JP2007127714A - Camera system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily set an appropriate photographing parameter even when using an external stroboscopic device customized by a user. <P>SOLUTION: Provided are: the external stroboscopic device having ID information being individual identification information; and the camera system to/from which the external stroboscopic device can be attached/detached. The camera system has: a parameter setting changing means for changing a parameter concerning photography; a storage means for storing the parameter concerning the photography set by the parameter setting means and ID information by relating them to each other; and a parameter setting means for changing the photographing parameter by discriminating the ID information of the external stroboscopic device, and reading the parameter concerning the photography related to the ID information in the storage means when the parameter concerning the photography related to the ID information is stored in the storage means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic camera, and more particularly to a camera system in which an external strobe device is detachable and parameters of shooting parameters can be changed to reflect a photographer's intention.

In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, the strobe device has color temperature information of strobe light emission, and performs white balance adjustment based on the color temperature information when the strobe is used. Also in Patent Document 2, a technique similar to the above is disclosed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-85834 JP 2001-339734 A

  However, users who perform close-up photography often perform mechanical customization of the main body of the external strobe device by their own hands. An example of customization is “Attach a color filter to the front of the light emitting unit to change the color temperature of the strobe light.” “Attach a diffuser or hood and change the strobe light distribution”. These customizations are often fixed with an adhesive or the like so that they cannot be removed easily in order to prevent the filter from falling off during shooting.

  That is, in the techniques disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2-85834 and 2001-339734 in which various corrections are performed based on information set at the time of product shipment, an external strobe customized by the user's hand is used. There arises a problem that the apparatus cannot be supported.

  According to a first aspect of the present application, there is provided an external strobe device having ID information which is individual identification information, a parameter setting changing means capable of changing a parameter relating to photographing in a camera system to which the external strobe device can be attached and detached, and parameter setting The storage unit for storing the shooting information and the ID information set in association with each other and the ID information of the external strobe device are determined, and the shooting parameter associated with the ID information is stored in the storage unit. In some cases, the camera system is characterized by having parameter setting means for reading out the parameters relating to the photographing associated with the ID information to the storage means and changing the photographing parameters. With this configuration, even with an external strobe device customized by the user, it is possible to automatically set various frequently used shooting parameters simply by attaching the external strobe device to the camera. It becomes possible.

  With this configuration, even with an external strobe device customized by the user, it is possible to automatically set various frequently used shooting parameters simply by attaching the external strobe device to the camera. It becomes possible.

Example 1
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front perspective view showing an appearance of the electronic camera according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a camera body, and a photographic lens 2 can be attached to the camera body 1 in a replaceable manner. The light emitting portion 15b of the external strobe device 15 can be attached to the tip of the interchangeable lens. Reference numeral 3 denotes a grip, which is shaped so that a photographer can easily hold the camera body 1. Various operation members and display members for photographing are concentrated on the upper portion of the camera body 1. Reference numeral 4 denotes a shutter release button, and photometry and distance measurement calculation are performed by pressing the first step (SW1), and a series of operations for exposure start by pressing the second step (SW2). Reference numeral 5 denotes a top display panel using liquid crystal, which displays information necessary for photographing such as a shutter speed and an aperture value. Reference numeral 6 denotes an electronic dial as one of parameter setting changing means, which is disposed at the upper part of the grip 3 and at the rear part of the shutter release button 4. The photographer can change photographing conditions such as shutter speed and aperture by operating the electronic dial 6. In addition, a back surface TFT monitor (not shown) for displaying captured images and camera setting information is provided on the back surface of the camera body. Furthermore, various setting / operation buttons such as a shooting mode change button and an image playback button, which are one of parameter setting changing means (not shown), are provided on the back and upper left shoulders of the camera body. And an operation member for instructing to display a captured image as a reproduced image on a liquid crystal display monitor (not shown).

  An external strobe device 15 includes a control unit 15a and a light emitting unit 15b, and the control unit 15a and the light emitting unit 15b are connected by a spiral cord 15c. The control unit 15a is configured to be detachable from the camera body 1. An electrical connection terminal portion between the camera and the external strobe device is provided in a so-called accessory shoe portion. The light emitting unit 15b is attached to the lens tip by a detachable mechanism. The light-emitting unit 15b can change the light-emitting optical axis of the light-emitting unit in order to illuminate the subject optimally during close-up photography.

  The external strobe device includes buttons 15d, 15e, 15f, and 15g that change various settings of the external strobe device, that is, parameter setting changing means. The external strobe device has a liquid crystal display monitor 15h for displaying the setting contents of the external strobe device. The external strobe device described in this embodiment is a close-up strobe device. A user who performs close-up photography often performs mechanical customization by the user's own hand. An example of customization is “Attach a color filter to the front of the light emitting unit to change the color temperature of the strobe light.” “Attach a diffuser or hood and change the strobe light distribution”. These customizations are often fixed with an adhesive or the like so as not to be easily removed in order to prevent the filter from falling off during photographing.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a conventional single-lens reflex electronic camera with a liquid crystal monitor that displays a captured image, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration thereof. 2 and 3, the subject luminous flux that has passed through the photographing lens reaches the solid-state imaging device (CMOS), and the photographed image taken on the CMOS is subjected to various conversion processes in the image processing circuit. Finally, a route until a playback image is displayed on a liquid crystal monitor built in the electronic camera will be described.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 501 denotes a camera body, 502 denotes a camera side mount, and 503 photographing lens. The photographing lens 503 is detachably mounted on the camera side mount 502.

  The main mirror 505, which is a half mirror, changes from the state shown in FIG. 2 to the state shown by the two-dot chain line, that is, the state where the object mirror between the objective lens group 504 and the solid-state imaging device 506 (CMOS) is retracted. In some cases, the subject luminous flux that has passed through the objective lens group 504 of the photographing lens 503 is behind the main mirror 505, and the subject luminous flux passes through the optical filter 508 disposed in front of the shutter curtain 507. The optical filter 508 cuts a specific wavelength of the photographing light flux or removes its high frequency component.

  At this time, the shutter front curtain 507a first travels, and when the travel of the shutter front curtain 507a is completed, the strobe light is emitted. When the shutter rear curtain 507b travels after a lapse of a predetermined time from the start of traveling of the front curtain 507a, a subject image is formed on a solid-state image sensor 506 such as a CMOS attached to the focal image plane. Then, the subject luminous flux accumulated for a predetermined time by the solid-state imaging device 506 is converted into an electrical signal having an amount proportional to the light intensity. Further, the converted electric signal is supplied from the solid-state imaging device 506 to the pre-processing unit 519 and subjected to analog processing as shown in FIG.

  The analog-processed electrical signal is converted into digital data by the A / D conversion unit 521 at the next stage and supplied to the signal processing unit 522. In the signal processing unit 522, several conversion processes are performed on the digitized image signal, and the result is output to the memory controller 523. In the memory controller 523, the digital image signal input from the signal processing unit 522 is accumulated in the frame memory 524, and then transferred to the main microcomputer 520 to perform image compression processing. Finally, this image signal is transferred to the liquid crystal display monitor 140 of the camera body 1 to display it as a subject image. The operation switch 514 includes a shutter release button 4, an electronic dial 6 that is one of parameter setting changing means, a shooting mode change and playback button that is one of parameter setting changing means (not shown), a main switch, a delete button, An operation button is provided.

  This electronic camera includes a diaphragm 510 and a focus lens group 512 in a photographing lens 503, and these are driven by a diaphragm driving member 511 and an automatic focus driving unit 513 to adjust the amount of incident light and focus the subject. Adjustments can be made. Various operations including these adjustments can be performed using the operation switch 514, and the operation state is managed by the sub-microcomputer 515. The sub-microcomputer 515 displays the operation state and the like on the liquid crystal panel 516.

  Further, the digital image signal stored in the frame memory 524 is further given to and stored in the image storage memory 526. The image signals accumulated here are supplied to the PC card 528 by the PC card controller 527. The EEPROM 529 is a nonvolatile memory and stores various adjustment values and shooting parameter setting values of the camera.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a shooting parameter setting and setting value storage sequence in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a shooting sequence in the first embodiment. Hereinafter, a series of operations in actual setting / photographing will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In FIG. 4, first, in step S101, the main microcomputer 520 determines whether or not an external strobe device is attached. In step S102, strobe ID information that is individual identification information of the strobe is read from the EEPROM 15i that is a storage means of the external strobe device. In the case of an external strobe device that does not have strobe ID information, the custom setting value storage function is invalid. The strobe ID information in this embodiment is a serial number.

  In step S103, it is determined whether or not the strobe ID information has been read in step S102. If the strobe ID information has been read, the process proceeds to step S104. If the strobe ID information has not been read, the process proceeds to step S109, and the user is prompted to change the parameter settings relating to shooting of the external strobe device and the camera body. Done by hand. The shooting parameter setting is changed by performing predetermined operations on various setting buttons and an electronic dial provided on the camera and the external strobe device. The shooting parameters include ISO sensitivity, external strobe color temperature information, exposure correction amount, dimming correction amount, shooting mode, AF mode, photometry mode, white balance correction, and the like. Then, the process proceeds to the shooting sequence.

  In step S104, it is determined whether or not there is setting information stored in association with the flash ID information read in step S102 in the EEPROM 529 which is the setting value storage means of the camera body. If the setting information is stored in association with the flash ID information, the process proceeds to step S105. If the setting information is not stored in association with the flash ID information, the process proceeds to step S106.

  In step S105, in step S102, setting information stored in association with the read strobe ID information is read from the main microcomputer 520 as parameter setting means, and the settings of the camera body and the external strobe device are changed. Migrate to

  In step S <b> 106, it is determined whether or not the user has manually changed the parameter setting relating to the shooting of the external strobe device and the camera body. The shooting parameter setting is changed by predetermined operations of various setting buttons and an electronic dial provided on the camera and the external strobe device. The shooting parameters include ISO sensitivity, external strobe color temperature information, exposure correction amount, and external strobe light emission correction amount. If the setting change by the user has been performed, the process proceeds to step S107, and if the setting change by the user has not been performed, the process proceeds to the shooting sequence.

  In step S107, it is determined whether or not the user has performed an operation for associating the flash ID information with the set value and storing them in the EEPROM 529 of the camera body. If a predetermined operation is detected, the process proceeds to step S108, and if a predetermined operation is not detected, the process proceeds to a shooting sequence.

  In step S108, the flash ID information and the current set value are associated with each other and stored in the EEPROM 529 of the camera body. Then, the process proceeds to the shooting sequence.

  In FIG. 5, first, in step S201, a main switch (not shown) is operated to turn on the power. In step S202, the camera body 1 checks the power state of a battery (not shown) and displays it on a rear liquid crystal panel (not shown). Further, after the CPU constituting the main microcomputer 520 is reset to the initial state, the camera enters a standby state where photographing can be performed.

  Next, in step S203, it is determined whether or not the external strobe device 15 that is an auxiliary light projector is attached via an electrical communication terminal (not shown) provided on the accessory shoe. If not, the process proceeds to step S208. If the external strobe device 15 is attached, in step S204, strobe ID information that is individual strobe identification information is read from the external strobe device. In the case of an external strobe device that does not have strobe ID information, the custom setting value storage function is invalid.

  In step S205, it is determined whether or not the strobe ID information is read in step S204. If the strobe ID information has been read, the process proceeds to step S206. If the strobe ID information has not been read, the process proceeds to step S208.

  In step S206, it is determined whether or not there is setting information stored in association with the flash ID information read in step S204 in the EEPROM 529 which is the setting value storage means of the camera body. If the setting information is stored in association with the flash ID information, the process proceeds to step S207. If the setting information is not stored in association with the flash ID information, the process proceeds to step S208.

  In step S207, the setting information stored in association with the flash ID information read in step S204 is read, and the process proceeds to step S208.

  Next, when the photographer depresses the shutter release button 4 to the first level in step S208 (SW1), in step S209, photometry calculation and distance measurement calculation are performed by the well-known photometry means and distance measurement means.

  Thereafter, when the shutter release button 4 is further pressed in step S210 (SW2), the diaphragm 510 is adjusted by the diaphragm driving member 511 so that an appropriate light amount is obtained. In the next step S212, the front curtain of the shutter is first traveled, and when the travel of the front curtain is completed, a light emission signal is sent to the external strobe device 15 to emit light, and when the predetermined time has elapsed after the front curtain travel has started, the rear curtain is traveled. . In step S213, the subject image formed on the CMOS 506 is photoelectrically converted in the CMOS 506 and output as an electrical signal.

  In step S214, the analog image signal output from the CMOS 506 is A / D converted by the A / D converter 521 to be converted into digital data. In step S215, the signal processor 522 performs various conversion processes. Do. Further, after the CPU 520 performs data compression processing in step S216, the image data subjected to the above-described image processing is displayed on the liquid crystal display monitor 14a of the camera body 1 as a reproduced image for several seconds in step S217. In step S218, the image data is stored in the external memory.

  Thereafter, the process returns to the end state of step S207, and enters a standby state where the next photographing can be performed.

It is a front perspective view which shows the external appearance of the electronic camera in this embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the single-lens reflex type electronic camera in this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the electronic camera in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the setting sequence in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the imaging | photography sequence in this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Camera body 4 Shutter release button 13 Finder eyepiece window 14a Liquid crystal display monitor 14b Operation button 15 External strobe device 520 Main microcomputer (CPU)

Claims (3)

An external strobe device having ID information which is individual identification information;
In the camera system in which the external strobe device is detachable,
A parameter setting changing unit capable of changing a parameter relating to shooting, a storage unit storing the parameter relating to shooting set by the parameter setting unit and ID information in association with each other;
The ID information of the external strobe device is determined, and when the shooting-related parameters associated with the ID information are stored in the storage means, the shooting-related parameters associated with the ID information are read into the storage means, A camera system comprising parameter setting means for changing a photographing parameter.   The camera system according to claim 1, wherein the individual identification information is a serial number.   The camera system according to claim 1, wherein the shooting-related parameters include at least one of a shooting mode, a photometry mode, an AF mode, a white balance correction, an exposure correction amount, and a light adjustment correction amount.

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