Camera system and accessory device

A camera body having a functional feature of determining if an accessory device designed to be dedicated to it is mounted on it or not, the camera body comprising:

• an identification data table congruous with the accessory side identification data table held by the accessory device;
• a specifying section which specifies an appropriate data address to the accessory device;
• and
• a judging section which determines if the dedicated accessory device is mounted on it or not by comparing the identification data corresponding to the specified data address of the accessory side identification data table and transmitted back from the accessory device according to the specification by the specifying section and the identification data stored in the camera side identification data table at the address corresponding to the data address.

A camera system comprising:

• a camera body;
• and
• an accessory device to be releasably mounted on the camera body;
• the camera body having a camera side memory section storing identification data congruous with the identification data stored in the accessory device, a detecting section which detects a predetermined operation by the user, a comparing section and a judging section;
• the accessory device having an accessory device side memory section storing identification data congruous with the identification data stored in the camera body;
• the comparing section being arranged in the camera body to receive an identification data from the accessory device when the predetermined operation is detected by the detecting section and compare the identification data with the corresponding camera side identification data;
• the judging section being adapted to judge if the dedicated accessory device is mounted on the camera body according to the result of the comparison by the comparing section.

A camera body applicable to a camera system of a combination of a camera body and an accessory device, the camera body comprising:

• a communicating section which communicates with a specific accessory device according to a predetermined communication protocol;
• a first matching determining section which acknowledges the possession of the first matching property of the mounted accessory device when communication is established by way of the communicating section;
• a second matching determining section which detects a quantity indicating the state of an electric phenomenon held by the accessory device and acknowledges the possession of the second matching property of the accessory device when the result of the detection agrees with a predetermined quantity indicating the state of the pre-selected electric phenomenon;
• and
• a control section which determines the possession of the proper matching properties of the accessory device and allowing the camera to operate when the first matching determining section acknowledges the possession of the first matching property and the second matching determining section acknowledges the possession of the second matching property.

A camera system comprising:

• a camera body;
• and
• an interchangeable lens to be combined with the camera body;
• the camera body having a camera side communicating section, a first matching determining section, a second matching determining section and a control section;
• the interchangeable lens having a lens side communicating section and a state-indicating quantity holding section;
• the camera side communicating section being apt to communicate with a specific accessory device according to a predetermined communication protocol;
• the lens side communicating section being apt to communicate with the camera side communicating section according to the predetermined communication protocol;
• the first matching determining section being adapted to acknowledge the possession of the first matching property of the mounted interchangeable lens when communication is established between the camera side communicating section and the lens side communicating section;
• the state-indicating quantity holding section being adapted to hold a quantity indicating the state of a pre-selected electric phenomenon;
• the second matching determining section being adapted to detect a quantity indicating the state of an electric phenomenon held by the state-indicating quantity holding section and acknowledge the possession of the second matching property of the interchangeable lens when the result of the detection agrees with a predetermined quantity indicating the state of the pre-selected electric phenomenon;
• the control section being adapted to determine the possession of the proper matching properties of the interchangeable lens and allow the camera to operate when the first matching determining section acknowledges the possession of the first matching property and the second matching determining section acknowledges the possession of the second matching property.