Patent ID: 7911510

Claim:
A digital camera operable in an imaging mode and a reproduction mode, comprising: a capturing unit that captures a subject image; a storing unit that stores the subject image captured by said capturing unit on a storage medium; a retrieving unit that performs a retrieval operation of an image from the subject image stored on the storage medium; a plurality of input elements by which a user inputs instructions to said digital camera; and a user-operable mode setting unit setting one of the imaging mode and the reproduction mode, wherein when the mode setting unit sets the imaging mode, said capturing unit sets the subject image as a generic image to be retrieved or a key image to be used as a retrieval key for a retrieval operation, depending on the instructions received from the user operating at least one of the input elements, and wherein when said mode setting unit sets the reproduction mode: the results of the retrieval operation performed in the imaging mode are automatically displayed on a display unit; a key-image capture operation is performed with said capturing unit in response instructions received from the user operating at least one of the input elements, and a new retrieval operation is performed with said retrieval unit in response to instructions received from the user operating at least one of the input elements; and a key-image-selection operation is performed with said retrieval unit in response instructions received from the user operating at least one of the input elements, so that key images stored in said storing unit are displayed on the display unit and a user can select one of the displayed images as a new key image by the user operating at least one of the input elements.