JPH02304537A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily and quickly perform the photographing operation by moving a zoom lens to a prescribed position and setting a photographic condition setting system to a prescribed mode. CONSTITUTION:When a power switch or an initial switch 13 of a camera is turned on, a system controller 14 sets an AF driving control part 12, an AE control part 11, an AWB adjusting part 16, and a shutter driving device 15 to the initial state and generates an output signal. The system controller 14 receives the present position of a variable power lens (V lens group) 2 from an encoder 10 and sends the extent and the direction of movement of the V lens 2 to the short focal length (wide) end to a zoom lens driving device 19. The zoom lens driving device 19 outputs a V lens driving signal in accordance with this signal and drives a V lens driving motor 8 to move the V lens 2 to the wide end. Thus, the angle of view is smoothly determined at the time of starting to photograph, and the photographing is easily and quickly performed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a camera such as a video camera, and particularly to initialization of a zoom lens and autofocus when the camera is powered on.
This invention relates to a camera that initializes a control mode such as an aperture.

, [Prior Art] A zoom lens has a focal length that can be continuously changed by zooming, and the angle of view can be freely changed.
In particular, this effect can be effectively used in video cameras.

When shooting with a video camera, first turn on the camera's power switch, set the angle of view by zooming while looking through the viewfinder, and then press the trigger button to start shooting.Recently, video cameras use autofocus,
Advances in automation such as auto iris and auto white balance have made it possible for photographers to take flawless shots by simply deciding on the composition and pressing the trigger button.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Incidentally, people who are inexperienced in photography tend to take time to set autofocus, auto iris, and white balance switches, and to decide on a composition by looking through the viewfinder. In order to capture a good photo opportunity, it is necessary to turn on the camera, set the zoom switch to determine the zoom direction, etc., and quickly decide on the composition. Sometimes the position of the zoom lens is not specified, and it is undetermined where it is, so if you hold the camera and the zoom lens is at the telephoto end, it will be difficult to see what subject you are aiming at. It can also be said to be one of the causes of wasting unnecessary time.

Video cameras also have a switch to set whether to focus manually or automatically, a switch to set whether to control the aperture using average metering or center-weighted metering, a switch to set the shutter speed, etc. Various switches are provided, and it is troublesome for beginners to set each of these switches to which mode, which is also one of the reasons why it takes a long time to start shooting.

An object of the present invention is to move the zoom lens to a predetermined position and set shooting condition setting modes such as focusing mode and aperture control mode to a predetermined mode when the camera is powered on, so that even beginners can use the system. Easy to operate,
The purpose is to provide a camera that can quickly take pictures.

[Means for solving the problem] The gist of achieving the above object is to provide a zoom lens that drives a variable magnification optical system that changes the focal length using a lens drive means, and a camera that has multiple modes. One or more camera function setting means that can set the function to an arbitrary one; and when detecting that the power switch of the camera is turned on, the lens driving means is driven to move the variable magnification optical system to a predetermined position. The camera is also characterized by comprising: control means for initializing the camera function setting means to a predetermined mode.

[Function] In the camera configured as described above, when the power switch of the camera is turned on, the variable magnification optical system moves to a predetermined position, such as a short focal length position, and at the same time, the camera functions such as the focusing drive system and aperture control system are activated. The setting means is initialized to a predetermined mode.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a camera according to the present invention. Fig. 1 shows a video camera having a photographing optical system consisting of four groups numbered 1, 2° and 3.4;
4 is a variable magnification system that changes the focal length by moving along the optical axis (hereinafter referred to as the V lens group), and 4 is a focusing function and a function to correct the positional shift of the image plane caused by the movement of the V lens group 2. This is a rear relay lens group (hereinafter referred to as the RR lens group) that shares the following. 5 is an imaging member such as a CCD, 6 is a lens barrel, 7 is a cam barrel cut with a cam groove that controls and regulates the movement of the V lens group 2 by rotation of a drive motor 8, and 10 is a cam barrel 7; engaged by a gear,
A zoom encoder 11 detects the rotational position of the cam cylinder 7, that is, the absolute position of the V lens group 2. Reference numeral 11 is an aperture drive motor that operates a known aperture mechanism 11a. 12 is a pulse motor for moving the RR lens group 4; the pulse motor 1
2 drive gear t2a s Gear 1 meshing with the gear 12a
2b to rotate the screw shaft 12c.
By screwing the RR lens holding material 4a that is screwed into the
The RR lens group 4 is moved along the optical axis direction. Reference numeral 20 denotes a focus detection device that detects the contrast of the subject based on the video signal of the imaging member 5 and detects the focus state. 15 is a shutter drive device (not shown) that controls the shutter speed of a shutter; 16 is an auto white balance (AWB) adjustment unit that adjusts various light sources so that white is output as white; AE that automatically controls the mechanism 11a to adjust the aperture of the lens so that the amount of incident light is appropriate.
A control unit 18 is an autofocus (AF) drive control unit that controls the pulse motor 12 to automatically adjust the focus, and 19 is a zoom lens drive that controls the drive motor 8 to continuously change the focal length. 14 is a system controller that inputs input information as necessary, processes the data, and outputs control signals to each drive device 15 to 19; 9 is a power-up clear that generates a pulse when the video camera is powered on; 13 is an initial switch that initializes the state of each unit.

In the camera configured in this way, when the video (camera) power switch is turned on, the initial switch 13 is turned on.
At the time of operation, the system controller 14 controls each unit, that is, the AF drive control section 12, the AE control section 11. When the AWB adjustment unit 1B and the shutter drive device 15 are set to the initial state, an output signal is generated in conjunction with the
e) Send the amount of movement and direction to the zoom lens driving device 19 to determine how far it should move to the end. The zoom lens drive device 19 outputs a V lens drive signal in accordance with this signal, and (2) drives the lens drive motor 8 to move the V lens group 2 to the wide end.

Next, the operation procedure of the system controller 14 when the power of the camera configured as described above is turned on will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG. 2.

In step 1, check the state of the power switch, and if it is turned on, proceed to step 2.

Step 2 generates a power-up clear signal to bring the video camera into its initial state.

Step 3 initializes the AF drive control section 18. When switching between manual and auto focusing mode, it is automatically set to auto.

Step 4 initializes the AE control section 17.

For example, if there is a mode that allows switching between average photometry and center-weighted photometry, the mode on the average photometry side is automatically set.

Step 5 is to initialize the white balance.
The AWB adjustment section 16 is automatically set to the initial value in the auto side mode.

Step 6 initializes the shutter drive device 15 that controls the shutter speed to 0, for example, 1/1000°11500.
, 1760, etc., the standard value of 1760 is set.

Stepf reads the position information from the encoder 10 in order to know the current position of the V lens group at which the V lens group 2 should be initialized.

Step 8 is the V lens 2 from the position information of the encoder 10.
The direction and amount of movement toward the wide end are calculated, and an output signal is output to the zoom lens driving device 19.

Step 9 checks whether the V lens group 2 is at the Wide end based on the information from the zoom encoder 10, and
If it is not the end, proceed to step 7; if it is the wide end, proceed to step IO.

If there is no encoder, information on opening/closing of a switch provided at the Wide end can be used as a means for detecting whether it is set to Wide4.

In step 10, the zoom lens drive device stops the drive motor to stop the V lens 2 at the wide end.

Also, if you turn on the initial switch 13 during shooting,
The operations from step 3 onward are performed, and ■ Lens group 2 is set to Width.
AF while moving to the e end.

AE, AWB, and shutter speed are set to predetermined default value modes.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, when the power switch of the camera is turned on or the initialization setting switch is turned on, auto focus, auto iris,
By setting the zoom lens position to the wide end in conjunction with the initial settings of camera function setting means such as auto white balance and shutter drive, you can smoothly determine the angle of view at the start of shooting, making it easy even for beginners. It can be used to quickly take pictures without missing a photo opportunity.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a camera according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart. 2... Variable power lens (V lens group) 13... Initial switch 14... System controller 15... Shutter drive device 16... AWB adjustment section 17... Aperture control section 1
8...Auto focus drive 11Jal1 part 19...
・Zoom lens drive device and 4 other people Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A zoom lens that drives a variable magnification optical system whose focal length is changed by a lens driving means, and one or more camera function settings that allow a camera function having multiple modes to be set to any mode. means, and control means for driving the lens driving means to move the variable magnification optical system to a predetermined position and initializing the camera function setting means to a predetermined mode when the power switch on of the camera is detected. A camera 2 characterized in that, when an initialization signal is input from an initialization setting switch during shooting, the control means drives the lens driving means to move the variable magnification optical system to a predetermined position. 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the camera function setting means is initialized to a predetermined mode.