JPH05341173A - Camera having forced infinity function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To focus a camera even when photographing a nearby subject for photography in a distant-view photographic mode by automatically releasing a forced infinity mode when the result of measurement of the distance to a subject for photography by an auto-focus function is less than a predetermined value. CONSTITUTION:When a release button 15 provided on the upper portion of a camera main body is pressed by half, distance measurement and photometry are carried out, and a release operation (exposure) is carried out when the button is further pressed. A distant-view mode (forced infinity mode), in which photographing is carried out with the lens set in a predetermined position for photographing a far object for photography which is outside of a normal focusing area, is switched on and off at the press of a distant-view button 26. When the need for photographing a nearby subject for photography or a person arises on a sudden with the forced infinity mode selected by pressing of the button 26, the forced infinity mode is released if the result of distance measurement shows that the distance to the subject for photography is less than a predetermined value and the lens is driven according to the result of distance measurement. Therefore, clear pictures can be obtained even when taken without releasing the setting.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an autofocus camera having a distant view mode for accurately focusing on a distant object in a focusing region by autofocus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A lens shutter camera having an autofocus function is generally used.
An autofocus camera measures the distance and automatically drives the lens to move to the in-focus position based on the distance measurement result.
For example, with respect to a subject at a distance of 10 m or more, the lens position at the time of focusing is the same, and some out-of-focus blur is allowed. In recent years, a camera having a distant view shooting mode (forced infinite mode) has been proposed in which a lens is forcibly positioned outside a lens driving area by autofocus in order to obtain a more focused photograph for a distant subject. It became so.

[0003]

As described above, in the distant view shooting mode, the lens position is forcibly driven to a position where a distant object is in focus.
A subject at a distance of as much will not be in focus. If you suddenly need to shoot a subject, person, etc. in a short distance after setting the camera to the distant view shooting mode, shooting without releasing the setting will result in a photo that is out of focus. It will be a matter. An object of the present invention is to provide a camera capable of taking a photograph in focus even if a subject at a short distance is photographed while the distant view photographing mode is set.

[0004]

Therefore, a camera having the forced infinity function of the present invention has an autofocus function, and when the camera is focused at the lens position corresponding to infinity of the object position by the autofocus. It has a forced infinity function that forces the lens to be positioned at a position where a subject farther than the in-focus subject distance can be focused, and even when the forced infinity function is selected, the auto If the distance measurement result of the subject distance by the focus function is less than a predetermined value, the forced infinite function is automatically canceled.

[0005]

【Example】

1 to 3 show a camera according to the invention. The camera body 1 includes fixed and movable zoom lens barrels 2 and 3. On the front surface of the camera, a distance measuring unit 4, a finder 5, and a strobe 6 are provided as in a known camera. At the upper part of the front surface of the camera body 1, a self lamp 7 that lights up in red and a stroboscopic reflected light receiving element 8 are provided. The self-lamp 7 lights up / flashes according to its operating state when the self-timer function is activated and at the time of release. The strobe reflected light receiving element 8 is for receiving the strobe light reflected by the subject in order to control the light emission of the strobe when the strobe is used. The shutter release button 1 is on the top of the camera body.
5 are provided. When the release button 15 is pressed halfway, distance measurement and photometry are performed, and when it is pressed deeper, release operation (exposure) is performed. A CdS 24 for photometry is provided on the front side of the camera body 1 below the finder.

As shown in FIG. 2, the camera back cover 80 is shown.
Is performed by the back cover release lever 9. The movable zoom lens barrel 3 is continuously moved in the telephoto or wide-angle direction by pressing the tele button 10a or the wide button 10b provided on the upper portion of the camera. Various setting states of the camera are displayed on the LCD display window 11 as described later.

A green lamp 22 and a red lamp 23 are provided around the finder 5 on the back side of the camera body 1. The green lamp 22 displays whether or not focusing by the autofocus function is possible. The red lamp 23 blinks during strobe charging and lights up when strobe light is emitted. 16 is a power switch.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the camera. An LCD display window 11 is provided on the top of the camera body 1,
Around it, there are mode button 20, drive button 2
1, a red-eye button 25, and a distant view button 26 are provided. The mode button 20 is a button for selecting the exposure mode of the camera, and the drive button is a button for selecting the shooting mode of the camera.

The camera of the present invention has a red eye reduction mode for reducing the red eye phenomenon. The red-eye phenomenon is a phenomenon in which a person's eyes appear red when stroboscopic photography is performed with a person as a subject, and this is attributed to the fact that photography is performed with a human pupil open. That is, in a relatively dark situation where a strobe is used, the pupil of the human eye is often in an open state. Therefore, when stroboscopic photography is performed in this state, the strobe light reaches the retina through the pupil and The light reflected from the person's eyes will appear red.
Although the human pupil functions to close in response to light, it is generally said that about 0.5 second is required from the time when the light is sensed to the time when it is closed. Utilizing this, conventionally, a method has been proposed in which pre-flashing is performed once to several times immediately before flash photography, and main flashing is performed after the pupil is closed to perform photography. In the camera of the present invention, in order to reduce the red-eye phenomenon, first, pre-flashing is performed once, strobe main flashing is performed at intervals of 750 ms, and stroboscopic photography is executed (red-eye reduction mode is selected). If it is). The red-eye button 25 turns on / off the pre-flash mode to reduce the red-eye effect when the flash fires.
It is a button to do.

Further, the distant view button is a distant view mode (forced infinite mode) in which the lens position is set to a predetermined position for photographing a distant object outside the normal focusing area for photographing.
This is a button for turning ON / OFF.

FIG. 4 shows the display contents of the LCD display window 11. A film counter portion 31 is provided in the center of the LCD display window 11, and a portion 37 showing the state of the battery is provided to the left of the LCD display window 11. On the left side of the film counter section, a portion 32 showing the setting state of strobe use / non-use, a portion 33 showing a valve function in the lower left portion of the display window, a portion 34a showing a normal self-timer function, and a predetermined interval. A portion 34b showing a double self-timer function for automatically photographing two images, a portion 35 showing a continuous photographing mode, and a portion 36 showing an exposure correction mode for performing exposure correction at the time of backlighting are provided. Lights up or goes off depending on the selected function / mode. In addition, O in red eye reduction mode when using a flash
Part 38 indicating N / OFF, ON / O in forced infinite mode
A portion 39 representing FF is provided.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are a summary of the displays on the LCD display window 11 corresponding to the exposure method and the photographing method. In the camera of the present invention, normally, each time the mode button 20 is pressed, (1) strobe auto, (2) strobe forced flash, (3) strobe off, (4) exposure compensation, (5)
Six exposure modes of bulb and (6) bulb sync are sequentially selected. If you press the mode button 20 while the valve sync is selected,
After returning to strobe auto, the exposure mode can be sequentially selected in the same manner. At this time, the display shown in FIG. 5 is turned on in the LCD display window 11 corresponding to the selected exposure mode.

Every time the drive button 21 is pressed, (1) single frame shooting, (2) self-timer shooting,
(3) Double self-timer shooting, (4) Continuous shooting, 4
The two shooting methods are selected in order. When the drive button 21 is pressed while continuous shooting is selected, single frame shooting is selected, and the shooting modes can be sequentially selected in the same manner. At this time, the display shown in FIG. 6 is turned on in the LCD display window 11 according to the selected photographing method.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a schematic circuit configuration of the camera of the present invention. The CPU 40 includes a strobe circuit 41, a film feeding control circuit 42, a zoom lens control circuit 43, a shutter control circuit 44, a photometry circuit 45, a distance measurement circuit 46, a strobe reflection light integration circuit 47, an LCD display unit 48, a lamp control circuit. 49 and a DX contact circuit 50 are connected. The lamp control circuit 49 controls lighting, blinking, and turning off of the self lamp 7, the green lamp 22, and the red lamp 23. Further, the CPU 40 includes a main switch 51 (power button 16), a back cover switch 52, a photometric switch 53, a release switch 54, and a tele switch 5.
5, a wide switch 56, a mode switch 57, a drive switch 58 are connected, and a red-eye switch 59 and a distant view switch 60 are also connected. All of these switches are momentary switches, except for the back cover switch that is turned on when the back cover 80 is closed. Further, the photometric switch 53 is closed when the release button 15 is pressed halfway as described above, and when the release button 15 is further pressed, the release switch 54 is pressed.
Closes. In the camera of the present invention, the film is fed by detecting holes at both ends of the film by a photo coupler.

FIG. 8 shows a circuit diagram of the strobe circuit 41. This circuit, as shown in FIG. 7, includes an input signal from the CPU 40, (1) charging permission signal ... PER, (2)
The light emission inhibition signal is controlled by INH and (3) the trigger check signal is controlled by TAC. In addition, a voltage detection signal CHV for monitoring the state of charge is output to the A / D input unit of the CPU 40 corresponding to TAC. In response to the PER (charge permission signal) from the CPU 40, the battery 100
Is boosted by the booster circuit 200 to obtain a high voltage of 330 V or higher. This is applied to the main capacitor C1 via the diode D2 to perform charging. In this embodiment, the main capacitor C1 is fully charged at 330V.

The voltage detection signal CHV is output as follows. The voltage of the main capacitor C1 is lowered by 220V by the Zener diode D1, and the transistor Tr2 is turned off.
When N, it is applied to the resistors R1 and R2 via the transistor Tr2. The voltage value divided by the resistors R1 and R2 is output to the CPU 40 as the voltage detection signal CHV. The CPU 40 sends the voltage detection signal CHV to the A / D
Converts and detects the charging voltage. Transistor Tr1
Is turned on when the trigger check signal TAC becomes "H" level. When the transistor Tr1 is turned on, a base current flows through the transistor Tr2, the transistor Tr2 is turned on, and the voltage detection signal CHV is output. Here, the transistor Tr2 is a trigger
When the check signal TAC is not applied, no current flows so that the main capacitor C1 is prevented from discharging.

Next, control of stroboscopic light emission will be described. In the strobe control circuit of the present invention, an IGBT (Insulated Gate B) is used to control the amount of strobe light emission.
i-Pola Transistor) is used.
As in the case of the voltage detection described above, the trigger check signal T
When AC becomes "H" level, the transistors Tr1 and T
r2 turns on. The voltage of the main capacitor C1 is dropped by the Zener diode D1 and further clamped at 20V by the Zener diode D3, and the capacitor C2 is charged. At this time, if the light emission prohibition signal INH is at the “L” level, the gate voltage of 20 V is also applied to the gate of the IGBT, so that the IGBT is turned on. The xenon tube Xe as the light emitting means starts light emission by the trigger in which the high voltage applied to the primary side TRN1 of the trigger transformer by the capacitor C3 when the IGBT is turned on is further boosted on the secondary side of the trigger transformer. .. During flash firing,
When the light emission prohibiting signal INH is set to "H" level, the transistor Tr3 is turned on, the gate of the IGBT is short-circuited, the gate voltage becomes almost 0, and the IGBT is turned off. When the IGBT is turned off, the current flowing in the xenon tube Xe is interrupted and the light emission is stopped. IG in general
In the case of strobe control by BT, the gate current of the IGBT may be weak, but it is necessary to apply a voltage of at least about 12V to the gate. On the other hand, the battery voltage of the camera is usually about 6 V, so that in the related art in which the strobe emission control is performed by the IGBT, it is necessary to separately provide a booster circuit for the IGBT control. However, as described above, in the strobe control circuit of the present invention, the charging voltage of the main capacitor C1 is used as the gate voltage of the IGBT. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a booster circuit for controlling the IGBT, which contributes to downsizing of the camera.

As described above, when checking the charging voltage, (1) the trigger check signal is set to "H" level,
(2) By setting the light emission prohibition signal to the “H” level, the xenon tube Xe does not emit light and the voltage detection signal CH
Only V output can be performed.

In the case of strobe light emission,
(1) Set the light emission prohibition signal to the “L” level,
(2) Light emission can be started by setting the trigger check signal to the “H” level. In this strobe light emission state, it is possible to interrupt the light emission by switching the light emission prohibition signal from the "L" level to the "H" level.

9 to 11 are timing charts showing the sequence of strobe control according to the present invention. When checking the charging voltage, first, as shown in FIG.
(1) From the state where the trigger check signal is at "L" level and the light emission prohibition signal is at "H" level, (2) By setting the trigger check signal to "H" level, the voltage detection signal CHV
You can get the output of Trigger again after voltage detection
Return the check signal to "L" level and turn on the transistor Tr
2 is turned off to prevent discharge of the main capacitor C1. When the red-eye mode is selected and pre-light emission is performed, as shown in FIG. 10, (1) when the trigger check signal and the light emission prohibition signal are both at the “L” level,
(2) The trigger check signal is set to the “H” level to start light emission, and (3) after a predetermined time (for example, 40 μsec)
After that, the emission prohibition signal is set to the “H” level and the IGBT is turned on.
The FF can be turned on and the light emission can be stopped. After that, the trigger / check signal and the light emission prohibition signal are both returned to the “L” level.

In the present embodiment, the main light emission is started 750 ms after the pre-light emission. When the main flash is performed, as shown in FIG. 10, (1) the trigger check signal and the flash inhibit signal are both “
From the L "level state, (2) light emission is started by setting the trigger check signal to" H "level. (3) Sufficient time (for example, 10 ms) to complete the light emission.
After holding the trigger check signal at "H" level
Return to L "level. As described above, by using the IGBT, it is possible to easily control the light emission amount. In addition, a main capacitor and a sub capacitor for main light emission and pre-light emission for reducing red eye are provided. Since it does not need to be provided, it contributes to space saving.In addition, by sharing a part of the charging voltage detection circuit and the strobe light emission circuit, the circuit can be made compact. The check signal for detecting the charging voltage can be the same signal.

In some single-lens reflex cameras, the light emission can be stopped by the light emission stop signal (quench signal) even in the main light emission. In that case, the amount of reflected light from the strobe is integrated, and when it reaches a predetermined amount, a quench signal is output to stop light emission. In this embodiment, the strobe reflected light receiving element 8 receives the strobe reflected light, and the integrating circuit 47 integrates the strobe reflected light amount.
When the integrated value exceeds a predetermined amount, the light emission prohibition signal is set to "H" level to stop the light emission, as shown in FIG. In this case, although the flash light emission is originally as shown by the broken line, when the light emission inhibition signal INH is set to the “H” level, the light emission is as shown by the solid line.

Next, the operation control of the camera according to the present invention will be described with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. In this camera, in order to realize low power consumption,
Normally, the CPU 40 is in a standby state in which the operation is stopped. It is assumed that the CPU 40 exits the standby state when the activation condition set by each state of the camera is satisfied, and performs the software processing from the beginning of the main flow.

In the main process, first, at step (hereinafter abbreviated as S) 100, it is judged whether the film loading is completed. Here, it is determined whether the motor is driven for loading, not whether the film is actually loaded. If the loading is not performed, it is determined whether the case back 80 is closed (S102). If loading is not completed and the back cover 80 is closed, S1
At 04, the loading process is immediately executed. After the loading process, it is determined in S106 whether or not the power source is ON, that is, whether or not the photographing operation is possible.
If the power is off, the return memory, which will be described later, is cleared in S130, the main switch 51 is released, the booting of only the back cover switch and the main switch is permitted, and the standby state is entered (S130 to S136). That is, only when the back cover switch is changed or the main switch 51 is pressed, the start-up state is enabled.

The loading process is not completed, and the back cover 8
If 0 is open, the loading process is not performed (S100, S102), and it is detected whether or not each switch is operated. If the back cover 80 is open (S108) when the loading process has already been performed, the number of films is initialized (S110), and the power is turned on.
The process proceeds to S106 for determining the state. If the loading process is not completed and the back cover 80 is open, or if the loading process is completed and the back cover 80 is closed, whether the main switch 51 is turned on,
That is, it is determined whether the power button 16 has been pressed (S112). Main switch 5 when power is on
When 1 is pressed, it is determined as Yes in S114,
The power OFF process (S116) is performed, and the power is turned off.

Next, the case where the main switch 51 is pressed while the power is off will be described. In the camera according to the present invention, in order to protect the movable zoom lens 3 and to avoid wasteful power consumption, the zoom lens is automatically turned on when left unoperated for 3 minutes while the power is on. It has the function of storing and turning off the power (described later). At this time, the focal length of the lens and the setting state of the mode drive are stored. When the power is turned on by the main switch 51 after this automatic power-off (S114, S118), (1) automatic power-source O
If 30 minutes have not elapsed after the FF process, an automatic power-on process for returning the camera to the state immediately before the automatic power-off is executed based on the stored data (S122), (2) automatic If 30 minutes have elapsed after the power-off processing, normal power-on processing in which each mode is started with an initial value is executed (S120). Further, the power-on after the photographer presses the power button 16 to turn it off is the normal power-on processing in which each mode is started with the initial value, as in (2) above (S120).

After the power is turned on in S120 or S122, a charging request flag for starting strobe charging is set (S124). In the camera of the present invention, the initial value of the exposure mode is strobe auto. If the strobe is not charged when the power is turned on, even if the strobe is required at the time of shooting, the shooting is performed after the charging is completed. In order to avoid this, in the camera of the present invention, when the power is turned on, the strobe charge is controlled in advance.

If the main switch 51 is not operated in S112 and the power is on, the mode switch 57, the drive switch 58, and the red-eye switch 5
9. It is determined whether or not the distant view switch 60 has been pressed, and processing based on that is performed (described later). On the other hand, when the power is off, it is determined whether the 30-minute timer has timed out (S128). In S122, it is determined that the power is not in the ON state only for 30 minutes after the automatic power OFF, and the setting of the focal length, the mode and the drive is stored by the time-up of the 30-minute timer. Clear the existing recovery memory (S130), wait for the main switch 51 to be released (S132),
A standby state is entered (S132 to S136). In clearing the return memory (S130), the zoom lens position is set to the wide end, the contents of the mode memory and drive memory are set to 0, and the distant view mode is turned off. At this time, the red eye mode is not cleared. This is because the setting of the red-eye mode is considered to largely depend on the preference of the photographer, and thus the setting state is maintained as it is.

Even when the power is turned off by the main switch 51 when the power is on, S130 to S130
The processing of 136 is executed. In S128, if it is before the 30-minute timer expires, the process proceeds to S196.
Change of back cover switch, closing operation of main switch 51, 3
The system stands by in a state where it can be activated only by the time-out of the 0-minute timer (S198).

When the mode switch 57, the drive switch 58, the red-eye switch 59 or the distant view switch 60 is pressed while the power is on, each subroutine is executed according to the pressed switch (S138 to S152). If none of the above switches is pressed, it is not a loading error, the end of rewinding is not completed, and the photometric switch 53 is ON, the photographing process is performed (S).
154-S160). After the shooting process is completed, the 3-minute timer is reset and restarted (S162). In S102 or S108, the opening / closing operation of the back lid 80 is performed and the power is ON (S106), the reset of the three-minute timer is also executed.

In S164 to S178, the lens is driven according to the operation of the tele / wide switch. When the tele switch is ON and the lens reaches the tele end, or
When the wide switch is ON and the lens reaches the wide end, the zoom process is controlled not to be performed. When zoom processing (lens drive) is performed, 3
The minute timer is reset / restarted (S17)
8).

Next, it is determined whether or not the state is the strobe charge request state by the strobe charge request flag (S180). The strobe charge request flag is set when the power is turned on or when the strobe emits light. S1
If it is detected at 80 that the strobe charge request flag is set, the strobe charge process (S182) is executed. In the strobe charging process, if a switch operation that requires an operation is performed during charging, the charging is interrupted and the process returns to S100 of the main flow to perform the necessary process. If the switch operation that requires operation is not performed, strobe charging processing is performed until charging is completed, and if charging is completed,
The charge request flag is cleared and the process proceeds to S186. Next, when none of the momentary switches are pressed, it is determined whether or not the three-minute timer has timed out (S188). If the time has expired, the recovery memory stores the focal length, mode, drive, and so on. The setting state of the distant view is stored and the automatic power-off process of S192 is executed.
The minute timer is started (S194). After the 30-minute timer is started, the operation is stopped except for the change of the back cover switch 52, the closing operation of the main switch 51, or the time-up of the 30-minute timer (S196).

FIG. 15 shows a part of a modification of the main flow of the present invention. In this modification, S189 is added before S190 in the flowchart of FIG.
Normally, the contents of the mode memory / drive memory are set to a default value by setting a mode / drive initialization request flag and operating the mode switch / drive switch after shooting. However, in this modification, the initialization request flag is cleared when the operation is not performed for 3 minutes and is left as it is. In S188, if the 3-minute timer has not expired before the time is up, the power is on, so that activation by all the switches and activation by the 3-minute timer up are enabled (S200).

16 to 19 are flow charts showing the contents of the photographing process. Distance measurement and AF
(Autofocus) calculation processing, green lamp lighting blinking processing, photometric processing, exposure calculation processing (S300 to S30).
8). In the green lamp lighting flashing process, the lamp is lit when the distance measurement is completed. When the distance to the subject is too close to focus, the lamp blinks to warn. In the exposure calculation processing, necessary exposure calculation is performed according to the selected mode.

Next, in S310, it is determined whether or not strobe light emission is necessary. When the flash is required to be emitted, if the charging is completed, that is, if the voltage is enough to emit light, the red lamp is turned on to display the completion of charging (S31).
2, S314), if the charging is insufficient, the photographing charging process is executed (S316). In the shooting and charging process, the red lamp is first made to blink, the charging process is performed, and when the charging is completed, the red lamp is turned on. In this embodiment, the determination in S312 is
It is determined by whether the charging voltage becomes 270 V or higher. This value is set as a charging voltage at which main light emission can be performed by the remaining electric charge of the main capacitor C1 even after the pre-light emission in the red-eye mode is performed and the electric charge of the main capacitor C1 is consumed. That is, the voltage serving as the reference for the determination in S312 is determined in consideration of the pre-light emission in the red-eye mode. However, the reference voltage for the determination in S312 may be set higher in consideration of pre-light emission when the red-eye mode is ON, and may be set lower in consideration of only main light emission when the red-eye mode is OFF. Of course it is possible.

When the photometric switch is ON, that is, when the shutter release button 15 is half pressed, S318, S
Waiting for the release switch to be turned on in the loop of 322, and if the photometric switch is turned off during this time, both the green lamp and the red lamp are turned off to end the photographing process and return to the main flow.

When the release switch is turned on, if the distant view switch is turned on, the lens position is set to a position where the subject distance is infinite (S326, S328). That is, when the release switch is turned on while pressing the distant view switch, the lens position is forcibly set to the distant view mode position.

If the self-timer or double self-timer function is selected, the self-timer operation of S330 to S350 is performed. When the first image of the normal self-timer image capturing or the double self-timer image capturing is performed, the image capturing process is started 10 seconds after the release switch is turned on. First, the self lamp is turned on and a 7 second timer start is executed. After the 7-second timer times out, the self-lamp starts blinking and the 3-second timer starts. After the 3-second timer expires (S330-
The process proceeds to S350) and S352. By pressing the main switch while the timer is counting, the self-timer shooting can be stopped (S336, S348).
When the second shot of the double self-timer shooting is performed, the self lamp flashes after the release switch is turned on, and the shooting process is started by the time-up of the 3-second timer.

As described above, when the first self-timer function or the double self-timer function is used for the first photographing from the camera body side, the photographing process is performed only when both the 7-second timer and the 3-second timer are timed out. Is executed and the delay time of 10 seconds is set as a result,
When the drive mode is set to self-timer,
When the second self-timer photographing is performed, the second self-timer photographing is performed with a delay time of 3 seconds after the first photographing.

During the delay time of the first image of the normal self-timer shooting or the double self-timer shooting, the self-lamp 7 is constantly lit for the first 7 seconds and then blinks for the subsequent 3 seconds. Double self-timer shooting 2
The self lamp 7 also flashes during the delay time of the first sheet. Further, if the main switch 51 is pressed during the operation of the self-timer function, the self-timer operation is interrupted, all of the green lamp, the red lamp and the self lamp are turned off, and the process returns to the main flow.

If the self-timer function is not selected, or if the self-timer function / double self-timer function is completed normally, the green lamp / red lamp is turned off (S352) and the self-lamp 7 is turned on. (S354), the process proceeds to S356.

In step S356, it is determined whether strobe light emission is necessary. If stroboscopic light emission is required, the red-eye mode is selected, and if the distant view mode is not selected, pre-light emission for red-eye reduction is executed, and after waiting a predetermined time of 750 ms (S358 to S364), lens AF operation is performed. Is executed (S366) to drive the lens. If stroboscopic light emission is required and the red-eye mode is selected but the distant view mode is selected, the process proceeds from S360 to S366, and pre-light emission is not performed.

When the lens driving is completed, the self lamp 7
Is turned off (S368), and the exposure control process is executed (S3
70), the shutter sector starts to open, and main light emission is performed when strobe light emission is necessary.

If bulb exposure is selected, 5
After waiting for 00 ms, the sector is closed by turning off the photometric switch. Here, by providing the waiting time of 500 ms, when the bulb photographing is selected, the shutter speed of 500 ms, that is, 1/2 second can be obtained by pressing the release button and immediately releasing it. In addition, the end of bulb photography is determined by turning off the metering switch instead of turning off the release switch, because when the photographer continues to press the release button, the pressing force temporarily weakens and the release switch is turned off. This is because the bulb photography is continued even when it is turned off.

When the sector is closed (S378) and the exposure is completed, it is determined whether or not the strobe light is emitted. If the strobe light is emitted, a strobe charge request flag is set.

Next, a mode initialization request flag and a drive initialization request flag are set (S384, S386),
The distant view mode is cleared (S388), and the film winding process (S390) is performed. The distant view mode is cleared each time shooting is finished. This is considered to be the reason that continuous shooting in the distant view mode is rare, and there is a possibility that you may forget to turn off the distant view mode and continue shooting, so clear it each time to prevent this. There is. In the film winding process, when the end of the film is detected, automatic rewinding is performed and the photographing process subroutine ends. When the winding process is finished, it is determined whether continuous shooting is selected or whether the first shot of double self is finished (S394, S396). If continuous shooting is selected, or double self is selected. If the second image is taken, the beginning of the shooting process (S30
Return to 0). When the shooting process ends, the process returns to the main flow. If no film is loaded, no winding will occur. Further, in the film winding (rewinding) process, when the film end is detected and the film is rewound, the subroutine of the photographing process is ended in S392 and the process returns to the main flow.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the subroutine and strobe charging processing. When the strobe charging process is called, a 10 second timer is started (S400),
Charging is started (S402). Charging is continued until the charging voltage reaches a predetermined value (S404, S406, S41
0) When the 10 second timer times out (S4
08), the processing is ended, and the process returns to the main flow. The charging process is also interrupted when a switch operation is performed during charging (S410). When the charging is completed, the charging request flag is cleared (S407) and then the process returns to the main flow.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart showing a subroutine and exposure control processing. When the exposure control process is called, the shutter sector is opened (S500). If the flash mode is set, wait for the sector to open to the position corresponding to the flash point (S502, S50).
4) Then, main flash emission is started (S506). The flash reflected light from the subject is integrated (S508), and it is monitored whether the integrated value is equal to or more than the predetermined value A while the flash emission time is not exceeded (S508 to S512). When the integrated value exceeds the predetermined value A, a quench signal is output and the stroboscopic light emission is terminated (S514). After the strobe light emission time has passed and the light emission ends (S510), or if the strobe light emission mode is not in effect (S502), wait for the exposure value to become equal to or greater than the predetermined value B (S516) and end the exposure control processing. Then, the process returns to the shooting process subroutine.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart showing the subroutine and mode setting processing called in S140 of the main flow. In the mode setting process, the mode switch is pressed to select the exposure method shown in FIG. As for processing,
When the mode switch is pushed, the contents of the mode memory are incremented by one, and when the contents of the mode memory are 5, the contents of the mode memory are returned to 0 when the mode switch is pushed again.

In S600, the flag indicating that the mode requires charging is temporarily cleared. When the content of the mode memory is not 0 and the mode initialization request flag is set, the mode memory is cleared (S604, S60).
8). The mode initialization request flag is set when the shooting is performed after the mode is set in S384 of the main flow. In the normal mode setting, the contents of the mode memory are incremented by pressing the mode switch as described above, but after shooting, regardless of the selected mode,
By operating the mode switch, the content of the mode memory is set to the initial value, that is, the strobe auto mode. However,
When the selected mode is strobe auto, the next mode is selected by pressing the mode switch (S602, S610). S606, S608, S61
At 0, the contents of the mode memory are incremented by pressing the mode switch, and reset to 0 when the contents of the mode memory exceed 5. If the content of the mode memory is 0, 1, or 5, it is a mode in which strobe light is emitted at the time of shooting, so a flag indicating a charge required mode is set, and if the red-eye mode is selected, the LCD
The red eye mark on the display window 11 is turned on (S612 to S62).
4). If the contents of the mode memory are 2, 3, and 4, it is the mode in which the stroboscopic light emission is not performed, and therefore the red-eye mark of the LCD display window 11 is turned off in S626. If the red-eye mark is displayed when the mode in which the flash is not emitted is selected, the photographer may have an illusion that the flash is emitted. Then, the display is turned off in the mode in which the stroboscopic light emission is not performed.

When the mode setting is completed, the mode initialization request flag is cleared (S628), and the LCD display window 11
Then, the display of the exposure mode corresponding to the contents of the mode memory (see FIG. 5) is turned on (S630).

FIG. 23 is a flow chart showing the subroutine and drive setting processing called in S144 of the main flow. Similar to the mode setting process of FIG. 22, the content of the drive memory is incremented by 1 each time the drive switch is pressed (S658). When the content of the drive memory exceeds 3, it is reset to 0 (S654, S656).
When the drive initialization request flag is set in S386 of the main flow, an initial value, that is, 0 is set in the drive memory when the drive switch is pressed regardless of the selected shooting method (S652). , S65
6). However, when the selected shooting method is single-frame shooting, the content of the drive memory is incremented by 1 by pressing the drive switch (S65).
0, S658). After setting the drive, the drive initialization request flag is cleared (S660), and the display of the photographing method corresponding to the contents of the drive memory (see FIG. 6) is displayed on the LCD display window (S662).

FIG. 24 is a flow chart showing the subroutine and red-eye setting process called in S148 of the main flow. In the red-eye setting process, the process is not performed if the exposure method is that flash light emission is not performed, and the setting process is performed only when the exposure method is that flash light emission is performed (S700). First, the contents of the memory storing ON / OFF of the red-eye mode are reversed (S702). That is, each time the red-eye switch is pressed, the red-eye mode is turned on.
It will be switched off. When the red-eye mode is ON, the red-eye mark is lit and displayed on the LCD display window, and when the red-eye mode is OFF, the lit red-eye mark is turned off (S704).

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing the subroutine and distant view setting processing called in S152 of the main flow. If the distant view mode is selected, it is turned off, and if it is not the distant view mode, the distant view mode is turned on (S710). Next, when the distant view mode is switched to ON, the distant view mark is lit up and displayed on the LCD display window, and when the distant view mode is switched to OFF, the lit distant view mark is turned off (S71).
2).

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing the subroutine and AF calculation processing called in S302 of the photographing processing. This process is called when the release button 15 is half pressed. When the distant view mode is not selected, the normal AF process for driving the lens based on the distance measurement result is executed (S720, S726). Further, even if the distant view mode is selected, if the distance measurement result indicates that the distance to the subject is less than 10 m, the distant view mode is canceled and lens driving is performed based on the distance measurement result (S720, S722). , S726). Subject distance is 10
If m or more, the lens is positioned at the distant view mode position (S724).

Although the strobe control circuit incorporated in the camera has been described in the above-mentioned embodiment, it goes without saying that the strobe device alone can adopt the above construction.

According to the camera having the forced infinity function of the present invention, even if the distant view photographing mode (forced infinity mode) in which the lens position is forcibly driven to the position where a distant subject is in focus is selected, When it becomes necessary to shoot a subject, a person or the like in a short distance, it is possible to shoot without focusing on the setting and to take a focused picture.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of a camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of an LCD display window.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a correspondence between an exposure method, a mode memory, and an LCD display.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a correspondence between a shooting method, a drive memory, and an LCD display.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating control of a camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing a strobe control circuit of a camera according to the present invention.

9 is a timing chart for explaining the detection of the charging voltage of the strobe control circuit of the camera according to the present invention together with FIG.

FIG. 10 is a timing chart for explaining pre-flash and main flash of a strobe of a camera according to the present invention together with FIG.

FIG. 11 is a timing chart explaining, together with FIG. 8, a light emission stop at the time of main flash light emission of the camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 shows a main flow of the operation of the camera of the present invention.
15 is a flowchart described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 13 is a main flow of the operation of the camera of the present invention.
15 is a flowchart described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 14 shows a main flow of the operation of the camera of the present invention.
14 is a flowchart described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a modified example of the main flow of the operation of the camera of the present invention, with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a shooting processing subroutine of the camera of the present invention together with FIGS.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of a photographing process of the camera of the present invention together with FIG. 16, FIG. 18, and FIG.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of a photographing process of the camera of the present invention together with FIGS. 16, 17 and 19.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing a subroutine of a photographing process of the camera of the present invention together with FIGS. 16 to 18.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of strobe charging processing of the camera of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of exposure control processing of the camera of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of mode setting processing of the camera of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of drive setting processing of the camera of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of red-eye setting processing of the camera of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of a camera distant view setting process of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of AF calculation processing of the camera of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 Strobe 8 Strobe reflected light receiving element 11 LCD display window 20 Mode button 21 Drive button 25 Red-eye button 26 Far-field button

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takuma Sato 2-36-9 Maenocho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo Asahi Kogaku Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a camera having an autofocus function, a position farther from a focusable subject distance when focusing is performed by a lens position corresponding to infinity of the subject position by autofocusing. In a camera having a forced infinity function of forcibly positioning a lens, even when the forced infinity function is selected, if the distance measurement result of the subject distance by the autofocus function is less than a predetermined value, A camera having a forced infinite function, which is characterized by automatically releasing the forced infinite function.