JP3569942B2 - Image stabilization camera - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to a camera provided with a shake correction device that corrects image shake caused by hand shake or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent cameras, each mechanism, such as an automatic exposure (AE) mechanism and an auto focus (AF) mechanism, is digitized and highly automated. As one of such advanced functions, there is a correction function for correcting an image blur caused by a camera shake or the like that occurs at the time of hand-held shooting of a camera, and various proposals have been made. Regarding these proposed correction functions, for example, the detection of blur is started by a half-press operation of the release button, and a blur correction operation based on the shake detection result (that is, the blur correction optical system is orthogonal to the optical axis is performed by a full press operation). In some cases, the shutter movement is started, and the shake correction operation or the shake detection operation is stopped by closing the shutter. It is preferable to stop these blur correction and blur detection operations when unnecessary, from the viewpoint of saving power.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the case where the blur correction operation is stopped by the closing operation of the shutter as described above, a mechanical detection unit for detecting that the shutter has been closed is newly required. Since a larger amount of software is required for control, the cost is inevitably increased in configuring the camera. Further, in the so-called self-timer mode, the blur correction operation is performed even when the exposure is not performed, so that power is wasted.
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and a first object of the present invention is to provide a camera shake correction camera capable of stopping a shake correction operation without requiring a new separate unit. Aim.
Further, the present invention is configured to stop the blur correction operation after a predetermined time elapses in order to stop the blur correction operation without requiring a new separate unit. A second object is to set the most suitable value.
[0005]
A third object of the present invention is to perform control so that the shake correction operation and the focusing return operation or the film feeding operation are not performed simultaneously. Further, a fourth object is to suppress a blur correction operation other than during exposure.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention detects a blur and outputs a detection signal based on the detection result; a correction unit that performs blur correction according to a detection signal from the detection unit; and controls an operation of the correction unit. A control unit; a blur correction timer for starting timing of a predetermined time, and an exposure control unit for controlling an exposure operation, wherein the blur correction is started together with the start of timing of the blur correction timer, and thereafter, exposure is started. In the shake correction camera that stops the shake correction operation by the correction unit with the end of the timing of the predetermined time, the predetermined time is a time longer than the maximum exposure time that can be controlled by the exposure control unit , When the blur correction is stopped, the exposure has been completed.
[0007]
Then, the timing of the predetermined time is started due to the full-press operation of the shutter release operating member or after the end of the time counting of the self-timer.
Also, blur correction camera according to the invention comprises an exposure control unit for controlling the exposure operation, the shake correction operation by the correcting unit the exposure control unit after a longer time than the maximum time that can be controlled to stop.
[0008]
Further, the correction unit according to the present invention outputs a start signal as the shake correction is started, and the shake correction camera includes a first and a second timer for starting time measurement by the start signal. A focusing control unit for performing a focusing operation by moving a focusing lens; and a feeding control unit for controlling a film feeding operation, wherein the second timer is controlled by the focusing control unit. A predetermined time is measured until the return operation of the focusing lens or the feeding operation of one frame of the film by the feeding control unit is started, and the time counted by the second timer is longer than that of the first timer. Is also set long.
Still another aspect of the present invention provides a detection unit that detects blur and outputs a detection signal based on the detection result; a correction unit that performs blur correction in accordance with a detection signal from the detection unit; operation of the correction unit Control unit, a blur correction timer that starts timing of a predetermined time, and an exposure control unit that controls exposure operation, wherein the control unit selects a self-timer that starts timing by a shutter release operation. If there is, between the end of timing of the self-timer and the start of the exposure operation, the timing of the blur correction timer is started and the blur correction is started, and the blur correction operation is stopped with the end of the timing of the predetermined time. In the camera, the predetermined time is longer than the maximum exposure time that can be controlled by the exposure control unit, and the exposure is completed when the shake correction is stopped.
Further, the camera shake correction camera according to the present invention includes a focusing control unit for performing a focusing operation by moving a focusing lens, and a feeding control unit for controlling a feeding operation of the film. The blur correction operation is ended between the end and the return operation of the focusing lens by the focusing control unit or between the end of the exposure and the feeding operation of the film by the feeding control unit.
[0009]
[Action]
According to the present invention, the blur correction operation by the correction unit is stopped after the lapse of a predetermined time measured by the timer from the start of the operation of the correction unit, so that a new separate member is not required, and as a result, there is no soft capacity. There is no increase in cost because there is no increase.
[0010]
Further, the exposure control unit includes an exposure control unit that controls the exposure operation, and the stop unit stops the blur correction operation by the correction unit after a lapse of a time longer than the maximum time that can be controlled by the exposure control unit. , Can be set as the most suitable value.
Furthermore, the time taken to start the return operation of the focusing lens and the feeding operation for one frame of the film is set longer than the time taken to stop the motion compensation operation. The focusing return operation or the film feeding operation is not performed at the same time, and the large current control need not be performed.
[0011]
【Example】
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a shake correction camera according to the present invention. In the drawing, first, an outline of an internal structure of a still camera suitable for applying the present invention will be briefly described.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a shake amount detection means which is a shake detection means for detecting a shake state due to camera shake or the like of a camera, and an operation member, for example, a shutter release button (not shown) provided on an upper surface of the camera The half-press switch SW1 is turned on by the half-press operation, whereby the CPU 2 provided in the camera activates the shake amount detecting means 1 and the sensor signal for calculating the shake detection reference level for the shake amount detection. Start sampling. Here, the CPU 2 is used as shake detection control means together with the half-press switch SW1 of the release button. The CPU 2 includes three timers. One of them is a timer (this is a first timer) that starts measuring a predetermined time when the full-press switch SW2 is turned on. After a lapse of a predetermined time by the first timer, the blur correction operation is stopped. When the self-timer mode is set, the timer starts counting a predetermined time due to the full-press switch SW2 being turned on (this is a second timer). After a lapse of a predetermined time by the second timer, a shutter release (exposure) is performed. Further, it is a timer (this is referred to as a third timer) that starts measuring a predetermined time due to the ON state of the full-press switch SW2. After a lapse of a predetermined time by the third timer, the focusing return operation and the winding of one frame of the film are performed. The stop, display, focusing return operation, and winding of one frame of the film will be described later.
[0012]
In FIG. 3, a green lamp in a finder is used as a display unit, and the CPU 2 blinks or lights the lamp 3 according to the activation of the shake amount detecting means 1 and the output signal of the detecting means 1. More specifically, when the release button is half-pressed, the CPU 2 blinks the lamp 3 together with the start of the shake amount detecting means 1 and, after a predetermined time elapses, responds to the output signal of the shake amount detecting means 1 to detect the camera body. When the shake amount is smaller than the predetermined amount, the CPU 2 turns on the lamp 3 and the photographer himself / herself can judge whether or not the photographing is appropriate by blinking or lighting the lamp 3. The display unit 3 need not be a green lamp in the finder, but may be any lamp provided on the back surface of the camera body and arranged near the finder window, for example.
[0013]
Reference numeral 4 denotes a shake correcting unit provided in the camera. When a shutter release button (not shown) is fully pressed, a full-press switch SW2 is turned on, and the CPU 2 performs correction based on detection (shake amount) of the shake amount detecting unit 1. Is commanded to the shake correcting means 4, which drives the drive system 5 of a part of the optical system (shake correcting optical system L 3) of the photographing optical system L 1, and drives the shake correcting optical system L 3 in the figure. It is well known that shift driving is performed in the vertical direction (direction perpendicular to the optical axis), and the image blur correction of the subject image on the film surface in the entire photographing optical system can be performed by the driving. After that, the drive of the drive system 5 is stopped after a predetermined time (time measurement by the first timer) has elapsed.
Reference numerals 6 and 7 denote known distance measuring means for obtaining information corresponding to the distance to the subject and known light measuring means for measuring the luminance of the object. The CPU 2 is operated by pressing the shutter release button halfway (SW1 on). Activates the distance measuring means 6 and the light measuring means 7, and the respective means 6, 7 execute the distance measuring and the light measuring by the activation.
[0014]
Reference numeral 8 denotes focusing control means. The CPU 2 instructs a predetermined lens position (automatic focusing) to the focusing control means 8 in accordance with an output (distance measurement result) signal of the distance measurement means 6, and the focusing control means 8 Drives the optical system L2 via a drive system 9 (focusing drive means) for the focusing optical system (focusing lens) L2, and the lens L2 is moved to a predetermined position by this drive. .
[0015]
Reference numeral 10 denotes an exposure control unit. The CPU 2 instructs the exposure control unit 10 to control the aperture corresponding to the aperture value in accordance with an output (light measurement result) signal of the photometry unit 7. The exposure control is performed by the drive control of the aperture member 11 (shutter) by the control unit 10.
Numeral 12 is a film feed control means, which automatically feeds the film in accordance with the loading of the film, winds up one frame in response to the end of the exposure operation for one frame, and automatically turns the film in response to the end of the exposure in all frames. Rewinding, arbitrary midway rewinding, and the like are executed.
[0016]
Incidentally, the camera of the present embodiment can also set a self-timer function (mode). This setting is achieved by the CPU 2. When the self-timer mode is set, a predetermined time (time measurement by the second timer) is started by turning on the full-press switch SW2, and a shutter release (exposure) is performed after the elapse of the time. When the timing is started, a display unit (not shown) that can be visually recognized from the outside is turned on to notify that the camera is set to the self-timer mode. Thereafter, when the time measurement is completed, the display section is turned off, and the shutter release (exposure) is continued. In addition, if the above-mentioned lamp 3 is configured to be visible from the outside, the above-mentioned display unit may also be used.
[0017]
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. 2 and 4 are flowcharts showing the operation sequence of the CPU 2, and the sequence operation of the structure of FIG. 1 will be described below with reference to these flowcharts. Note that this flowchart is started with the main power supply of the camera body turned on.
(First embodiment)
In step S2, it is determined whether the half-press switch SW1 is on or off. In step S3, the sensor of the shake detecting means is activated. In step S4, photometry for exposure calculation is performed. In step S6, lens focusing is performed. Information corresponding to the distance to the subject is obtained, the amount of movement of the lens is calculated in step S7, and the lens is driven for focusing in step S8.
[0018]
In step S9, it is determined whether the full-press switch SW2 is on or off. If it is on, it is determined in step S10 whether or not the self-timer mode is set. If not, the operation of the shake correction means is stopped in step S15. The timer (first timer) is started, and it is determined whether or not the timer is up in step S17. When a time longer than the maximum exposure time (measured by the first timer) elapses, the blur correction is stopped, The sensor is turned off in step S20, and the blur correction sequence ends in step S28.
[0019]
On the other hand, in the photographing sequence, after waiting for a certain time until the blur correction drive completely (reliably) starts in step S21, the exposure (shutter opening / closing) operation is started in step S23. Then, after the exposure is completed, the focusing lens is returned to the initial position in step S24 (focusing return operation). Thereafter, the film is wound up by one frame in step S25.
[0020]
In this flowchart, the processing after step S15 is divided into two systems (the processing of steps S15 to S28 and the processing of steps S21 to S27), and each processing is performed in parallel. The branch of this processing is the same in the second embodiment (FIG. 3) described below. In FIG. 2, the exposure operation in step S23 is completed at least until the blur correction is stopped in step S18. It is preferable that the focus return operation in step S24 is performed after the timer is turned off in step S20.
[0021]
If the cell timer mode is set in step S10, the timer (second timer) is started in step S11, the display of the self-timer shooting state is started (lit) in step S12, and the blur correction is performed in step S13. After a timer time (measured by the second timer) different from the timer time for stopping has elapsed (or with the elapse), the process proceeds to step S15. As a result, the blur correction is performed after a lapse of a predetermined time (that is, clocking by the first timer) from the start of the blur correction (in this embodiment, the full-press switch SW2 is turned on) irrespective of self-timer shooting or normal shooting ( Since the shutter correction signal can be stopped (or over time), the blur correction sequence can be ended and stopped without using the shutter closing signal specially.
[0022]
(Second embodiment)
FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. 3, the operations in steps S101 to S114 are the same as those in FIG. In step S115, a first timer for a blur correction sequence (stop of blur correction) and a third timer for a shooting sequence (focus return operation and winding of one frame of film) are started. In step S116, the blur correction operation is started. If the first timer has counted the set time longer than the maximum exposure second in step S117, the blur correction is stopped in step S118, and the sensor is turned off in step S119. In S120, the timer is turned off (time measurement is stopped), and a series of sequences is ended.
[0023]
In starting the photographing sequence (in this case, exposure, subsequent focus return and winding of one frame of film) in step S122, after waiting for a certain time until the blur correction driving in step S116 is started completely (reliably), step S123 is performed. To start the exposure operation (shutter opening / closing), and if the third timer (timer for the photographing sequence) measures a set time longer than the longest exposure time in step S124, the focusing lens is moved to the initial position in step S125. (Focusing return operation), the film is wound up by one frame in step S126, the third timer is turned off in step S127 (time measurement is stopped), and a series of photographing sequences is ended in step S128. In this manner, the time taken to execute the returning operation of the focusing lens and the feeding operation for one frame of the film (in other words, the waiting time, which is measured by the third timer) is the time taken to stop the motion compensation operation. Since the time is set to be longer than the clocking time (clocked by the first timer), the focusing return operation and the film feeding operation (winding of one frame) are performed after the blur correction operation is completed. That is, the blur correction operation, the focusing return operation, and the film feeding operation are not performed simultaneously (in parallel), and the large current control does not need to be performed.
[0024]
(Third embodiment)
FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. As in the second embodiment, only the differences will be described. In the third embodiment, the blur correction is stopped (step S219) after a set time longer than the longest exposure time (measured by the first timer) has elapsed (step S217), and the sensor is turned off (step S219). After that, the focusing return operation (step S220) and the winding of one frame of the film (step S220) are executed. The feature of the third embodiment is that the stop of the shake correction operation, the focus return operation, and the film winding are executed in a time series under the control of one timer.
[0025]
In step S217, it is determined whether or not a set time longer than the longest exposure time has elapsed. However, until the set time has elapsed, the exposure operation, in other words, the shutter release is started and completed. Shall be In the third embodiment, the structure can be simplified because the stop of the shake correction operation, the focus return operation, and the film winding are executed in a time series under the control of one timer.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the blur correction operation by the correction unit is stopped after the lapse of a predetermined time measured by the timer from the start of the operation of the correction unit, so that a new separate member is not required, and as a result, there is no soft capacity. There is no increase in cost because there is no increase.
[0027]
Further, the exposure control unit includes an exposure control unit that controls the exposure operation, and the stop unit stops the blur correction operation by the correction unit after a lapse of a time longer than the maximum time that can be controlled by the exposure control unit. , Can be set as the most suitable value.
Further, the time for the return operation of the focusing lens and the time for feeding one frame of film is set longer than the time for stopping the motion compensation operation, so that the motion compensation operation and the focusing return operation or film feeding operation are performed. The operation is not performed simultaneously, and there is no need to perform large current control.
Further, by suppressing the shake correction during the time counting by the self-timer, it is possible to prevent unnecessary power consumption.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view showing an internal structure of a camera, showing an embodiment of a shake correction camera according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation sequence by a CPU according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation sequence by a CPU according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation sequence by a CPU in a third embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 shake amount detection means 2 CPU
4 shake correction means 5 shake correction drive system 8 focusing control means 9 focusing drive system 10 exposure control means 12 film feed control means L1 shooting optical system L2 focusing optical system (focusing lens)
L3 Shake correction optical system (shake correction lens)
SW1 Half-press switch for shutter release button SW2 Full-press switch for shutter release button

Claims (6)

A detection unit that detects blur and outputs a detection signal based on the detection result; a correction unit that performs blur correction according to a detection signal from the detection unit; a control unit that controls the operation of the correction unit; An exposure control unit that controls an exposure operation, and a shake correction timer that starts timing a predetermined time,
In the shake correction camera, which starts the shake correction together with the start of timing of the shake correction timer, then starts exposure, and stops the shake correction operation by the correction unit with the end of the timing of the predetermined time.
The predetermined time is longer than the longest exposure time that can be controlled by the exposure control unit, and the exposure is completed when the blur correction is stopped. 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the timing of the predetermined time is started when a shutter release operation member is fully pressed. 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the measurement of the predetermined time is started after the measurement of the self-timer ends. The correction unit outputs a start signal as the shake correction is started, and the shake correction camera includes first and second timers that start timing by the start signal; A focusing control unit for performing a focusing operation by moving a lens; and a feeding control unit for controlling a feeding operation of the film,
The first timer measures a predetermined time until the blur correction operation is stopped, and the second timer is a return operation of the focusing lens by the focusing control unit or a film by the feeding control unit. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined time until a feeding operation for one frame is started is measured, and a time measured by the second timer is set longer than that of the first timer. 3. The blur correction camera described. A detection unit that detects blur and outputs a detection signal based on the detection result; a correction unit that performs blur correction in accordance with the detection signal from the detection unit; a control unit that controls the operation of the correction unit; Including a blur correction timer that starts measuring time and an exposure control unit that controls an exposure operation,
When a self-timer that starts timekeeping by a shutter release operation is selected, the control unit starts the time of the shake correction timer and starts the shake between the time when the self-timer ends and the time when the exposure operation starts. In a shake correction camera that starts correction and stops the shake correction operation with the end of the timing of the predetermined time,
The predetermined time is longer than the longest exposure time that can be controlled by the exposure control unit, and the exposure is completed when the blur correction is stopped. The blur correction camera includes a focusing control unit that performs a focusing operation by moving a focusing lens, and a feeding control unit that controls a feeding operation of the film,
The control unit terminates the blur correction operation between the end of exposure and the return operation of the focusing lens by the focusing control unit or between the end of exposure and the feeding operation of the film by the feeding control unit. The camera according to claim 5, wherein

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