JPH03284739A - Red-eye moderating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always make the time until starting photographing constant without causing excess release time lag by providing a controller which allows an illuminator for moderating red-eye to emit light while counting a specified time in a photographing mode in which the specified time is counted until starting the photographing in the case of self-timer photographing. CONSTITUTION:A switch SW-5 is turned on and a camera is set in a self-timer photographing mode. Thereafter, a range-finding action, a photometry action and the control of preparing for photographing with strobe light are performed, so that photographing with strobe light is executed in the red-eye moderating mode. In the case that is is darker than specified brightness, a red-eye moderating lamp lighting latch is set. After eight seconds out of ten seconds pass in a self-timer, for example, the red-eye moderating lamp lighting latch is checked. When it is set, a red-eye moderating lamp 28 is turned on by a red-eye moderating lamp driving circuit 27. After the timer counts two seconds remaining, the lamp 28 is turned off and a series of photographing actions is performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a red-eye mitigation device that alleviates the red-eye phenomenon during flash photography.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, when photographing with a flash when the illuminance around the subject is low, a so-called red-eye phenomenon occurs in which the eyes of a person or animal appear to glow red or gold. The cause of this red-eye phenomenon is that the strobe light is extremely reflected on the retinal surface through the pupil of the eye, and at that time, the color of blood within the retinal surface is red, so a red or gold color appears on the film surface. It is thought that it will appear in the photo.

This red-eye phenomenon occurs during flash photography, and is known to occur particularly under the following conditions.

(1) The surroundings of the subject are dark (or the pupils are dilated); (2) the distance between the light emitting part of the strobe device and the optical axis of the photographic lens is close; (3) the subject's eyes are out of focus. (When looking to the side or focusing on something other than the camera) As a countermeasure for this red-eye phenomenon, Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-48088 recommends that the subject be pre-illuminated prior to photographing with a strobe light so that the human pupil A technique has been disclosed for alleviating red-eye in strobe photography by keeping the aperture small and emitting strobe light for photographing when the pupil becomes almost the minimum.

Furthermore, in JP-A-1-244436, when the self-timer mode is set, the red-eye mitigation mode is always set, and the pre-flash of the strobe is performed after the self-timer has finished timing by pressing the release button all the way down. Furthermore, a technique has been disclosed for alleviating the red-eye phenomenon in strobe photography by releasing the shutter with main light emission after a predetermined period of time has elapsed.

However, in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-48088, in order to obtain a red-eye alleviation effect, a series of tests are carried out after a certain predetermined period of time (light response of the eye) necessary for the pupil to constrict to the minimum. The release operation is performed,
For this reason, photographers had to keep the release button pressed halfway or use a timer circuit to lock the release for a predetermined period of time, which was very cumbersome for photographers. In some cases, this release lock also causes the inconvenience of missing a photo opportunity.

On the other hand, in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-244436,
After the self-timer finishes counting, the flash fires a pre-flash, and after a predetermined period of time elapses, the camera takes a picture, but the red-eye reduction function caused by the flash pre-flash may or may not operate during flash photography or normal photography. Because of this, there were variations in the time from when the self-timer started until the picture was taken, making it very difficult to understand.Especially for cameras that can display the self-timer timing, Because there was a pause after the timing was displayed, the person being photographed sometimes thought that the photograph had already been taken and changed their pose.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances.In a red-eye mitigation device that emits red-eye mitigation illumination prior to flash photography, a predetermined time is measured before the start of photography, such as in self-timer photography. A control means is provided to cause the red-eye mitigation illumination to emit light while counting the predetermined time in the photographing mode, so that an unnecessary release time lag is not generated due to the red-eye mitigation illumination,
To provide a red-eye mitigation device that does not change the time until the start of photographing depending on whether red-eye mitigation lighting is emitted or not.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a camera according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as CPU) that controls the operation of the camera, and 2 is an infrared light emitting element (hereinafter referred to as I RED). (abbreviated) 3.4.5 toward the subject, and the reflected light is detected by the position detection sensor (hereinafter referred to as PSD).
6.7.8 is a known distance measuring circuit that obtains distance measurement data by detecting the brightness of the subject.
A known photometric circuit that detects and obtains photometric data, 1
Numerals 1, 12, and 13 are light emitting elements (hereinafter abbreviated as LEDs), which are turned on and off by transistors 14, 15, and 16, respectively. The light emitting elements 11, 12, and 13 are self-operation display LEDs.

These are the LED for flash photography, low brightness warning, and the LED for AF/shooting preparation completion. Reference numeral 17 denotes a liquid crystal display circuit for displaying camera information, such as film counter information, red-eye reduction mode display, strobe light display, etc. 18 is a remote control signal transmitter, and after receiving the remote control signal by switch SW8, 2
Two remote control modes are selected: a 2-second release mode in which the shutter is released after a second, and an immediate release mode in which the remote control signal is received, inserted, inserted, and released.
The light is focused by the lens 20 and projected. On the other hand, the remote control signal is focused by the lens 22 and sent to the light receiving element 2.
3, the signal is processed by the remote control receiving circuit 21, and sent to CPtJl, where a series of remote control release operations described below are performed. 24 is a strobe circuit that charges and emits a strobe as a flash device, and a lens 26 that moves in conjunction with the focal length of the photographing lens adjusts the strobe light from the xenon tube 25 to an irradiation angle according to the focal length of the photographic lens. The light is focused and projected towards the subject. 2
7 is a drive circuit for the red-eye mitigation lamp, and the lens 2
Similarly to 6, a lens 29 that moves in conjunction with the focal length of the photographic lens collects the light from the red-eye mitigation lamp 28, which is red-eye mitigation illumination, at an illumination angle that corresponds to the focal length of the photographic lens.
Project toward the subject. 30 is a shutter drive circuit that performs an exposure operation; 31 is a lens drive circuit that drives the focus adjustment of the photographing lens based on distance measurement data obtained from the distance measurement circuit 2; and 32 is a feeder that winds and rewinds the film. It is a circuit. Switch SWI is a shooting preparation switch that is turned on by pressing the release button halfway and performs distance measurement, photometry, etc. Switch SW2 is a release switch that is turned on by pressing the release button fully and performs exposure operation.
The switch SW3 connects the three IREDs 3, 4, .
Switch SW4, which is a distance measurement field changeover switch for switching between distance measurement data for the entire screen by IRED 5 and distance measurement data for the center part of the screen by only IRED 4, sets the remote control mode and detects the signal coming from the remote control transmitter 18. Switch SW5 is a remote control switch for setting the standby state. Switch SW5 is a self-timer switch that starts the self-timer shooting operation. Switch SW6 is a flash mode. Switch SW7 is a strobe mode setting switch for setting the manual on mode and manual off mode, which does not always shoot with flash. This is a red-eye reduction mode setting switch to select whether or not to turn on the red-eye light.

Next, the operation of the camera shown in FIG. 1 will be explained according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the normal shooting operation will be explained. First, when the switch SWI is turned on by pressing the release button halfway (#101), the CPU performs a series of preparatory operations for photographing. In other words, a command is sent to the distance measuring circuit 2 to turn on IREDI, 2.3 at a predetermined frequency, and the distance measuring operation (#104) is performed to obtain distance measurement data corresponding to each IREDI, 2.3 using the reflected light. A command is sent to the photometry circuit 9 to cause the light receiving element 10 to perform a photometry operation (#105) for determining the brightness of the subject. When the strobe mode is auto mode, if the brightness is low based on the photometry result performed in #105, a command is sent to the strobe circuit 24 to charge the strobe and set the strobe photography latch, and when the strobe mode is set to manual. A series of flash photography preparation controls (# 106). When these series of shooting preparation operations are completed, the next step is to press the switch SW.
Depending on the status of #7, you can determine whether it is in red-eye reduction mode. #I
07) If the red-eye reduction mode is selected, check whether the flash photography latch described in #106 is set #108), and if the flash photography latch is set, the value measured in #105 is set Set the red-eye lamp lighting latch that lights up the red-eye mitigation lamp 28 to take a picture if it is below a predetermined value, that is, if it is darker than a predetermined value (#110).
do. Then, it is determined whether the self-timer shooting mode is selected based on the state of the self-switch SW5 (#111).
However, as mentioned above, in this case, it is normal shooting operation using switch SWI, and it is not self-timer shooting, so
The red-eye mitigation lamp 28 is activated by the red-eye mitigation lamp drive circuit 27.
Light up (#112) and wait for the release button to be pressed all the way and switch SW2 to be turned on (#113)
. If it is not the red-eye mitigation mode (#107), if it is not flash photography (#108), or if it is bright (#109), the red-eye lamp lighting latch is not set and the red-eye mitigation lamp 28 is not turned on either. After that, when the switch SW2 is turned on (#113), the red-eye reduction lamp 28 is turned off (#114), and the lens drive circuit 31 drives the photographing lens to a predetermined focus position based on the distance measurement data from the distance measurement circuit 2. #115) Then, the shutter drive circuit 31 opens the shutter to perform an exposure operation, and if the strobe photography latch is set at that time, the strobe circuit 24 causes the strobe to emit light (#1
16) After the exposure is completed, the feeding circuit 32 winds up one frame of film (#117).

Next, the operation when the red-eye reduction lamp 28 is turned on in the self-timer shooting mode will be described.

First, when the switch SW5 is turned on to start the self-timer (#102), the self-timer photographing mode is set. After that, the distance measurement operation (#104) is performed in the same way as above.
), metering operation (#105), flash photography preparation control (
#106) and is in red-eye reduction mode (#107)
, if it is flash photography (#108) and the brightness is lower than the predetermined brightness (#109), the red-eye lamp lighting latch is set, but this time the red-eye mitigation lamp 28 is not turned on because it is in self mode. (@111)CP
The timer inside the UI counts the first 8 seconds of the 10-second self-timer (@118).

After the self-timer has elapsed for 8 seconds, the red-eye lamp lighting latch is checked, and since it has been set (#119), the red-eye mitigation lamp drive circuit 27 lights the red-eye mitigation lamp 28 (#120), and then the timer determines the remaining 2 seconds. After counting (#121), the red-eye mitigation lamp 28 is turned off (#114), and the photographing lens is driven (#1) in the same manner as described above.
15), shutter drive, strobe light emission (#116)
, film winding (#117). Note that if the camera is not in red-eye mitigation mode (#107), if it is not in flash photography mode (#108), or if it is bright (#109), the red-eye lamp lighting latch will not be set and the self-timer will turn on after 8 seconds have elapsed (#109). 118)
, the red-eye lamp lighting latch is checked, and since it is not set (#119), the red-eye mitigation lamp 28 is not turned on, and after waiting another 2 seconds (#121), the series of shooting operations from #114 to #117 are performed. conduct.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of another embodiment of the camera shown in FIG. #204 to #210, # in Figure 3
212 to #217 are #101 to #110 in Figure 2,
The operations are the same as those from #112 to #117. Further, the normal photographing operation by the switch SWI is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, so a description thereof will be omitted.

First, when switch SW4 is turned on (#202), remote control mode is set. In this state 1, when the photographer turns on the remote control transmission switch SW9 of the remote control transmitter 18, the remote control signal from the IRED 19 is sent to the lens 2.
The remote control signal light receiving sensor 23 receives the light through the remote control signal light receiving sensor 23, and this signal is processed by the remote control receiving circuit 21 to receive the remote control signal (#203). Then, similarly to the above, distance measurement operation (#204) and photometry operation (#2
05) Performs strobe photography preparation control (#206), and if red-eye reduction mode is in effect (#207), strobe photography is in progress (1208), and the brightness is lower than a predetermined brightness (#
209), set the red eye lamp lighting latch. Next, it is determined whether the mode is remote control mode (#211), and since the mode is remote control mode, the received remote control signal is a signal of the remote control 2 second release mode selected by switch SW8 of the remote control transmitter 18, or the remote control mode is determined. Determine whether the signal is for immediate release mode (#218), and if the signal is for remote control 2-second release mode, check the red-eye lamp lighting latch (#219). The red-eye mitigation lamp 28 is turned on by the mitigation lamp drive circuit 27 (#220), and the CPU
The internal timer causes the red-eye reduction lamp to turn off (#21), which is a series of shooting operations similar to the above, after 2 seconds (#221).
4), Lens drive (#215), Shutter drive (#21
5), strobe light emission (#216), film winding (#
21? )I do. Isn't it in red-eye mitigation mode? (#2
07) Or is it a flash photography? (1208)
, when bright (@209), in remote control mode (#
221), if it is remote control 2 second release mode (
1218), the red-eye lamp lighting latch is not set, so the red-eye mitigation lamp is not turned on (#219), and after 2 seconds have elapsed (#221), a series of shooting operations are performed in the same manner as described above (
#214 to #217).

On the other hand, if it is determined in #218 that the remote control is in immediate release mode, and the red-eye lamp lighting latch is set (#222), a timer is used to close the pupil, which is timed by the timer inside the CPU1. After turning on the red-eye mitigation lamp for the minimum necessary 1 second (#223, #
224) The same series of photographic operations as described above include turning off the red-eye mitigation lamp (#214), driving the lens (#215), driving the shutter, flashing the flash (#216), and winding the film (#214).
217). Isn't it in red-eye reduction mode? (#20)
7), or when shooting with flash (#208) or in bright light (#209), in remote control mode (#22).
1) If it is remote control immediate release mode (#2
18) Since the red-eye lamp lighting latch is not set, the red-eye mitigation lamp is not turned on, and the above-mentioned 1 second release time lag is also eliminated (#222), that is, the same series of shooting operations as described above are performed (# 214-#217).

In each of the above embodiments, a camera that uses film as an image recording means is shown as an example, but this also applies to cameras that use terrestrial image recording means, such as video cameras and electronic still cameras. It goes without saying that the invention is equally applicable.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, by turning on the red-eye mitigation illumination during the time lag of the self-timer or the predetermined time of the remote control release, red-eye mitigation can be alleviated without providing an extra release time lag. In addition to being effective, it does not cause any change in the operating time of the self-timer or remote control release depending on whether the red-eye mitigation lighting is turned on or not.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the camera shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is another embodiment of the camera shown in FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of FIG. 1... Microcomputer 2... Distance measuring circuit 9... Photometering circuit 17... LCD display circuit 18... Remote control transmitter 21... Remote control receiving circuit 24... Strobe circuit 27... Red-eye mitigation lamp drive circuit 28...Red-eye mitigation lamp 30...Shutter drive circuit 31...Lens drive circuit 32...Feeding circuit SWI...Photography preparation switch SW2...Release switch SW3... Ranging field of view changeover switch SW4...Remote control switch SW5...Self switch

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a red-eye mitigation device that emits red-eye mitigation lighting prior to flash photography, the red-eye mitigation lighting is activated during the measurement of the predetermined time in a photography mode in which a predetermined time is counted before the start of photography, such as self-timer photography. A red-eye mitigation device characterized by comprising a control means for emitting light.