| |
Reliable connection and high-speed data transfer
achieved
 |
 |
| "With the GXR, the start of
sales did not mark the end of development; it marked a new
start for development." (Satoru Kamakura) |
|
Unlike simple lens changes, with
the GXR the camera unit also includes the image sensor so data must
be sent from the camera unit to the body. Consequently, it is
necessary to have a reliable connection that can handle repeated
attachment/removal and that can quickly and accurately transfer
data. "The thing that took the most time was deciding the connection
interface. We discussed the interface decisions with the software
and other departments, and with factors such as expandability,
transfer speed, and physical dimensions to consider, the
investigations continued up until the last minute," explained Satoru
Kamakura, electrical systems design leader from Design Group No. 2
in the Personal MultiMedia Products Company ICS Design Office. The
connection interface utilizes a highly reliable connector that is
also used on personal computers.
The placement of the electronic circuit boards
also presented a challenge. "What in the past would have been a
single circuit board had to be divided between the body and camera
unit so it required even more ingenuity than usual to figure out how
to install the circuit boards in the limited space available," said
Kamakura. The small S10 camera unit had to also contain the zoom
lens barrel so the circuit board was broken up in order to fit in
the unit. "Since the power consumption of each camera unit is
different, power control also required an approach not found in past
models," he added. Reflecting on the fact that new units are coming
in the future, Kamakura said, "Taking the GXR's future potential
into account, we also provided a separate expansion connector for
non-camera units and for connections to other equipment." |
Where to draw the dividing line for image
processing?
|
 |
|
"We are doing software
development based on the premise that new units other than
camera units will be attached in the future." (Takashi
Maki) |
"After the decisions were made on how to
physically divide up the electronic circuit boards, we decided the
range of image processing to be done by the body and the camera
units," said Takashi Maki, software development leader from Design
Group No. 3 in the Personal MultiMedia Products Company ICS Design
Office. "Once the light is converted to an electrical signal, the
data must be sent to the body, but it was difficult to determine the
stage (after the image is created, after the data is compressed,
etc.) at which this should be done. If the data is compressed, it
can be transferred at high speed, but in order to display the images
on the LCD monitor, it becomes necessary to send 30 images a second
and repeatedly decompress them. This causes a time lag for image
display so in the end we selected an interface that could send
uncompressed data at high speed, and we decided to send the data as
is," Maki explained.
Ease of use has been enhanced with new DIRECT
screen functions enabling settings to be checked and changed. "On
past models, the camera would decide the priority sequence for
processing functions with overlapping settings, such as auto
bracketing* and continuous shooting. This meant that, depending on
the function that the user wanted to define, there were cases where
it was necessary to separately redo settings. On the GXR's DIRECT
screen, however, we always give top priority to the function that
the user defined last," Maki continued.
*Auto bracketing
With this
function, when the shutter release button is pressed once, the
camera takes multiple shots including exposure settings before and
after the regular exposure.
Satisfying future expectations with firmware
updates
As the information presented here indicates, both
software development and future GXR development have been taken into
account in the fine tuning and implementation of GXR plans. A
particular point of interest for many users has been the use of a
large image sensor, and people have been asking us: What kind of
camera unit is coming next? "As is being done in the GR DIGITAL
series, we will be providing new function firmware downloads for the
GXR. We have made it possible for the body itself to evolve via such
firmware updates issued when a new camera unit is released," said
Maki. With both new camera units and firmware updates, the evolution
of the GXR interchangeable unit camera system will continue. Next
time we will take a look at what users are saying and at the future
outlook.
*Lens focal lengths in the text are
all converted to 35 mm film camera
equivalents. |
![[Design and Development] What technologies gave birth to this new-concept camera system?](gxrinside/gxrdev1/cts_top_02.jpg)
