JP3368821B2 - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera for recording image signals photographed on a memory card, and more particularly to an electronic camera for recording not only image signals but also audio signals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of electronic camera,
A video floppy is used as a recording medium so that a voice analog signal obtained from a microphone can be recorded in addition to a still image analog signal obtained from an image sensor. Normally, voice recording can be started by pressing a dedicated recording button or lever.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional electronic camera, since the recordable time is not displayed, how many pictures are taken when shooting and recording at the same place. There was a problem that I couldn't confirm how many seconds I could record. In particular, when taking a picture while recording, a situation may occur in which the memory is occupied only by the recording and the picture cannot be taken.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and when the recording work is performed while taking a picture, the electronic work can be performed while confirming the remaining number of shots and the remaining recording time. The purpose is to provide a camera.

[0005]

According to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, there is provided a camera body, and an eyepiece finder means for confirming a subject, which is provided in the camera body. A display unit that is rotatably attached to the camera body and displays the photographing information so as to be visible from the outside, a detection unit that detects a rotation state of the display unit, and a display based on the rotation state detected by the detection unit. And a display direction changing means for changing the display direction of the photographing information displayed on the means. According to the present invention of claim 2, in the electronic camera of claim 1, the display means is configured to be rotatable to a position where the displayed photographing information is visible from the subject. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic camera according to the first or second aspect, the second information which is provided at a position different from the display means of the camera body and which is different from the photographing information is displayed. It is configured to further include a second display unit that is visible from the outside. According to the present invention of claim 4, in the electronic camera of claim 3, at least one of the display means and the second display means is configured to display non-image information. According to the present invention of claim 5, in the electronic camera of claim 3,
The camera body has a first surface and a second surface facing the first surface, and further has a photographing optical system provided on the first surface of the camera body, and has a display unit or a second surface. At least one of the display means is provided on the second surface of the camera body.

[0006]

[0007]

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of an electronic still camera according to the present invention will be described in detail below. FIG. 1 is an external view of an electronic still camera according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, 11
Is an electronic still camera body, and a memory card 12, which is a recording medium for recording captured image data, can be connected through an opening 13.

It is possible to record a plurality of pieces of image data and a few minutes of sound on the memory card 12, and of course it is possible to mix image data and sound recording. 14
Is a display device, and displays the frame number or the number of remaining frames that can be photographed and the remaining recording time. A liquid crystal display 15 displays the contents of the memory card 12 and is used as a viewfinder.

Reference numeral 17 is a setting dial, which is normally used to determine the shutter speed and aperture. By rotating the setting dial 17 while pressing the select button 18, the display content (display frame) of the liquid crystal display 15 is switched. You can Reference numeral 19 is a record button, and when the record button 19 is pressed, recording is started. 20 is an optical finder.

Instead of displaying the image frame number, the number of images that can be captured, and the remaining recordable time on the display device 14, the images may be displayed on the liquid crystal display 15 so as to overlap the image. Further, as a display example of the liquid crystal display 15, normally, the designated content of the memory card 12 is displayed, and the viewfinder may be switched by pressing the release button 16 halfway.

2 and 3 show the display device 1 in FIG.
4 shows an embodiment of No. 4 of the present invention. In FIGS. 2 and 3, reference numeral 31 is a symbol mark indicating that the display device displays the remaining number of images or the number of frames to be shot, and 32 indicates the remaining time that the display device can record. Is a symbol mark indicating.

Reference numeral 33 is a liquid crystal display of the remaining number of photographable images or the number of photographed frames. Normally, the display device 14 displays the remaining number of pictures that can be taken or the number of picture frames as shown in FIG. 2. However, when the recording button 19 is pressed to enter the recording state, the remaining time 34 that can be recorded is shown in FIG. indicate. When it becomes necessary to shoot during recording, press the release button 16 halfway to return to the display of the remaining number of sheets shown in FIG. 2, and either press the release button as it is or release the finger again. The display shown in FIG. Naturally, the remaining recordable time is reduced by the amount of memory occupied by the number of shots.

Normally, the display device 14 displays the shooting frame number, displays the number of remaining frames that can be shot only while the release button is pressed halfway, and when the recording button is pressed and recording is in progress. May display the remaining recordable time. At this time, if the release button is pressed halfway during recording, the remaining number of pictures that can be taken is displayed. 4 and 5 show
FIG. 9 shows another embodiment for performing display together with other display inside the finder in FIG. 1.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, 41 is a field frame, 4
Reference numeral 2 is a mode display, 43 is a diaphragm display, and 44 is a shutter time display. Reference numeral 45 is a symbol mark indicating that the display device displays the remaining number of images that can be taken or the number of image frames, and 46 is a symbol mark that indicates that the display device is displaying the remaining recording time. .

Reference numeral 47 is a liquid crystal display of the remaining number of photographable images or the number of photographed frames. Normally, the display device 14 displays the number of remaining shots or shooting frame numbers as shown in FIG. 4, but when the recording button 19 is pressed to enter the recording state, the remaining recordable time 48 is shown as shown in FIG. indicate. If it becomes necessary to take a picture during recording, press the release button 16 halfway to return to the display of the remaining number of sheets shown in FIG. 4, and either press the release button as it is or release the finger again. The display shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the display device 14 in FIG. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 31 is a symbol mark indicating that the display device displays the remaining number of shootable images or the serial number corresponding to the memory address.
Is a symbol mark indicating that the display device displays the remaining recording time. Reference numeral 33 is a liquid crystal display of the remaining number of photographable images or a serial number corresponding to the memory address.

Reference numeral 34 is a liquid crystal display of the remaining recordable time. In FIG. 6, the remaining number of sheets and the remaining recordable time are displayed at the same time. For example, when the number of shots and the recording time are set in advance in the program mode before shooting / recording, the sum of the number of images displayed in 33 and the memory occupied by the time displayed in 34 is the remaining recordable memory. It can be the sum.

The ratio between the number of shots and the recording time can be easily changed by rotating the setting dial 19 in FIG. 1 during the program mode. Such a program mode is convenient in that, for example, at a concert, it is possible to preset a plan of recording four singer photos while recording a singer song for three minutes. In the case of normal shooting / recording without setting a program, the remaining recordable time display 4 is set to 0 or not displayed during shooting, while the remaining number display 3 is set to 0 during recording. Alternatively, it is possible not to display.

FIG. 7 shows that the recording time display of the display device 14 in FIG. 1 can be monitored by the person to be recorded.
It is an external view of an electronic still camera when installed also on the front surface. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 71 is a display device for displaying the remaining recordable time that can be easily monitored by the person to be recorded. In the example of FIG. 7, the remaining time is displayed digitally and can be displayed for up to 9 minutes and 59 seconds.

8 and 9 show the display device 71 in FIG.
7A and 7B respectively show other embodiments. In FIG. 8, 81a and 81b located on the outer circumference are LEDs for displaying seconds, and 82a and 82b located on the inner circumference are LEDs for displaying minutes. Further, in FIG. 9, reference numeral 91 denotes a digital liquid crystal display for displaying minutes. Here, 81a and 82a represent LEDs that emit light, and 81b and 82b represent LEDs that do not emit light. The total of the LEDs that are emitting light indicates the remaining time. In an embodiment,
One LED 81a and 81b represents 10 seconds,
Each of 82a and 82b represents one minute. That is, both the example of FIG. 8 and the example of FIG. 9 show that there is a remaining recordable time of about 2 minutes and 40 seconds. Since the numbers of the LEDs 81a and 82a decrease with time, the number of LEDs emitting in the counterclockwise direction decreases in order to eliminate discomfort with the clock in real life.
Further, when the LEDs 81a and 82a stop emitting light as the recordable time decreases, the LED 81a and 82a may stop emitting light as they are, or may be in a blinking state before some time before stopping emitting light.

81a, 81b, 8 in FIGS. 8 and 9
Although 2a and 82b are LEDs in the embodiment, it goes without saying that they may be other display members such as liquid crystal and EL. FIG. 10 is an external view of an electronic still camera having a display device that serves as both the display device 14 in FIG. 1 and the display device 71 in FIG.

In FIG. 10, reference numeral 101 denotes a display device, which displays the number of remaining shots and the remaining recording time. A switch 102 detects the position of 101. The display device 101 can be monitored from the front of the electronic still camera by rotating as shown by the arrow in the figure. FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of the display of the display device in FIG. 111a is a minute / second display, but when the display device 101 comes to the position shown by the dotted line in FIG. 10, the display as it is will be upside down and left and right. Then, when it is detected by the switch 102 that the display device 101 is not in the predetermined position, the digital display 112 of the numbers on the display device 101 is reversed upside down, and the display of the minute / second display 111a is stopped. Causes the minute / second display 111b at the point contrast position to be displayed.

[0024]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the electronic camera is rotatably attached to the eyepiece finder means for confirming a subject and the camera body, and information is externally transmitted. Display means for visibly displaying from above, detection means for detecting the rotation state of the display means, and reverses the display direction of the information displayed on the display means based on the rotation state detected by the detection means. And inverting means. Therefore, even when the display unit is rotated with respect to the camera body, the photographing information is displayed in the same display direction as when the confirmation is performed by the eyepiece finder unit, and the viewer can easily recognize the photographing information. Can be provided. According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the effect possessed by the invention described in claim 1, since the display means can be rotated to a position where the information to be displayed can be visually recognized from the subject, during the photographing. It is possible to provide an electronic camera capable of visually displaying photographing information for a subject. According to the invention described in claim 3, in addition to the effect possessed by the invention described in claims 1 and 2, the second invention is provided in a position different from the display means of the camera body and different from the photographing information. Since the electronic device further includes the second display unit that visually displays the information from the outside, it is possible to provide an electronic camera that can display a plurality of information in a display position suitable for each and in an easily viewable manner. According to the invention of claim 5, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 3, the camera body has a first surface and a second surface facing the first surface. , Further comprising a photographic optical system provided on the first surface of the camera body, and at least one of the display means and the second display means is provided on the second surface of the camera body. It is possible to provide an electronic camera in which the display means can be easily viewed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an electronic camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the display device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the display device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a display in a finder according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a display in a finder according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing another embodiment of the display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an external view of an electronic camera according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the display device shown in FIG. 7.

9 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the display device shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an external view of an electronic camera according to another embodiment of the present invention.

11 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the display device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

11: Electronic camera body 12: Memory card 13: opening 14: Display device 15: Liquid crystal display 16: Release button 17: Setting dial 18: Select button 19: Record button 20: Optical viewfinder

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Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A camera body, an eyepiece finder means provided on the camera body for confirming a subject, and a display rotatably attached to the camera body, for displaying photographing information from outside. Means, detection means for detecting the rotation state of the display means, and display direction changing means for changing the display direction of the photographing information displayed on the display means based on the rotation state detected by the detection means. An electronic camera having: 2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is rotatable to a position where the captured image information to be displayed is visible from a subject. 3. A second display unit provided at a position different from that of the display unit of the camera body, for displaying second information different from the photographing information so as to be visible from the outside. The electronic camera according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The electronic camera according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the display unit and the second display unit displays non-image information. 5. The camera body has a first surface and a second surface facing the first surface, and further comprises a photographing optical system provided on the first surface of the camera body. The electronic camera according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the display unit and the second display unit is provided on the second surface of the camera body.