JP2019078930A - Observation device removably attached to interchangeable lens unit - Google Patents

Abstract

To conduct an excellent observation using various different types of functions of an interchangeable lens unit.SOLUTION: An observation device 100 has no imaging units. The observation device includes: a mounted part 109 removably attached to an interchangeable lens unit 101; observation optical systems 102, 103 for allowing an observation of an object image formed by the interchangeable lens unit; an electric connection 109a provided in the mounted part and allowing a communication with the interchangeable lens unit; operational members 106 and 107 capable of conducting a user operation; and a controller 104 for performing a communication to cause the interchangeable lens unit to operate according to an operation by the operational members.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an observation device that is detachable from an interchangeable lens unit.

  The interchangeable lens unit used together with the lens interchangeable type camera performs operations of an autofocus, a variable stop, and an anti-vibration mechanism according to an operation instruction (control signal) from the camera. As an example of using such an interchangeable lens unit for applications other than imaging such as a telescope and a monocular, Patent Document 1 discloses an erecting prism that makes an inverted image formed by the interchangeable lens unit an erecting image, and the erecting image. An observation device is disclosed having an eyepiece for observation.

JP 2012-13730 A

  However, the observation device disclosed in Patent Document 1 does not have a function of giving an operation instruction to the interchangeable lens unit. For this reason, the image stabilizing mechanism in the interchangeable lens unit does not operate to cause image blurring due to camera shake, or autofocus can not be performed, so that it is not possible to focus on the observation target.

  The present invention provides an observation apparatus capable of performing good observation using various functions of the interchangeable lens unit.

  The observation device as one aspect of the present invention does not have an imaging element. The observation device is provided with a mount portion that can be attached to and detached from the interchangeable lens unit, an observation optical system that enables observation of an object image formed by the interchangeable lens unit, and a mount portion. An electric contact that enables communication, an operation member that can be operated by a user, and a control unit that performs communication for operating the interchangeable lens unit in response to the operation of the operation member are characterized.

  According to the present invention, by performing communication according to the operation of the operation member to the interchangeable lens unit, good observation can be performed using various functions of the interchangeable lens unit.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an observation adapter that is an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart which shows operation | movement from power supply ON of the observation adapter of an Example to power supply OFF. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement in the power supply ON state of the observation adapter of an Example.

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

  FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an observation adapter 100 as an observation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The observation adapter 100 has a mount unit 109 which is attachable to and detachable from the interchangeable lens unit 101, and when mounted on the interchangeable lens unit 101, the observation adapter 100 constitutes a telescope or a monocular with the interchangeable lens unit 101.

  The observation adapter 100 has an observation optical system including an erecting prism 102 and an eyepiece optical system 103 in order to directly observe an inverted image (object image) formed by the imaging optical system in the interchangeable lens unit 101 as an erected image. . The imaging optical system and the eyepiece optical system 103 each include one or more lenses. The observation adapter 100 aims to directly observe an object image through the interchangeable lens unit 101, and therefore does not have an imaging device (CMOS sensor or the like) for performing imaging.

  The observation adapter 100 also includes an adapter control unit 104 that communicates with the lens control unit 110 in the interchangeable lens unit 101. In order to enable communication between the adapter control unit 104 and the lens control unit 110, the mount unit 109 is provided with a communication terminal unit (electrical contact unit) 109a.

  The adapter control unit 104 includes a CPU (not shown) and a memory (not shown) such as a ROM or a RAM, and the CPU reads a control program described later stored in the memory and executes the control program. The observation adapter 100 and the interchangeable lens unit 101 are controlled. When executing this control program, the adapter control unit 104 transmits control signals such as commands and requests for controlling various operations of the interchangeable lens unit 101 (hereinafter referred to as lens operation) to the lens control unit 110 by the above communication. be able to.

  The observation adapter 100 also has a battery (power supply unit) 105 for supplying power to the adapter control unit 104 and the interchangeable lens unit 101. The battery 105 may be a primary battery such as a dry battery attachable to and detachable from the observation adapter 100, a rechargeable secondary battery, or a rechargeable battery. The mount portion 109 is provided with a power terminal portion (electrical contact portion) 109 b for enabling the supply of power (power).

  The observation adapter 100 further has a switch 106 and an operation ring 107 for instructing the lens operation of the interchangeable lens unit 101 to turn on / off the power of the observation adapter 100 as an operation member operable by the user. The amount of rotational operation of the operation ring 107 is detected by the ring encoder 108 and transmitted to the adapter control unit 104.

  The switch 106 is an operation member having both the power ON / OFF instruction function of the observation apparatus 100 and the ON / OFF instruction function of the anti-shake operation (hereinafter referred to as IS operation) for the interchangeable lens unit 101. When the switch 106 is pressed by the user, the adapter control unit 104 determines whether the time when the switch 106 is pressed is longer or shorter than a predetermined time set in advance. If the pressed time is longer than the predetermined time (long press), it is determined that the power ON / OFF instruction has been issued, and if it is shorter than the predetermined time (short press), the IS operation It is determined that the on / off instruction of has been issued.

  On the other hand, the imaging optical system of the interchangeable lens unit 101 includes a focus lens 111, a variable magnification lens 115, an anti-vibration (IS) lens 118, and a variable stop 122. The lens control unit 110 described above controls the lens operation in accordance with control signals such as commands and requests from the adapter control unit 104.

  Furthermore, the interchangeable lens unit 101 has a focus operation ring 112 that can be operated by the user and a focus ring pulse encoder 113 that detects the amount of rotational operation. The amount of rotational operation (focus pulse counter value) of the focus operation ring 112 detected by the focus ring pulse encoder 113 is transmitted to the lens control unit 110. The lens control unit 110 controls the focus control unit 114 according to the detected amount of rotational operation, and moves the focus lens 111 along the optical axis of the imaging optical system by the amount of movement corresponding to the amount of rotational operation. Thus, manual focusing is performed. The focus operation ring 112 and the focus lens 111 are not mechanically coupled. Therefore, in a state where power is not supplied to the lens control unit 110, the focus lens 111 does not move even if the focus operation ring 112 is operated (manual focus is not performed).

  The interchangeable lens unit 101 also has a zoom operation ring 116 that can be operated by the user. When the zoom operation ring 116 is rotated, a cam ring (not shown) mechanically connected to the zoom operation ring 116 is rotated. A variable magnification lens 115 for changing the focal length of the imaging optical system is driven along the optical axis by a cam groove portion provided in the cam ring. The zoom encoder 117 detects the position of the variable magnification lens 115, and transmits the position to the lens control unit 110.

  The IS lens 118 is driven in a direction including a component orthogonal to the optical axis via an IS control circuit 119 controlled by the lens control unit 110. The interchangeable lens unit 101 includes an angular velocity sensor 121 that detects shake (hereinafter referred to as lens shake) due to camera shake or the like. The lens control unit 110 controls the IS control circuit 119 so that the IS lens 118 is positioned at a position at which image shake due to lens shake calculated using the angular velocity signal from the angular velocity sensor 121 is reduced. That is, the IS operation is performed. At this time, the lens control unit 110 performs feedback control of the movement amount (IS control circuit 119) of the IS lens 118 using the information of the position of the IS lens 118 detected by the IS lens encoder 120.

  The variable stop 122 can change the size (diameter) of the stop aperture in order to adjust the amount of light passing through the imaging optical system. The variable stop 122 is driven by the stop control circuit 123 controlled by the lens control unit 110.

  Next, the operation of the observation adapter 100 (adapter control unit 104) will be described using the flowcharts of FIG. 2 and FIG. FIG. 2 shows a flow of operation from when the power of the observation adapter 100 is turned on by the user until when the power is turned off. The adapter control unit 104 executes a control program shown in the flow of S202 to S214 as a computer program. S <b> 202 to S <b> 208 are steps performed in response to the observation adapter 100 being attached to the interchangeable lens unit 101.

  In step S201, when the switch 106 is long pressed by the user, the power is turned on, power is supplied from the battery 105 to the adapter control unit 100, and the adapter control unit 104 starts operation.

  In step S202, the adapter control unit 104 performs an initialization process.

  Next, in step S203, the adapter control unit 104 that has completed the initialization process starts supplying power to the interchangeable lens unit 101.

  Next, in step S204, the adapter control unit 104 performs initial communication with the lens control unit 110. Here, the adapter control unit 104 and the lens control unit 110 perform communication for confirming establishment of communication between them and communication for exchanging ID with each other to recognize each other.

  Next, in step S205, the adapter control unit 104 instructs the lens control unit 110 to set the operation mode of the interchangeable lens unit 101 to the manual focus (MF) mode and the anti-shake (IS) permission mode. Do.

  That is, the adapter control unit 104 causes the interchangeable lens unit 101 to select the manual focus via the above-mentioned communication when the interchangeable lens unit 101 can select the autofocus and the manual focus.

  When the interchangeable lens unit 101 performs autofocusing, it is necessary that defocus amount information calculated using an imaging element of a camera attached to the camera or driving amount information of the focus lens 111 determined from the defocus amount information is usually required. Become. As described above, since the observation adapter 100 does not have an imaging element, the interchangeable lens unit 101 can not perform autofocus in a state where the observation adapter 100 is attached to the observation adapter 100. Therefore, in the communication of S205 performed in response to the observation adapter 100 being attached to the interchangeable lens unit 101, the adapter control unit 104 sets the manual focus on the interchangeable lens, whereby defocusing in the interchangeable lens unit 101 is performed. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of an error that information such as quantity can not be acquired.

  In addition, when the interchangeable lens unit 101 can select the execution and the stop of the IS operation, the interchangeable lens unit 101 is made to select the execution of the IS operation through the communication. This is because it is assumed that the time for which the user looks through the eyepiece optical system 103 via the observation adapter 100 is somewhat long, so it is considered that the situation where the influence of camera shake can not be ignored will be more.

  As in the present embodiment, it is preferable that the communication in S205 be performed between the end of the initial communication for establishing the communication between the interchangeable lens unit 101 and the observation adapter 100 and the opening operation of the variable stop 122. . As a result, it is possible to prevent a communication error from occurring while the user is observing the subject, and to prevent the user from observing an image having a large degree of image blur.

  When the interchangeable lens unit 101 is attached to an imaging device (camera) (not shown), the operation mode of the interchangeable lens unit 101 is set from the camera, but in this embodiment, the observation adapter 100 replaces the camera and the interchangeable lens unit Set the operation mode of 101. Thereby, the operation mode of the interchangeable lens unit 101 can be set to a mode suitable for using the interchangeable lens unit 101 for observation applications such as monoculars.

  Subsequently, in step S206, the adapter control unit 104 transmits, to the lens control unit 110, a reset driving command to the initial positions of the focus lens 111 and the IS lens 118 (optical element). The lens control unit 110 that has received the reset drive command executes a reset operation for moving the focus lens 111 and the IS lens 118 to a predetermined initial position.

  Next, in step S207, the adapter control unit 104 confirms with the lens control unit 110 whether or not the reset operation is completed, and when the reset operation is completed, the process proceeds to step S208.

  In step S208, the adapter control unit 104 transmits an opening command of the variable stop 122 to the lens control unit 110. The lens control unit 110 that has received the opening command causes the variable stop 122 to perform the opening operation. That is, the opening diameter of the variable stop 122 is made the maximum opening diameter. By setting the variable stop 122 in the open state after the end of the reset operation, it is possible to prevent the user from feeling discomfort when the user looks at a change in the object image before and during the reset operation.

  Next, in step S209, the adapter control unit 104 shifts to an input standby mode for waiting for some user's operation input. The operation in the input standby mode will be described later.

  Next, in step S210, the adapter control unit 104 confirms the current voltage of the battery 105, and determines whether the current voltage is lower than or equal to a predetermined voltage (in a low voltage state). The predetermined voltage is a voltage capable of operating the focus lens 111, the IS lens 118, and the variable stop 122 by the focus control unit 114 including an actuator, the IS control circuit 119, and the stop control circuit 123. The adapter control unit 104 proceeds to step S211 if the current voltage exceeds the predetermined voltage, and proceeds to step S212 if the current voltage is lower than the predetermined voltage.

  In step S211, the adapter control unit 104 determines whether the user has pressed the switch 106 for a long time or no user operation has been performed for a predetermined period. The presence or absence of user operation is performed using a power off timer described later. The adapter control unit 104 returns to step S 209 when the switch 106 is not pressed for a long time and when there is a user operation within a fixed period, and when the switch 106 is pressed for a long time and when there is no user operation beyond the fixed period. The process proceeds to step S212.

  In step S <b> 212, the adapter control unit 104 transmits a fully closed command of the variable stop 122 to the lens control unit 110. That is, a command to make the aperture diameter of the variable stop 122 zero or a minimum value is transmitted. The lens control unit 110 that has received the fully close command causes the variable stop 122 to fully close. Even when the voltage of the battery 105 is in the low voltage state, if the variable stop 122 is not fully closed to maintain the viewable state, the position control of the IS lens 118 can not be performed, and the IS lens 118 drops due to gravity. It becomes impossible to operate IS. As in the present embodiment, when the adapter control unit 104 fully closes the variable stop 122 before the IS lens 118 drops, the user looks at the object image formed by the imaging optical system with the IS lens 118 dropped. It is possible to avoid feeling uncomfortable. Then, in step S213, the adapter control unit 104 transmits a sleep command to the lens control unit 110 in order to shift the interchangeable lens unit 101 to the sleep state. The lens control unit 110 that has received the sleep command enters a sleep state in which the lens operation is limited.

  Next, in step S214, the adapter control unit 104 confirms that the interchangeable lens unit 101 has entered the sleep state, shuts off the power supply of the observation adapter 100, and ends the operation.

  FIG. 3 shows the operation of the adapter control unit 104 in the input standby mode performed in step S209. When the input standby mode is entered in step S301, the adapter control unit 104 counts up the power off timer in step S302. When the count value of the timer exceeds a predetermined value, the adapter control unit 104 recognizes that the user's operation has not been performed for a predetermined period in step S211.

  Next, in step S303, the adapter control unit 104 determines whether or not the switch 106 has been short-pressed by the user. If the switch 106 has been short-pressed, the process proceeds to step S304. If the short-press operation has not been performed, step S306 is performed. Go to

  In step S304, the adapter control unit 104 clears the power off timer. Then, in step S305, the IS operation is switched ON (execution) and OFF (stop). Specifically, in response to the short press operation of the switch 106, the adapter control unit 104 transmits, to the lens control unit 110, an instruction to switch the IS operation from execution to stop or from stop to execution.

  In step S306, the adapter control unit 104 determines whether or not the operation ring 107 has been operated by the user. That is, it is determined whether the output of the ring encoder 108 has changed. When the operation ring 107 is operated, the adapter control unit 104 proceeds to step S307 to clear the power OFF timer. Then, in step S308, the adapter control unit 104 transmits an aperture drive command to the lens control unit 110 in accordance with the amount of operation of the operation ring 107. The lens control unit 110 operates the variable stop 122 in accordance with the received stop drive command.

  On the other hand, when the operation ring 107 is not operated, the adapter control unit 104 proceeds to step S309. In step S309, the adapter control unit 104 transmits a transmission request for the focus pulse counter value at a predetermined cycle to the lens control unit 110, and it is determined whether the user has performed manual focus according to the change in the focus pulse counter value. Check. The adapter control unit 104 proceeds to step S310 if there is a change in the focus pulse counter value, and returns to step S302 if there is no change.

  In step S310, the adapter control unit 104 detects that the user has operated the focus operation ring 112, and thus clears the power OFF timer. Then, the operation in the input standby mode is ended.

  The observation adapter 100 of the present embodiment described above can supply power to the interchangeable lens unit 101 to which the observation adapter 100 is attached, and can enable and control lens operations such as focusing and image stabilization. As a result, it is possible to focus on an object to be observed using the interchangeable lens unit 101, and comfortable observation with reduced image blur can be performed.

In this embodiment, power is turned ON / OFF to the push button type operation member using the ring type operation member (operation ring 107) and the push button type operation member (switch 106) as operation members on the observation adapter side. Assigned function and IS execution / stop function. However, this is merely an example, and other types of operating members may be used, the number of operating members may be increased, and other functions may be assigned.
(Other embodiments)
The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program. Can also be realized. It can also be implemented by a circuit (eg, an ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

  The embodiments described above are only representative examples, and various modifications and changes can be made to the embodiments when the present invention is implemented.

100 observation adapter 101 interchangeable lens unit 102 erecting prism 103 eyepiece optical system 104 adapter control unit 105 battery 106 operation switch 107 operation ring

Claims (8)

Without an imaging device,
A mount that can be attached to and removed from the interchangeable lens unit;
An observation optical system capable of observing an object image formed by the interchangeable lens unit;
An electrical contact provided on the mount portion to enable communication with the interchangeable lens unit;
An operation member capable of user operation;
And a controller configured to perform the communication for operating the interchangeable lens unit in response to the operation of the operation member.   The observation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a power supply unit that supplies power to the control unit and the interchangeable lens unit.   When the interchangeable lens unit has a variable stop, the control unit causes the interchangeable lens unit to fully close the variable stop in response to detection of a low voltage state of the power supply unit. The observation device according to claim 2.   The control unit causes the interchangeable lens unit to select the manual focus through the communication when the interchangeable lens unit is capable of selecting between autofocus and manual focus. The observation apparatus according to any one of the above.   The control unit causes the interchangeable lens unit to select the execution of the image stabilization operation via the communication, in a case where the execution of the image stabilization operation and the selection of the stop operation can be selected. The observation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that.   The observation apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the communication is performed according to attachment to the interchangeable lens unit.   In the case where the interchangeable lens unit has a variable stop and an optical element that is reset to an initial position according to the attachment to the observation device, the control unit changes the variable via the communication after the reset operation is completed. The observation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the aperture is operated to open.   The observation apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the optical element is at least one of a focus lens that performs focus adjustment and a lens that is driven to reduce an image blur.