JPH05224290A - GPS camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a camera capable of recording and displaying a photographing spot by using a position measuring radio wave from a pan-global position measuring system(GPS) satellite. CONSTITUTION:A GPS receiving antenna 13 and a GPS receiving unit 14 are mounted on a camera main body 12 including a photographing lens. The antenna 13 receives the position measuring radio wave from the GPS satellite 15, and the unit 14 decodes a reception signal so as to obtain the positional information of the camera such as latitude, longitude and atitude. Since the position measuring radio wave from the satellite 15 includes time information, the hour at that time is obtained with the positional information. A data imprinting unit 17 records the positional information and the hour obtained from the satellite 15 on the film. A display unit within a finder 18 displays the positional information within the finder 21 and an external display unit 19 displays it on the outer surface of the camera main body 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a GPS (Global Positioning S
ystem; Global Positioning System) -related cameras that can display and / or record positioning results.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Cameras for imprinting shooting date data on a recording medium such as a film have been generalized. Further, with a camera provided with a so-called data back, more detailed shooting data can be imprinted according to the purpose. However, heretofore, there is no known camera capable of recording the positional information of the photographing point.

[0003]

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to obtain a camera capable of recording and / or displaying the position information on the earth at the photographing position, that is, the position where the camera existed at the time of photographing.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides means for obtaining position information,
If you use positioning radio waves from GPS satellites launched by the United States and display the position information on the earth by this positioning radio waves on the camera or record it on the recording medium of the camera, you can display or record the information of the shooting location. It was made based on the viewpoint.

That is, the camera of the present invention has means for receiving positioning radio waves from GPS satellites, means for displaying position information on the earth obtained by the receiving means on the display unit of the camera, and / or for the camera. And a means for imprinting on a recording medium. The receiving means may be provided in the camera itself, or a receiver separate from the camera may be used. If a separate receiver is used, the camera is provided with a means of connection with this receiver. The display means of the camera is a display section in the finder provided inside the finder,
It may be configured by an external display unit provided on the outer surface of the camera separately from the finder and / or the finder.

As a civilian positioning system using GPS satellites, for example, a system mounted on a vehicle and displaying the position of the vehicle has already been put into practical use. That is, GPS
Means for obtaining position information by positioning radio waves from satellites are already known, and this technology can be diverted.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to illustrated embodiments. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of a GPS camera according to the present invention. A GPS receiving antenna 13 and a GPS receiving unit 14 are mounted on a camera body 12 having a normal shooting function element including a shooting lens 11. The GPS receiving antenna 13 receives the positioning radio wave from the GPS satellite 15, and the GPS receiving unit 14 receives and decodes the received signal, and the position information (generally latitude, longitude, etc.) of the GPS receiving antenna 13 (camera body 12) is received. Altitude). In addition, since the positioning radio wave from the GPS satellite also includes time information, the time at that time can be obtained as well as the position information.

The camera body 12 includes a CPU 16, a data imprinting unit 17, and a viewfinder display unit 1.
8 and an external display unit 19 are provided. The data imprinting unit 17 is a film (recording medium) 2
The position information obtained by the GPS receiving antenna 13 and the GPS receiving unit 14 and, if necessary, the date and time are recorded on the 0. The display unit in the finder 18 includes the GPS receiving antenna 13 and the GPS.
The position information obtained by the receiving unit 14 is displayed in the finder 21, and the external display unit 19 displays it on the outer surface of the camera body 12. The data imprinting unit 17, the in-finder display unit 18 and the external display unit 19 are known per se.

The CPU 16 controls the entire operation of the camera, controls the display by the in-viewfinder display unit 18 and the external display unit 19, and when the shutter release signal 23 is given through the release switch 22, the data is output. The imprinting unit 17 is operated to imprint the position information and the date and time on the film 20.

3 and 4 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, the GPS receiving antenna 13 and the GPS receiving unit 14 were built in the camera body 12, but in this embodiment, the camera body 12 has a GPS.
A GPS receiver 25 separate from the camera body 12 is used without mounting the receiving antenna 13 and the GPS receiving unit 14. The GPS receiver 25 includes a receiving antenna 26, and position information can be obtained from positioning radio waves from the GPS satellite 15 received by the receiving antenna 26. The camera body 12A is equipped with a connector 28 for connecting the output cable 27 of the GPS receiver 25 and an interface 29 with the CPU 16.

Therefore, in any of the embodiments, the in-finder display unit 18 and the external display unit 19 are provided.
The position information on the earth of the camera body 12 (12A) obtained by the positioning radio wave from the GPS satellite 15 can be visually observed, and the position information and the date and time are recorded on the film 20 by the data imprinting unit 17 at the time of shutter release. Information can be recorded.

[0012]

As described above, according to the camera of the present invention,
The information of the photographing position can be displayed on the camera or recorded in the recording medium of the camera by using the GPS satellite. Therefore, it is possible to provide a new function that cannot be obtained by the conventional camera, and since the photographed photograph has information about where it was photographed, the photograph itself can be given a new added value.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual perspective view showing a first embodiment of a GPS-using camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the camera of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual perspective view showing a second embodiment of the GPS camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the camera of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Photography Lens 12 12A Camera Main Body 13 GPS Reception Antenna 14 GPS Reception Unit 15 GPS Satellite 16 CPU 17 Data Imprinting Unit 18 In-Finder Display Unit 19 External Display Unit 20 Film 21 Finder 22 Release Switch 25 GPS Receiver

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Means for receiving positioning radio waves from GPS satellites; Means for copying position information on the earth obtained by the receiving means onto a recording medium of a camera and / or
And a means for displaying on a display section of the camera; 2. The GPS-using camera according to claim 1, wherein the receiving means is provided in the camera. 3. The GPS-using camera according to claim 1, wherein the receiving means is a GPS receiver separate from the camera, and the camera is provided with a connecting means to the receiver. 4. The GPS-using camera according to claim 1, wherein the display means of the camera is an in-viewfinder display section for displaying inside the finder and / or an external display section provided on the outer surface of the camera separately from the finder. ..