Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 14/603,466 filed Jan. 23, 2015, which turn is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 13/777,843 filed Feb. 26, 2013 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,970,652), which is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 12/081,656 filed Apr. 18, 2008 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,416,275), which is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 10/991,998 filed Nov. 19, 2004 (now abandoned), which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/442,387 filed Nov. 18, 1999 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,950,126). The disclosures of the prior applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. 
         [0002]    This application is based upon and claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 10-329231 filed on Nov. 19, 1998, No. 10-329232 filed on Nov. 19, 1998 and No. 11-323883 filed on Nov. 15, 1999, the contents being incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The present invention relates to a camera having communication ability, More specifically, the present invention related to a digital still camera, a silver-halide camera and a video camera that are able to communicate with another communication device. 
       BACKGROUND ART 
       [0004]    A digital camera having communication ability that has the function of a digital camera and a cellular phone has previously been proposed. 
         [0005]    A cellular phone having a technique for announcing an incoming, call by a sound, or by vibration has been known. 
         [0006]    However, as for the digital camera having communication ability (hereafter called “a communication camera”), when a user tries to shoot a picture after communication, the problem of losing a chance for shooting a picture arises because operation to switch to picture shooting from communication is complex. On the other hand, when the user receives an incoming call from another communication device during picture shooting, the problem of difficulty in starting the communication immediately arises because operation of switching to communication from picture shooting is complex. 
         [0007]    Furthermore, as for the communication camera announcing the incoming call by vibration, when the user receives the incoming call from another communication device during shooting a picture, the problem of camera-shake caused by the vibration arises, resulting in a blurred picture. 
         [0008]    Furthermore, as for the communication camera announcing the incoming call by a sound, when the user receives the incoming call from another communication device during film shooting and audio recording, the problem that the sound of the incoming call is unnecessarily recorded on a medium arises. 
         [0009]    Thus, there is a need for a camera having communication ability that switches a mode quickly between a communication mode and a shooting mode. Furthermore, a camera having communication ability should not receive bad influence from vibration and the sound that announces an incoming call. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0010]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera, having communication ability, which can switch a mode adequately and easily between a communication mode and a shooting mode. 
         [0011]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a camera, having communication ability and ability of announcing an incoming call by vibration, which does not receives bad influence from the vibration. 
         [0012]    Furthermore, it is another object of the present invention to provide a camera, having communication ability and ability of announcing an incoming call by sound, which does not receives bad influence of the sound of the incoming call during recording in shooting. 
         [0013]    Objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved in accordance with embodiments of the present invention with a camera having communication ability, including a communication device to communicate with another communication apparatus; an imaging device to convert an object to an electronic image; and a switching device to switch a mode between a communication mode, in which communication is performed by said communication device, and a shooting mode, in which shooting is performed by said imaging mode; wherein said switching device switches said communication mode to said shooting mode responsive to completion of communication at said communication mode. 
         [0014]    Furthermore, objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved in accordance with embodiments of the present invention with a camera having communication ability, including a communication device to communicate with another communication apparatus; an imaging device to convert an object to an electronic image; and a switching device to switch a mode between a communication mode, in which communication is performed by said communication device, and a shooting mode, in which shooting is performed by said imaging mode; wherein said switching device switches said shooting mode to said communication mode responsive to completion of shooting at said shooting mode. 
         [0015]    Furthermore, objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved in accordance with embodiments of the present invention with a camera having communication ability, including a communication device to communicate with another communication apparatus; an imaging device to convert an object to an electronic image; and a control device to control to store a signal transmitted from other communication device during shooting by said imaging device. 
         [0016]    Furthermore, objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved in accordance with embodiments of the present invention with a camera having communication ability, including a communication device to communicate with another communication apparatus; an imaging device to convert an object to an electronic image; and a control device to control said communication device to transmit a message to a caller upon receiving a communication from the caller during shooting by said imaging device. 
         [0017]    Furthermore, objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved in accordance with embodiments of the present invention with a camera having communication ability, including a communication device to communicate with another communication apparatus; an announcing device to announce an incoming call, which comes from another communication device, to a camera user by a plural of announcing ways; an imaging device to convert an object to an electronic image; a detecting device to detect a state of the camera; a switching device to switch said announcing way of the incoming call responsive to the state of the camera detected by said detecting device. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is an external view of a communication camera illustrating an outside of an embodiment according to the present invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the communication camera illustrating a construction of the invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart that shows controls performed by a CPU of the communication camera in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart that shows controls performed in step S 10  and step S 18  in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart that shows controls performed by a CPU of the communication camera in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     First Embodiment 
       [0023]    Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
         [0024]    A first embodiment of the camera according to this invention will be described with reference to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  is an external view of a communication camera illustrating an outside of an embodiment according to the present invention. 
         [0025]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a communication camera  1  comprises an optical lens  2 , a loudspeaker  3 , a monitor  4 , a start button  5 , an “Yes” button  6 , a “No” button  7 , a dial button group  8 , a mode switching button group  9 , a microphone  10 , and an antenna  11 . 
         [0026]    The optical lens  2  forms an object image on an imaging element  201 , which will be described later, which is capable of rotating 180 degrees. The loudspeaker  3  converts an electronic signal to sound. The monitor  4  is formed of a device such as a LCD, and displays image information, textual information and other various information. 
         [0027]    The start button  5  starts recording various information by setting the mode switch button group  9 . The “Yes” button  6  and the “No button”  7  are buttons for operator to instruct the communication camera  1  responsive to an announcement from the communication camera  1 . The dial button group  8  is for inputting a telephone number. 
         [0028]    The mode switch button group  9  sets power source, communication mode, still video mode, moving video mode and sound record mode. The microphone  10  converts a sound to an electric signal. The antenna  11  transmits and receives radio waves. 
         [0029]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the communication camera  1  illustrating the construction of the invention. 
         [0030]    Referring to  FIG. 2  the communication camera  1  comprises an imaging element  201 , an imaging processing circuit  202 , a frame memory  203 , a compressing expanding circuit  204 , a flash memory  205 , a microphone circuit  206 , a sound processing circuit  207 , a loudspeaker circuit  208 , a CPU  209 , a display circuit  210 , a switch circuit  211 , a vibration circuit  212 , and a telephone circuit  213 . 
         [0031]    The imaging element  201 , which is a photoelectric conversion element such as a CCD, outputs an object image signal as image data. 
         [0032]    The image processing circuit  202  performs various image processing for the image data output from the imaging element  201 . 
         [0033]    The frame memory  203  is a volatile semiconductor memory that stores, temporarily, image data processed by image processing, and sound data. 
         [0034]    The compressing expanding circuit  204  compresses and expands image data and sound data. 
         [0035]    The flash memory  205  is a nonvolatile memory that stores image data and sound data. 
         [0036]    The microphone circuit  206  drives the microphone  10 . 
         [0037]    The sound processing circuit  207  performs various processing for sound data input into microphone  10 . The loudspeaker circuit  208  drives the loudspeaker  3 . 
         [0038]    The CPU  209  is electrically connected to circuits of the communication camera  1  and performs all controls of the communication camera  1 . The CPU  209  comprises the timer, and the memory in which various guides, which are announced to the user, are stored in advance. 
         [0039]    The display circuit  210  drives the monitor  4 . The switch circuit  211  transmits the data of operational states of switches and buttons to the CPU  209 . 
         [0040]    The vibration circuit  212  announces an incoming call to the user by vibrating the communication camera  1 . 
         [0041]    The telephone circuits  213  perform telephone functions that are transmitting and receiving information. 
         [0042]    The controls performed by the CPU  209  of the communication camera  1  will be explained in details referring to  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0043]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart that shows controls performed by the CPU  209  of communication camera  1  in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0044]    The present flowchart starts when the user receives an incoming call sent from a caller. 
         [0045]    In step S 1 , it is determined whether or not the mode chosen by the mode switch group  9  is a still image shooting mode. If it is determined that the mode chosen by the mode switch button group  9  is the still image shooting mode, then the process advances to step S 2 . If the mode chosen by the mode switch button  9  is not the still image shooting mode, then the process advances to step S 11 . 
         [0046]    In step S 2 , announcing the incoming call by vibration or displaying is prohibited, and the announcement of the incoming call by a sound is performed, announcing to the caller with voice. Since composition of a picture is important in a still picture, the announcement by displaying the message is prohibited to avoid causing the picture displayed on the monitor  4 , to be hidden partly behind the displayed message. However, if it is allowed that the picture is hidden, the announcement by displaying the message is usable. 
         [0047]    In step S 3 , the voice message of whether to interrupt shooting or not, or the voice message of whether to interrupt recording or not, is read out from the memory in the CPU  209  and is output through the loudspeaker  3 . 
         [0048]    In step S 4 , it is determined whether or not the “YES”  6  button is pressed. If it is determined that the “YES” button  6  is pressed, then the process advances to step S 5 , If the “YES” button  6  is not pressed, the process advances to step S 8 . 
         [0049]    In step S 5 , the current mode is switched from the shooting mode or the sound record mode to the communication mode, resulting in the communication with the caller. 
         [0050]    In step S 6 , it is determined whether or not the communication is completed. If it is determined that the communication is completed, than the process advances to step S 7 . If the communication is not completed, step S 6  is repeated until the completion of the communication is determined. 
         [0051]    In step S 7 , the mode is returned to the shooting mode or the sound record mode. 
         [0052]    In step S 8 , subsequent to step S 4  in which it is determined that the “YES” button  6  is not pressed, it is determined whether or not the “No” button  7  is pressed. If it is determined that the “No” button  7  is pressed, then the process advances to step S 10 . If the “No” button  7  is not pressed, the process advances to step S 9 . 
         [0053]    In step S 9 , it is determined whether or not the timer of the CPU  209  measures 10 seconds after the incoming call is received. If it is determined that the timer measures 10 seconds after the incoming call is received, then the process advances to step S 10 . If the timer does not measure 10 seconds, then the process returns to step S 3 . 
         [0054]    In step S 10 , the flow shown in  FIG. 4  is performed. 
         [0055]    In step S 11 , subsequent to step S 1  in which it is determined that the mode is not the shooting mode, it is determined whether or not the mode is one of the moving video mode and sound record mode. If it is determined that the mode is one of the moving video mode and sound record mode, then the process advances to step S 12 . If the mode is not one of the moving video mode and sound record mode, the process advances to step S 19 . 
         [0056]    In step S 12 , it is determined whether or not shooting or sound recording is performed in the moving video mode or the sound record mode. If it is determined that shooting or sound recording is performed in the moving video mode or the sound record mode, then the process advances to step S 13 . If shooting or sound recording is not performed, the process returns to step S 2 . 
         [0057]    In step S 13 , the announcement by vibration or voice is prohibited, and the incoming call is indicated on the monitor  4 , and then the caller&#39;s name or information specifying the caller is indicated on the monitor  4 . 
         [0058]    In step S 14  the indication whether to communicate with the caller by interrupting shooting or recording, is read out from the memory of the CPU  209  and displayed on the monitor  4 . 
         [0059]    In step S 15 , it is determined whether or not the start button  5  is pressed. If it is determined that the start button  5  is pressed, then the process advances to step S 5 . If the start button  5  is not pressed, the process advances to step S 16 . 
         [0060]    In step S 16 , it is determined whether or not the “No” button  7  is pressed. If it is determined that the “No” button  7  is pressed, then the process advances to step, S 18 . If the “No” button  7  is not pressed, the process advances to step S 17 . 
         [0061]    In step S 17 , it is determined whether or not the timer of the CPU  209  measures 10 seconds after the incoming call is received. If it is determined that the timer of the CPU  209  measures 10 seconds after the incoming call is generated, then the process advances to step S 18 . If the timer of the CPU  209  does not measure 10 seconds, the process returns to step S  14 . 
         [0062]    In step S 18 , the flow shown in  FIG. 4  is performed. In step S 19 , the announcement of the incoming call is performed by vibration, sound, or indication, and the caller&#39;s name or information identifying the caller is announced, because it is determined that the mode chosen by the mode switch button  9  is not the still video mode in step S 1 , and it is determined that the mode is not one of the moving video mode and the sound record mode in step S 11 . In step S  20 , the communication starts. 
         [0063]    In step S 21 , it is determined whether or not the communication is finished. If it is determined that the communication is finished, then the present flow is completed. If the communication is not completed, the process returns to step S 20 , and the communication continues. 
         [0064]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart that shows controls performed in step S 10  and step S 18  in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0065]    In step S 201 , it is transmitted to the caller that the user is not able to communicate with the caller and waiting for the caller&#39;s message. 
         [0066]    In step S 202 , when the caller sends the message to the user, the caller&#39;s telephone number and the caller&#39;s message are recorded. The message can be stored in the memory of the communication camera  1 , or in the predetermined memory at the telephone company. 
         [0067]    In step S 203 , it is determined whether or not the mode is switched to the communication mode from the shooting mode. If it is determined that the mode is switched to the communication mode, then the process advances to step S 204 . If the mode is not switched to the communication mode, determination that the mode is switched to the communication mode from the shooting mode is repeated. 
         [0068]    In step S 204 , it is determined whether or not the caller&#39;s message is recorded. If it is determined that the caller&#39;s message is recorded, then the process advances to step S 205 . If the caller&#39;s message is not recorded, the process advances to step S 210 . 
         [0069]    In step S 205 , it is asked whether or not to listen to the message by voice or displayed Indication. 
         [0070]    In step S 206 , it is determined whether or not the “Yes” button  6  not pressed. If it is determined that the “Yes” button  6  is pressed, then the process advances to step S 207 . If the “Yes” button  6  is not pressed, the process advances to step S 208 . 
         [0071]    In step S 207 , the recorded message is reproduced and the process is completed. 
         [0072]    In step S 208 , subsequent to step S 206  in which it is determined that the “Yes” button  6  is not pressed, it is determined whether or not the “No” button  7  is pressed. If it is determined that the “No” button  7  is pressed, then the present flow is completed. If the “No” button  7  is not pressed the process advances to step S 209 . 
         [0073]    In step S 209 , it is determined whether or not the timer measures 10 seconds after the message is listened or transmitted to the caller. If, it is determined that the timer measures 10 seconds after the message is listened or announced, then the present flow is completed. If the timer does not measure 10 seconds, the process returns to step S 206 . 
         [0074]    In step S 210 , it is announced, by the voice or the displayed indication, whether or not to telephone the caller. 
         [0075]    In step S 211 , it is determined whether or not the “Yes” button  6  is pressed. If it is determined that the “Yes” button  6  is pressed, then the process advances to step S 212 . If the “Yes” button  6  is not pressed, the process advances to step S 214 . 
         [0076]    In step S 212 , the recorded telephone number is dialed. 
         [0077]    In step S 213 , the communication starts. 
         [0078]    In step S 214 , it is determined whether or not the communication is completed. If it is determined that the communication is completed, then the present flow is completed. If communication is not completed, the process returns to step S 213 , and the communication continues. 
         [0079]    In step S 215 , subsequent to step S 211 , in which it is determined that the “Yes” button  6  is not pressed, it is determined whether or not the “NO” button  7  is pressed. If it is determined that the “No” button  7  is pressed then the present flow is completed. If the “No” button  7  is not pressed, the process advances to step S 216 . 
         [0080]    In step S 216 , it is determined whether or not the timer measures 10 seconds after the user telephones the caller or transmits the message to the caller. If it is determined that the timer measures 10 seconds after the user telephones the caller or transmits the message to the caller, then the present flow is completed. If the timer does not measure 10 seconds, the process returns to step  211 . 
         [0081]    Thus, in accordance with the present invention, the exposed picture does not become blurred by camera-shake because the announcement of the incoming call by vibration is prohibited during the shooting time of the still picture, the standby time for the still picture and the standby time for the moving picture. Furthermore, in the case of moving picture, the exposed picture does not become blurred due camera-shake, and the communication camera does not record the sound of the incoming call, because the announcement of the incoming call by vibration or sound, is prohibited during shooting. 
         [0082]    Furthermore, in accordance with the present the invention, the user can start shooting at once after completion of communication, because the mode is switched to the shooting mode immediately responsive to the completion of the communication while the mode is the communication mode. 
         [0083]    Furthermore, in accordance with the present invention, when the incoming call is announced during shooting, by stopping shooting, the user can switches the mode to the communication mode, thereby starting communication immediately. 
         [0084]    Furthermore, when the communication camera receives the message during shooting, by sending the caller the message automatically that the user can not correspond to the caller, the user can send the user&#39;s state to the caller without interrupting shooting. 
         [0085]    Furthermore, when the communication camera receives the message during shooting, by storing caller&#39;s telephone number automatically, the user can telephone the caller immediately after the completion of the shooting. 
         [0086]    Furthermore, when the communication camera receives the message during shooting, by storing the caller&#39;s message, the user can learn the callers message without interrupting the shooting. 
         [0087]    Furthermore, the user can shoot as soon as he finishes the communication because the mode is switched to the shooting mode responsive to the completion of communication. Therefore, user does not lose a shooting chance. 
         [0088]    Furthermore, by storing a signal from another communication device during shooting, the signal from another communication device can be stored in the memory of the communication camera without interrupting shooting. 
         [0089]    As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, by changing the announcing method of the incoming call according to a state of the communication camera, exposed image data does not receive bad influences from the incoming call announcement. 
       Second Embodiment 
       [0090]    A second embodiment of the camera according to this invention will be described with reference to  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  is a flow chart showing the operation of CPU  209  in the second embodiment. The explanation of the camera construction is omitted here because the camera construction in the second embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment. 
         [0091]    The flowchart shown in  FIG. 5  starts when the camera  1  receives a signal sent from other communication device in the case where the incoming call announcement by vibration is set in the camera  1 . 
         [0092]    In step S 301 , by detecting an operation state of the start button  5  and the imaging element  201 , it is determined whether or not the camera  1  is in the shooting state. If the start button  5  is fully depressed to subject the imaging element  201  to light or imaging element  201  is subjected to light responsive to fully depressing of the start button  5 , then it is determined that the camera  1  is in the shooting state, and the process advances to step S 302 . If the start button  5  is not fully depressed and the imaging element  201  is not subjected to light, then it is determined that the camera  1  is not in the shooting state, and the process advances to step S 308 . 
         [0093]    In step S 302 , the incoming call announcement by vibration is prevented by stopping the vibration circuit  212 . The process advances to step S 303  after completion of the process in step S 302 . 
         [0094]    In step S 303 , after it is detected which announcing means is set to the camera  1 , either the announcing means except vibration or the default announcing means is performed. For example, if the announcing means set to the camera  1  is sound or vibration, then the incoming call announcement only by sounds is started. If the announcing means set to the camera  1  is only vibration, then the incoming call announcement by the default announcing means except vibration is started. If the default announcing means is sound or voice, the incoming call announcement by sound or voice is started, and if the default announcing means is the display on the monitor  4 , the incoming call announcement by the display is started. Then, the process advances to step S 304 . 
         [0095]    In step S 304 , by detecting an operation state of the start button  5  and the imaging element  201 , it is determined whether or not the camera  1  has shot the picture. If the start button  5  is not fully depressed and the imaging element  201  is not subjected to light, then it is determined that the camera  1  has shot the picture, and the process advances to step S 305 . If the start button  5  is fully depressed or the imaging element  201  is subjected to light, then it is determined that the camera  1  is in the shooting state, and the process waits completion of shooting in step S 304 . 
         [0096]    In step S 305 , by permitting the vibration circuit  212  to be driven, the incoming call announcement by vibration is allowed. Then, the process advances to step S 306  after completion of the process in step S 305 . 
         [0097]    In step S 306 , it is determined whether or not the incoming call announcement, which has been started in step S 303 , continues after completion of shooting. If the incoming call announcement continues, then the process advances to step S 307 . If the incoming call announcement has already completed, then the present flow finishes. 
         [0098]    In step S 307 , the vibration circuit  212  is driven, and the incoming call announcement by vibration is started. Regarding the incoming call announcement by means except vibration, started in step S 303 , it is acceptable to finish the incoming call announcement by means except vibration when the incoming call announcement by vibration starts, or it is also acceptable to continue the incoming call by means except vibration. When the process in step S 307  is completed, the present flow ends. If it is determined that the camera  1  is not in the shooting state in step S 301 , then the process advances to step S 308 . 
         [0099]    In step S 308 , the vibration circuit  212  is driven, and the incoming call announcement by vibration is started. Furthermore, it is detected which announcing means is set to the camera  1 . If the incoming call announcement by means except vibration is set, the incoming call announcement by means except vibration is also started. After completion of the process in step S 308 , the process advances to step S 309 . 
         [0100]    In step S 309 , the operation of the start button  5  is made ineffective. If the start button  5  is turned on, the imaging means does not record. The process advances to step S 310  after completion of the process in step S 309 . 
         [0101]    In step S 310 , it is determined whether or not the incoming call announcement by vibration, which is started in step S 308 , is finished. If the incoming call announcement is finished, then the process advances to step S 311 . If the incoming call announcement is not finished, then the process waits in step S 310 . 
         [0102]    In step S 311 , the start button  5  is made effective, and by turning the start button  5  on, it becomes possible to shoot. The present flow ends when the process in step S 311  has finished. 
         [0103]    As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, it is determined whether or not the camera  1  is in the shooting state upon receiving an incoming call. If the camera  1  is in the shooting state, then the incoming call announcement by vibration is prevented. Therefore, camera-shake does not occur. If the camera  1  is not in the shooting state, then it is possible to perform the incoming call announcement every time, even in the standby state of shooting. 
         [0104]    Furthermore, since operation of the start button  5  is made ineffective while incoming call announcement by vibration continues, it is possible to avoid camera-shake by the vibration. 
         [0105]    Furthermore, in the second embodiment, since it is determined whether or not the camera  1  is in the shooting state upon receiving the incoming call, the present invention is applicable to a type of camera that can communicate or shoot without changing the operation mode 
         [0106]    As for determination of the state of the shooting operation, in the second embodiment, it is determined whether or not the start button  5  is fully depressed so that the imaging element  201  is subjected to light. However, the present invention is not limited to the determination as described in the second embodiment. It is possible to determine the state of the shooting operation by determining whether or not the start button  5  is lightly pressed. In this case, the light press of the start button  5  performs focusing and metering operations, which are preliminary operations of shooting. 
         [0107]    Furthermore, in the second embodiment of the present invention, by making the operation of the start button  5  ineffective during the incoming call announcement by vibration, the camera  1  controls the shooting using the imaging element  201  to be prevented. However, the present invention is not limited to the control, during the incoming call announcement by vibration, as described in the second embodiment. While the incoming call announcement by vibration is performed, it is possible to control the shooting such that an imaging signal is not output from the imaging element  201 , or is not input into the flash memory  205 . 
         [0108]    Furthermore, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the camera  1  controls the shooting using the imaging element  201  to be prevented during the incoming call announcement by vibration. However, it is desirable that the shooting using the imaging element  201  is possible when an event or accident that must be recorded at once occurs even during the incoming call announcement by vibration. 
         [0109]    Accordingly, in the case where the start button  5  is turned on during the incoming call announcement by vibration, it is possible to allow the camera  1  to shoot after announcing a warning that an exposed image become blur because of camera-shake. 
         [0110]    Furthermore, it is possible to allow the camera  1  to shoot only when the combined operation of the start button  5  and other specific operating member is performed, even during the incoming call announcement by vibration. Furthermore, it is also possible to have a mode wherein the start button  5  is set effective even during the incoming call announcement by vibration. Furthermore, it is also possible to have an operation member such that the incoming call announcement is removed when the user wants to stop the shooting during the incoming call announcement by vibration. 
         [0111]    Furthermore, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the incoming call announcement is prevented during the shooting operation, assuming that shooting is performed without recording sound. However, in the case of the apparatus able to shoot and record sound at the same time, such as a camcorder, it is possible to prevent not only the incoming call announce by vibration but also the incoming call announce by sound or voice. 
         [0112]    As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, by changing the control of the imaging means, it is possible for the user to avoid receiving bad influence to the imaging data. 
         [0113]    Although the present embodiment is explained on a digital camera capable of shooting both of a still picture and a moving picture, it is also applicable to a digital camera only for a still picture. And also, it is applicable to a silver-halide camera.

Technology Category: 5