JPH01231484A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain extension of photographing shot number by detecting a power voltage level so as to inhibit a range finding and focus drive thereby saving electric power. CONSTITUTION:After application of a switch 220N, a voltage of a battery 10 is checked repetitively for each photometric operation of a photometric/ dimmer system 1 and of a photometric system 3. When the voltage of the battery 10 is decreased and a little higher than an operation inhibition level, the range finding of the range finding system 2 and the drive of the lens 12 are not implemented and an aperture drive system 13 is stopped as less as possible so as to obtain the object field depth sufficiently thereby calculating a shutter second. Thus, the power consumption of a power supply 9 is minimized and the photographing time is expanded at a maximum.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an electronic camera that uses a battery as a power source to take pictures.

[Prior Art] Still and movie video cameras powered by NiCd batteries or lead-acid batteries have been widely known. Since this type of camera requires a large amount of power for the device (mechanical) drive system and imaging system, it is necessary to perform a battery check to ensure that power is properly supplied to each prefecture.

A low battery warning then informs the user of a request to replace the battery. However, if there is no charged battery, the user will continue to take pictures until the camera stops operating, so there is a limit to the number of shots that can be taken.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Therefore, it has been reported that even though the user would like to continue taking pictures, there are cases where the user is forced to give up on taking pictures because there is no charged battery.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic camera that can increase the number of shots by saving power.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the electronic camera of the present invention stops each operation of the distance measuring means and the means for driving the lens to a focused point when the power supply voltage is below a certain level. It is equipped with a means to prohibit.

[Operation] According to the present invention, when the power supply voltage is below a certain level,
By disabling autofocus (AF) and shooting with aperture, power consumption is minimized and shooting time is maximized.

[Embodiment] Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic camera which is an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a photometry/light adjustment system, 2 is a distance measurement system, 3 is a colorimetry system,
4 is a strobe system, 5 is a system control system, 6 is a light emitting diode (LED) display system, 7 is a clock and switch detection system, 8. IO is a battery, 9 is a power supply system, 1
1 is a mechanical drive system, 12 is a lens, 13 is an aperture drive system, 1
4 is a shutter drive system, 15 is a CCD, 16 is a timing generator, 17 is a signal processing system, 18 is a magnetic recording system, 19 is a deck control system, 20 is a servo drive system, 21 is a motor, 21' is a disk, 22 .23.24.25 is a switch (SW).

In the electronic camera configured as shown in FIG.
input the source. And deck control system 19. A disk motor 21 is driven via a servo drive system 20. Thereafter, photometry and colorimetry are performed using the photometry/dimmer system 1 and the colorimetry system 3. At that time, if the ON state of 5W23 is detected, the distance measurement system 2 measures the distance. And mechanical drive system 1
1 to drive the lens 12 based on distance measurement information obtained by the distance measurement system 2. Furthermore, the system control system 5 calculates the aperture and shutter speed based on the photometric information obtained from the photometry/light control system 1, and the aperture drive system 13 drives the aperture. Then, the shutter drive system 14 is run, and the timing generator 16 controls the CC.
0 and above, in which D 15 is read out and recorded on the disk 21' by the magnetic recording system 18 via the signal processing system 17, is a normal photographing sequence of an electronic camera.

Here, after 5W22 is turned on, the voltage of the battery 10 is repeatedly checked for photometry by the photometry/dimmer system 1 and colorimetry by the colorimetry system 3. Next, if the voltage of the battery IO drops and is slightly above the operation prohibition level (battery replacement request level)
The sequence will be explained. After 5W22 is turned on, the photometry of the photometry/dimmer system 1 and the colorimetry of the colorimetry system 3 are performed in the same manner.

Next, after 5W23 is turned on, the distance measurement system 2 and the lens 12
is not driven, and the aperture drive system 13 narrows down the aperture as much as possible to obtain a sufficient depth of field based on the photometry information from the photometry/light control system 1, and calculates the shutter time with AV priority.

Then, at that shutter time, the shutter drive system 14 is driven to run the shutter, and similarly image capture, signal processing, etc.
Perform recording operations.

In the above embodiment, an example was shown in which distance measurement and focus driving are prohibited after the battery voltage drops to the level that requires battery replacement. If it is clear that the depth of field can be obtained, the system control system 5 may omit the focus drive for driving the lens to the in-focus point.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention makes it possible to extend the number of photographic shots by saving power by prohibiting ranging operations and focus driving depending on the power supply voltage level.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic camera that is an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure. 1: Photometry/light control system 2: Distance measurement system 3: l! I color system 5 system control system 62 LED display system 7: Clock and switch detection system 8.10: Battery 9: Power supply system 11: Mechanical drive system 12: Lens 13: Aperture drive system
14: Shutter 16: Timing generator 17: Signal error system 18: Magnetic recording system 19: Deck control system 21: Motor 21': Disk 22-2
5: Switch agent patent attorney 1) Haru Kitatake,

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A photometer and a means for determining the aperture value and shutter time based on the information from the photometer, a distance measurement means and a means for driving the lens to the focal point based on the information from the distance measurement means, and a power supply voltage. In an electronic camera having means for checking and means for determining the operation sequence based on the voltage value from the means, when the power supply voltage is below a certain level, the distance measuring means and the means for driving the lens to the in-focus point are An electronic camera characterized by comprising means for prohibiting each operation. (2) The electronic camera according to claim (1) includes means for prohibiting focus drive when it is determined based on the distance information and the aperture value that the current position of the lens is within the in-focus range. An electronic camera characterized by: