Canon X-07: Part 3 (EOS camera Interface Unit TB)
12An interesting use of the Canon X-07. There are also small differences in this machine compared to my Australian one: it's called a "Handy Personal Computer" instead of a "Hand Held Computer", and has a Japanese Katakana keyboard (and "kana" key).
This additional interface appears to be 1986-87 manufacture based on date stamps which makes me think it might be an interface unit (or a prototype/internal model?) for the Canon EOS 650 & 620 cameras which debuted in 1987.
Back in the "olden days" of film cameras you could get different backs for them, such as one to imprint the date on the photo.
There was a Technical Back E for the Canon EOS with an additional Interface Unit TB and associated keyboard. You could use this to capture technical information of each photo (such as aperture, shutter speed, etc.) as well as controlling the camera. This information is typically stored as part of the EXIF data in a JPEG today ... but back then it wasn't captured automatically.
Some information from the documentation:
..........
As the name "Technical" suggests, the Technical Back E not only imprints the data and arbitrary comments (up to 30 digits) on film but memorizes shooting data such as shutter speed, aperture value, lens focal length and film speed.
- When the Technical Back E is connected to a personal computer through the Interface Unit TB, it is also possible to command the camera from a computer, etc. (The Interface Unit TB is sold in both MSX and IBM computer models, but product availability may vary from area to area.)
- With the Keyboard Unit E, comments can be imprinted in English, French, German and Spanish.
..........
I've not been able to find much information about it for the Canon X-07 ... apparently it was available for the MSX and IBM PC.
For the X-07 I'm guessing that there was an associated ROM/RAM card that contained the software as well as battery-backed RAM for storing data ... ?
The ROM card slot has some sort of adaptor to allow external installation of ROM/RAM cards - it includes a wire that runs to pin 20 of the internal RAM expansion slot (chip enable CE1 pin on the TC5565 socket).
The whole thing is powered by a 9V battery installed in the additional compartment on the left with the camera interface. The X-07 is then powered by a wire that runs from the expansion/interface unit to the VCC2 pin 39 on the X-07's expansion connector.
Canon Interface Unit TB for MSX:
https://www.msx.org/wiki/Canon_Interface_Unit_TB
Home-made interface:
https://web.archive.org/web/20021123193046/http://www.sigma957.org/tbe.html