JPH0317635A - Camera, device for reading information for camera and example storing medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate photographing suitable for an object and a photographing purpose without having the knowledge and the experience of photographing by reading photographing preparation information corresponding to the intended example which is stored by an example storing medium from a storage part by an information reading device, transmitting it to a camera and displaying on a display means. CONSTITUTION:A photograph 19a is selected from a bar-code list 53, and a code part 18a is traced while depressing a switch 9 so as to read the code part 18a corresponding to the photograph 19a. When the switch 9 is depressed, a port 21 is made to be at high level and a transistor 6 is turned on by the MCU 1 of the code reading device 51, and then, an iRED 4 is turned on. Simultaneously, a bar-code reading action is performed by the MCP 1. The preparation information obtained by such action is transmitted to a camera main body 52 by the data transmission iRED 8 of the code reading device 51. And then, a program diagram optimum for photographing is automatically selected and also the focal distance of a lens optimum for photographing is displayed on an LCD 24.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Application of the Invention) The present invention relates to an information reading device for a camera having a plurality of program AE modes and a variable focal length of a lens, and an example storage medium.

(Background of the Invention) Conventionally, in program AE, the shutter speed and aperture value corresponded to one EV value on a one-to-one basis. but,
Depending on the shooting purpose and subject, it may be desirable to select a specific shutter speed (or aperture value).
For this reason, cameras have been proposed that have multiple program diagrams and use them by switching between them. However, depending on the purpose of the photograph, it was sometimes difficult to decide which line diagram to choose. For example, when taking a close-up of a flower, if you are going to use it as a record, it is better to stop down and deepen the depth of field as much as possible, and if you want to express the beauty of the flower. Conversely, it is often desirable to have a shallow depth of field. In order to judge this, it is necessary to know what kind of effect the aperture has on the photograph. Also, the depth of field changes greatly depending on the lens, so it is necessary to know its effect. Furthermore, depending on the shooting conditions, sufficient effects may not be obtained without the use of photographic equipment such as a tripod or strobe device, making this judgment difficult for beginners. Furthermore, since the conventional example has a variety of program diagrams, it is necessary to have a display means and an input means for switching between them, and there is a problem that the display and operation become more complicated than in the case of a single program. Ta. (Object of the Invention) The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a camera and a camera that can easily take photographs that suit the subject and the purpose of photographing, even without any knowledge or experience in photography. The purpose is to provide an information reading device and an example storage medium. (Characteristics of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an example section photographed for each subject and purpose of photography, and a coding system that corresponds to each example within the example section and that is necessary for photographing the example. an example storage medium having a storage section storing photographic preparation information, a reading means for reading encoded photographing preparation information from the storage section of the example storage medium, and transmitting the information read by the reading means to the camera side. an information reading device having a transmission means for transmitting data; a detection means for detecting a transmission signal from the information reading device; a display means for displaying photographing preparation information necessary for starting a photographing operation; storage means for storing the correspondence relationship with the signals;
a camera having a control means for selecting photographing preparation information corresponding to the signal from the detecting means from the storage means and displaying the photographing preparation information on the display means;
Photography preparation information corresponding to the intended example stored in the example storage medium is read from the storage section by an information reading device and transmitted to the camera, and corresponding to the transmission signal, for example, program diagram, lens focal length information to be used, etc. The camera is characterized in that shooting preparation information such as whether or not to use a tripod is displayed on the display means to inform the photographer. (Embodiment of the invention) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
1 is a code reading device, and 52 is a camera body. On the code reading device 51 side, 1 is a one-chip microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as MCU) that performs code reading control, and includes a CPU, ROM, RAM, IO, and serial communication interface (hereinafter referred to as SCI).
, consists of a timer. Among the IOs of the MPUI, the input port Pl3 is connected to the output of the code detection circuit 3.

Another input port Pll and Pl2 are switches 9 and lO
These input ports are pulled up to the power supply by resistors l3 and 14. The IO output port P21 of the MCU 1 is connected to the base of the transistor 6.

The output port P22 of the SCI of MCU 1 is connected to one input of the NOR circuit 11, the other input of the NOR circuit 11 is connected to the 38K}IZ oscillation circuit l2, and its output is connected to the base of the transistor 7. It is connected to the. Therefore, the output of the SCI is modulated at 38KHz. 6 is a transistor whose collector is an infrared light emitting diode (hereinafter abbreviated as iRED) 4
It is connected to the. 5 is a silicon photodiode (hereinafter referred to as SPD), which detects the reflected light from the code section (hereinafter referred to as barcode section) 18, which is composed of an optically readable black bar and white space illuminated by the light emitted by iRED 4. It looks like it will. 3 is a detection circuit which detects the output of the SPD 5 and outputs a low level if it is a space part of the bar code section 18, and outputs a high level if it is a bar part. 7 is a transistor, the collector of which is connected to iRED8. l5 is MC
Ul is a power battery that supplies power to the detection circuit 3, iRED4, and iRED8, and l6 is a sounding element for indicating that reading has been performed accurately.

On the camera body 52 side, 20 is an MCU that controls the camera, and like MCU 1, it includes a CPU, ROM, and RAM.
, IO, and SCI.

21 is an SPD configured to receive the infrared light emitted by the iRED8, and is connected to the detection circuit 22, and the detection circuit 22 is connected to the output port 22-1 only when there is a signal modulated at 38KHz. It is designed to output a lower level signal. The output port 22-l is connected to the SCR input port P51 of the MCU 20. 25 is an SPD for measuring the subject brightness, which is connected to the A/D converter 26, and the A/D converter 26 converts the subject brightness into a digital value and sends it to P4, which is the IO input port of the MCU 20. Output. The input port P4 consists of 8 bits. 24 is an LCD for display;
23 is a driver for driving the LCD, and M
Connected to IO output port P3 of CU20. M
The IO input port P6l of the CU 20 is connected to a switch 27 and connected to a power supply by a resistor 28.
29 is a power battery on the camera 52 side, and the MPU 20, L
CD driver 23. A/D converter 26, detection circuit 2
It supplies power to 2. 40 is a lens focal length detection circuit.

The SCI of the MCU 1 is configured to output an asynchronous signal with a character length of 8 bits, a stop bit of 2 bits, and a start bit of 1 bit, and the SCI of the MCU 20 is configured to input it.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the code reading device 51 and the camera body 52, and the same members as in FIG. 1 are given the same numbers.

The code reading device 51 is provided with two switches 9 and 10, and furthermore, one of the devices has an iRED 4 and an SPD 5 built in as a code reading section, and the other has an iRED 8 built in for data transmission. ing.

The camera body 52 is provided with a switch 27 for photometry and an SPD 21 for data reception. The barcode list 53 includes barcode portions l8a and 18b and photos 19a. 19b is printed on it, and the barcode is read by tracing the barcode section 18 with the code reading section. Next, the format of the barcode section l8 will be described.

The barcode in the barcode section 18 includes a thin line (this is called a narrow bar), a thick line (this is called a wide bar),
Narrow spacing between bars (this is called narrow space)
, is composed of a wide interval between bars (this is called a wide space), and "O" corresponds to a narrow bar and a narrow space, and "1" corresponds to a wide bar and a wide space. The ratio of the width of the narrow space to the narrow bar is 1:1, and the ratio of the width of the narrow bar to the wide bar is 1:3. The barcode portion l8 (18a, 18b) is shown in FIG.

As shown in Figure 3, the barcode always begins with a combination of two narrow bars and a narrow space (called a start bar) and ends with a narrow space sandwiched between a wide bar and a narrow bar (called an end bar). It shall be. Data is written between the start bar and the end bar, but this is written as a unit of 5 bars and 5 spaces corresponding to them, each representing a 1-digit number. shall be taken as a thing. “0” and rlJ
Figure 4 shows the relationship between the arrangement order and the numbers it represents.

For example, the barcode section 18a shown in FIG. 3 includes a start bar followed by a narrow bar "O". Wide bar "1"
”, roo110J and ro1001J are displayed as bars, and similarly, rl 000 1J and ro are displayed in the space.
1001J is displayed. Therefore, from Figure 4, the third
The barcode section 18a in the figure indicates "Ol"26" (10
Similarly, it can be seen that the barcode section 18b in FIG. 3 is a barcode indicating "04"22".

Next, the barcode reading operation will be explained according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

As mentioned above, when the output of the detection circuit 3, that is, the input to the input port P13 of the MCU1 is at a high level, the barcode section 18 is in a bar state, and when it is at a low level, it is in a space state. TO, TI, T2 . n,DID
Six registers of 2 are prepared.

First, wait until the first bar is found in step 100, measure the time of the first narrow bar in steps 101-103, measure the narrow space in steps 104 to 10B, and measure the time of the next narrow bar in steps 107 to 109. , the time T for using the maximum value multiplied by 1.5 to determine whether it is narrow or wide.
Used for O.

When the measurement of time TO by the start bar is completed, the data register is cleared in step 121 and reading of data is started.

In steps 123 and 124, the time on the bar is read, and the time T
If it is larger than O, it is judged as "1", the data is doubled and "
1" is added. At other times, only do it twice. In steps 128 and 129, the time in the space is read, and if it is larger than the time TO, it is determined to be "1" and the same operation is performed. Each time a pair of bar and space is read, register n is incremented, and the bar and space reading is repeated. If n becomes "5" in step 143, it is determined that reading of one digit is completed, and in steps 144 and 145, the values of Di, D2 are memorized in Ml, M2, and Di, D2
, n are cleared.

In steps 150 and 151, a timer overflow is detected. If there is an overflow, it is determined that barcode reading has finished. If there is an overflow in step 150, it is determined that it is an error and the operation from step 100 is performed again.

If an overflow occurs in step 151, the number of bars is first checked in step 152 to determine whether the end was normal, and then the end bar is checked in steps 153 and 154. If NG (not a normal end), an error occurs. It is determined that this is the case and the operation from ■ is performed again. In addition, in the case of normal completion, an indicator is displayed to indicate that the reading was performed correctly.
It will be held at 6.

Next, the LCD driver 23 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the dot matrix LCD driver 23 (this figure is a block diagram of the Seiko Epson SED1520F, and the case where the SE01520F is used will be described below). This IC has a RAM for display data, and
The bit corresponds to 1 pixel on the LCD display, and the RA
When "1" is written in one bit of M, that pixel lights up, and when "0" is written, it goes out. To write data to display data RAM, 8 bits
When data is written from data path DO to D7, RA
When the data is written to M, the column address counter is automatically incremented by "+1" at the same time, and the next time the data is written from the data path, it will be written to the RAM in the area next to where it was written last time. It has become.

Next, the LCD 24 is connected via such an LCD driver 23.
The operation of the MCU 20 when displaying images will be described.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for writing data to the L/CD driver 23. First, in step 200, the MCU
Display areas Ml, M2...M on the RAM within 20
Write the codes of the characters to be displayed in n (assuming that n characters are to be displayed) in the order in which they will be displayed. here,
As shown in Figure 8, the code represents one character with one byte of data. On the other hand, in a part of the ROM in the MCU 20, as shown in FIG. 9, a bit image consisting of 8 bits in the vertical direction and 6 bits in the horizontal direction corresponding to each character code is written. Here, the address offset value is an offset value from the beginning of these data.

For example, when displaying "ABC", hexadecimal codes 41H, 42H, 43H are displayed in areas Ml, M.
2. Write to M3. First, the MCU 20 calculates the content of M1 r4 1 H using the formula shown in step 202.
A bit image corresponding to J is written. ROM
Find the address "C6HJ" and retrieve the data r of that address.
7CHJ is output from boat P3 of MCU20. After that, 6 bytes of data after rC6HJ are sequentially ported to P.
Output from 3.

In other words, the hexadecimal data 7 in the part surrounded by the dotted line in Figure 9
CH, 12H, IIH, 12H, and 7CH00H are sequentially output from the port P3 to the LCD driver 23. The data is then written to the display data RAM of the LCD driver 23. Therefore, the letter "A" is first displayed on the LCD 24. In the same manner, "ABC" is finally displayed on the LCD 24 as shown in FIG.

In the above configuration, the operation when photographing a person will be described.

Photo 19a shown in Figure 3 is a photo taken with a lens with a focal length of 100 mm, mainly aiming at the person's face, and photo 19b is a photo taken with a wide-angle lens of 28 mm, getting close to the person and also capturing the background. Now, a case will be described in which a photograph of a person as the main character is photographed, such as photograph 19a.

Select a photo 19a from the barcode list 53, and trace the code portion 18a while pressing the switch 9 in order to read the corresponding code portion 18a. When the switch 9 is pressed, the MCUI of the code reading device 51 sets the port P21 to high level and turns on the transistor 6, so that i
RED4 lights up. At the same time, MCP 1 performs the barcode reading operation (described above). Here, since the code portion 18a expresses "01"26" (decimal), that value is read.

Next, when switch 10 is pressed, MPU 1 becomes “01”
26” converted to BCD code every 2 digits roooo
Data ooo I BJ and roo100110BJ are output from SCI-.

FIG. 11(a) shows the waveform during transmission of ro000000 1 BJ. This data is 38KH in NOR circuit l1.
Z, the transistor 7 is turned on with a waveform as shown in FIG. 11(b), and the iRED 8 is lit. This i
The infrared light emitted from the RED 8 is detected by the SPD 2l, demodulated by the detection circuit 22, and becomes the same signal as shown in Fig. 1l(a) as shown in Fig. 11(C), and is sent to the MC
It is transmitted to U20. As a result, the MCU20 is roo
ooooo l BJ and “○OIOOIIOBJ (
data in hexadecimal ro I HJ (this is aperture control information as shown in Figure 12) and data ``26HJ'' (information indicating lens focal length information 100 mm as shown in Figure 13). ) has been received.

The MCU 20 stores the first data ro in part C1 of the built-in RAM.
Second data r26Hj is stored in a different part D1 of the RAM. Then, the MCU 20 writes data into the display RAM areas M1 to Mn according to the value of DI according to the code table shown in FIG. Here, since D1 is "26H", M1=31H, M2=3
0HM3=30H, M4=6D}{, M5=6DH, respectively, and according to the contents, the data that is the lens focal length information at this time is displayed on the LCD 24 as shown in FIG.
to be displayed. As a result, the photographer sees the display and, for example, if the current interchangeable lens is "35-75n+mJ", performs the operation of "exchanging it to an interchangeable lens that can set 100 mml".

Next, when the switch 27 is pressed, the MCU 20 measures the brightness of the subject from the output of the A/D converter 26, and performs calculations to determine the shutter speed (TV value) and aperture value (AV value). Note that the output of the A/D converter 26 is E
It is assumed that the V value can be read as is at the input port P4. If the value of M1 mentioned above is "06" (see Figure 12) or more (data of M1 is undefined), the MCU 20 will be set as shown in Figure 15 (
Perform the control shown in 1), and if the value of M1 is other than that,
The control shown in FIG. 15(2) is performed.

Now, since the value of Ml is "01", MCU20 is the 14th
Perform the control shown in Figure (2). In other words, if the EV value is "8" or less, the aperture priority AE of aperture F2 will be applied, and the EV value will change from "8" to "9".
When the AE%EV value is between "9" and "l5", the aperture is F2.
．． 8 aperture priority AE When the EV value is ``l5'' or higher, the shutter speed priority AE with a shutter speed of 1/4000 seconds
becomes. This program diagram is shown in FIG. Therefore, in the brightness range of EV9 to EV15 (most of the daytime photography is included in this brightness range), photography is performed with an aperture of F2.8, and as mentioned above (Photo 19)
Example of a) You can take a photo that highlights the background.

Therefore, as shown in Photo 19a, the program diagram most suitable for photographing people is automatically selected, and the focal length of the lens most suitable for photographing "100 mm" is displayed on the LCD 24 (see Fig. 14). .

If you select photo 19b and trace barcode 18b, "28mm" shown in Figure 17 will be displayed on LCD 24 in the same way.
displayed above. This allows the photographer to know the lens focal length information necessary for the intended shooting. FIG. 18 shows a block diagram of another embodiment. The motor 30 is driven by a bridge circuit composed of transistors 31, 32, 33, and 34, and these transistors are connected to the output ports P61. P62,
P63. It is the same as the block diagram in FIG. 1 except that it is controlled by P64, and performs the same operation. The motor 30 operates the zoom configuration (not shown) of the lens, and the MCU 20 displays the focal length information of the lens as described above, and the focal length of the lens matches that value with the displayed value. Zooming is performed by driving the motor 30 in the same manner.

Therefore, photography is automatically performed at the most suitable focal length for photography.

According to this embodiment, a barcode list is created that has a one-to-one correspondence with an example photo and represents codes representing aperture information suitable for that photo and lens focal length information necessary for the shooting. The system reads the code to control the camera's program diagram and also displays information on lenses and other information necessary for shooting, so even if you have no knowledge or experience with photography, you can take sample photos. Now you can. Furthermore, these photographs and codes can be reproduced in large quantities by printing or the like, which has the effect that they can be produced at a correspondingly lower cost.

Additionally, these photos can also be used as teaching materials to show what kind of expressions can be created using this camera system, so they can also be used for that purpose.

(Correspondence between the invention and the embodiments) In this embodiment, the barcode list 53 corresponds to the example storage medium of the present invention, and the code reading device corresponds to the information reading device. Further, the SPD 21 and the detection circuit 22 in the camera body 52 serve as detection means, the ROM in the MCU 20 serves as a storage means, the MCU 20 serves as a control means, the LCD driver 23,
The LCD 24 corresponds to display means.

(Modification) In this embodiment, from the code reading device 51 to the camera body 52,
Data is transferred to the P by infrared rays, but each boat
22 and P51 may be directly connected by wire. In this case, the operability of reading will be impaired due to the wired connection, but the power supply etc. can be shared and costs can be reduced. In addition, in this embodiment, a barcode was used to represent the photographic data based on the example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is possible to have a one-to-one correspondence with the photograph, and to convert it into an electrical signal. It may be of any type as long as it is easy to convert. For example, data may be written on a magnetic card, which is widely used these days, and a photograph may be printed on the surface of the card.

In addition, although I showed a photograph (or printed matter) as an example,
It may be of any type as long as it can be visually recognized by the photographer. For example, an image of an example photograph is stored as an image on a video tape, data similar to that of the above embodiment modulated at a specific frequency is stored in the audio section, and the reading device 51
If you change the SPD to a microphone and make the detection circuit 3 compatible with it, while watching a videotape on a VCR, the reading device 5l can be used at the part of the image you want to photograph.
You can take similar pictures by activating the .

Furthermore, in the lower part l8, a code indicating pre-shooting setting information such as aperture information and shutter speed information, and a display code indicating shooting equipment information (based on lens focal length information) to be used, that is, a code indicating shooting preparation information are recorded. However,
It is not limited to these. For example, regarding the latter photographic equipment information in the photographic preparation information, information indicating the use of a tripod or information indicating the use of a strobe device may be encoded.

Photo 19c in Figure 19 is a night view photo, and a tripod is essential for taking such photos to prevent camera shake. Therefore, if a code indicating the display of "TRIPOD" as shown in FIG. 20 is added to the barcode section 18c, when the barcode is read with such a photograph, a display prompting the use of a tripod will be displayed. Further, in this embodiment, the information included in the code section is lens focal length information and photographic equipment information, but it may also be a name indicating the content of the read barcode.

For example, as shown in FIG. 21, if a name is defined and the system is configured to display that name, if the code includes "30H", a display like 301 in FIG. 22 will be displayed. By printing this content at the same time as the barcode, you can confirm that the data has been properly set in the camera.

The name at this time may be, for example, a number (a number indicating the barcode number) or a combination of a name and a number. In this case, if there are many types of barcodes, there is no need to have a code table that corresponds to all of them, so there is an effect that a large number of barcodes can be handled without increasing the amount of data inside the MCU 20. .

Furthermore, although the information included in the code is displayed in this embodiment, the setting state of the camera may be detected and the display may be performed based on that information and the information included in the code.

In other words, if you read the focal length of the lens (actually set value), compare that value with the data included in the code, and display the results as shown in Figure 23, the optimal It is possible to warn users so that they do not forget to set the focal length of the lens. Although both the detected focal length and the focal length included in the code are displayed here, only the fact that the two are different may be displayed.

In addition, such a warning display is not limited to focal length.
You can also go for other information. For example, a warning can be displayed in the same way if the aperture value included in the code cannot be obtained due to restrictions on the maximum aperture value or minimum aperture value of the lens, or if the status of a strobe or the like differs from the information included in the code.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, the photographing preparation information corresponding to the intended example stored in the example storage medium is read from the storage section by the information reading device and transmitted to the camera,
Corresponding to the transmission signal, for example, the program diagram, information on the focal length of the lens to be used, information on photographic preparations such as whether to use a tripod, etc. are displayed on the display means so that the photographer can know them, so that the photographer can be informed of the photographic knowledge and experience. Even if you do not have a camera, you can easily take pictures that match the subject and the purpose of the picture.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a barcode list, a code reading device, and a camera, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example photograph and a code section. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the correspondence between the barcodes and numerical values held in the MCU1 shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the LCD driver shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operation related to display of the MCU 20 shown in FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a part of the ROM of character data in the MCU 20 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the LC shown in FIG. 1.
Figure 11 is a timing chart of the code transmitter and code receiver, and Figure 12 is a diagram showing an example of the display in D.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the correspondence between codes held in the illustrated MCU 20 and program control, and FIG.
Diagram showing the correspondence between data, display, and code in 0, No. 1
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of the display on the LCD shown in FIG. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing another example of the display on the LCD shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of display on the LCD shown in FIG. is a diagram showing an example of the display, and FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of the display in still another embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] (1) A detection means for detecting a transmission signal from an external information reading device, a display means for displaying photographing preparation information necessary for starting a photographing operation, and the photographing preparation information and the detecting means. a storage means for storing the correspondence relationship with the signal from the detection means; and imaging preparation information corresponding to the signal from the detection means;
A camera comprising: a control means for selecting the photographing preparation information from the storage means and displaying the photographing preparation information on the display means. (2) Equipped with an example section in which images are taken for each subject or purpose of photography, and a storage section that stores encoded photographing preparation information that corresponds to each example in the example section and is necessary for photographing the example. Example storage medium. (3) An information reading device comprising a reading means for reading encoded photography preparation information from a storage section of an example storage medium, and a transmitting means for transmitting the information read by the reading means to the camera side. (4) An example section photographed for each subject or purpose of photography, and a storage section that stores pre-shooting setting information that corresponds to each example within the example section and is used during preparation for shooting when photographing the example. An example storage medium equipped with. (5) An example storage medium comprising an example section photographed by subject or shooting purpose, and a storage section corresponding to each example within the example section and storing photographic equipment information necessary for photographing the example. .