JP2006186934A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an imaging apparatus which is excellent in operability of an input means such as setting and is space-saving. <P>SOLUTION: At least one operation input means is disposed on the back of a digital still camera 10 among a plurality of operation input means, the operation input means is a compound dial switch 16 constituted of a dial 16-1 to be turned for inputting and a five-input switch 16-2 where a joystick is disposed to project at the center of the dial, the five-input switch 16-2 is provided with an input function in the direction of pressing the joystick approximately perpendicularly to the back together with a four-direction input function due to inclination of the joystick, and is further provided with a lock function for fixing a setting value of the dial 16-1 by pushing in the joystick a little excessively. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus provided with operation signal input means such as a digital camera.

In recent years, digital still cameras have been designed for high-end users with optional functions that can handle various shooting situations, aiming to replace, for example, single-lens reflex cameras for silver halide films, and for general consumers. Bipolar differentiation is progressing.
In the former, for example, a solid-state image sensor having 8 to 10 million effective pixels is incorporated, and the A3 size is reduced by reducing power consumption, downsizing the recording medium, and using a dedicated optical system / battery. It is now possible to easily obtain images that are comparable to silver salt film even in large format prints.
Such digital still cameras for high-end users are provided with various digital information input means for operation or setting so that optional functions can be fully utilized.

As a conventional camera that enables digital information input, a single-lens reflex camera disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known, although it is not a digital still camera. The camera disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided with another dial-type second digital signal input means on the back surface in addition to the dial-type first digital signal input means provided on the top surface or the front surface. The type of camera information that can be set by the second digital signal input means is switched according to the relationship with the camera information that is set by the first digital signal input means. For the second dial arranged on the back side of the camera, a dial lock switch for disabling the input to the second dial is provided so that the set value does not change even if it is touched by mistake.
Japanese Patent No. 2614303 (second page, FIGS. 1 and 2)

  However, in the camera disclosed in Patent Document 1, since not only the second dial but also a dial lock switch is arranged on the back surface, the use efficiency of the limited back space is poor, and in particular, a display with a liquid crystal cell or the like on the back surface In a digital still camera in which a monitor is indispensable, it is necessary to provide a multifunctional switch with a smaller occupied area without impairing operability as an input means arranged on the back side.

  In view of the above, the present invention proposes an imaging apparatus in which a multifunction switch with a small occupation area is arranged on the back surface.

  The imaging device according to the present invention includes an imaging lens on the front surface, a liquid crystal monitor on the back surface, and a plurality of operation signal input units, and is disposed on the back surface of the imaging device among the plurality of operation signal input units. At least one operation signal input means is constituted by a dial and a multipoint switch provided substantially at the center of the dial.

  According to the imaging apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the dial-type operation signal input means can be configured to be multifunctional and compact, and for example, at each contact point of the multipoint switch while viewing the displayed monitor screen. After selecting the assigned function, the setting value of the function can be continuously varied by dialing.

  Further, according to the present invention, in the imaging apparatus described above, the multipoint switch provided at substantially the center of the dial tilts the operation lever of the multipoint switch so that signals in four directions can be input. By pressing in a substantially axial direction, a signal in the pressing direction can be freely input.

  According to the imaging apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the cursor displayed on the menu screen is moved to a predetermined menu using, for example, a multipoint switch while viewing the display monitor screen, and the menu is displayed by pressing the push button switch. A function can be selected, and the setting value of the function can be continuously changed with a dial.

  Furthermore, the present invention is configured such that, in the above-described imaging device, the pressing state of the operating rod is maintained and the input signal due to the rotation of the dial is invalidated by pressing the operating rod with a stroke larger than a predetermined amount in a substantially axial direction. It is what.

  According to the imaging apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, after setting with the dial, the pressed state of the push button switch is held, so that the set value is held even if the dial is touched accidentally. Can be taken, and there is no trouble in shooting.

  According to the image pickup apparatus of the present invention, the multifunction switch with a small occupied area arranged on the back includes a dial, a four-direction input function, and a push button function with a lock function. Can be made good.

  Hereinafter, an example of the best mode for carrying out the imaging apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of the imaging apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes an imaging apparatus such as a digital still camera. The digital still camera 10 records digital data of captured still images and moving images on a predetermined recording medium. In the following description, it is assumed that a still image is shot / recorded, but it may be used for a moving image such as a video.
As shown in FIG. 1, the digital still camera 10 is provided with a flash 13 that can stand up on the upper left side of the body 11, a mode dial 18 on the upper right side, and a shutter button 12 on the upper surface of the right hand grip portion 11a.
Further, a viewfinder 14, an image monitor 15 such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a composite dial switch 16, and a dial switch 17 are provided on the back of the body 11, and a lens 19 having a zoom ring and a focus ring is provided on the front. .
The body 11 is provided with a storage medium (not shown) such as a secondary battery or a memory card, and a connection terminal (not shown) connected to an external power source or a personal computer.

As shown in FIG. 1, the flash 13 is in a standing (pop-up) state during night photography or daytime synchronized photography, and the shadow of the subject itself is shadowed so that the direction of light emission is substantially parallel to the optical axis of the lens 19. I try not to be captured as much as possible.
The shutter button 12 is an electromagnetic push button switch arranged at the position of the index finger when gripped with the right hand on the upper surface of the grip portion 11a of the body 11, for example, by half-pressing to focus lock (focus position fixed), and thereafter It is possible to perform a so-called shooting operation in which an image of a subject is written on a recording medium by being fully pressed.
The mode dial 18 rotates the dial to select still image auto shooting, various shooting modes (programmed auto shooting, shutter speed priority shooting, aperture priority shooting, scene selection shooting, etc.), manual exposure setting, and the like. Will be able to.

The viewfinder 14 disposed on the left end of the back of the body 11 shown in FIG. 1 is an image monitor using a high-definition liquid crystal cell or the like that is viewed directly on the eye socket through the eyepiece, and external light is blocked. The image can be confirmed in more detail. On the other hand, an image monitor 15 disposed on the right side of the viewfinder 14 is an image display monitor using a liquid crystal cell or the like provided on the back of the body 11, and confirms icons and numerical values when displaying image data and setting shooting conditions. Etc will be able to do.
The dial switch 17 is disposed on the upper right side of the back surface of the body 11 shown in FIG. 1, and a part of a disk having a rotation axis substantially parallel to the back surface is exposed, and the disk is pushed toward the body 11. 2 can actuate the contact in the pressing direction, and as shown in FIG. 2, it is disposed at a position where the thumb of the right hand can be moved and rotated in the lateral direction while the body 11 itself is gripped. .

As shown in FIG. 1, the composite dial switch 16 is disposed between the image monitor 15 and the dial switch 17 on the lower side of the back surface of the body 11, and at the center of the dial 16-1 having a rotation axis substantially perpendicular to the back surface. A 5-input switch 16-2 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the 5-input switch 16-2 has a slightly protruding head from the upper surface of the dial 16-1. Any one of the contacts can be actuated, and one contact point in the pushing direction can be actuated by pushing the operating rod into the back surface of the body 11 in a substantially vertical direction.
Then, by slightly deepening the pushing stroke of the operating rod, it is locked (fixed) in the pushed-in state so as not to protrude from the upper surface of the dial 16-1. Unlocking can be performed by slightly pressing the head of the operating rod with a fingertip.

Next, an example of the internal configuration of the digital still camera 10 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG.
In FIG. 4, reference numeral 30 denotes a CPU for controlling each part of the digital still camera 10, and this CPU 30 is connected to a common bus and operates externally such as the shutter button 12, the composite dial switch 16, the dial switch 17, and the mode dial 18. While a signal is input from the unit, a driver circuit 32 for driving a mechanism built in the lens 19, a timing signal generation circuit for the solid-state imaging device 20, and a control signal to the signal conversion unit 21 are output. The Here, the signal conversion unit 21 includes circuits such as an exposure meter (CDS), automatic gain control (AGC), and analog / digital conversion (AD).
In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, the common bus includes a signal processing circuit 22 having an externally provided SD-RAM (Synchronous Dynamic RAM), a network I / F, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a Flash-ROM ( Read Only Memory), a display control circuit 31, and a memory I / F (interface) for the recording medium 40 such as a memory card are connected.

Then, the timing signal generated by the CPU 30 and the scanning signal of the electric charge generated thereby are input to the solid-state imaging device 20 such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), and an electrical signal is output to the image output from the solid-state imaging device 20. The signal conversion unit 21 converts the signal into a predetermined digital signal and inputs the signal to the signal processing circuit 22.
The solid-state imaging device 20 can employ not only a CCD but also a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) sensor.

  Then, by turning on the power switch of the digital still camera 10, the image of the subject is converted into a digital image signal by the solid-state imaging device 20, the subsequent signal conversion unit 21, and the signal processing circuit 22 through the lens 19. After that, it is output to the common bus. The digital signal of the image is displayed on the viewfinder 14 or the image monitor 15 shown in FIG.

In shooting, when the shutter button 12 is pressed, the image of the subject of the input signal is captured for a predetermined time and converted into an electrical signal. This electric signal (charge accumulated in the CCD) is read out under the control of the signal processing circuit 22, and is subjected to signal processing based on preset photographing conditions such as color separation and gain adjustment, and then image data. Are recorded in a recording medium 40 such as a memory card via the memory I / F.
The lens 19 is provided with an iris (Iris: light quantity adjustment) mechanism, an iris motor for driving and controlling the same, a zoom motor for moving and controlling a zoom (enlargement and reduction) lens provided on the lens 19, and the lens 19. A focus motor that controls the movement of a focus lens, a shutter that controls the exposure time, and a release that electrically drives the shutter are incorporated. The drive motor and release of these units are controlled by the driver circuit 32 so as to satisfy predetermined setting conditions based on an instruction from the CPU 30.

  The image data recorded on the recording medium 40 is supplied to the display control circuit 31 under the control of the CPU 30, and the supplied image data can be displayed on the image monitor 15. Further, the digital still camera 10 can be connected to other devices via the network I / F and external terminals, and can exchange data with other devices under the control of the CPU 30. Consists of.

  In the digital still camera 10 shown in FIG. 1 configured as described above, first a charged secondary battery (not shown) and a recording medium are mounted, and then a power switch (not shown) is turned on. Then, the image of the subject incident from the lens 19 can be confirmed on the viewfinder 14 or the image monitor 15 as shown in FIG. The photographing condition desired by the photographer can be set with reference to the displayed image of the subject or the exposure confirmation histogram extracted from the image signal based on this image.

For the setting of the shooting conditions, for example, first, a desired shooting mode is selected with the mode dial 18 to display a plurality of function icons on a menu corresponding to the shooting mode on the image monitor 15. At this time, one of the plurality of icons can be selected by color reversal or a frame.
Then, starting from the icon, to the icon corresponding to the desired function, the operation button of the 5-input switch 16-2 is tilted back and forth (up and down) or left and right to indicate the moving direction, and the selectable icons are sequentially Move.
Then, the head of the operation stick is pushed in a state where a predetermined function icon can be selected, and the function is selected.

Next, when it is necessary to further set the selected function with a numerical value, the dial 16-1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 can be rotated and set to a predetermined value. Thereafter, the operating rod is pushed down to lock the composite dial switch 16 so that the set value does not change carelessly.
Through such operations, all the photographing conditions desired by the photographer can be set.
The photographer can record the image signal of the subject as digital data on a recording medium such as a predetermined memory card by pressing the shutter button 12 under the set conditions. In the actual shooting in the shooting mode, when it becomes necessary to finely adjust the set value by confirming the image with the viewfinder 14, the dial switch 17 is pushed toward the back of the body 11, and the composite dial switch 16 is used. The lock is left as it is, and the dial switch 17 is used for input. The dial switch 17 can be rotated with the thumb of the right hand for fine adjustment.

In addition, when setting all of the shooting conditions of the image pickup apparatus manually as described above, various shooting modes that can be selected with the mode dial 18 and set shooting conditions more easily are prepared in advance. The
For example, in the aperture priority shooting mode, the dial switch 17 can be turned to set the aperture value, and the composite dial switch 16 can be turned to set the exposure correction value. Then, at the setting stage, as shown in FIG. 5, information such as the exposure correction value and its bar display, aperture (F) value, shutter speed value, etc. is displayed at the bottom of the screen of the image monitor 15. Here, since the exposure correction value can be changed by the composite dial switch 16, the bar display of the exposure correction value may be displayed by changing the color such as yellow.
Further, the display on the image monitor 15 is matched to the layout of the two dial switches 16 and 17 on the back, and the exposure correction value and its bar are displayed on the left side of the screen in correspondence with the composite dial switch 16 arranged on the left side. Incorrect operation can be reduced by displaying the aperture value on the right side of the screen in correspondence with the dial switch 17 arranged on the screen.

  According to the image pickup apparatus of this example, the multifunction switch with a small occupied area arranged on the back includes a dial, a four-direction input function, and a push button function with a lock function. In this case, the usability can be improved.

  Needless to say, the imaging apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the above-described example, and can take other various configurations without departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is an external appearance perspective view by the example of one embodiment of the imaging device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the imaging apparatus of FIG. It is an external appearance perspective view of the compound dial switch used for the imaging device of the example of FIG. It is a functional block diagram of the imaging device of the example in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display of the image monitor of the imaging device back surface of the example of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  10 ... Digital still camera, 16 ... Composite dial switch, 16-1 ... Dial, 16-2 ... 5 input switch

Claims (3)

In the imaging device provided with an imaging lens on the front surface and a liquid crystal monitor on the back surface and a plurality of operation signal input means,
Of the plurality of operation signal input means, at least one of the operation signal input means provided on the back surface of the imaging device is configured by a dial and a multipoint switch provided at substantially the center of the dial. An imaging device that is characterized. The imaging device according to claim 1,
When the multipoint switch provided at the approximate center of the dial tilts the operation lever of the multipoint switch, four-way signals can be input, and when the operation rod is depressed in the substantially axial direction. An imaging apparatus, wherein a signal in a pressing direction is freely input. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
An image pickup apparatus configured to hold the operation rod in a pressed state and invalidate an input signal due to rotation of the dial when the operation rod is pressed with a stroke larger than a predetermined stroke in a substantially axial direction.

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