JP4718203B2 - Imaging device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention includes a push button having a predetermined pressing stroke, detecting a pressing at two places, in the middle of pressing and at the time of completion of pressing, and giving a click feeling to the two stages of pressing and at the completion of pressing. The present invention relates to a photographing apparatus provided with the push button.

  A recent photographing apparatus has a predetermined pressing stroke, and detects pressing at two locations, in the middle of pressing and when the pressing is completed, and gives a click feeling to the two stages of pressing and at the completion of pressing. Many push buttons are used as release buttons. In the following description, halfway pressing is referred to as half pressing, and when pressing is completed is referred to as full pressing.

  FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of photographing processing when photographing is performed by operating a release button in a photographing apparatus in which the push button is provided as a release button.

  The release button in the description here is in the fully pressed state when pressed halfway, and returns to the original state when the finger is released without being pressed.

  In step S101, it is detected whether or not the release button has been half-pressed. If it is not half-pressed in this step S101, the process proceeds to the No side, and the process of step S101 is repeated. If it is half-pressed, the process proceeds to the Yes side. The processing of both AF) is started.

  When the shooting preparation process is completed in step S103 and the shooting preparation operation is completed, the focus setting and exposure setting performed during the shooting preparation operation are kept (indicated as lock in FIG. 1), and the next step S104 is performed. And wait for full press.

  If it is determined in step S104 that the fully-pressed operation has been performed, the process proceeds to the next step S105 to perform an exposure process that is a photographing process, and the process of this flow is terminated. If the half-pressed state is maintained without being fully pressed, the processes in steps S103 and S104 are repeated until the full-pressed operation is performed. If the release button is returned from the half-pressed state to the original state in step S104, the process returns to step S101 and the process of step S101 is performed.

  As described above, in order to prepare for shooting when half-pressed and to quickly perform shooting processing when fully pressed, the pushbuttons detected at two points during and after pressing are recently It is used in digital cameras. In addition, a click structure is provided in the push button to convey to the photographer that both the preparation for shooting and that the shooting has been performed, so that a click feeling can be provided both when half-pressed and when fully pressed. It is also given to the user. In this way, it is possible to give the photographer a suitable operation feeling when searching for the subject while keeping the half-pressed state or when returning to the original state from the half-pressed state. Become.

  By the way, in the push button as described above, by providing a two-step click structure inside the push button, as described above, a click feeling is given to the two steps of half-pressing and full-pressing and half-pressed. During this time, and during the period from half-pressing to full-pressing, an appropriate drag force is applied to the finger so as to give a suitable operation feeling to the user.

  However, the operation load is set to a predetermined value by considering that a suitable operation feeling is given from when the operation is started until it is half-pressed and also between when it is half-pressed and fully pressed. If a push button with a two-stage click structure that is adjusted so as to be provided is arranged in the photographing device, the response of the push button is poor when trying to photograph a subject such as a high-speed moving object with the photographing device. Thus, there is a case where the subject after the subject at the time of the photo opportunity moves is shot.

  Therefore, by making a pushbutton that shortens the stroke from half-press to full-press and deploying the pushbutton in the camera, improvements have been made so that it can be quickly moved from half-press to full-press. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, in the device described in Patent Document 1, the time between half-pressing and full-pressing becomes too short, and the preparation for shooting that should have been completed when half-pressed is not completed and is fully pressed. There is a risk of slipping.

  In order to prevent such a situation, a touch sensor (which may be a non-contact sensor such as an optical sensor) is arranged at the operation part of the release button, and as soon as the finger touches the release button, the preparation for shooting is started immediately. Some are made possible (see, for example, Patent Documents 2 to 4). In this way, preparation for photographing is started simply by touching the operation part of the release button, and it becomes easier to secure a longer time for preparation for photographing than before.

However, if a touch sensor (which is the same as a non-contact type optical sensor) is provided on the surface of the release button, even if no attempt is made to take a picture, one of the finger or hand is accidentally placed on the release button. There is a risk of touching the part. If a finger or part of the hand accidentally touches the release button in this way frequently, shooting preparation processing is performed each time the touch sensor is touched, and power is wasted. A problem occurs.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-230422 JP 2003-280076 A JP 2003-287799 A JP 2004-7221 A

  In view of the above circumstances, the present invention includes a push button that can ensure a long time from when it is in the middle of pressing without detecting power consumption until the completion of pressing is detected, and the push button. An object is to provide a photographing apparatus.

The push button of the present invention that achieves the above object has a predetermined pressing stroke, and detects the pressing at two places, in the middle of pressing and when the pressing is completed, and in two stages, in the middle of pressing and when the pressing is completed. In the pushbutton that gives a click feeling to
The click position in the middle of pressing is provided at a position where the press has advanced more than the detection position in the middle of pressing.

  According to the pushbutton of the present invention, since the click position in the middle of the depression is provided at a position where the depression has advanced from the detection position in the middle of the depression, the operation of the pushbutton is started and the operation is started. After being detected, a click feeling is given.

  As a result, a push button is realized in which the click feeling is given when half-pressed and fully pressed as before, and the detection that has been performed when half-pressed can be performed immediately after pressing.

  That is, even if a touch sensor or a light sensor is not provided at the operation site in order to ensure a long time for preparation for imaging as before, until the pressing completion is detected after the imaging apparatus is in the middle of pressing. Thus, it is possible to provide a push button capable of ensuring a long time and further reducing power consumption.

Here, the photographing apparatus of the present invention that achieves the above-described object has a predetermined pressing stroke, and detects pressing at two locations, in the middle of pressing and when the pressing is completed, It has a push button that gives a click feeling in two steps,
In the imaging device that performs shooting preparation in response to being pressed down to the detection position in the middle of pressing, and performs shooting in response to being pressed down to the detection position at the time of completion of pressing,
The above pushbutton
The click position in the middle of pressing is provided at a position where the press has advanced more than the detection position in the middle of pressing.

  According to the imaging apparatus of the present invention, by applying the push button of the present invention to the release button, an imaging apparatus is realized in which preparation of the imaging apparatus is started quickly and a long imaging preparation time is secured.

  In addition, since the photographing apparatus of the present invention achieves the above-mentioned problem by using the push button of the present invention without using a touch sensor or an optical sensor as in the past, the touch sensor (even an optical sensor). This also overcomes the disadvantage of wasting the power consumed when adding electrical components such as the same).

  That is, an imaging apparatus having a push button that can ensure a long time from when the pressing is completed to when the pressing completion is detected without increasing power consumption is realized.

  Here, the imaging preparation performed when the push button is pressed down to the detection position in the middle of pressing may include focus adjustment or may include exposure setting in addition to focus adjustment.

  According to the photographing apparatus of the present invention, there is provided a push button capable of ensuring a long time from when it is in the middle of pressing without increasing power consumption until the completion of pressing is detected, and the push button. An imaging device is realized.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.

  As an embodiment of the present invention, the configuration and operation of both the push button and the photographing apparatus to which the push button is applied will be sequentially described by taking an example in which the push button of the present invention is applied to the release button of the photographing apparatus. Go.

  First, the configuration of the photographing apparatus will be described.

  FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the digital camera 10 which is an embodiment of the photographing apparatus of the present invention as seen from diagonally above the front surface. FIG. 2A shows a diagram of the front of the digital camera 10 as viewed from diagonally above, and FIG. 2B shows a diagram of the back of the digital camera 10 as viewed from diagonally above. .

  The digital camera 10 shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) forms a subject image on an image sensor by a photographing optical system and records it in response to pressing of the push button according to the present invention applied to a release button. It is the imaging device which generates the image signal for use.

  In the center of the front surface of the digital camera 10 shown in FIG. 2A, a zoom lens barrel 10_1 having a photographing lens 10_1a, which is an optical zoom lens, is provided. Above the zoom lens barrel, a flash light emission window 10_2 for irradiating the subject with flash light when the field brightness is low, and the amount of flash light emitted toward the subject through the flash light emission window 10_2. A flash light control sensor 10_3 for adjusting the brightness is provided.

  The flash light control sensor 10_3 receives flash light that is reflected back from the subject when the flash light is irradiated toward the subject through the flash light emission window 10_2, and the flash light control sensor 10_3. Thus, when the amount of light received increases with time and reaches a predetermined value, control for automatically stopping the irradiation of flash light is performed by a control unit inside the digital camera. Next to the light control sensor 10_3, an optical viewfinder objective window 10_4 that is paired with an optical viewfinder eyepiece window (described later) on the back side is provided.

  A release button 10_11 to which the push button according to the present invention is applied is arranged on the upper surface of the digital camera.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, an optical viewfinder eyepiece window 10_12, a finder lamp 10_13 that is turned on when shooting preparation is completed or flashes during shooting, There are provided a mode switch 10_14 for switching between a mode and a reproduction mode, a zoom button 10_15 for zooming up to the wide-angle side (wide side) when pressed, and zooming up to the telephoto side (tele side) when pressed.

  Further, below the zoom button 10_15, a menu / OK button 10_16, a DISP button 10_17, and a BACK button 10_18 are provided. The menu / OK button 10_16 is a button for displaying various menus at the time of shooting or reproduction and determining a selected menu. The DISP button 10_17 is a button for switching the state of the screen displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 10_30 beside the button. For example, the display of the liquid crystal monitor 10_30 is turned on / off during shooting, and the character display is turned on during reproduction. Or turn it off. The BACK button 10_18 is a button for returning or canceling the operation state by the MENU / OK button 10_16 or the like.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the digital camera 10 shown in FIG.

  The circuit configuration will be described along the flow of the image signal. In FIG. 2, when the mode switch 10_14 is switched to the photographing mode side when the power is turned on, the through image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 10_30, and the release button to which the push button of the present invention is applied for the photo opportunity. Since the digital camera 10 that takes a picture when 10_10 is pressed is shown as an example, first, a circuit configuration related to the flow of an image signal related to display of a through image will be described.

  FIG. 3 also shows a photographic lens necessary for operating the circuit after the image sensor. FIG. 3 shows the main configuration of the photographic lens in order to show what the photographic lens is. The zoom lens 10_1a1 and the focus lens 10_1a2 which are elements are illustrated. The photographing lens 10_1a including these lenses forms image light representing the subject light on the CCD 10_41 by forming an image of the subject light on a subsequent image pickup device (herein, a CCD solid-state image pickup device is used, hereinafter referred to as a CCD). It is done.

  Hereinafter, it will be described how the CCD 10_41 generates an image signal and how the generated image signal is transmitted to a subsequent circuit.

  First, the flow of an image signal representing a through image displayed on the liquid crystal panel when the power is turned on and the mode switch is on the photographing mode side will be described.

  In order to cause the CCD 10_41 to generate an image signal for a through image, the CCD 10_41 is caused to repeatedly supply an exposure start signal and an exposure end signal to the CCD 10_41 at a predetermined cycle by a timing generator (not shown) under the control of the CPU 10_47 described later. Generation of an image signal representing a through image is performed every predetermined period. In response to the exposure end signal from the timing generator (not shown), after the exposure at the CCD 10_41 is ended, an image signal (hereinafter referred to as RGB signal) representing a through image that has been exposed almost simultaneously is output from the CCD 10_41. ing.

  When the RGB signal for the through image is output to the A / D conversion circuit 10_42 in this way, the analog RGB signal is converted into a digital RGB signal by the A / D conversion circuit 10_42, and the subsequent image input controller 10_43. To the bus line 10_100.

  The digital RGB signal for the through image guided to the bus line 10_100 by the image input controller 10_43 is supplied to the image signal processing circuit 10_44, and the image signal processing circuit 10_44 converts the digital RGB signal to the digital YC signal. Is done. The YC signal converted by the image signal processing circuit 10_44 is supplied to the video encoder 10_46, and an image based on the YC signal is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 10_30 by the video encoder 10_46. Since the YC signal is generated by the CCD 10_41 every predetermined cycle, an image based on the YC signal is switched and displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 10_30 every predetermined cycle. In this way, the subject in the direction in which the photographing lens 10_1a is directed is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 10_30 as a through image as it is.

  That is, even if the liquid crystal monitor 10_30 is viewed in place of the viewfinder without looking through the optical viewfinder, shooting can be performed by pressing the release button 10_11 at a shutter chance.

  Next, the flow of the image signal related to the shooting process in response to the pressing operation of the release button 10_11 will be described.

  The release button 10_11 provided in the photographing apparatus of the present embodiment has two operation modes of a half-press operation and a full-press operation, and each has two contact points 10_11A and 10_11B corresponding to the operation modes. Each of these contacts is connected to an input port of the CPU 10_47. When the operation of the release button 10_11 is started, one of the switches (hereinafter referred to as a first contact) 10_11B is released, so that the half-pressed state so far is detected by the CPU 10_47 before the half-press is operated. When the fully-pressed operation is performed, the other switch 10_11A (hereinafter referred to as the second contact) is connected and the CPU 10_47 detects that the switch is fully pressed as before. Although details will be described later, a push button according to the present invention is applied to the release button 10_11.

  In the digital camera 10 of this embodiment, the CPU 10_47 instructs the AE detection circuit 10_50 to perform exposure adjustment in response to the opening of the first contact 10_11B when the pressing operation of the release button 10_11 is started. At the same time, the AF detection circuit 10_51 is instructed to adjust the focus so that the exposure setting and the focus setting can be performed quickly in preparation for the full press.

  The AE detection circuit 10_50 detects the luminance necessary for setting the exposure, and causes the flash light emitting device 10_60 to emit flash light according to the detection result of the AE detection circuit 10_50, or the aperture (not shown). The opening diameter is adjusted. Also, the AF detection circuit 10_51 controls the subject contrast at each of a plurality of positions on the way when the motor driver 10_49 is instructed to move the focus lens 10_1a2 from the nearest point to the farthest point under the control of the CPU 10_47. Detection is performed, and processing is performed such that the peak of the subject contrast detected at each position is focused.

  Thus, after the exposure setting and focus adjustment are completed when the release button 10_11 is half-pressed, when the release button 10_11 is fully pressed, the subject light is focused on the CCD 10_41 with the exposure and focus when half-pressed, and a timing generator (not shown) is formed. The exposure start signal and the exposure end signal corresponding to the shutter speed are sequentially supplied. In accordance with the exposure end signal, the RGB signal is output to the CCD 10_41 toward the A / D conversion circuit 10_42, and then the RGB signal converted into the digital signal by the A / D conversion circuit 10_42 is bus-lined by the image input controller 10_43. 10_100.

  All the RGB signals guided to the bus line 10_100 are temporarily stored in the memory (SDRAM) 10_52, and then read out from the memory 10_52 and supplied to the image signal processing circuit 10_44. The RGB signal is converted into a YC signal by the image signal processing circuit 10_44, and the converted YC signal is supplied to the compression processing circuit 10_45 and JPEG compressed by the compression processing circuit 10_45. The JPEG-compressed YC signal is recorded on the recording medium 10_54 via the media controller 10_53.

  Here, the structure of the release button 10_11 that has been improved so as to start shooting preparations quickly in order to achieve the above-described problem will be described. A push button according to the present invention is applied to the release button 10_11.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of the release button 10_11 employed in the digital camera 10 shown in FIG. FIG. 4A shows the internal state of the release button 10_11 when it is not pressed, and FIG. 4B shows the internal state of the release button 10_11 immediately after the release button 10_11 is started to be pressed. The state of is shown. FIG. 4C shows the internal state of the release button 10_11 when the pressing of the release button 10_11 is further advanced than in the state of FIG. 4B to give a click feeling (corresponding to the half press until now). FIG. 4D shows the internal state of the release button 10_11 when the release button 10_11 is fully pressed.

  The release button 10_11 shown in FIG. 4 has a predetermined pressing stroke from the state of FIG. 4A to the state of FIG. 4D, and the pressing is in the middle of pressing (FIG. 4B). And at the time of completion of pressing (FIG. 4D), and a click feeling is given to the two stages of pressing (FIG. 4C) and completion of pressing (FIG. 4D). Is.

  The structure of the release button 10_11 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the press receiving part 10_111 of the release button 10_11 is inserted into a hole 10_A1 formed in the camera body 10_A. When the release receiving portion 10_111 of the release button 10_11 is attached to the camera body 10_A of the digital camera 10, the camera body 10_A of the camera body 10_A is disposed on the inside of the camera body 10_A so that the release button 10_11 is easily attached. An inner panel 10_B fixed to the inner wall is provided, and a release button is attached so that the press receiving portion is sandwiched between the inner panel 10_B and the inner wall of the camera body 10_A. Here, the pressing receiving portion 10_113 is well attached to the camera body 10_A by being urged by the spring 10_113 so as to press the flange portion 10_111A of the pressing receiving portion 10_111 against the inner wall of the camera body 10_A.

  By appropriately selecting the spring constant of the urging spring 10_113, an operation load when the pressing receiving portion 10_111 is pushed with a finger is determined. Further, the spring 10_113 is wound around the pressing shaft portion 10_112 provided to extend downward from the pressing receiving portion 10_111 so that the pressing receiving portion 10_51 can be pressed with a stable operation load at all times. is there.

  Further, when the press receiving part 10_111 is pressed, the inner panel 10_B is also provided with a hole 10_B1 so that the pressing shaft part 10_112 is lowered together with the press receiving part 10_111 and the tip thereof reaches the control board 10_114 on which the CPU 10_47 is mounted. It has been. In addition, two arcuate elastic bodies 10_115 and 10_116 are provided between the tip of the pressing shaft portion 10_112 and the substrate 10_114, and these elastic bodies 110_115 and 10_116 give a click feeling in two steps. It is supposed to be.

  Further, a conductive part 10_117 is attached to the surface of the inner panel 10B on the control board 10_114 side, and the conductive part 10_117 and a ground pattern formed on the control board 10_114 are connected by a wire 10_1171. A movable contact piece 10_118 constituting a part of the first detection part of the release button 10_11 is disposed so as to be in contact with the conductive part. The movable contact piece 10_118 is disposed so as to cross a direction in which the pressing shaft portion 10_112 extending downward from the press receiving portion 10_111 moves up and down, and one end portion side thereof is the conductive portion 10_117. The other end is fixed to a fixing portion 10_1141 provided on the control board 10_114. A conductive portion (not shown) is also formed on the opposite end portion side from one end portion side of the movable contact piece 10_118, and the conductive portion is connected to the ground pattern formed on the substrate 10_114 by the wire 10_1181. Has been.

  Further, the movable contact piece 10_118 is provided with a convex portion 10_1182 at a part thereof, and the convex portion 10_1181 is arranged to be urged upward in the drawing by the first elastic body 10_115. Therefore, in a state where the pressing operation unit 10_111 is not operated, the contact between the movable contact piece 10_118 and the conductive unit 10_117 is reliably maintained.

  With such a configuration, in a state in which the press receiving part 10_111 is not pressed, the contact between the movable contact piece 10_118 and the conductive part 10_117 is maintained and the press receiving part 10_111 starts to be pressed immediately. A release button 10_11 having a contact portion (corresponding to the first contact 10_11B shown in FIG. 3) whose end portion is separated from the conductive portion 10_117 and is opened is configured.

  Then, after the pressing operation is started, before the click feeling is given by the first elastic body 10_115, the state shown in FIG. 4A is changed to the state shown in FIG. 4B, and the movable contact piece 10_118 is electrically connected. When the contact with the unit 10_117 is released, it is detected that the first contact point 10_11B shown in FIG. Thereafter, when the pressing receiving portion 10_11 is further pressed, the first elastic body portion 10_115 gives the first click feeling as shown in FIG. 4C.

  That is, the click position in the middle of pressing of the press receiving portion 10_111 according to the present invention is provided at a position where the press has advanced more than the detection position in the middle of pressing.

  Further, when the pressing is further performed after the first-stage click feeling is given, the second-stage click feeling is given by the second elastic member 10_116 as shown in FIG. 4 (d). At this time, the conductive portion (not shown) formed on the surface of the second elastic member 10_116 on the side of the control board 10_114 is in contact with the two patterns on the control board 10_114 so that the separation pattern 10_1142 in the open state is opened. By changing to the short circuit state, the CPU 10_47 detects that the second contact point 10_11A shown in FIG.

  In this case, the CPU 10_47 can first instruct the AE detection circuit 10_50 and the AF detection circuit 10_51 to perform both focus setting and exposure setting when the pressing operation of the release button 10_11 is started. Further, a timing generator (not shown) is controlled when fully pressed, and the timing generator is supplied with an exposure start signal and an exposure end signal toward the CCD 10_41 to form an image of the subject when fully pressed on the CCD 10_41, and at the end of exposure, A / D An image signal representing the subject when fully pressed can be output to the change circuit 10_42.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the operation load applied to the release button and the pressing stroke.

  The vertical axis in FIG. 5 is the operation load, and the horizontal axis is the pressing stroke.

  As shown in FIG. 5, as soon as the release button 10_11 starts to be pressed without applying a significant operating load, the state shown in FIG. 4 (b) is reached and the contact between the movable contact piece 10_118 and the conductive portion 10_117 is released. It is possible to detect that the operation has started. After that, when the operation load is gradually applied and the push-down is advanced, the first elastic body 10_115 is deformed as shown in FIG. The portion indicated as half-pressed click in the figure is given to the user. Further, when the operation load is gradually applied and the push-down is advanced and the fully-pressed state shown in FIG. 4D is reached, the second click feeling is given by the first and second elastic members 10_115 and 10_116 and the second click is performed. The conductive portion 10_117 formed on the elastic member 10_116 contacts the two separation patterns 10_1142 on the control board 10_114 so that the separation pattern 10_1142 is short-circuited and fully pressed.

  By doing so, before the operation is started and the click feeling is given (in the state shown in FIG. 4B), the CPU 10_47 detects the half-pressed state so far, and the AE detection circuit 10_50 and the AF The detection circuit 10_51 can be instructed to start shooting preparation quickly. In other words, until now, the CPU has prepared the AE detection circuit and the AF detection circuit to prepare for shooting during a short time from the state shown in FIG. 4C to the state shown in FIG. However, according to the present invention, it is possible to prepare for shooting during a longer time than before until the state shown in FIG. 4B to FIG. 4D is reached. It is difficult for the focus setting and exposure setting to be delayed and the processing to shift when fully pressed.

  That is, it is possible to realize a push button that can secure a long time from when it is in the middle of pressing without increasing power consumption until the completion of pressing is detected, and an imaging device including the push button.

  As is clear from the structure shown in FIG. 4, by setting the spring constant of the spring 10_113 and the elastic coefficients of the two elastic bodies 10_115 and 10_116 as appropriate, the inclination when moving from half-pressing to full-pressing is half-pressed. Since it is also possible to make it steep compared to the inclination up to, it is possible to set the drag described in the specification of Patent Document 1.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the photographing process performed by the CPU 10_47 shown in FIG.

  In step S601, it is detected whether or not the pressing operation of the release button 10_11 is started. If the pressing operation of the release button 10_11 is not started in step S601, the process proceeds to the No side, and the process in step S601 is repeated. If the pressing operation is started, the process proceeds to Yes, and the shooting preparation in step S602 (in this example, the exposure process) (Both AE corresponding to AF and AF corresponding to in-focus position detection) are started. It should be noted that step S603 is not performed by the CPU 10_47, but is purposely included to indicate that a click feeling is given at this timing.

  When shooting preparation is started in step S602, the process proceeds to step S604 to perform shooting preparation processing, and when the shooting preparation operation is completed, the focus setting and exposure setting performed during the shooting preparation operation are maintained (in FIG. In step S605, a full press operation is awaited.

  If it is determined in step S605 that the full-press operation has been performed, the process proceeds to the next step S606, where an exposure process, which is a photographing process, is performed, and the process of this flow ends. On the other hand, if the full-press operation has not been performed, the processes in steps S604 and S605 are repeated until the full-press operation is performed. If the release button is returned from the half-pressed state to the non-pressed state in step S605, the process returns to step S601 to start the process from step S601.

  That is, by using a push button provided at a position where the click position in the middle of pressing is more advanced than the detection position in the middle of pressing, the preparation for shooting is started quickly, and the in-focus detection is shifted to the time of full pressing. An imaging apparatus that does not have such a situation is realized.

  In addition, since the click feeling is given to the photographer in the same way as before, it is possible to provide a comfortable operating environment without making the photographer feel difficult to use. Furthermore, since the operation load can be adjusted by devising the spring constant, the elastic coefficient of the elastic body, and the arrangement position, this adjustment can be applied to a high-speed moving body as in the case of Patent Document 1. It can also be a release button.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the CPU when the release button of the present invention is applied to an imaging apparatus equipped with a continuous AE function.

  A determination step is added to step S701 so that different processing is performed depending on whether the continuous AE is designated or not designated.

  If the continuous AE is not specified, the process proceeds to No in this determination step S701, and the photographing process is performed in the same processing procedure as in FIG. 6, and if the continuous AE is specified, the determination step. The process proceeds to Yes in S701, and only AF processing is performed in Step S602A.

  As described above, the continuous AE mode in which photometry is continuously operated before the release button is pressed and the continuous AF mode in which distance measurement is continuously operated before the release button is pressed are designated. If this is the case, reducing the time required for preparation for photographing by performing only photometry or distance measurement as shown in step S602A makes it possible to cope with cases such as photographing a faster moving body.

It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of an imaging | photography process when the push button is operated and imaging | photography is performed in the imaging device with which the push button is arranged. It is the external appearance perspective view which looked at the digital camera 10 which is one Embodiment of the imaging device of this invention from the front diagonally upward. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the digital camera 10 illustrated in FIG. 2. It is a figure which shows the structure of release button 10_11 employ | adopted as the digital camera 10 shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the relationship between the operation load of a pushbutton said to this invention, and a press stroke. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the imaging | photography process which CPU10_47 shown in FIG. 3 performs. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of CPU at the time of applying the release button of this invention to the imaging device with which the continuous AE function is mounted.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Digital camera 10_11 Release button 10_111 Press receiving part 10_112 Pressing shaft part 10_113 Spring 10_114 Control board 10_115 10_116 Elastic body 10_117 Conductive part 10_118 Movable contact piece 10_47 CPU
10_50 AE detection circuit 10_51 AF detection circuit

Claims (4)

A push button having a predetermined pressing stroke, detecting a pressing at two places, in the middle of pressing and at the completion of pressing, and giving a click feeling in two stages of pressing and at the completion of pressing ,
A press receiving part that is pushed down and lowered;
A conductive part for detecting a press in the middle of pressing;
A movable contact piece that maintains contact with the conductive portion when the press receiving portion is not pressed and is pressed by the press receiving portion when the press receiving portion starts to be pressed away from the conductive portion; ,
A push button, wherein a click position in the middle of pressing is provided at a position in which the movable contact piece is further pressed than a detection position where the movable contact piece is separated from the conductive portion . A push button that has a predetermined pressing stroke and that detects pressing at two locations, during pressing and when pressing is completed, and that provides a click feeling in two stages, both during pressing and when pressing is completed,
In the imaging device that performs shooting preparation in response to being pressed down to the detection position in the middle of pressing, and performs shooting in response to being pressed down to the detection position at the time of completion of pressing,
The pushbutton is
A press receiving part that is pushed down and lowered;
A conductive part for detecting a press in the middle of pressing;
A movable contact piece that maintains contact with the conductive portion when the press receiving portion is not pressed and is pressed by the press receiving portion when the press receiving portion starts to be pressed away from the conductive portion; ,
An imaging apparatus, wherein a click position in the middle of pressing is provided at a position in which the movable contact piece is pressed further than a detection position where the movable contact piece is separated from the conductive portion .     The photographing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the photographing preparation performed in response to the push button being pushed to a detection position in the middle of depression includes focus adjustment.     4. The photographing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the photographing preparation performed in response to the push button being pushed to a detection position in the middle of depression further includes an exposure setting.

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