Patent ID: 7239349

Claim:
An electronic camera, comprising: an image pickup unit configured to take in an image; and an IC card configured to process and store the image taken in by the image pickup unit, wherein the image pickup unit and the IC card are detachably connectable to each other; wherein the image pickup unit includes: a taking lens configured to take in the image, wherein the IC card includes: a signal processing unit configured to process the image taken in by the image pickup unit; a memory controller configured to store the image processed by the signal processing unit into a memory; and a connector configured to conform to a PC card standard for detachably connecting to a PC, and wherein a signal representing the image taken in by the image pickup unit is transmitted to an external apparatus connected to the connector of the IC card, wherein the image pickup unit further includes: an image pickup element configured to sense the image taken in by the taking lens; and a connector configured to detachably connect the image pickup unit to the IC card, wherein the signal processing unit of the IC card processes the image sensed by the image pickup element of the image pickup unit, wherein the memory is a detachable memory card, wherein said IC card further includes: a card housing part on a surface of the IC card, wherein the detachable memory card can be detachably housed in the card housing part; a second connector provided at an end of the IC card opposite the connector conforming to the PC card standard, the second connector being configured to detachably connect to the connector of the image pickup unit such that when connected, the signal representing the image sensed by the image pickup unit is transmitted to the IC card via the connector of the image pickup unit and the second connector of the IC card; and a third connector configured to connect to the detachable memory card when the detachable memory card is housed in the card housing part, wherein the third connector is used to transfer image data stored in the detachable memory card to the external apparatus via the connector of the IC card, and wherein the IC card is card-sized.