JP2615801B2 - Camera operation control device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera operation control device capable of performing focus lock photographing.

B. Conventional technology For example, the distance measurement information is stored with the half-press operation of the release button, and thereafter, when the framing is changed with the half-press, and then the release button is fully pressed, based on the stored distance measurement information, 2. Description of the Related Art A camera capable of so-called focus lock photographing in which a photographing lens is driven to a focusing position and a shutter release is performed has been conventionally known.

In addition, in response to the half-press operation of the release button, the photographing lens is driven to the focusing position based on the distance measurement information at that time, and if the half-press operation is continued, the photographing lens is fixed at that position and continued. There is also known a camera that performs a shutter release in response to a full-press operation of a release button. Note that the distance measurement information is information indicating the distance to the subject, but this distance measurement information is not calculated, and focus adjustment information indicating the amount of displacement between the imaging plane of the subject image and the planned imaging plane and its direction. Is calculated, and a camera that drives the photographing lens to the focusing position based on the focus adjustment information is also known to perform such focus lock.

C. Problems to be solved by the invention However, in such a conventional camera, since the focus lock is released by releasing the half-press operation,
When requesting a third party to take a picture, the camera cannot be delivered while maintaining the focus lock state. Therefore, if the third person requested to shoot does not know the focus lock shooting, if the main subject is not located in the auto focus frame in the viewfinder, the main subject is not in focus and an undesired photograph is not obtained. Will be photographed.

An object of the present invention is to maintain a focus lock even when the half-press operation is released, and to obtain a photograph in which a desired subject is in focus even when a third party is requested to take a picture. It is an object of the present invention to provide an operation control device for a camera in which a change is restricted even if a third person erroneously operates a member for instructing change of photographing information, thereby preventing undesired photographing.

D. Means for Solving the Problems To be described with reference to FIG. 1 (a), which is a diagram corresponding to the claims, the invention according to claim 1 includes a distance measuring means 101 for measuring a distance of an object to be focused by the photographing lens LE. A release operation member 102 that generates a half-press signal when half-pressed and generates a full-press signal when fully pressed;
Activate 01, focus lock means 103 that memorizes and retains the distance measurement value at that time, and when the full press signal occurs, drives the taking lens LE based on the distance measurement value and shoots with the subject in focus , A focus lock holding operation member 105 that generates a focus lock holding signal in response to a manual operation, and a half-pressing operation of the release operation member 102 is released when the focus lock holding signal is generated. The focus lock holding means 106 keeps storing the distance measurement value even if the half-press operation is performed again thereafter, and the photographing which affects the photograph in accordance with the manual operation of the photographing information command operation member. The present invention is applied to a camera operation control device including a setting change unit 107 for changing the setting of information within a predetermined range.

During the operation of the focus lock holding means 106,
The setting changing means 107 only within a range narrower than the predetermined range.
The control means 108 permits the change of the photographing information according to the above, thereby solving the above problem.

Explaining with reference to FIG. 1 (b) which is a claim correspondence diagram, the camera operation control device according to the second aspect of the present invention detects focus adjustment information for detecting focus adjustment information for focusing a photographic lens LE on a subject. Means 201, a release operation member 102 that generates a half-press signal when half-pressed and generates a full-press signal when fully pressed, and the focus of the subject at that time in response to the generation of the half-press signal Detects the adjustment information, focuses the photographing lens LE on the subject based on this information, and in this state, generates a focus lock means 203 for performing focus lock to hold the photographing lens LE, and generates a focus lock holding signal with manual operation. The focus lock holding operation member 105 is activated when the focus lock holding signal is generated, and the half operation of the release operation member 102 is released even after the release operation member 102 is released. Focus lock holding means but to continue to focus lock be performed again
206, applied to a camera operation control device including a setting change unit 107 that changes a setting of shooting information affecting a photograph within a predetermined range in accordance with a manual operation of a shooting information command operation member, as described above. By providing the control means 108, the above problem is solved.

E. Operation During the operation of the focus lock holding unit 106, the change of the photographing information by the setting change unit 107 is allowed only within a range narrower than the normal range. That is, the change of the photographing information is restricted.

F. Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG.

In FIG. 2, a photometric circuit 2 and a distance measuring circuit 3 are connected to the CPU 1. The photometric circuit 2 is connected to a light receiving element 4 that receives light from the subject, and calculates luminance information on the luminance of the subject based on a detection signal of the light receiving element 4 and inputs the information to the CPU 1. The distance measuring circuit 3 includes a projection lens 5
A light projector 6 that emits light toward a subject through a light receiving element 7 and a light receiving element 8 that receives reflected light from the subject through a light receiving lens 7 are connected. The calculated distance value is calculated and input to CPU1.

The CPU 1 also includes a motor drive circuit 11 for the focusing motor 9, the zooming motor 21 and the film winding / rewinding motor 10, an exposure control circuit 12, and a switch SW1 that is turned on in conjunction with a pressing operation of a release button (not shown). , SW2
And are connected. The switch SW1 is turned on when the release button is half-pressed to generate a half-press signal, and the switch SW2 is turned on when the release button is fully pressed to generate a full-press signal.

When a half-press signal is generated, the CPU 1 activates the photometric circuit 2 and the distance measuring circuit 3 described above.
Is stored in a storage area. That is, focus lock is performed. Next, when a full press signal is generated,
The moving amount of the photographing lens is calculated based on the stored distance measurement value, and the focusing motor 9 is calculated via the motor driving circuit 11.
Is driven to move the photographing lens by the calculated moving amount to perform focusing. Thereafter, an exposure control member such as an aperture and a shutter is driven via an exposure control circuit 12 to perform photographing, and the film is wound up by one frame by a motor 10. When it is detected that the film has been wound up to the end when the shooting of all frames is completed, the CPU 1 starts the motor operation.
The film is rewound according to 10.

Further, the CPU 1 has a display circuit 13 and switches SW3 to S3.
W6 is connected, and the display circuit 13 has an LED 15 in the viewfinder.
And a liquid crystal display device 25. Switch SW3
Is a switch that turns on in response to operation of a focus lock holding button (not shown) and generates a focus lock holding signal.
Sets the focus lock holding mode, and
The LED 15 is displayed blinking via the, and the liquid crystal display device 25 displays that the focus lock mode is set. When this focus lock mode is set, CPU1
Allows the focus lock state to be maintained until at least a predetermined time elapses after the half-press switch SW1 is turned on. As a result, the focus lock state is maintained even after the switch SW1 is released until the timing of the predetermined time is completed, the release is fully pressed during the timing, or the switch SW3 is turned on again.
Even if the switch SW1 is turned on again, the distance measuring circuit 3 does not operate, and reading of distance measuring information is not performed. Here, the CPU 1 activates the focus lock timer to start timing when the focus lock state holding is started, and releases the focus lock state holding after a predetermined time elapses, and sets the normal mode. Note that the above-described LED 15 is normally lit and displayed when the distance measurement is completed.

The switch SW4 is a switch that is turned on in conjunction with the operation of a zoom-up button (not shown). The on-state of the switch SW4 is maintained while the zoom-up button is operated. While the switch SW4 is on, the CPU 1 drives a zoom lens (not shown) by the zoom motor 21 via the above-described motor drive circuit 11 to change the focal length of the photographing lens to the telephoto side. That is, so-called zoom-up is performed.

The switch SW5 is a switch linked to a zoom-down button (not shown), and the on-state of the switch SW5 is maintained while the zoom-down button is operated. While the switch SW5 is on, the CPU 1 drives the zoom lens by the motor 21 via the motor drive circuit 11 to change the focal length of the taking lens to the wide-angle side. That is, so-called zoom-down is performed. Here, it is assumed that the camera of the present embodiment includes a photographing lens whose focal length can be set in a range of 35 mm to 70 mm.

Further, when the above-described focus lock state is maintained, the CPU 1 limits the setting range of the focal length, which is information affecting the shooting result. That is, the change of the focal length is permitted within a certain predetermined range, and the change of the focal length outside the range is prohibited. In this embodiment, it is prohibited to change the focal length from the current focal length to outside the range of ± 5 mm. With this, when the focal length of the taking lens when the release button is half-pressed in the focus lock holding mode is, for example, 50 mm, the switches SW4 and SW
Even if 5 is operated, the focal length of the taking lens can only be changed between 45mm and 55mm.

The switch SW6 is a power switch that is linked to a photographic lens barrier that is opened and closed on the front of the photographic lens, and is turned on when the photographic lens barrier is opened.

In the configuration of the above embodiment, the distance measuring circuit 3 is a distance measuring unit.
101, switches SW1 and SW2 release shutter member 102, CPU
1 is a focus lock unit 103, a photographing unit 104, a focus lock holding unit 106, a setting change unit 107, and a control unit 108
Switch SW3 is the focus lock holding operation member 105.
And the switches SW4 and SW5 constitute the photographing information command operation members.

Next, a control procedure performed in the CPU 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In FIG. 3, this program is started when the power switch SW6 linked to the taking lens barrier is turned on, and first, in step S51, a normal timer is started. Next, in step S52, it is determined whether or not the power switch SW6 is on. If a negative determination is made, the process is terminated. If an affirmative determination is made, the process proceeds to step S53. In step S53, it is determined whether or not the half-press switch SW1 is on. If a negative determination is made, it is determined in step S54 whether or not the switch SW3 is on. If step S54 is denied, the process proceeds to step S81 to determine whether or not the switch SW4 is turned on by operating the zoom-up button. If a negative determination is made, the process proceeds to step S83, and if an affirmative determination is made, zoom-up processing is performed in step S82. That is, the zoom lens is driven by the zoom motor 21 via the motor drive circuit 11 to change the focal length to the telephoto side. Thereafter, the process returns to step S51. In step S83, it is determined whether or not the switch SW5 is turned on by operating the zoom-down button, and if a negative determination is made, the process proceeds to step S55,
If a positive determination is made, zoom-down processing is performed in step S84. That is, through the motor drive circuit 11, the zoom motor
The zoom lens is driven by 21 to change the focal length to the wide-angle side. Thereafter, the process returns to step S51. By operating the zoom up button and the zoom down button, the focal length of the photographing lens can be changed within a range of 35 mm to 70 mm.

In step S55, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the normal timer. If a negative determination is made, the process returns to step S52, and if a positive determination is made, the process is terminated.

When it is determined in step S54 that the focus lock holding switch SW3 is ON, the process proceeds to step S56, and it is determined whether the focus lock holding mode is set. If a negative determination is made, the focus lock holding mode is set in step S57, the focus lock holding mode is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 25 in step S101, the focus lock timer is started in step S401, and the flow advances to step S59. If an affirmative determination is made in step S56, the normal mode in which the focus lock is not held is set in step S58, and the normal mode display is performed on the liquid crystal display device 25 in step S102, and step S59 is performed.
Proceed to. In step S59, it is determined whether or not the focus lock holding switch SW3 is on. If an affirmative determination is made, the process remains in step S59 until a negative determination is made. If a negative determination is made, the process returns to step S51.

Here, when it is determined in step S53 that the half-press switch SW1 is on, the process proceeds to step S61, in which the distance measurement information is read and stored in the storage area. Next, in step S103, it is determined whether or not the focus lock holding mode is set. If the result is affirmative, the LED 15 in the finder is blinked in step S104, and the process proceeds to step S62. If step S103 is denied, the finder LED 15 is turned on in step S105, and the process proceeds to step S62. In step S62, it is determined whether or not light emission of the electronic flash device is necessary, and then the process proceeds to step S63.

In step S63, it is determined whether or not the full-press switch SW2 is on. If the result is negative, the process proceeds to step S64. In step S64, it is determined whether or not the half-press switch SW1 is turned on. If the determination is affirmative, the process returns to step S63. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S65. In step S65, it is determined whether the power switch SW6 is on. If a negative determination is made, the process is terminated.
It is determined whether W3 is on. When step S66 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step S56, and when denied, it is determined in step S67 whether or not the focus lock holding mode is set. When step S67 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step S85, and when denied, the process returns to step S51. In step S85, switch SW4
Is turned on. If step S85 is denied, the process proceeds to step S87, and if affirmed, zoom-up processing is performed in step S86. In step S87, it is determined whether or not the switch SW5 is on. If a negative determination is made, the process proceeds to step S402. If an affirmative determination is made, zoom-down processing is performed in step S88. However, this zoom up and zoom down processing is possible only within a range of ± 5 mm from the current focal length, and the switch SW is set to set a focal length outside this range.
Even if you continue to operate 4 or SW5, it will not be accepted.

In step S402, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the focus lock timer was started in step S401.If the result is negative, the process returns to step S63.If the result is affirmative, the normal mode is set in step S403. In step S404, display in the normal mode is performed on the liquid crystal display device 25, and thereafter, the process returns to step S51.

If it is determined in step S63 that the full-press switch SW2 is on, the finder LED 15 is turned off in step S106, and the luminance information from the photometric circuit 2 is read in step S68, and the flow advances to step S69.

In step S69, the lens movement amount is calculated based on the distance measurement value stored in step S61, and the photographing lens is driven to the focusing position by the motor 9 via the motor drive circuit 11 based on the calculation result. Then step S7
In step 0, an exposure value is calculated based on the luminance information and the like read in step S68, and an exposure control member such as an aperture or a shutter is driven via the exposure control circuit 12 based on the calculation result to perform photographing. Thereafter, in step S71, the film is wound up by one frame by the motor 10 via the motor drive circuit 11, and the flow advances to step S72. In step S72, the normal mode is set. Then, in step S107, normal mode display is performed on the liquid crystal display device 25, and the process returns to step S51.

According to the above procedure, when the switch SW3 is turned on by the operation of the focus lock holding operation button in the step S54 when the normal mode is already set, the step
S56 is denied, the focus lock holding mode is set in step S57, and the focus lock timer starts in step S101. Thereafter, when the switch SW1 is turned on by half-pressing the release button, step S53 is performed.
Is affirmed and the distance measurement value is read and stored in step S61,
The LED 15 flashes in step S104. Thereafter, if the switch SW1 is turned off and the switches SW2 to SW5 are not turned on, the process goes through a loop of steps S63 to S67, S85, S87, S402, and S63. At this time, when the switch SW1 is turned on again, step S64 is affirmed and the process returns to step S63.

Therefore, the focus lock state is maintained even when the release button is half-pressed when the focus lock holding mode is set, and the distance measurement data is not read and stored even when the release button is pressed halfway again. That is, the state of the focus lock is maintained.

Further, in this state, when a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of holding the focus lock state, the processing exits the above-described loop, proceeds from step S402 to step S403, sets the normal mode, and then displays the normal mode display in step S404. After performing, the process returns to step S51. That is, the holding of the focus lock is released. According to this, when the focus lock is held but the focus lock shooting is not performed, for example, in a case where the influence is requested to another person but refused, the predetermined operation can be performed without performing the focus lock holding release operation. Since the holding of the focus lock state is automatically released after a lapse of time, operability is improved.

In addition, when going around the loop
When SW2 is turned on, the process exits the above loop and returns to step S
The process proceeds from step 63 to step S106, in which the LED 15 is turned on and off, and then the photographing process from step S68 is performed. Thereafter, the normal mode is set and displayed in steps S72 and S107, and the process returns to step S51. That is, even if the predetermined time has not elapsed, when the release is fully pressed and the photographing is completed, the holding of the focus lock state is released.

Furthermore, if the switch SW4, SW5 is determined to be on in step S85 or S87 while the above-described loop is being performed, that is, while the focus lock state is being held, the zoom-in process is performed in steps S86, S88. Zoom down processing is performed. However, in this case, zoom-up and zoom-down are allowed within a range of ± 5 mm from the current focal length, and changing to a focal length outside the range is prohibited.

According to this, when a third party requests photographing after performing the operation of holding the focus lock, the focal length does not greatly change even if the third party erroneously operates the zoom up button or the zoom down button. This prevents unwanted photographs from being taken.

In the above description, when the focus lock state is maintained, the zoom-up / down operation is allowed within a range of ± 5 mm, and other operations are prohibited. However, the allowable range is not limited to ± 5 mm. The distance may be 5 mm or more, or the zoom-in and zoom-out may be completely prohibited without providing an allowable range. Normally 35
Although an example using a zoom lens whose focal length can be set between mm and 70 mm has been described, the present invention can also be applied to a camera having a zoom lens whose focal length can be set to other values. Further, the present invention is not limited to a zoom lens, and the present invention can be applied to a multifocal camera including a lens capable of setting a photographing lens stepwise at a plurality of preset focal lengths.

Furthermore, an example has been described in which zoom-up and zoom-down are restricted. For example, in a camera in which exposure information such as shutter speed, aperture value, and film sensitivity can be manually changed and set, the focus lock state is maintained. When the operation is performed, even if an operation member for setting these is operated, the change may be prohibited. According to this, even if a third party who has been requested to take an image erroneously operates these operation members, it is possible to prevent the exposure information from being changed and taking an undesired photograph.

Further, in the above, the distance measurement value from the distance measuring circuit 2 is stored by half-pressing the release button, and then the photographing lens is driven to the focusing position based on the stored distance measurement by fully pressing the release button. Then, the camera of the type that performs the shutter release is shown, but by pressing the release button halfway, the taking lens is driven to the focusing position based on the distance measurement value from the distance measurement circuit 2 and fixed at that position, Thereafter, the present invention can be applied to a camera of a type that performs a shutter release in response to a full-press operation of a release button.

Further, like a TTL automatic focus adjustment device of a single-lens reflex camera, instead of a distance measurement value, a camera that detects focus adjustment information indicating a shift amount and a direction between a subject imaging plane and a planned imaging plane, The invention is equally applicable. In such a case, the photographing lens is driven to the focusing position by the focus adjustment information and fixed at that position to perform focus lock.

Furthermore, when the focus lock state is maintained, the LED in the viewfinder is made to blink, but in addition to this, a display unit that is provided on the front of the camera and lights or blinks during self-timer shooting is provided. Is blinked, it is possible to confirm that the focus lock is held from the requesting side of the photographing person (the photographed person side). In this case, the blinking cycle or the duty may be changed to distinguish the self-timer shooting.

G. Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, it is possible to maintain the focus lock state by operating the focus lock holding operation member even if the half-press operation of the release operation member is released or the half-press operation is performed again thereafter. Therefore, when asking a third party to shoot, lock the focus in advance to focus on the desired subject and hold the state before handing over the camera. A photograph in which the desired subject is in focus can be obtained simply by pressing the button. Further, when the state of the focus lock is maintained, even if a photographing information command operation member such as a zoom up / down button is operated, a change in photographing information (for example, zoom up / down) is restricted. In addition, even if a third party operates the photographing information command operation member, the photographing information does not greatly change, and it is possible to prevent an unwanted photograph from being photographed. In this case, the change of the photographing information is not completely prohibited, but a certain degree of change is allowed, so that there is a high possibility that a better photograph can be taken by a third party. For example, when the photographing information is the focal length of the photographing lens, a change in the focal length is recognized to some extent, thereby preventing a failed photograph in which a part of a person is off the screen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) are diagrams corresponding to claims. 2 and 3 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a camera operation control device according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure. 1: CPU 3: Distance measuring circuit 101: Distance measuring means 102: Release operation member 103, 203: Focus lock means 104: Imaging means 105: Focus lock holding operation member 106, 206: Focus lock holding means 107: Setting change means 108: Control means 201 : Focus adjustment information detection means LE: Shooting lens SW1-SW6: Switch

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hideya Inoue 1-6-3 Nishioi, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Nikon Oi Works Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-61-279830 (JP, A) JP-A-58 JP-A-120225 (JP, A) JP-A-63-192031 (JP, A) JP-A-61-130932 (JP, A) JP-A-57-88416 (JP, A) ) Japanese Utility Model Showa 55-123926 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Utility Model 1-88913 (JP, U)

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] A distance measuring means for measuring a distance of a subject to be focused by a photographing lens; a release operation member for generating a half-press signal when half-pressed and a full-press signal when fully pressed; Focus locking means for operating the distance measuring means by the generation of the half-press signal and storing and holding the distance measurement value at that time; and driving the photographing lens based on the distance measurement value when the full-press signal is generated. A photographing means for starting photographing in a state where the subject is in focus, a focus lock holding operation member for generating a focus lock holding signal in accordance with a manual operation, and actuating when the focus lock holding signal is generated, Focus lock holding means for continuing to store and hold the distance measurement value even when the half-press operation of the release operation member is released or the half-press operation is performed again thereafter; In response to a manual operation of the command operation member, in a camera operation control device comprising: setting change means for changing the setting of the influence information affecting the photograph within a predetermined range, during operation of the focus lock holding means, An operation control device for a camera, comprising: control means for permitting the setting change means to change the shooting information only within a range narrower than the predetermined range. 2. A focus adjustment information detecting means for detecting focus adjustment information for focusing a photographic lens on a subject. A half-press signal is generated when the lens is half-pressed, and a full-press signal is generated when the lens is fully pressed. A release operation member for detecting the focus adjustment information of the subject at that time in response to the generation of the half-press signal, and focusing the photographing lens on the subject based on the information; A focus lock means for performing a focus lock for holding a photographing lens at a position; a focus lock holding operation member for generating a focus lock holding signal in response to a manual operation; Focus lock holding means for continuing the focus lock even if the half-press operation is released or the half-press operation is performed again thereafter, A camera operation control device comprising: a setting change unit that changes a setting of shooting information affecting a photograph within a predetermined range in accordance with a manual operation of a shooting information command operation member. Is an operation control device for a camera, comprising: control means for allowing the setting change means to change the photographing information only within a range narrower than the predetermined range. 3. The camera operation control device according to claim 1, wherein the photographing information command operation member is a focal length setting operation member for instructing setting of a focal length of the photographing lens. 4. The operation control device for a camera according to claim 1, wherein the photographing information command operation member is an exposure information setting operation member for instructing setting of exposure information.