JP2560721B2 - Close-up flash device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a close-up flash device used in close-up shooting (hereinafter referred to as macro shooting).

[Prior Art] A close-up flash device for macro photography is generally attached to the tip of a photographing lens. The light emitting part of this device has a light emitting tube that emits light at the time of exposure.
An illumination lamp is provided to illuminate the subject so that the subject can be seen through the viewfinder.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, unlike the arc tube, this lighting lamp consumes a large amount of power because the lighting time is long. Therefore, it is desirable to turn on the light only for the period required for focusing and composition setting, but the lighting switch for turning on / off the illumination lamp is provided on the close-up flash unit mounted on the tip of the taking lens. Therefore, it is difficult to turn on / off the lighting switch while looking through the viewfinder.
There is a drawback in that the battery is consumed quickly due to long-time lighting. In order to improve this, it is conceivable to turn off the lighting lamp automatically after a predetermined time has passed, but even in this case, if the operation such as focusing is completed within the predetermined time, Lights up to no avail.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A close-up flash device of the present invention is a close-up flash device electrically connected to a camera, and is generated and output in response to a first-step pressing operation of a shutter button of the camera. Signal input means for inputting the generated signal, modeling means for irradiating visible light over almost the entire field to confirm the subject before exposure, modeling means in accordance with the signal input to the signal input means And lighting control means for continuing lighting during the period in which the signal is continuously output. The modeling means is continuously lit while the first-step pressing operation of the shutter button is continued. The lighting and extinguishing control means of the modeling means is controlled so as to be extinguished in response to the end of the step-pushing operation.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, the modeling means is turned on while the first-step pressing operation of the shutter button of the camera is continued, and the modeling means is turned off in response to the completion of the pressing operation.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1-1, reference numeral 1 is a flash main body mounted on a camera main body (not shown), and a front front surface thereof is a flash light emitting portion 2 for normal flash and a light emitting diode (not shown) as an auxiliary light source for focus detection. An auxiliary light emitting diode 50 having a built-in (AFLED) is provided, and a display section 3 showing the function of the flash body section 1 and switch groups SW1 to SW6 are provided on the back side as shown in FIG. 1-2. ing. Further, a plurality of terminals 5 are provided on the lower leg portion 4 of the flash main body 1 so as to come into contact with corresponding contacts of the camera at the time of attachment to the camera so that data signals can be exchanged with the camera. .

Reference numeral 6 denotes a light emitting portion for macro photography (close-up photography) attached to the front end portion of the lens. As shown in FIG. 1-3, a long-shaped 4 is provided inside the light emitting portion so as to surround the lens attachment opening. It is provided with four xenon tubes Xe2 to Xe5 and four illumination lamps LA1 to LA4 arranged between the xenon tubes in four pairs.

Details of the macro light emitting unit 6 are shown in FIGS. 1-3 to 1-5. FIG. 1-4 is a cross section taken along the line AA of FIG. 1-3,
1-5 is a BB cross section of FIG. 1-3. The front panel 7-1 of the xenon tube Xe has a thickness of about 2 mm, while the front panel 7-2 of the illumination lamp LA has a panel 7 for allowing light to pass through more easily than the panel 7-1 for the xenon lamp. -1, 7-2 are made of the same material and are integrally formed, and the thickness of the panel 7-2 is 0.5 mm.

The macro light emitting portion 6 is connected to the predetermined terminals t _{1 to} t ₁₀ (FIG. 3) of the flash body 1 via the cord 8 and the connector 8a. Then, as will be described later in detail, the selection switches SW3 to SW6 can selectively cause the xenon tube Xe and the illumination lamp LA to emit light, thereby illuminating the subject with sufficient brightness during macro photography.

In this case, the panel on the side of the illumination lamp LA is 0.5 mm, which is thinner than the panel 2 mm on the side of the xenon lamp, so that the subject can be proved with sufficient brightness from the illumination lamp LA.

The front part of the xenon tube is a panel member made of a material having a predetermined light diffusion concentration, and the front part of the certification lamp is integrally combined with a panel member made of a material having a low light diffusion concentration to form a panel. You may comprise. In this case, it is not necessary to make the thicknesses of both panel members different. Further, the both panel members may be integrally formed by molding two materials.

Hereinafter, the features of the present invention, including other features, will be specifically described with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2-1 is an overall circuit diagram of a camera system to which an embodiment of the present invention can be applied. CB is a circuit of the camera body (hereinafter referred to as a camera circuit), LE is an interchangeable lens that is detachably attached to the camera body, for example, a circuit of a macro zoom lens (hereinafter referred to as a lens circuit), and FL is shown in FIG. 3 shows a circuit related to the flash device (hereinafter referred to as a flash circuit, details are shown in FIGS. 3-1 and 3-2).
The lens circuit (LE) and the camera circuit (CB) are connected to each other via the connectors (CN ₀ ) and (CN ₁ ), and the flash circuit (FL) and the camera circuit (CB) are connected to the connector (CN
₂ ) and (CN ₃ ) are connected to each other, and each circuit works in conjunction with each other.

FIG. 2-2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the microcomputer (MCB) (hereinafter, the microcomputer is abbreviated as a microcomputer) which is the center of the control operation in the camera circuit (CB). The circuit configuration and the operation thereof will be described below with reference to these flowcharts. In the following, for the sake of clarity, the signal name of the signal line may be used also as the name of the terminal through which the signal goes in and out, and the high level of the binary voltage is “H” and the low level is “L”. ”Will be briefly shown.

In the camera circuit (CB) of Figure 2-1, when the photometric switch (S ₁ ) is closed at the first step of pressing down the release button (not shown), the interrupt terminal (▲ ▼) of the microcomputer (MCB) Goes down to "L" and the microcomputer (MCB)
Starts its operation from step 1 in FIG. 2-2. In step 1, the transistor (BT ₀ ) is turned on, power is supplied to the lens circuit (LE) via the protection resistor R, and
Display circuit (DSP) of camera circuit (CB), exposure control circuit (E
Power supply to XC) and photometric circuit (LMC) is started.

Next, the microcomputer (MCB) uses the lens circuit (L
Perform the data acquisition operation from E). First, the terminal (CSL) is set to “H” so that the interface circuit (IFC) can perform the serial input operation from the lens, and then the clock (eight) for 1 byte is output to the terminal (CKOB).
At this time, the terminal (CSL) of the interface circuit (IFC)
Is "H", the lens circuit LE is activated, and based on the clock of the terminal (CKOL) corresponding to the clock from the terminal (CKOB), the lens circuit LE passes through the control circuit (CC).
Parallel data is read from ROM (LR). The parallel data is serially converted by the parallel-serial conversion circuit (PS), output to the terminal (SLD), and input to the serial input terminal (SINB) of the microcomputer (MCB) via the interface circuit (IFC). The microcomputer (MCB) stores this 1-byte data in a built-in predetermined storage section.

On the other hand, in the lens circuit (LE), the control circuit (CC) sequentially updates the address of the ROM (LR) every time the output of 1 byte of data is completed, and the reading is continued. Also, when reading data that changes during zooming of the zoom lens, the code data output from the code plate (ZC) that is linked to the zooming operation and the data of the control circuit (CC) are combined so that the ROM (LR) address is the same. It is specified. In the case of the macro lens, the address of the ROM (LR) is specified by combining the code data output from the code plate (ZC) that is linked to the feed amount and the data of the control circuit (CC). Magnification data is included in the data from ROM. In the case of a zoom lens, the data read on the camera side in this manner is the maximum aperture value, the minimum aperture value, the amount of change in the aperture value due to zooming, the focal length (f) data of the taking lens, and the taking lens. Is data for checking whether or not the lens is attached, and in the case of a mylo lens, attachment data indicating that the macro lens is attached and magnification data are added.

When the data acquisition from the lens circuit (LE) side is completed, the microcomputer (MCB) shifts to the data acquisition operation from the flash circuit (FL) side (step 3). Terminal (CS
L) to "L", terminal (CSF) to "H", terminal (FM
The pulse of "H" of time width To is output from O). This pulse is output from the interface circuit (IFC) to the terminal (ST ₃ )
Is input to the flash circuit (FL) via. Signal (ST
₃ ) is input, the flash control circuit (FCC) shown in Fig. 3-2 is ready to output data and the terminal (CO
The pulse of “H” is output from N) and the flash circuit (F
If the microcomputer (MCF) of L) is in the operation stopped state, this starts the operation of the microcomputer (MCF).

Next, the microcomputer (MCB) on the camera side sets the terminal (FCH) to "H" so that the interface circuit (IFC) performs serial input operation, and the clock is the flash circuit (FL) via the terminal (ST ₃ ). Then, 1-byte data is output from the flash circuit (FL) to the terminal (ST ₂ ) in synchronization with the clock. This serial data is sent to the serial input terminal (SINB) via the interface circuit (IFC).
It is read by the microcomputer (MCB) from. This data is
For example, the main switch (SW
The data includes 1) ON-OFF data, data indicating whether charging is completed, and FDC data described below. The signal indicating the completion of charging is output from the monitor circuit (COC) to the charge state when the charge voltage of the flash main capacitor (MC) exceeds a specified value, and the control circuit (FCC)
And input to microcomputer MCF. It should be noted that hysteresis is set for the detection, and while the charging completion signal is output at a certain value or more, the charging completion signal is not output when it goes below a certain value lower than this. Also, when a light emission stop signal is input from the camera circuit (CB) side within a fixed time after the xenon tube starts to emit light, an FDC signal indicating that dimming has been performed is output. When the fetching of the initial data on the flash side is completed, the preparation for the actual operation is started from step 4. First, the terminals (CSF) and (FCH)
Is set to "L", and the operation of the AD converter incorporated in the photometric circuit (LMC) is started (step 4). Then, from the data output circuit (DO), input the data such as exposure control mode, exposure time, aperture value, ISO sensitivity, etc. to the microcomputer (MCB) and then the data from the A-D converted photometric circuit (LMC). input.

The photometric circuit (LMC) includes a photometric unit for constant light, an A / D converter for constant light photometric output, and a photometric unit for flash light. The flash light photometric unit has a terminal (FSA) " When the integrated value of the photometric output reaches the value corresponding to the ISO sensitivity, the terminal (FSP) is started.
In addition, the "H" pulse for stopping the light emission is output.

When the acquisition of the A-D converted data is completed in step 6, it is determined in step 7 based on the data from the flash side whether the flash is in the charging completed state. Then, if the charging is completed, the calculation for flash photography is performed in step 8, and if the charging is not completed, the computation for steady light imaging is performed in step 9. Then step
In 10, the display unit (DSP) shows the calculated control values and modes.
Then, in step 11, it is determined based on the check data whether or not the interchangeable lens is mounted. If the lens is attached, the focal length (f) read at that time is set again. If the lens is not attached, leave the previous value and proceed to step 13 to the flash circuit (FL) side. Send data.

In the data transmission operation, first, the terminal (CSF) is set to "H", the "H" pulse of the time width T ₁ is output to the terminal (FMO), and the pulse is input from the interface circuit (IFC) to the terminal (ST ₃ ). . When the flash control circuit (FCC) receives this pulse, it outputs a pulse from the terminal (TIN), puts the microcomputer (MCF) in the data input operation state, and outputs the clock from the terminal (ST ₃ ) to the terminal (SCK). In addition to the status, the data from the terminal (ST ₂ ) is output to the terminal (SINF). The camera side microcomputer (MCB) has a terminal (C
SF) remains at “H”, terminal (FCH) remains at “L”, control aperture value, shooting mode type (R, A, S, M modes) and ISO sensitivity and focal length (f); macro lens mounted The signal and the magnification data are serially output one byte at a time. However, if it is not a macro lens, the macro lens mounting signal and the magnification data are not output. The interface circuit (IFC) outputs the clock to the terminal (ST ₃ ) and the data to the terminal (ST ₂ ),
These data are read into the flash side microcomputer (MCF).

When this operation ends, in step 14, it is determined whether or not the photometric switch (S ₁ ) is still closed, and it is closed (ON).
If so, the process proceeds to step 19. In step 19,
The state of the reset switch (S ₃ ) that closes when the exposure control operation is completed and opens when the charge of the exposure control mechanism is completed is determined. When this switch (S ₃ ) is ON, charging is not yet completed, so the state of the release switch (S ₂ ) is not judged (step 20), the process returns to step 2 and the same operation as described above is performed. To do.

On the other hand, when charging is completed and the reset switch (S ₃ ) is OF
If it is F, then it is determined whether or not the release switch (S ₂ ) that is closed in the second step of pressing down the release button is ON. Here, if it is determined that the release switch (S ₂ ) is not ON, in step 21,
The counter is started from the initial value of the power hold timer, and the process returns to step 2.

On the other hand, the release switch (S ₂ ) was turned on in step 2 above.
If it is determined that, in step 22, an exposure start (start) signal is sent to the flash circuit (FL). This operation, first terminals (CSF) to "H", and outputs a pulse of "H" in the time width T ₂ to the terminal (FMO). This pulse is input to the flash control circuit (FCC) via the terminal (ST ₃ ), and the flash control circuit (FCC) uses this signal for FDC.
The signal is reset, the RE terminal is set to "L", and the light emission preparation state is entered. Next, the microcomputer (MCB) sets the terminal (CSF) to "L" and the terminal (REL) to "H" to perform the exposure control operation by the exposure control circuit (EXC). At this time, since the terminal (REL) of the interface circuit (IFC) is "H", the signal input from the flash side via the terminal (ST ₂ ) is input to the terminal (FSA) and from the terminal (FSP). The signal of is output to the terminal (ST ₃ ) respectively.

The flash control circuit (FCC) outputs a "H" signal to the terminal (ST ₂ ) when the charging is completed and to a terminal (ST ₂ ) when the charging is not completed while the data is not transferred. When the closing signal of the X contact (Sx) is input through the terminal (ST ₁ ), if the terminal (ST ₂ ) is “H”, it is switched to “L”. The interface circuit (IFC) has terminals (RE
The signal from the terminal (ST ₂ ) is output to the terminal (FSA) when L is set to “H”, and the photometering circuit (LMC) outputs the signal to the terminal (FS
Integration starts at the falling edge of the signal from A).

On the other hand, this flash control circuit (FCC) has an X contact (S
When the closing signal of (x) is input, the signal (L) is output to the terminal (TR) when the charging is completed, and the transistor TR6 turns O.
N At this time, as will be described later, the xenon tubes Xe2 to Xe5 selectively emit light if the macro light emitting portion 6 is attached, and Xe1 emits light if not attached. Then, when the integrated value based on the integration in the photometric circuit (LMC) reaches a predetermined value, the terminal (FS
The light emission stop signal is output to P), and the flash control circuit (FC) is output via the interface circuit (IFC) and terminal (ST ₃ ).
C). The control circuit (FCC) has an X contact (Sx)
When the light emission stop signal is input within a certain time after being turned on, this signal is output to the terminal (STOP) and the fact that this signal is output is stored, while the SCR3 shown in FIG.
Is activated by the light emission stop signal from the terminal (STOP), makes the thyristor (SCR2) non-conductive, and the xenon tube (Xe1) ~
Stop the emission of (Xe5). Further, the flash control circuit (FCC) sets the terminal (RE) to "H" in response to the completion of the exposure control operation and the opening of the X contact (Sx).

The above exposure control operation is executed in step 23, and when this step is completed, the microcomputer (MCB) returns to step 14. Here, it is again determined whether the photometric switch (S ₁ ) is ON. If it is ON, the process returns to step 2 via step 19. On the other hand, if the switch (S ₁ ) is off, the switch (S ₃ ) is on, so in step 17, the transistor (BT ₀ ) is turned off and the interrupt to the terminal ▲ ▼) is performed in step 13. Enable and end the series of operations.

On the other hand, when the exposure control mechanism is charged and the photometry switch (S ₁ ) is turned OFF while the reset switch (S ₃ ) is OFF, the timer overflows in step 16 (for example, from timer start 10 seconds have elapsed) is determined. If it overflows, the operation is ended, but if it does not overflow, the operations of steps 2 to 13 to 16 are repeated.

AF is a focus adjustment circuit, which includes a focus detection circuit and a lens drive circuit, and sets (ST ₄ ) to “L” when the subject is dark and there is no contrast.

4 to 10 are flowcharts showing the operation of the microcomputer MCF of the flash circuit (FL) shown in FIGS. 3-1 and 3-2. Follow steps 3-1 and 3 according to this flowchart.
The circuit configuration and operation of FIG. 2 will be described. 3-1
Battery Ba by turning on the main switch SW1 in the figure
Power is supplied to the microcomputer (MCF) via the diode D1. This causes the microcomputer (MCF) to start operating. In step 4-1, initial setting is performed. FIG. 5 shows an initial setting routine. Here, the flag SI which becomes 1 when communication with the camera is performed is reset in step 5-1 and the register T for counting elapsed time is set to 0 in step 5-2. The display on the display device LCD is turned off in step 5-3.

FIG. 6 shows a timer interrupt routine. The microcomputer (MCF) contains a circuit that counts time regardless of the program flow, and an interrupt is generated every second. When this interrupt occurs, the register T for counting the elapsed time is counted in step 6-1.
1 is added to.

FIG. 7 shows a routine for transmitting and receiving signals from the camera. When data from the camera is sent as described above, when the first terminal IT ₁ becomes "H", the microcomputer MCF stops the program flow in the middle runs a routine shown in this Figure 7. In step 7-1, the data from the camera, that is, the ISO sensitivity Sv, the set aperture value Av, the macro lens mounting signal, and the macro lens magnification data (M) are input to the microcomputer MCF. In step 7-2, the flag SI is set to indicate that communication with the camera has been performed, and in step 7-3
At, the register T for counting elapsed time is reset. As a result, the elapsed time is not counted while the data from the camera is being input.

In step 4-2, the transistor TR5 is turned on by setting the terminal PWC of the microcomputer MCF to "L", and the operating circuit is powered on. In step 4-3, the elapsed time T is compared with the preset time T ₂ . Here, T ₂ is set as the time until the operation of the flash itself is stopped. T <when T ₂ are, the process proceeds to step 4-4 to determine where whether the switch SW2 of the lamp lighting ON. Switch SW2 _-1 , SW2 _-2 is in a position other than OFF, that is, ILL or MOD
When switched to (hereinafter collectively referred to as ON),
The terminal LAIN becomes "H" and the process proceeds to step 4-5. In step 4-5, the preset time T ₁ is compared with the elapsed time T. Here, T ₁ is set as the time until the lighting lamp is turned off. If T <T ₁ , then in step 4-6 the flag LAFLAG is set to indicate that the lamp lighting switch SW2 is ON, and in step 4-7
Set terminal LAOUT to "H". This turns ON transistors TR3, TR2 is, the lamp control circuit LC which power Vcc is below enters the terminal t _1-1 of the macro-emitting circuit ML lamp selectively or all lights. While the camera is being released, the terminal (RE) of the flash control circuit FCC becomes "L" as described above, so that the transistor TR3 is turned off and the lamp is turned off. As a result, the lamp is always turned off during the exposure of the camera, and the lamp does not participate in the exposure.

 Step 4-8 is a display routine which will be described later.

When it is determined in step 4-3 that T ₂ > T, the process proceeds to step 4-9. In step 4-9, the display is turned off, and in step 4-10, the terminal PWC is set to "H". This turns off the transistor TR5, turns off the power of the flash control circuit FCC and DC-DC converter, and
Prevent Ba consumption. In step 4-11, microcomputer (MCF)
Is a mode to save battery consumption (called STOP mode)
to go into. When entering this mode, the above-mentioned microcomputer MC
When the terminal ITo of F becomes "H", this STOP mode is exited and step 4-1 is proceeded to. When the lamp switch SW2 is not turned on in step 4-4, that is, when it is turned off, the process proceeds to step 4-12. In step 4-12, the lamp switch
Flag LFAG is reset to indicate that SW2 is off. When T ₁ ≧ T in step 4-5,
In step 4-13, the terminal LAOUT is set to "L" and the lamp is turned off. In other words, if the lamp switch SW2 is on after the power switch SW1 is turned on, the lamp will be T ₁
Turns on for a certain period of time and automatically turns off the circuit power after ₂ hours. Also, while the signal is being exchanged with the camera, this time is kept at 0 and is extended substantially, and lamps are sent ₁ or ₂ hours after the signal is no longer exchanged.
The circuit power is turned off. This is because the current consumption of the lamp is large, so when it is not in use, it is automatically turned off early.
This is to eliminate wasteful battery consumption.

Next, the operation of the flash after the X contact (SX) on the camera side is turned on will be described based on FIGS. 3-1 and 3-2.

When the macro light emitting part 6 is not attached to the flash main body 1, the base of the transistor TR7 is open, and T
R7 turns off. As a result, the terminal MA of the microcomputer MCF is "L".
become. When the main capacitor MC of the flash main unit 1 is completely charged, the flash control circuit FCC turns the X contact O
When the N (ST ₁ ) signal is input, the terminal TR is set to "L".
As a result, the transistor TR6 is turned on, a trigger signal is applied to the gate of the thyristor SCR1 via the resistor R5, the thyristor SCR1 is turned on, and the resistor R2, the capacitor C2, the transformer
The xenon tube Xe1 is triggered by the trigger circuit by T1 X
e1 emits light.

Next, the operation when the macro light emitting unit 6 is attached will be described. When the macro-emitting section 6 is mounted, the terminal t ₆
Transistor TR7 turns on because it becomes GND. As a result, the terminal MA becomes "H". Also the transistor TR7 is ON, TR9, TR10 AF LED for transistor TR1 is not ON even if the "L" is ON and the terminal ST ₄ is is not light. This is because during macro shooting, even if the distance between the camera and the subject is short, even if the AFLED with built-in flash is turned on, the subject will not be properly illuminated by the AFLED because of the parallax due to the misalignment of the optical axis of the camera flash. Therefore, at the time of this shooting, it is automatically turned off so that no unnecessary current is passed to the AFLED.

When the transistor TR7 is turned on, the transistor TR8 is also turned on. At this time, when the transistor TR6 turns on, the gate of the thyristor SCR1 has fallen to GND, so it is not fired.
Meanwhile, the thyristor SCR4 is fired through the resistor R6.
As a result, when the macro light emitting unit is attached, the light emitting unit of the main body is automatically prohibited from emitting light.

In FIGS. 3-1 and 3-2, the selection switches SW3 to SW6 on the flash body side are all in the ON state, and at this time, the trigger capacitors C6, C7, C8 and C9 are diodes D7, D6, D5 and D4, respectively. And it discharges in the thyristor SCR4, and the loop of the trustance T2, T3, T4, T5, and the xenon tube Xe
2, Xe3, Xe4, Xe5 fire simultaneously.

Next, for example, when the selection switch SW3 is in the OFF position, the capacitor C6 is charged only to the level obtained by dividing the voltage of MC by the resistors R7 and R11. At this time the thyristor SCR4
Even if it is turned on, the xenon tube Xe2 is set so that the trigger is not applied. By operating SW3 to SW6 in this manner, it is possible to control the light emission of any light emitting portion of any of the xenon tubes Xe2 to Xe5.

FIG. 8 shows a display routine. Description will be given below based on the display example shown in FIG. In step 8-1, it is determined whether or not a signal has been exchanged with the camera. When a signal is transmitted / received, SI = 1 and the process proceeds to step 8-2.
If not, all display is off.

In step 8-2, the macro lens mounting signal from the camera is determined. When the macro lens is attached to the camera, the process proceeds to step 8-3. When the macro lens is not attached, the dimming distance display symbol D (87) and the dimming distance range are displayed in step 8-4B.

In step 8-3, it is determined whether or not the macro light emitting unit 6 is attached to the flash. When mounted, the terminal MA becomes "H" and the process proceeds to step 8-4A. Turns off all display when not installed. Step 8-4A
Shows the macro display symbol M (85), the magnification value, the usable aperture range, and the set aperture usable display symbol OK (86). In step 8-5, it is determined whether or not the main capacitor of the flash main body 1 is completely charged. If the charging is completed, the charging completion indicator 81 (Fig. 8) is turned on, and if the charging is not completed. The display symbol 81 is off.

In step 8-6, it is determined whether or not the lamp switch SW2 is ON. If the lamp switch SW2 is ON, the lamp display symbol 82 is turned on, and if not, it is turned off.

In step 8-7, it is determined whether or not the macro light emitting unit 6 is mounted. When the macro light emitting unit 6 is mounted, the macro photometric unit mounting display 83 is turned on, and when it is not mounted, it is turned off.

FIG. 9 is a detailed routine of the macro display (step 8-4A in FIG. 8).

In step 9-1, the dimming distance display symbol D (87) is turned off, and in step 9-2, the macro display symbol M (85) is turned on. In step 9-3, the magnification sent from the camera is displayed. In step 9-4, the state of selective light emission by the switches SW3 to SW6 is input from the terminals FIRE ₁ , ₂ , ₃ , ₄ .
In step 9-5, based on the data input in step 9-4, it is determined whether or not four lights are emitted. If four lights are emitted, the light amount data Iv (4) for four lights is set as the light amount data Iv. Set. Similarly, in Steps 9-6, 9-7, 9-8, if there are 3 lights, the light amount data Iv (3) for 3 lights, if there are 2 lights, the light amount data Iv (2) for 2 lights, 1 light If there is, the light amount data Iv (1) for one lamp is set as the light amount data Iv. This is a correction when the total amount of light emission changes depending on the number of lights to be emitted.

In step 9-9, the usable aperture range determined based on the sum (Iv + Sv) of the light amount data and the film sensitivity Sv sent from the camera and the magnification M is displayed (for example, 5.
6-16).

In step 9-10, the current set aperture Av sent from the camera is compared with the usable aperture range obtained in step 7-9. If the currently set aperture is within the usable aperture range, the symbol OK (86) is lit in step 9-11,
If not, it is turned off in step 9-12.

FIG. 10 is a detailed routine for normal display (step 8-4B in FIG. 8).

In step 10-1, the macro display symbol M (85) is turned off. In step 10-2, the dimming distance display symbol D (87) is turned on. In step 10-3, it is determined whether the macro light emitting unit is attached. If it is not attached, the light amount data Iv (0) of the normal light emitting unit is set as the light amount data Iv. When it is mounted, the light amount data corresponding to the number of selected lamps is input in steps 10-4 to 10-8, similarly to the above steps 9-4 to 9-8.

In step 10-9, the dimming distance range determined based on the calculated value of Iv + Sv-Av is displayed. The data of the usable diaphragm range and the dimming distance range is stored in the ROM in advance, and is read by designating the address corresponding to the calculated value.

The lighting lamps are arranged as shown in FIG. 1-3, and the four lamps are “L” at the terminal LAOUT in step 4-7 of FIG.
Although all are turned on in response to a signal, they may be configured as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 below as another embodiment. Here, eight illumination lamps are provided.

The details of the circuit LA corresponding to the lamp control circuit LC of FIG. 3 are shown in FIG. Figure Vcc is connected to the transistor TR2 of the flash body 1 through the terminal t _1-1 in Figure 3. The switch SW2 is a two-circuit, three-contact type and both are provided on the flash body 1 side.
_-1 is connected to the microcomputer MCF, and the other switch SW2 _-2 is connected to the lamp control circuit through the terminal t _1-2 . Each contact can be switched to 3 positions of OFF-ILL-MOD. At the OFF position, the "H" signal is not output from the LAOUT terminal of the microcomputer MCF and the lamp does not light. At the ILL and MOD positions, "H" is output from the LAOUT terminal of the microcomputer MCF, and the lamp control circuit via the transistor TR3 → TR2.
The LC turns on. It should be noted that ILL means that it is for lighting, and when framing or focusing during shooting, all the lamps LA1 to LA8 of the light emitting unit are turned on for ease of use. In addition, MOD means that it is for modeling, and only the lamp group arranged at almost the same position as each of the xenon tubes Xe2 to Xe5 is set to illuminate, so that the shadow state at the time of shooting can be understood in advance. ing.
The positional relationship between the lamp and the xenon tube is as shown in FIG. In the front part of these lamps and xenon tubes, the panel portion is provided as in the above-mentioned embodiment, and the light diffusion concentration in the front part of the lamp is lower than that in the front part of the xenon tube. There is.

Next, the operation of the circuit shown in FIG. 11 will be described. First, when the lamp lighting switch SW2 is in the ILL position, the transistor TR
The power of the battery Ba is supplied via 2. At this time SW2 _-2
Since the MOD terminal is open, the MOD terminal in FIG. 11 is "L" and the transistors TR19 and TR20 are OFF. Therefore, the transistor TR21 is ON, the voltage of Vcc is applied to the lamps LA1 to LA8 through the transistor TR21 → diodes D16 to D19 → D20 to D31, and all the lamps LA1 to LA8 are turned on.

Next, when the switch SW2 is in the MOD position, the power of the battery Ba is supplied at the same time as when the switch SW2 is at the same time as described above.
The MOD terminal of 2 _-2 also has the same potential as Vcc. Therefore, the transistors TR19 and TR20 are turned on, and TR21 is turned off.
The 1 does not go through the route so that the lamps LA1 to LA8 do not light.

In this case, the lamp is turned on by the selective light emission switches SW3 to S
Controlled by W6. That is, now, only SW3 is ON.
Then, in the figure, only the terminal becomes "H", and terminals ~ are shorted to GND and become "L". Therefore, in FIG. 11, the transistor TR11 is OFF, and TR12 to TR14 are
Is ON since it is connected to GND via diodes D13 to D15. That is, since only the transistor TR15 is turned on, the power source of Vcc lights the lamps LA1 to LA3 via TR15 → D21 to D23. Therefore, in FIG. 12, the lamp LA1 placed at a position almost equivalent to the xenon tube Xe2
~ Since LA3 lights up, the effect of a modeling lamp can be obtained.

The same explanation can be made when a tube other than the xenon tube Xe2 is selected by the combination of the switches SW3 to SW6, or when any two lamps and three or four lamps are selected.

The table below shows the relationship between the selected xenon tubes and the lamps that light up.

The characteristic features of the configuration of the above embodiment will be described below.

a) When the macro light emission part is attached to the tip of the lens for macro photography, it is necessary to increase the light diffusion density of the front panel so that uneven illumination due to the flash does not occur. For convenience, a lamp that is illuminated prior to shooting is placed in the back of the front panel as well as the macro light emitting unit, so that the front panel with high light diffusion density can be used for focusing and composition setting. The intensity of the illumination light becomes weak. In order to facilitate focusing and composition setting at the time of macro shooting, in this embodiment, an illumination lamp is arranged in the vicinity of the xenon tube of the macro light emitting unit, and a panel generated in front of these is used as a lamp. The light diffusion density on the front surface is lower than the light diffusion density on the front surface of the xenon tube. With this configuration, a sufficient amount of illumination light can be obtained when focusing or composition setting is performed prior to shooting, and reliable focusing and composition setting can be performed.

b) In a macro flash device in which a macro light emitting part capable of selectively emitting light from a plurality of xenon tubes is attached to the tip of a lens, conventionally, a switch for selecting a xenon tube is provided on the back surface of the macro light emitting part at the tip of the lens. However, in this case, since the tip of the lens is close to the subject and the macro light emitting unit is attached, the center of gravity is unstable, so the lens is inadvertently moved during the switch operation. The focus and composition changed, and it was often necessary to readjust the focus and composition. In order to make the above inconvenience less likely to occur, in the present embodiment, a macro light emitting unit to which the macro flash device is attached to the lens tip, a control main unit attached to the hot shoe of the camera body, and a cord electrically connecting these The control main body is provided with a switch for selectively emitting light from a plurality of xenon tubes. With this configuration, the switch operation for the selective light emission of the xenon tube is performed not by the lens tip but by the control main body portion on the hot shoe of the camera main body, so the inconvenience that the focus and composition change during the switch operation is unlikely to occur. .

c) The macro flash unit has a separate switch for turning on the focus and composition setting lamps, and the lamp is turned on for a certain period of time while the switch is in the ON position or after the switch is operated. The lamp is lit, but in this case, since the power consumption of the lamp is considerably large, it is desirable to light the lamp only for a period necessary for focusing and composition setting. It is possible to improve the lamp to some extent by turning on the lamp for a certain period, but if the focusing and the composition setting are completed in a shorter time than that period, the lamp is not lit after that. In order to eliminate this inconvenience, in the present embodiment, a signal input section from which a signal corresponding to a manual operation to the camera such as pressing a shutter button is input from the camera body, and a lamp is turned on only for a period corresponding to this signal. And a lamp lighting means. The signal may be a signal corresponding to a manual operation of the AE lock switch or a switching operation of the photographing mode of the camera, in addition to the signal corresponding to the pressing operation of the shutter button. With this configuration, the lamp is automatically turned on for a period corresponding to the manual operation of the shutter button of the camera (for example, the operation period) in the camera body, so that the manual operation can be performed by the photographer when focusing or composition setting is completed. When is stopped, the lamp is automatically turned off, and unnecessary power consumption can be prevented.

d) The macro flash unit in which the macro light emitting unit is attached around the lens optical axis at the lens tip is too close to the lens optical axis, so the subject's eyes turn red when used for flash photography at normal distance. Since the elephant is generated, the use condition is restricted. Therefore, it is necessary to separately prepare a dedicated flash device for selectively performing macro flash photography and normal distance flash photography, but in this case, the weight becomes heavy and the shape is bulky, which is inconvenient. In order to eliminate this inconvenience, in this embodiment, the macro flash device borrows the power supply unit of the normal flash device, the normal flash device is the camera body, and the part other than the power supply unit of the macro flash device is the normal flash device. It is configured to be attached and detached via a connector. With this configuration, since the power supply unit of the macro flash device is not required, the weight and the size can be reduced when the macro flash shooting and the normal flash shooting are selectively performed.

e) In macro photography, the effective aperture changes according to the close-up magnification, so during macro flash photography it is determined whether the desired or calculated aperture value is within the range of aperture values that can be used with the macro flash device. There is a need. That is, focusing on the subject, reading the close-up magnification from the magnification scale of the macro lens barrel, reading the usable aperture range of the flash device from this magnification, and selecting the aperture value from this aperture range is a troublesome operation and operation. Was needed. In order to prevent this complicated operation and to easily perform whether or not the desired or calculated aperture value is within the usable aperture range, in the present embodiment, the close-up magnification data from the camera body, Macro flash light input means for inputting film sensitivity data and aperture value data, calculation means for calculating the usable aperture range based on these data and flash emission amount data, and display means for displaying the calculated aperture range. The device is equipped with. With this configuration, the usable aperture range is automatically displayed, which is convenient because the conventional manual operation such as magnification reading is unnecessary.

f) In order to selectively perform macro flash photography and normal flash photography, it is necessary to select a light emitting unit according to which flash photography is to be performed. in this case,
It is possible to select the light-emitting part by the changeover switch, but it is easy to make a mistake or forget to operate the switch, and the normal light-emitting part may emit light during macro shooting or the macro light-emitting part may emit light during normal shooting. It may be a photograph. To prevent this inconvenience,
In the present embodiment, the macro flash device is selectively attachable / detachable in a state in which the power supply unit is borrowed from the normal flash device, and a determination unit for determining whether or not the macro flash device is attached, and a macro When the attachment of the flash device is discriminated, a blocking means for blocking the light emitting operation of the normal flash device is provided. With this configuration, when the macro flash device is attached, the light emitting operation of the normal flash device is automatically blocked, so that the changeover switch is unnecessary and the inconvenience caused by forgetting the operation does not occur.

g) A macro flash device capable of selectively emitting light from a plurality of xenon tubes equipped with a lamp for illuminating an object for focusing and composition setting is, for example, Shokai Sho 60-3902.
Known as No. 5, in this case, the lamp above illuminates the entire subject evenly regardless of the choice of xenon tube, and what shadow image can be obtained by the selected xenon tube. It was impossible to predict. In order to predict in advance what kind of shadow the selected xenon tube will have, in the present embodiment, in order to obtain a light distribution characteristic substantially the same as the light distribution characteristic of each xenon tube, A plurality of illumination lamps are arranged corresponding to the xenon tube to be selected, and at the same time, a determination means for determining which xenon tube is selected, and the corresponding lamp is selectively caused to emit light in accordance with the determination. And a selective light emitting means. With this configuration, the lamp corresponding to the selected xenon tube emits light selectively, so it is possible to obtain illumination with approximately the same light distribution as the selected xenon tube, and to predict in advance what kind of shadow the photograph will be. This is convenient for selecting a xenon tube for macro flash photography.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, the modeling means that consumes a large amount of power does not remain lit for a long time, and it is possible to reduce wasteful consumption of the battery. Further, since the lighting switch is provided on the camera side, the lighting operation can be performed while looking through the viewfinder, which facilitates focusing and composition setting.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1-1 is a perspective view showing an example of a close-up flash device used in the present invention, FIG. 1-2 is a view showing a back surface of a flash main body portion, and FIG. 1-3 is a front surface of a panel of a macro light emitting portion. Figures, 1-4 and 1-5 are sectional views of the panel, 2-1
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a camera system used in the device of the present invention, FIG. 2-2 is a flow chart showing its operation, and FIGS. 3-1 and 3-2 are details of the close-up flash unit of FIG. Circuit diagrams, FIGS. 4 to 10 are flow charts showing the operation thereof, and FIGS. 11 and 12 are related to another embodiment of the macro light emitting portion, which are a detailed circuit diagram of a lamp control circuit and a lamp of the macro light emitting portion, respectively. FIG. 13 is a front view showing the details of the display of the flash unit, showing the arrangement. Xe1 …… flash tube, Xe2-Xe5 …… modeling means, ST ₂ , FCC
…… Signal input section, FC, FA …… Lamp lighting circuit.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Bibliography Sho 56-69721 (JP, U) Shoko 54-7158 (JP, Y2)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A close-up flash device electrically connected to a camera, comprising signal input means for inputting a signal generated and output in response to a first-step pressing operation of a shutter button of the camera, and before exposure. Modeling means for irradiating visible light over almost the entire field of view for confirming the subject, and lighting the modeling means in response to the signal input to the signal input means, and continuously outputting the signal. And a lighting control means for continuing the lighting during a period of time during which the modeling step is performed so that the modeling means continues to be turned on during the first-step pressing operation of the shutter button and is turned off when the first-step pressing operation is completed. A flash device for close-up photography, characterized in that it controls the lighting and extinction control means of.