Patent ID: 7715686

Claim:
An information recording/reproducing apparatus comprising: an imaging section for imaging video information; a first recording/reproducing section for recording the video information onto a first recording medium and reproducing the video information from the first recording medium; a second recording/reproducing section for recording the video information onto a second recording medium different from the first recording medium, and reproducing the video information from the second recording medium; a control section for controlling the first and second recording/reproducing sections, a first recording medium mode for recording the video information onto the first recording/reproducing section or reproducing the video information from the first recording/reproducing section; and a second recording medium mode for recording the video information onto the second recording/reproducing section or reproducing the video information from the second recording/reproducing section, the second recording/reproducing mode having at least an imaging mode for recording the video information onto the second recording medium and a dubbing mode for dubbing the video information from the second recording medium to the first recording medium, wherein: when an instruction for unloading the first recording medium is given, while the first recording/reproducing section is recording the video information onto the first recording medium in the first recording medium mode, the loading is prohibited; when the instruction for unloading the first recording medium is given, while the video information is being dubbed to a plurality of the first recording media in the second recording medium mode and the dubbing mode, the second recording/reproducing section reproduces the video information from the second recording medium, and the unloading is permitted after the first recording/reproducing section stopped to record the video information onto the first recording medium; and the unloading is prohibited in the second recording medium mode even if not prohibited in the dubbing mode.