JPH0545664U - Camera red-eye prevention control device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To prevent unnecessary pre-light emission to extend the life of the power supply battery and ensure a good shutter chance. [Structure] Signal output means 10 capable of outputting a red-eye prevention signal
2. When the red-eye prevention signal is output, the flash device 101 is pre-emitted with the release operation, and after a predetermined time elapses, the flash device 101 is main-emitted for flash photography, and when the red-eye prevention signal is not output, Flash device 101
In a red-eye prevention control device for a camera, which comprises a flash photography control means 103 for performing flash photography immediately with a release operation without performing pre-emission, a person photography mode for performing exposure control suitable for photographing a person, and A mode selecting unit 104 for selecting a non-person photographing mode for performing exposure control suitable for photographing a person other than a person, and a control for prohibiting output of a red-eye prevention signal when the non-person photographing mode is set at the time of a flash photographing command. And means 105.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a camera red-eye prevention control device capable of pre-flashing in order to prevent the red-eye phenomenon (a phenomenon in which the subject's eyes appear red during flash photography), and in particular, unnecessary pre-flashing is prohibited. is there.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 It has a flash device that can perform main flash for subject illumination and pre-flash for red-eye prevention.The flash device pre-flashes in response to a release operation, and then after a predetermined waiting time elapses, the flash device flashes main light. A camera for performing flash photography is known (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-153536). Since the pupil of the subject is closed by such pre-emission, the above-mentioned red-eye phenomenon during flash photography is prevented.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, the pre-light emission has no meaning when the subject is a person other than a person, such as a landscape photograph, and it is desirable not to perform the pre-light emission in such a case. This is because not only the power supply battery is wasted by unnecessary pre-emission, but also the shutter release is delayed by the waiting time after the pre-emission, and the shutter chance may be missed. However, conventional cameras that can perform pre-flash do not perform control such as detecting whether the subject is a person or not to determine whether or not to use pre-flash, so pre-flash is performed even when it is not necessary. There is a risk that the battery will be undesirably consumed or that a chance to take a shutter is missed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a red-eye prevention control device for a camera, which can prevent unnecessary pre-light emission to extend the life of the power supply battery and ensure the shutter chance.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 Referring to FIG. 1, which is a diagram for responding to complaints, the present invention is directed to a flash device 101 capable of main light emission for subject illumination and pre-light emission for red-eye prevention, and a signal capable of outputting a red-eye prevention signal when a flash photography command is issued. When the output means 102 and the red-eye prevention signal are output, the flash device 101 is pre-emitted with the release operation, and after a predetermined time has elapsed, the flash device 101 is main-emitted for flash photography and the red-eye prevention is performed. When the signal is not output, the flash device 101 is applied to a red-eye prevention control device for a camera, which is provided with a flash photography control means 103 which immediately performs flash photography with a release operation without performing pre-flashing. Then, a mode selecting unit 104 for selecting a person photographing mode for performing exposure control suitable for photographing a person and a non-person photographing mode for performing exposure control suitable for photographing a person other than a human being, and a flash photographing instruction. When the non-person photographing mode is set by the mode selection means 104, the control means 105 for prohibiting the output of the red-eye prevention signal by the signal output means 102 is provided, thereby solving the above problems.

[0006]

[Action]

 When the non-person shooting mode is set at the time of the flash shooting command, the red-eye prevention signal is not output, and at this time, the pre-flash is not performed.

[0007]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 2 showing the overall configuration, a lens drive circuit 2, a focus detection circuit 3, a photometric circuit 4, and a camera control circuit 5 are connected to the CPU 1 by a signal transmission line BL1. The focus detection circuit 3 has a pair of light receiving elements, such as CCDs, and performs focus detection based on the output of the light receiving elements. That is, a pair of subject images are formed on these light receiving elements via the taking lens LE and a pair of lenses (not shown), and based on the electric signals from the respective light receiving elements, the image forming plane of the subject is scheduled. A focus detection signal representing the amount of deviation from the image plane and its direction is input to the CPU 1. This focus detection operation is performed multiple times in succession within a predetermined time. Therefore, it is possible to detect whether or not the subject is moving in the front-back direction of the camera by the focus detection signal input each time. ..

The photometric circuit 4 has a light receiving element that receives light from a subject, and the output of this light receiving element is input to the CPU 1 as a subject brightness signal. A motor 9 for driving the focusing lens 8 is connected to the lens drive circuit 2, and the motor 9 is drive-controlled by a lens drive signal from the CPU 1 to drive the focusing lens 8 for focusing. Here, the lens drive signal is a signal formed by the CPU 1 based on the focus detection signal from the focus detection circuit 3 described above.

The camera control circuit 5 includes an exposure control device 6 such as a diaphragm and a shutter, a display device 7 such as a liquid crystal display, an exposure mode setting device 22, an AF mode setting device 23, and a feeding mode setting device 24. It is connected. The exposure mode setting device 22 selects one of the well-known program exposure mode, aperture priority mode, shutter speed priority mode, and manual exposure mode according to the operation of an exposure mode setting button (not shown). The program exposure mode has the following five modes. (1) Sports mode for shooting moving subjects (2) Landscape mode for shooting landscape scenes (3) Portrait mode for portrait shooting (4) Close for shooting flowers etc. up Up mode (5) Snap mode to capture the atmosphere of the scene

Here, in the sports mode (1), exposure calculation is performed so that the shutter speed is as fast as possible in order to prevent image blur, and in the landscape mode (2), the depth of field is increased. To do this, the exposure calculation is performed so that the aperture is narrowed down more than usual. In the portrait mode (3), the exposure calculation is performed so that the aperture value will be more open than usual so that only the person is in focus. As with the landscape mode in), the exposure calculation is performed so that the aperture is as narrow as possible in order to deepen the depth of field. Further, in the snap mode (5), the exposure calculation is performed so that the aperture value is about the middle of the landscape mode and the portrait mode. In this embodiment, the portrait mode and the snap mode correspond to the portrait shooting mode, and the others are non-portrait shooting modes.

Further, according to the operation of an AF mode setting button (not shown), the AF mode setting device 23 once (A) presses the release button halfway and once the shooting lens LE focuses on the subject, the shooting lens LE is at that position. Single AF mode that locks (focus locks) (B) Selects and sets one of the continuous AF modes that continuously performs focus detection and lens drive while the release button is pressed halfway. Input to the camera control circuit 5. Further, the feeding mode setting device 24 responds to the operation of a feeding mode setting button (not shown), (a) a single photographing mode (a single photographing mode in which one photographing is performed in response to one operation of the release button). ) While the release button is continuously pressed all the way down, one of the continuous shooting modes in which shooting is continuously repeated is selected and set and input to the camera control circuit 5.

Further, the CPU 1 is connected to an external electronic flash device 10 and a release switch SW interlocked with the operation of a release button (not shown). The electronic flash device 10 has a xenon tube Xe1 as a light emitting element and a light emission control circuit 11 for controlling light emission of the xenon tube Xe1. The light emission control circuit 11 responds to a command from the CPU 1 Xe1 is pre-emitted or main-emitted. The release switch SW is composed of switches SW1 and SW2. When the release button is half pressed, the switch SW1 is turned on, and when it is fully pressed, the switch SW2 is turned on.

Next, the procedure of control by the CPU 1 will be described based on the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 4. When the half-push switch SW1 is turned on, this program is started. First, the focus detection signal from the focus detection circuit 3 is input in step S1 in FIG. 3, and the subject brightness signal from the photometric circuit 4 is input in step S2. Next, in step S3, the lens drive amount is calculated based on the input focus detection signal, and a lens drive signal corresponding to this is output to the lens drive circuit 2 for focusing drive of the taking lens LE. That is, the lens drive circuit 2 drives and controls the motor 9 by the lens drive signal from the CPU 1 to drive the focusing lens 8 toward the in-focus position. In step S4, the currently set exposure mode (aperture priority mode, shutter speed priority mode, and the above-described one) is input based on the input subject brightness and the ISO sensitivity of the film input from a sensitivity setting device (not shown). The exposure value is calculated according to any one of the program exposure modes (1) to (5), and the process proceeds to step S5.

In step S5, it is determined whether or not the full-press switch SW2 described above is on, and if it is off, it is determined in step S6 whether or not the half-press switch SW1 is on. If the half-push switch SW1 is off, the process is terminated, and if it is on, the process proceeds to step S7. In step S7, the currently set AF mode is discriminated, and if it is the single AF mode, the process returns to step S5, and if it is the continuous AF mode, the process returns to step S1.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S5 that the full-press switch SW2 is turned on, the process proceeds to step S8 in FIG. 4 and it is determined whether or not flash photography is instructed. This is determined, for example, by whether or not the use of the electronic flash device 10 is prohibited by an electronic flash device use prohibition switch (not shown), or whether it is necessary to use the electronic flash device 10 based on whether the subject brightness B is high or low. To be done. If step S8 is denied, the process proceeds to step S21, and if affirmative, the process proceeds to step S9. In step S21, the main mirror (not shown) is raised, and the aperture is driven via the camera control circuit 5. Then, in step S22, the shutter front curtain is run, and when a predetermined shutter time elapses, step S18 is performed. Proceed to.

On the other hand, in steps S9 and S10, the exposure mode and the AF mode are respectively determined, and in step S11, it is determined based on the output of the focus detection circuit 3 whether the subject is moving or stationary. There is. Furthermore, in step S12, the feeding mode is determined. The exposure mode is set to any one of the portrait mode, the aperture priority mode (A), the shutter speed priority mode (S) and the manual mode (M), and the AF mode is set to the single AF mode. If the subject is stationary and the single shooting mode is set as the feeding mode, the red-eye prevention signal is output and the process proceeds to step S13. In other cases, that is, step S9- When at least any one of S12 is denied, it progresses to step S15. Here, the person photographing mode refers to the portrait mode of (3) and the snap mode of (5) as described above. Therefore, when the program exposure modes (1), (2), and (4) are set, step S9 is denied.

In step S 13, the xenon tube Xe 1 is pre-emitted through the emission control circuit 11. As a result, the person who is the subject sees the flash of the xenon tube Xe1 and closes the pupil of the eye. Next, in step S14, the process waits until a predetermined time elapses, and then the process proceeds to step S15. This predetermined time is the time when the pupil opening of the subject becomes the minimum, and is set to 0.75 seconds, for example. In step S15, the main mirror (not shown) is raised and the diaphragm is driven via the camera control circuit 5. Next, in step S16, the shutter front curtain is run, and in step S17, the xenon tube Xe1 is main-emitted through the light emission control circuit 11. After that, when a predetermined shutter time elapses, the shutter rear curtain is started in step S18. Let

In step S19, the main mirror is lowered, and in step S20, the film is wound by one frame via a film feeding device (not shown). Then, it proceeds to a predetermined process. That is, for example, when the single shooting mode is set as the feeding mode, the process is ended, and when the continuous shooting mode is set, the process returns to step S15 or S21.

According to the above procedure, the person photographing mode is set at the time of the flash photographing command, the single AF mode is set, the subject is stationary, and the single photographing mode is set. The red-eye prevention signal is output and pre-light emission is performed only when it is set, and when the non-person shooting mode is set, the red-eye prevention signal output is prohibited and pre-light emission is not performed. That is, in the non-person shooting mode, it is not necessary to prevent red-eye, so pre-flash is meaningless, and in this case, pre-flash is prohibited. Even if the camera is in portrait mode, if the continuous AF mode is set, it is often the case that a moving subject is being tracked, and a momentary shutter chance is important. The pre-flash that causes is not emitted. Further, even when it is determined that the subject is moving, the pre-flash is not performed for the same reason as above. Furthermore, when the feeding mode is the continuous mode, since the movement of the subject is photographed, pre-emission with a time lag is not performed.

In the configuration of the above embodiment, the exposure mode setting device 22 constitutes the mode selection means 104, and the CPU 1 constitutes the signal output means 102, the flash control means 103 and the control means 105, respectively.

Although the camera of the above-described embodiment does not have a function of allowing the photographer to select whether or not to perform pre-flashing, for example, the photographer can perform pre-flashing depending on whether or not a pre-flashing switch (not shown) is operated. Fig. 5 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a device with or without selection. In FIG. 5, step S30 is added between steps S8 and S9 in FIG. 4 above. In step S30, it is determined whether or not pre-emission is selected by operating the pre-emission switch, and a negative determination is made. If so, the process proceeds to step S15 without performing pre-emission, and if affirmative, the process proceeds to step S9.

Although an example in which only one type of portrait mode is possible has been described above, two types of portrait modes, the first and second portrait modes, can be set, and in the determination processing of step S9, the first When the portrait mode is set, the process may proceed to step S10, and when the second portrait mode is set, the process may proceed to step S15. That is, in the first portrait mode, pre-light emission is performed if other conditions are satisfied, and in the second portrait mode, pre-light emission that causes a time lag is not performed in consideration of the quick shooting property. Further, in the above, the portrait mode and the snap mode are the person photographing modes, but only the portrait mode may be the person photographing mode. Further, although an example in which an external electronic flash device is mounted is shown, the present invention can be applied to a camera having an internal electronic flash device. Furthermore, the flash device for main emission and the flash device for pre-emission may be provided separately.

[0023]

[Effect of the device]

 According to the present invention, the pre-flash for red-eye prevention is prohibited when the non-person shooting mode is set at the time of the flash shooting command, so that when the subject is not a person, such as landscape photography. Since no pre-emission is performed, unnecessary pre-emission eliminates the possibility of undesired consumption of the power supply battery and missing of a chance to take a photo.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram corresponding to a complaint.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a red-eye prevention control device for a camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart following FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 Lens drive circuit 3 Focus detection circuit 4 Photometric circuit 5 Camera control circuit 8 Photographic lens 10 Electronic flash device 22 Exposure mode setting device 23 AF mode setting device 24 Feeding mode setting device 101 Flash device 102 Signal output means 103 Flash control Means 104 Mode Selection Means Xe1 Xenon Tube

Claims (5)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A flash device capable of main light emission for subject illumination and pre-light emission for red-eye prevention, signal output means capable of outputting a red-eye prevention signal when a flash photography command is issued, and release operation at the time of outputting the red-eye prevention signal. The flash device is pre-flashed in response to this, and after a predetermined time elapses, the flash device is flashed to perform flash photography, and when the red-eye prevention signal is not output, the flash device is not pre-flashed and released. In a red-eye prevention control device for a camera, which is provided with a flash photography control means for performing the flash photography immediately with an operation, in a person photography mode for performing exposure control suitable for photographing a person, and for photographing a person other than a person. Mode selecting means for selecting a non-person photographing mode for performing suitable exposure control, and the non-person photographing mode is selected by the mode selecting means when a flash photographing command is issued. Is in the case that, the signal output means red-eye prevention control device for a camera, characterized by a control means for prohibiting the output of the red-eye prevention signal by. 2. A single focus mode in which focusing of a taking lens is performed by a predetermined operation, and focusing is stopped when the taking lens focuses on a subject once, and a continuous focusing operation is performed while the predetermined operation is performed. Further comprising a selecting means for selecting a continuous focus mode for performing focusing, the control means, even if the person shooting mode is selected at the time of the flash shooting command, when the continuous focus mode is selected, 2. The red-eye prevention control device for a camera according to claim 1, wherein the output of the red-eye prevention signal is prohibited. 3. A detection means for detecting whether or not the subject is stationary, wherein the control means detects that the subject is not stationary even if the person photographing mode is set at the time of the flash photographing command. The red-eye prevention control device for the camera according to claim 1, wherein the output of the red-eye prevention signal is prohibited when the red-eye prevention signal is output. 4. A selection means for selecting a single shooting mode in which shooting is performed only once with a release operation and a continuous shooting mode in which continuous shooting is performed while the release operation is performed, further comprising: 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the means inhibits the output of the red-eye prevention signal when the continuous shooting mode is selected even if the person shooting mode is selected at the time of the flash shooting command. Red-eye prevention control device. 5. The mode selection means is capable of selecting two types of person photographing modes, and the control means prohibits the output of the red-eye prevention signal when one person photographing mode is set, and the other. 2. The red-eye prevention control device for a camera according to claim 1, wherein the output of the red-eye prevention signal is permitted when the person photographing mode is set.