JP2503955B2 - Camera control device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention includes a photometric device, an automatic focus control device, and a stroboscopic light emitting device, and in particular, a main subject and a sub-subject among subjects to be photographed at the time of fill light photography. The present invention relates to a camera control device that enables exposure control that gives proper exposure to both.

(Background of the Invention) Conventionally, when a subject to be photographed has low brightness, a strobe light-emitting device such as a xenon tube or a flash bulb is emitted as auxiliary light to instantly illuminate the subject, resulting in insufficient exposure. There is known a camera with a built-in stroboscopic light emitting device that supplements the amount of light with auxiliary light to perform proper exposure.
This type of camera incorporates an automatic focus control device (hereinafter referred to as an AF device) and an automatic exposure control device (hereinafter referred to as an AE device) like a lens shutter type camera, and the first stroke of the release button is used. The AF device operates to store the subject distance of the main subject (focus lock), and the AE device operates to store the exposure information to obtain the proper exposure of the main subject (AE lock). Then, in the state of the focus lock and the AE lock described above by the second stroke following the first stroke of the release button, the photographing lens is first driven to the in-focus position of the main subject, and the proper exposure is obtained by the exposure information. It is configured.

When the auxiliary light is used for shooting, for example, in the case of shooting in the daytime, the main subject has low luminance and the subordinate subject has high luminance. It is necessary to derive the diaphragm aperture value of the camera from the film sensitivity of the film to be used and the subject distance obtained by the AF device by a calculation formula, and arbitrate the diaphragm device to this value. In this case, the distance to the main subject is adjusted by the aperture value depending on the subject distance focus-locked by the AF device, so that the proper exposure can be obtained for the main subject targeted by the camera by the auxiliary light photography.

However, when performing auxiliary light shooting (daytime synchronized shooting) with the main subject (person) positioned at the edge of the screen and the subsidiary subject (background) positioned at the center of the screen, first set the camera as the main subject. Towards the first stroke, press the release button for the first stroke to lock the AF, then change the direction of the camera and remove the main subject from the center of the screen to take in the sub-subject (background) in the center of the screen and make the second stroke. Will be pushed down to. In that case, the first
Auxiliary light photography is performed with the aperture value calculated from the subject distance focus-locked by the stroke, so that the main subject will obtain proper exposure, but in the first stroke, focus lock and AE lock are also performed. That is, since the exposure is matched to the main subject,
In the state of the second stroke described above, even though the sub-subject is in the center of the screen, the exposure does not match in the center of the screen, that is, the sub-subject is not considered and the sub-subject is not exposed. There is a drawback that overexposure occurs.

(Object of the Invention) It is an object of the present invention to solve this drawback and to provide a camera control device that provides proper exposure for both the main subject and the sub-subject even in the case of auxiliary light photography.

(Summary of the Invention) According to the present invention, when the strobe light emitting device is in the light emission preparation state, the subject distance information is stored by the first stroke of the release button, and after the light emission preparation operation, re-metering is performed to perform auxiliary light photography. Further, when the strobe light emitting device is not in the light emission preparation state, it is a technical point that the subject distance information and the photometric value information are stored by the first stroke of the release button and the photographing is performed by the second stroke.

(Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention.

The lens shutter camera of this embodiment has a stroboscopic light emitting device that automatically pops up from the camera body when a stroboscopic light emitting operation condition is satisfied, and an automatic focus control device that automatically drives the photographing lens to the in-focus position. Have Further, the shutter release button has a two-step push structure, and when the shutter release button is operated to a so-called half-press position (first stroke position), the automatic focusing operation can be forcibly prohibited (focus lock). In addition to performing the control operation, the aperture / shutter device controlled by the automatic exposure control can be released when operated to the full-push position (second stroke position) thereafter. The flash light emitting device once popped up is returned to the state of being housed in the camera body when the user pushes the flash light emitting device by hand, and at this time, the flash light emitting device cannot perform the light emitting operation.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control device of this camera has a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer) 1, and various detection value data is input and stored in the microcomputer 1 and based on the input data. It is designed to control the entire camera.

The configuration and operation of the camera control device will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 separately for the case where the main subject has high brightness and the case where it has low brightness.

[When the main subject has high brightness]

In the case of a high-brightness main subject that does not require auxiliary light, normal shooting operation will be performed, and focus lock and AE lock will be applied by half-pressing the release button.
The distance of the main subject and the proper exposure information are stored, and the focus control and the exposure control are performed by the full pressing operation to complete the photographing. The details will be described below.

The release button 2 has a first switch Sw1 which operates when it is operated to a half-pressed position and a second switch Sw2 which operates when it is operated to a fully-pressed position.
The detection signals S1 and S2 as the first and second signals from 2 are sent to the microcomputer 1
Supply to. When the first switch Sw1 is turned on, electric power is supplied to the electric circuit of the camera, and the electric power is secured when the switch Sw1 is pressed. (Step SP1, Step SP
2).

When the detection signal S1 is obtained, the microcomputer 1 outputs the first photometry command signal S13 to the photometry circuit 4, and the photometry circuit 4 performs center-weighting on the main subject in the photometry area at the center of the shooting screen. The photometric operation is performed, and the first photometric value data E1 based on the photometric output S15 obtained as a result is compared with predetermined reference data. As a result, when the main subject has a low brightness (that is, when auxiliary light for illumination by the stroboscopic light emitting device is required when shooting the main subject), the drive signal S18 is supplied to the pop-up unit 6. Then, the pop-up unit 6 is used to pop-up the strobe light emitting device so as to project from the camera body, and when the main subject has high brightness (that is, when the brightness of the main subject is photographed, the strobe light emitting device assists the illumination. If the light is unnecessary), the strobe light emitting device is deactivated without supplying the drive signal S18 to the pop-up unit 6.
(Step SP3 to step SP5, step SP19).

The microcomputer 1 determines that if the drive signal S18 is not supplied to the pop-up unit 6, the brightness of the main subject will be adequately exposed without the illumination by the stroboscopic light emission. Stores the first photometric data E1 based on the measured photometric output S15 in the memory (AE lock)
To do. Then, the microcomputer 1 outputs the first photometry command signal S13 to the photometry circuit 4 and the autofocus unit 3
Also, the drive signal S11 is output to operate the autofocus unit 3. Similarly, the autofocus unit 3
Detects the subject distance of the main subject in the focus detection area in the center of the shooting screen, and stores the distance measurement value data R in the memory of the microcomputer 1 (focus lock) based on the detection output S12. (Step SP6 to Step SP8). Alternatively, the drive signal S17 may be directly output to the lens drive unit 5 according to the distance measurement value data from the autofocus unit 3 to drive the photographing lens to the in-focus position.

When the photographer enters the photographing operation and further presses the release button 2 from the half-pressed position to the fully-pressed position, the pop-up portion 6 is inoperative at this time, and the photographing is performed by natural light. At this time, since the first switch Sw1 is turned on and the second switch Sw2 is turned on by the release button 2, the detection signals S1 and S2 are input to the microcomputer 1. Microcomputer 1
When receiving the detection signal S2, outputs a drive output S17 to the lens drive unit 5, thereby moving the photographing lens to the in-focus position based on the distance measurement value data R stored in the memory. (Step SP9 to Step SP12). At this time, when the photographer releases the release button 2 from the half-pressed position to release the pressing, the power supply state is released and the camera is returned to the initial state.

When the release button 2 is pressed all the way down, the microcomputer 1 performs automatic exposure calculation processing based on the photometric value data E1 stored in the memory. Then, the drive signal S20 is output to the aperture / shutter control unit 7 by the control values (the aperture value data and the shutter speed data) thus obtained to perform the exposure control. In this way, when the photographing with the proper exposure is completed, the microcomputer 1 outputs the drive signal S23 to the film feeding unit 9 to wind the film by one frame for the next photographing, and the film feeding unit 9 Outputs the winding completion signal S24 to the microcomputer 1 when the film winding is completed. Upon receiving the hoisting completion signal S24, the microcomputer 1 releases the power supply state and stops the power supply. (Step SP16 ~ Step SP
18).

[When the main subject has low brightness]

If the main subject is a low-brightness main subject that requires auxiliary light and the main subject is moved to the edge of the screen and the sub-subject is moved to near the center of the screen, press the release button halfway to lock the focus. If the AE lock and AE lock are not performed, the sub-subject will not be exposed, so the focus is locked by pressing the release button halfway down, and after the flash firing device's flash preparation operation, the metering device re-meters the light and then presses it fully. I am trying to shoot. The details will be described below.

When the release button 2 is pushed down to the half-pressed position, the detection signal S1 is output to the microcomputer 1, and the electric power supply from the power source is maintained in the electric circuit of the camera as described above. (Step SP1, Step SP2).

When the detection signal S1 is obtained, the microcomputer 1 outputs the first photometry command signal S13 to the photometry circuit 4, and the center-weighted photometry operation is performed on the main subject in the photometry circuit 4.
Based on the photometric output S15 obtained as a result, the first photometric value data E1 is compared with predetermined reference data. As a result, when the main subject has a low brightness (that is, when auxiliary light for illumination by the stroboscopic light emitting device is required when shooting the main subject), the drive signal S18 is supplied to the pop-up unit 6. Then, the pop-up unit 6 is used to pop up the strobe light emitting device so as to project from the camera body. Since the pop-up unit 6 operates, the strobe light emitting device is in a pop-up state (that is, a light emission preparation state) on the camera body, and the setting completion signal S19 is input from the pop-up unit 6 to the microcomputer 1. Then, the microcomputer 1 outputs the drive signal S21 to the boosting light emitting circuit 8 to charge the main capacitor of the strobe light emitting device. (Step
SP4, step SP19). The light emission preparation state of the strobe light emitting device is not limited to the completion of the automatic pop-up described above, and may be, for example, when the power of the strobe light emitting device is turned on or when the charging of the main capacitor of the strobe light emitting device is completed.

The microcomputer 1 sends the first photometry command signal S13 to the photometry circuit 4.
And the drive signal S11 is also output to the autofocus unit 3 to operate the autofocus unit 3. The autofocus unit 3 detects the subject distance of the main subject in the focus detection area at the center of the shooting screen, and stores the distance measurement data R in the memory (focus lock) based on the detection output S12. (Step SP5, Step SP
7, step SP8).

When the photographer enters the shooting operation and further presses the release button from the half-pressed position to the fully-pressed position, the first switch is pressed.
Sw1 and the second switch Sw2 are turned on, and the detection signals S1 and S2 are input to the microcomputer 1. At this time,
The charging completion signal S2 indicating that the charging of the main capacitor has already been completed from the boosting light emitting circuit 8 of the strobe light emitting device.
2 has been entered. When receiving the detection signal S2, the microcomputer 1 outputs a drive output S17 to the lens drive unit 5 to move the photographing lens to the in-focus position based on the distance measurement value data R stored in the memory. . (Step
SP9 ~ step SP12).

Then, the microcomputer 1 outputs the second photometry command signal S14 to the photometry circuit 4 by receiving the setting completion signal S19 from the pop-up section 6 and the detection signal S2 of the release button 2. Upon receiving the second photometry command signal S14, the photometry circuit 4 re-photometers the subject in the photometry area (area that substantially overlaps the focus detection area), and based on the photometry output S16 obtained by the photometry operation, the second The photometric value data E2 of is output to the microcomputer 1. (Step SP13, step SP14).

Further, the microcomputer 1 calculates the aperture value corresponding to the light emission amount of the strobe light emitting device based on the distance measurement value data R stored in the memory to calculate the aperture value data, and also based on the photometry data E2. The shutter speed data in consideration of the aperture value data is obtained by exposure calculation, and the aperture / shutter control unit 7 is supplied with the aperture value data and the shutter speed data as control values. A drive signal S20 corresponding to the control value is output to the aperture / shutter control section 7 to perform exposure control. (Step SP15, Step SP16).

In this way, when the stroboscopic photography with proper exposure is completed, the microcomputer 1 outputs the drive signal S23 to the film feeding section 9 to wind the film by one frame for the next photographing, and the film feeding section. When the film winding is completed, 9 outputs a winding completion signal S24 to the microcomputer 1. Upon receiving the hoisting completion signal S24, the microcomputer 1 releases the power supply state and stops the power supply. (Step SP17, Step S
P18).

In this flowchart, the second photometry command signal S14 is output after receiving the detection signal S2 of the release button 2, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the strobe light emitting device is popped up. Needless to say, the photometry circuit 4 may be operated to detect light again after it is detected, for example, the photometry may be started immediately before step SP7 in FIG.

Here, the microcomputer 1 receives the setting completion signal S19 from the pop-up section 6 and the detection signal S2 of the release button 2 to cause the photometry circuit 4 to send the second photometry command signal S14 for whatever reason.
Will be output to cause the photometry circuit 4 to perform the photometry operation again.

For example, in the daytime synchronized shooting (assisted light shooting) when the main subject is dark and the subsidiary subject is bright, first place the main subject (for example, a person) in the center of the shooting screen and press the release button 2 halfway down. Push it all the way, autofocus section 3
Is operated to store the distance measurement data in the memory in the microcomputer 1 (focus lock). In this state, if the camera is slightly swung and the main subject is positioned at the edge of the screen from the center of the shooting screen, a bright background, which is a subsidiary subject, comes to the center of the screen. When the release button is pushed all the way to the fully pressed position in this shooting screen state, the photometry circuit 4 causes the microcomputer 1 to output the second photometry command signal S1 as described above.
In response to 4, the photometry of the subject (the bright background at this time) in the photometry area (the area that substantially overlaps the focus detection area) is performed again, and the second photometry value data E2 is obtained based on the photometry output S16 obtained by the photometry operation. Stored in the memory of the microcomputer 1 (AE
Lock).

Therefore, the main subject can be properly exposed by the illumination of the stroboscopic light emitting device, and the sub-subject can receive this photometric data.
Since exposure control is performed based on E2, proper exposure can be obtained. In comparison with this, for example, it is assumed that the camera is configured to lock the focus and AE at the half-pressed position of the release button. Place the main subject in the center of the camera's shooting screen, push the release button halfway down, and then swing the camera to position the main subject at the edge of the shooting screen and the subordinate subject in the center. If you press the button further during daytime flash photography, the main subject will be properly exposed due to the illumination of the strobe light emitting device, but the sub-subject will be overexposed because the main subject was in the AE locked state. There is a fear. For the above reasons, re-photometry is performed.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Since this embodiment is almost the same as the above-mentioned embodiment, only the different parts will be described.

In this embodiment, if the main subject is of low brightness, the strobe light emitting device is automatically caused to emit light by the camera side, and it is necessary to determine whether or not the pop-up of step SP5 shown in FIG. Disappears. Therefore, when the microcomputer 1 determines that the main subject has low brightness, and the detection signal S2 of the release button 2 is input to the microcomputer 1,
As in the above-described embodiment, the photometric circuit 4 performs re-photometry. Other than that is the same as the above-mentioned embodiment.

In addition, although the case of the lens shutter type camera is described in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and is also applied to the case where a stroboscopic light emitting device is attached to a single-lens reflex camera to perform stroboscopic photography. It is possible.

(Effect of the Invention) As described above, the camera control device of the present invention measures the subject brightness at the first timing, and determines whether or not the exposure operation is accompanied by the stroboscopic light emission operation based on the photometry result.
The photometry is performed again at the second timing, the exposure control is performed based on the result of the photometry, and the exposure operation accompanied by the stroboscopic light emission operation is performed. That is, since the light measurement is performed twice, it is possible to change the light measurement target during that time, and it is possible to measure the brightness of different subjects. For example, it is assumed that a dark subject is metered at the first timing and a bright subject is metered at the second timing. In this case, since a proper exposure amount is obtained by irradiating a dark subject with strobe light, and a bright subject is photographed with the photometric value obtained at the second timing,
This bright subject can also be photographed with an appropriate exposure amount. Even in the case of performing shooting including subjects having different subject brightness in this way, it is possible to perform shooting in consideration of the brightness of both.

Further, in the camera control device of the present invention, the photometric device that performs photometry at the first timing and the photometric device that performs photometry at the second timing are the same photometric device. Therefore, it is not necessary to increase the cost in order to obtain the above-described configuration that enables photographing in consideration of the brightness of both.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the first timing is during the first stroke of the release button and the second timing is during the second stroke of the release button. With this configuration, the camera of the present invention can be operated without complicating the operation.

Further, in the present invention, when it is determined that the exposure operation involves the stroboscopic light emission operation at the first timing, the focusing state at the time of the exposure operation is determined based on the distance measurement result at the first timing. It is preferable to configure so that

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a control device which is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 shows a flow chart showing the operation of the control device, and FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the control device. The flowchart figure is shown. (Explanation of symbols of main parts) 1 ... Microcomputer, 2 ... Release button, 3 ... Auto focus section, 4 ... Photometric circuit,

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-53-82410 (JP, A) JP-A-54-94328 (JP, A) JP-A-59-123824 (JP, A) JP-A-59-62842 (JP , A) JP 57-88416 (JP, A) JP 58-120225 (JP, A) Actually opened 59-33027 (JP, U) Actually opened 58-5020 (JP, U)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A stroboscopic light emitting device can be used, which has a photometric device for measuring subject brightness at a first timing, and whether the exposure operation is accompanied by a stroboscopic light emitting operation based on the measurement result by the photometric device. In the control device of the camera that determines whether or not it is determined that the exposure operation involves strobe light emission operation, the photometric device re-measures the subject brightness at the second timing prior to the exposure operation, A control device for a camera, wherein exposure control is performed based on a result of the remeasurement, and an exposure operation accompanied by a stroboscopic light emission operation is performed. 2. A release button capable of performing a first stroke and a second stroke subsequent to the first stroke, wherein the first stroke is provided.
The timing of is the first stroke of the release button,
The camera control device according to (1), wherein the second timing is during a second stroke of the release button. 3. A distance measuring device is provided, and when it is determined that the exposure operation involves stroboscopic light emission at the first timing, based on the distance measuring result of the distance measuring device at the first timing. The control device for a camera according to (1) or (2) is characterized in that the focus state at the time of the exposure operation is determined.