Electronic device and electronic system

• US 20020191079A1
• Filed: 04/19/2002
• Published: 12/19/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nikon Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nikon Corporation
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Toshiaki, Ejima, Satoshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,385,635 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/207.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence

Abstract

An electronic device comprises an image-capturing device that captures an image of a subject, a recording device that records image files of images captured by the image-capturing device into a recording medium, a specifying information forming device that forms image specifying information for specifying an image file in the recording medium separately from the image files, a communication device that transfers image files recorded in the recording medium to an external recording device, a transfer instruction operation unit that issues an instruction for the communication device to transfer the image file specified in the image specifying information and a processing device that processes the image files differently depending upon whether or not image specifying information has been formed in the recording medium with respect to the recorded image files.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

an image-capturing device that captures an image of a subject;

a recording device that records an image file corresponding to images captured by the image-capturing device into a recording medium;

a specifying information forming device that forms image specifying information for specifying an image file in the recording medium separately from the image file;

a communication device that transfers the image file recorded in the recording medium to an external recording device;

a transfer instruction operation unit that issues an instruction for the communication device to transfer the image file specified with the image specifying information; and

a processing device that processes an image file differently depending upon whether or not image specifying information has been formed in the recording medium with respect to the recorded image file.

2. An electronic device according to claim 1, wherein:

the processing executed by the processing device is deletion of image files recorded in the recording medium; and

the processing device deletes only image files that are not specified with image specifying information.

3. An electronic device according to claim 2, further comprising:

a specifying information deleting device that deletes the image specifying information from the recording medium after the communication device transfers the image file specified with the image specifying information.

7. An electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising:

an image reproducing device that reproduces photographic images based upon an image file recorded in the recording medium, wherein;

the specifying information forming device forms image specifying information for an image file corresponding to a photographic image reproduced by the image reproducing device.

8. An electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a display device that displays a mark indicating a transfer end once an image data transfer is completed.

9. An electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a display device that displays a mark indicating that power to the electronic device can now be turned off once the image data have been transferred.

10. An electronic device according to claim 1, wherein:

the specifying information forming device forms the image specifying information for an image file during a period of time elapsing after the image is captured by the image-capturing device until the recording of the image file into the recording medium is completed.

11. An electronic system, comprising:

an electronic device according to claim 1;

and

an external recording device to which image files recorded in the recording medium used for the electronic device are transferred, wherein;

an image file transfer to the external recording device from the recording medium starts in response to an instruction issued through the transfer instruction operation unit.

14. An electronic device according to claim 13, further comprising:

an internal drive battery.

15. An electronic device according to claim 14 further comprising:

an external power connector terminal that can be connected with an external power source;

a judging device that judges as to whether or not the external power source is connected to the external power connector terminal; and

a control device that allows the mark to be displayed at the display device if the judging device judges that the external power source is not connected and disallows display of the mark at the display device if the judging device judges that the external power source is connected.

16. An electronic device according to claim 12 wherein:

power to the electronic device is turned off when a predetermined length of time elapses following the transfer end.

4. An electronic device, comprising:

an image-capturing device that captures an image of a subject;

a recording device that records an image file of images captured by the image-capturing device into a recording medium;

a specifying information forming device that forms image specifying information for specifying an image file as tag information in the image file;

a communication device that transfers the image file recorded in the recording medium to an external recording device;

a transfer instruction operation unit that issues an instruction for the communication device to transfer the image file specified with the image specifying information; and

a processing device that processes an image file differently depending upon whether or not image specifying information has been formed in the image file.

5. An electronic device according to claim 4, wherein:

the processing executed by the processing device is deletion of image files recorded in the recording medium; and

the processing device deletes only image files that are not specified with image specifying information.

6. An electronic device according to claim 5, further comprising:

a specifying information deleting device that deletes the tag information from an image file specified with the image specifying information after the communication device transfers the image file.

12. An electronic device, comprising:

an image-capturing device that captures an image of a subject;

a recording device that records image data corresponding to images captured by the image-capturing device into a recording medium;

a communication device that transfers the image data recorded in the recording medium to an external recording device;

a transfer instruction operation unit that issues an instruction for the communication device to transfer the image data; and

a display device that displays a mark indicating a transfer end once an image data transfer is completed.

13. An electronic device, comprising:

an image-capturing device that captures an image of a subject;

a recording device that records image data corresponding to images captured by the image-capturing device into a recording medium;

a communication device that transfers the image data recorded in the recording medium to an external recording device;

a transfer instruction operation unit that issues an instruction for the communication device to transfer the image data; and

a display device that displays a mark indicating that power to the electronic device can now be turned off once an image data transfer is completed.

17. An electronic system, comprising:

(a) an external recording device having an information input device;

(b) an electronic device that includes;

an image-capturing device that captures an image of a subject;

a recording device that records image data corresponding to images captured by the image-capturing device into a recording medium;

an information output device capable of outputting to the outside the image data recorded in the recording medium; and

a transfer instruction operation unit that issues an instruction for the image data to be transmitted via the information output device, and is capable of assuming a low power consumption mode and

(c) a transmission device that transmits the image data from the information output device to the information input device, wherein;

an image data transfer from the electronic device to the external recording device via the transmission device is started in response to the instruction issued through the transfer instruction operation unit and the electronic device is set in the low power consumption mode in response to an instruction issued from the external recording device via the transmission device when the transfer is completed.