JPH02312451A - Electronic still camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the power supply from being consumed over a degree of required consumption by stopping the drive of an image pickup means when it is not required to light an electronic view finder and turning off the electronic view finder. CONSTITUTION:A confirming means C confirming loading/unloading of an photographic optical system 1 and a drive stop/extinguishing control means D stopping the drive of the image pickup means A and turning off the electronic view finder 5 when the confirming means C confirms the removal of the optical system 1 from a camera main body at the photographing enable state are provided to an electronic still camera provided with the electronic view finder 5 displaying a video by the image pickup means A at the photographing enable state. That is, when the optical system 1 is removed from the camera main body at the photographing enable state, the drive of the image pickup means A is stopped and the electronic view finder 55 is turned off, Thus, unnecessary consumption of the power supply is avoided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an electronic still camera, and particularly to an electronic still camera that records an image captured by an imaging means such as a solid-state image sensor on a recording medium.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, electronic still cameras have been developed that combine solid-state imaging devices such as CCDs with recording devices that use rotating recording media such as magnetic disks to record still images on the rotating recording medium, and play back the images using a monitor or printer. Already developed.

This electronic still camera does not require chemical processing such as development, unlike cameras that use silver halide film (hereinafter referred to as silver halide cameras), and images taken can be viewed immediately on a monitor or hard copy. It has many advantages, such as not requiring light shielding of the recording medium and the recording medium being reusable. Furthermore, since electronic still cameras manually capture images using an image sensor, the finder can be an electronic viewfinder. When an electronic viewfinder is used in an electronic still camera, there is no need to install a quick return mirror or the like between the photographic optical system and the image sensor. Due to the parallax deviation between the photographing optical system and the finder optical system that occurs, and when the photographing optical system is a zoom lens,
This has the advantage that the problem of requiring a complicated interlocking mechanism between the photographing optical system and the finder optical system does not occur. However, unlike optical viewfinders, conventional electronic viewfinders of electronic still cameras have the disadvantage of consuming a large amount of power.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described in 2 below, in the conventional example, when an electronic viewfinder is used in an electronic still camera, the electronic viewfinder consumes a large amount of power, which significantly shortens the life of the power supply. This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to remove the photographic optical system from the camera body while it is ready to take pictures, To prevent a power source from being consumed more than necessary by stopping driving of an imaging means and turning off an electronic viewfinder when there is no need to turn on a viewfinder.

[Means to solve the problem]

Therefore, in the present invention, an exchangeable photographing optical system, an imaging means for converting a subject image formed by the photographing optical system into an electrical video signal, a recording means for recording the video signal, and a photographing optical system are provided. In an electronic still camera, the electronic still camera is equipped with an electronic viewfinder that sometimes displays the image captured by the imaging means, and a confirmation means for confirming attachment/detachment of the photographing optical system, and when photographing is possible, the confirmation means confirms that the optical system 11. Achieving the objective described in 11. That is.

Further, in the above invention, when photography is possible, when the photographing optical system is removed and the electronic viewfinder is turned off, when the photographing optical system is attached to the camera body, the electronic viewfinder is turned on again and the image captured by the imaging means is displayed. The purpose is to achieve the above-mentioned purpose by making a photograph.

[Function] In the electronic still camera according to the present invention, the confirmation means confirms that the replaceable photographing optical system is attached to and detached from the camera body, and the confirmation means removes the optical system from the camera body when photography is possible. After confirming that this is the case, the drive stop/light extinguishing means stops driving the imaging means and turns off the electronic viewfinder. Furthermore, the electronic still camera according to the present invention is capable of removing the photographing optical system when photographing is possible.
If the photographing optical system is attached to the camera body while the electronic viewfinder is off, the electronic viewfinder will be turned on again and an image captured by the imaging means will be displayed.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an electronic still camera which is an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of this embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a flowchart for controlling the operation of this embodiment. .

In FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, A1 is composed of an image pickup device 4, and is an image pickup means that converts a subject image formed by the image pickup optical system 1 into an electrical video signal. B1 is composed of a recording section, and is a recording means for recording the video signal. C
1 is a confirmation means, which is composed of an interchangeable lens detection unit 12, and is a means for confirming attachment/detachment of the photographing optical system 1. D
is a drive stop/light-off control means, and the camera control circuit 26
When the confirmation means C confirms that the optical system 1 has been removed from the camera body, the image pickup means AI is stopped from being driven and the electronic viewfinder 5 is turned off.

Further, A is a camera body unit, B is an interchangeable lens unit, and 2 is an aperture, which is controlled by an aperture control circuit (FIG. 2, 14). 3 is a shutter, which is controlled by a shutter control circuit (FIG. 2, 21). 5 is an electronic viewfinder, 6 is a lens of the finder section, and 7 is a power and mode switch for the camera. Also, 8 is the mount of camera body unit A, 9 is the mount of interchangeable lens unit B, 10 is an electrical signal contact on the camera side held in the mount of camera body unit A, and 1 is held in the mount of interchangeable lens unit B. It is an electrical signal contact.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained using FIGS. 1 and 2.

Switch 7 of the camera is operated and the power is turned on, and
When the camera is ready for photography, the interchangeable lens detection unit 12 confirms whether or not an interchangeable lens is attached. If it is not detected that an interchangeable lens is attached, the electronic viewfinder 5 will not be lit.

When the interchangeable lens detection unit 12 confirms that the interchangeable lens is attached, the image sensor 4 is driven, the electronic viewfinder 5 is turned on, and the image formed on the image sensor 4 by the photographic optical system 1 is displayed. Photographed. At this time, the shutter 3 is in an open state.

Further, the diaphragm 2 opens and closes depending on the charge accumulated in the image sensor 4, that is, the amount of light incident on the image sensor 4, and is adjusted so that a constant amount of light is incident on the image sensor 4. Here, the photographer decides on the composition using the electronic viewfinder 5,
When the release button (not shown) is pressed to take a picture, switch 1 (Fig. 2) is turned ON when the release button is pressed half a stroke, and the brightness of the subject is measured by the photometry unit (not shown). Ru. When the release button is further pressed, the switch 2 (FIG. 2) is turned on, and when the camera control circuit 26 confirms that the switch 2 is on, the photographing operation is started. First, the aperture 2 is not moved so that the aperture value is determined based on the brightness of the subject or the aperture value is set in advance by the photographer. At the same time, the shutter 3 is closed and the charges accumulated on the image sensor 4 are discharged. Then, the shutter 3 is opened and closed, and the video signal accumulated in the image sensor 4 is transmitted to the camera control circuit 26.
The data is transferred to the recording unit by the recording unit control circuit 24, and recorded on the unrecorded portion of the recording medium by the recording unit control circuit 24. Further, the shutter 3 is returned to the state before release, and photographing is completed.

When a camera equipped with an interchangeable lens is powered on and ready to take pictures, the image sensor 4 is driven and the electronic viewfinder 5 is lit. In this state, when the interchangeable lens that has been attached to the camera body for lens exchange is removed from the camera body and the interchangeable lens detection unit 12 confirms that no interchangeable lens is attached to the camera body, the image sensor is activated. stops and the electronic viewfinder turns off. Then, attach the interchangeable lens to the camera body again and use the interchangeable lens detection unit 12.
When it is confirmed that an interchangeable lens is attached to the camera body, the electronic viewfinder lights up and displays the image formed on the image sensor.

Note that when a camera operating member such as a release button is not operated for a certain period of time, the driving of the image sensor is stopped and the electronic viewfinder is turned off to prevent the power source from being consumed. However, in this state, when the camera operation member is operated, the image sensor is driven again and the electronic viewfinder is turned on to return to the original state.

Next, the operation control of this embodiment will be explained again using the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 3 of the drawing, when the power is turned on, the flow starts. First, in step 3a, it is determined whether an interchangeable lens is attached, and if so, the process proceeds to step 3b, in which the image pickup device is driven, the electronic viewfinder light is turned on, the shutter is opened, and an aperture movie is driven. If the interchangeable lens is not attached in step 3a, the process returns to step 3a again. Step 3
C, it is determined again whether the interchangeable lens is attached. If it is attached, proceed to step 3e; if it is not attached, proceed to step 3d, close the image pickup device/electronic viewer interface 0FFL/shutter, stop the diaphragm, and step 3a. Return to In step 3e, it is determined whether switch 1 is pressed, and if it is pressed, the process advances to step 3f, and if it is not pressed, the process returns to step 3e. In step 3f, the 1jpf light, distance measurement, and white balance are adjusted, and in step 3g, the shutter speed, aperture value, and optical system movement are calculated, and the process proceeds to step 3h, where it is determined whether switch 2 is turned on. O
If the answer is N, proceed to step 3j. If it is not turned on, proceed to step 31, determine whether switch 1 is turned on, and if switch 1 is turned on, the process returns to step 3h
If the switch is not turned on, the process returns to step 3C. In step 3j, the shutter is closed, in step 3, the charge of the image sensor is discharged, the aperture is moved, and the optical system is moved, the shutter is opened and closed in step 3°C, the charge is transferred in step 3m, and recorded in step 3n, In step 3p, the shutter is opened, the aperture movie is driven, the photographing is completed, and the process returns to step 3c without turning back.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, when the photographing optical system is removed from the camera body in a photographable state and there is no need to turn on the electronic viewfinder, the driving of the imaging means can be stopped; This has the effect of keeping the electronic viewfinder clean and preventing the power from being consumed more than necessary.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an electronic still camera which is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart for controlling the operation of this embodiment. A1... Imaging means B1... Recording means C... Confirmation means D... Driving stop/cleaning control control means A...
Camera body unit B - Interchangeable lens unit 1 Photographing optical system 2 Aperture 3 Shutter 4 Imaging element

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) an exchangeable photographing optical system; an imaging means for converting a subject image formed by the photographing optical system into an electrical video signal; a recording means for recording the video signal; an electronic viewfinder that projects the image; and a confirmation means for confirming attachment/detachment of the photographing optical system; and confirmation that the optical system is detached from the camera body by the confirmation means when photography is possible. An electronic still camera characterized in that the electronic still camera is equipped with a drive stop/light-out control means for stopping the driving of the imaging means and turning off the light of the electronic viewfinder when confirming the above. (2) When shooting is possible, when the shooting optical system is removed and the electronic viewfinder is off, when the shooting optical system is attached to the camera body, the electronic viewfinder lights up again and images captured by the imaging means are projected. The electronic still camera according to claim 1, characterized in that: