JP3431175B2 - 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, and more particularly to an electronic camera using an imager as an image pickup means and an electronic viewfinder as a finder. Regarding the display of.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an electronic still camera using an imager as an image pickup means, its exposure operation is often controlled by a CCD element shutter which is an imager. Therefore, it is impossible to confirm that the shutter has been released without generating a shutter sound when the shutter is released as in a silver halide camera. Therefore, conventionally, a method has been used in which a PVC (piezoelectric sounding body) is used to generate a sound when the shutter is operated, and an LED is blinked in the finder. In the case of a movie camera, for example, in the video camera or camera-integrated tape recorder disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-99469, an image displayed in the electronic viewfinder in conjunction with a recording start / stop switch. Is switched so that the brightness is reversed during recording standby and a normal image is displayed during recording.

[0003]

However, in the conventional electronic still camera in which the PVC, LED, etc. are operated in conjunction with the above-mentioned shutter operation, the shooting operation is performed only to confirm that the shutter has been released. It is necessary to provide an unrelated dedicated member such as a PCV sounding member or an LED display member, which is inevitable in terms of space and cost. Further, the one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Sho 63-99469 has a drawback that it is difficult to observe the finder during the standby because the brightness of the finder image is inverted during the recording standby.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in an electronic camera having an imager and an electronic viewfinder, continuous shooting and relaying are performed.
Exposure motion considering the exposure time lag
A special display corresponding to the execution of the work is displayed on the electronic viewfinder.
By visually displaying it, it is possible to use a conventional silver-salt single-lens reflex camera without the need for a new dedicated member.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic camera that gives a feeling of use of a finder that is very close to that of a camera.

[0005]

The electronic camera of the present invention comprises:
This is based on the operation of the release switch, which is the exposure command member.
In the subsequent imager exposure operation, the screen display itself by the electronic viewfinder is displayed in synchronization with the execution timing of the imager exposure operation.
Screen Ri name comprises a display switching means for switching the entire monochrome display <br/> a predetermined special display mode by the unit, the table
The duration of full-color single color display executed by the display switching means is
The shutter time, which is the execution time of the exposure operation, is a predetermined time
If less than the predetermined time, the shutter time is
If the predetermined time or more, characterized in Rukoto is controlled to the shutter time.

[0006]

When the imager exposure operation is performed, a dedicated member is provided so that a display corresponding to the execution timing of the imager exposure operation is displayed on the electronic viewfinder.
The conventional silver-salt single-lens reflex camera without the need for a new
You can get a feeling of using a finder that is very close to that of a finder.
To be

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on the illustrated embodiments. First, an electronic still camera which is an electronic camera showing a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, the present electronic still camera is a camera that uses an imager 3 as an imaging means and an electronic viewfinder (hereinafter referred to as EVF) 7 as a finder.
In connection with the exposure operation of the imager 3, according to the instruction of the display switching means built in the system controller 1, a special display corresponding to the operation mode is displayed on the EVF 7 via the EVF signal process circuit 6 which is also display switching means. By doing so, the photographer can surely visually recognize that the exposure operation has been performed.

In this camera, first, the subject image captured through the taking lens 2 is taken by the imager 3.
Is converted into an electric signal. The image pickup signal is separated in the image pickup process circuit 4 into a Y signal (luminance signal), an RY signal (color difference signal), and a BY signal (color difference signal), and the image signal is the recording / reproducing circuit 5 and the EVF signal. It is output to the process circuit 6. The recording / reproducing circuit 5 has A / D, D
A buffer memory 5a including an A / A conversion circuit is built in, and a video signal is written in the solid-state memory card 8 via the buffer memory 5a. At the time of reproduction, the video data of the solid-state memory card 8 is read by the recording / reproducing circuit 5 and the video signal is reproduced. On the other hand, based on the video signal input to the EVF signal processing circuit 6, it is displayed on the EVF 7 composed of color liquid crystal. Note that all control elements of the camera are controlled by the system controller 1 including a CPU and the like.

Next, the display operation of the EVF 7 in the electronic still camera of the present embodiment constructed as above will be described in detail with reference to the time chart of FIG. A normal subject image is displayed on the EVF (electronic viewfinder) 7 from the time when the power switch is turned on until the first step of the release switch is turned on. Then, when the second stage of the release switch (not shown) is turned on, the exposure operation by the element shutter of the imager 3 is started, and at the same time, the EVF signal process circuit 6 instructs the image signal of the special display by the instruction of the system controller 1. Is output for a display time ts and a special display is made on the EVF 7. This display time ts
Indicates that the photographer can surely recognize that the displayed image has changed and that the time T0 is short enough not to hinder the photographing.
And, for example, 1 field (1/60 seconds) or 2
A field (1/30 second) period is applied. However,
Of course, these optimum values may differ depending on the contents of the special display, and it is, of course, desirable that the optimum values be further optimized.

As the display screen of the special display, first,
In the EVF signal processing circuit 6, the color difference signal is set to 0 and the video signal output to the EVF 7 is a monochrome image signal,
There is a special display screen that displays a monochrome image as a special display. Further, it is also possible to use a mute image as a special display screen, which gives a pattern signal in which the video signal input in the EVF signal processing circuit 6 becomes one color on the entire screen. Although the color in this case is arbitrary, for example, blue,
Green, yellow, red, white, gray, black, etc. are appropriate. Furthermore,
In the EVF signal processing circuit 6, it is also possible to convert the video signal into a video signal of a mosaic image using the data in the buffer memory 5a of the recording / reproducing circuit 5 and display the mosaic image as a special display. As a method of generating this mosaic image data, in the case of an electronic camera of a type that compresses information by orthogonal transformation in the frequency space of the image signal at the time of recording the image, so-called DCT The mosaic image data can be obtained by directly using the low-order term of the converted output of. By including this DCT processing circuit, the mosaic image can be displayed specially without incorporating a new circuit.
Of course, other mosaic processing methods can be used. Further, as the same mosaic image display, it is possible to change the coordinates of the mosaic by controlling the address of the buffer memory 5a and use the mosaic image that changes in pseudo real time as a special display. In addition to this, various kinds of images can be applied as the special display image.

The display operation of the special display on the EVF 7 is as follows.
It is desirable to switch the display in synchronization with the vertical synchronizing signal so that the screen of the special display is switched in field screen units. If you don't sync like this,
Since the display screen is rewritten from the center of the screen, it is difficult to observe the image. The switching timing and the types of the above-mentioned special display images will be described later in the second section.
The same applies to the electronic cameras of the fourth to fourth embodiments.

Next, the photographing sequence processing of the electronic camera of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in step S01, the on / off of the power switch is checked, and if it is on, the process proceeds to step S02, the respective control units of the camera are brought into an operating state, and the EVF 7 is turned on to display a subject image. Succeedingly, in a step S03, ON / OFF of the first stage of the release switch is checked, and if OFF, the process jumps to a step S04. Therefore, make sure that the power switch is on, and
Return to 03. If the first step of the release switch is on, the process proceeds to step S05, and AF (automatic focusing) / AE
(Photometry for automatic exposure) processing is performed. Then, in step S06, the second stage on / off of the release switch is checked, and if it is off, the process returns to step S03. If it is ON, the process proceeds to steps S07 and 08, and the shutter speed Ts and the special display time ts are calculated.
However, in the present embodiment, this time ts is given a predetermined value of 1/30 seconds or 1/60 seconds as described above. Succeedingly, in a step S09, the element shutter is opened and closed for exposure. At the same time, the special display on the EVF 7 is also started. The video signal taken in is recorded in step S10, the number of frames is updated in step S11, and the process returns to step S03. As described above, the electronic camera according to the present embodiment performs the exposure in association with the operation of the second stage of the release switch, and displays the EVF 7 as, for example,
It is possible to recognize that the exposure has been performed by switching the color display to the monochrome display, the mute display, or the special display such as the mosaic display at least for a time that can be recognized by the photographer. And
Since a dedicated member is not required as a member for this synchronous display, it is advantageous in terms of cost and space.

Next, an electronic camera according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the electronic camera of the first embodiment, as the display time ts of the special display, the photographer can surely recognize that the display image has changed, and the time T0 is set to be constant for a short time that does not hinder the shooting. In the embodiment, the display time ts of the special display is related to the shutter time Ts. That is, when the display time ts of the special display is shorter than the short time T0 at which the shutter time Ts can be recognized, that is, when the shutter is too fast to be recognized by the display of only the shutter time, the time T0 is adopted as the lower limit value of the display, If the shutter time Ts is equal to or longer than the recognizable short time T0, the time T
s is adopted. This can be summarized as an equation: When Ts <T0, ts = T0 ............ (1) When Ts ≧ T0, ts = Ts ............ (2) The main configuration of the electronic camera of this embodiment is similar to that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. Although the flowchart of FIG. 3 can be applied to the shooting sequence processing, the display time ts in step S08 of the processing is
The calculation of (1) and (2) is used for the calculation of.

In the electronic camera of this embodiment constructed as described above, the sense of shutter speed is grasped in the conventional silver-salt single-lens reflex camera by momentarily disappearing the viewfinder image when the release switch is operated. The effect that can be obtained can be provided as it is. Further, since the time T0 is used as the lower limit of the display so that the photographer can recognize the special effect even when the shutter time is too short, the invisible state does not occur.

Next, an electronic camera according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The electronic camera of the present embodiment is characterized by a special display of EVF during continuous shooting,
In continuous shooting, the shutter is released a plurality of times by operating the second-stage release switch once, and the special display of the EVF is executed in synchronization with each shutter operation. Even in the camera of this embodiment,
The main structure is similar to that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. Further, the same display as in the first embodiment can be applied to the special display screen.

Next, an electronic camera according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. The electronic camera of this embodiment is a camera having a self-timer photographing function, and the special display is displayed on the EVF at the same time as the shutter operation of the self-timer. In this case, since the photographer may be the subject, it is necessary to be able to observe the special EVF display from the subject side. FIG. 4 shows a self-timer photographing state by this camera, and the special display of the EVF 7 which is a liquid crystal finder can be observed from the side of the subject 25 who is the photographer. The camera body 21 to which the taking lens 2 is attached
A finder section 23 having an EVF 7 is rotatably mounted on the camera, and during self-timer photographing, the finder section 23 is rotated to a position 23 'on the photographing lens 2 side as shown in FIG. Is visible from the field of view of the taking lens 2. Also, the finder section 2
As shown in FIG. 5 (A), the interlock switch 28 (see FIG. 6) is operated on the side of the taking lens 2 on the side of the main body 21 so that the self-timer mode switching is automatically performed in accordance with the rotation of 3. Button 26 is provided. In addition, (B) of FIG.
6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C of FIG. 5A, in which a switch contact 26 b is provided on the back surface of the switch button 26, and a substrate 27
Contact points 28a are arranged on the upper side so as to face each other. Then, with the rotation of the finder section 23, the contact is brought into conduction, and the camera is switched to the self-timer shooting mode.

FIG. 6 is a main block diagram of the electronic camera of this embodiment. As shown in FIG.
Except for 8, the camera has the same structure as the camera of the first embodiment. FIG. 7 shows a time chart of the operation of the release switch, EVF, etc. during the self-timer photographing of this camera. After the second release switch is turned on, the shutter is released after a separately set waiting time Tw has elapsed.
At the same time, the special display of the EVF 7 is displayed for the time ts.
This time ts is the time t used in the second embodiment.
If s is applied and the shutter time becomes longer, the display time also becomes longer, and the photographer can confirm the start and end of the shutter operation from the subject side.

As described above, according to the electronic camera of this embodiment, the self-timer mode is automatically set when the finder is operated, and the operation state of the shutter can be observed from the subject side. Here, two modes of A and B are adopted as the special display. In the mode of A, blinking is performed, and in the mode of B, a display mode different from A is provided, so that the timing of shooting on the subject side can be improved. Make sure that you can recognize it. At this time, the special display A corresponding to the time Tw and the special display B corresponding to the time ts are displayed.
Only one of the two may be used.

FIG. 8A is a sectional view of a viewfinder portion of an electronic camera showing a modified example of the fourth embodiment, and FIG. 8B is a sectional view taken from D to D of FIG. It is a D sectional view. In the fourth embodiment, when the self-timer mode is set, it is necessary to rotate the finder section 23, but in the present modification, the finder section 31 incorporating the EVF 7 is not rotated. As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, switching to the self-timer mode is performed only by rotating the finder reflection mirror 32 supported by the shaft 35 to the position 32 'by the knob 36. Is. Note that, in FIG. 8A, a normal finder image is observed from the eyepiece lens 33 side, but in the self-timer mode, a photographing lens (not shown) is provided through a transparent or colored acrylic plate 34. From the side, a finder image including a special display is observed. According to the camera of this modified example, unlike the camera of the fourth embodiment, it is not necessary to rotate the entire finder unit at the time of self-timer photographing, and the camera can be compactly assembled.

[0020]

As described above, the electronic camera of the present invention has a dew
This is based on the operation of the release switch, which is an optical command member.
During the imager exposure operation or image recording operation that is performed subsequent to, the screen display itself by the electronic viewfinder is displayed.
Synchronize the body to the timing of the imager exposure operation
Then, all the screens that are in the predetermined special display mode are displayed in one screen unit.
Since the display is switched to monochrome display, a dedicated member is required.
With a conventional silver-salt single-lens reflex camera without newly installing
The finder feel is very close to that of
It has a remarkable effect that Further, the electronic of the present invention
The camera has a full-color single-color display that the display switching means executes.
The duration is the execution time of the above exposure operation when using the shutter.
If the interval is less than the specified time, the shutter is
If the shutter time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time,
Since it was controlled, "the adopted focus
Depending on the running speed of the lupine shutter and the mirror mechanism
Limited operating time of quick return mirror
The image disappearance time becomes short, and if the exposure time is longer than this, the image disappears.
Lost time is equal to exposure time. "
Image disappearance by quick return mirror of single-lens reflex camera
It has a remarkable effect that a feeling of operation similar to is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a main block configuration diagram of an electronic camera showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a time chart of the operation of switches and EVFs in the shooting state of the electronic camera of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a shooting sequence process of the electronic camera of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a self-timer shooting state of an electronic camera showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

5A and 5B are views showing a viewfinder portion of the electronic camera shown in FIG. 4, in which FIG. 5A is a side view and FIG. 5B is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG.

6 is a main block configuration diagram of the electronic camera of FIG.

7 is a time chart of switch and EVF operations in the shooting state of the electronic camera of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a viewfinder portion of an electronic camera showing a modification of the second embodiment of FIG. 4, in which (A) is a longitudinal sectional view;
(B) is a sectional view taken along line D-D of (A).

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ………………………… System controller (switching means) 3 …………………… Imager 7 …………………… EVF (electronic viewfinder) ts …………………… Duration T0 …………………… A short time that can be recognized and does not hinder (lower limit)

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-3-162075 (JP, A) JP-A-55-36846 (JP, A) JP-A-5-110915 (JP, A) JP-A-1-228274 (JP , A) JP 62-36985 (JP, A) JP 62-35330 (JP, A) Actual flat 2-55773 (JP, U) Actual 63-185357 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5/222-5/257

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A release switch, which is an exposure command member,
In the imager exposure operation that is subsequently performed based on the operation, the screen display itself by the electronic viewfinder is synchronized with the execution timing of the imager exposure operation.
For the sake of convenience, it is a predetermined special display mode for each screen of the display.
Ri Na <br/> comprises a display switching means for switching the entire monochrome display or continuation of the entire surface monochromatic display to be executed is the display switching means
Is the shutter time, which is the execution time of the exposure operation.
If the shutter time is less than the fixed time,
Is longer than the predetermined time, the shutter time is controlled.
Re electronic camera which is characterized in Rukoto. 2. The above-mentioned full-screen single color display is entirely black.
The electronic display according to claim 1, wherein the electronic display is black display.
camera. 3. The predetermined time is the display time for one screen.
The same setting is made, or
The electronic camera described in 2.