JPH03120969A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent overlooking of a precious shutter chance by stopping charging when a shutter release or zooming is requested while a strobo device is being charged to execute the shutter release or zooming with priority. CONSTITUTION:When a recording/reproducing button 23 is set to the position of recording, a CPU 13 sends a charge control signal to a charging circuit 12 to start charging to a strobo device 11. The CPU 13 always monitors the charging state signal fed from the charging circuit 12 and detects whether or not a trigger signal by the depression of a shutter release button 24 is generated when the charging voltage does not reach a specified value to continue the charging when no trigger signal is generated. On the other hand, when the production of the trigger signal is detected, the charging to the strobo device 11 is stopped to execute the trigger processing with priority. Thus, a precious shutter chance is not overlooked.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to an electronic camera that records a still image of a subject, and particularly to an electronic camera that records a still image of a subject, and in particular an image signal that reimages the subject ↑ and represents the still image information in response to a shirt release. an imaging device that outputs an image signal, a recording device that processes an image signal from the imaging device and records it on an erasable recording medium, and a strobe device that irradiates the subject with illumination light as necessary; The present invention relates to an electronic camera that uses a battery to supply power to an imaging device, a recording device, and a strobe device.

(Prior Art) The above-mentioned electronic camera is known, and compared to a still camera that uses ordinary silver halide film, it is possible to immediately view captured images without going through troublesome processes such as developing, printing, and fixing. When compared to video cameras that record moving images using magnetic tape, they have the advantage of being simple and compact in construction, convenient to handle, and inexpensive. It is establishing itself as an image recording device positioned between a still camera and a video camera. Among such electronic cameras, those developed especially for home use usually have a built-in strobe device for illuminating the subject, since they are often used indoors. Furthermore, a 2-inch floppy disk is used as a recording medium. When using such a floppy disk, it is rotated at high speed by a spindle motor to record image signals, but in order to stabilize the rotation of the floppy disk in a short period of time, a fairly efficient spindle motor is required. It is necessary to use a high
Power consumption becomes considerably high. On the other hand, in electronic cameras, batteries are used to provide energy to various circuits, drive a spindle motor, and charge a capacitor in a strobe device. As mentioned above, the power consumption of the spindle motor is large, so if, for example, a strobe device is charged and the spindle motor is driven at the same time, the rotation of the spindle motor may become unstable or the power supply voltage of the signal processing circuit may become unstable. If the value becomes lower than the specified value, normal recording cannot be performed. Therefore, conventional electronic cameras are configured so that the spindle motor does not rotate while the strobe device is being charged. That is, while the strobe device is being charged, the camera is configured so that no imaging operation is performed even if the shirt release button is pressed.

Then, the user is informed that charging of the strobe device is completed. Such a configuration is widely used not only in electronic cameras but also in automated still cameras.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in conventional electronic cameras equipped with a strobe device, the shirt release operation is prohibited while the strobe device is being charged, and the shirt release operation is disabled after charging of the strobe device is completed. Since the camera is configured to allow a release operation, it has the drawback of missing a photo opportunity. Particularly in the recording of still images, it is important to capture a momentary scene, so it is a serious drawback that the shutter release operation must wait until the strobe device is fully charged.

In order to overcome these drawbacks, for example, increasing the capacity of the battery can be considered, but this has the disadvantage that the battery becomes large and heavy, and therefore the electronic camera also becomes large and heavy.

The above-mentioned drawbacks are not limited to when the shutter release is performed while the strobe device is being charged, but also occur in electronic cameras in which the zoom lens is driven by an actuator such as a motor, for example. . In other words, if the zoom lens motor is driven while the strobe device is being charged, the power supply voltage will drop as described above and satisfactory operation will no longer be obtained. Inside the camera, the zoom lens is not driven, and even in such a case there is a drawback that a photo opportunity may be missed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic camera that eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks and allows the shutter release and zoom lens actuator to be driven even while the strobe device is being charged so that valuable photo opportunities are not missed. That is.

(Means and Effects for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides an imaging device that images a subject in response to a shirt release and outputs the image signal, and a recording medium that processes the image signal from the imaging device. In an electronic camera, the electronic camera is equipped with a recording device that records images, and a strobe device that generates illumination light for illuminating a subject, and in which power to the imaging device, the recording device, and the strobe device is supplied by a battery. If another operation is performed while the charging operation is being performed, the charging operation to the strobe device is stopped and the other operation is performed with priority. .

In such an electronic camera of the present invention, if a shirt release operation or an electric zoom lens is performed while the strobe device is being charged, charging of the strobe device is stopped, and the shirt release operation or zoom operation is stopped. Since the lens actuator is driven preferentially, there is no chance of missing a valuable photo opportunity.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of an electronic camera of the present invention. An image of a subject 1 is formed by an objective lens 2 onto an image sensor 3 made of a solid-state imager such as a CCD. In this embodiment, the focus is automatically adjusted, and for this purpose, the front lens 2a of the objective lens 2 is moved back and forth by an autofocus actuator 4 to adjust the focus. Further, the objective lens 2 is constructed as a zoom lens, and the zoom actuator 5 moves intermediate lenses 2b and 2c in opposite directions to perform magnification change. A diaphragm 6 is disposed behind the objective lens 2, and is configured to be controlled by an diaphragm actuator to perform optimal exposure. In order to detect the brightness of the subject 1, a half mirror 8 is disposed between the aperture 6 and the image sensor 3, and is configured to reflect a part of the light from the subject and make it enter the photometric sensor 9. The photometric sensor 9 is configured to be able to detect the brightness of the central portion of the screen as well as the brightness of the peripheral portion. The output of the photometric sensor 9 is supplied to an integrating circuit 10 to perform time integration and measure the brightness of the subject l.

In this example, a strobe device 11 is provided so that when the subject 1 is dark, the strobe device is activated to illuminate the subject with illumination light. Various modes can be considered for the light emission mode of the strobe device 11, but in this example, an automatic light emission mode is provided so that the strobe device automatically emits light when the brightness of the subject 1 detected by the photometric sensor 9 is dark. ing. In addition, since the light metering measures the center and peripheral areas of the screen, even if the overall brightness is sufficient, if the brightness of the center area is darker than the peripheral areas, it is determined that there is backlight and the strobe is set. It is configured so that it can emit light and perform so-called daytime synchronization automatically. A charging circuit 12 is connected to the strobe device 11 to charge the strobe device. In this example, since the automatic flash mode is adopted as described above, the electronic camera is configured so that the charging circuit 12 can automatically charge the strobe device 11 when the electronic camera is set to the recording mode. For this reason, the charging circuit engineer 2 has a strobe device 1.
The charging voltage of the capacitor provided in the capacitor 1 is detected and the charging state of the capacitor is transmitted to the central processing unit (CPU) 13. The CPU 13 includes the above-mentioned autoflash 7 actuator 4. Zoom actuator 5, aperture actuator 7, integrating circuit 10, strobe device 11
is also connected to the system, allowing it to capture necessary information and control various operations.

The image sensor 3 made of a CCD is connected to a CCD drive circuit 14 whose operation is controlled by a CPU 13, and is configured to take an image at a predetermined timing and output an image signal. This image signal represents a still image. The image signal output from the image sensor 3 is supplied to an image signal processing circuit 15 having a variable gain amplifier and subjected to necessary processing. The gain of the variable gain amplifier of this image signal processing circuit 15 can be controlled by the CPU 13. The image signal output from the image signal processing circuit 15 is further supplied to a modulation circuit 6 and subjected to, for example, SK modulation, and then supplied to a recording/reproduction amplifier 17. In this example, a 2-inch floppy disk 18 is used as the recording medium, and the recording/
The modulated image signal supplied from the reproducing amplifier 17 is recorded on a predetermined track of the floppy disk by the magnetic head 19. The floppy disk 18 is set in a floppy disk driver 20, and the floppy disk driver is driven and controlled by giving commands from the CPU 13. The floppy disk driver 20 is provided with a spindle motor for rotationally driving the floppy disk 18, and in normal operation, the rotation of the spindle motor is started by pressing down the shank release button in the first step. There is. In this way, in an electronic camera, the spindle motor that rotates the floppy disk 18 is always stopped.
Since the floppy disk is started when the shirt is released, it is necessary to rotate the floppy disk to a stable state within a short period of time, and therefore it is necessary to use a spindle motor with a large capacity. Therefore, a particularly large amount of electric power is required when starting the spindle motor. For example, if the strobe device 11 is being charged at this time, the voltage drop will be large, making the operation of the electronic circuit unstable and causing the rotational speed of the floppy disk to decrease. The predetermined rotation speed may not be reached, or it may take a long time to reach the predetermined rotation speed. Such a phenomenon also occurs when the zoom actuator 5 attempts to change the magnification of the zoom lens 2 while the strobe unit W11 is being charged. In order to solve this problem, the present invention forcibly stops the charging operation when the shirt release operation or the zoom lens 2 is driven while the strobe device 11 is being charged. The shirt release operation and the drive of the zoom lens are executed preferentially.

In this example, it has a function of reproducing image information recorded on a floppy disk 18, and is configured to supply a signal reproduced by a magnetic head 19 to a demodulation circuit 21 via a recording/reproducing amplifier 17. The configuration is such that the signal from the demodulation circuit 21 can be supplied to the outside from an output terminal 22 as a reproduced image signal.

Although various operating members and display devices are connected to the CPU 13, only representative ones are shown in FIG.

The record/playback button 23 is used to set the electronic camera to recording mode and playback mode, and as described above,
In the recording mode, the CPU 13 sends a charging control signal to the charging circuit 12 to charge the capacitor of the strobe device 11. It also sends a signal to the recording/reproducing amplifier 17 to set it to the recording state. When setting the playback mode, the strobe device 11 is not charged and the recording/playback amplifier 17 is
is set to play state. A shirt release button 24 is further connected to the CPU 13. This shirt release button 24 is configured as a two-stage switch,
A first trigger signal is generated when the device is pressed down at the first stage, and a second trigger signal is generated when the device is pressed down at the second stage.

When the first trigger signal is supplied to the CPU 13, the spindle motor of the floppy disk driver 20 is started as described above, and the signal from the ranging sensor 25, which is provided separately from the imaging system, is taken in and the distance to the object L is taken. , and sends a signal to the autofocus actuator 4 to move the front lens 2a of the objective lens 2 so that a focused subject image is formed on the image sensor 3. At the same time, the CPU 13 receives a signal indicating the charging state of the capacitor of the strobe device 11 from the charging circuit 12.
Based on the charging state and the brightness information from the integrating circuit 10, the required aperture value and shutter speed value are calculated, and the gain value of the variable gain amplifier of the image signal processing circuit 15 is calculated. Based on the aperture value obtained in this manner, the CPtJ13 sends a signal to the aperture actuator tough to drive the aperture 6 so as to obtain optimal exposure.

Since this example employs an electronic shutter function, the shutter speed can be adjusted by controlling the readout timing of the image sensor 3.However, using a mechanical shutter, this can be adjusted according to the shutter speed described above. Drive control is also possible. As described above, in the present invention, when the shirt release is performed while the strobe device 11 is being charged, the charging operation is stopped and the shirt release is performed preferentially, so that the strobe device is sufficiently charged. In some cases, imaging may be performed in a state where the For this reason, the state of charge of the capacitor in the strobe device 11 is detected, and if the capacitor is not charged to a predetermined level, the aperture 6 is opened and the shutter speed is slowed down, but if the subject 1 is very dark. In some cases, or when the charging voltage is very low, the amount of exposure may be insufficient even if the aperture 6 is opened to the maximum and the shutter speed is set to the minimum. Therefore, in this example, when such a situation is detected, the CPU 13 increases the gain of the variable gain amplifier of the image signal processing circuit 15 so that an image signal of a sufficient level can be obtained.

When a second trigger signal is generated by pressing down the shirt release button 24 in the second step, the CPU 13 sends a signal to the CCD drive circuit 14 to drive the image sensor 3 made of a CCD to photoelectrically convert the image of the subject 1. The conversion is performed to generate an image signal representing a still image. This image signal is immediately recorded on a predetermined track of the floppy disk 18 via the process circuit 15, modulation circuit 16, recording/reproducing amplifier 17 and magnetic head 19.

The CPU 13 further includes a variable magnification lens 2 for the objective lens 2.
Connect the zoom W button 26 and the zoom down button 27, which perform a zoom operation by moving b. By pressing these buttons, it is possible to electrically change the magnification of the objective lens 2 to the wide-angle side and the telephoto side via the zoom actuator 5, respectively. As described above, the present invention is configured such that if these buttons 26 and 27 are pressed during the charging operation of the strobe device 11, the charging operation is stopped and the zoom operation is performed preferentially. Therefore, an image can be raised at a desired magnification without missing a valuable photo opportunity.

In this example, 50 still images can be recorded on the floppy disk 18, but a track up button 28 and a track down button 29 are provided to specify a recording track and a playback track. . By operating these buttons, the magnetic head 19 can access a desired track on the floppy disk 18. Furthermore, a liquid crystal display device 30 is provided to display the various operation modes described above, the track number of the floppy disk 18 that the magnetic head 19 is accessing, and the like.

As described above, in the present invention, when a shirt taller release operation or a zoom lens operation is performed while the strobe device 11 is being charged, charging of the strobe device is stopped and the shirt taller release operation is performed. This operation will be explained below with reference to a flowchart.

FIG. 2 shows the operation when the shirt release button 24 is pressed while the strobe device 11 is being charged.

First, when the record/playback button 23 is set to the recording side, the CPU 13 sends a charging control signal to the charging circuit 12 to start charging the strobe device 11. The CPU 13 constantly monitors the charging status signal supplied from the charging circuit 12, detects whether the charging voltage of the capacitor of the strobe device has reached a specified value, and detects whether the charging voltage has reached the specified value. When this happens, charging is completed through a strobe device charging termination process. On the other hand, when the charging voltage has not reached the specified value, it is further detected whether a trigger signal is generated by pressing down the shirt release button 24, and when no trigger signal is generated, charging is continued. On the other hand, when generation of a trigger signal is detected, charging of the strobe device 11 is stopped and trigger processing is executed preferentially.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of trigger processing. When the first trigger signal is generated by pressing down the first stage of the shirt release button 24, the CPU 13 supplies a drive control signal to the floppy disk driver 2o to start the spindle. Starts the motor rotation. After starting, this spindle motor reaches a predetermined rotational speed within several hundred milliseconds and becomes stable. Further, the CPU 13 receives a signal from the integrating circuit 1o and detects the brightness of the subject l.

Next, it is determined whether or not to emit a strobe light based on the detected brightness information. Here, when it is determined that strobe light emission is not necessary, the aperture value and shutter speed value are calculated based on the brightness of the subject 1. Exposure control in this example is performed in program mode, so both the aperture value and shutter speed value are determined by calculation.11 For example, when using shutter speed priority mode, the specified shutter speed and subject The aperture value is calculated based on the brightness of the image, and when using aperture priority mode,
The shutter speed will be calculated based on the specified aperture value and the brightness of the subject. In any case, imaging is performed using a calculated or specified aperture value and shutter speed value.

On the other hand, when it is determined that it is necessary to make the strobe emit light, it is determined whether the capacitor of the strobe device 11 is charged to a predetermined voltage based on the charging status signal from the charging circuit 12, and the charging When the voltage has reached the specified value, the aperture value and shutter speed value are calculated, and based on these values, the aperture actuator 7 and the COD drive circuit 14 are controlled to perform imaging. In addition, strobe device 1
If the charging voltage of 1 has not reached a predetermined value, the aperture value and shutter speed value are calculated based on the brightness of the subject and the value of the charging voltage, and the gain of the variable gain amplifier of the image signal processing circuit 15 is adjusted. calculate. Imaging and reading are performed based on the aperture value, shutter speed value, and gain obtained in this manner.

After imaging as described above, an image signal representing still image information of the subject is read from the image sensor 3, and is recorded on a predetermined track of a floppy disk by the magnetic head 19 after predetermined processing.

After the recording is completed, driving of the floppy disk driver 2o is stopped. Next, the charging voltage of the strobe device 11 is detected based on the signal from the charging circuit 12, and it is determined whether or not it has reached a specified value. The process is executed, and if the charging voltage has reached a specified value, the trigger process is ended.

FIG. 4 shows that charging is stopped in response to a trigger signal generated during charging of the strobe device 11, and the objective lens 2 is stopped.
12 shows a flowchart in the case where charging is also stopped in response to a zoom operation. Since the operation in response to the trigger signal is the same as shown in FIG. 2, the explanation will be omitted. While charging the strobe device 11, there is no trigger input, but if a zoom operation is performed, charging of the strobe device 11 is stopped and zoom processing is executed preferentially.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing zoom processing. When the zoom button 26 or 27 is pressed down, a zoom operation is started, and the CPU 13 supplies a zoom control signal to the zoom actuator 5 to move the lenses 2b and 2c along the optical axis. Since the zoom operation is performed while the zoom button is pressed, the ON state of the zoom button is constantly monitored. Furthermore, since it is necessary to stop the zoom operation when the zoom lens reaches its end position, a zoom encoder 31 is provided as shown in FIG. I am trying to detect when it has been reached. If the zoom encoder 31 detects that the end position has been reached, the zoom operation is ended and the strobe charging process shown in FIG. 2 is then started. Of course, when the zoom end is not detected, the zoom operation continues.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be modified and modified in many ways. For example, in the embodiment described above, the objective lens is a zoom lens, but
It is also possible to use a lens that cannot change magnification. Furthermore, although the lens is equipped with an automatic focus function, it may also be a manual focus or pan focus lens. When using a manual focus lens, it is possible to provide a power focus mechanism that adjusts the focus of the lens by motor drive, but if this power focus mechanism is driven while the strobe device is being charged, the charging operation will be disabled. You can cancel it and prioritize power focus. Further, in the embodiments described above, a floppy disk was used as the recording medium, but other recording media, such as a solid-state memory card, may also be used.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the electronic camera of the present invention, when a shirt taller release operation or a zoom operation is requested during charging of a strobe device, the charging operation is stopped and the shirt taller release is performed. Compared to conventional electronic cameras, which wait until charging is complete before shutter release or zoom operations can be performed with priority, precious photo opportunities are no longer missed. In addition, the charging voltage of the strobe device is detected, and if a shutter release operation is performed during charging, the aperture value and shutter speed are set according to this charging voltage, and the amplifier that amplifies the image signal obtained from the image sensor. In the embodiment in which the gain is controlled, it is possible to minimize problems that may occur due to stopping the charging operation and performing imaging.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the electronic camera of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing strobe charging processing, FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing trigger processing, and FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing zoom operation. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a strobe charging process that also takes into account the zoom process. 1...Subject 2...Objective lens 3...
Image sensor 4...Autofocus actuator 6...Aperture 9...Photometry sensor 11...Strobe device 12...Charging circuit 13...Central control unit (C
PIJ) 15... Process circuit 16... Modulation circuit 17.
... Recording/playback amplifier 18 ... Floppy disk 19 ... Magnetic head 20 ... Floppy disk driver 23 ... Recording/playback button 24 ... Shirt release button 25 ... Distance sensor 26. 27...Zoom button 28.29...Track up/down button 30.
・Display device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An imaging device that images a subject in response to a shutter release and outputs the image signal; a recording device that processes the image signal from the imaging device and records it on a recording medium; and a strobe device that generates illumination light to illuminate the
In electronic cameras that use batteries to supply power to these imaging devices, recording devices, and strobe devices,
If another operation is performed while the strobe device is being charged, the strobe device is configured to stop charging the strobe device and perform the other operation with priority. electronic camera. 2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein when a shutter release operation is performed while the strobe device is being charged, charging of the strobe device is stopped and priority is given to the shutter release operation. 3. A zoom lens driven by an actuator is provided, and when a command to drive the actuator of the zoom lens is issued during charging of the strobe device,
2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the electronic camera is configured to stop charging the strobe device and operate the zoom lens actuator preferentially.