JP3181509U - Case-external optical viewfinder for LCD video cameras - Google Patents

Abstract

An external optical viewfinder is provided that converts a liquid crystal display of a video camera of a liquid crystal display system into an optical viewfinder and can be used as a portable case.
An apparatus main body has a cylindrical shape capable of accommodating a cylindrical video camera. An opening / closing lid 2 is attached to the rear part of the apparatus, and can be opened / closed around the hinge 6. When the video camera is not used, it can be opened and stored in the apparatus. A cushioning material 5 is provided on the back side of the cushioning material 5 so as to serve as a cushion when the video camera is stored. A lens 3 is attached to the front surface of the apparatus, and a liquid crystal screen can be viewed from the eyepiece 9. The liquid crystal monitor of the video camera is inserted and fixed from the insertion port 4 on the side of the apparatus body. The stopper 8 with a buffer material prevents the camera from hitting the lens 3 when the video camera is stored.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an external optical finder that can be used as a portable case as well as converting the LCD monitor of a liquid crystal display video camera to an optical finder.

  Conventionally, an optical viewfinder has been used as a device for visually recognizing the subject of a video camera, as with a photographic camera, but with the realization of a liquid crystal display device, a liquid crystal monitor has also been used. The optical viewfinder has been abolished to reduce the cost and cost, and almost all portable video camera display devices have only a liquid crystal monitor.

  With the advancement of liquid crystal technology, the definition of the screen has increased and the brightness has increased, but the liquid crystal monitor has the following problems compared to the optical viewfinder. First, the screen of the LCD monitor is small compared to the optical viewfinder, so it is difficult to see fine details, and since it is not isolated from outside light, it is difficult to see the screen. Users with low vision, such as elderly people, are forced to be very inconvenient.

  Second, unlike a photo camera, a video camera often performs operations such as continuous shooting over a long period of time, tracking of moving objects, and zooming. LCD monitors need to be separated from the eyes by a clear viewing distance, making the camera unstable and prone to camera shake, and making it difficult to follow the subject while moving at high speed. In contrast, in the optical viewfinder method, the hand holding the camera can be brought into close contact with the body, so it is stable and can move in the shooting direction smoothly.

  The above problems also exist in a liquid crystal display photographic camera. In a camera with a relatively simple liquid crystal display mounting structure, a proposal for realizing an optical viewfinder by attaching an additional device to the camera is disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2. And Patent Document 3 as shown in FIG. In these cameras, the liquid crystal display is fixedly attached to the rear of the camera. In these patents, the additional device is attached to the camera body. On the other hand, in a video camera, the LCD monitor is mounted on a hinge instead of being fixed to the camera body, and can be used by opening it at an angle of 90 degrees from the camera body, and the screen can be freely rotated. It is necessary to attach to the LCD monitor instead of the main body. Therefore, the attachment method is different from that of the camera, and it is not possible to attach a very heavy object. In particular, the device of Patent Document 3 seems to be quite heavy due to its structure. Due to these mounting problems, it is difficult to use these methods for video cameras. In addition, since the devices of Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 do not block external light, there is a problem that it is difficult to see due to external light. Due to the above problems, there has been no proposal for an optical viewfinder suitable for a liquid crystal display video camera.

Utility model registration No. 3124799 gazette Utility Model Registration No. 3163842 Utility Model Registration No. 3159548

  In this invention, in order to solve the problems of the liquid crystal monitor described in the background art, an optical finder system is realized by preparing an additional device using the liquid crystal monitor without modifying the video camera itself.

  In the present invention, an external device is prepared separately from the video camera to realize the optical viewfinder, and it is attached adjacent to the video camera and used as an integral unit. Then, insert the LCD monitor of the video camera from one side of the insertion slot opened on the opposite side of the rear part of the external device, and put out the tip from the opposite side. This makes it possible to fix the LCD monitor in an optically accurate position with the external device. The optical viewfinder system is realized by viewing the screen of the LCD monitor through the lens from the front eyepiece of this device. The lens is enlarged to a large screen, and the inside of the device is shielded from outside light, making it easy to see the screen. In addition, it can be held in close contact with the body like an optical viewfinder video camera, thus solving all the problems of LCD monitors. .

  Moreover, since this device is hollow, it can be used as a camera storage case. In recent years, video cameras have become smaller and the shape has become cylindrical. As a result, even if this device is added, there is almost no need to carry it, and a separate case is not required, so additional costs can be reduced.

  The size of the liquid crystal display device used for the LCD monitor of the liquid crystal display video camera is standardized, and there is no big difference in the size of the liquid crystal monitor in each company's video camera. This can be dealt with by opening the insertion port on the side of the external optical viewfinder. If the LCD monitor has a small size and there are concerns about the intrusion of external light or the problem of looseness between the device and the video camera, an attachment with an aperture size that matches the external dimensions of the LCD monitor of that model This can be solved by preparing a separate and attaching it to the LCD monitor's insertion slot.

  By using the external optical viewfinder of the present invention for a liquid crystal display video camera, it can be easily converted to an optical viewfinder video camera without changing the video camera itself. It can solve problems such as small screens that are difficult to distinguish, screens that are difficult to see due to external light, camera shake, and fast moving object shooting.

  Since the device of the present invention can also be used as a video camera storage case, there is almost no extra time for carrying. There is no need to prepare a separate storage case, and since the device itself is less expensive except for the lens, it can be manufactured as a whole at low cost.

  Since the dimensions of the display part of the video camera's LCD monitor are standardized, this device can be used for video cameras of various companies by preparing the above-mentioned attachment.

  The structure and usage of the external optical viewfinder of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

  Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of the device. The device body 1 is in the form of a cylinder that can accommodate a cylindrical video camera. An opening / closing lid 2 is attached to the rear of the device, which can be opened / closed around the hinge 6 and can be opened and stored in the device when a video camera is not used. On the reverse side, a cushioning material 5 is installed to serve as a cushion when the video camera is stored. A lens 3 is attached to the front of the apparatus, and the liquid crystal screen can be viewed from the eyepiece 9. The LCD monitor of the video camera is inserted and fixed from the insertion port 4 on the side of the device body. The stopper 8 with buffer material is used to prevent the camera from hitting the lens 3 when the video camera is stored. Although not shown, a thick donut-shaped cushioning material may be attached to the outside of the eyepiece 9 to protect the lens when the device is used as a storage case. In the figure, the video camera storage port is located at the rear of the device, but it can also be on the front or side.

  Figure 2 shows the state when the video camera's LCD monitor is being inserted into the external optical viewfinder of the present invention. The liquid crystal monitor 12 of the video camera 11 is inserted from the insertion port 10 of the external optical viewfinder 1.

  Fig. 3 shows a liquid crystal monitor inserted into the external optical viewfinder of the present invention, and the video camera and this device are placed next to each other and put into use. Although not shown in the figure, both devices can be secured using Velcro if necessary.

It is a cross-sectional view of the external optical viewfinder of the present invention. The following shows the video camera's LCD monitor being inserted into the external optical viewfinder of the present invention. The external optical viewfinder of the present invention is attached to a video camera to show a state where it can be photographed.

1 .... External optical viewfinder main body of the present invention 2 .... Open / close lid on the back of the device 3 .... Lens 4 ...... Video camera LCD monitor insertion slot 5 ··· Buffer material 6 ··· Opening and closing hinge 7 ··· Lid fastener 8 · · · Stopper 9 with buffer material · · · Eyepiece Part 10: Video camera 11: Video camera LCD monitor

Fig. 3 shows a liquid crystal monitor inserted into the external optical viewfinder of the present invention, and the video camera and this device are placed next to each other and put into use. Although not shown in the figure, both devices can be secured using hook- and- loop fasteners if necessary.

Claims (4)

  A liquid crystal monitor is inserted with openings corresponding to the dimensions of the liquid crystal monitor of the video camera on opposite sides of the rear of the cylindrical container that can accommodate a liquid crystal display video camera. An optical finder system is realized by attaching a lens to the LCD so that the LCD monitor can be seen through the front opening, and the container is also equipped with an open / close lid that can be used as a video camera storage case. An external optical viewfinder made possible.   In the external optical finder, an external optical finder which can adjust a focal position by introducing a mechanism for moving the lens back and forth by a screw method or a slide method in the lens mounting structure.   In the external optical finder, the external optical finder adopting a structure for fixing the apparatus and the video camera arranged side by side with a velcro tape or the like.   In the above-mentioned external optical viewfinder, a separate attachment with an insertion slot corresponding to the size of the LCD monitor of each company's video camera is prepared, and pasted to the insertion slot on the side of the device, each company's video camera External optical viewfinder that can be used for

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