JP2000147612A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera capable of appropriately illuminating a subject, even at short-distance photographing. SOLUTION: A camera main body is provided with an illumination means 2A. The illumination means 2A is provided with a shaft 15, a strobe light emitting part 3 for emitting strobe light, a 1st irradiation window 4, a casing 6, an optical fiber 7 and a 2nd irradiation window 5. The part 3 can be turned interlocked with a mode possessed by the camera. The optical path of the strobe light from the part 3 communicates with the window 4 when the camera is set to an ordinary photographing mode, and it communicates with the window 5 when the camera is set to the short distance photographing mode. The strobe light is guided to the window 5 through the optical fiber 7 with which the casing 6 is filled.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Many cameras are equipped with a strobe in order to enable photographing under conditions where brightness required for photographing cannot be obtained.

When taking a photograph under such conditions, the photograph is taken by emitting a flash.

Incidentally, some cameras include a short-distance shooting mode (macro mode) in addition to a normal shooting mode in order to properly shoot even when the distance between the camera and the subject is short (during short-distance shooting). (A shooting mode), and at the time of short-distance shooting, a photographer switches to the short-distance shooting mode and shoots a photograph.

However, if a photograph is taken with a strobe light emitted during close-up photography, the subject is sometimes irradiated with the strobe light obliquely, so that the subject may be shadowed and the subject may not be photographed properly.

For this reason, in a conventional camera, flash emission is prohibited during close-up photography.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera which can properly illuminate a subject even at the time of close-up shooting.

[0008]

This and other objects are achieved by the present invention which is defined below as (1) to (15).

(1) A camera capable of projecting illumination light to a subject at the time of photographing and capable of switching between a normal photographing mode and a short-distance photographing mode, wherein a photographing lens for forming an image of the subject is provided; A light-emitting unit that emits illumination light, a first irradiation window that is located at a distance from the imaging lens and emits the illumination light, and a second illumination window that is located near the imaging lens and emits the illumination light The irradiation window and the optical path of the illumination light from the light emitting unit are switched to a direction leading to the first irradiation window in the normal shooting mode, and to the second irradiation window in the short-distance shooting mode. A camera comprising: an optical path switching unit capable of switching between directions.

(2) The light emitting section is installed near the first irradiation window, and has a light guiding means for guiding illumination light from the light emitting section to the second irradiation window. 1)
The camera according to.

(3) The light guide means comprises:
The camera according to the above (2), which has a function of guiding light substantially uniformly over the entire second irradiation window.

(4) The camera according to (2) or (3), wherein the light guide means is mainly constituted by an optical fiber.

(5) The camera according to (2) or (3), wherein the light guide means is mainly constituted by an optical element capable of bending an optical path.

(6) The camera according to (5), wherein the optical element is a reflector.

(7) The camera according to the above (6), wherein the reflector includes a reflector that irregularly reflects.

(8) The above (2) to (7) having an image pickup unit between the light guide means and the second irradiation window.
The camera according to any one of the above.

(9) The camera according to (8), wherein a reflection plate is provided on a back surface of the imaging unit.

(10) The camera according to (8) or (9), wherein the imaging unit includes an imaging device.

(11) The second irradiation window has an annular shape surrounding the taking lens.
0) The camera according to any one of the above.

(12) The camera according to any one of (1) to (11), wherein the first irradiation window and / or the second irradiation window has a diffusion plate.

(13) The optical path switching means has a mechanism for rotating the light emitting section.
The camera according to any one of 2).

(14) The camera according to any one of (1) to (13), wherein the optical path switching means is linked to a switch for switching between the normal shooting mode and the short-distance shooting mode.

(15) The camera according to any one of (1) to (14), wherein the light emitting unit is a strobe light emitting unit.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the camera of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the camera 1A of the present invention
Has a camera body 100A, and the camera body 100A
Is the light emission mode selection switch 17 and the release button 1
6, a lever 14A, a photographing lens (lens group) 13 provided in front of the camera body 100A to form an image of a subject, and a photographing lens 13 provided inside the front side of the camera body 100A. It has an image pickup unit 12 for picking up an image of a subject, and a lighting unit 2A.

The release button 16 provided on the upper surface of the camera body 100A is constituted by a two-stage switch.
When the first step of the release button 16 is pressed, the camera 1
A photometering means and focusing means (not shown) of A are driven, and the camera 1A performs photometry and automatic focusing. Further, when the second stage of the release button 16 is pressed, the camera 1A takes a picture.

The light emitting mode selection switch 17 provided on the upper surface of the camera body 100A is slidable left and right in FIG. By sliding the light emission mode selection switch 17, the strobe light emission mode of the camera 1A can be selected from any of the forced light emission mode, the automatic light emission mode, and the non-light emission mode. Note that the forced light emission mode is a mode in which flash light emission (drive of the light source 31 of the flash light emitting unit 3 described later) is always performed regardless of the result of light measurement by the light measurement unit. The automatic flash mode is a mode in which a flash (flash) is emitted when the CPU (not shown) of the camera 1A determines that the exposure is insufficient as a result of the photometry. The non-light-emission mode is a mode in which strobe light is not always emitted regardless of the result of the photometry.

Light from the subject passes through the light-blocking space of the image pickup unit 12 after passing through the photographing lens 13, and is provided at the back of the image pickup unit 12, and is coupled to the light receiving surface of the image pickup device 121 composed of a CCD. Image (see FIG. 3). The driving of the image sensor 121 is controlled by a driver (not shown). In the camera 1A, when the second step of the release button 16 is pressed, a shutter (not shown) of the imaging unit 12 is opened, and an exposure operation is performed in the imaging unit 12 under predetermined exposure conditions.
In each pixel of the image sensor 121, a charge corresponding to the light amount corresponding to the subject image is accumulated. The stored electric charges are sequentially transmitted, subjected to signal processing, and taken into a memory (not shown) as image data. In this way, the camera 1A captures the subject as an electronic image.

The camera 1A can switch between two photographing modes, that is, a normal photographing mode and a short distance photographing mode (macro photographing mode). The short-range shooting mode is used when the distance between the camera and the subject is short (for example, 10
This is a mode for making it possible to preferably perform photographing at a distance of about 100 cm). The normal shooting mode is a mode for suitably shooting at other times (for example, when the distance is 100 cm to ∞).

The switching between the normal photographing mode and the short distance photographing mode is performed by rotating the lever 14A provided on the upper surface of the camera body 100A by 90 degrees. The back side of this lever 14A (the inside side of the camera body 100A)
Switch section 14 provided inside camera body 100A
1 and the switch piece 142.

When the lever 14A is turned to the front side (front side in FIG. 1) of the camera body 100A, the back side of the lever 14A comes into contact with the switch piece 141. Meanwhile, lever 1
4A on the back side (back side in FIG. 1) of camera body 100A.
When the lever 14A is turned by 0 °, the back side of the lever 14A comes into contact with the switch piece 142.

When the back side of the lever 14A comes into contact with the switch section 141, the photographing lens 13 is in a state corresponding to the normal photographing mode. On the other hand, when the back side of the lever 14A comes into contact with the switch section 142, short-range photographing is performed. It becomes a state corresponding to the mode. That is, when the lever 14A is turned to the front side of the camera body 100A, the camera 1A is set to the normal shooting mode. On the other hand, when the lever 14A is turned 90 ° to the back side of the camera body 100A, the camera 1A is used for short-distance shooting. Mode.

The lever 14A is connected to a shaft 15 of the illumination means (flash unit) 2A. Hereinafter, the illumination means 2A will be described in detail.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the illumination means 2A of the camera body 100A, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the illumination means 2A of the camera body 100A.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
A is a shaft 15 and a strobe light emitting unit 3 for emitting strobe light.
, A first irradiation window 4, a casing 6, an optical fiber (light guiding means) 7, and a second irradiation window 5. The main member of the illumination means 2A is provided on the front side inside the camera body 100A. The first irradiation window 4 and the second irradiation window 5 are provided on the front of the camera body 100A (see FIG. 1).

The first irradiation window 4 has a substantially rectangular shape, and is provided at a position separated from the taking lens 13 by a predetermined distance. Then, in the normal photographing mode, the strobe light (illumination light) emitted from the strobe light emitting unit 3 is emitted from the first irradiation window 4.

The first irradiation window 4 is provided with a diffusion plate. Therefore, the strobe light emitted from the strobe light emitting unit 3 diffuses in the first irradiation window 4 and is irradiated over a wide range. Thus, the strobe light from the camera 1A is illuminated on the subject as necessary, sufficiently and uniformly.

In the vicinity of the first irradiation window 4, there is provided a light source (Xe tube) 31 for emitting strobe light, and a reflector (reflection shade) 32 for reflecting the strobe light in a predetermined direction. Unit 3 is provided. The strobe light emitting unit 3 is attached to a shaft 15 and is rotatable about the shaft 15.

This shaft 15 is, as described above,
4A. Therefore, the rotation of the lever 14 </ b> A is transmitted to the strobe light emitting unit 3 via the shaft 15.
That is, the lever 14A, the shaft 15, and the strobe light emitting unit 3 rotate integrally.

When the lever 14A is rotated to the front of the camera body 100A, that is, when the camera 1A is in the normal photographing mode, the opening 33 of the reflector 32 of the strobe light emitting unit 3 is set to the first position. It faces the direction of the irradiation window 4. That is, when the camera 1 </ b> A is in the normal shooting mode, the optical path of the strobe light communicates with the first irradiation window 4.

On the other hand, the lever 14A is
A, the camera 1A
However, in the case of the short-distance shooting mode, as shown in FIG.
The opening 33 of the strobe light emitting unit 3 faces the base end surface of the optical fiber 7. That is, when the camera 1A is in the short-range shooting mode, the optical path of the strobe light communicates with the second irradiation window 5 as described later.

As described above, since the lever 14A is connected to the flash unit 3 via the shaft 15, the lever 14A
The strobe light emitting unit 3 moves in conjunction with the movement of A, and the light path of the strobe light switches. That is, in the camera 1A, the lever 14A and the shaft 15 constitute an optical path switching unit that switches the optical path of the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 3.

A large number of optical fibers 7 are provided inside the casing 6 as light guiding means for guiding the strobe light from the strobe light emitting section 3 to the second irradiation window 5.

The base end of each optical fiber 7 is bundled,
It is installed near the strobe light emitting unit 3. For this reason,
When the opening 33 of the strobe light emitting unit 3 faces the base end surface of the optical fiber 7, that is, when the camera 1A is in the short-distance shooting mode, the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 3 enters the optical fiber 7. Further, since the base ends of the optical fibers 7 are bundled, the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 3 efficiently enters each optical fiber 7.

The tip of each optical fiber 7 is connected to the second irradiation window 5
Has been extended to the back. Therefore, the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 3 is transmitted through the optical fiber 7 to the second strobe light.
The light is guided to the irradiation window 5. Further, the tips of the optical fibers 7 are uniformly distributed over the second irradiation window 5. Therefore, the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 3 is
The light is guided substantially uniformly over the entire second irradiation window 5.

The strobe light guided to the second irradiation window 5 by each optical fiber 7 passes through the second irradiation window 5 and is emitted from the second irradiation window 5.

The second irradiation window 5 has a substantially annular shape that covers the periphery of the taking lens 13. That is, the second irradiation window 5
In a manner such that the taking lens 13 is located at the center of
An irradiation window 5 is provided.

The second irradiation window 5 is provided with a diffusion plate. Therefore, the light is emitted from the strobe light emitting unit 3,
The strobe light guided to the second irradiation window 5 by the optical fiber 7 is diffused in the second irradiation window 5 and irradiated over a wide range.
Thus, the strobe light from the camera 1A is uniformly applied to the subject.

As described above, the camera 1A has the second irradiation window 5 near the taking lens 13. At the time of close-up shooting in which the distance between the camera and the subject is short, the camera 1A can emit strobe light from the second irradiation window 5 near the shooting lens 13 by setting the camera 1A to the short-range shooting mode.

For this reason, in the camera 1A of the present invention, unlike the conventional camera, the strobe light does not enter the subject from an oblique direction, so that the shadow of the strobe light (parallax) And shadows due to vignetting) do not occur. For this reason, close-up photography can be suitably performed by appropriate illumination.

Further, the second irradiation window 5 is connected to the photographing lens 1.
3, the strobe light is uniformly applied to the object regardless of whether the camera 1A is held in the horizontal direction and the image is held in the vertical direction. It will be irradiated. For this reason, close-up photography can be performed more suitably.

When the tip of the optical fiber 7 is uniformly dispersed over the entire back surface of the second irradiation window 5, the strobe light is substantially uniformly guided over the entire second irradiation window 5, and further, the second irradiation Strobe light is uniformly emitted from the window 5.
Therefore, the subject can be more uniformly irradiated with the strobe light, and the close-up shooting can be performed more suitably.

Further, by using an optical fiber as the light guide means, the degree of freedom in setting the light guide path is increased, and the light path design of the illumination means 2A and the photographing optical system becomes easy. Also,
The blocking of the strobe light from the imaging unit 12 can also be performed with a relatively simple configuration.

The image pickup device 121 of the image pickup unit 12
Is constituted by a CCD, so that the imaging unit 12
The degree of freedom in arranging various members around is increased.
For example, when an optical fiber is used as the light guiding means, the optical fiber can be freely arranged around the imaging unit 12, so that it becomes easy to guide the strobe light almost uniformly over the entire second irradiation window 5. .

In the optical path switching means, since the strobe light emitting unit 3 rotates in conjunction with the lever 14A, when the operator turns the lever 14A to set the camera 1A in the short-distance photographing mode, the operation is stopped. In conjunction with this, the flash unit 3
The optical path of the strobe light radiated from the illuminator leads to the second irradiation window 5. Therefore, the operator does not need to separately perform an operation of switching the optical path of the strobe light when the camera 1A is set in the short-distance shooting mode, so that the operation of the camera 1A is simplified.

Hereinafter, the operation of the camera 1A of the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the lever 14A is turned to the front side (the front side in FIG. 1) of the camera body 100A, the back side of the lever 14A comes into contact with the switch piece 141, and the camera 1A is normally turned. The camera enters the shooting mode. At this time,
The strobe light emitting unit 3 rotates in the direction of the first irradiation window 4 with the rotation of the lever 14A.

Next, when the first step of the release button 16 of the camera body 100A is pressed, photometry and automatic focusing are performed. When the second step of the release button 16 is pressed, the shutter of the image pickup unit 12 is opened, and The exposure operation is performed under the following exposure conditions.

At this time, when the camera 1A is in the forced light emission mode or in the automatic light emission mode, when the light metering determines that the exposure is insufficient, the strobe light emitting section 3 emits light.

The strobe light generated by this light emission is the first
The light is emitted from the irradiation window 4 and irradiates the subject.

The reflected light from the subject passes through the photographing lens 13, passes through the image pickup unit 12, forms an image on the light receiving surface of the image pickup element 121, and is applied to each pixel of the image pickup element 121.
Electric charges corresponding to the amount of light corresponding to the subject image are accumulated. The stored electric charges are sequentially transmitted, subjected to signal processing, and taken into a memory as image data. Thus, an image of the subject is captured.

Next, the lever 14A is moved to the camera body 100A.
When it is turned 90 ° to the back side (the back side in FIG. 1), the lever 1
4A is in contact with the switch section 142, and the camera 1
A is a short-distance shooting mode. At this time, the strobe light emitting unit 3 rotates in the direction of the base end face of the optical fiber 7 with the rotation of the lever 14A.

Next, when the first step of the release button 16 of the camera body 100A is pressed, photometry and automatic focusing are performed. When the second step of the release button 16 is pressed, the shutter of the imaging unit 12 is opened, and The exposure operation is performed under the following exposure conditions.

At this time, when the camera 1A is in the forced light emission mode or when the camera 1A is in the automatic light emission mode and it is determined that the exposure is insufficient as a result of the photometry, the strobe light emitting section 3 emits light.

The strobe light generated by this light emission enters the base end of the optical fiber 7, passes through the inside of the optical fiber 7, and is guided to the back surface of the second irradiation window 5.

The strobe light guided to the second irradiation window 5 is emitted from the second irradiation window 5 and irradiates the subject.

Then, the reflected light from the subject passes through the imaging lens 13, passes through the imaging unit 12, and forms an image on the light receiving surface of the imaging element 121. Then, an image of the subject is photographed in the same manner as described above.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the camera of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the camera 1B of the present invention
Has a camera body 100B.
Is the light emission mode selection switch 17 and the release button 1
6, a lever 14B, a photographing lens (lens group) 13 provided in front of the camera body 100B to form an image of a subject, and a photographing lens 13 provided inside the front side of the camera body 100B. It has an image pickup unit 12 for picking up an image of a subject and an illuminating means 2B.

The release button 16 provided on the upper surface of the camera body 100B is constituted by a two-stage switch.
When the first step of the release button 16 is pressed, the camera 1
The photometering means and focusing means (not shown) of B are driven, and the camera 1B performs photometry and automatic focusing. When the second step of the release button 16 is pressed, the camera 1B takes a picture.

The light emitting mode selection switch 17 provided on the upper surface of the camera body 100B is slidable left and right in FIG. By sliding the light emission mode selection switch 17, the strobe light emission mode of the camera 1B can be selected from any of the forced light emission mode, the automatic light emission mode, and the non-light emission mode. Note that the forced light emission mode is a mode in which flash light emission (drive of the light source 31 of the flash light emitting unit 3 described later) is always performed regardless of the result of light measurement by the light measurement unit. The automatic light emission mode is a mode in which a strobe light is emitted when the CPU (not shown) of the camera 1B determines that the exposure is insufficient as a result of the photometry. The non-light-emission mode is a mode in which strobe light is not always emitted regardless of the result of the photometry.

After the light from the subject passes through the photographing lens 13, it passes through the light-shielded space of the image pickup unit 12, is provided at the back of the image pickup unit 12, and is coupled to the light receiving surface of the image pickup device 121 constituted by a CCD. (See FIG. 6). The driving of the image sensor 121 is controlled by a driver (not shown). In the camera 1B, when the second step of the release button 16 is pressed, a shutter (not shown) of the imaging unit 12 is opened, and the imaging unit 12 performs an exposure operation under predetermined exposure conditions.
In each pixel of the image sensor 121, a charge corresponding to the light amount corresponding to the subject image is accumulated. The stored electric charges are sequentially transmitted, subjected to signal processing, and taken into a memory (not shown) as image data. In the camera 1B, the subject is thus photographed as an electronic image.

The outer periphery of the image pickup unit 12 has a light-shielding structure in order to prevent strobe light from a strobe light emitting section 3 described later from entering the inside.

The camera 1B can switch between two shooting modes, that is, a normal shooting mode and a short-distance shooting mode (macro shooting mode). The short-range shooting mode is used when the distance between the camera and the subject is short (for example, 10
This is a mode for making it possible to preferably perform photographing at a distance of about 100 cm). The normal shooting mode is a mode for suitably shooting at other times (for example, when the distance is 100 cm to ∞).

The switching between the normal shooting mode and the short-distance shooting mode is performed by rotating the lever 14B provided on the upper surface of the camera body 100B by 180 °. The back side of this lever 14B (the inside of the camera body 100B)
Can contact the switch piece 141 and the switch piece 142 provided inside the camera body 100B.

When the lever 14B is turned to the front side (the front side in FIG. 4) of the camera body 100B, the back side of the lever 14B comes into contact with the switch piece 141. Meanwhile, lever 1
4B on the back side of camera body 100B (back side in FIG. 4).
When the lever 14B is turned by 80 °, the back side of the lever 14B comes into contact with the switch piece 142.

When the back side of the lever 14B comes into contact with the switch section 141, the photographing lens 13 is in a state corresponding to the normal photographing mode. On the other hand, when the back side of the lever 14B comes into contact with the switch section 142, short-range photographing is performed. It becomes a state corresponding to the mode. That is, when the lever 14B is turned to the front side of the camera body 100B, the camera 1B is in the normal shooting mode. On the other hand, when the lever 14B is turned 180 ° to the back side of the camera body 100B, the camera 1B is turned.
Indicates a short-distance shooting mode.

The lever 14B is connected to a shaft 15 of the illumination means (flash unit) 2B. Hereinafter, the illumination means 2B will be described in detail.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the lighting means 2B of the camera body 100B, FIG. 6 is a front view of the lighting means 2B of the camera body 100B, and FIG.
It is a top view of the illumination means 2B which has. In addition, FIG.
It is the figure seen from the back side of camera 1B.

As shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the illumination means 2B comprises a shaft 15, a strobe light emitting section 3 for emitting strobe light, a first irradiation window 4, a casing 6, a first light guide plate, 10, a second light guide plate 11, a second irradiation window 5, and a first reflector 8 and a second reflector 9 as light guide means.
The main members of the illumination means 2B are provided inside the camera body 100B. The first irradiation window 4 and the second irradiation window 5
Is provided on the front of the camera body 100B (FIG. 4).
reference).

The first irradiation window 4 has a substantially rectangular shape, and is provided at a position separated from the photographing lens 13 by a predetermined distance. Then, in the normal photographing mode, the strobe light (illumination light) emitted from the strobe light emitting unit 3 is emitted from the first irradiation window 4.

The first irradiation window 4 is provided with a diffusion plate. Therefore, the strobe light emitted from the strobe light emitting unit 3 diffuses in the first irradiation window 4 and is irradiated over a wide range. Thus, the strobe light from the camera 1B is radiated on the subject as necessary, sufficiently and uniformly.

In the vicinity of the first irradiation window 4, there is provided a light source (Xe tube) 31 for emitting strobe light, and a reflector (reflection shade) 32 for reflecting the strobe light in a predetermined direction. Unit 3 is provided. The strobe light emitting unit 3 is attached to a shaft 15 and is rotatable about the shaft 15.

As described above, the shaft 15 is connected to the lever 1
4B. Therefore, the rotation of the lever 14 </ b> B is transmitted to the strobe light emitting unit 3 via the shaft 15.
That is, the lever 14B, the shaft 15, and the strobe light emitting unit 3 rotate integrally.

When the lever 14B is turned to the front of the camera body 100B, that is, when the camera 1B is in the normal photographing mode, the opening 33 of the reflector 32 of the strobe light emitting unit 3 is set to the first position. It faces the direction of the irradiation window 4. That is, when the camera 1 </ b> B is in the normal photographing mode, the optical path of the strobe light communicates with the first irradiation window 4.

On the other hand, the lever 14B is
B, the camera 1B
However, in the case of the short-distance shooting mode, as shown in FIG.
The opening 33 of the strobe light emitting unit 3 is oriented in the opposite direction to that in the normal photographing mode (rotated by 180 °). That is, in the case of the short-range shooting mode, the opening 33 of the strobe light emitting unit 3 faces the direction of the first reflecting plate 8, and the optical path of the strobe light passes through the second irradiation window 5 as described later. I understand.

As described above, since the lever 14B is connected to the strobe light emitting unit 3 via the shaft 15, the lever 14B
The strobe light emitting section 3 moves in conjunction with the movement of B, and the optical path of the strobe light switches. That is, in the camera 1B, the lever 14B and the shaft 15 constitute an optical path switching unit that switches the optical path of the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 3.

The casing 6 is provided on the camera body 100B on the back side (lower side in FIG. 6) of the flash unit 3 and the imaging unit 12. The inner space of the casing 6 is provided with a light guide path 6 serving as an optical path when the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 3 is guided to the second irradiation window 5.
1.

The inner side surface (surface parallel to the axis 15) of the casing 6 on the side of the strobe light emitting unit 3 (near the strobe light emitting unit 3), that is, the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 3 enters the light guide path 61. The first reflection plate (reflection mirror) 8 is provided there. The first reflecting plate 8 can totally reflect light. Therefore, the strobe light emitting unit 3
Is reflected by the first reflecting plate 8, its optical path is bent by approximately 90 °, and passes through the inside of the light guide path 61.

On the other hand, the inner side surface of the casing 6 on the side of the second irradiation window 5 (near the imaging unit 12), that is, where the strobe light from the strobe light emitting section 3 is emitted from the light guide path 61, A plate (reflection mirror) 9 is provided. The second reflector 9 reflects the strobe light that has passed through the light guide path 61 toward the back surface of the second irradiation window 5.

On the reflection surface 91 of the second reflection plate 9, a large number of minute projections 92 are arranged. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the protrusion 92 is formed of a prism having a pyramid shape. The base 921 of each projection 92 is
It is in contact with the bottom side 921 of the adjacent projection 92. Each corner 922 of the bottom 921 of the projection 92 is in contact with a corner 922 of the bottom 921 of another projection 92.

Further, the ridge line 923 of each projection 92 is parallel or perpendicular to the optical axis Q of the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 3 in the plan view in FIG. The vertex 924 of each protrusion 92 is indicated by the optical axis Q in the plan view in FIG.
Are arranged at equal intervals in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the line.
A plurality of the rows are provided, and vertices 924 of adjacent rows of the plurality of the provided rows are shifted by a half pitch in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis Q in the plan view in FIG. Have been. That is, the vertices 924 of the projections 92 forming the even-numbered rows are arranged along the optical axis Q direction, and the vertices 924 of the projections 92 forming the odd-numbered rows are also
They are arranged in the direction of the optical axis Q and are shifted by a half pitch.

With such a configuration, each protrusion 92 is
The reflection surface 91 of the reflection plate 9 is covered without any gap.

Therefore, the second reflector 9 can efficiently diffuse (irregularly reflect) the strobe light from the strobe light emitting section 3. Since the second reflector 9 can efficiently diffuse the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 3,
The second reflection plate 9 can guide the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 3 almost uniformly over the entire second irradiation window 5.

Further, since the light guide path 61 (casing 6) is located on the inner side of the camera body 100B than the imaging unit 12, the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 3 can go around the back of the imaging unit 12. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 6, even if the imaging unit 12 is located between the second reflection plate 9 (light guide means) and the second irradiation window 5, the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 3 is used. Light can be guided substantially uniformly over the entire second irradiation window 5.

Further, as shown in FIG.
2, the second surface of the imaging unit 12,
A third surface similar to the second reflector 9 is provided on the surface facing the reflector 9.
A reflection plate 18 is provided. For this reason, the strobe light that has reached the back of the imaging unit 12
8 again reflects in the direction of the second reflector 9. For this reason, the strobe light emitted from the strobe light emitting unit 3
There is no significant attenuation on the back of the imaging unit 12.
Thus, the camera 1B can emit the strobe light emitted from the strobe light emitting unit 3 from the second irradiation window 5 without significantly reducing the light amount.

Further, a pair of first light guide plates 10 are provided on the upper surface and the bottom surface (surface perpendicular to the side surface) of the casing 6 on the side of the second irradiation window 5 (near the imaging unit 12). A cylindrical second light guide plate 11 that functions as a cover is provided between the casing 6 and the second irradiation window 5.

The first light guide plate 10 and the second light guide plate 1
1, furthermore, the inner wall surface of the casing 6 can reflect light. For this reason, the strobe light emitted from the strobe light emitting unit 3 is applied to the inner wall surface of the casing 6 and the first light guide plate 1.
Since the light is also reflected by the first light guide plate 11 and the second light guide plate 11, the light is guided to the second reflector plate 9 without being greatly attenuated.

The strobe light guided to the second irradiation window 5 by the light guide means passes through the second irradiation window 5 and is emitted from the second irradiation window 5.

The second irradiation window 5 has a substantially annular shape that covers the periphery of the taking lens 13. That is, the second irradiation window 5
In a manner such that the taking lens 13 is located at the center of
An irradiation window 5 is provided.

The second irradiation window 5 is provided with a diffusion plate. Therefore, the light is emitted from the strobe light emitting unit 3,
The strobe light guided to the second irradiation window 5 by the light guide means is diffused in the second irradiation window 5 and is irradiated over a wide range. Thus, the subject is uniformly irradiated with the strobe light from the camera 1B.

As described above, the camera 1 B has the second irradiation window 5 near the taking lens 13. Then, at the time of close-up shooting in which the distance between the camera and the subject is short, the camera 1B can emit strobe light from the second irradiation window 5 near the shooting lens 13 by setting the camera 1B to the short-range shooting mode.

For this reason, in the camera 1B of the present invention, unlike the conventional camera, the strobe light does not enter the subject from an oblique direction, so that a shadow (parallax or vignetting) is applied to the subject during close-up photography. Shadow) does not occur. For this reason, close-up photography with appropriate illumination can be performed.

Further, the second irradiation window 5 is provided with the taking lens 1
If the object 3 is formed in an annular shape, the subject is uniformly irradiated with the strobe light regardless of whether the subject is photographed with the camera 1B held vertically or vertically. Become like For this reason, close-up photography can be performed more suitably.

If the second reflector 9 has irregularities, the strobe light from the strobe light emitting section 3 is guided substantially uniformly over the entire second irradiation window 5, and furthermore,
The strobe light is uniformly irradiated from the irradiation window 5. Therefore, the subject can be more uniformly irradiated with the strobe light, and the close-up shooting can be performed more suitably.

Further, since the light guide path 61 (casing 6) is located closer to the inside of the camera body 100B than the image pickup unit 12, that is, the image pickup unit 12 is located between the light guide means and the second irradiation window 5, the strobe light is emitted. Since the strobe light from the light emitting unit 3 can wrap around the back of the imaging unit 12, the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 3 can be guided substantially uniformly over the entire second irradiation window 5.

The image pickup device 121 of the image pickup unit 12
Is constituted by a CCD, so that the imaging unit 12
The degree of freedom in arranging various members around is increased.
For this reason, it becomes easy to install the second reflection plate 9 and the like in the vicinity of the imaging unit 12, and the strobe light is transmitted to the photographing lens 1.
It becomes easy to guide the light to the second irradiation window 5 provided in the vicinity of the third irradiation window 3.

Hereinafter, the operation of the camera 1B of the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the lever 14B is turned to the front side (front side in FIG. 4) of the camera body 100B, the back side of the lever 14B comes into contact with the switch piece 141, and the camera 1B is normally turned. The camera enters the shooting mode. At this time,
The strobe light emitting unit 3 rotates in the direction of the first irradiation window 4 with the rotation of the lever 14B.

Next, when the first step of the release button 16 of the camera body 100B is pressed, photometry and automatic focusing are performed, and when the second step of the release button 16 is pressed, the shutter of the imaging unit 12 is opened, and The exposure operation is performed under the following exposure conditions.

At this time, when the camera 1B is in the forced light emission mode or in the automatic light emission mode, if it is determined that the exposure is insufficient as a result of the photometry, the strobe light emitting section 3 emits light.

The strobe light generated by this light emission is the first
The light is emitted from the irradiation window 4 and irradiates the subject.

Then, the reflected light from the subject passes through the image pickup unit 13, passes through the image pickup unit 12 and forms an image on the light receiving surface of the image pickup element 121.
Electric charges corresponding to the amount of light corresponding to the subject image are accumulated. The stored electric charges are sequentially transmitted, subjected to signal processing, and taken into a memory as image data. Thus, an image of the subject is captured.

Next, the lever 14B is moved to the camera body 100B.
When the camera 1B is rotated 180 degrees to the rear side (the rear side in FIG. 4), the back side of the lever 14B comes into contact with the switch piece 142, and the camera 1B enters the short-distance shooting mode. At this time, the strobe light emitting unit 3 rotates 180 ° in the direction of the first reflector 8 with the rotation of the lever 14B.

Next, when the first step of the release button 16 of the camera body 100A is pressed, photometry and automatic focusing are performed, and when the second step of the release button 16 is pressed, the shutter of the imaging unit 12 is opened, and The exposure operation is performed under the following exposure conditions.

At this time, when the camera 1B is in the forced light emission mode or in the automatic light emission mode, if the photometry determines that the exposure is insufficient, the strobe light emitting section 3 emits light.

The strobe light generated by this light emission is the first
The light is reflected by the reflection plate 8, and its optical path is bent by approximately 90 °, and passes through the light guide path 61. Then, the light is reflected again by the second reflection plate 9, its optical path is bent by approximately 90 °, and the light is guided to the back surface of the second irradiation window 5. At this time, part of the strobe light reaches the inner side surface of the casing 6, the third reflector 18, the first light guide plate 10, and the second light guide plate 11, but the inner side surface of the casing 6, the third reflector 18 Since the strobe light is reflected by the first light guide plate 10 and the second light guide plate 11 as well,
The light is guided to the back surface of the irradiation window 5.

The strobe light guided to the second irradiation window 5 is emitted from the second irradiation window 5 and irradiates the subject.

[0120] The reflected light from the subject passes through the imaging lens 13 and then passes through the imaging unit 12 to form an image on the light receiving surface of the imaging element 121. Then, an image of the subject is photographed in the same manner as described above.

Although the present invention has been described based on the preferred embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

For example, the second irradiation window may have an annular shape other than an annular shape. Furthermore, the second irradiation window is
It does not have to be annular. For example, the second irradiation window
It may be a pair of irradiation windows provided on both sides of the taking lens.

For example, in the above-described embodiment (especially the second embodiment), a reflection plate is used as an optical element capable of bending the optical path. However, instead of the reflection plate, for example, a prism or the like is used. Is also good.

Furthermore, the light guide means may be a combination of a reflector and a prism. Further, the light guide means may be a combination of a reflection plate and an optical fiber.

Further, in the above embodiment, the strobe light is described as an example of the illumination light. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a continuous light such as a video light may be used instead of the strobe light. Good. That is, in the present invention, a light emitting unit such as a video light can be suitably used as the light emitting unit in addition to the strobe light emitting unit.

In the above embodiment, a so-called digital camera has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, it can be suitably used for a camera that exposes to a silver halide film, a video camera that shoots a moving image, and the like.

[0127]

As described above, according to the present invention, at the time of close-up photographing, a shadow due to illumination light does not occur on a subject. For this reason, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a camera capable of suitably performing short-range shooting.

Further, when the second irradiation window is formed in a ring shape surrounding the taking lens, it is possible to irradiate the subject with illumination light without unevenness.

Further, by configuring the image pickup unit with an image pickup device, the degree of freedom when various members are arranged around the image pickup unit is increased. For this reason, it is easy to install the light guide means near the imaging unit, guide the illumination light to the second irradiation window provided near the taking lens, and uniformly emit the illumination light from the irradiation window. It becomes easy to do.

Further, if the light emitting unit for emitting the illumination light is linked to a switch for switching between the normal shooting mode and the short-distance shooting mode of the camera, the operation of the camera becomes easy.

In particular, when an optical fiber is used as the light guiding means, the optical path of the camera can be easily designed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the camera of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an illumination unit of the camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an illumination unit of the camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the camera of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an illumination unit of the camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an illumination unit of the camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a lighting unit of the camera shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing projections of a second reflector in the camera shown in FIG.

9 is a perspective view showing a projection of a second reflector in the camera shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1A, 1B Camera 100A, 100B Camera main body 2A, 2B Illumination means 3 Strobe light emitting part 31 Light source 32 Reflector 33 Opening 4 First irradiation window 5 Second irradiation window 6 Casing 61 Light guide path 7 Optical fiber 8 First reflection plate 9 Second Reflecting plate 91 Reflecting surface 92 Projection 921 Bottom 922 Corner 923 Edge line 924 Apex 10 First light guide plate 11 Second light guide plate 12 Imaging unit 121 Imaging device 13 Photographing lens 14A, 14B lever 141 Switch section 142 Switch section 15 axis 16 Release button 17 Emission mode selection switch 18 Third reflector

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A camera capable of projecting illumination light to a subject at the time of photographing and switching between a normal photographing mode and a short-range photographing mode, comprising: a photographing lens for forming an image of the subject; A light emitting unit that emits light; a first irradiation window that is located at a distance from the photographing lens and emits the illumination light; and a second irradiation that is located near the photographing lens and emits the illumination light. A window, an optical path of the illumination light from the light emitting unit is switched to a direction leading to the first irradiation window in the normal photographing mode, and a direction leading to the second irradiation window in the short distance photographing mode. And a light path switching means capable of switching between the two. 2. The light-emitting unit is provided near the first irradiation window, and has light-guiding means for guiding illumination light from the light-emitting unit to the second irradiation window. The camera according to. 3. The camera according to claim 2, wherein the light guiding means has a function of guiding the illumination light substantially uniformly to the entire second irradiation window. 4. The camera according to claim 2, wherein said light guide means is mainly constituted by an optical fiber. 5. The camera according to claim 2, wherein the light guiding means is mainly constituted by an optical element capable of bending an optical path. 6. The optical element according to claim 5, wherein the optical element is a reflector.
The camera according to. 7. The camera according to claim 6, wherein the reflector includes a reflector that irregularly reflects light. 8. The camera according to claim 2, further comprising an image pickup unit between said light guide means and said second irradiation window. 9. The camera according to claim 8, wherein a reflection plate is provided on a back surface of the imaging unit. 10. The camera according to claim 8, wherein the imaging unit includes an imaging device. 11. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the second irradiation window has an annular shape surrounding the taking lens. 12. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the first irradiation window and / or the second irradiation window has a diffusion plate. 13. The camera according to claim 1, wherein said optical path switching means has a mechanism for rotating said light emitting section. 14. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the optical path switching unit is linked to a switch for switching between the normal shooting mode and the short-distance shooting mode. 15. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting unit is a strobe light emitting unit.