JP2000122107A - Ae finder and camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve handleability in an AE lock mode and to prevent an unexpected exposure error by releasing the AE lock mode when one-frame photographing is completed in a state of a one-frame photographing mode and the AE lock mode. SOLUTION: After a luminance signal outputted from a photodetector 15 is electrically processed, such as A/D converted, by an AE finder control circuit 16 in an AE finder 6, it is inputted in a main body MPU 12 as photometric data. By operating a mode switching dial provided on the control panel 21 of a camera a body 3, a feeding mode is changed from a consecutive photographing mode to the one-frame photographing mode or a multiple exposure mode. When photographing is performed by turning on a release switch after changing to desired framing by executing the pressing operation of an AE lock switch 17 so that AE lock may be set in the one-frame photographing mode, the AE lock mode is automatically released after feeding film by one frame.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an AE finder and a camera having an AE lock mode capable of preventing an unexpected exposure error.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a medium format camera using a brownie film, various conditions can be obtained by appropriately mounting a plurality of photographing units such as a lens unit with a built-in shutter, a film holder for storing a photographic film, and a finder on a camera body. There is known a systematic single-lens reflex camera capable of coping with shooting of a camera. The finder includes an AE finder that enables automatic exposure such as an aperture priority AE, in addition to a general waist level finder.

In the single-lens reflex camera, a single-frame shooting mode in which only one frame is exposed and one frame is fed by one shutter release operation, and a plurality of frames are continuously formed by one continuous shutter release operation. There is known a device capable of selecting a continuous shooting mode in which exposure and feeding are performed.

Further, the single-lens reflex camera can operate an AE by operating a shutter dial on the camera body side while holding photometric data at the time of operation.
One with a lock mode is known. In the AE lock mode, for example, when continuously photographing the same main subject under the same photographing condition (continuous shooting mode), the camera that performs center-weighted photometry can freely move the main subject without placing the main subject at the center of the screen. This is particularly effective when framing is desired (single-frame shooting mode).

[0005]

In the one-frame shooting mode, it is often desired to change the shooting conditions or the like for shooting. Therefore, when the AE lock mode is used, the AE lock mode is canceled every time one frame is shot. There is a disadvantage that the necessity arises and the operation is troublesome. Further, if the user forgets to cancel the AE lock mode, an accident may occur in which the subsequent photographing frame has an exposure level not intended by the photographer.

An object of the present invention is to provide an AE finder and a camera which can solve the above-mentioned problems and which can improve the usability of the AE lock mode and prevent an unexpected exposure error.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an AE finder according to the present invention includes a one-frame shooting mode in which only one frame is exposed by one shutter release operation, and one continuous shutter. In an AE finder provided with an AE lock mode provided in a camera body of a single-lens reflex camera capable of selecting a continuous shooting mode in which a plurality of frames are continuously exposed by a release operation, and having an AE lock mode for holding photometric data at a predetermined operation, When in the shooting mode and the AE lock mode,
The AE lock mode is held as it is, and when the single-frame shooting mode and the AE lock mode are set, the AE lock mode is released when one frame shooting is completed.

Further, the camera according to the present invention has a single-frame shooting mode in which only one frame is exposed by one shutter release operation, and continuous shooting in which a plurality of frames are continuously exposed by one continuous shutter release operation. Mode is selectable,
In a camera having an AE lock mode for holding photometric data at a predetermined operation, when the continuous shooting mode and the AE lock mode are set, the AE lock mode is held as it is,
When in single-frame shooting mode and AE lock mode,
The AE lock mode is released when one frame shooting is completed.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 2 which is an external view of a camera 2 equipped with an AE finder according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 which is a block diagram of a circuit configuration of each photographing unit constituting the camera 2, FIG. 2 is a camera body 3, a film holder 4 attached to the back side of the camera body 3,
It comprises a combination of a lens unit 5 mounted on the front side of the camera body 3 and various photographing units such as an AE finder 6 mounted on the upper part of the camera body 3.

The camera body 3 has a box shape with a front side and a back side open, and a focus adjustment mechanism 8 for performing focus adjustment is provided at a lower part. A telescopic bellows 9 is attached to the front side of the camera body 3, and a film holder 4 is attached to the back side. The other end of the bellows 9 is attached to a lens board 10 to which the lens unit 5 is attached, and shields the photographing optical path between the lens unit 5 and the film holder 4 from light.

The lens unit 5 includes a photographing lens 11 and
A shutter device that also serves as an aperture and an EEPROM that stores the number of operations of the shutter device are incorporated therein. Since the shutter device is open during non-shooting, the subject light passing through the taking lens 11 passes through the lens board 10 and the bellows 9 and enters the camera body 3.

On the back side of the lens unit 5 and on the front side of the lens board 10, a shutter device and an EEPROM of the lens unit 5, a main body MPU 12 as a control circuit incorporated in the camera main body 3, and a power supply circuit 13 are provided. And a connector for electrically connecting the. The lens board 9 and the camera body 3 are electrically connected by a wiring cord contained in the bellows 9.

A photo film of a brownie size is loaded in the film holder 4. This film holder 4
Is rotatable around the photographing optical axis with respect to the camera body 3. By rotating the film holder 4 without changing the position of the camera 2, it is possible to switch the vertical and horizontal directions of the photographing screen. On the upper surface of the film holder 4, there are provided a liquid crystal panel 14 for displaying various information of the loaded photographic film and information of the camera 2 itself, and various switches for switching the display of the liquid crystal panel 14. .

The back of the camera body 3 and the front of the film holder 4 are provided with the main body MPU 1 in the camera body 3.
2 and a power supply circuit 13 and a connector for electrically connecting the control circuit in the film holder 4 to each other. Note that two connectors are provided on the camera body 3 side so that the connectors can be connected to the connector of the rotated film holder 4.

Although not shown in detail, the camera body 3 is provided with a light-shielding plate for opening and closing a rear opening and a mirror. When the light shielding plate closes the opening, the inside of the film holder 4 is shielded from light, and the photographing lens 11 and the bellows 9 are closed.
And the subject light passing through
The light is reflected toward the E finder 6.

The AE finder 6 is a finder optical system equivalent to an angle finder that bends the subject light incident by the reflection of the mirror so that the subject light can be viewed as an erect image, and focuses, for example, on the subject light at the center of the screen. A light receiving element 15 that receives light and performs photoelectric conversion, and an AE that performs processing such as A / D conversion on a luminance signal input from the light receiving element 15 and inputs the luminance signal to the main body MPU 12 of the camera main body 3 as photometric data.
It comprises a finder control circuit 16 and the like. That is, the AE finder 6 incorporates a TTL photometry system with a center-weighted portion.

An AE lock switch 17 is provided on a side surface of the outer wall of the AE finder 6. When the AE lock switch 17 is pressed, the AE finder control circuit 16 holds (AE lock) the photometric data at the time of the pressing operation. The AE lock mode is performed when the AE lock switch 17 is pressed next time, when the feeding mode (single frame shooting mode, continuous shooting mode, etc.) is changed, or when one frame shooting in the single frame shooting mode is completed. Canceled at times.

In the continuous shooting mode, a plurality of frames are continuously photographed and fed while the release switch is continuously turned on. However, the continuous ON operation of the release switch is temporarily stopped. The AE lock mode is not released. In the single-frame shooting mode, only one frame is exposed and fed by one shutter release operation.

A liquid crystal panel 1 having a backlight 18 for displaying information such as an aperture value, a shutter speed, and whether or not an AE lock mode is used for display in the finder of the AE finder 6.
9 can be checked while looking through the AE finder 6 to determine the aperture value, shutter speed, and whether or not the camera is in the AE lock mode. An AE finder control circuit 1 is provided at a lower portion of the AE finder 6 and an upper surface of the camera body 3.
6 is a main body MPU 12 and a power supply circuit 13 in the camera main body 3.
And a connector for electrically connecting to each other.

An operation panel 21 is provided on one side of the camera body 3. The operation panel 21 has a shutter speed adjustment dial 22 for selecting a shutter speed in a manual mode and switching between a manual mode and an AE mode (aperture priority AE), and also serves as a power switch for the camera 2 and feeds a film. A mode switching dial 23 for performing mode switching (single frame shooting mode, continuous shooting mode, multiple exposure mode, etc.), a mirror up switch 24 for forcibly retracting a mirror in the camera body 3 from a shooting optical path, a release switch 25, and the like. Is attached. The multiple exposure mode is for exposing the same frame a plurality of times without feeding the film.

A battery pack 27 serving as a power source for the camera 2 is attached to the other side of the camera body 3. The battery pack 27 is connected to a power supply circuit 13 formed in the camera body 3 and supplies power to the camera body 3, the film holder 4, and the AE finder 6.

On the upper surface of the camera 3, a liquid crystal panel 29 is provided for displaying the status of the camera, such as whether or not it can be photographed, and for displaying warnings and errors such as the remaining battery power and abnormal exposure. Behind the liquid crystal panel 29, a backlight 3 for illuminating the liquid crystal panel 29 so that the display contents can be checked even in a dark place.
0 is incorporated. In the vicinity of the liquid crystal panel 29, a backlight switch 31, which is a lighting switch for lighting the backlight 30, is provided. The backlight switch 31 also functions as a power switch of the AE finder 6.

The focus adjustment mechanism 8 includes a base 33 attached to the lower surface of the main body 8 and a pair of focusing rails 3 protruding forward from the base 33.
4 and 35, and a slide portion 36 which is movable along the focusing rails 34 and 35 and has the above-mentioned lens board 10 mounted on the upper portion thereof. An operation knob 37 that is operated to move the slide portion 36 along the focusing rails 34 and 35 is rotatably attached to the side of the slide portion 36. When the operation knob 37 is rotated, the slide portion 36 moves along the focusing rails 34 and 35, and the focus is adjusted by changing the distance between the camera body 3 and the lens unit 5.

The lens board 10 is mounted on a frame 39 mounted on an upper part of the slide 36. The frame portion 39 is slidable and rotatable in a left-right direction orthogonal to the sliding direction of the slide portion 36. The lens board 10 is attached to the frame unit 39 so as to be rotatable in a vertical direction perpendicular to the rotation direction of the frame unit 39. Thereby, the camera 2 can perform tilting shooting with a high degree of freedom.

The main body MPU 12 controls each part of the camera body 3 and also controls the connected lens unit 5, film holder 4, and AE finder 6. In particular, the photometric data input from the AE finder 6 and the lens unit 5 are controlled. Processing such as calculating an appropriate shutter speed from the aperture value data and the film sensitivity data is performed. This body MPU
Reference numeral 12 denotes a circuit for driving and controlling a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a shutter, a film holder 4, and an AE finder 6.
A circuit for controlling the input and output of signals to and from the liquid crystal panel 29
And an A / D converter.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. When the film holder 4, in which a photo film is loaded, the lens unit 5, and the AE finder 6 are mounted on the camera body 3, and the mode switching dial 23 is operated to turn on the power of the camera 2, the camera body 3 is built into the camera body 3. The MPU 12 detects an imaging unit connected to each imaging unit via a connector, and supplies power from the power supply circuit 13.

The AE finder 6 is turned on by operating the backlight switch 31 while the power of the camera 2 is on. In this state, release switch 1
9 is pressed halfway, the light receiving element 15 is driven, and the luminance signal output from the light receiving element 15 is subjected to electrical processing such as A / D conversion by the AE finder control circuit 16 and then converted as photometric data. It is input to the main body MPU12.

The main body MPU 12 calculates an appropriate shutter speed value based on the input photometric data, the aperture value data of the lens unit 5, and exposure determination data such as film sensitivity data. And, in the aperture priority AE mode,
This shutter speed value is displayed as it is on the liquid crystal panel 19 in the finder together with the aperture value of the lens unit 5 and the like. In the manual mode, the difference from the shutter speed value set by the shutter speed adjustment dial 22 is displayed. In addition, the liquid crystal panel 19 displays whether or not the AE lock mode is set. The input of the photometric data to the main body MPU 12 is executed at short intervals (for example, at intervals of 0.1 second) while the AE finder 6 is in the ON state.
The display information on the liquid crystal panel 19 is updated in real time.

Next, for example, the shutter speed adjusting dial 22 is operated to set the aperture priority AE mode, and the mode switching dial 23 is operated to set the continuous shooting mode. Then, the main subject is framed at the center of the screen, and the AE lock switch 17 is pressed. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 1, the mode switching dial 23 is operated to change the feed mode from the continuous shooting mode to the single-frame shooting mode or the multiple exposure mode, or the AE lock switch 17 is pressed again to operate the AE lock switch. Until the lock mode is released, the AE finder control circuit 16 holds the photometry data of the main subject.

When the release switch 25 is turned on after freely changing the framing, the release switch 2
While turning on 5, "Shutter closed → Mirror raised → A
The shutter of the lens unit 5 opens and closes at the shutter speed calculated from the E-locked photometric data, the aperture value data of the lens unit 5, and the film sensitivity data → the mirror descends →
A continuous shooting sequence in which a plurality of cycles are repeated with one cycle of “single frame feed → shutter open” as one cycle is executed.

When the on-operation of the release switch 25 is stopped, the continuous shooting sequence is stopped at the end of one cycle at this time. Then, when the release switch 25 is turned on without performing any release operation of the AE lock mode,
Subsequently, continuous shooting is performed using the same photometric data. The shutter speed is not calculated each time, but is used immediately after entering the AE lock mode, and is used until the AE lock mode is released.

In the single-frame shooting mode, for example, when framing the main subject not in the center of the screen, first frame the main subject in the center of the screen, and then press the AE lock switch 17 to operate the AE. Lock. And after changing to the desired framing,
When the release switch 17 is turned on to perform photographing, the AE lock mode is automatically released after one frame is fed.

Thus, in the one-frame shooting mode in which the shooting conditions often change each time, the AE lock is automatically released each time one frame is completed, and the exposure failure due to forgetting to release the AE lock occurs. Is prevented beforehand. Further, by operating the mode switching dial 23 from the single-frame shooting mode to change the feed mode to the continuous shooting mode or the multiple exposure mode,
When the AE lock switch 17 is pressed again, the AE lock mode is released even before photographing.

In the embodiment described above, the metering method of the AE finder is the center-weighted metering. However, for example, only the narrow center of the screen may be metered, and the periphery of the screen may be spot metered without metering. It may be possible to switch between part-weighted metering and spot metering.

The above embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to a single-lens reflex camera with a detachable film holder and a finder detachable type using a brownie type photographic film. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, 135
The present invention can also be applied to a finder fixed camera in which a photographic film of a type or the like is loaded in the camera body.

[0036]

As described above, according to the AE finder and the camera of the present invention, when the continuous shooting mode and the AE lock mode are set, the AE lock mode is kept as it is, and the single-frame shooting mode and the AE lock mode are used. In one case, the AE lock mode is released when one frame shooting is completed. Therefore, in the one frame shooting mode in which shooting conditions often change each time, the AE lock mode is set every time one frame shooting is completed. The mode is automatically released, the usability of the AE lock mode can be improved, and exposure failure due to forgetting to release the AE lock mode can be prevented beforehand, and unexpected exposure mistakes can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a processing sequence in an AE lock mode by an AE finder according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a camera equipped with an AE finder.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Camera 3 Camera main body 6 AE finder 12 Main body MPU 15 Light receiving element 16 AE finder control circuit 17 AE lock switch

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Kotobuki Hamada 3-13-45 Izumi, Asaka-shi, Saitama Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tokuji Sato 3-13-45 Izumi, Asaka-shi, Saitama Fuji Photo F-term (reference) in Film Co., Ltd. 2H002 AB03 GA05 HA13

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A single-frame shooting mode in which only one frame is exposed by one shutter release operation and a continuous shooting mode in which a plurality of frames are continuously exposed by one continuous shutter release operation can be selected. An AE finder provided in the camera body of a single-lens reflex camera and provided with an AE lock mode for holding photometry data at a predetermined operation. Shooting mode and A
An AE finder that releases the AE lock mode when one frame shooting is completed in the E lock mode. 2. A single-frame shooting mode in which only one frame is exposed by one shutter release operation and a continuous shooting mode in which a plurality of frames are continuously exposed by one continuous shutter release operation can be selected. In a camera provided with an AE lock mode for holding photometry data at a predetermined operation, when the continuous shooting mode and the AE lock mode are set, the AE lock mode is maintained as it is, and the single-frame shooting mode and the A
A camera characterized in that when in the E lock mode, the AE lock mode is released when one frame shooting is completed.