (step S36), the power supply of the image processing circuit 42 is cut off (step S37), the power supply of the LCD monitor 37 is cut off (step S38), a predetermined time is waited for (step S39), and the process returns.

In each circuit 52 of the camera of fig. 2 shown above, including the adjustment section, the image processing circuit 42, the LCD monitor 37, and other circuits, power supply control can be performed by the power supply control circuit 32, respectively.

The reason why the predetermined waiting time is required in step S39 is that the amount of power supplied is insufficient if the predetermined time does not elapse while the connection is made to the personal computer of the external device via the USB-compliant serial interface. When the serial interface is a standard other than USB, the predetermined time may be changed.

The following describes in detail the procedure of the subroutine "communication correspondence processing" described above with reference to the flowchart of fig. 9. Here, predetermined processing is performed in accordance with a command transmitted from the external device.

When entering this subroutine, it is first determined whether or not the operation of the circuit portion is necessary (step S41). When the operation is not necessary, the process goes to step S49, and when necessary, it is determined whether or not the external device power supply can supply the total of the circuit operating currents necessary for the operation (step S42). In the digital camera body 200, the body control circuit 36 stores the currents necessary for the respective circuits in an internal memory in advance, and determines the current based on the stored values.

In this case, it is not necessary to perform unnecessary power conversion, and thus it is necessary to perform such determination. As a result, the power supply is selected according to the operation load.

If the supply is possible, the process goes to step S47 without performing a process such as a power change. If the supply is impossible, it is determined whether the power saving mode is adopted (step S43). In the present embodiment, a power saving mode button is included in a part of the switch input circuit 35. The "power saving mode" is a mode for reducing the current consumed by the battery, and in the present embodiment, the operation of not using the battery of the camera is set during the communication with the external device in order to save the battery in the power saving mode.

Therefore, in the power saving mode, it is prepared to transmit "no operation possible" to the external device (step S48), and the process proceeds to step S50 described below. When the power saving mode is not selected, a battery check of the body power supply 30 is performed in step S43 (step S44), a battery determination is performed in step S45, and when the result of the battery determination is "no" (that is, when the predetermined process corresponding to the communication cannot be performed through the power supply terminal of the camera), the above step S48 is performed. If the result of the battery determination is acceptable, the supply is switched to the battery power supply 30 (step S46), and predetermined camera operation processing corresponding to the command is performed (step S47).

Then, the circuit portion operates to perform a process corresponding to the case where the unnecessary process command is transmitted (step S49), determines whether or not the operation has ended during the camera operation (step S50), and determines whether or not the body power supply 30 is used when the operation has ended (step S51). When in use, the supply is switched to the external machine power supply (step S52), and the routine returns.

If the camera operation is not completed in step S50, the process returns to step S51 if the camera power supply is not used. The operation period is also considered as the program for performing communication.

The following describes example 2 of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the operation of the camera is set by the camera operation setting (step S67) and the communication-corresponding operation setting (step S73), and the camera operation processing is executed. In addition, the detection of the external machine is not performed by a communication interruption. The operation prohibition flag is set when the external device is connected. The camera operation processing is performed according to the operation set by the camera operation setting, and the operation of the prohibition flag is not performed.

These features are described in detail below.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing a main routine of the camera according to embodiment 2 of the present invention. The processing of steps S61 to S66 in this figure is the same as steps S1 to S4 and step S8 in fig. 6 described above, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

Step S67 is camera operation setting performed to perform a camera operation in accordance with a camera operation. The camera operation based on the camera operation set here is to perform camera operation processing in step S77 described below.

Whether or not the external device is connected is determined by connection detection of the external device, not by communication interruption (step S68). When it is determined whether or not the external device is connected by this determination, it is detected whether or not the non-connection state of the external device is changed to the connection state (step S69). When this change occurs, the camera operation is terminated (step S70), the external device is powered on (step S71), and the external device communication is executed (step S72).

Then, communication-compliant operation setting is performed to perform an operation compliant with communication (step S73), and a heavy load circuit operation prohibition flag is set (step S74). In this embodiment, each prohibition flag is set to prohibit the photographing process, the writing process, the adjustment portion operation process, the focusing operation, the shutter operation, the monitor display process, and the like, and when the prohibition flag is 1, various processes are prohibited.

In the present embodiment, the operation of the heavy load circuit is prohibited in all cases on the program as described above, but the operation may be selectively performed in a range where the total operating current of the load does not exceed a predetermined value (the maximum current value that can be supplied from an external device).

In addition, in the configuration, a rewritable nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM may be mounted in the camera, and the operation prohibited at the time of communication may be stored.

In this case, there is a degree of freedom that can be rewritten after the operation is prohibited.

Subsequently, the subroutine "camera operation processing" described below is executed (step S77), and the process goes to step S65 described above.

When it is determined in step S68 that connection of the external device has not been detected, the same image capturing process (step S75) and display process (step S76) as those in fig. 6 are executed, the following subroutine "camera operation process" is executed (step S77), and the process returns to step S65.

Next, a subroutine "camera operation processing" will be described with reference to the flowchart of fig. 11.

Whether or not the photographing operation setting is performed is detected (step S100). If the setting is not made, it is next detected whether or not there is a prohibition flag (step S101). If the flag is not set, a predetermined imaging operation is executed (step S102), and the process proceeds to the next step S103.

When the photographing operation is not set in step S100 and when the prohibition flag is set in step S101, the process goes to step S103. Next, whether or not the write operation setting is performed is detected (step S103), and when the setting is performed, whether or not the prohibition flag is present is detected (step S104). If the flag is not present, a predetermined write operation is executed (step S105), and the process proceeds to the next step S106. If the write operation is not set in step S103 and if the prohibition flag is set in step S104, the process goes to step S106.

Next, it is detected whether or not the adjustment part operation setting is performed (step S106), and when the setting is performed, it is detected whether or not the prohibition flag is present (step S107). If the prohibition flag is not set, a predetermined adjustment operation is executed (step S108), and the process proceeds to the next step S109. When the adjustment part operation is not set in step S106 and when the prohibition flag is set in step S107, the process goes directly to step S109.

Next, it is detected whether or not the monitor display operation setting is performed (step S109). When the monitor display operation is set, it is next detected whether or not there is a prohibition flag (step S110). If the prohibition flag is not set, a predetermined monitor display operation is executed (step S111), and the process proceeds to the next step S112. If the monitor display operation is not set in step S109 and if the prohibition flag is set in step S110, the process goes to step S112.

Next, it is detected whether or not the operation setting other than the adjustment portion is performed (step S112). When the operation setting is performed, a predetermined operation is performed (step S113), and the process returns.

The above-described embodiment 2 is characterized in that the state is constantly detected instead of the interrupt processing. And that when communicating with an external machine, the power supply on the external machine side is often used. And the operation is prohibited when the power supply of the external device is insufficient.

Therefore, compared to embodiment 1, the operation with low power consumption can be realized without a complicated configuration. I.e. in this embodiment no interrupt terminals are required.

The following describes the structure of embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of embodiment 3.

When communicating with an external device, a serial communication terminal and a communication terminal in a control circuit are used. Therefore, when communication is performed with the interchangeable lens, the terminal may not be sufficient to enable communication.

Therefore, in the configuration of embodiment 3, the communication terminal for communication with an external device and the communication terminal for the interchangeable lens 100 are shared and controlled by the body control circuit 36.

When the mounting of the external device is detected, a predetermined signal is output from the communication switching terminal, the switch 46 is turned off, and the switch 45 is turned on. On the other hand, when the mounting of the external device is not detected, a predetermined signal is output from the communication switching terminal, the switch 46 is turned on, and the switch 45 is turned off to enable communication with the lens.

The effect is that communication terminals can be saved. When communicating with an external device, it is not necessary to operate a lens or the like, and the communication terminal is effectively used.

The present embodiment has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the serial interface is not limited to the above-described specification, and various specifications can be adopted.

The present invention is not limited to the application to a lens-interchangeable camera, and may be applied to a lens-integrated camera.

Claims (12)

1. A camera including an in-built power supply (30) and an electric circuit (52) driven by the in-built power supply (30), characterized by comprising:

a connector unit (43) which is electrically connected to a personal computer (54), and which includes a terminal for communication with the personal computer (54) and a power supply terminal for receiving power supply from a power supply in the personal computer (54);

a detection circuit (51) for detecting that the personal computer (54) and the connector section (43) are electrically connected; and

and a power supply control circuit (32) for controlling the supply of electric power from the power supply in the personal computer (54) to the electric circuit (52) in place of the built-in power supply (30) when the detection circuit (51) detects that the personal computer (54) is connected thereto.

2. The camera of claim 1, wherein: the detection circuit (51) includes a communication circuit (33) that communicates with the personal computer (54) via the communication terminal, and detects that the personal computer (54) is connected to the connector unit (43) when communication with the personal computer (54) is performed via the communication circuit (33).

3. The camera of claim 1, wherein:

the detection circuit (51) includes output circuits (R2, R3) for outputting a signal indicating a state of the personal computer (54) when the personal computer is connected to the connector unit (43), and detects that the personal computer (54) is connected to the connector unit (43) by receiving the output signal.

4. The camera of claim 1, wherein:

the detection circuit (51) detects that the personal computer (54) is connected to the connector unit (43) when a predetermined voltage is applied to the power supply terminal.

5. The camera according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising:

in order to set a switch (35) for reducing the power saving mode of the power consumption current of the built-in power supply, the power supply control circuit (32) controls the operation of not using the built-in power supply (30) in the communication process with the personal computer (54) when the power saving mode is set by the switch (35).

6. The camera of claim 1, wherein:

the electric circuit (52) is a plurality of camera operating devices for performing a plurality of operations including image pickup, writing, and starting monitoring display;

the power supply control circuit is a power supply control device (32) for controlling the power supply to the camera operating device (52) by selecting one of the built-in power supply (30) and the power supplies (58, 59) in the personal computer (54);

the connector device (43) includes power supply terminals to which power is supplied from power supplies (58, 59) in the personal computer (54), and the power supply control device (32) selects the built-in power supply (30) when the personal computer (54) is not connected to the connector device (43), and selects the power supplies (58, 59) in the personal computer (54) when the detection circuit (51) detects that the personal computer (54) is connected.

7. The camera of claim 6, wherein:

the camera control device further comprises a restriction device (36) for restricting the operation of a specific camera operating device among the plurality of camera operating devices (52) when the power supply (58, 59) in the personal computer (54) is selected.

8. The camera of claim 7, wherein:

the specific camera operating device is a camera operating device (9, 10, 14) including a heavy load circuit.

9. The camera according to claim 6, wherein said detecting means further comprises:

a communication device (33) for communicating with the computer (54) through the communication terminal; and

and a judging device (36) for judging that the computer is connected when the communication device (33) communicates with the computer (54).

10. A camera, characterized by comprising:

a plurality of circuits (52) for executing a predetermined camera operation;

a built-in power supply (30) installed in the camera;

a connector terminal (43) for connecting an external device (54) including a power supply; and

a power supply control circuit (32) for selecting one of the built-in power supply (30) and the power supply of the external device (54) connected via the connection terminal as the power supply of the plurality of circuits (52),

when the power supply of the external device (54) is selected, the operation of a part of the circuits (9, 10, 14) of the plurality of circuits (52) is inhibited,

the power supply control circuit (32) selects one of the two power supplies according to an operation load in the camera.

11. A camera system comprising a camera and an external machine connectable to the camera, characterized in that:

the external device (54) includes:

a communication terminal (55) on the external device side for electrically connecting with the camera, and

a power supply circuit (58);

the camera includes:

a camera-side connection terminal (43) for electrically connecting to the external device (54),

A plurality of circuits (52) for performing a plurality of operations including image pickup, writing, starting, and monitor display,

A built-in power supply (30) installed in the camera,

A detection circuit for detecting whether or not the external device is connected to the connection terminal, and

and a power control circuit (32) for selecting one of the power supplies (58, 59) of the internal power supply (30) and the external device (54) connected via the connection terminal (43) as the power supply for the plurality of electric circuits (52) based on the detection result of the detection circuit.

12. The camera system according to claim 16, wherein:

when the detection circuit detects that the camera is connected to the external device (54), the power supply (58, 59) in the external device (54) is selected.