JP2771851B2 - Camera flash device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a flash light emitting device for a camera, more specifically, a motor-driven zoom lens system as a photographing optical system, and a plurality of flash light emitting tubes as a flash light emitting device. The present invention relates to a flash light emitting device for a camera.

[Related Art] In recent years, cameras equipped with a zoom lens, multifocal cameras capable of setting a plurality of focal lengths, and cameras having a large number of zoom lenses in an interchangeable lens are increasing. Correspondingly, cameras equipped with zoom strobes that continuously vary the irradiation angle according to the focal length of the photographing lens are increasing. Means for varying the irradiation angle of such a zoom strobe is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No.
No. 030 discloses an example thereof.

That is, the "flash device for photography" disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 53-63030 discloses a flash device main body for photography, and a flash device main body for photography so as to cover a front surface of a light emitting portion of the flash device body for photography. An illuminating angle variable device having an optical lens fixed to the front surface thereof, and sliding the illuminating angle variable device back and forth from outside of the photographic flash device main body to the illuminating angle variable device. And a sliding member fixed at an arbitrary position. The irradiation angle of the strobe is changed by moving the condenser lens of the strobe in the optical axis direction.

Further, the "lens shutter type zoom lens camera" disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-2030 has a photographic lens system composed of a zoom lens system, the zooming of which is powered, a finder optical system and a strobe device. Is a zoom lens camera with a variable-magnification finder optical system and a variable illumination angle strobe device linked to this zooming, located directly above the finder optical system and the strobe device and can be moved in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the taking lens. , A single cam plate is provided, and the cam plate is provided with a cam groove for moving a variable-magnification lens group of the variable-magnification finder optical system and a light-emitting tube of the irradiation angle variable flash device,
Further, the cam plate is moved in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis in conjunction with zooming. Therefore,
With a simple configuration using a single cam plate, the field of view of the finder optical system is changed in conjunction with zooming, and the light-emitting part consisting of the flash tube and reflector is moved in the optical axis direction. Thus, the strobe irradiation angle can be changed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when changing the irradiation angle of the zoom strobe in accordance with the focal length of the taking lens, the focusing lens of the strobe is moved in the optical axis direction.
The means disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-2030, in which the light emitting portion of a strobe is moved in the optical axis direction, includes a drive mechanism for driving a condenser lens and a reflecting mirror, Since it is necessary to secure a movable space in the optical axis direction, the mechanism of the strobe device becomes complicated, and
Upsizing was inevitable. As a result, in the case of an external zoom strobe that is attached to the camera using an accessory shoe or the like, portability is deteriorated due to enlargement,
In the case of a zoom strobe built in the camera, the size of the entire camera is increased, and the complexity of a pop-up mechanism for preventing the red-eye phenomenon described later and the amount of pop-up (height) are reduced.

Also, from the performance point of view of the current zoom strobe,
There is a limit to moving the condenser lens or reflecting mirror in the optical axis direction in a limited space to greatly change the irradiation angle.The range that can be zoomed without causing light distribution spots and a decrease in the amount of light around the screen is limited to the center of the screen. It was about 1.2 to 1.3 times in terms of guide number.

On the other hand, in recent high-magnification zoom lenses, although the open F NO. On the telephoto side tends to be one step larger than that on the wide-angle side in order to reduce the size, in general, It is often taken at long distances. As a result, in the case of using the current zoom strobe, the subject position where the strobe can be photographed with the appropriate amount of light is closer on the telephoto side than on the wide-angle side, which makes the camera extremely difficult to use.

Also, in order to cope with a high-magnification zoom lens, if you try to greatly change the irradiation angle of the zoom strobe without causing light distribution spots or a decrease in the amount of light at the periphery of the screen, a large number of variable power condenser lenses Must be arranged. As a result, the loss of light amount due to transmission through a large number of lenses increases, and the volume required for the condenser lens also increases, which is not practical.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, the focal length of the photographing lens, or the irradiation angle of the strobe can be greatly changed depending on the distance to the subject, it is possible to emit a small guide with a high guide number, Another object of the present invention is to provide a camera flash light emitting device having a simple mechanism.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A flash light emitting device for a camera according to the present invention comprises two flash light emitting portions having different irradiation angles, a photographing lens whose focal length can be changed, and a focal length of the photographing lens having a predetermined focal length. A focal length determining unit that determines whether the focal length is longer or shorter than the focal length; a subject distance determining unit that determines whether a distance to the subject is smaller than a predetermined distance; In response to the output result, only one of the two flash light emitting units is selected to emit light, and when the subject distance determination unit determines that the subject distance is smaller than a predetermined distance, the two flash light emitting units are used. A control means for selecting only the flash light emitting unit having a large irradiation angle from the flash light emitting units to emit light.

[Operation] In this device, the focal length signal generated according to the focal length of the photographing lens causes the control means to select the focal length of the photographing lens from a plurality of flash light emitting units having different irradiation angles according to the focal length of the photographing lens. One of the flash light emitting portions corresponding to the selected light emitting portion, and when the subject distance is smaller than a predetermined distance, a flash light emitting portion having a large irradiation angle among the plurality of flash light emitting portions is selected to emit light. [Embodiment] Hereinafter, a flash light emitting device of a camera according to the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a single-lens reflex camera incorporating a flash light emitting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The configuration of this camera 50 is composed of the main body 20, the lower cover 21, and the upper cover
22, a back cover 23, a zoom lens barrel, and a strobe device 51 provided above the upper cover 22 and having two flash light emitting portions.
And a movable reflection half mirror 4 supported by a mirror shaft 11
A finder system including a focus screen 5, a pentaprism 6, and an eyepiece 7 disposed above the focal plane shutter 8 disposed behind the half mirror 4, a film 9, and the rear lid 23. , A movable auxiliary mirror 33 obliquely provided on the back side of the half mirror 4, and disposed below the auxiliary mirror 33.
It is composed of a focusing sensor 34 that performs focusing detection based on the reflected light, a zoom encoder 55 and a distance encoder 56, and an electric control device such as a CPU 150.

The half mirror 4 is inclined at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the optical axis O during finder observation, and the luminous flux from the photographing lens of the focusing lens 1, the vari-focal lens 2 and the relay lens 3 is focused on the focusing screen 5. At the same time, the light is transmitted through a part of the light beam and is projected on the focusing sensor 34 via the auxiliary mirror 33. The light beam transmitted through the focusing screen 5 is observed as an erect image through an eyepiece through a pentaprism. At the time of photographing, the half mirror 4 and the auxiliary mirror 33 are moved to a position retracted from the optical path range of the light beam, and photographing is performed.

The zoom lens barrel is fixed to the main body 20,
A fixed frame 15 which supports the relay lens 3 and has rectilinear grooves 15a and 15b, which is rotatably fitted to the outer periphery of the fixed frame, and has cam grooves 16a and 16b for driving the lens on the outer periphery. , A cam frame 1 having a driving gear 16c on the outer periphery of the rear part
6, an intermediate cylinder 13 slidably fitted on the inner periphery of the fixed frame 15 and having a helicoid screw 13b on the inner periphery, and implanted in the intermediate cylinder 13, the cam groove 16a and the straight A lens frame 12 having an engaging pin 13a fitted in the groove 15a, a helicoid screw 12a screwed with the helicoid screw 13b, and further having a focusing lens 1 fixed to an inner peripheral portion thereof; Frame 14 in which the variator lens 2 is fixed to the inner peripheral portion so as to be positioned between the lens frame 14 and the relay lens 3, and an engaging pin which is implanted in the lens frame 14 and is fitted into the cam groove 16a and the rectilinear groove 15b. 14a. A gear 17a fixed to the output shaft of the zoom motor 17 meshes with a gear 16c of the cam frame 16,
The cam frame 16 is driven by the rotation of the zoom motor 17 to perform zooming.

The zoom encoder 55 includes a zoom encoder pattern 18 and a zoom encoder switch 19. A zoom encoder pattern 18 including a conductive pattern 18a and an insulating pattern 18b is provided on the outer periphery behind the cam frame 16, and the switch is provided on the upper cover 22 so that an encoder switch 19 is provided at a position corresponding to the pattern 18. 19 is fixed, and the common contact piece 19a and the contact pieces 19b, 19c, 19d are brought into sliding contact with the pattern 18. Then, a zoom signal is output from the encoder switch 19 by the zooming operation.

Regarding the zooming operation of the lens barrel,
Explaining with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, FIG. 1 shows a case where zooming is at a wide angle, that is, on the short focus side, and FIG. 2 is a development view of the cam frame 16 in the wide angle state. To perform wide-angle zooming, the cam frame 16 is rotated clockwise as viewed from the subject side. The engagement pins 13a, 14a are
The cam groove 16 of the cam frame 16 is guided linearly by
The lens is driven in the axial direction by a and 16b to move the focusing lens 1 and the variator lens 2 to a predetermined wide-angle zoom position to end wide-angle zooming. At the same time, each contact of the zoom encoder switch 19 is
The encoder 55 relatively slides and moves upward, and an encoder output corresponding to the wide-angle position is output from the encoder 55 .

On the other hand, FIG. 3 shows a vertical sectional view of the lens barrel when zooming is performed at the telephoto side, that is, the long focal length side, and FIG. 4 shows a developed view of the cam frame 16 in this state. To zoom into the telephoto state, the cam frame 16 rotates counterclockwise as viewed from the subject side. By the rotation, the engagement pins 13a and 14a are driven in the axial direction by the cam grooves 16a and 16b while being guided linearly, and move the focusing lens 1 and the variator lens 2 to a predetermined telephoto position to perform telephoto zooming. finish. At the same time, each contact piece of the zoom encoder switch 19 slides relatively on the encoder pattern 18 as in the case of the wide-angle zoom, and the encoder 55 outputs an encoded output corresponding to the telephoto position.

The distance encoder 56 is a distance encoder pattern 31
And the distance encoder switch 32, and the distance encoder pattern 31 including the conductive pattern 31a and the insulating pattern 31b is disposed on the outer periphery in front of the fixed frame 15, and at a position corresponding to the pattern 31. The distance encoder switch 32 is fixed to the lens frame 12. The common contact piece 32a and the contact piece 32b of the switch 32
The upper side is slid and the switch 32 outputs the distance encode data.

Focusing is performed by driving the lens frame 12 by a focusing motor (not shown) in accordance with the output of the focusing sensor 34. This is performed by a camera employing a manual operation method in which the lens frame 12 is manually rotated. It may be. Then said distance encoder for detecting a predetermined short distance L ₁ of the subject by the focusing
The operation of the 56 will be described, but for the predetermined short distance L _1, there is shown a critical distance of the predetermined strobe lighting, details will be described later. The distance encoder switch 32 relatively slides on the distance encoder pattern 31 with the rotation of the lens frame 12. However, for a normal subject distance, the encoder switch 32 as shown in FIG.
The contact piece 32b of 32 makes a state of sliding contact on the insulating pattern 31b. It is assumed that the common contact piece 32a of the encoder switch 32 always slides on the conduction pattern 31a. Therefore,
An OFF signal is output from the encoder switch 32. When the focusing lens 1 is extended by rotating the lens frame 12, and the subject distance becomes equal to or less than the predetermined short distance, as shown in FIG. 5B, the contact piece 32b also slides on the conductive pattern 31a. as will be, from the encoder switch 32 is output oN signal, it is possible to detect that the subject distance becomes L ₁ below.

Next, the strobe device 51 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 6 (A) and (B). Figure 1 or
FIG. 6B shows a pop-up state of the strobe device, and FIG. 6A shows a stowed state. The structure of the strobe device 51 includes a light-emitting device case 25 in which the end of a case arm 25a is pivotally supported by a pop-up shaft 24, a strobe front cover 30 in which condenser lenses 30a and 30b are integrally formed, It is composed of a flash light emitting unit 52 for telephoto, which is one flash light emitting unit, and a flash light emitting unit 53 for wide angle, which is another flash light emitting unit.

The pop-up shaft 24 is fixed to the upper case 22, and the coil portion of the pop-up spring 35, which is a torsion spring, is inserted. One end of the hook portion of the spring 35 is attached to the upper cover 22.
And the other end is the projection 25c of the case arm 25a.
And the light-emitting device case 25 is urged in the pop-up direction. Further, a locking lever 37 for holding the light-emitting device case 25 in the storage position is pivotally attached to the upper cover 22, and the locking lever 37 has a locking claw 37a at its tip.
And is urged counterclockwise by the lock spring 36. The locking claw 37a engages with the locking pin 25b provided on the light-emitting device case 25 to hold the strobe device 51 in the storage position by the urging force of the lock spring 36 (FIG. 6 (A)). reference).

When the locking lever 37 is disengaged, the light-emitting device case 25
Is a strobe device by the urging force of the pop-up spring 35
It will rotate to the pop-up state, which is the use state of 51 (see FIG. 6 (B)). The operation of releasing the engagement of the locking lever 37 is performed by manually or automatically sliding the locking release button 38 to the left and rotating the locking lever 37 clockwise. Also the strobe device 51
The light-emitting device case 25 is rotated counterclockwise against the pop-up spring 35 so that the
25b is locked with the locking claw 37a of the locking lever 37 and stored.

Further, a pop-up state detection switch 40 for detecting whether the strobe device 51 is in a pop-up state or a stowed state is provided on the upper cover 22, and an operation switch pressing piece 39 of the switch 40 is provided on the upper cover 22. , Case arm 25
It is slidably supported in the operation direction by a. In the pop-up state, the detection switch 40 has the contact pieces 40a and 40b, and the pressing piece 39 is in a free state, and the contact pieces 40a and 40b are kept conductive by the urging force, and the detection switch 40 outputs an ON signal ( (See FIG. 6 (B)). On the other hand, in the stored state, the switch arm 40a is pressed by the case arm 25a via the pressing piece 39.
Is pressed to separate the contact pieces 40a and 40b, and the detection switch 40 is turned off.
Output a signal.

Next, in the pop-up state, the two strobe light emitting units 52 and 53 built in the strobe device 51 are located farther away from the optical axis O of the camera in the pop-up state. 52 shall be provided. For each of the main components, first, the telescopic strobe light emitting section 52 is set such that its illumination angle covers an angle of view on a long focal length side of a predetermined focal length of the zoom lens barrel. The light emitting tube 26 includes a light emitting tube 26, a reflector 27 corresponding to the above-mentioned irradiation angle, and a condenser lens 30a integrally formed with the front strobe cover 30. On the other hand, the wide-angle strobe light emitting section 53 is set so that the irradiation angle covers the angle of view on the short focus side of the predetermined focal length, and similarly, the flash light emitting tube 28 and the irradiation angle And a condensing lens 30b formed integrally with the front umbrella cover 30 corresponding to the above.

Furthermore, the seventh is a D-D sectional view of FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view a detailed implementation state of the telephoto flash emitter 52 to the light emitting optical axis of the light emitting portion (A) and FIG. 7 (A) This will be described with reference to FIG. Notch holes 27a into which the flash tubes 26 are inserted are provided in the reflector 27 which is positioned and held with respect to the condenser lens 30a so as to face both ends in the horizontal direction. Further, an elastic body 48 having an insertion hole into which the flash tube 26 can be inserted in a press-fit state is attached to a portion corresponding to the notch 27a. The flash arc tube 2 is inserted into the notch 27a of the reflector 27 and the insertion hole of the elastic body 48.
Insert 6 In this fitted state, the arc tube 26
Is held in close contact with the bottom surface of the reflector 27 by the elastic body 48.

The electrical connection to the flash arc tube 26 is made by electrically connecting the secondary lead 42 of the trigger coil 41 to the reflector 27 by an electrical connection member 43, and connecting the ground lead 45 of the trigger coil 41 and the cathode. The side lead 46 is connected to the cathode terminal of the flash tube 26, and the anode lead 47 is connected to the anode terminal. In this way, the trigger pulse generated from the trigger coil 41 is reflected by the reflector.
The light is applied to the flash tube via 27 and the flash tube is driven by the trigger method. In this embodiment, the trigger coil 41 is arranged in the light-emitting device case 25 so that the high voltage generated in the secondary lead wire 42 of the trigger coil 41 does not adversely affect the control circuit in the camera body 20. .

On the other hand, the mounting state of the wide-angle strobe light emitting unit 53 is the same as the above-described telephoto case.

Next, the configuration and operation of the electric circuit in the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing a main part of the electric circuit.

In the figure, the respective circuits of the first embodiment are sequence-controlled by the CPU 150. The tele-zoom switch 155 and the wide-zoom switch 156 connected to the input terminals C20 and C19 of the CPU 150 are external operation switches for performing a zooming operation of the taking lens.If the tele-zoom switch 155 is turned on, the CPU 150 It is determined that the zooming operation command is for the long focal length side, and the output terminal C1 is set to “L” level and the output terminal C3 is set to “H” level. Then, since the transistors 166 and 169 are turned on, the zoom motor 17 by a current to be supplied from the battery 156 in the arrow A ₁ direction is forward, zooming operation to the long focal end is performed. Then, the tele-zoom switch 155 is turned off, or the zoom lens for detecting the state of the zoom encoder 55 (see FIG. 1) is formed by the common contact piece 19a and the contact pieces 19b, 19c, and 19d with the taking lens being the longest focal point side. Encoder switch
Input terminals C13 and C1 of CPU150 indicate that all 19 have been turned off.
4. The above zooming operation is continued until detection by C15.

On the other hand, if the wide zoom switch 156 is turned on, the CPU 15
0 is determined to be a zooming operation command to the short focus side, and the output terminal C2 is set to the “H” level and C4 is set to the “L” level. Then, since the transistors 167 and 168 are turned on, the zoom motor 17 is rotated in the reverse direction, and the zooming operation to the short focal length side is performed. Then, turn off the wide zoom switch 156 or
The above zooming operation is continued until the CPU 150 detects that the taking lens is at the shortest focus side and all the zoom encoder switches 19 are turned on.

Release switch 1 connected to input terminal C18 of CPU150
49 is an external operation switch.
Is turned on, the CPU 150 determines that the command is a release operation command, and performs a release operation. When the switch 40 connected to the input terminal C17 of the CPU 150 and detecting the pop-up state is turned on, the CPU 150 detects the pop-up state of the strobe.

The front curtain holding electromagnet 160 and the rear curtain holding electromagnet 162 of the focal plane shutter 8 (see FIG. 1) are connected to the transistor 1 by setting the output terminals C5 and C6 of the CPU 150 to “H” level.
The shutters 61 and 163 are turned on, whereby the charged first and second shutters can be held. Then, if the output terminals C5 and C6 of the CPU 150 are set to the “L” level, the front curtain and the rear curtain can each run. The X contact 157 connected to the input terminal C16 of the CPU 150 is connected to the shutter 8
A switch that turns on when the front curtain of the
U150 can detect whether or not the front curtain of the focal plane shutter 8 has completed traveling by turning on / off the X contact 157.

A distance encoder switch 32 (see FIGS. 1 and 5) formed by the contact pieces 32a and 32b for detecting the state of the distance encoder is a switch that is turned on when the focal position of the taking lens is closer than a predetermined position. And CPU150 is input terminal C12
Thus, the on / off state of the distance encoder switch 32 can be read.

The film sensitivity setting means 151 is a means for reading the DX code of the film or setting the film sensitivity by manual operation, the photometric circuit 152 is a circuit for measuring the subject brightness, the focusing sensor 34 is a means for detecting the subject distance, Information on film sensitivity, subject brightness, or subject distance obtained by each of these means is input to the CPU 150.

The sequence drive circuit 148 is a circuit for operating a drive mechanism of the movable reflection mirror 4 and the movable reflection auxiliary mirror 33 (both shown in FIG. 1), a known aperture drive mechanism, a shutter charge mechanism, and a film winding mechanism by a signal of the CPU 150. It is.

The focal length setting unit 153 is a unit for setting an arbitrary focal length by an external input.The CPU 150 stores the input focal length in the focal length storage unit 154 and monitors the state of the zoom encoder 55 while controlling the state of the zoom encoder 55. To move the taking lens to the input focal length position. When the recall switch 147 connected to the input terminal C11 of the CPU 150 is turned on, the CPU 150 drives the zoom motor 17 while monitoring the zoom encoder 55 , and moves the photographing lens to the focal length position stored in the focal length storage unit 154. Go to According to such an operation of the recall switch 147, after photographing at another focal length, the photographing lens can be instantaneously changed to the position of the stored focal length. If there is a frequently used focal length (constant focal length) as the lens position, the focal length is stored in the focal length storage unit 154.
By remembering from any focal length,
By simply turning on the recall switch 147, the photographing lens can be instantaneously set at the normal focal length position, which is very convenient.

When the output terminal C7 of the CPU 150 is set to “L” level, the flash booster circuit 170 inputs the “L” level from the input terminal D1 and starts the boosting operation. Then, the flash booster circuit 170 constitutes a self-excited oscillator and generates a pulsed high voltage. Therefore, a high voltage is generated by the voltage of the battery 165 applied to the power supply terminal D2, and is output from the output terminal D3. The high voltage from the booster circuit 170 is rectified by the diode 171 and then divided by the voltage dividing resistors 172 and 173 and output to the terminal C8 of the CPU 150. Since the terminal C8 of the CPU 150 is an input terminal of the A / D converter built in the CPU 150, the charging voltage can be monitored based on the result of the A / D conversion.

175 is a main condenser for storing the light emission energy of the strobe. Reference numeral 174 denotes a diode having a long reverse recovery time, which is always in a conductive state while the booster circuit is operating, so that the strobe charging voltage can be monitored. Further, when the booster circuit 170 is stopped, the diode 174 is in a non-conductive state, so that there is no possibility that the charge stored in the main capacitor 175 leaks through the resistors 172 and 173.

Reference numeral 26 denotes a flash light emitting tube for telephoto. A resistor 176, 178, 179, a trigger capacitor 177, a thyristor 180, and a trigger coil 41 are a trigger pulse generating circuit for applying a pulsed high voltage to the light emitting tube 26. Although charge is accumulated in the trigger capacitor 177 through the resistor 176, the terminal C of the CPU 150
When an “H” level signal is output from 9, thyristor 180
Becomes conductive, the electric charge accumulated in the trigger capacitor 177 is supplied to the primary side of the trigger coil 41 via the thyristor 180. In the trigger coil 41, since the number of turns of the secondary winding is larger than that of the primary winding, a high voltage is generated on the secondary side when the primary side is energized. The high voltage is applied to the flash tube 26, resulting in the flash tube 26
Flashes due to the charge of the main capacitor 175.

The flash arc tube 28 is a wide-angle flash arc tube. 17
6,177,178,179,180,41 and have the same function, so that when the "H" level signal is output from the terminal C10 of the CPU 150, the flash tube 28 emits flash light in the same manner as in the case of telephoto. .

In the first embodiment, the zoom encoder is used to detect the focal length of the photographing lens. However, means for detecting with the photo interrupter without using the zoom encoder is shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. ) And FIG. In FIG. 1 showing the structure of the single-lens reflex camera in the first embodiment, a gear 17a is fixed to the zoom motor 17, but in FIG. 9 (A), a comb-shaped rotating body is additionally provided. 17b is also fixed. 200 is a zoom motor
A photo interrupter for detecting the rotation state of 17,
The comb-shaped rotator 17b and the photo interrupter 200 are arranged as shown in FIG. 9 (B). The rotation amount of the zoom motor 17 is detected based on a signal from the photo interrupter 200.

FIG. 10 shows an electric circuit of a means for detecting the focal length by the photo interrupter. In the figure, reference numeral 201 denotes a waveform shaping circuit for shaping the waveform of the signal from the photo interrupter 200 and outputting it to the up / down counter 202. CPU
When 150 sets its output terminal C30 to “H” level, the LED 200a constituting the photointerrupter 200 is turned on. Therefore, the waveform shaping circuit 201 shapes the waveform of the signal current from the phototransistor 200b, and outputs a square wave pulse to the up / down counter 202. The CPU 150 controls the output level of its output terminal C36 in accordance with the rotation direction of the zoom motor 17 so that the up-down counter 202
Switch between up and down. The CPU 150 reads the count value from the up / down counter 202 from the input terminals C31 to C35. Since this count value corresponds to the focal length of the taking lens, the focal length can be detected without using a zoom encoder.

Incidentally, the detection means using the photo interrupter can be applied to a camera having a multi-focus switching type including a two-focus switching type, for example, in addition to a camera having a zoom lens. Usually, a multi-focus switching type camera has a setting member for manually setting a focal length,
The focal length is set by the information from the setting member, but the flash tube can be selected directly from the information from the manually set setting member, and an encoder or the like for detecting the focal length of the photographing lens is used. Without having to select a flash tube.

Next, the shooting sequence in the first embodiment is
The description will be made based on the flowchart in FIG.

First, in step # 101, the CPU 150 sets the release switch 149
Is turned on and off, and when "release switch on" is detected, the photographing operation is started and steps # 102, # 103,
Go to # 104 sequentially. In step # 102, the film sensitivity information from the film sensitivity setting means 151, the object luminance information from the photometry circuit 152 in step # 103, and the object distance information from the focusing sensor 34 in step # 104.
To enter.

Next, in step # 105, the strobe pop-up state detection switch 40 is checked, and when it is detected that the strobe is in the pop-up state, the CPU 150 determines that the photographer intends to perform strobe shooting, and in step # 106, It is checked whether the charging of the main capacitor 175 is completed. If the charging of the main capacitor 175 has been completed, the CPU 150 determines that flash photography is possible, and the telephoto flash light emitting unit 52 (see FIG. 1) and the wide-angle flash light emitting unit 53 (see FIG. 1) are used. The operation of determining which light is emitted is performed as follows.

That is, in step # 107, the state of the zoom encoder is checked. If the taking lens is on the long focal length side of the predetermined focal length, the process proceeds to step # 108, where the distance encoder 56 (first
(See FIG. 7), and if the object position is farther than the predetermined distance, it is determined that the telescopic strobe light-emitting unit 52 is to emit light, and the flow chart from step # 109 is executed. On the other hand, when it is determined in step # 107 that the photographing lens is on the short focal length side of the predetermined focal length, and when it is determined in step # 108 that the subject position is on the short distance side of the predetermined distance, both of them are wide angle. It is determined that the electronic flash unit 53 emits light, and the flow chart from step # 120 is executed. The reason for this determination will be described later with reference to FIG.

If it is determined that the telescopic flash unit 52 should emit light,
In step # 109, the CPU 150 determines the aperture value Av value and the shutter speed Tv value in consideration of the guide number of the telephoto light emitting device. Next, in step # 110, the CPU 150 sends a signal to the sequence drive circuit 148 to control the movement of the movable mirror and the aperture diameter corresponding to the set Av value. Next, in step # 111, the front curtain holding electromagnet is turned off, the front curtain of the focal plane shutter 8 is run, and in step # 112, the second timer is started. Then, the on / off state of the X contact 157 is checked in step # 113. If it is detected that the X contact 157 has been turned on due to the completion of the front curtain, the process proceeds to step # 114, in which the electronic flash unit 52 for the telephoto is turned on. The flash tube 26 emits light.

In step # 115, when the CPU 150 detects that the second timer has counted up to the set Tv value, the CPU 150 proceeds to step # 116 and turns off the rear curtain holding electromagnet 162. Then, the trailing curtain of the focal plane shutter 8 is run, and the timer is reset at step # 117. Finally, in step # 118, the CPU 150 sends a signal to the sequence drive circuit 148 to lower the movable mirror, return the aperture to the released state, charge the focal plane shutter 8, further wind the film by one frame, and The shooting operation ends.

If it is determined in steps # 107 and # 108 that the wide-angle strobe light emitting unit 53 emits light, the process proceeds to step # 120, where the CPU 150 calculates the Av value and the Tv value in consideration of the guide number of the wide-angle strobe light emitting unit 53. Set and step # 109 above
After performing the operations of # 121 to # 124 similar to # 113 to # 113, the flash tube 28 of the wide-angle strobe light emitting section 53 is caused to emit light in step # 125. Then the above step # 115
The following flowchart is executed, and a series of photographing operations ends.

On the other hand, if it is detected in step # 105 that the strobe is not in the pop-up state, it is determined that the photographer intends for normal photographing, and the flow chart of normal photographing from step # 130 is executed. Also, if it is detected in step # 106 that the charging of the capacitor has not been completed, it is determined that strobe shooting is impossible, and the flow chart from step # 130 is executed. And step # 13
Set the optimal Av and Tv values for normal shooting with 0, and step # 1
After performing the operations from 31 to # 133, the flowchart from step # 115 is executed, and a series of photographing operations ends.

When an arbitrary focal length is set by an external operation using the focal length setting means 153, or when the recall switch 14
When the focal length is moved to the focal length stored in the focal length storage means 154 by operating 7, the value stored in the focal length storage means 154 is used in step # 107 to make the telephoto strobe light emitting section 52 and the wide angle The switching of the light emission of the electronic flash unit 53 may be determined.

Further, in step # 108, instead of detecting the state of the distance encoder 56 , the output of the focusing sensor 34 may be detected to determine the switching of the light emission of both strobe light emitting units. The above is the description of the operation of the circuit in the first embodiment.

The strobe light emission control state in the above-described shooting sequence is represented by a relationship between the angle of view of the shooting lens and the strobe irradiation angle.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 (A), (B) and (C).

FIG. 12A shows a flash photography state when the focal length setting by zooming of the photographing lens of the camera 50 is on the wide-angle side, that is, on the short focal length side. In this case, the angle of view α _{w of the} photographing lens is wide, and the strobe device 51 needs to irradiate so as to cover the wide angle of view α _w . Thus, as to emit wide-angle flash emitter 53 is wider irradiation angle beta _w corresponding to angle alpha _w, is controlled in the imaging sequence described above. This makes it possible to irradiate the entire subject 54 with strobe light.

On the other hand, FIG. 12 (B) shows a flash photography state when the focal length of the photographing lens of the camera 50 is on the telephoto side, that is, on the long focal length side. Usually, the distance to the subject 54 tends to be longer when the focal length due to zooming of the photographing lens is on the telephoto side than on the wide-angle side. Therefore, light emission with a higher guide number is required than when zooming to the telephoto side. However, in the present embodiment, it is noted that the angle of view α _T when the taking lens is zoomed to the telephoto side is narrow, and when the zooming is on the telephoto side, the telescopic strobe light emitting unit 52 with a narrow irradiation angle β _T is used. Is controlled in the above-described photographing sequence so as to emit light. The use of the telescopic strobe light emitting section 52 having a narrow irradiation angle in this manner makes it possible to greatly increase the guide number with the same energy amount as compared with the wide-angle strobe light emitting section 53 . Therefore, the subject
Even if 54 is at a long distance, it can emit enough strobe light.

FIG. 12C shows that the setting of the focal length of the photographing lens of the camera 50 is on the telephoto side, that is, the long focal length side.
showing a flash photography state when a is a short distance L _2. This corresponds to an example in which a strobe photograph of a plant or the like is taken at a high magnification. In this case, when light is emitted a telescope flash projector 52, as shown in Figure 12 (B), in the case where the subject is closer than a predetermined short distance L ₁ is flash below the screen A portion that cannot be irradiated with light is present in the photographing range. It is conceivable to widen the irradiation angle beta _T on the telephoto side in order to prevent it, but lowers the guide number on the telephoto side stroboscopic light emitting device 52 is widened a beta _T. Therefore, in the case of the present embodiment, the distance to the subject is a predetermined short distance L ₁
If the distance is closer, attention is paid to the fact that a high guide number is not required, and the above-described photographing sequence is controlled so that the wide-angle strobe light emitting unit 53 emits light regardless of the setting of the focal length of the photographing lens. Whereby the distance of the object 54a even if setting of the focal length of the taking lens is telephoto side can be irradiated with the strobe light to L _2, it is obtained by enabling a simple apparatus flash photography high magnification.

As described above, in the pop-up state, that is, in the use state, the telescopic strobe light-emitting section 52 is disposed at a position farther from the optical axis O than the wide-angle light-emitting section 53. This was done to prevent the phenomenon. That is, FIG. 13 shows a side view in the case of flash photography of a person, and the light emitted from the light emitting portion 134 of the flash device 133 is reflected by the pupil 135 of the person 136 to be the subject, and the camera 130
Through the photographing lens 131, which is a zoom lens, and is formed as an object image on the film 132. Generally, the smaller the angle θ formed by the positions of the light emitting unit 134, the pupil 135, and the photographing lens 131, the more easily the red-eye effect occurs.

Therefore, when the distance from the camera to the subject person 136 is the same, and the positional relationship between the photographing lens 131 and the light emitting unit is the same, that is, when the angle θ is constant, even if the focal length of the photographing lens 131 changes, The degree of occurrence of the red-eye phenomenon does not change. However, when photographing at the telephoto side where the focal length of the photographing lens 131 is set long, the pupil image 135 'of the subject person image 136' occupies a large area on the film as shown in FIG. 14 (A). And when the red-eye effect occurs, it becomes very noticeable. Conversely, when photographing is performed on the wide-angle side where the focal length is set short, as shown in FIG. 14B, the pupil image 135 ″ of the subject person image 136 ″ occupies a small area on the film. Even if the red-eye phenomenon occurs, it is not so noticeable. Therefore, when photographing on the telephoto side having a long focal length, it is more advantageous to set the angle θ to a larger value than on the wide-angle side. Furthermore, in the case of general portrait photography, the distance to the subject is often longer when using a telephoto lens than when using a wide-angle lens, and therefore, the distance between the light emitting unit 134 and the optical axis of the photography lens 131 is the same. If there is, the angle θ becomes small, which is disadvantageous for the occurrence of red-eye.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described above, the telescopic strobe light emitting unit 52 is disposed at a position farther from the optical axis O than the wide-angle strobe light emitting unit, and under the condition where the telescopic strobe light emitting unit 52 emits light, The occurrence of the red-eye effect can be reduced by increasing the angle θ. On the other hand, if the subject is closer than the predetermined value L _1, the photographing lens is long focus, ie, be set to the telephoto side is the light emitting portion 53 of the wide angle emitted,
In this case, since the subject is close and the angle θ is large, the red-eye effect does not occur, and no problem occurs. . It is assumed that a countermeasure against the red eye phenomenon similar to the above is taken also in the other embodiment of the present invention described later.

FIG. 15 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a main part of a system camera in a second embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a system single-lens reflex camera having an external strobe. The first embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the present invention is applied to a camera with a built-in strobe, while the second embodiment is applied to a camera with a built-in strobe. In the figure, an interchangeable lens barrel 61 is a lens mount 64 and a body mount 63, and an external flash device 62 is a flash-side accessory shoe 66 and a camera body-side accessory shoe 65, which are mounted on the camera body 60, respectively. The light transmitted through the imaging lenses 67, 68, and 69 is reflected by a movable reflection mirror 73 inclined at an angle of 45 ° on the imaging optical axis O.
The light is reflected upward and transmitted through the focusing screen 76 and diffused. The light image on the focusing screen 76 can be observed through a pentaprism 77 and an eyepiece 78. At the time of shooting, the movable reflecting mirror 73 is raised, and the focal plane shutter 74 is operated, whereby the film 75 is moved.
Exposure is performed.

Inside the external strobe device 62 , a telephoto lens comprising a flash arc tube 81, a reflector 82, and a condenser lens 86 designed to have an irradiation angle covering the angle of view of the telephoto lens on the long focal length side of a predetermined focal length. Strobe light emitting unit 94 and a flash tube 8 designed to cover the angle of view of a wide-angle lens with a short focal length
3, a wide-angle strobe light-emitting unit 95 including a reflector 84 and a condenser lens 87 is provided. Further, a strobe main condenser 88 and a battery 89 are provided below the two light emitting units, and a strobe control board 90 is provided behind the strobe main condenser 88 and the battery.
By the way, since the light-collecting degree of the emitted light is lower in the wide-angle reflector 86 than in the telescope reflector 82, the depth of the reflector is smaller. Therefore, a large-sized electronic component 92 such as a transformer can be arranged behind the wide-angle reflecting umbrella 84.

Further, the light emitting unit 94 is disposed at a position farther away from the photographing lens when the strobe is mounted than the light emitting unit 95 is.

 Next, light emission switching of the light emitting device will be described. Exchange
Interchangeable lens barrel61Is composed of a zoom lens,
The zoom lens CPU 71 reads the output of the zoom encoder 70.
To the camera control CPU 79 as
The signal is transmitted via point 72. In addition, the camera control CPU7
9 is a flash control CPU 91 that controls the flash emission switching
The above signal is transmitted through the contact 80. For strobe control
The CPU 91 determines the focal length of the interchangeable lens based on the above signal.
If the focal length is wider than the fixed focal length, use the wide-angle strobe
Light section95, For the telephoto side, the flash unit for telephoto94
Are caused to emit light.

On the other hand, when the interchangeable lens 61 is a single focus lens, the zoom encoder 70 is connected to a ROM storing the focal length of the single focus lens.
The flashlight can be emitted at an irradiation angle that covers the angle of view of the focal length of each interchangeable lens.

A manual light emission changeover switch 93 provided on the back of the external strobe 62 is a switch for switching the light emission of both strobe light emission units regardless of the focal length of the photographing lens. This switch 93 allows the telephoto strobe light emitting unit 94 to emit light when the wide-angle shooting lens is used to take a picture with a spotlight effect, and causes the wide-angle flash light emitting unit 95 to emit light when the telephoto shooting lens is used. This is used when taking a picture using the bounce of light outside the angle of view.

Note that, also in the second embodiment, a distance encoder is provided on the lens side or the camera body side, and the output thereof provides
When the subject is shorter than a predetermined distance, the wide-angle strobe light-emitting unit can emit light regardless of the focal length of the photographing lens.

According to the second embodiment, compared to an external flash having a built-in zoom function, it is possible to realize an external flash that is thin and portable and can emit light with a high guide number by the optimal design of the light emitting device.

16 (A) and 16 (B) are a front view and a cross-sectional view taken along line E-E of a lens shutter camera according to a third embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a lens shutter camera having a built-in zoom lens. While the first and second embodiments both apply the present invention to a single-lens reflex camera, the third embodiment differs in that the present invention is applied to a lens shutter camera. In the figure, light transmitted through a first photographing lens 101, a known lens shutter unit 103, and a second photographing lens 102 is formed on a film 113 which is drawn out from a patrone 112 and wound on a spool 114.

Two batteries 115 are built in on the grip side (left side in the figure) of the camera, and on the side opposite to the grip, the illumination angle is designed to cover the angle of view on the long focal side longer than a predetermined focal length. A telescopic strobe light emitting unit 122 composed of a flash arc tube 106, a reflector 107, and a condenser lens 110a, and a flash arc tube 108 designed to have an irradiation angle covering the wide-angle angle of view on the shortest focus side of the built-in zoom lens. , An umbrella 109, and a wide-angle strobe light emitting unit 123 including a condenser lens 110b. Here, the condenser lenses 110a and 110b are formed integrally with the front flash cover 110.

Further, the light emitting unit 122 is disposed at a position further away from the light emitting unit 123 with respect to the photographing lens optical axis O.

In the third embodiment, a wide-angle strobe light emitting unit 123 having a small size in the optical axis direction is disposed in front of the patrone 112, and a telephoto strobe light emitting unit 122 having a large size in the optical axis direction.
The main condenser 111 for the strobe, which is smaller in diameter than the patrone 112, is located behind the camera. Can be built-in.

The output from the zoom encoder 104 is input to a control circuit 105 that controls the entire camera including the strobe. Further, the outer periphery of the camera is covered with an exterior cover 100 and a rear lid 116 that opens and closes around a hinge portion 117. A release button 118 is provided above the grip section 121, and a finder 119 and a focus sensor 12 are provided above the photographing lens 101.
0 is provided respectively. The subject distance signal from the focus sensor 120 is input to the control circuit 105.

Next, light emission switching of each light emitting unit will be described. When the focal length of the built-in zoom lens is wider than the predetermined focal length, the control circuit 105 causes the wide-angle strobe light emitting unit 123 to emit light by the output of the zoom encoder 104. Also,
When the focal length of the built-in zoom lens is on the telephoto side of the predetermined focal length, the control circuit 150 outputs the output of the zoom encoder 104 and the output of the focus sensor 120 to the subject for the same reason as in the first embodiment. When the distance is longer than a predetermined value, the electronic flash unit 122 for telephoto is emitted, and when the distance to the subject is shorter than the predetermined value, the electronic flash unit for wide angle 123 is emitted.

According to the third embodiment configured as described above, a lens shutter camera with a built-in zoom lens having a strobe with a high guide number can be realized. In addition, even when a pop-up mechanism for preventing the red-eye effect is provided, it is only necessary to raise and lower both the light emitting units for the wide angle and the telephoto, which can be easily realized as compared with the built-in strobe with the zoom mechanism.

In each of the embodiments of the present invention described above, two flash light emitting means having different irradiation angles are provided.However, in order to correspond to a higher magnification zoom lens and an interchangeable lens system in which various lenses are attached, Equipped with flash emitting means with three or more kinds of irradiation angles,
It is also possible to realize a more functional strobe device.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of flash light emitting units having different irradiation angles are provided for each of the irradiation angles by optimally designing a reflecting mirror, a condenser lens, and a flash tube. Since the light emission state is switched according to the focal length of the taking lens and the distance to the subject, the following remarkable effects are exhibited. That is, a plurality of flash light emitting units having different irradiation angles can emit light with high efficiency.

When a long focal length photographing lens is used, the irradiation angle of the strobe can be greatly reduced, so that an unprecedented gadget number strobe can be provided.

Since there is no mechanism for changing the irradiation angle, it is possible to provide a variable guide number strobe having a very small, simple and highly reliable mechanism. In particular, in the case of the built-in strobe, a pop-up mechanism for preventing the red-eye phenomenon can be easily realized, and in the case of the external strobe, a thin strobe that does not protrude in the optical axis direction can be realized.

Irrespective of the focal length of the taking lens, flash photography is possible even for a subject at a short distance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a single-lens reflex camera having a built-in flash device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, zoomed to the wide-angle side. FIG. 2 is a wide-angle view of the camera of FIG. FIG. 3 is a development view of a cam frame and a main part of a zoom encoder when zooming to the side, FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a photographing lens unit when zooming to the telephoto side in the camera of FIG. FIG. 5 is a development view of a cam frame and a main part of a zoom encoder when zooming to the telephoto side in the camera of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams of the camera of FIG. FIG. 5 (A) is a development view of the distance encoder when the subject is farther than a predetermined short distance, and FIG. 5 (B) is a development view when the subject is within a predetermined short distance. 6 (A) and (B) show the camera of FIG. 6A is a longitudinal sectional view of the strobe device, FIG. 6A is a longitudinal sectional view of a stowed state of the strobe, FIG. 6B is a longitudinal sectional view of the strobe in a pop-up state, and FIGS. FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view of the telephoto strobe light-emitting unit shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view of the light-emitting unit, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing a main part of an electric circuit of the camera of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 9A and 9B are modifications of the flash light emitting device of the camera of FIG. 9 (A) is a longitudinal sectional view of the focal length detecting means, FIG. 9 (B) is a view as viewed from the direction of arrow F in FIG. 9 (A), and FIG. 9 (A) and 9 (B) are electric circuit diagrams of the focal length detecting means, FIG. 11 is a flowchart in the photographing sequence of the camera of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 12 (A), (B) and (C). ) Shows the relationship between the photographing angle of view and the flash irradiation angle in each photographing state of the camera of FIG. 1, and FIG. 12 (A) shows the case of wide-angle photographing.
FIG. 12 (B) shows the case of telephoto shooting, and FIG. 12 (C)
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a shooting angle of view and a flash irradiation angle in the case of close-up shooting, FIG. 13 is a side view for explaining the red-eye phenomenon in general flash shooting, and FIGS. 14 (A) and (B) are 13 shows a photographed image in flash photography, FIG. 14 (A) shows a photographed image in telephoto photographing, FIG. 14 (B) shows a photographed image in wide-angle photographing, and FIG. 15 shows the present invention. FIG. 16 (A) is a longitudinal sectional view showing a main part of a system single-lens reflex camera equipped with a camera flash light emitting device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 (A) shows a flash light emitting device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 (B) is a front view of the built-in lens shutter camera, and FIG. 16 (B) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line EE of FIG. 16 (A). 1. Focusing lens (shooting lens) 2. Variator lens (shooting lens) 3. Relay lens (shooting lens) 52 , 94 , 122 ... Telephoto strobe light emitting unit (plural flash light emitting units) 53 , 95 , 123 … Wide-angle strobe light-emitting unit (a plurality of flash light-emitting units) 67, 68, 69, 101, 102… Shooting lens 150… CPU (control means)

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-135327 (JP, A) JP-A-63-182636 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03B 15/05

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A flash light emitting unit having different irradiation angles, a photographing lens whose focal length can be changed, and a focal length of the photographing lens being longer or shorter than a predetermined focal length. Focal length determining means for determining whether the distance to the subject is smaller than a predetermined distance; subject distance determining means for determining whether the distance to the subject is smaller than a predetermined distance; and the two flash light emitting units according to the output result of the focal length determining means Of these, only one is selected to emit light,
When the subject distance is determined by the subject distance determination unit to be smaller than a predetermined distance, a control unit that selects and emits only a flash emission unit having a large irradiation angle among the two flash emission units, A flash light emitting device for a camera, comprising: