JP3141027B2 - camera - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improvement in a camera provided with a storage unit that stores data of an automatic backlight detection level, which serves as a criterion in the automation of a camera.

[0002]

[Prior art]

In recent years, various functions of cameras have been automated.
An example is shown below.

A) Automatic backlight detection function [0003] The luminance distribution in the shooting screen is measured. If the background is brighter than a main subject by a predetermined level or more, it is determined that backlight shooting has been performed, and auxiliary light shooting using a flash is automatically performed. This is a function that is performed on a regular basis.

B) Automatic low-brightness light emission function When the brightness of a shooting scene is lower than a predetermined level, the shutter time is long, and a flash shooting is performed so that a camera shake image is not generated.

[0005] C) Automatic photographing magnification setting function [0005] In a zoom camera, the photographing magnification of a subject is fixed by zooming to a focal length corresponding to the subject distance.

[0006]

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, the conventional automation is intended for the greatest common denominator users, and has been unsatisfactory for individual users.

[0009] Therefore, problems concerning the above functions are described below.

A) In the case of an automatic backlight detection function Since the difference in luminance for judging backlight shooting or normal shooting is fixed to the greatest common denominator level, for example, 1EV difference, the level may be large for some users. However, the camera must be set to the forced light emission mode because it is not detected as a backlight even though it is desired to be detected as a backlight.

Also, since the level is small for another user and the user does not want to detect the backlight, the light is detected as the backlight.
The camera must be set to flash off mode.

B) In the case of a low-luminance automatic light emission function Since the luminance for judging whether or not a camera-shake photograph is to be taken is fixed at a level of the greatest common denominator, some users judge that the camera-shake photograph does not occur. Even if it was, it became a camera shake photo, and another user judged that it was a camera shake photo and performed flash photography, but it was not actually necessary.

C) In the case of the automatic photographing magnification setting function Since the photographing magnification is fixed to the greatest common denominator, the magnification differs from each user's favorite magnification.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a camera which can be changed to an automatic function suited to the usage of each user.

[0013]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1, wherein it is determined that strobe light emission is to be performed when the relationship between a luminance value and data reaches a predetermined criterion, and the luminance value and the data are determined. Determination means for determining not to perform strobe light emission when the relationship with does not reach a predetermined determination criterion;
Storage means for storing data serving as the determination criterion, wherein the camera performs shooting with strobe light emission or shooting without strobe light emission according to the determination result of the determination means. Is forcibly prohibited regardless of the above, based on the luminance value and the data in a state in which the photographing without the strobe light is selected by the selecting means for selecting the photographing without the strobe light emission. When it is determined that strobe light emission is to be performed as a result of the determination by the determining means, data correction means for changing data in the storage means and setting the determination criterion high is provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in order to attain the above object, it is determined that strobe light emission is to be performed when a relationship between a luminance value and data reaches a predetermined criterion. A determination unit that determines not to perform strobe light emission when a relationship between the value and the data does not reach a predetermined determination criterion; and a storage unit that stores data serving as the determination criterion. In a camera that performs shooting with strobe light emission or shooting without strobe light emission according to the result, a selection unit that selects shooting in which flash emission is forcibly executed regardless of the determination result of the determination unit, In the state where the photographing for executing the flash emission is selected, the flash emission is not performed as the determination result by the determination unit based on the luminance value and the data. And a data correcting means for changing the data in the storage means and setting the judgment criterion to be low when it is determined that the determination is made.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an arithmetic control circuit including a microcomputer or the like which performs arithmetic and control in accordance with a flowchart described later;
Is RAM or E whose contents are updated according to the usage status of the photographer
EPROM or other memory, 3 is an average photometric circuit that measures the average brightness of the shooting screen, 4 is a spot metering circuit that measures the brightness of the main subject on the shooting screen, 5 is a known flash circuit,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a camera shake detection circuit for detecting camera shake during release.
Is a focal length detecting circuit that outputs a signal corresponding to the zoom position (focal length) of the zoom lens, 8 is a known distance measuring circuit,
Reference numeral 9 denotes a zoom drive circuit that includes a motor and the like and drives a zoom lens.

S1 is a switch that is turned on by the first stroke of the release button, S2 is a switch that is turned on by the second stroke, S3 is a switch for selecting a forced light emission mode of the flash, S4 is a switch for selecting a light emission inhibition mode of the flash, and S5 is a zoom lens. Is a switch that selects the short focal length side of the zoom lens, and S7 is a switch that selects the automatic magnification setting mode.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

1) During normal AE shooting When the first stroke of the release button is pressed, the switch S1 is pressed.
Turns ON, but since the flash mode is not selected, FON = 0 and FOFF = 0, and the arithmetic and control circuit 1 receives EVA from the output of the average photometry circuit 3 and EVS from the output of the spot photometry circuit 4. (# 1 → # 2 → # 3 → # 4).

Next, the reference luminance level EVX and EVA for determining whether or not to perform automatic light emission are compared. Since the subject is brighter, “EVA> EVX” is satisfied. Therefore, next, the luminance difference EVD between EVA and EVS is calculated, and then the backlight detection level EVY
Is read (# 5 → # 6). Since it is normal shooting now, since the luminance difference EVD is smaller than EVY, “EVD <EVY” is satisfied. Accordingly, FOFF = 1, and the flash-off AE shooting mode is set (# 7 → # 9). Thereafter, when the second stroke of the release button is pressed and the switch S2 is turned on, the release starts, and the automatic focus control, the automatic exposure control,
When the film is wound up and the release button is released, the flash mode is reset (# 10 → # 12).
→ # 13 → # 14 → # 11).

2) At the time of low-luminance automatic light emission As in 1) above, photometric results EVA and EVS are obtained. However, since the subject has low luminance, “EVA <EVX” is established and FON
= 1, and the flash photography mode is set (# 1 → # 2).
→ # 3 → # 4 → # 5 → # 8). Thereafter, when the second stroke of the release button is pressed and the switch S2 is turned on, the release is started, flash photography is performed by a light emission trigger signal to the flash circuit 5, and the flash mode is reset when the release button is released. (# 10 → # 12
→ # 13 → # 14 → # 11).

3) At the time of automatic backlight detection As in 1) above, the luminance difference EVD and the reference luminance level E
Although VY is compared, “EVD> EVY” is established because it is a backlight scene. Accordingly, FON = 1 and the flash photography mode is set (# 1 → # 2 → # 3 → # 4 → # 5 → # 6 → # 7 →
# 8).

Thereafter, the same operation as in the above 2) is performed.

4) When the forced light emission mode is selected (S3: ON) when the subject is dark (EVA <EVX) When the forced light emission mode selection switch S3 is turned on, photometry is performed in the same manner as in 1) above. <EVX ”
FON = 1 and FOFF = 0, and the flash photography mode is set (# 1 → # 15 → # 16 → # 17 → # 21).

Thereafter, when the release button is pressed, FON = 1, so that the release is performed in the flash photography mode (# 1).
→ # 2 → # 8 → ...).

5) When subject is bright and backlight can be detected (EVA> EV)
X, EVD> EVY) When the forced flash mode is selected (S3: ON) Since “EVA> EVX”, EVY and E read from memory 2
VD is compared, but since “EVD> EVY”, FON = 1, FOFF
= 0 and the flash photography mode is set (# 1 → # 15)
→ # 16 → # 17 → # 18 → # 19 → # 21).

In this case, the judgment of the backlight of the photographer and the judgment of the automatic backlight detection of the camera coincide with each other.

6) When the light emission inhibition mode is selected (S4: ON) when the subject is dark (EVA <EVX) When the light emission inhibition mode selection switch S4 is turned on, photometry is performed in the same manner as in 1) above. <EVX ”
FOFF = 1, FON = 0, and the camera enters the AE shooting mode (# 1 →
# 15 → # 22 → # 23 → # 24 → # 28).

Thereafter, when the release button is pressed, FOFF = 1, so that the release is performed in the AE shooting mode (# 1 → # 2 → # 3
→ # 9 →…).

7) When the subject is bright and no backlight is detected (EVA> EV)
X, EVD <EVY) When flash off mode is selected (S4: ON) Since “EVA> EVX”, EVD and EVY are compared.
<EVY ”, FOFF = 1, FON = 0, and the camera enters the AE shooting mode (# 1 → # 15 → # 22 → # 23 → # 24 → # 25 → # 26 → #
28).

Also in this case, the judgment of the backlight of the photographer and the judgment of the automatic backlight detection of the camera coincide.

8) Automatic backlight detection of camera did not detect backlight (EV
If A <EVX, EVD <EVY), the photographer decides that the backlight is on and selects the forced light emission mode (S3: ON). 1 → # 2 → # 3 → # 4 → # 5 → # 6 → # 7 → #
9) If the photographer determines that the light is backlit and releases the release button to press the forced light emission mode selection switch S3, the switch S1 is turned off and the flash mode is reset (# 10 → # 11).

After that, when the switch S3 is pressed and turned on, the above 5)
EVD and EVY are compared in the same way as above, but since “EVD <EVY”, EVY is subtracted by the minimum photometric step △ EV (for example, 1/8 step), and the result is used as the luminance difference data for the new backlight detection determination. The data is written into the memory 2 and the flash photography mode of FON = 1 and FOFF = 0 is set (# 1 → # 15 → # 16 → # 17 → # 18)
→ # 19 → # 20 → # 21).

In this case, since the backlight judgment of the camera and the photographer is different, the data has been corrected (learned) so that the judgment of the camera approaches the judgment of the photographer.

9) Automatic backlight detection of camera detected backlight (EVA> EV)
X, EVD> EVY), the photographer determines that there is no need to emit light, and selects the light emission prohibition mode (S4: ON). # 1 → # 2 → # 3 → # 4 → # 5 → # 6 → #
7 → # 8), it is determined that the photographer does not need to emit light,
When the release button is released to press the light emission inhibition mode selection switch, the switch S1 is turned off, and the flash mode is reset (# 10 → # 11).

Thereafter, when the switch S4 is pressed and turned on, the above 7)
EVD and EVY are compared in the same way as above, but since “EVD> EVY”, EVY is added by the minimum photometry step ΔEV, and the result is stored in the memory 2 as luminance difference data for new backlight detection determination.
AE shooting mode with FOFF = 1 and FON = 0 (# 1 → # 15 → # 22 → # 23 → # 24 → # 25 → # 26 → # 27 →
# 28).

Also in this case, since the camera and the photographer differ in the backlight judgment, the data has been modified so that the camera judgment approaches the photographer's judgment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation in another embodiment of the present invention. The circuit configuration is the same as in FIG.

11) The case where the subject is brighter than the reference level for determination of automatic light emission (EVA> EVX), but camera shake is taken.

When the first stroke of the release button is pressed, the switch S1 is pressed.
Is ON, the arithmetic and control circuit 1
Receive EVA. Further, data of a reference luminance level EVX for determining whether or not to perform automatic light emission is read from the memory 2 and compared with EVA. In this case, “EVA> EVX”, so FOF
F = 1, and the flash-off AE shooting mode is set (# 31 → # 32 → # 33 → # 34).

Thereafter, when the second stroke of the release button is pressed and the switch S2 is turned on, the release starts. The camera shake amount at this time is detected by the camera shake detection circuit 6. The arithmetic and control circuit 1 determines whether or not to perform camera shake shooting based on the relationship between the camera shake amount output from the camera shake detection circuit 6 and the shutter speed. In this case, since it was camera shake shooting, EVX is the minimum step △ E
Only VX is added, and the result is written into the memory 2 as new luminance data for automatic light emission determination (# 36 → # 37 → # 3)
9).

In this case, since the camera shake amount of the photographer is larger than the automatic light emission level of the camera, the data of the automatic light emission level is corrected so that a camera shake photograph is not generated even if there is a similar camera shake at the next shooting. It will be.

12) When the subject is darker than the automatic light emission level (EVA <EVX) but the amount of camera shake is small As in the case of 11) above, EVA and EVX are compared.
Since A <EVX ”, FON = 1 and the flash photography mode with the flash on (# 31 → # 32 → # 33 → # 3)
Five).

Thereafter, when the second stroke of the release button is pressed and the switch S2 is turned on, the release starts. The arithmetic and control circuit 1 determines whether or not to perform camera shake shooting based on the relationship between the camera shake amount output from the camera shake detection circuit 6 and the shutter speed. The result is written to the memory 2 as new luminance data for automatic light emission determination (# 36 → # 37)
→ # 40).

In this case, since the photographer holds the camera firmly against the automatic light emission level of the camera when photographing,
In the next shooting, the data of the automatic light emission level has been corrected so that AE shooting without using a flash is performed even on a darker subject.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation in another embodiment of the present invention. The circuit configuration is the same as in FIG.

21) When the Long Focal Length Side is Selected (S5: ON) When the switch S5 is turned on, the photographing lens has the longest focal length.
It is determined from the output of the focal length detection circuit 7 whether or not it is at the TELE end. If it is not at the TELE end, the TELE drive to the long focal length side is performed by the zoom drive circuit 9 (# 51 → # 68 → # 69 → # 70). .

Thereafter, when the switch S5 is turned off or driven to the TELE end, the TELE driving stops.

22) When the short focal length side is selected (S6: ON) When the switch S6 is turned on, the photographing lens has the shortest focal length.
Whether it is at the WiDE end or not is determined by the output of the focal length detection circuit 7, and if it is not at the WiDE end, WiDE driving to the short focal length side is performed by the zoom drive circuit 9 (# 51 → # 68 → # 71 → # 72 → #
73). Thereafter, when the switch S6 is turned off or driven to the WiDE end, the WiDE driving stops.

23) When the automatic magnification setting mode is selected (S7: ON) and the shutter is released, the first stroke of the release button is pressed and the switch S1 is pressed.
Is turned on, the distance measuring circuit 8 is operated to detect the distance to the subject. Next, data DZX for determining the magnification of the focal length f and the subject distance is read from the memory 2, and since the switch S7 is ON, the focal length f is calculated based on the subject distance and the DZX.
Is calculated and the photographing lens is zoom-driven by the zoom drive circuit 9 to set the focal length to f (# 51 → # 52 →
# 53 → # 54 → # 62 → # 63).

Thereafter, when the second stroke of the release button is pressed and the switch S2 is turned on, the release starts.

24) When the automatic magnification setting mode is not selected and the shutter is released (S7: OFF) After reading DZX from the memory 2 in the same manner as in 23) above,
The focal length f determined by the photographer is detected from the output of the focal length detection circuit 7, and the current magnification data DZ is calculated from the relationship with the subject distance (# 51 → # 52 → # 53 → # 54 → # 55 → #Five
6). If DZ is greater than DZX, reduce DZX to minimum step △ D
Add only Z (# 57 → # 58), and if DZ is smaller than DZX
Subtract DZX by minimum step △ DZ (# 57 → # 59 → # 6
0), and written as new magnification data in the memory 2 (# 6)
1).

The subsequent steps are the same as the above 23).

In this case, since the magnification data in the memory 2 is corrected by the magnification at the time of photographing when the automatic magnification setting mode is not selected, the photographer's favorite focus is selected when the automatic magnification setting mode is selected. It is possible to automatically set the distance magnification.

According to each of the above-described embodiments, the data used as the criterion for automation is rewritten according to the method of use by the user.
In the figure, the backlight detection level is rewritten at # 20 and # 27, the automatic light emission level at # 39 and # 40 in FIG. 3, and the automatic focal length magnification at # 58 and # 60 in FIG. 4, respectively. Therefore, the more users use the camera, the more unconsciously the camera can turn into the camera of their choice.

(Correspondence between the Invention and the Embodiment) Claims 1 to 5 correspond to the embodiment of FIG. 2, and the predetermined functions described in the claims 1 to 5 correspond to the light emission function at the time of backlight detection, The factor value is the luminance value EVD, the data serving as the judgment reference is the reference luminance difference EVY, and the judgment means is # 7, # 19, # 26
The storage means corresponds to the memory 2 and the data correcting means corresponds to the portion of the arithmetic control circuit 1 executing # 20 and # 27. Further, the selection means according to claim 1 is a light emission inhibition mode selection switch S4
The selection means described in claim 2 corresponds to the forced light emission mode selection switch S3.

[0057]

【The invention's effect】

As described above, according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, data serving as a criterion for performing an automatic function is rewritten to data in a direction that matches the user's intention. It can be turned into an automatic function that suits the user's usage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart in another embodiment of the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 1 Arithmetic control circuit 2 Memory 3 Average photometry circuit 4 Spot photometry circuit 5 Flash circuit 6 Camera shake detection circuit 7 Focal length detection circuit 8 Distance measurement circuit 9 Zoom drive circuit S3 Forced light emission mode selection switch S4 Light emission inhibition mode selection Switch S5, S6, S7 Switch

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-96724 (JP, A) JP-A-2-183238 (JP, A) JP-A-4-78831 (JP, A) JP-A-3-252541 (JP) JP-A-3-252264 (JP, A) JP-A-3-252635 (JP, A) JP-A-3-252636 (JP, A) JP-A-3-252637 (JP, A) 3-101720 (JP, A) JP-A-3-101721 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03B 7/28 G03B 7/091 G03B 7/16 101

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] And determining that the strobe light emission is to be performed when the relationship between the luminance value and the data has reached a predetermined criterion, and when the relationship between the luminance value and the data has not reached a predetermined criterion. A determination unit for determining that flashlight is not to be emitted; and a storage unit for storing data serving as the determination criterion, and performing shooting with flash emission or shooting without flash emission according to the determination result of the determination unit. A camera forcibly prohibiting strobe light emission irrespective of the determination result of the determination means, and selecting means for selecting photographing without strobe light emission; and selecting photographing without strobe light emission by the selection means. When it is determined that strobe light emission is to be performed as a result of the determination based on the luminance value and the data in a state where And a data correction means for setting the determination criterion to be high. 2. When the relationship between the luminance value and the data has reached a predetermined criterion, it is determined that strobe light emission is to be performed. When the relationship between the luminance value and the data has not reached a predetermined criterion, A determination unit for determining that flashlight is not to be emitted; and a storage unit for storing data serving as the determination criterion, and performing shooting with flash emission or shooting without flash emission according to the determination result of the determination unit. In the camera, a selecting means for selecting a shooting to forcibly execute strobe light emission regardless of the determination result of the determining means, and the selecting means for selecting a shooting to execute the strobe light emission by the selecting means, When it is determined that strobe light is not to be emitted as a result of the determination by the determination unit based on the luminance value and the data, the data in the storage unit is changed and the determination is performed. A camera, comprising: data correction means for setting a low reference.