JP2624556B2 - Binoculars with recording / playback function - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to binoculars, and more particularly to binoculars with a recording / reproducing function having a function of recording and reproducing images.

[Conventional technology]

Binoculars are used to enlarge a distant view with both eyes at the same time. Some of these binoculars have an image recording function, and can record a desired image while viewing the image with both eyes.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, since the photosensitive material is used for the image recording means of the binoculars, it is difficult to immediately reproduce the images. Further, since the image is recorded through one objective lens provided in the binoculars, the image was observed with the binoculars. There is a problem that reproduction is not performed so that a three-dimensional effect is improved as in the case of time.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide binoculars with a recording / reproducing function capable of immediate reproduction and capable of recording and reproducing an image in three dimensions.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides binoculars having left and right optical systems, using the left and right optical systems as optical viewfinders, and using the objective lenses of the left and right optical systems as left and right photographing lenses. An imaging unit for capturing left and right subject images via the left and right photographing lenses, a recording unit for recording the left and right subject images captured by the imaging unit, and the left and right images recorded by the recording unit. Reproduction means for reproducing the subject image of the right and left and the right and left subject images to the eyepieces of the left and right optical systems.

[Action]

According to the present invention, the left and right optical systems of the binoculars are used as optical viewfinders, and the objective lenses of the left and right optical systems are used as left and right photographing lenses, and the left and right object images captured by the photographing lenses are recorded. Is provided. Therefore, it is possible to record the subject images captured on the optical axes of the left and right optical viewfinders.

Further, since the eyepieces of the left and right optical systems are also used as eyepieces of the electronic viewfinder at the time of reproduction and monitoring, it is possible to perform reproduction monitoring on the spot without separating the eye from the eyepiece.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the binoculars with a recording / reproducing function according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing a first embodiment of a binocular with a recording / reproducing function according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part thereof. The binoculars with recording / reproducing function 10 include optical viewfinders 14A and 14B in the main body 12. Optical viewfinder 14
A and 14B include objective lenses 16A and 16B and eyepieces 18A and 18B. A mounting part 20 such as an IC card or a video floppy is provided at about the center of the upper surface of the main body 12, and a recording button 22, a feed operation button 24, a play button 26,
A return operation button 28 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, an entrance window of the polyprorhythm 30A is arranged on the optical axis of the right objective lens 16A, and a light shielding member 32A is provided in the entrance window. The light-shielding member 32A operates so that an image formed by the incident light from the objective lens 16A does not overlap the image of the EVF 38A when an electronic viewfinder (EVF) 38A described later is operated. That is, light is not shielded when used as binoculars or during recording, but is shielded when using the EVF38A.
In the first embodiment, an electronic shutter is assumed as the light shielding member 32A, but a mechanical shutter may be used.
In this case, the mechanical shutter is arranged at an arbitrary position on the optical path from the porro prism 30A to a focus lens 34A, which will be described later, and an image sensor 36A.

A focus lens 34A and an image sensor 36A are arranged on the optical axis behind the porro prism 30A. The exit window of the Porro prism 30A is arranged on the optical axis of the eyepiece 18A, and an EVF (Electronic View Finder) 38A is arranged on the optical axis in front of the Poro prism 30A.

The left optical viewfinder 14B has the same objective lens 16B and eyepiece as the right optical viewfinder 14A.
The light shielding member 32B, the polypro rhythm 30B, the focus lens 34B, the image sensor 36B, and the EVF 38B are provided between the 18B.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the polyprorhythm 30A or 30B. Light incident from the objective lens is shielded by 32A and 32B
Is not in the light-shielding state, the light enters through the entrance window 31A, is reflected by the half mirror 31B, and reaches the half mirror surface 31E via the total reflection mirror surfaces 31C and 31D. The light that has reached 31E is reflected by the half mirror 31E and is emitted from the emission window 31F, and the light that is not reflected by the half mirror 31B is guided toward the focus lens 34A or 34B in FIG. , 36B
Incident on. The light not reflected by the half mirror 31E is EVF
It is incident on 38A or 38B.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of the binoculars 10 with a recording / reproducing function according to the present invention. The control unit 40 can provide support such as recording and reproduction. The right and left imaging units 41A and 41B are provided with a lens system (objective lenses 16A and 16A).
B, focus lenses 34A and 34B), a diaphragm member, and the like, and can appropriately adjust the light amount and the focal position. The right and left imaging elements 36A and 36B can convert incident light from the imaging lenses of the imaging units 41A and 41B into electric signals. The recording / reproducing unit 44 includes the imaging devices 36, 36
Receiving the electric signal output from B, the signal can be recorded. The right and left reproduction units 38A and 38B can receive an electric signal output from the recording / reproduction unit 44 and reproduce a subject image based on the electric signal.

Therefore, when reproducing the recorded signal, the control unit 40 is operated to activate the recording / reproducing unit 44, and the recording signal received from the right side image sensor 36A is input to the right side reproducing unit 38A, and from the left side image sensor 36B. The received recording signal is input to the left reproduction unit 38B. The right and left reproduction units 38A and 38B that have received the recording signal reproduce images based on the electric signals. This image is propolis
It is captured by both eyes via 30A and 30B and eyepieces 18A and 18B. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 43 denotes an external connection unit.
The external connection unit is for sending data in the recording / reproducing unit 44 to the outside or for taking in data from the outside.

In the first embodiment, the binoculars with a recording / reproducing function according to the present invention are constructed using the Porro prism, but a mirror may be used instead of the Porro prism as shown in the second embodiment of FIG. In FIG. 5, 50 and 52 are movable mirrors.
Is a fixed mirror. According to these mirrors, when the light incident from the objective lens is guided to the eyepiece, if the movable mirrors 50 and 52 are arranged as shown in FIG. And the reflected light is reflected by the fixed mirror 54. The reflected light from the fixed mirror 54 is reflected by the fixed mirror 56, further reflected by the movable mirror 52, and guided to the eyepiece. Thereby, it can be used as normal binoculars.

Next, at the time of recording, reproduction or monitoring, the movable mirrors 50 and 52 are moved as shown in FIG. 5 (B). As a result, the incident light from the objective lens is not reflected by the mirror,
It is led to 36A, 36B. In addition, light emitted from the EVFs 38A and 38B enters the eyepiece without being reflected by the mirror 52. Thereby, an image can be recorded via the imaging devices 36A and 36B, and the recorded image is guided to the eyepieces 18A and 18B via the EVFs 38A and 38B.

As described above, in the second embodiment, by using a mirror in place of the Porro prism used in the first embodiment, it is possible to guide the incident light from the objective lens to the eyepiece with little loss. Also, since there is almost no light loss during recording, reproduction, and monitoring, clear images can be recorded and reproduced.

In the first and second embodiments, two imaging elements are used. However, if the configuration is the same as that of the third embodiment in FIG. 6, the number of imaging elements can be reduced to one. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The incident light from the objective lens is guided to the eyepiece via the Porro prisms 58A and 58B. Since the Porro prisms 58A and 58B have the half mirror surfaces 60A and 60B and 62A and 62B, the incident light from the objective lens passes through the half mirror surfaces 60A and 60B and is guided to the imaging switching mirror 64. The imaging switching mirror 64 is an axis
Focus lens 66
Can be guided to the image sensor 68 via the. Or EVF
The light projected from the lens can pass through the half mirror surfaces 62A and 62B and enter the eyepiece.

In FIG. 6, the half mirror surfaces 60A, 60B and 62A, 62B of the Porro prisms 58A, 58B can be replaced with movable mirrors. If a movable mirror is used in place of the half mirror, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the light amount as described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the third embodiment, which is similar to the block diagram of FIG. 4 is different from FIG. 4 in that an optical path switching unit 70 and an image memory unit 72 are newly provided, and an image pickup unit 68 and an image pickup element 74 are provided.
Are the points each of which is one by one. Optical path switching unit 70
Controls the imaging switching mirror 64 shown in FIG. 6 so that the incident light from the right side or the left side
Etc.) to the image sensor 68. Therefore,
For example, by operating the control unit 40 to control the optical path switching unit 70 and rotating the imaging switching mirror 64, light from the left Porro prism 58A can be guided to the imaging element 68. The light guided to the image sensor 68 is converted into an electric signal here, and is recorded in the recording / reproducing unit 44.

Next, when the light path switching unit 70 is controlled to guide the light from the right porro prism 58B to the image sensor 68, the light is converted into an electric signal by the image sensor 68 and recorded in the recording / reproducing unit 44.
This means that the left and right images have been recorded in the recording / reproducing unit 44. Next, by operating the control unit 40, the imaging signal recorded in the recording / reproducing unit 44 is input to the right reproducing unit 38A and the left reproducing unit 38B, and an image is reproduced by these units. The reproduced image is guided to the eyepiece. Note that the image memory unit 72 is
The electric signals of the images of the left and right optical viewfinders sent from the camera can be simultaneously sent to the playback units 38A and 38B.

Although the imaging switching mirror 64 is used in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a reflecting prism 80 or 82 may be used as shown in FIGS. 8 (A) and 8 (B). When the reflection prism 80 shown in FIG. 8A is used, the image pickup device 68 is provided with the reflection prism 80 shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the left image and the right image are projected left and right separately.

When the reflection prism 82 shown in FIG. 9A is used, the right and left images are projected vertically separately as shown in FIG. 9B. In this case, it is necessary to newly provide the left and right separation unit 84 as shown in the block diagram of FIG. The left / right separation unit 84 separates an image signal from the image sensor 68 into a right image and a left image.

In the first embodiment, an IC card, a video floppy, or the like is provided in a substantially central portion of the upper surface of the main body 12, but FIG.
As shown in (B), it may be provided at the front or rear of the main body 12. Further, in the first embodiment, the recording button is provided on the upper portion of the main body 12, but may be provided on the lower side or the rear side of the main body 12 as shown in FIGS. 11 (C) and 11 (D). In particular, when the recording button is provided on the lower side as shown in FIG. 11 (C), it can be operated with the thumb.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the binoculars with a recording / reproducing function according to the present invention, the images of the left and right optical viewfinders can be electrically recorded, and the images recorded on the optical axes of the two optical viewfinders can be recorded. Can be played. Therefore, the image can be reproduced with a three-dimensional effect when the reproduced image is observed with binoculars, and the reproduction can be performed immediately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing a first embodiment of a binocular with a recording / reproducing function according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of the first embodiment of the binocular with a recording / reproducing function according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a Porro prism used in the binoculars with a recording / reproducing function of the first embodiment, FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the binoculars with a recording / reproducing function of the first embodiment, FIGS. 5 (A), (B) ) Is a perspective view of a reflection mirror used in a second embodiment of the binoculars with a recording / reproducing function according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part of a third embodiment of the binoculars with a recording / reproducing function according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the binoculars with a recording / reproducing function of the third embodiment, and FIGS. 8 (A), (B) and FIGS. 9 (A), (B) are recording / reproducing functions of the third embodiment. Perspective view of a reflecting prism used in place of an image pickup switching mirror used in binoculars with projections and a projected image when the reflecting prism is used FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the binoculars with a recording / reproducing function when the reflecting prism of FIG. 8 (A) and FIG. 9 (B) is used, and FIGS. 11 (A) to (D) are FIG. 11 is an overall perspective view showing another embodiment of the binoculars with a recording / reproducing function according to the present invention. 10 binoculars with recording / playback function, 12 body, 14A, 14B optical viewfinder, 30A, 30B porro prism, 36A, 36B, 68 image sensor, 38A, 38B EVF, 50 52, 54, 56: Mirror, 58A, 58B: Porro prism, 64: Image pickup switching mirror, 68: Image sensor, 80, 82: Reflection prism.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pair of binoculars having left and right optical systems, wherein the left and right optical systems are used as optical viewfinders and the left and right optical system objective lenses are used as left and right photographing lenses. Imaging means for capturing left and right subject images via a photographing lens, recording means for recording the left and right subject images captured by the imaging means, and reproducing the left and right subject images recorded by the recording means, Binoculars with a recording / reproducing function, comprising: reproducing means for guiding the left and right subject images to the eyepieces of the left and right optical systems. 2. The binoculars with a recording / reproducing function according to claim 1, wherein said recording means photoelectrically converts left and right object images to generate left and right video signals, and records them on a recording medium.