JP2008310063A - Stroboscopic device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a simple and inexpensive stroboscopic device for photography capable of performing setting of light control of a light emitting part with easy operation. <P>SOLUTION: After turning on the power source of the stroboscopic device 1, the light control of the light emitting part is set by a main switch 4 for turning on/off the power source. Accordingly, simplification of device constitution and facilitation of operation are achieved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a strobe device for taking a photograph.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a strobe device that is relatively easy to operate and inexpensive is widely used with an automatic light control function (auto strobe function) that automatically adjusts the amount of light emission according to reflected light. However, along with the diversification of shooting purposes, there are many cases where the photographer himself desires to adjust the amount of light emission from the viewpoint of photographic effects, and a dimming correction function is added to a strobe device that is relatively easy to operate and inexpensive. It is highly desired.

  As a conventional technique related to the operation of the strobe device, for example, there is known a strobe operation panel mechanism including a main power switch and a jog dial for setting various functions such as adjustment of a light amount ratio in the operation unit (patent) Reference 1).

JP 2000-258821 A

  However, in the strobe device as described in Patent Document 1, the jog dial for setting the dimming is provided separately from the switch for turning on / off the power, so that the dimming can be performed promptly after the power is turned on. It is not possible to execute the setting, and there is a problem that the apparatus cost increases.

  The present invention has been devised in view of such problems of the prior art, and mainly aims to provide a simple and inexpensive strobe device capable of performing dimming setting of a light emitting unit with a simple operation. Objective.

  A first invention made to solve the above problems is a strobe device for taking a photograph, comprising an operation button for turning on and off the power, and after the power is turned on, the dimming is set by the operation button. The configuration is to be performed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention for solving the above-described problem, the dimming setting is configured to be executed by changing a light amount level stepwise according to the number of times the operation button is pressed. it can.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention for solving the above problem, the power on / off operation and the dimming setting operation can be identified based on the length of time the operation button is pressed.

  A fourth invention made to solve the above-described problem can be configured to further include a display lamp for displaying the light quantity level.

  In a fifth aspect of the present invention made to solve the above-described problem, the display lamp is a multicolor LED, and can emit light of different colors according to the light amount level.

  A sixth invention made to solve the above-described problem may be configured such that the display lamp is lit or blinked in accordance with the light amount level.

  According to the first aspect of the invention, since the dimming setting is performed by the operation button for turning on and off the power, the dimming setting of the light emitting unit is performed by a simple operation while having a simple and inexpensive configuration. It has an excellent effect that it becomes possible. In particular, there is an advantage that the dimming setting can be executed promptly after the power is turned on. According to the second aspect of the invention, it is possible to quickly and easily change the light amount level with a single operation button. According to the third aspect, it is possible to easily execute two different operations with one operation button. According to the fourth aspect, the user can easily visually recognize the light amount level, and the operability is improved. According to the fifth and sixth aspects of the invention, it is possible to realize a display lamp with a light quantity level with a simple configuration.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 and 2 are a front view and a rear view of a strobe device according to the present invention, respectively.

  The strobe device 1 is attached to a hot shoe of a camera (not shown) via a connecting portion 2 provided at the lower portion, and is used for photography by causing the light emitting portion 3 on the front side to emit light toward a subject. On the back side of the strobe device 1, there are provided a main switch (operation button) 4 used for turning on / off the power supply and a display LED 5 composed of a multi-color LED (Light Emitting Diode) for displaying the light amount level of the light emitting unit 3. . In addition, a battery 6 serving as a power source for light emission is housed inside the strobe device 1.

  As will be described later, the strobe device 1 can set the dimming of the light emitting unit 3 by a main switch 4 for turning on and off the power. Thereby, it is possible to set the dimming of the light emitting unit 3 with a simple operation while having a simple and inexpensive configuration. In particular, there is an advantage that the dimming setting can be executed promptly after the power is turned on. In addition, it is possible to reduce the space for disposing the operation switches and reduce the size of the apparatus.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the strobe device. The strobe device 1 includes a main control unit 11 composed of a microcomputer for comprehensively controlling the device operation, and a memory 12 composed of an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM) for recording various condition settings (light quantity level, etc.) related to the device operation. The light emitting circuit 14 mainly performs the light emitting operation of the xenon tube 13 constituting the light emitting unit 3 based on the control command from the main control unit 11.

  In the control of the apparatus operation, the main control unit 11 performs power on / off or light adjustment of the light emitting unit 3 in accordance with the operation of the main switch 4 by the user. This dimming setting is executed by the main control unit 11 changing the light amount level stepwise based on a known dimming method.

  Further, regarding the operation of the main switch 4, the main control unit 11 determines whether the user's operation is a power on / off operation or a dimming setting operation, depending on the length of time the user presses the main switch 4. Identify. In the present embodiment, when the time for which the main switch 4 is continuously pressed is 2 seconds or longer (hereinafter referred to as “long press”), the main control unit 11 recognizes the operation as a power on / off operation, When the time for which the main switch 4 is continuously pressed is less than 0.3 seconds (hereinafter referred to as “short press”), the operation is recognized as a dimming setting operation.

  The light-emitting circuit 14 starts light emission of the xenon tube 13 based on a booster circuit 21 that generates a high voltage from the power of the battery 6, a main capacitor 22 that stores electrical energy required for light emission, and a light-emission command from the main control unit 11. And a trigger circuit 23 for applying a trigger to be applied. The light-emitting circuit 14 has the same configuration as that of a conventional strobe device, and a description thereof is omitted here. For example, the measurement circuit for the charging voltage of the main capacitor 22 and the light emission of the xenon tube 13 are stopped. For example, a light emission stop circuit is included.

  Next, the details of the light emission operation in the strobe device having the above-described configuration will be described, focusing on the power on / off and the dimming setting.

  4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the flow of light emission operation of the strobe device.

  When the strobe device 1 is used, first, the user turns on the power (ST102) by long pressing the main switch 4 (ST101). As a result, main controller 11 starts charging from battery 6 to main capacitor 22 (ST103). At this time, the display LED 5 blinks yellow to indicate that charging is in progress.

  When charging is completed (ST104: Yes), the main control unit 11 sets the light amount level to an initial value (here, 0Ev (Exposure value)) (ST105). At this time, the display LED 5 blinks in green, indicating that the light amount level is the initial value.

  Thereafter, when the user presses the main switch 4 for a short time (ST106: Yes), the light amount level is changed by one step (ST107). For example, as shown in FIG. 6, this light amount level is expressed as 0 Ev (initial value) → −0.5 Ev → −1.0 Ev → + 0.5 Ev → + 1.0 Ev → 0 Ev every time the main switch is pressed for a short time. It can be set to change sequentially.

  At this time, the display of the display LED 5 can be changed from green lighting → blue flashing → blue lighting → red flashing → red lighting → green lighting. Thereby, it is possible to realize the display of the light amount level by the single display LED 5 without requiring the numerical display by the liquid crystal.

  After that, the main control unit 11 determines whether or not the light emission operation is completed (ST108). When the light emission operation is completed, the main control unit 11 returns to ST103 again and starts charging. In ST106, if the main switch 4 is not operated at all or the short-press condition (less than 0.3 seconds) is not satisfied, it is determined whether or not the light emission operation is completed as described above (ST108). .

  In the above process, if the user presses and holds down the main switch 4 after the power is turned on in ST102, all the processes are stopped, and the power-off process shown in FIG. 5 is executed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the main switch 4 is pressed for a long time (ST201: Yes), the main control unit 11 recognizes that the user has performed a power-off operation. Therefore, the main control unit 11 turns off the display LED 5 (ST202), and executes power off (ST203).

  When the main switch 4 is not operated for a certain period of time, the same processing as when long pressed in ST201 can be executed.

Front view of strobe device according to the present invention Rear view of strobe device according to the present invention Block diagram showing the configuration of the strobe device Flow chart showing the flow of light emission operation of the strobe device Flow chart showing the flow of light emission operation of the strobe device Explanatory drawing about change of light level

Explanation of symbols

1 Strobe device 3 Light emitting unit 4 Main switch (operation button)
5 Indicator LED (Indicator lamp)
11 Main control unit 13 Xenon tube 14 Light emitting circuit

Claims (6)

A strobe device for taking a photo,
Has an operation button to turn on and off the power,
A strobe device that performs dimming setting by the operation button after power-on.   2. The strobe device according to claim 1, wherein the dimming setting is executed by stepwise changing a light amount level according to the number of times the operation button is pressed.   The strobe device according to claim 1, wherein the power on / off operation and the dimming setting operation are identified based on a length of time during which the operation button is pressed.   The strobe device according to claim 3, further comprising a display lamp for displaying the light level.   The strobe device according to claim 4, wherein the display lamp is a multicolor LED and emits a different color according to the level of the light amount.   The strobe device according to claim 4, wherein the display lamp is turned on or blinked in accordance with the level of the light amount.

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