JP2006133316A - Accessory device and camera system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an accessory device which hardly causes faulty conduction and does not become a hindrance when it is attached, and further whose connector is hardly damaged, and to provide a camera system including such an accessory device. <P>SOLUTION: A camera main body side connector 11 is provided in the main body of a camera 1 and a radio device side connector 21 is provided in a radio device 20, and they are connected through a cable 22 provided in the radio device 20. When the radio device 20 is integrally attached to the main body of the camera 1, the radio device side connector 21 and the cable are housed in the radio device 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an accessory device mounted on a camera for expanding the function of the camera and a camera system including such an accessory device and a camera.

  In order to improve the operability of the camera and expand its functions, many proposals have been made regarding function-expanding accessory devices that are attached to the camera body and used.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, even when the camera is held in the vertical position, the release is performed at a position that is easy to operate when the camera is held in the vertical position in order to ensure the same operability as when the camera is held in the horizontal position. A detachable vertical position photographing grip in which a button is arranged has been proposed.

  Patent Document 2 proposes a wireless device that can be attached to and detached from the camera body in order to add a wireless transmission function for transferring an image file obtained by photographing to an external device.

Furthermore, in Patent Document 3, a multi-function connection terminal is provided in the battery housing portion of the camera body, and a wireless receiver adapter or an AC adapter is attached to the battery housing portion to add a wireless reception function to the camera. A technique has been proposed in which a camera can be supplied with power via an AC adapter.
JP 10-31254 A JP 2001-69384 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-94584

  By the way, in the technique of the patent documents 1-3 mentioned above, when attaching an accessory apparatus to a camera main body, both are electrically connected by making the contact terminal provided in the outer surface of a camera main body and an accessory apparatus contact, respectively. To connect to. However, if the contact terminal is exposed, there is a possibility that conduction failure may occur when hand oil or dust adheres to the contact terminal.

  On the other hand, if the camera body and the accessory device are connected via a cable, poor continuity is unlikely to occur and a relatively good connection state can be secured. May get in the way.

  Therefore, when a general-purpose connector is fixed to the camera body and the accessory device, and the accessory device is attached to the camera body, the connector of the connector provided on either the camera body or the accessory device is connected to the other. If the provided connector plug is inserted, problems such as the above-described poor conduction and obstruction of the cable can be solved. However, in this case, when the accessory device is attached to the camera body, it is difficult to see the relative positional relationship between the receptor portion and the plug portion. If the accessory device is forcibly mounted while the relative positional relationship between the receptor portion and the plug portion is shifted, the connector may be damaged.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an accessory device that is less likely to cause a continuity failure at the time of mounting, is not obstructed, and is less likely to damage the connector, and a camera system including such an accessory device. The purpose is to do.

  To achieve the above object, an accessory device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a connector plug and a cable in the accessory device that can be integrally attached to the camera in order to expand the function of the camera. A connecting member for making an electrical connection with the camera; and a storage portion for storing the connecting member when the accessory device is integrally attached to the camera via the connecting member. It is characterized by.

  In order to achieve the above object, a camera system according to a second aspect of the present invention is a camera system including a camera and an accessory device that can be integrally attached to the camera. A cable portion for connecting the electrical circuit of the accessory device and the cable so that the cable is not exposed to the outside when the accessory device is integrally attached to the camera via the cable. And a storage portion for performing the above.

  According to these first and second aspects, the accessory device and the camera can be electrically connected by cable connection, and the cable is not exposed by the storage portion when attached, so that the cable does not get in the way.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an accessory device that is less likely to cause a continuity failure at the time of mounting, is not obstructed, and is less likely to damage the connector, and a camera system including such an accessory device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an external view of a camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the camera system includes a camera 1 and a wireless device 20 as an example of an accessory device. The wireless device 20 is configured to be able to be attached to the camera 1 integrally as shown in FIG. Thus, by attaching the wireless device 20 to the camera 1, a wireless transmission function can be added to the camera 1.

  First, the camera 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the camera 1 is provided with a camera body side connector 11 and a fixing screw hole 12. In addition, conventionally well-known structure is applicable as it is about the structure of the camera 1 other than this. In FIG. 1, the camera 1 is illustrated assuming a digital single-lens reflex camera. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a compact camera or the like may be used.

  A camera main body side connector 11 shown in FIG. 1 is a connector provided on the camera main body side for electrical connection with the wireless device 20. For example, in the case of USB connection, a USB receptor is used for the camera body side connector 11. The fixing screw hole 12 is a screw hole for fixing the wireless device 20 to the camera 1 with screws.

  Next, the wireless device 20 will be described. FIG. 3 is an external view of the wireless device 20 as viewed from the surface direction in contact with the camera 1. As shown in FIG. 3, a wireless device side connector 21 and a cable 22 as a connection member, a socket storage portion 23 and a cable storage portion 24 as a storage portion are fixed to a surface of the wireless device 20 that contacts the camera 1. A screw 25 is provided. Further, a fixing screw operation member 26 is provided on the surface of the wireless device 20 opposite to the surface that contacts the camera 1 shown in FIG. An antenna 27 is provided on the upper surface of the wireless device 20.

  The wireless device side connector 21 is a connector provided on the wireless device 20 side for electrical connection with the camera 1. For example, in the case of USB connection, a USB socket is used for the wireless device side connector 21. The wireless device side connector 21 is connected to an electric circuit inside the main body of the wireless device 20 via a cable 22.

  Thus, in this embodiment, since the camera 1 and the wireless device 20 can be connected by the cable 22, when the wireless device 20 is attached to the camera 1, the camera body side connector 11 and the wireless device side are connected. The relative positional relationship with the connector 21 does not become difficult to see.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, a socket housing portion 23 and a cable housing portion 24 are provided. That is, when the wireless device 20 is brought into contact with the camera 1 as shown in FIG. 2, the wireless device-side connector 21 is stored in the socket storage portion 23 as shown in FIG. At the same time, the cable 22 is stored in the cable storage unit 24. Accordingly, when the wireless device 20 is integrally attached to the camera 1, the cable 22 is not exposed to the outside. As a result, the possibility of entry of dust or the like at the time of mounting is reduced, so that poor conduction or the like is unlikely to occur, and the cable 22 does not get in the way when shooting or carrying.

  The fixing screw 25 is a screw member for fixing the wireless device 20 to the camera 1 with screws. The fixing screw 25 is configured to be rotatable by a fixing screw operation member 26, and the user rotates the fixing screw operation member 26 to fix the wireless device 20 to the camera 1 with screws. It is possible.

  The antenna 27 is an antenna member for transmitting image data obtained by photographing with the camera 1 to an external device such as a personal computer or an external storage device.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an electric circuit configuration of the camera 1 and the wireless device 20 when the wireless device 20 is attached to the camera 1.

  In FIG. 5, the camera 1 includes a body unit 50 and a lens unit 51.

  First, the lens unit 51 includes photographing lenses 61a and 61b, a diaphragm 62, a lens driving mechanism 63, a diaphragm driving mechanism 64, and a lens control microcomputer 65.

  The photographic lenses 61a and 61b are driven in the optical axis direction (direction indicated by a one-dot chain line in the drawing) by a DC motor (not shown) existing in the lens driving mechanism 63. The diaphragm 62 is driven by a stepping motor (not shown) existing in the diaphragm drive mechanism 64, and adjusts the amount of light from a subject (not shown) that is incident through the photographing lenses 61a and 61b so as to be incident in the direction of the body unit 50. . The lens control microcomputer 65 drives and controls each part in the lens unit 51 such as the lens driving mechanism 63 and the aperture driving mechanism 64. The lens control microcomputer 65 is configured to be capable of data communication with a body control microcomputer 85 to be described later via a lens communication connector 55, and is controlled according to a command from the body control microcomputer 85. . The body control microcomputer 85 is connected to the image processing controller 81, the photometry circuit 86, the mirror drive mechanism 87, the AF sensor drive circuit 88, the shutter drive control circuit 90, and the like inside the body unit 50. These circuits are also controlled. Such control is performed according to a predetermined control program stored in a non-volatile memory (for example, EEPROM) 91 provided so as to be accessible from the body control microcomputer 85. The nonvolatile memory 91 also stores predetermined control parameters necessary for camera control.

  At the time of shooting, a light beam from a subject (not shown) is incident on the quick return mirror 70 in the body unit 50 through the shooting lenses 61 a and 61 b in the lens unit 51 and the diaphragm 62. Here, the quick return mirror 70 is configured to be movable by a mirror drive mechanism 87. That is, the mirror drive mechanism 87 is a drive mechanism for moving the quick return mirror 70 to an up position (a position retracted from the optical axes of the photographing lenses 61a and 61b) and a down position (the position shown in the drawing).

  When the quick return mirror 70 is moved to the down position by the mirror driving mechanism 87, a part of the light flux from the photographing lenses 61a and 61b is reflected by the quick return mirror 70 and passes through the focusing screen 71 and the pentaprism 72. The eyepiece 73 is reached. As a result, the user can see the subject through the eyepiece 73. A photometric circuit 86 is disposed in the vicinity of the pentaprism 72. The photometric circuit 86 is provided with a photosensor (not shown), and a well-known photometric process is performed based on the amount of light flux detected by the photosensor.

  Further, a part of the light beam incident on the quick return mirror 70 is transmitted through the quick return mirror 70, and the transmitted light beam is reflected by the sub mirror 75 installed in the quick return mirror 70. Then, the light beam reflected by the sub mirror 75 is guided to an AF sensor unit 76 for performing automatic distance measurement. An AF sensor (not shown) is provided in the AF sensor unit 76, and an output from the AF sensor is transmitted to the body control microcomputer 85 via the AF sensor driving circuit 88. Then, a well-known distance measuring process is performed in the body control microcomputer 85.

  Further, behind the quick return mirror 70, an imaging unit including a focal plane type shutter unit 31 and an imaging unit 32 that houses an imaging device (CCD) 40 for photoelectrically converting a subject image that has passed through the optical system. Modules are provided.

  Here, the shutter unit 31 is driven to open and close by the shutter drive control circuit 90. When a shutter drive control signal from the body control microcomputer 85 is input to the shutter drive control circuit 90, the shutter unit 31 is controlled based on the signal. At the same time, a strobe tuning signal for causing the strobe to emit light at a predetermined timing is output from the shutter drive control circuit 90 to the body control microcomputer 85. Based on this strobe tuning signal, a light emission command signal is output from the body control microcomputer 85 to the strobe unit 53.

  Here, the strobe unit 53 includes a flash light emitting unit 101, a strobe light emitting circuit 102, a strobe control microcomputer 103, and a battery 104. That is, the strobe unit 53 can be mounted so as to be communicable with the body unit 50 via the strobe communication connector 57.

  When the quick return mirror 70 is moved to the up position by the mirror drive mechanism 87 and the shutter is opened by the shutter drive control circuit 90, the light flux that has passed through the photographing lenses 61a and 61b is imaged on the image sensor 40. Here, when the quick return mirror 70 is in the up position, the sub mirror 75 is folded.

  An image sensor interface circuit 80 is connected to the image sensor 40. In the image sensor interface circuit 80, an image signal obtained by photoelectric conversion in the image sensor 40 is read in accordance with an image signal read start signal from the body control microcomputer 85. Thereafter, the read image pickup signal is converted into digital image data, and the converted image data is stored in the SDRAM 82 which is a temporary storage memory via the image processing controller 81. The SDRAM 82 is used as a work area when image data is converted.

  The image data stored in the SDRAM 82 is read by the image processing controller 81, and known image processing such as image white balance correction processing, color conversion processing, and gamma conversion processing is performed on the read image data. The Thereafter, a known JPEG compression process is performed to generate JPEG data, and the obtained JPEG data is stored in the SDRAM 82. The JPEG data stored in the SDRAM 82 is read again by the image processing controller 81 and recorded on the recording medium 52 via the communication connector 56. Here, the recording medium 52 is an external recording medium such as various memory cards or an external hard disk drive (HDD), and is attached to the body unit 50 via the communication connector 56 so as to be exchangeable.

  The body control microcomputer 85 is further connected to an operation display LCD 92 and a camera operation switch (SW) 93.

  The operation display LCD 92 is used to notify the user of the operation state of the camera 1 by display output.

  The camera operation SW 93 is, for example, a release switch that turns on / off in response to a release button 50a that instructs execution of a shooting operation, a mode change switch that switches the camera operation mode between a shooting mode and an image display mode, and It is composed of a switch group such as a power switch for turning on / off the power of the camera 1.

  When the user operates the mode change switch in the camera operation switch 93 to switch the camera operation mode from the shooting mode to the image display mode, the JPEG data stored in the recording medium 52 is read by the image processing controller 81. It is put out and extended. Thereafter, the decompressed data is converted into a video signal, and an image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 83.

  When the wireless device 20 is attached to the camera 1, the camera body side connector 11 and the wireless device side connector 21 are connected via the cable 22. Thus, at the time of image transmission, the image data processed by the image processing controller 81 is transferred from the body control microcomputer 85 to the wireless device control microcomputer 111 in the wireless device 20.

  In the wireless device controlling microcomputer 111, processing necessary for wireless transmission such as modulation processing is performed on the transferred image data. This processing data is temporarily stored in the SDRAM 112 and transmitted to the external device via the wireless transmission circuit 113 and the antenna 27.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the wireless device side connector 21 and the cable 22 are provided on the wireless device 20 side, so that the wireless device 20 can be easily attached to the camera 1. Garbage is less likely to invade when worn, and does not get in the way when shooting or carrying.

  Here, in FIG. 1, a wireless device is illustrated as an example of an accessory device, but the present embodiment is also applied to other accessory devices that require electrical connection with the camera 1, such as a USB storage device. It is possible to apply this technology. Further, the interface for connection is not limited to USB.

  Although the present invention has been described based on the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications are naturally possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

  Further, the above-described embodiments include various stages of the invention, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, even if some constituent requirements are deleted from all the constituent requirements shown in the embodiment, the problem described in the column of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved, and the effect described in the column of the effect of the invention Can be extracted as an invention.

1 is an external view of a camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows a mode when a radio | wireless apparatus is attached to a camera integrally. It is an external view when the wireless device is viewed from the surface direction in contact with the camera. It is a figure which shows a mode when a radio | wireless apparatus side connector and a cable are accommodated. It is a block diagram shown about the electric circuit structure of a camera and a radio | wireless apparatus when a radio | wireless apparatus is mounted | worn with a camera.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Camera, 11 ... Camera main body side connector, 12 ... Fixing screw hole, 20 ... Wireless apparatus, 21 ... Wireless apparatus side connector, 22 ... Cable, 23 ... Socket accommodating part, 24 ... Cable accommodating part, 25 ... For fixing Screws 26 ... Fixing screw operating members 27 ... Antenna

Claims (6)

In an accessory device that can be mounted integrally with the camera in order to expand the function of the camera,
A connection member including a connect plug and a cable, and an electrical connection with the camera;
When the accessory device is integrally attached to the camera via the connection member, a storage portion in which the connection member is stored;
An accessory device comprising:   The accessory device according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit is provided on a surface of the accessory device that contacts the camera.   The accessory device according to claim 1, wherein the connection member is stored so as not to be exposed to the outside when stored in the storage unit. In a camera system including a camera and an accessory device that can be integrally attached to the camera,
A cable portion for connecting the electrical circuit of the camera and the electrical circuit of the accessory device;
A storage portion for storing the cable so that the cable is not exposed to the outside when the accessory device is integrally attached to the camera via the cable;
A camera system comprising:   The camera system according to claim 4, wherein the cable is fixed to the accessory device side.   The camera system according to claim 4, wherein the storage unit is provided on a surface of the accessory device that contacts the camera.

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