JPH04280239A - Interchangeable lens type camera device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To omit a meaningless initializing operation by automatically conducting the initialization when a lens unit is exchanged for another lens unit, and conducting the control by using the stored last set value when the same lens unit is attached and removed. CONSTITUTION:An identification information detecting means for the identification information characteristic to a lens unit 1, an attachment/removal detecting means for detecting the attachment/removal of the lens unit 1, a memory means for storing the characteristic information detected by the identification information detecting means, a memory means for storing the individual characteristic information of the lens unit 1 when its attachment/removal is detected by the attachment/removal detecting means, and a means for resetting a part or all of the set of functions of the camera unit 2 to a determined state when the information characteristic to the lens unit 1 detected from the installed lens unit 1 by the identification information detecting means is differed from the memory content of the memory means when the installation of the lens unit 1 is detected by the attachment/removal detecting means.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an imaging device suitable for use in an interchangeable lens video camera system.

[Background technology] In recent years, there has been remarkable progress in video equipment such as video cameras, and automatic focus adjustment,
Equipped with automatic exposure control, zoom function, etc. as standard, etc.
Efforts have been made to improve operability and increase functionality in every aspect, and the most notable of these is the introduction of an interchangeable lens system to the video camera.

In such an interchangeable lens system, drive systems for automatic focus adjustment, automatic exposure control, and zoom are arranged on the lens unit side, and control means for controlling each drive system on the lens unit side is arranged on the camera side. The camera is configured to control the lens unit rather than the camera by electrically communicating various control information and status information between the camera and the lens unit.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, according to the above-mentioned interchangeable lens system, the lens unit is attached to and detached from the camera body and replaced. The problem is how to handle the status of various functions in the camera body selected by a switch or the like.

In other words, each time the lens unit is replaced, if the operator cancels the selection or setting of the function of each operating section when the lens unit before replacement is used and sets it again, The operation is troublesome, and there is a risk of malfunction if the user forgets to perform the release operation.

[0006] Furthermore, if the selection of various functions or settings are canceled and initialized each time a lens unit is attached or detached, all settings can be canceled even if the lens unit is the same. Because it will be done,
After all, it becomes cumbersome to operate.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention was made with the aim of solving these problems, and is characterized by a camera with a detachable lens unit. identification information detection means for detecting identification information specific to the lens unit from the lens unit; attachment/detachment detection means for detecting attachment/detachment of the lens unit; and memory for storing identification information detected by the identification information detection means. means, a storage means for storing information unique to each lens unit when attachment/detachment of the lens unit is detected by the attachment/detachment detection means; If the information specific to the lens unit detected by the identification information detection means is different from the stored content of the storage means, the settings of some or all of the functions of the camera unit may be changed. The present invention provides an interchangeable lens type camera device including means for resetting to a predetermined state.

[0008]

[Operation] This allows the lens unit to be automatically initialized when replaced with another lens unit, eliminating the hassle of having to reset the settings of various functions to the initial state by the operator every time the lens unit is replaced. In addition to being able to eliminate
When the same lens unit is attached or detached, initialization is not performed and control is performed using the previously stored set values, thereby making it possible to omit meaningless initialization operations.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the interchangeable lens type camera device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the case where the interchangeable lens type camera device according to the present invention is applied to an interchangeable lens type video camera.

In the figure, 1 is a lens unit, 2 is a camera unit, and 3 is a mount part for connecting lens unit 1 to camera unit 2. A power supply line and various control information are connected between the camera unit and lens unit. It is equipped with a plurality of electrical contacts consisting of a lens side contact 3a and a camera side contact 3b, which form a communication line, a clock for forming the timing of control information communication, a control signal line for communicating chip select signals, etc. .

In the lens unit 1, 11 is a focusing lens, 12 is a zoom lens, 13 is an iris, 14 is an imaging lens, 15 is a focusing motor for driving the focusing lens, and 16 is a zoom lens. A zoom motor for driving the lens, 17 is an IG that drives the iris.
Meters 18 and 19 are a zoom encoder and an iris encoder for detecting the moving position (focal length) of the zoom lens and the moving position (aperture value) of the iris, respectively. Reference numerals 20, 21, and 22 are a focus driver, a zoom driver, and an iris driver that drive the focusing motor 15, zoom motor 16, and IG meter 17, respectively.

Further, 23 receives various control information sent from the camera unit side, drives and controls various motor drivers 20 to 22 on the lens unit side, and also takes in driving results detected by various encoders. This is a lens-side microcomputer that comprehensively controls each driving section within the lens unit, such as sending messages back to the camera unit.

On the other hand, in the camera unit 2, 24
25 is an image sensor such as a CCD that photoelectrically converts the subject image formed on the imaging surface by the lens unit and outputs an image signal, and 25 performs gamma correction, blanking processing, etc. on the image signal output from the image sensor 24. A camera signal processing circuit for supplying a standardized standard television signal that has undergone predetermined signal processing such as adding a synchronization signal to a monitor (not shown) and a VTR, and 26 a zoom for operating a zoom lens on the camera side. Switch 27 is an electronic shutter operation switch 2 that also sets the shutter speed of the electronic shutter.
8 is a manual iris switch for manually operating the iris.

Reference numeral 29 compares the level of, for example, a luminance signal supplied from the camera signal processing circuit 25 with a predetermined reference level, outputs a signal corresponding to the difference, and supplies the signal to the camera microcomputer described later to generate an iris control signal. An automatic exposure control (AE) circuit 30 extracts signals that change depending on the focusing state, such as high-frequency components of the luminance signal supplied from the camera signal processing circuit 25, and sends the extracted signals to the camera microcomputer, which will be described later. an automatic focusing circuit (AF) circuit for supplying and producing focusing lens control signals.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a camera-side microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as camera microcomputer) which comprehensively controls the entire camera unit and also calculates various control signals to control the lens unit and communicates them to the lens unit.
The outputs of the E circuit 29 and the AF circuit 30 are received, and the A
For E, an iris control signal is used to control the iris so that the brightness level in the imaging signal is equal to the reference level, and for AF, the focusing lens is driven so that the high frequency component in the imaging signal is maximized. Focusing lens control information for control is calculated and transmitted to the lens microcomputer via the communication line 3.

The camera microcomputer 31 also controls the zoom switch 26, electronic shutter operation switch 27, manual iris switch 28, and other operation switches (not shown) in accordance with the operating states.

Further, 32 is a lens attachment detection switch that detects that a lens unit is attached to the camera unit 2. The detection result is supplied to the camera microcomputer 31, and the camera microcomputer uses this to detect whether the lens unit is attached to the camera unit 2. By detecting this, communication of various control information with the lens unit is started.

Next, the basic configuration of the video camera according to the present invention is as described above, and its operation will be described in detail below.

When the lens unit 1 is attached to the camera unit 2, the two are connected by the mount portion 3, and the lens side contact 3a and camera side contact 3b are connected to each other.
Various control signals, power lines, etc. are formed between the lens and camera. At the same time, the imaging elements of the lens unit 1 and camera unit 2 are optically coupled.

When this lens unit attachment operation is detected by the lens attachment detection switch 32 and recognized by the camera microcomputer, the camera microcomputer 31 attaches the lens unit to the lens unit via the camera side contact 3b and the lens side contact 3a. At the same time, it starts communicating various control information and status information with the lens microcomputer 23.

The content of this communication is that the outputs of the AE circuit and AF circuit are transferred from the camera unit to the lens unit.
The iris control information obtained by /D conversion and predetermined calculations is transmitted, and the focusing lens control information, zoom switch 26 information, and manual iris switch 28 information in the case of manual iris are respectively converted to predetermined values. Transmit according to the communication format.

Conversely, from the lens unit side, status information such as information on the iris encoder 19, information on the zoom encoder 18, and an identification code unique to the lens unit are transmitted to the camera unit.

The lens microcomputer 23 is the camera microcomputer 3.
The zoom motor driver 21, iris driver 22, and focus motor driver 20 are controlled based on various information from 1, and the zoom motor 16, IG meter 17, and
The focus motor 15 is driven.

The lens microcomputer 31 also takes in information from the iris encoder 19 and the zoom encoder 18,
Prepare for communication with the camera microcomputer 31.

The camera microcomputer 31 is the lens microcomputer 23
The iris encoder information and zoom encoder information sent from 26, the open/close states of various switches such as the electronic shutter switch 27, manual iris switch 28, and lens attachment detection switch 32 are detected.

Furthermore, the camera microcomputer 31 calculates information for controlling the zoom lens, iris, and focusing lens according to various status information from the lens side and the operation status of various switches, and communicates with the lens microcomputer. Be prepared.

[0028] As a result, even if the camera unit and lens unit are removably attached to create an interchangeable lens system, by attaching the lens unit, it is possible to reliably control the lens unit by communicating control information. can.

The interchangeable lens type camera device according to the present invention is constructed as described above.Next, the control operation on the camera unit side will be explained in detail using the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the flow is started and it is confirmed in S1 that the camera unit is powered on, the camera microcomputer is activated in S2.

When the camera microcomputer 31 starts operating,
First, in S3, the selection and setting states of the operation switches for operating various functions such as the electronic shutter switch, auto/manual iris switching state, manual iris switch setting state, etc. in the camera unit are set to predetermined initial states. Set to .

Next, the process advances to S4, where the state of the lens attachment detection switch 32 is detected to determine whether the lens unit is attached. If it is determined that the lens unit is not attached, S4 is executed again, and the lens unit attachment detection operation is performed until attachment of the lens unit is detected.

If it is detected in S4 that the lens unit is attached, the process proceeds to S5, where the lens unit's identification code is received through communication with the lens microcomputer 23 in the lens unit, and the first identification code (its This information indicates the identity of each lens and is stored as lens-specific information.

Next, in S6, the lens attachment detection switch 32 checks again whether or not the lens unit is attached. If it is determined that the lens unit is not attached, the process advances to S11 and the camera unit is installed. The selection or setting state of various functions is suspended, and the lens unit attachment determination in S6 is repeated until the lens unit is attached.

If it is determined in S6 that the lens unit is attached, the process proceeds to S7, where communication is carried out with the attached lens unit, the identification code of the lens unit is received, and this is sent to the second lens unit. It is stored as an identification code.

In S8, the first identification code stored in S5 and the second identification code stored in S7 are compared to determine whether they match. If it is determined here that the two identification codes do not match, it means that the lens unit has been replaced with a different lens unit than the one that was originally installed, and the initialization of the lens unit is again performed in S2. .

Furthermore, if the two identification codes match in S8, it can be determined that the lens unit that was attached before the lens was removed has been attached again, and the function selected or set on the camera side can be determined. Since the state can be used as is, proceed to S9,
For example, after accepting the selection status of each function of the camera unit such as the setting value of the electronic shutter switch and executing that function, the process returns to S6 and does not perform initialization until the lens unit is replaced with another lens unit. While it is being used, the selection or setting value of the function set before the replacement is valid and that function is executed.

[0038]

As described above, according to the imaging device of the present invention, in an interchangeable lens type camera in which a lens unit can be freely attached and detached, it is possible to identify other lens units by constantly comparing the unique identification codes of the lens units. When the lens unit is replaced with another lens unit, it is automatically initialized.
This eliminates the hassle of having to reset the settings of various functions to the initial state by the operator each time the lens unit is replaced, and also allows the settings to be saved without being initialized when the same lens unit is attached or removed. Control is performed using the previous set values, meaningless initialization operations can be omitted, and this has the effect of improving both operability and reliability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a camera unit of an imaging device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a case where the imaging device according to the present invention is applied to an interchangeable lens type video camera.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A camera with a detachable lens unit, comprising identification information detection means for detecting identification information specific to the lens unit from the attached lens unit;
attachment/detachment detection means for detecting attachment/detachment of the lens unit;
storage means for storing the identification information detected by the identification information detection means; storage means for storing unique information held when the attachment/detachment of the lens unit is detected by the attachment/detachment detection means; When the detection means detects that the lens unit is attached, information specific to the lens unit detected by the identification information detection means from the attached lens unit is different from the content stored in the storage means. In some cases, an interchangeable lens type camera device comprising means for resetting some or all of the settings of the functions of the camera unit to a predetermined state.