Camera, an image inputting apparatus, a portable terminal device, and a method for transforming the camera configuration

A portable terminal device comprising:

• a body including,
• an image photographing section including a display and a lens system, said lens system being configured to capture an image of a subject,
• a gripping section for a user to grip said body, and
• a connecting mechanism configured to connect said image photographing section and said gripping section in a rotatable manner such that an angle between a longitudinal axis of said image photographing section and a longitudinal axis of said gripping section can be varied.

A camera comprising:

• a camera body having a longitudinal rectangular shape, said camera body comprising,
• an image photographing section including a lens system for capturing an optical image of a subject, and
• a gripping section for a user to grip said camera body at a time of photographing, wherein,
• said image photographing section and said gripping section are rotatably connected,
• in a first state, both a longitudinal axis of said image photographing section and a longitudinal axis of said gripping section are parallel to a first axis such that the camera body is formed in said longitudinal rectangular shape,
• in a second state, said longitudinal axis of said gripping section is angled relative to said longitudinal axis of said image photographing section such that at least one of said longitudinal axes of said gripping section and said image photographing section is arranged along an axis angled relative to the first axis, and
• said gripping section accommodates a battery as a power source.

A camera comprising:

• a camera body having a longitudinal rectangular shape, said camera body comprising,
• an image photographing section including means for capturing an optical image of a subject,
• a gripping section for a user to grip said camera body at a time of photographing, and
• means for rotating said image photographing section and said gripping section relative to one another such that,
• in a first state, both a longitudinal axis of said image photographing section and a longitudinal axis of said gripping section are positioned parallel to a first axis such that the camera body is formed in said longitudinal rectangular shape, and
• in a second state, said longitudinal axis of said gripping section is positioned angled relative to said longitudinal axis of said image photographing section such that at least one of said longitudinal axes of said gripping section and said image photographing section is arranged along an axis angled relative to the first axis, and
• said gripping section accommodates means for providing power to the camera.

A communication device comprising:

• a first body section including:
• means for capturing an image of a subject, and
• means for displaying said image;
• and
• a second body section rotatably connected to said first body section, including:
• means for operating a telephone dial function, and
• means for accommodating a power source.

A method for operating a communication device including a first body section and a second body section, comprising the steps of:

• capturing an image of a subject with a lens system disposed on said first body section;
• displaying said captured image on a display screen of said first body section;
• and
• operating a telephone keypad of said second body section, said second body section being rotatably connected to said first body section.