Camera having sound recording function

A camera having a sound recording function, comprising:

• a camera body allowing a film having a magnetic recording portion to be loaded therein;
• sound data storage means for continuously sampling sounds around said camera to produce sound data during a sampling period prior to a photographic operation in response to a photography start signal, storing said sound data sampled within a period of time having a preset maximum duration, and updating the stored sound data if the sampling period exceeds the preset maximum duration, said sound data storage means including a sound input microphone, a converter for converting the sound data sampled by said microphone into encoded data, and a semiconductor memory for temporarily storing the encoded data;
• film advance means for feeding said film;
• and
• magnetic recording means for reading out the updated data stored in said semiconductor memory and for recording the read out data on the magnetic recording portion while a film advance operation is performed by said film advance means, said magnetic recording means including a magnetic head and a driving circuit for said magnetic head.

A camera of the type capable of executing a sequential photographing operation and capable of writing various data, corresponding to photographed frames, in a magnetic recording portion of a film, comprising:

• recording means for recording data on the magnetic recording portion of the film during a wind-up operation of said film;
• sound data storage means for sampling sounds around said camera, within a predetermined time duration prior to a photographic operation in response to a photography start signal, and for storing sampled sound data before or after an exposure sequence;
• and
• control means for controlling said recording means to extract an output from said sound data storage means to perform a data recording operation during a film advance operation;
• wherein said sound data storage means changes a sound sampling time in accordance with a change in a photographic mode to a single frame shooting mode or a rapid sequence mode, and wherein when the sound sampling operation is performed after the exposure sequence is selected, said film is rewound to a start frame of a rapid sequence operation, and sound data is subsequently recorded while consecutively photographed frames are wound up.

A camera of the type capable of executing a sequential photographing operation and capable of writing various data, corresponding to photographed frames, in a magnetic recording portion of a film, comprising:

• recording means for recording data on the magnetic recording portion of the film during a wind-up operation of said film;
• sound data storage means for sampling sounds around said camera, within a predetermined time duration prior to a photographic operation in response to a photography start signal, and for storing sampled sound data before or after an exposure sequence;
• and
• control means for controlling said recording means to extract an output from said sound data storage means to perform a data recording operation during a film advance operation;
• wherein said sound data storage means changes a sound sampling time in accordance with a change in a photographic mode to a single frame shooting mode or a rapid sequence mode, and wherein when the sound sampling operation is performed after the exposure sequence is selected, said film is rewound to a start frame of a rapid sequence operation after sound sampling is performed, and sound data is subsequently recorded while consecutively photographed frames are wound up.

A camera of the type capable of executing a sequential photographing operation and capable of writing various data, corresponding to photographed frames, in a magnetic recording portion of a film, comprising:

• recording means for recording data on the magnetic recording portion of the film during a wind-up operation of said film;
• sound data storage means for sampling sounds around said camera, within a predetermined time duration prior to a photographic operation in response to a photography start signal, and for storing sampled sound data before or after an exposure sequence;
• and
• control means for controlling said recording means to extract an output from said sound data storage means to perform a data recording operation during a film advance operation;
• wherein said sound data storage means changes a sound sampling time in accordance with a change in a photographic mode to a single frame shooting mode or a rapid sequence mode, and wherein when the sound sampling operation is performed after the exposure sequence is selected, a sound sampling time is changed in accordance with a number of frames consecutively photographed.