US Patent 7193648 Photographing operation control device for electronic still camera

A photographing operation control device comprises a buffer memory in which image data is temporarily stored. In a blank photographing mode, when a release switch is turned ON, image data obtained through a photographing optical system is stored in the buffer memory. In the blank photographing mode, the image data stored in the buffer memory is not recorded in a PC card. In a normal photographing mode, when the release switch is turned ON, the image data is stored in the buffer memory and then transmitted to the PC card, in which the image data is recorded.