Patent ID: 7193648

Claim:
A photographing operation control device for an electronic still camera, comprising: a volatile buffer memory that temporarily stores image data obtained through a photographing optical system and is configured to overwrite the image data with subsequent image data obtained from a subsequent photographing operation; a blank photographing operation performing processor that performs a photographing operation in a blank photographing mode, such that upon photographing, said image data is stored in said buffer memory without being stored in a recording medium, when no recording medium is installed in the electronic still camera, when a recording medium without a blank recording area sufficient to store said image data is installed in the electronic still camera, and when a recording medium, having a blank recording area sufficient to store said image data, is installed in the electronic still camera; a recording medium sensing processor that senses whether the recording medium is mounted; a blank recording area sensing processor that senses whether a blank recording area exists in the recording medium; a normal photographing operation performing processor that performs a photographing operation in a normal photographing mode in which, after storing said image data in said buffer memory, said image data is read from said buffer memory and recorded in the recording medium; a photographing mode selecting processor that selects one of said blank photographing mode and said normal photographing mode, said photographing mode selecting processor being able to select said blank photographing mode when said recording medium sensing processor and said blank recording area sensing processor sense that the recording medium having the blank recording area is installed in said device, wherein said blank photographing operation performing processor performs said photographing operation in said blank photographing mode when said recording medium sensing processor senses that said recording medium is not mounted; and wherein the volatile buffer memory is configured such that, in the blank photographing mode, image data in the volatile buffer memory is overwritten with the subsequent image data without previously having been transferred to the recording medium.