JP2003304439A - Camera fittable with digital bag - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera that can be suppressed in current consumption, can be operated easily understandably, and can be used easily. <P>SOLUTION: This camera is provided with a control unit 40 which cuts off the power supply to the circuit of a digital bag 30 fitted to the main body 10 of this camera when the power supply switch of the main body 10 is turned off. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera to which a digital back can be attached, and more specifically, it can be used as a digital camera by replacing the back cover with a digital back when used as a silver salt film camera. The present invention relates to a camera to which a digital back can be attached.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a back cover of a silver halide film camera is a back cover equipped with an electronic image pickup device (hereinafter referred to as "digital back").
Say ), It is proposed that it can be used also as a digital camera.

[0003]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
Some have a power switch and some do not.

If the digital back is not provided with a power switch, a current will flow through the digital back just by checking the operation of the camera instead of shooting.

As a device for providing a power switch on the digital back, a digital back for medium and large format cameras has been proposed. The power switch of this digital back is
This is for the power supply provided in the digital back itself, and does not work with the camera body. Therefore, even if the power switch of the camera body is turned off, current remains flowing in the digital back unless the power switch of the digital back is turned off.

If the camera body and the digital back have a power switch, the operation must be easy to understand and easy to use.

Therefore, a technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a camera capable of suppressing current consumption, easy to operate, and easy to use.

[0008]

In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a camera having the following configuration.

The camera is of a type that can be used as a digital camera by replacing the back cover when used as a silver film camera with a digital back having an electronic image pickup device. The camera includes a control unit that disconnects power supply to a circuit of the digital back mounted on the camera body when the power switch of the camera body is turned off.

According to the above construction, when the power switch of the camera body is turned off, power is supplied to the circuit of the digital back regardless of whether the power switch of the digital back mounted on the camera body is on or off. Disconnect.
When the power switch of the camera body is turned off and the camera cannot take a picture, the digital back is not supplied with power, so that the current consumption can be suppressed. Moreover, since the power switch of the camera body is prioritized, the camera is easy to operate and easy to use.

In the above configuration, the power supply (for example, a battery) for supplying the circuit of the digital back, whether provided in the digital back itself or in the camera body, is supplied from outside the camera. Good.

[0012] Preferably, when the power switch is turned off, the control unit cuts off power supply to the circuit in the digital bag after the digital bag completes a predetermined operation.

With the above arrangement, power is supplied to the digital back until the digital back completes the predetermined operation. For example, when the electronic image pickup apparatus is performing image pickup or when image pickup data is being written in the recording medium, the power supply is cut off after the operations are completed. As a result, it is possible to prevent the data at the last shooting operation from being lost.

The present invention also provides a camera having the following configuration.

The camera is of a type that can be used as a digital camera by replacing the back cover when used as a silver salt film camera with a digital back equipped with an electronic image pickup device. For the camera, turn on the power switch of the digital back attached to the camera body.
When the digital back is set to an operation other than the photographing operation, the control unit starts the power supply to the circuit of the digital back.

According to the above construction, the operation other than the photographing operation which can be performed by the digital back alone (for example, reproduction of the recorded image data) is performed regardless of ON / OFF of the power switch provided in the camera body. It can be executed by turning on the power switch of the digital back. The operations that can be performed with the digital back alone can be executed immediately with simple operations, so the operations are easy to understand and easy to use. In addition, since it is not necessary to supply power to the camera body at times other than the shooting operation, it is possible to suppress current consumption.

In the above configuration, the power supply (for example, a battery) for supplying the circuit of the digital back, whether provided in the digital back itself or in the camera body, is supplied from the outside of the camera. Good. The control unit may be provided in the digital back or the camera body.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 9 is a general view of the camera as seen from the back. A back cover 20 for use as a silver film camera is attached to the camera body 10.

On the upper part of the camera body 10, an accessory shoe 11 for mounting an external flash, IS
An O setting dial 12, a finder window 18, a mode setting dial 13, a main switch 14, and a setting change dial 15 are arranged. A rewind button 16 for rewinding the film and an eye start ON / OFF switch 17 are arranged at the bottom of the camera body 10.

The back cover 20 is rotatably supported by the camera body 10 and is detachable from the camera body 10.
A film confirmation window 22, a display unit 24, a setting button 26, and an AF area selection switch 28 are arranged on the back cover 20.

FIG. 12 is an overall view of the camera body 10 when a digital back 30 for use as a digital camera is mounted instead of the back cover 20.

The digital back 30 has a memory card loading section 32 for loading a memory card for recording data such as images and voices, a liquid crystal monitor 34 for displaying photographed images, a setting button 36, a main switch and a mode dial. 37 and an AF area selection switch 38 are arranged.

Main switch and mode dial 37
Is a rotary dial with four positions,
It is possible to select one of a power-off of the digital back 30, a setup mode for performing various settings as a digital camera, a shooting mode for use as a digital camera, and a reproduction mode for reproducing an image. The power of the digital back 30 is turned on at a position other than the power off.

As shown in FIG. 13, the main switch 37
b and the mode dial 37a may be separated. The main switch 37b is a push-type ON / OFF switch. The mode dial 37a has a main switch 37b.
It is a rotary dial that is rotatably arranged around and has three positions, and can select one of a setup mode, a shooting mode, and a playback mode.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the digital back 30,
FIG. 11 is a rear view of the digital back 30.

The digital back 30 has an image pickup device base plate 39 on which the image pickup device is arranged. At one end of the body 31,
Engagement protrusion 30a that engages with the back cover engagement portion of the camera body 10
And a support portion 30b rotatably supported by the camera body 10 is provided at the other end. The digital back 30 includes an adjustment terminal 46 (see FIGS. 1 and 3), which will be described later, of the camera body 10 when the digital back 30 is closed.
A communication terminal 65 connected to the camera body 10 is provided.
And the digital back 30 can communicate with each other. The digital back 30 has a bulging portion 33 that is inserted into the cart chamber of the camera body 10, and the bulging portion 33 has a power terminal 56 and a DX terminal 55, which will be described later, of the camera body 10.
(See FIGS. 1 and 3) terminals 68,
69 is provided.

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of the camera body 10.

The camera CPU 40 includes a display unit 41, a photometry unit 42, a light control unit 43, a lens 44, and an external flash 4.
5, adjustment terminal 46, E ² PROM 47, DC / DC converter 48, battery check circuit 59, switches 50, diaphragm drive unit 51, shutter mechanical charge unit 5
2. The AF motor drive unit 53, the distance measuring sensor 54, and the DX terminal 55 are connected.

The camera CPU 40 is a microcomputer that controls all the operations (photometry, distance measurement, exposure operation, etc.) of the camera body 10, and has a processor and a rewritable memory (RAM 40a and flash memory 40b) built therein. The camera CPU 40 operates according to a program stored in the flash memory 40b. Camera body 10
Is shipped as a product with the program for the silver halide film camera stored in the flash memory 40b. The program stored in the flash memory 40b is rewritten as necessary, as described later in detail. Data is temporarily stored in the RAM 40a.

The display section 41 is a section for displaying the state of the camera. The photometry unit 42 and the light control unit 43 obtain information on the exposure of the camera. The camera CPU 40 performs the exposure calculation based on the information. The lens 44 is a replaceable lens mounted on the camera body 10. Camera CPU 40
Can communicate with the control circuit in the lens 44 to obtain information such as aperture information and focal length information of the lens 44. The external flash 45 is a removable flash that is attached to the accessory shoe of the camera body 10. As described above, the adjustment terminal 46 is a communication portion with an external device (a machine for adjusting when assembling the camera body 10, the back cover 20, or the digital back 30). E
^The 2PROM 47 stores data such as adjustment values and correction values of the camera body 10. DC / DC converter 4
8 keeps the voltage of the power source supplied from the battery 49 constant. The battery check circuit 59 checks whether the battery 49 is usable.

The diaphragm drive unit 51 controls the diaphragm so that it has a set value during exposure. The shutter / mechanical charge unit 52 controls the shutter speed to be set at the time of exposure, moves the mirror up and down, and prepares the mechanical unit for the next exposure. The AF motor drive unit 53 drives the lens 44 based on the distance measurement start signal. The distance measuring sensor 54 is arranged in the distance measuring module and detects the focus position of the subject based on the distance measuring start signal. The DX terminal 55 is used as a terminal for reading film information such as film sensitivity and the number of sheets, and also used as a terminal for data communication with the digital back 30, and is also a terminal for detecting mounting of the digital back 30.

The switches 50 are S1, S2 and SCMA.
Includes IN, SRC, SCPU / DOWN, SISO.
S1 is a switch for starting the distance measuring and photometric operations. S2 is a switch for starting the exposure of the camera. SCMAIN is a power switch and corresponds to the main switch 17. SCMAIN is used to control the power supply of the camera, as will be described later in detail.
The SRC is a switch that detects opening / closing of the back cover 20 or the digital back 30 attached to the camera body 10. S
CUP / DOWN is a switch for changing camera settings (shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc.). S
ISO is SCUP / DOWN when changing ISO
It is a switch that operates in conjunction with.

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram of the digital back 30.

D for controlling the control system of the digital back 30
-The CPU 60 includes an electronic image pickup unit 61 including a CCD, SD
RAM 62, memory card 63, liquid crystal monitor 34, switches 64, communication terminal 65, DC / DC converter 6
6. A flash memory 67 is connected.

The D-CPU 60 converts the image data from the electronic image pickup section 61 including a CCD, and the well-known SDRAM 6
2 or memory in a memory card 63 (for example, CompactFlash (registered trademark) or smart media) which is a small-sized removable recording medium, and the captured image data is displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal monitor 34. Play. Further, the communication terminal 65 is used to communicate with the camera body 10.

The D-CPU 60 uses the communication data from the camera body 10 to set DC / DC in the digital back 30.
The converter 66 is used to control the supply of power, control the timing of capturing image data during exposure, and control the screen display of the liquid crystal monitor 34. DC
The PU 60 operates according to a program stored in the rewritable flash memory 67. The flash memory 67 stores a digital camera program for the camera body 10 to operate as a digital camera, individual difference information regarding the digital back 30, and the like.

The switches 64 are SDMAIN and SPL.
Includes AY, SDUP / DOWN, SREC, SMODE. The SDMAIN is a power switch and is used to control the power of the digital back 30, as described later in detail. SPLAY is a switch for reproducing a captured image. SREC is a switch that enables digital exposure. SDUP / DOWN is a switch for changing when confirming the content of a digitally photographed image (for example, changing a page of a photographed image or changing information of a photographed image). The SMODE is a switch operated to change the information of the photographed image in association with SDUP / DOWN. These switches except SDUP / DOWN are composed of rotary dials having four positions, and one of the four states is always selected.

FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of a contact portion between the camera body 10 and the digital back 30.

The camera body 10 is in electrical contact with the digital back 30 at the power supply terminal 56 for the battery 49, the DX terminal 55, and the adjustment terminal 46.

Terminals CAS1 to CAS of the camera CPU 40
6 is connected to the DX terminal 55 via a resistor, and is connected to the DC / DC converter 66 of the digital back 30 and the D-CPU 60 with the DX terminal 55 as a contact.

The terminals CAS1 to CAS6 are used for judging film information when the back cover 20 using a silver salt film is mounted on the camera body 10, and when the silver salt film is not loaded. Is input with an open signal. When the digital back 30 is attached to the camera body 10, the camera CPU 40 is
It is possible to detect that the digital back 30 is mounted by using the terminals of CAS6.

The camera CPU 40 is a back cover switch SRC.
Thus, when it is detected that the back cover 20 or the digital back 30 is changed from the open state to the closed state, the terminals CAS4 to CAS6 are used to detect whether or not the digital back 30 is attached. For digital back 30, CAS1 to CAS3
Is used to control the DC / DC converter 66 to start the power supply to the digital back 30. If it is not the digital back 30, it is assumed that the back cover 10 for the silver halide film camera is mounted, and the film information is detected using the terminals CAS1 to CAS6.

The adjusting terminal 46 can contact the digital back 30 mounted on the camera body 10 and a machine for adjusting the camera body 10, and is not normally exposed to the outside. The adjustment terminal 46 has a camera CPU
40 various terminals, that is, a CSBCK terminal used for communication selection with a microcomputer (D-CPU 60 of the digital back 30 in the figure) of an external device, a serial clock SCK terminal, and a data input to the camera CPU 40. S
I terminal, SO terminal for data output from the camera CPU 40, IP terminal for outputting an imprint start signal from the camera CPU 40, VDD terminal for power supply voltage, G for ground
It is connected to the ND terminal.

FIG. 4 shows the back cover 20 or the digital back 30.
5 is a flowchart of the operation of the camera CPU 40 associated with opening and closing of the.

The camera CPU 40 determines by the switch SRC whether the back cover 20 or the digital back 30 has changed from the open state to the closed state (# 10). If there is no change (NO in # 10), the camera CPU 40 enters the standby state. Transition to (# 1
8) Wait for switch change.

If there is a change (YES in # 10), a part of the DX terminal 55 is used to turn on the DC / DC converter 66.
Then, the power supply to the D-CPU 60 is started, and after a predetermined time elapses, another part of the DX terminal 55 is used to perform the DC operation.
An attempt is made to communicate with the PU 60 (# 12), and it is determined whether the digital back 30 is attached to the camera body 10 based on the data read from the DX terminal 55 (# 1).
4). When the digital back 30 is not attached (NO in # 14), the state shifts to the stein-by state (# 18).

When the digital back 30 is attached (YES in # 14), the DC signal is supplied via the adjustment terminal 46.
Data communication is performed with the PU 60, and control is performed so that the PU 60 operates according to the operation of the camera body 10 or the digital back 30 (#
16).

In FIG. 5, the power switch SCMAIN of the camera body 10 with the digital back 30 attached is turned off.
It is a flowchart of the operation when the state changes from ON to ON.

Power switch SCMAI of camera body 10
When N changes from OFF to ON, the camera CPU 40
Checks whether the power switch SDMAIN of the digital back 30 is ON (# 20).

If it is ON (YES in # 20), the camera CPU 40 activates the DC / DC converter 66 of the digital back 30 (# 22), and starts power supply to the digital back 30 after a predetermined time has elapsed. (# 24).

If it is not ON (NO in # 20), the above steps # 22 and # 24 are skipped.

Then, the DC / DC converter 48 of the camera body 10 is activated and the power supply to the camera body 10 is started (# 26).

That is, if the power switch SDMAIN of the digital back 30 is set to ON (for example, the main switch and the mode dial 37 are set to positions other than the power OFF), the power switch SCMAIN of the camera body 10 (for example, , The main switch 14) is turned on, the camera body 10 and the digital back 3
Both 0 are activated. If the power switch SCDMAIN of the digital back 30 is not set to ON, only the camera body 10 is activated.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the operation when the power switch SCMAIN of the camera body 10 to which the digital back 30 is attached changes from ON to OFF.

When the power switch SCMAIN of the camera body 10 changes from ON to OFF, the camera CPU 40 stands by if the shooting operation is in progress (YES in # 30).
When the shooting operation is completed (NO in # 30), the digital camera waits for a predetermined operation of the digital back 30 (for example, writing or reading of image pickup data to or from the SDRAM 62 or the memory card 63) (YES in # 32).

When the predetermined operation of the digital back 30 is completed (NO in # 32), the D-CPU 60 turns off the power switch SDMAIN (for example, the main switch 37b) of the digital back 30 and sends an operation stop signal to the camera CPU 40. Send and send to standby (# 3
4). In the case of the digital back 30 including the main switch and the mode dial 37, the power switch SDMAIN is not turned off in step # 34.

Upon receiving the operation stop signal, the camera CPU 40 receives the DC / DC converter 6 of the digital back 30.
6 is stopped (# 36), the DC / DC converter 48 of the camera body 10 is stopped (# 38), and a stein-by state is set (# 40).

That is, the power switch S of the camera body 10
When CMAIN is turned off, the power switch SDMAIN of the digital back 30 is also turned off. For example, when the main switch 14 of the camera body 10 is turned off, the digital back 30 is also turned off.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the operation when the power switch SDMAIN of the digital back 30 mounted on the camera body 10 changes from OFF to ON (startup).

When the power switch SDMAIN of the digital back 30 changes from OFF to ON by setting the main switch and the mode dial 37 to a position other than power OFF or pressing the main switch 37b, D
-The CPU 60 checks whether or not the digital back 30 is set to the photographing mode (# 50).

If the shooting mode is not set (# 5
0, NO), setup mode or playback mode,
The DC / DC converter 66 of the digital back 30 is started (# 52), and after a predetermined time has elapsed, the digital back 30
Power supply to the device is started (# 54), and normal processing is performed (# 56).

If the photographing mode is set (YES in # 50), the above steps # 52 and # 54 are skipped and normal processing is performed (# 56).

That is, functions such as reproduction and setup that are not directly related to the photographing operation are irrespective of the state of the power switch SCMAIN (main switch 14) of the camera body 10 and the power switch SDAMI of the digital back 30.
Operation is possible only by turning on N (main switch and mode dial 37, main switch 37b).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the operation when the power switch SDMAIN of the digital back 30 mounted on the camera body 10 changes from ON to OFF (standby).

The main switch and the mode dial 37 are set to the power OFF position, and the main switch 37b
When is pressed or the power switch SDMAIN of the digital back 30 changes from ON to OFF, the digital back 30 finishes a predetermined operation (for example, writing or reading of imaging data to the SDRAM 62 or the memory card 63). Wait (YES in # 60).

When the predetermined operation of the digital back 30 is completed (NO in # 60), the D-CPU 60 turns off the power switch SDMAIN (for example, the main switch 37b) of the digital back 30 (# 62). In the case of the digital back 30 including the main switch and the mode dial 37, the power switch SDMAIN is turned off.
Does not do.

Next, the DC / DC converter 66 of the digital back 30 is stopped (# 64), the operation stop signal is transmitted to the camera CPU 40, and then the stein-by state is set (# 66). The camera CPU 40 continues the normal operation even when receiving the operation stop signal.

That is, even if the power switch SDMAIN of the digital back 30 is turned off by operating the main switch and the mode dial 37 or the main switch 37b, the power state of the camera body 10 does not change.

As described above, the power of the digital back 30 is cut off in association with the power-off of the camera body 10. On the other hand, in the reproduction mode and the setup mode, the digital back 30 alone can be operated even when the camera body 10 is powered off. Therefore, the current consumption can be suppressed, and the operation is easy to understand and easy to use.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be implemented in various other modes.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a camera body according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram of a digital back according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of a contact portion between a camera body and a digital back.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an operation when the digital back is attached.

[Figure 5] The power switch of the camera body turns from OFF to ON
It is a flowchart of the operation when the change to.

[Figure 6] The power switch of the camera body is switched from ON to OFF
It is a flowchart of the operation when the change to.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the operation when the power switch of the digital back changes from OFF to ON.

[Figure 8] Power switch of digital back is from ON to O
It is a flow chart of operation when changing to FF.

FIG. 9 is a rear view of the camera when used as a silver salt film camera.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the digital back.

FIG. 11 is a front view of a digital back.

FIG. 12 is a rear view of the camera when the back cover of the camera of FIG. 10 is replaced with a digital back.

FIG. 13 is a rear view of a camera equipped with a modified digital back.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 camera body 20 case back 30,30x digital back 40 CPU (control unit) 60 D-CPU (control unit) 61 Electronic Imaging Unit (Electronic Imaging Device) SCMAIN power switch SDMAIN power switch

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) // H04N 101: 00 H04N 101: 00 F term (reference) 2H100 AA51 CC07 DD11 FF00 2H104 AA18 BC46 5C022 AA13 AB40 AB67 AC42 AC69

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In a camera that can be used as a digital camera by replacing the back cover when used as a silver film camera with a digital back equipped with an electronic imaging device, the power switch of the camera body is turned off. And a control unit that disconnects power supply to the circuit of the digital back mounted on the camera body when
camera. 2. The control unit is such that the power switch is OF.
2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein, when it becomes F, the power supply to the circuit in the digital back is cut off after the digital back has completed a predetermined operation. 3. In a camera that can be used as a digital camera by replacing the back cover when used as a silver film camera with a digital back equipped with an electronic image pickup device, the digital camera mounted on the camera body. When the power switch of the back is turned on, when the digital back is set to an operation other than the photographing operation, a control unit for starting power supply to the circuit of the digital back is provided. Yes, the camera.