JP2006078687A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging apparatus whose shake is prevented and which realizes the multiple functions of a shutter button. <P>SOLUTION: A shutter part is constituted of a light emitting part 12 and a light receiving part 14, and the quantity of light emitted from the light emitting part 12 by the instruction of a CPU and reflected by an operating finger is detected by the light receiving part 14. The light emitting part 12 and the light receiving part 14 are covered with a cylindrical elastic member 16 so as to be a shutter button 18. The cylindrical elastic member 16 is provided with a through-hole 20 nearly in the center part so as to project the light emitted from the light emitting part 12 to the outside. By covering the through-hole 20 with the operating finger, the light receiving part 14 detects the change of the light quantity and detects a 1st operation state. By operating to push the shutter button 18 further, a position where the light emitted from the light emitting part 12 is reflected by the operating finger is changed, and the received light quantity detected by the light receiving part 14 is changed, which is detected to detect a 2nd operation state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus, and more particularly, to an imaging apparatus provided with a shutter button that detects a plurality of operation states.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, digital cameras that take an image using an image pickup device such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) have become widespread as image pickup devices. In general, as with a silver halide camera, a shooting instruction of a digital camera is operated by operating a mechanical shutter button to turn on a switch provided in the shutter button, and the shooting instruction is performed using an ON signal of the switch. It is like that.

  By the way, a shutter button having a multi-function like the technique described in Patent Document 1 has been proposed, but even a general camera detects at least the first and second operation states. For example, when the first operation state is detected, the AE and AF functions are operated, and when the second operation state is detected, a shooting instruction is issued.

  On the other hand, camera shake due to the operation of a shutter button is generally a problem in an imaging apparatus. To solve this problem, a technique described in Patent Document 2 has been proposed.

In the technique described in Patent Document 2, an optical shutter is applied to the shutter button, and a photographing instruction is performed by detecting the presence or absence of an operating finger by an optical sensor or the like. Compared to the shutter button, camera shake can be prevented.
JP-A-11-160755 JP-A-11-295778

  However, the technique described in Patent Document 2 has a problem that camera shake can be prevented and that the shutter button cannot be multi-functionalized as in the technique described in Patent Document 1.

  In recent imaging apparatuses, it is necessary to provide at least two operation states, ie, an instruction for performing an imaging preparation operation before imaging, such as AE and AF, and an imaging instruction as functions of the shutter button.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide an imaging apparatus that can prevent camera shake and can have a multifunctional shutter button.

  In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is an imaging apparatus having a shutter button that detects a state operated by an operating finger and issues an imaging instruction, wherein the shutter button transmits light to the operating finger. A light-emitting unit that emits light in the direction of the light, a light-receiving unit that receives light emitted from the light-emitting unit and reflected by the operating finger, and a detection that detects a plurality of operation states based on a change in the amount of light received by the light-receiving unit And means.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the light emitted from the shutter button emits light in the direction of the operating finger, and the light receiving unit receives the light emitted from the light emitting unit and reflected by the operating finger. The detecting means detects a plurality of operation states based on the change in the amount of light received by the light receiving unit.

  For example, when the shutter button is not operated by the operating finger, the light receiving unit does not receive light, so that the detection unit can detect the unoperated state. When the operating finger touches the shutter button, the light emitted from the light emitting unit is reflected by the operating finger and received by the light receiving unit. At this time, since the amount of light received by the light receiving unit changes according to the distance between the operating finger, the light emitting unit, and the light receiving unit, a plurality of operation states are detected by setting a threshold value of the amount of light received by the light receiving unit in advance. Therefore, the optical shutter button can be made multifunctional.

  In addition, since the operation state can be detected by receiving the light emitted from the light emitting unit and reflected by the operation finger with the light receiving unit, the operation force on the shutter button is reduced compared to the mechanical shutter button. It is possible to prevent camera shake.

  The shutter button may be covered with a replaceable member provided with a through hole so that light from the light emitting unit is irradiated to the operation finger, as in the invention described in claim 2. By doing in this way, for example, it becomes possible to exchange the size of a through hole for every size of a user's finger.

  Further, the shutter button is covered with a replaceable member provided with a plurality of through holes so that the light from the light emitting portion is irradiated to the operation finger, as in the invention according to claim 3, and each through hole is provided. A light emitting unit and a light receiving unit may be provided corresponding to the above. That is, since each through hole is provided with a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion, when each through hole is selectively blocked with a finger, it is detected whether each light receiving portion has received light or not. Can be detected. Furthermore, as described above, since the amount of light received by the light receiving unit changes according to the distance between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit, a plurality of operation states can be obtained by setting a threshold value of the amount of light received by the light receiving unit in advance. Since it can be detected, a plurality of operation states can be detected for each light receiving unit corresponding to each through hole, and the multifunction of the shutter button can be realized.

  At this time, the member covering the shutter button may be made of an elastic member as in the invention described in claim 4. That is, since the detection means detects a plurality of operation states according to the distance between the operation finger and the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit, the operation is performed when operating the operation finger so as to approach the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit. Although a force is required, by applying an elastic member as a member that covers the shutter button in this manner, an operating force is not required, and thus it is possible to prevent camera shake.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imaging device having a shutter button that detects a state operated by an operating finger and issues an imaging instruction, wherein the shutter button emits light in the direction of the operating finger. And a plurality of light receiving and emitting parts comprising a light receiving part for receiving light emitted from the light emitting part and reflected by the operation finger, and a plurality of operation states based on light reception by the light receiving part of each light receiving and emitting part And detecting means for detecting.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in each light receiving / emitting part of the shutter button, the light emitting part emits light in the direction of the operating finger, and the light receiving part emits light emitted from the light emitting part and reflected by the operating finger. Received light.

  Then, the detection means detects a plurality of operation states based on light reception by the light receiving units of the respective light receiving / emitting units.

  For example, when each light emitting / receiving unit is selectively blocked with a finger, it is possible to detect a plurality of operation states by detecting whether or not the light receiving unit of each light receiving / emitting unit receives light. In addition, since each light emitting / receiving unit is simply closed with a finger, it is possible to operate a plurality of functions by sliding the finger, etc., and it is possible to make the shutter button multifunctional while reliably preventing camera shake. Become.

  As described above, according to the present invention, light is emitted in the direction of the operation finger from the light emitting unit, the light reflected by the operation finger is received, and a plurality of operation states are detected based on the received light amount change. As a result, the operation force on the shutter button can be reduced, so that there is an effect that camera shake can be prevented and the shutter button can be multi-functionalized.

Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital camera 50 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The digital camera 50 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes an optical unit 52 configured to include a lens for forming a subject image, and a CCD 54 disposed behind the optical axis of the optical unit 52 as an image sensor. , An analog signal processing unit 56 that performs predetermined analog signal processing on the image signal output from the CCD 54, and an analog / digital converter (hereinafter referred to as a digital signal) that converts the analog signal processed by the analog signal processing unit 56 into a digital signal. 58, a CCD drive unit 60 for driving the CCD 54, motors 62A to 62C for adjusting each of the photographing magnification, the focal position, and the aperture value of the optical unit 52, and the motors 62A to 62C. And a display unit 7 comprising an LCD or the like provided for displaying captured images and various information. An operation unit 72 operated by a photographer, a main memory 74 that temporarily stores digital image data mainly obtained by shooting, and a main control unit 76 that controls the overall operation of the digital camera 50. It is prepared for.

  The optical unit 52 forms light representing an incident subject image on the light receiving surface of the CCD 54, and includes a lens group 78 including a photographing lens 78A and a focus lens 78B, and a diaphragm 80. . The lens group 78 may be a lens having a single focal length (fixed focus) or a variable focal length such as a zoom lens or a telephoto / wide-angle bifocal switching lens.

  The optical unit 52 can adjust the photographing magnification by moving the photographing lens 78A in the optical axis direction by driving the motor 62A. Further, the focus lens 78B is moved in the optical axis direction by driving the motor 62B to move the in-focus position, and the aperture value of the diaphragm 80 can be adjusted by driving the motor 62C. The motors 62 </ b> A to 62 </ b> C are connected to a motor driving unit 64, and each motor is driven by the motor driving unit 64.

  The CCD 54 is connected to the CCD driving unit 60 and the analog signal processing unit 56. The CCD 54 converts the light incident on the light receiving surface into a signal charge of an amount corresponding to the amount of incident light, and outputs a voltage signal corresponding to the accumulated signal charge in synchronization with the drive pulse supplied from the CCD drive unit 60. The analog image signal is output to the analog signal processing unit 56.

  The analog signal processing unit 56 performs correlated double sampling (CDS) processing on the analog image signal output from the CCD 54 and color separation processing into R (red), G (green), and B (blue) color signals, The signal level of each color signal is adjusted (for example, pre-white balance processing). The analog signal processing unit 56 is connected to the A / D 58, and the A / D 58 is connected to the main control unit 76.

  The analog image signal processed by the analog signal processing unit 56 is converted into digital image signals of RGB colors by the A / D 58 and then input to the main control unit 76.

  The main control unit 76 includes a focus evaluation calculation unit 82 that calculates a focus evaluation value for evaluating the focus state, an AE / AWB calculation unit 84 that calculates optimal exposure and white balance, and the input digital A digital signal processing unit 88 that performs predetermined digital signal processing on the signal to generate digital image data, and a compression / decompression process that compresses the digital image data by a predetermined compression method and expands the compressed digital image data Unit 86, memory control unit 90 for reading / writing data to / from main memory 74, media control unit 92 for reading / writing data from / to portable recording medium M detachably loaded in a slot (not shown), and display on display unit 70 A display control unit 94 that controls the operation and a CPU 96 that controls the entire main control unit 76 are connected to each other via a bus 98.

  Further, the CPU 96 is connected to the operation unit 72 and can always grasp the operation state of the operation unit 72 by the photographer. The operation unit 72 includes a release button for giving an instruction to record and record an image, mode switching for selecting a camera mode such as a shooting mode and a playback mode, various buttons for inputting a zoom operation and other various instructions and information, A switch etc. are included. Using these buttons and switches, it is possible to display a setting menu or selection items on the touch panel or the screen of the display unit 70 and select a desired item with the cursor. The operation unit 72 may be disposed in the camera body, or may be configured as a remote control device that is separated from the camera body.

  By the way, the digital camera 50 according to the present embodiment includes an optical shutter unit 10 and issues a shutter instruction using light emission and light reception.

  The shutter unit 10 includes a light emitting unit 12 and a light receiving unit 14, and each is connected to the CPU 96. The amount of light emitted from the light emitting unit 12 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 96 is detected by the light receiving unit 14.

  Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the light emitting unit 12 and the light receiving unit 14 of the shutter unit 10 are covered with a cylindrical elastic member 16, and the cylindrical elastic member 16. The light emitting unit 12 and the light receiving unit 14 form a shutter button 18.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the cylindrical elastic member 16 is provided with a through hole 20 at a substantially central portion, and light emitted from the light emitting unit 12 outside the digital camera 50 passes through the through hole 20. The light receiving unit 14 detects a change in the amount of light and detects the first position by closing the through hole 20 with an operation finger so that the user operates the shutter button 18. It is supposed to be.

  Further, the position where the elastic member 16 is easily bent when the user operates to further press the shutter button 18 and is reflected by the operation finger of the light emitted from the light emitting unit 12 is a dotted line in FIG. The amount of light received by the light receiving unit 14 is changed by the change as shown in FIG. 8, thereby detecting the second position.

  The elastic member 16 is made of a soft elastic member such as rubber or silicon rubber, for example, and does not require an operating force to press the elastic member 16 with an operating finger.

  The elastic member 16 may be replaceable. For example, the elastic member 16 having a different size of the through hole 20 may be prepared and replaced according to the size of the user's finger or the like. By making it replaceable in this way, it is possible to prevent the user from being unable to use due to the size of the user's finger.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, although the light emission part 12 and the light-receiving part 14 were covered with the elastic member 16, it is not restricted to this, For example, you may make it use shutter members 22, such as resin. In this case, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 3, the light receiving unit 14 detects the first position by covering the through hole 20 with the operation finger and suppresses the through hole 20 with the operation finger. As indicated by the dotted line, the light receiving unit 14 detects the change in the amount of received light and detects the second position by the change in the position of the light emitted from the light emitting unit 12 and reflected by the light receiving unit 14 due to the deformation of the operating finger.

  Next, the operation of the digital camera 50 according to the first embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing performed by the CPU 96 when the shutter button 18 is operated during shooting by the digital camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, at step 100, it is determined whether or not it is a photographing mode. The determination is made by the CPU 96 determining whether or not the shooting mode is selected by operating the operation unit 72 by the user. If the determination is negative, the process is terminated and the other processing is performed. Processing is performed.

  If the determination in step 100 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 102 where the light emitting unit 12 is controlled by the CPU 96 and light is emitted from the light emitting unit 12 to the outside of the digital camera 50. That is, light is irradiated toward the through hole 20 of the shutter button 18. Further, when the CPU 96 controls the display control unit 94, an image represented by image data obtained from the CCD 54 is displayed on the display unit 70.

  Next, in step 104, it is determined whether or not the light receiving unit 14 has detected an amount of light received that is equal to or greater than a first predetermined value. In this determination, it is determined whether or not the user has blocked the through hole 20 of the shutter button 18. That is, when the operating finger is placed on the shutter button 18, the amount of light received by the light receiving unit 14 when the light emitted from the light emitting unit 12 is reflected by the operating finger is a predetermined first predetermined value. By determining whether or not this is the case, it is possible to determine whether or not the through hole 20 of the shutter button 18 has been closed. The process waits until the determination in step 104 is affirmed, and the process proceeds to step 106. .

  In step 106, AE / AF processing is performed by the CPU 96. For example, the CPU 96 drives the CCD drive unit 60 to acquire the charge accumulated in the CCD 54 and controls the AE / AWB calculation unit 84 to measure the ambient light amount, and the motor drive unit according to the measured light amount The diaphragm 62 is adjusted by driving the motor 62C via 64 (AE: Auto Exposure). Further, the CPU 96 drives the CCD drive unit 64 to acquire the charge accumulated in the CCD 54 as image data representing the subject image, and controls the focus evaluation calculation unit 82 to focus based on the contrast in the image data. The evaluation is calculated, and the focus lens 78B is adjusted by driving the motor 62B via the motor driving unit 64 based on the calculated focus evaluation (AF: Auto Focus).

  Next, in step 108, it is determined whether or not the light receiving unit 14 has detected a received light amount equal to or greater than a second predetermined value. In this determination, it is determined whether or not the shutter button 18 is pressed by the user and the operating finger approaches the light emitting unit 12 and the light receiving unit 14. That is, as indicated by the dotted lines in FIG. 2A and FIG. 3, when the operating finger approaches the light emitting unit 12 and the light receiving unit 14, the light received when the light emitted from the light emitting unit 12 is reflected by the operating finger. It is possible to determine whether or not the operating finger has approached the light emitting unit 12 and the light receiving unit 14 by determining whether or not the amount of light received by the unit 14 is greater than or equal to a predetermined second predetermined value. If the determination at 108 is negative, the process returns to step 104 and the above-described processing is performed. The second predetermined value is set to a value larger than the first predetermined value, and for example, a light amount value corresponding to a reflectance of 90% or more is set.

  When the determination in step 108 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step 110, and the photographing process is performed. The shooting process is a well-known shooting process in which the subject image formed on the CCD 54 is recorded as digital image data that has been subjected to predetermined image processing by the digital signal processing unit 88 or the like in the main memory 74 or the recording medium M. Is done.

  Next, in step 112, it is determined whether or not the photographing is finished. The determination is made by the CPU 96 determining whether or not a mode other than the shooting mode is selected by operating the operation unit 72, or whether or not the power-off is instructed, and the determination is denied. In such a case, the process returns to step 104 and the above-described processing is repeated. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 114.

  In step 114, the light emitting unit 12 is controlled and turned off by the CPU 96, the process is terminated, and other processes of the digital camera 50 are performed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the light emitted from the light emitting unit 12 and reflected by the operation finger is received by the light receiving unit 14, and two operation states can be detected based on the received light amount change. Therefore, the light emitting unit 12 and the light receiving unit 14 can function as an optical shutter and can be multifunctional.

  In addition, since the operation state can be detected by receiving the light emitted from the light emitting unit 12 and reflected by the operation finger by the light receiving unit 12, the operation force to the shutter button 18 is applied to the mechanical shutter button. Compared to this, camera shake can be prevented.

  Further, when the shutter button 18 is pressed, the amount of light received by the light receiving unit 14 changes according to the distance between the operating finger and the light emitting unit 12 and the light receiving unit 14, so that a plurality of threshold values (first By defining a predetermined value and a second predetermined value, a plurality of operation states can be detected, and the optical shutter button 18 can be multifunctional.

Furthermore, since the elastic member 16 that does not require a pressing operation force is applied and is easily bent when a shooting instruction is given, camera shake can be prevented.
[Second Embodiment]
Next, a digital camera according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the shutter button in the digital camera according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  The shutter button 18 according to the first embodiment has been described with respect to the shutter button 18 provided with one through hole 20 in the elastic member 16 and a pair of the light emitting unit 12 and the light receiving unit 14 corresponding to the through hole 20. In the shutter button 19 of the second embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the shutter member 24 made of resin or the like is provided with two through holes, a first through hole 20A and a second through hole 20B. The first light emitting part 12A and the first light receiving part 14A are provided corresponding to the first through hole 20A, and similarly, the second light emitting part 12B and the second light emitting part 12B are provided corresponding to the second through hole 20B. A light receiving unit 14B is provided. That is, in the present embodiment, whether or not the through holes 20A and 20B of the shutter member 24 are covered with the operating finger is detected by the light emitting units 12A and 12B and the light receiving units 14A and 14B provided in the through holes 20A and 20B. It is supposed to be.

The configuration of the digital camera itself corresponds to the increase in the number of through holes 20A and 20B, and the light emitting units 12A and 12B and the light receiving unit 14A with respect to the digital camera 50 according to the first embodiment.
, 14B are increased and only connected to the CPU 96, so a detailed description will be omitted.

  Next, the operation of the digital camera 50 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of processing performed by the CPU 96 of the digital camera 50 when the shutter button 19 is operated during shooting with the digital camera according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  First, in step 200, it is determined whether or not the photographing mode is set. The determination is made by the CPU 96 determining whether or not the shooting mode is selected by operating the operation unit 72 by the user. If the determination is negative, the process is terminated and the other processing is performed. Processing is performed.

  If the determination in step 200 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 202 where the first light emitting unit 12A and the second light emitting unit 12B are controlled by the CPU 96, and the digital camera 50 is controlled by the first light emitting unit 12A and the second light emitting unit 12B. Light is emitted toward the outside. That is, light is irradiated toward the first through hole 20A and the second through hole 20B of the shutter button 19, respectively. Further, when the CPU 96 controls the display control unit 94, an image represented by image data obtained from the CCD 54 is displayed on the display unit 70.

  Next, in step 204, it is determined whether or not the first light receiving unit 12A has detected a received light amount that is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. This determination determines whether or not the first through hole 20A of the shutter button 19 is blocked by the user. That is, when the operating finger is placed on the first through hole 20A of the shutter button 19, the amount of light received by the first light receiving unit 14A when the light emitted from the first light emitting unit 12A is reflected by the operating finger. It is possible to determine whether or not the first through hole 20A of the shutter button 19 is blocked by determining whether or not is greater than a predetermined value, and until the determination in step 204 is affirmed Wait and go to step 206.

  In step 206, AE / AF processing is performed by the CPU 96. For example, the CPU 96 drives the CCD drive unit 60 to acquire the charge accumulated in the CCD 54 and controls the AE / AWB calculation unit 84 to measure the ambient light amount, and the motor drive unit according to the measured light amount The diaphragm 62 is adjusted by driving the motor 62C via 64 (AE: Auto Exposure). Further, the CPU 96 drives the CCD drive unit 60 to acquire the charge accumulated in the CCD 54 as image data representing the subject image, and controls the focus evaluation calculation unit 82 to focus based on the contrast in the image data. The evaluation is calculated, and the focus lens 78B is adjusted by driving the motor 62B via the motor driving unit 64 based on the calculated focus evaluation (AF: Auto Focus).

  Next, in step 208, it is determined whether or not the second light receiving unit 14B has detected an amount of light received that is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. This determination determines whether or not the second through hole 20B of the shutter button 19 is blocked by the user. That is, when the operating finger is placed on the second through hole 20B of the shutter button 19, the amount of light received by the second light receiving unit 14B when the light emitted from the second light emitting unit 12B is reflected by the operating finger. By determining whether or not the second through hole 20B of the shutter button 19 is blocked by determining whether or not the second through hole 20B of the shutter button 19 is blocked. If the determination in step 208 is negative, the process returns to step 204 and the above-described processing is performed.

  If the determination in step 208 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step 210, and photographing processing is performed. The shooting process is a well-known shooting process in which the subject image formed on the CCD 54 is recorded as digital image data that has been subjected to predetermined image processing by the digital signal processing unit 88 or the like in the main memory 74 or the recording medium M. Is done.

  Next, in step 212, it is determined whether or not the photographing is finished. The determination is made by the CPU 96 determining whether or not a mode other than the shooting mode is selected by operating the operation unit 72, or whether or not the power-off is instructed, and the determination is denied. In such a case, the process returns to step 204 and the above-described processing is repeated. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 214.

  In step 214, the CPU 96 controls the first light emitting unit 12 </ b> A and the second light emitting unit 12 </ b> B to turn off the light, ends the processing, and performs other processing of the digital camera 50.

  Thus, in this embodiment, the light emitted from the first light emitting unit 12A and reflected by the operating finger is received by the first light receiving unit 14A, emitted from the second light emitting unit 12B, and reflected by the operating finger. Since light is received by the second light receiving unit 14B and two operation states can be detected based on the amount of light received by each of the light receiving units 14A and 14B, the first light emitting unit 12A, the second light emitting unit 12B, The first light receiving unit 14A and the second light receiving unit 14B can function as an optical shutter. In the second embodiment, the operation of the shutter button 19 only needs to block the through holes 20A and 20B, so that camera shake can be prevented.

  Further, in the second embodiment, after the first through hole 20A is closed, the operation finger is slid to close the second through hole 20B, so that the AE / AF processing can be performed, so that the photographing can be performed. Since the pressing force to the shutter button 19 is less than that in the first embodiment, camera shake due to the operation of the shutter button 19 can be surely prevented.

  In the above embodiment, the light emitting unit 12 and the light receiving unit 14 are provided one by one corresponding to the through holes. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in order to increase the light receiving sensitivity, FIG. 7, one light emitting unit 12 and two light receiving units 15 </ b> A and 15 </ b> B may be provided corresponding to one through hole 20. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the light receiving portions 15A and 15B may be provided on both sides of the light emitting portion 12, and the arrangement of the light emitting portion 12 and the light receiving portions 15A and 15B is different from the other arrangement. It may be made to become.

  In the shutter button 19 of the second embodiment, two states are detected as the operation state, but the state where the first through hole 20A is closed, the state where the second through hole 20B is closed, and Further, it is possible to detect three states in which the first through hole 20A and the second through hole 20B are closed, and the shutter button 19 can be further multifunctional. Furthermore, the functions of the shutter button 19 can be further increased by assigning functions according to the operation order.

  Further, by combining the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the shutter button can be further multifunctionalized by operating a plurality of through holes and pressing the respective through holes. For example, as in the first embodiment, the first predetermined value and the second predetermined value are set as threshold values for each through hole, and a plurality of operation states are detected based on the respective threshold values. As described above, the functions of the digital camera 50 can be further assigned by detecting a plurality of operation states based on the light received from the light receiving portions for each of the plurality of through holes, and the shutter button can be further multifunctional. it can.

  Furthermore, the shutter button 19 of the second embodiment is configured to have the two through holes 20A and 20B and the light emitting portions 12A and 12B and the light receiving portions 14A and 14B corresponding to the two through holes 20A and 20B, respectively. Instead, for example, three or more through holes may be provided, and the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit may be provided corresponding to each through hole. This makes it possible to further increase the functionality of the shutter button.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the shutter button of the digital camera concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of a structure of the shutter button of the digital camera concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of processing performed by a CPU when a shutter button is operated during shooting by the digital camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the shutter button in the digital camera concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the process performed by CPU when the shutter button is operated at the time of imaging | photography of the digital camera concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the modification of a shutter button.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Shutter part 12, 12A, 12B Light-emitting part 14, 14A, 14B Light-receiving part 16 Elastic member 18, 19 Shutter button 20, 20A, 20B Through-hole 22, 24 Shutter member

Claims (5)

An imaging apparatus having a shutter button that detects a state operated by an operating finger and gives an imaging instruction,
The shutter button is
A light emitting unit that emits light in the direction of the operation finger;
A light receiving unit that receives light emitted from the light emitting unit and reflected by the operation finger;
Detecting means for detecting a plurality of operation states based on a change in the amount of light received by the light receiving unit;
An imaging apparatus comprising:   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shutter button is covered with a replaceable member provided with a through hole so that light from the light emitting unit is irradiated to the operation finger.   The shutter button is covered with a replaceable member provided with a plurality of through holes so that light from the light emitting unit is irradiated to the operation finger, and the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit correspond to each through hole. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the member is made of an elastic member. An imaging apparatus having a shutter button that detects a state operated by an operating finger and gives an imaging instruction,
The shutter button is
A plurality of light emitting / receiving units comprising a light emitting unit that emits light in the direction of the operating finger, and a light receiving unit that receives the light emitted from the light emitting unit and reflected by the operating finger;
Detecting means for detecting a plurality of operation states based on light reception by the light receiving unit of each light emitting and receiving unit;
An imaging apparatus comprising:

Images