JP2008051870A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restrain misoperation of an operation member provided to a lens barrel part. <P>SOLUTION: A recessed part 20A is provided on the outer surface 20B of the lens barrel part 20, and a button 23 on a lens barrel part side is arranged in the recessed part 20A. For example, a function of turning on/off image blur correction is allotted to the button 23. The operation surface of the button 23 is at a position higher than the base of the recessed part 20a but is at a position lower than the outer surface 20B. The space between the button 23 and the end of the recessed part 20A is larger on the right side (camera body part side). By doing so, misoperation is prevented, without impairing the operability of the button 23. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital camera in which a lens barrel is rotatable with respect to a camera body.

  There is a digital camera in which a camera body having a liquid crystal monitor and the like and a lens barrel having a photographing lens are configured separately, and the lens barrel can be rotated around an axis perpendicular to the photographing optical axis relative to the camera body is there. Some barrel-rotating cameras of this type (also called swivel cameras) are provided with a push-type button on the barrel (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-134614 A

  In the camera of Patent Document 1, since the button (electronic flash mode button) provided on the lens barrel portion protrudes from the surface of the lens barrel portion, the button is inadvertently pressed with a finger during shooting or when the lens barrel portion rotates, There is a possibility that the camera operation is performed contrary to the photographer's intention.

A digital camera according to the present invention has a camera body, a photographic lens, and a lens barrel that is rotatable about an axis orthogonal to the photographic optical axis with respect to the camera body, and is disposed on an outer surface of the lens barrel. And the operation surface of the operation member is substantially flush with the outer surface of the lens barrel or at a position lower than the outer surface.
The operation member may be disposed in a recess formed on the outer surface of the lens barrel, and the operation surface of the operation member may be positioned higher than the bottom surface of the recess.
When the camera body and the lens barrel are aligned in a substantially horizontal direction and the optical axis of the photographic lens is in a normal photographing posture, the operation member has an operation surface that faces substantially upward. May be determined. The operation member may be arranged at a position closer to the camera body than the center of the lens barrel.
The operation member is arranged in a recess formed on the outer surface of the lens barrel, the operation surface of the operation member is located higher than the bottom surface of the recess, and the distance between the operation member and the end of the recess on the camera body side is You may make it become larger than the space | interval of a member and the reverse side edge part of a recessed part.
There may be no step between the outer surface of the lens barrel and the end of the recess on the camera body side, and there may be a step between the outer surface and the opposite end of the recess.
The operation member may be a push button.
The operation member may be a member that is operated in order to switch the shooting condition according to the subject or the shooting situation. For example, an operation member for switching between image blur correction operation and non-operation may be used.
The height difference between the outer surface of the lens barrel and the operation surface of the operation member may be 0 or more and 0.2 mm or less.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent erroneous operation of the operation member provided in the lens barrel.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
1 and 2 are external views of a digital camera (hereinafter simply referred to as a camera) in the present embodiment. The camera includes a main body 10 and a lens barrel 20 that can rotate with respect to the main body 10.

  A liquid crystal monitor 11 is provided on the rear surface of the main body 10, and an image deletion button 12a, a menu button 12b, an auto / manual switching button 12c, a shooting / playback mode switching button 12d, and a four-way button 13 are provided on the upper part. It is done. On the liquid crystal monitor 11, a through image display that sequentially updates and displays continuously captured images, a playback display that calls and displays an already recorded image, and a menu display are also possible. A power button 14, a release button 15 and a zoom button 16 are provided on the upper surface of the main body 10.

  The lens barrel unit 20 incorporates a photographic lens 21, an image sensor (not shown), a flash device 22, and the like, and is rotated about an axis perpendicular to the optical axis of the photographic lens 21 with respect to the main body unit 10 by a swivel mechanism (not shown). It is rotatably supported. Push buttons 23 and 24 are provided on the outer surface of the lens barrel 20. Hereinafter, in order to distinguish from the buttons on the main body 10 side, these buttons 23 and 24 are referred to as a lens barrel side button.

  Although the detailed structure around the lens barrel side button will be described later, the lens barrel side buttons 23 and 24 are allotted a function for changing the shooting condition mainly in accordance with the subject and the shooting situation. For example, an image blur correction on / off function can be assigned to one of the buttons 23 and 24, and the face recognition AF on / off function can be assigned to the other button.

  Image blur correction is a function for correcting image blur caused by camera shake or the like by shifting a part of the photographing lens 21 or the image sensor in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis as is well known. However, it is better not to use image blur correction when the subject is a moving object or when the remaining battery level is low. For example, each time the lens barrel side button 23 is pressed, image blur correction is turned on and off sequentially. Try to change.

  The face recognition AF is a function that analyzes image data obtained by photographing, recognizes a person's face, and performs focus adjustment to focus on the recognized face. Since face recognition AF is not required when the subject is not a person, for example, each time the lens barrel side button 24 is pressed, the face recognition AF is switched on and off in sequence.

  FIG. 1 shows the posture of the camera when not photographing, and the photographing lens 21 faces upward. In this posture, the entire camera has less unevenness and is excellent in portability and storage.

  FIG. 2 shows a state in which the lens barrel 20 is rotated about 90 degrees from the state of FIG. In this state, the main body unit 10 and the lens barrel unit 20 are aligned in the horizontal direction, and the optical axis of the photographic lens 21 is directed in the horizontal direction to obtain a normal horizontal shooting posture. In this normal shooting posture, the photographer supports the main body 10 with the right hand and the lens barrel 20 with the left hand, and composes the composition while viewing the through image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 11 on the back. For the operation, the release button 15 and the zoom button 16 of the main body 10 are operated with the finger of the right hand, and the lens barrel side buttons 23 and 24 are operated with the finger of the left hand.

  Usually, the photographer puts the thumb of the left hand on the upper surface of the lens barrel unit 20 and supports the lower surface of the lens barrel unit 20 with other fingers, so the lens barrel side buttons 23 and 24 are pushed with the thumb of the left hand. become. Therefore, it is desirable to dispose the lens barrel side buttons 23 and 24 at positions close to the main body portion of the outer surface of the lens barrel portion 20 that faces upward in the normal photographing posture. Since this position is a position where the thumb of the left hand that supports the lens barrel portion 20 is naturally applied, operability is good.

  Although the operability is improved by devising the arrangement of the lens barrel side buttons 23 and 24 in this way, when the lens barrel portion 20 is gripped and rotated, it is inadvertent against the photographer's will. There is a concern that the lens barrel side buttons 23 and 24 may be pressed. Therefore, in this embodiment, the following erroneous operation prevention measures are taken.

  3 is an enlarged top view of the arrangement portion of the lens barrel side buttons 23 and 24, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV. The lens barrel part buttons 23 and 24 are provided in the recesses 20 </ b> A formed on the outer surface of the lens barrel part 20, respectively. Each recess 20A is large enough to cover the whole with one finger. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the upper surfaces (operation surfaces) of the lens barrel side buttons 23 and 24 protrude from the bottom surface of the recess 20 </ b> A, but about 0.1 to 0.2 mm from the outer surface 20 </ b> B of the lens barrel portion 20. It is in a low position. Further, the distance A between the left end portion of the recess 20A and the buttons 23, 24 is relatively narrow.

  Since the base of the finger for operating the buttons 23 and 24 is located on the left side in the figure, the left interval A is narrowed as described above, and the lens barrel side buttons 23 and 24 do not protrude from the outer surface 20B of the lens barrel portion 20. By doing so, the left step portion between the recess 20A and the outer surface 20B hinders button operation. Therefore, the buttons 23 and 24 are not easily pressed by simply covering the recess 20A with the belly of the finger.

  On the other hand, in order to operate the lens barrel side buttons 23 and 24, a force is applied to the right side of the button operation surface in the drawing with a finger. Since the distance B between the buttons 23 and 24 and the right end of the recess 20A is sufficiently larger than the distance A on the left side, and there is no step between the recess 20A and the outer surface 20B on the right side, force is applied to the right side of the button. This can be easily pressed. The reason why there is no step between the recess 20A and the outer surface 20B on the right side is that the portion where the lens barrel side buttons 23 and 24 are provided is a curved surface that gently falls in the right direction.

  Thus, according to the structure of this embodiment, when there is no intention to operate the lens barrel side buttons 23 and 24, even if the finger touches the button, it is not easily operated, and has the intention to operate in reverse. In this case, it can be easily operated, and erroneous operation can be prevented without impairing operability. This effect is the same when the lens barrel side buttons 23 and 24 are operated with other fingers (for example, the index finger of the left hand).

  In the above description, the operation surface of the lens barrel unit side button is set lower than the outer surface of the lens barrel unit, but may be flush with the outer surface. The operation member on the lens barrel side is not limited to a push button, and may be, for example, a slide type operation member. Further, the function assigned to the operation member on the lens barrel side may be on / off of flash emission, on / off of the macro function, or zooming of the photographing lens. The operation member on the lens barrel side may be provided at another position on the lens barrel. Further, a part of the outer surface of the lens barrel portion may be bulged, and the operation member on the lens barrel side may be disposed in a recess formed in the bulged portion.

The rear view of the digital camera in one embodiment. It is the perspective view which looked at the digital camera of FIG. 1 from the front side, and shows the state which rotated the lens-barrel part about 90 degree | times. The enlarged view of the button arrangement part of a lens-barrel part. IV-IV sectional view taken on the line of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Main body part 20 Lens barrel part 20A Recessed part 20B Outer surface 21 Shooting lens 23, 24

Claims (10)

A camera body, a lens barrel having a photographic lens and rotatable about an axis orthogonal to the photographic optical axis with respect to the camera body;
An operation member disposed on the outer surface of the lens barrel,
An operation surface of the operation member is substantially flush with an outer surface of the lens barrel portion or at a position lower than the outer surface.   2. The digital device according to claim 1, wherein the operation member is disposed in a concave portion formed on an outer surface of the lens barrel portion, and the operation surface of the operation member is positioned higher than a bottom surface of the concave portion. camera.   When the camera body portion and the lens barrel portion are arranged in a substantially horizontal direction and the optical axis of the photographing lens is in a normal photographing posture in a substantially horizontal direction, the operation surface of the operation member is directed substantially upward. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein an arrangement position of the operation member is defined.   The digital camera according to claim 3, wherein the operation member is disposed at a position closer to the camera body than the center of the lens barrel portion.   The operation member is disposed in a recess formed on an outer surface of the lens barrel, and the operation surface of the operation member is higher than a bottom surface of the recess, and the camera body of the operation member and the recess 5. The digital camera according to claim 3, wherein an interval between the side end portion is larger than an interval between the operation member and an opposite end portion of the concave portion.   There is no step between the outer surface of the lens barrel and the end of the recess on the camera body side, and there is a step between the outer surface and the opposite end of the recess. Item 6. The digital camera according to Item 5.   The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the operation member is a push button.   The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the operation member is a member that is operated in order to switch a shooting condition according to a subject or a shooting situation.   9. The digital camera according to claim 8, wherein the operation member is a member for switching operation / non-operation of image blur correction.   The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein a height difference between an outer surface of the lens barrel portion and an operation surface of the operation member is set to 0 to 0.2 mm.

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