JP2013105021A - Camera system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera system shortening the interval from a pre-flash by a master stroboscope acting as a front flash to photographing, and preventing a person as a subject from closing his eyes by the pre-flash.SOLUTION: A camera system comprises a master stroboscopic device and a radio communication device attached externally or internally to a camera; a slave stroboscopic device comprising flash means and radio communication means arranged at a position apart from the radio communication device; and a slave stroboscopic device arranged at a position apart from the camera, the camera system controlling the slave stroboscopic devices by wave radio communication from the camera device or the master stroboscopic device, wherein the camera comprises photometric means, comprises calculation means calculating an amount of the flash by using the photometric result by a pre-flash, and performs the pre-flashes by a flash group including the pre-flash by the master stroboscopic device within a predetermined time before the beginning of exposure.

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera system, and more particularly, to a camera system that performs photographing by multi-flash control of a strobe.

  Currently, several flash control methods have been proposed to obtain the light metering data by flashing the flash once (hereinafter referred to as pre-flash) and calculating the flash emission level in order to perform proper flash emission in shooting (eg, patents) Reference 1). Further, in the multi-lamp control system by wireless communication, the light pulse communication in which the strobe emits a small amount of light several times has been used so far. In communication using this light pulse, there is a problem that the light emission timing does not become constant due to the change in the state of the arc tube, and the light emission interval is corrected as in Patent Document 2. In the dimming control using pre-emission described above, it is conceivable that the pre-emission timing for dimming the master strobe that is the transmission source of the optical pulse connected to the camera is shifted. For this reason, the master flash is pre-flashed before the optical pulse communication, that is, first, and then the slave flash is pre-flashed.

  As a current wireless communication system, communication using radio waves has been established, and various information can be exchanged. For example, as one of the techniques, a technique for acquiring charging information of each device is disclosed (see Patent Document 3). In the future, it will be necessary to consider a wireless multi-lamp control system by communication using this radio wave.

JP 05-127215 A JP 2000-78089 A JP 2000-56386 A

  In the wireless multi-lamp control system based on dimming control using pre-flash described above, the interval between the first flash and the shooting of the master flash connected to the camera becomes long. In most cases, the light emission of the master flash is front emission for the subject. Therefore, if this interval is long, there is a problem that when a person is a subject, the eyes are closed at the time of photographing in response to the first light emission.

  This will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 6 illustrates the passage of time from when the release button is pressed until shooting.

  In the conventional multi-flash control, the master flash connected to the camera is pre-flashed first, and the slave flash is pre-flashed. Here, it is assumed that there are two slave light emission groups. First, in order to calculate an appropriate light emission amount of the master strobe, pre-flash is performed, and photometry is performed during pre-flash. Next, communication for a pre-flash instruction command is performed to the slave flash of group A, and then pre-flash photometry of the slave flash of group A is performed. Similarly, communication for a pre-flash instruction command is performed to the group B slave strobes, and then pre-flash metering of the group B slave strobes is performed. Each light emission amount is determined using the photometric value of this pre-flash photometry, and a flash command for main flash is transmitted to all slave strobes to perform main flash and photographing.

  When shooting is performed in such a procedure, there is a certain interval between the master flash pre-flash and shooting. As a result, people blink. It is possible to wait until the eyes open, but this will cause the release time lag to be very long.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides:
A master strobe device and a wireless communication device externally or built in the camera;
Light emitting means arranged at a position away from the wireless communication device, a slave strobe device having wireless communication means,
A slave strobe device disposed at a position away from the camera,
In the camera system that controls the slave strobe device by radio wave communication from the camera device or master strobe,
The camera has photometry means, and has arithmetic means for calculating the flash emission amount using the photometry result of pre-flash, and pre-flash by the flash group including the master flash within a predetermined time before the start of exposure. It is characterized by performing.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a camera system that can shorten the interval from pre-flash to shooting of a master strobe that emits front light, and prevents blinking due to pre-flash when a person is a subject. .

The figure showing the timing at the time of imaging | photography in 1st embodiment The block diagram which shows the structure of the camera main body in 1st embodiment of this invention. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a strobe with a built-in wireless communication device in a first embodiment of the present invention. Sequence diagram for shooting preparation in the first embodiment Sequence diagram at the time of shooting in the first embodiment The figure showing the timing at the time of photography when conventional multi-light control is performed

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Example 1]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a camera that is an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and mainly describes blocks related to the present invention.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a photographing lens, and 2 denotes an AF (autofocus) driving unit for driving the photographing lens 1 to perform automatic focus control. The AF drive unit 2 is configured by, for example, a DC motor or a stepping motor, and focuses a desired area in the shooting screen by changing the focus lens position of the shooting lens 1 under the control of the CPU 12 described later.

  Reference numeral 3 denotes a zoom driving unit for driving the photographing lens 1 to perform focal length control. The zoom drive unit 3 is constituted by, for example, a DC motor or a stepping motor, and changes the focal length of the photographic lens 1 by changing the zoom lens position of the photographic lens 1 under the control of the CPU 12 described later.

  Reference numeral 4 denotes a diaphragm for adjusting the amount of light incident on the image sensor 10 to be described later. Reference numeral 5 denotes a diaphragm driving unit that drives the diaphragm 4. The aperture control unit 5 drives the aperture 4 based on the aperture drive amount calculated by the CPU 12 described later to change the aperture value.

  Reference numeral 6 denotes a main mirror for switching the light beam incident from the photographing lens 1 between the viewfinder side and the image sensor side. The main mirror 6 is always arranged so as to reflect the light beam to the viewfinder, but when photographing is performed, the main mirror 6 jumps upward so as to guide the light beam to an image pickup device to be described later. To do.

  The light beam incident on the finder part enters the pentaprism 7. The light incident on the pentaprism 7 is repeatedly reflected inside, enters the photometric sensor 8 and enters the finder 9.

  The photometric sensor 8 as the photometric means measures the luminance of the subject using the light beam incident from the photographing lens 1, reads it as photometric data, and sends it to the CPU 12 that calculates the flash emission amount, which will be described later.

  Reference numeral 10 denotes an image pickup element that forms a subject image that has passed through the photographing lens 1 and photoelectrically converts it. Circuit.

  A CPU 12 calculates the exposure amount such as the aperture and shutter speed using the photometric data of the subject brightness received from the photometric sensor 8, and emits light when the flash is emitted. It also serves as a calculation means for obtaining an appropriate light emission amount of the strobe using the photometric data when there is not.

  Further, based on an output from an operation unit 14 to be described later, the start of the release is determined, machine control for photographing is performed, and the above-described calculation work is performed. To record. Reference numeral 14 denotes an operation member.

  The operation member 14 informs the CPU 12 of the state, and the CPU 12 controls each part according to the change of the operation member. Reference numeral 15 denotes a switch 1 (hereinafter SW1).

  Reference numeral 16 denotes a switch 2 (hereinafter referred to as SW2). The switches SW1 and SW2 are switches that are turned on and off by operating the release button, and are each one of the input switches of the operation member 124. When only the switch SW1 is on, the release button is half-pressed. In this state, the auto focus operation or the photometric operation is performed.

  When the switches SW1 and SW2 are both on, the release button is fully pressed, and the release button for recording an image is on. Shooting is performed in this state.

  Reference numeral 17 denotes a communication terminal, which communicates with a connected wireless master transmission device or a strobe device described later incorporating the wireless master transmission device.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a strobe with a built-in wireless communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and mainly shows blocks related to the present invention. It is also a schematic diagram as a slave strobe.

  Reference numeral 18 denotes a display / operation unit. The operation unit 18 gives an operation instruction to the strobe control unit 20 to control the strobe. Reference numeral 19 denotes a light emitting circuit as a strobe light emitting means, which performs control related to light emission such as charging and light emission control, and emits light upon receiving a signal indicating a light emission command from the strobe control unit 20. In addition, a signal indicating completion of charging is transmitted to the flash control unit 20. Reference numeral 20 denotes a strobe controller that controls the strobe having the above-described configuration. 21 represents an accessory shoe communication terminal. Communication with the camera of FIG. 2 described above is performed via the accessory shoe communication terminal 21.

  Reference numeral 22 denotes a wireless communication unit mounted on a strobe as a wireless communication means. The wireless communication unit 22 is composed of several parts. 22a represents an antenna. The antenna 22a transmits and receives wireless communication, and transmits data received from the communication partner to the wireless control unit 22b. In addition, data is received from the wireless control unit 22b and transmitted to the communication partner. Reference numeral 22c denotes an oscillation circuit, which shapes the waveform of a clock signal generated from a crystal oscillator 22d connected to the oscillation circuit 22c, and outputs the shaped clock signal to each circuit in the wireless communication device 22 for synchronization. .

  First, the CPU 12 watches whether the SW1 is pressed based on the output from the operation member 14. If SW1 is pressed, the operation goes to the shooting preparation operation.

  An operation for preparing for photographing will be described with reference to FIG.

  As the shooting preparation operation, first, the autofocus operation in step S101 is performed. The autofocus operation is controlled by the CPU 12 by adjusting the focus lens position of the photographing lens 1 by using the AF driving unit 2 to focus a desired region in the photographing screen.

  In step S102, subject luminance is measured. The light beam incident from the photographing lens 1 is guided to the finder unit by the main mirror 6. Using the luminous flux, the subject luminance is measured by the photometric sensor 8 in the viewfinder, and is read as normal photometric data.

  Using the photometric data obtained in step S102, the CPU 12 calculates an exposure amount suitable for the current luminance (S103).

  If any accessory is attached to the accessory shoe communication terminal 17, the accessory information is received via the accessory shoe communication terminal 17 during the photographing preparation operation (S104). In particular, when the accessory is a strobe, it is necessary to receive the light emission mode, the master strobe pre-flash, or the group with and without the pre-flash here.

  The above control is periodically performed while SW1 is pressed until SW2 is pressed.

  When SW2 is pressed, the photographing operation is started.

  The operation at the time of photographing using strobe light emission will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, based on the accessory information obtained in step S104, it is determined whether or not the multi-flash photography using radio wave communication is performed (S201). When it is determined in step S201 that the multi-flash photography using radio wave communication is performed, the following operation is performed.

  First, in step S202, a variable N for initializing whether there is a group that performs pre-light emission is initialized with zero. Next, in step S203, it is determined whether N = 0, that is, whether or not to perform pre-emission of the 0th group. The determination here uses the accessory information obtained in step S104. If it is determined that the 0th group pre-flash needs to be performed, the 0th group pre-flash data is transmitted to the master strobe via the accessory shoe communication terminal 17 in step S204.

  When the pre-flash data is transmitted to the master strobe, the master strobe transmits the pre-flash data to the slave strobe using the wireless communication unit 22, and the camera waits until the transmission is completed (S205).

  If the slave strobe is ready for light emission, the 0th group pre-light emission is performed (S206). Here, on the camera side, photometry is performed by the photometry sensor 8 in accordance with pre-emission by the light emission circuit 22 of the slave strobe. In step S207, a photometric value is read from the photometric sensor 8, and the main light emission amount is calculated using the CPU 12 in step S208.

  When the main light emission amount is calculated, the pre-light emission of the 0th group is completed, so the variable N for checking whether there is a group performing pre-light emission is updated (S208), and the process proceeds to the pre-light emission processing of the next light emission group.

  When the maximum number of pre-light emission processes of the light emission group is watched at N, the process proceeds to the next process (S209).

  If it is determined in step S201 that it is not multi-flash photography by radio wave communication, there is no pre-flash by the slave strobe, so the process proceeds to step S210.

  When the pre-flash of the slave strobe by radio communication is completed, or when the pre-flash of the slave strobe by radio communication has not been completed, the process proceeds to a process for performing pre-flash of the master connected to the camera.

  Based on the accessory information obtained in step S104, it is determined whether or not there is pre-flash by the master strobe (S210). If there is pre-flash by the master strobe, the process proceeds to step S211.

  For pre-flash of the master flash, data for pre-flash is sent to the master flash via the accessory shoe communication terminal 17 in step S211. Since the master flash unit performs pre-flash processing based on the data, photometry is performed by the photometric sensor 8 at the same time (step S212). When pre-emission is performed, similar to the pre-emission process of the slave strobe, the photometric value is read from the photometric sensor 8 in step S213, and the main emission quantity is calculated using the CPU 12 in step S214.

  If there is no pre-flash by the master flash, the process proceeds to step S215 without performing pre-flash processing of the master flash.

  The pre-flash processing for the slave strobe and master strobe is now complete. Here, since the CPU 12 has finished calculating the main light emission amount of each strobe, information for the main light emission is transmitted via the accessory shoe communication terminal 17 in step S215. The data to be transmitted here transmits not only the light emission amount at the time of shooting but also the result of the exposure amount calculation performed in the previous step S103. Here, preparation for shooting as a camera is completed, but if multiple-flash shooting is performed using radio wave communication (S216), the main flash information needs to be sent from the master strobe to the slave strobe using the wireless communication unit 22, so the camera The side waits for the end of the communication (S217).

  The preparation for shooting the flash is completed so far, and the same operation as normal shooting is performed after the communication is completed.

  FIG. 1 shows the timing until the release in this embodiment. Here, a description will be given with a particular focus on time.

  First, information is acquired from the master strobe in step S104 until SW2 is pressed. Here, it is assumed that the master flash, the light emission group A, and the light emission group B perform light control by pre-emission.

  First, since the light emission group A performs pre-flash, in step S205, pre-flash information is transmitted from the master strobe to the slave strobe. Next, photometry is performed at the timing when the light emission group A pre-flashes to obtain a photometric value (step S206). Similarly, the light emission group B performs information transmission and pre-light emission.

  As described above, if there is no other light emitting group for performing pre-flash, the master flash pre-flash is started. When the master flash pre-flashes (S212), the pre-flash processing ends and the flash emission amount of each flash is determined so far, so it waits for the information for the main flash to be transmitted from the master flash to the slave flash (S217). ) Start shooting.

  In the problem of FIG. 6, the time from the pre-flash of the master flash to the shooting becomes long, but in this embodiment, it can be seen that the time is shortened by changing the order of the pre-flash. As a result, when the subject is a person, it is possible to shoot before closing the eyes in response to the pre-flash when the camera is facing the camera.

  In the present embodiment, a strobe with a built-in wireless master transmission device is described. However, a removable type in which a wireless communication unit is formed into a card and a card slot is provided in the strobe may be used.

  The wireless communication device may be built in the camera. Further, a wireless communication device may be built in the camera side, and a strobe device as a light emitting unit may be externally attached. The strobe built into the camera may be a master strobe light emission (front light emission), and a wireless communication device having a wireless communication unit may be externally attached.

  In the present embodiment, the wireless multi-lamp control by radio communication is mentioned. However, in the camera system having two communication modes of radio communication and optical pulse communication, in the case of optical pulse communication, master light emission is performed first. In this case, it may be switched as being performed later.

  In this embodiment, the master flash is pre-flashed last, but before and after the master flash pre-flash order is allowed within a predetermined time before the start of exposure.

  In this embodiment, the master flash pre-flash and the slave flash pre-flash are separated, but the master flash may be included in the slave flash emission group. At that time, the light emission group including the light emission of the master strobe is always performed within a predetermined time before the start of exposure.

  In this embodiment, wireless multi-lamp control by radio wave communication has been described. However, the pre-flash of the master strobe at the end other than communication with light such as a light pulse such as wired multi-lamp control is a blinking eye. This is effective for prevention and is applicable to the present invention.

  As mentioned above, although preferable embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these embodiment, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible within the range of the summary.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Shooting lens 2 AF (autofocus) drive part 3 Zoom drive part 4 Aperture 5 Aperture drive part 6 Main mirror 7 Penta prism 8 Photometric sensor 9 Finder 10 Image sensor 11 Image pickup circuit 12 CPU
13 Recording device 14 Operation member 15 Switch 1 (SW1)
16 Switch 2 (SW2)
17 Accessory shoe terminal (camera side)
18 Display / Operation Unit 19 Light Emitting Circuit 20 Strobe Control Unit 21 Accessory Shoe Communication Terminal (Strobe Side)
22 Radio communication unit 22a Antenna 22b Radio control unit 22c Oscillation circuit 22d Crystal oscillator

Claims (3)

A master strobe device having a light emitting means (19) externally attached to the camera or a wireless communication device having a wireless communication means (22);
A light emitting means (19) disposed at a position away from the wireless communication device, a slave strobe device having a wireless communication means (22),
In the camera system that controls the slave strobe device by radio wave communication from the camera device or master strobe,
The camera has photometry means (8), and has calculation means (12) for calculating the amount of flash emission using the photometry result of pre-emission, and the pre-emission by the emission group including the master flash is started for exposure start. A camera system which is performed within a predetermined time period in advance. 2. The camera system according to claim 1, wherein the pre-light emission by the light emission group including the master strobe is performed last in the pre-light emission of the light emission group. The camera system according to claim 1, wherein the master strobe is treated as an independent light emission group.