JPH0282763A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the wasteful consumption of a battery power source and to sufficiently secure the instantaneousness of a photographing operation by providing second and third modes in addition to a first mode which can accept all external operating commands as an operation control mode. CONSTITUTION:A first mode (on-mode) A, which accepts a switching operation from a switch group and the all external operating commands applied from the outside on a remote control basis, a second mode (standby mode) B, which accepts the command of the first group consisting of the operating command mainly concerning the photographing operation out of the external operating commands, and a third mode (off-mode) C, which accepts only the limited second group command or the single command rather than the first group, are set. Further, these modes are selectively fixed according to an operating condition, etc. Thus, the wasteful consumption of the battery can be prevented while the instantaneousness for the photographing operation is being secured.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an electronically controlled camera that ensures immediate response to photographing operations.

[Background Art] With the development of electronic control technology, cameras with various electronic control methods have been developed. This type of electronically controlled camera uses, for example, a microprocessor as a control unit, and electronically controls a series of shooting operations such as lens system aperture control, shutter speed control, exposure control, release control, and zooming control. It is something to control. Further, in an electronic still camera that records still image signals on a floppy disk, these photographing operations are similarly controlled, and magnetic recording control of photographed still image signals on the floppy disk is also electronically controlled.

Naturally, a battery is used as the driving source for this electronic photographic operation control, and the power switch is turned on (ON).
) to perform shooting operations. However, if you leave the power switch turned on during shooting, or forget to turn it off after shooting, the battery power will be consumed involuntarily, and the next time you try to shoot, the battery will run out of power. There is a risk that you will not be able to take pictures.

Therefore, recent electronically controlled cameras have a built-in function that automatically turns off the power switch when a certain amount of time has elapsed after the power switch is turned on and no shooting operations are performed. things are being done. Specifically, a camera is equipped with various switches for controlling a series of shooting, but if none of these switches are operated for a certain period of time (for example, one minute), The power switch is automatically turned off when it is assumed that the photographing operation has ended.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, there have been various problems regarding how much time to set until the power switch is turned off. For example, if the setting time until the power switch is turned off is shortened, if the interval period between images is long, the power will be turned off when the user tries to take a photo, causing a problem that the timing for taking the image will be missed. Furthermore, there has been a problem in that when the power switch is turned off, data such as exposure control values set for photographing are lost due to initialization.

On the other hand, if the setting time is made longer, there is a risk that the user may accidentally release the shirt while carrying the camera and forgetting to turn off the power switch.

In other words, it becomes impossible to fully utilize the automatic cutoff function of the power switch.

Particularly in the case of an electronic still camera, the operating noise accompanying the photographing operation is extremely low, so that an erroneous shirt release may not be noticed at all. Electronic still cameras tend to have a built-in mode for erasing still image signals magnetically recorded on floppy disks.
There was also a risk of involuntary deletion.

The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and its purpose is to improve operability to prevent involuntary consumption of battery power and to ensure sufficient quick response of photographing operations. Our goal is to provide high quality cameras.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The camera according to the present invention has a first mode that accepts all external operation commands related to photographing control as its operation control mode, and a first mode that accepts all external operation commands related to photographing control among the external operation commands. A second mode that accepts only a specific first group of instructions, and a third mode that accepts only a second group of instructions or a single instruction that is more limited than the specific first group.
The present invention is characterized in that these operating modes are selectively determined.

It also includes a display control means that makes it possible to identify which of the first to third modes the operation mode is in, and furthermore, when the operation mode is in the second mode, one of the commands of the first group a function that substantially extends the time in the second mode on the condition that the commands of the first group are given, and when the state in which the first group of commands is not given continues for a predetermined period of time while in the second mode. , is characterized in that it is provided with a timer for transitioning the operation mode to the third mode.

[Function] According to the present invention having such a control function, the following function is exhibited. That is, in addition to the first mode in which all external operation commands are accepted, there is a second mode in which only a specific first group of commands consisting mainly of operation commands related to photographing operations is accepted. When mode 2 is set, it is possible to prohibit all unwanted external operation commands, and it is possible to immediately carry out photographing operations in accordance with only natural operation commands related to photographing operations.

In other words, if the first mode is set to normal shooting mode when the power switch is turned on, all external operation commands can be accepted and shooting operations are performed when the operation mode is set, and the second mode is set to standby mode, which is used mainly for shooting operations. It becomes possible to return to the photographing mode by accepting only specific operation commands related to the photographing operation. If the third mode is a power off mode, for example, the second mode (
The camera transitions to this third mode only when the standby mode (standby mode) continues for a long period of time, and only accepts operation commands that are not directly related to shooting, making it possible to set the shooting mode unwillingly. This makes it possible to perform operations that never occur.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Although an example in which the present invention is applied to an electronic still camera will be described here, it goes without saying that it is equally applicable to general electronically controlled cameras using photographic film.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a control system of an electronic still camera according to an embodiment, and l is a control device consisting of a microprocessor or the like. Under the control of this control device 1, the photographing lens system 2 is controlled, the still image imaging system 3 is controlled via the photographing lens system 2, and the imaging system 3 is controlled.
Control is performed on the recording system 4 that records the still image signal determined by , and the display system 5 that displays the shooting mode and the like.

Note that 6 is a group of switches for inputting various photographing operation commands and the like by external operations, and 7 is a power supply unit that drives this control system.

However, in this electronic still camera, basically, a subject image input through a lens system 2 is photoelectrically converted in an imaging section 3a made of a CCD, etc., and then input as an image, and the manually-powered still image signal is inputted into a recording section 4a. The floppy disk 8 is configured to perform magnetic recording on the floppy disk 8. To record the still image signal on the floppy disk 8, the disk rotation control section 4c drives the motor 4d to rotate the floppy disk 8 at a predetermined speed under timing control based on a recording synchronization signal generated by the synchronization signal generation section 4b. It will be done. For example, 50 concentric recording tracks are formed on this floppy disk 8, and one still image is recorded on each recording track by a magnetic head 4f whose movement is controlled in the radial direction by a head access mechanism 48. This is done by recording.

In addition, 4g is a PG sensor that detects a predetermined rotational reference position of the floppy disk 8, 4h is a disk-in sensor that detects the attachment of the floppy disk 8, and 41 is a setting that prevents the floppy disk 8 from accidentally erasing recorded information. This is a protect sensor that detects whether or not the

Further, 4j is a position sensor for detecting the recording track access position of the floppy disk 8 by the magnetic head 4r.

Here, the control for the lens system 2 can be roughly divided into three types. One of them is exposure control, and the photometric sensor 2
The exposure control section 2b drives the AE drive section 2c in accordance with the brightness information of the subject photometered by a, and controls the aperture value of the lens system 2, thereby optimizing the imaging exposure value. Another one is focusing control, in which the in-focus position is determined from the so-called phase difference signal of the subject detected by the AF sensor 2d, and the helicoid of the lens system 2 is driven by the AF drive unit 2e. This consists of control for aligning the focus on the subject. The remaining control is zooming control, which consists of controlling the zoom drive section 2f to variably set the focal length of the lens system 2 in accordance with a switch operation, which will be described later.

By controlling the lens system 2 in this way, the lens system 2
The photographing angle of view for the subject is determined by the zooming, and with the focus position on the subject being adjusted by the AF control, exposure is optimized by the AE control and still image photography (imaging) is performed. It goes without saying that this imaging process is performed in conjunction with the shirt release operation.

In this way, the control device l connects the battery 7a to the power supply circuit 7.
It operates by receiving a predetermined power supply through b.

The power supply control section 1a controls the operation of the power supply circuit 7b to generate the power necessary for the operation of each section, and also checks the output voltage of the battery 7a detected by the voltage reduction check section 7c. Part ib is used to monitor battery capacity shortage.

Here, this control device l basically includes the switch group 6.
The switch processing unit 1c detects the selective operation, and starts a processing operation according to the switch operation. That is, when the power is turned on by operating the power switch [POVERI], the camera mechanism is operated, and control processing is executed in accordance with the switch operation. Here, by pressing the power switch [POVERI], the power is turned on and off alternately.

Specifically, the control process according to this switch operation is [E
JECT] switch to eject the floppy disk 8 attached to the camera body, and also [ZOOM WIDEI [ZOOM SET] c7)
In response to the 7° switch operation, the zoom control section 1d is activated to operate the zoom drive section 2r, thereby controlling the zooming of the lens system 2. Further, prior to the recording operation, the control section 1 drives the head access mechanism 48 under the control of the access control section 11. Then, the magnetic head 4r accesses a predetermined recording track by the position sensor 4j.

It is also turned on in order according to the shirt release operation [T
RIG l] [TRl02] The following processing is performed in response to the switch operation.

That is, by operating the switch of [RRIG 11, the AE control unit 1e is first activated and the AF drive unit 2e focuses the lens system 2, and at the same time, the AE timing control unit I
f' is started and the exposure control value is determined by the exposure control section 2b. Furthermore, at this time, the control device 1 drives the disk rotation control section 4C under the control of the rotation command section 11. This disk rotation control section 4c receives the PG from the PG sensor 4g.
The rotation of the motor 4d is controlled so that the vertical synchronization signal from the double signal back synchronization signal generating section 4d is maintained in a predetermined relationship.

After that, when [TRIG 2] is operated,
The control device 1 causes the AE drive unit 2c to perform exposure control based on the exposure value described above. After that...

The timing control section tg and the photographing control section 1h are activated at the next timing, and the above-mentioned imaging section 3a and recording section 4a are activated.
are driven respectively to capture and input a subject image via the lens system 2. Then, the recording control section 1k controls the recording section 4a.
A still image signal is read from the floppy disk 8 and recorded on the floppy disk 8.

At this time, the data multiplexing unit im is started according to the data imprinting mode set as necessary, and the calendar control unit I
The calendar information obtained at n is multiplexed with the still image and recorded on the floppy disk 8.

Note that 1o is an input unit for inputting information detected by the disk-in sensor 4h, and tp is an input unit for inputting information detected by the protect sensor 4I. Also IQ
is an operation mode control section that controls the overall operation mode of the camera. This operation mode control section 19 allows
As will be described later, photographing operation control is performed to ensure operability of the camera.

The processing functions of the control device 1 described above execute basic control regarding the photographing operation. However, in this control device 1, not only these basic processing controls, but also the display of various photographic information by the LED display control section 1r and the LCD display control section Is are controlled, and furthermore, the setting control of the photographing mode, etc. It will be done.

Specifically, according to the operation of the [B11zl switch, various warning buzzer sounds are set, and according to the operation of the [Continuous/Single] switch, the imaging is performed singly in response to the shirt release operation. (single shooting) or continuous shooting (quick shooting). Also [5E
Set the self-timer shooting mode according to the operation of the LF TIMERI switch, and set the flash photography mode according to the operation of the [1'RAs old switch]. Furthermore, [T
IME 1] [TIME 2] switch is used to set time information, which will be described later.

By the way, to explain the display system 5 mentioned above, this display system 5 includes a viewfinder display section 5 consisting of an LED display that displays photographing conditions, etc. within the viewfinder field of the camera.
a, and a display panel 5b consisting of an LCD display that is exposed and incorporated into the camera housing.

The viewfinder display section 5a is driven by the LED display section 1r, and the display panel 5b is driven by the LCD control section 1s.
Driven by. The display section 5a in the finder and the display panel 5b basically display the same information, but in some cases some of the information displayed on the display panel 5b is omitted and displayed in the finder. Part 5a
may also be displayed.

To briefly explain the information displayed on the display panel 5b, the displayed information regarding the shooting operation includes the information of rsINGLEJ rcONTJ indicating whether the shooting is single shooting or continuous shooting, and the frame rate at which the shooting is performed in the case of quick shooting. There is numerical information in a two-digit, 7-segment display indicating whether or not the shooting is being performed, and numerical information in a two-digit, seven-segment display indicating the number of shooting frames (shooting recording track number). Also displayed are information indicating that preparations for flash photography are complete (charging of the flash is complete), information indicating that the flash photography will be performed using automatic flash control, and information indicating that the flash photography mode has not been set. Furthermore, information indicating that self-timer photography is set and information indicating that a mode is set in which various warnings are issued by sounding a buzzer or the like are displayed.

The display panel 5b also displays information indicating the state of the floppy disk, and information indicating that information has already been recorded on all recording tracks of the floppy disk 8. Information such as rPROTEcT J is displayed indicating that measures have been taken to prevent erasure of the deleted information. Furthermore, as the operating mode of the camera, rERASE J is displayed to indicate the erase operation status for the floppy disk 8, and rsTAND B is displayed to indicate the operation standby state.
YJ is also displayed on the display panel 5b.

In addition to this display information, a display section for warning of insufficient capacity of the battery power source and a clock display section for selectively displaying the year, month, day, or hours, minutes, and seconds are also incorporated into the display panel 5b as auxiliary information. ing.

In the electronic still camera configured as described above, the present invention is characterized in that its operation mode is a first mode that accepts switch operations from switch group B described above and all external operation commands given remotely from the outside.
mode (on mode) A, and a specific first mode consisting of operation commands mainly related to photographing operations among the external operation commands.
A second mode (standby mode) B that accepts group commands, specifically zooming, trigger (shirt release), power on, and eject commands, and a second mode B that is more limited than the specific first group mentioned above. A third mode (off mode) C in which only commands or single commands are accepted, specifically only power-on and, if necessary, eject commands.
The present invention is characterized in that these modes are selectively determined depending on the operating state and the like. More specifically, in addition to conventional cameras that only have two modes, On Mode A and Off Mode C, to control camera operation, the present invention has a new standby mode. It is characterized by setting mode B.

As shown in the mode transition diagram in Figure 2, this characteristic standby mode is activated when the switch is not operated for a period of time when the on mode is set. This mode sets the operation to a standby state while maintaining the setting conditions necessary for shooting, without changing to the standby state. Then, when a state in which no equivalent switch operation is performed in this standby mode B continues for a certain period of time or more, that is, when the above-mentioned specific operation command is not given, it is determined that the power switch has been forgotten to be turned off. A transition to off mode C is made. In this way, the standby mode B functions as a buffer for switching from the on mode A to the off mode C.

Therefore, when the power switch [POVER] is turned on, the mode set at that time is checked (step a) as shown in Figure 3, and the on mode is set when the standby mode B or off mode C is selected. . Note that if on mode A is set when the power switch [POVER] is turned on, this switch operation is interpreted as a power off command and off mode C is set.

When ON mode A is set, all operation commands related to the camera operation described above are accepted, and processing operations corresponding to the operation commands are executed. That is, as shown in the flow of processing in FIG. 3, when setting ON mode A, first the shooting mode is initialized (step b),
For example, automatic strobe firing mode, self-timer off,
Buzzer-on and single-shot modes are set respectively. The initial settings are then displayed on the display section of the display system 5 (step C).

In this state, the internal timer starts from "02" (step d), and it is determined whether the time elapsed by this timer exceeds a predetermined time (for example, 1 minute) (step d). When the time has not exceeded the predetermined time, the state of switch group B is checked and an external operation command is accepted (steps f, g).If no external operation command is given by switch operation, the predetermined time is The process of accepting external operation commands is repeatedly executed until the time period elapses.

When an external operation command is given by operating a switch, the designated information is displayed according to the contents of the command (step h), and a processing operation corresponding to the operation command is executed (step i). After executing the commanded processing operation, the process returns to step d, resets the timer to mOm, and repeats the above-described processing operation.

With such processing control, in the on mode, all external operation commands are accepted and predetermined camera operations are executed.

However, if an external operation command is accepted in the process of ON mode A (step f), and the external operation command is the operation of the power switch I POVERI described above, the process returns to step a. In this case, since it is in the on mode state, the transition to off mode C is directly performed (step a).

Here, this on mode A is basically canceled by operating the power switch [POVERI] and shifts to off mode C, but the power is not turned off even after shooting is completed, and no operation is performed. On mode A may remain set continuously without any command being given. In such a case, a timeout is detected in the process of steps d and e described above.

However, when this timeout is detected, the operating mode is shifted from on mode A to standby mode B, and as shown in FIG. 3, first, standby mode B is displayed (step j). When transitioning to standby mode B, the setting data such as photographing conditions set in on mode A are saved as they are. Then, the timer is set to "0", the time measurement is started (step k), and it is monitored whether a specific external operation command is input within the timer measurement time (for example, 5 minutes) (step z, m). In other words, in this standby mode, only zoom operation commands, trigger commands, and power-on commands directly related to shooting are accepted, and when these specific operation commands are given, the camera immediately returns to the above-mentioned on mode A. do. Then, the instructed processing operation is executed (steps h, i).

On the other hand, even though standby mode B is set, if the state in which no external operation command is given continues for the above set time, for example, 5 minutes, and the timeout occurs, the off mode is set. Move to C (step i). In this case, turn off the above-mentioned display (step n) and turn off the power (step 0). In this case, the ejection of the floppy disk 8 commanded by the switch operation is regardless of the above-mentioned modes. (step p). When this eject operation is performed, the operating mode is set to off mode C, regardless of the operating mode at that time.

Through such processing control, the operation mode is transition controlled as shown in FIG.

With the newly set standby mode, when a specific operation command directly related to the above-mentioned photographing operation is given during this standby mode, the photographing processing operation is started immediately.

In this way, according to the present camera that controls the photographing operation by setting the operation mode as described above, the operation mode is set to change depending on the situation in which an external operation command is given, so that it is possible to control the photographing operation even when the photographing interval is long. Even if the user performs a specific operation directly related to photographing, it is possible to switch from standby mode to on mode and perform the photographing immediately by performing a natural photographing operation.

Since the off mode is set only when the standby mode lasts for a long time, it is possible to prevent wasteful battery consumption due to turning on the power and prevent the shirt from being released inadvertently. In other words, depending on the standby mode setting,
It is possible to perform photographing operations that reflect photographing intentions, and to effectively prevent erroneous operations.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and, for example, the time-off time for mode transition, etc. may be determined according to the specifications. The types of operation commands that can be accepted in the second mode (standby mode) may also be determined according to the specifications. In short, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist thereof.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to achieve great practical effects such as ensuring immediate response to shooting operations and effectively preventing erroneous operations and wasteful battery consumption by automatically turning off the power. is played.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a control system of an electronic still camera according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the transition of operation modes in the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing control processing according to the operation mode. It is a diagram showing a flow. l...control device, 2...lens system, 3 imaging system, 4...
... Recording system, 5... Display system, 6... Switch group, 7
...power supply section, A...first mode (on mode),
B...Second mode (standby mode), C...
Third mode (off mode). Figure 2

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A first mode that accepts all external operation commands;
A second mode that accepts only a specific first group of commands mainly consisting of operation commands related to photographing operations among the external operation commands, and a second mode that accepts commands of a second group more limited than the specific first group or single commands. A camera characterized by comprising control means for selectively determining a third mode in which only commands are accepted. (2) The camera according to claim (1), further comprising display control means that makes it possible to identify which of the first to third modes the operating mode is in. (3) In the camera according to claim (1) or (2), when the camera is in the second mode, the second command is A time limit for substantially extending the time in the mode and transitioning the operating mode to a third mode when a state in which the first group of commands is not given while in the second mode continues for a predetermined period of time; A camera characterized by being equipped with means.