JPH066652A - Video camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To pick up an optimum video image in the case of image pickup by devising the video camera such that visual light pickup or infrared ray pickup by means of lighting of a video light is attained. CONSTITUTION:A video light 2 is removably equipped with the video camera main body 1 and when the visual light pickup mode or the infrared ray pickup mode is selected for the video camera, a color temperature of the lighting light of the video light 2 suitable for each image pickup mode is obtained and especially in the case of the visual light pickup mode, the color temperature is selected to be 3100K and in the case of the infrared ray pickup mode, the color temperature is selected to be 2300K through the automatic adjustment of a voltage applied to the lamp 22.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video camera capable of selectively switching between visible light photography and infrared photography.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a video camera of this type, in particular, a video camera capable of infrared photography, one having a structure disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-69166 by the same applicant is well known as a conventional example. In this conventional example,
It has a structure that an infrared light is integrated into a video camera, and that infrared light is used only for infrared shooting, and it can not be used at all for normal shooting with visible light. There is. Then, the infrared ray removing filter located in the optical path is made to retreat at the time of infrared ray photographing.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional video camera capable of infrared photographing, the light provided in the camera is used only for infrared photographing, and it is normally used for indoor photographing or visible light at night. When shooting, there is a problem that a separate video light is required and extra equipment must be provided.

Also, the power source for the infrared light must always be housed in the video camera, which increases the weight of the video camera itself and causes inconvenience in carrying. Therefore, in the conventional example, there are problems to be solved in that the video light is used for both visible light photography and infrared photography, and that the video light is easily detached when not needed to facilitate the carrying of the video camera. Have

[0005]

As a concrete means for solving the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a video camera body with a video light, and the video light is switched between a visible light photographing mode and an infrared photographing mode. The present invention provides a video camera characterized in that the lighting voltage is lowered in the infrared photographing mode to lower the color temperature of the lamp, and an infrared cut filter is provided in the optical path of the video camera body. It is arranged so that it can be selectively set, and the color temperature of the lamp is changed according to the set position of the infrared cut filter, and the video light is equipped with a power supply and a control circuit, and a light source. An infrared transmission filter is installed on the front of the camera so that it can be opened and closed, and the infrared transmission filter is closed in the infrared shooting mode. It was so that a further said video light and detachable, video camera to change the color temperature of the lamp is changed automatically lighting voltage by the information of the opening and closing state of the infrared transmitting filter.

[0006]

[Function] By making the video light detachable to the main body of the video camera, the video light can be detached when not in use for convenient carrying, and the video light can be switched between the visible light photographing mode and the infrared photographing mode. By illuminating with an illumination light having a color temperature suitable for, not only an optimum image can be taken, but also the video camera and the video light operate in accordance with the switching of each mode.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the illustrated embodiment. Reference numeral 1 is a video camera body, and a video light 2 and a battery 3 are detachably attached to the back side of the video camera body in a sequentially stacked state. Has been.

A camera lens 4 is attached to the front side of the video camera body 1, and a microphone 5 is attached near the lens. A viewfinder 6 is rotatably attached to one side surface of the video camera main body 1, a video tape loading / unloading cover 7 is attached to the other side surface, and an operation button group 8 is attached to the upper surface. It is a so-called small VTR.

As shown in FIG. 2, the video camera body 1, the video light 2 and the battery 3 are integrally fitted together in a sequential fitting type and electrically connected via predetermined connection terminals. Composed. That is, the video light 2 is used in a so-called “cam pack type”, which is sandwiched between the video camera body 1 and the battery 3.

That is, the video camera body 1 is provided with a power supply terminal 9 and a signal terminal 10 on its end faces, and a first power supply terminal 11 is provided on one end face side of the video light 2 corresponding to these terminals. The signal terminal 12 is provided, and the second power supply terminal 13 is provided on the other end face side. The battery 3 is provided with a power supply terminal 14 corresponding to the second power supply terminal.

The video camera body 1 is provided with an infrared cut filter 15 and an infrared transmission filter 16 inside the camera lens 4, each of which has a grip portion 15a,
16a which are individually moved up and down by the picking portion 1
Reference numerals 5a and 16a project from the video camera body 1 to the outside so that they can be arbitrarily operated from the outside.

By operating the knob portions 15a and 16a, for example, when the infrared cut filter 15 and the infrared transmission filter 16 are located below, the camera lens 4
If it is a so-called operating position corresponding to the position of, the knob can be arbitrarily set to that position by operating the portion. A signal source 17 such as a micro switch is provided for outputting a signal indicating that the infrared cut filter 15 is in the operating position, especially when the infrared cut filter 15 is in the operating position.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the video light 2 has a power switch 18 on the side surface of the body portion 2a, and a light portion 20 on the upper surface of the body portion 2a via a neck portion or an arm 19. The light section 20 is composed of a reflector 21 and a light source 22 such as a halogen lamp. An infrared transmission filter 23 is attached to the front surface of the reflector 21 so as to be openable and closable, and at the time of covering the infrared transmission filter 23. A working switch 24 is arranged near the reflector 21.

Further, connecting portions 25 and 26 for connecting the video camera 1 and the battery 3 are formed on the upper and lower portions on the front side and the rear side of the body portion 2a, respectively. The video light 2 is assembled between the video camera body 1 and the battery 3 while being positioned at the same time, and at the same time, the power supply terminals 9, 11, 13 and the power supply terminal 14 are connected to each other and the signal terminal 10, 1
2 is also connected.

The use of the video light 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 for normal photography and infrared photography. The video light 2 houses a power supply and control circuit 27. This control circuit is from the battery 3 via the electrodes 14 and 13, and
The current value of the electric power supplied to the video camera main body 1 via 1 and 9 can be detected, and the turning on and off of the video light 2 can be automatically controlled.

FIG. 6 shows a case of normal photographing. When the infrared transmission filter 23 is opened and the power switch 18 is turned on, the light section 20 is turned on. In this case, confirmation that the infrared transmission filter 23 is open is confirmed by turning off the switch 24, and at the same time, the infrared cut filter 1 in the video camera body 1 is confirmed.
When the micro switch 17 is turned on, the information indicating whether 5 is in the operating position, that is, in the optical path of photographing is transmitted to the control circuit 27, and it is confirmed that the normal photographing, that is, the visible light photographing mode.

When it is confirmed that the mode is the visible light photographing mode in this way, the power supply and the control circuit 27 is ready to supply the voltage of 3100K to the light source 22 of the video light. At the color temperature, the visible light component increases, and the visible light L emitted from the light source, that is, the lamp 22 has excellent color rendering properties.

In this state, if a video is shot on the video camera main body 1 side, a large amount of current will flow from the battery 3, and the control circuit 27 detects the current value and causes the light source 22 of the light section 20 to emit the color described above. Temperature 31
A video with rich color tone is made by supplying a current of voltage of 00K and turning on the light.

In the case of the infrared photographing shown in FIG. 7, when the infrared transmission filter 23 is closed, the switch 24 is turned on, and the infrared cut filter 15 is set to the inoperative position also on the video camera main body 1 side, and the infrared transmission filter 1
When 6 is moved to the operating position, the micro switch 17 is turned off, and it is confirmed by the control circuit 27 that the infrared photographing, that is, the infrared photographing mode is ready.

When the infrared photographing mode is confirmed in this way, the control circuit 27 lowers the supply voltage so that the color temperature becomes 2300K. Then, the light L-1 emitted from the light source 22 has a large amount of infrared components, so that visible light is cut off when passing through the infrared transmission filter 23, and the infrared rays L-2 are emitted.

In any case, in the video camera main body 1, depending on whether the infrared cut filter 15 and the infrared transmission filter 16 are positioned in the optical path of photographing, information on visible light photographing mode or infrared photographing mode is signal line terminal. The voltage is transmitted to the control circuit 27 through the control circuits 10 and 12, and in the infrared photographing mode, the control circuit 27 automatically lowers the voltage supplied to the light unit 20 to a predetermined voltage so that the color temperature is automatically lowered.

Further, the infrared transmission filter 23 in the light section 20 is automatically positioned in front of the light source 22 using a small motor or the like when the infrared photographing mode is set by the information from the video camera body 1. You can also Therefore, in the visible light photographing mode, the infrared transmission filter 23 is inevitably not located in front of the light source 22.

As described above, at the time of infrared photographing, the light source 2 is reduced by reducing the supply voltage to the light unit 20.
The heat generation amount of 2 can be reduced and the power consumption can be saved. In this case, the total amount of light of the light unit 20 is reduced, but since the infrared region is less deteriorated, infrared photography is not affected at all, and at the same time, the lamp life is extended.

[0024]

As described above, in the video camera according to the present invention, the video camera body is detachably equipped with the video light, and the video light can be switched between the visible light photographing mode and the infrared photographing mode. By lowering the lighting voltage in the infrared shooting mode to lower the color temperature of the lamp, the video light can be used for both visible light shooting and infrared shooting, and in the visible light shooting mode, it has excellent color rendering properties. Since it is possible to shoot at the color temperature of the light, and in the infrared shooting mode, shooting can be performed at the color temperature of the light having a large amount of infrared components, the optimum effect can be taken in any case.

Further, an infrared cut filter is arranged in the optical path of the video camera body so that it can be selectively set, and the color temperature of the lamp is changed in accordance with the set position of the infrared cut filter. This has an excellent effect that it is possible to prevent inconvenient shooting due to an operation error.

Further, the video light is equipped with a power source and a control circuit, and an infrared transmission filter is provided on the front surface of the light source so as to be openable and closable, and the infrared transmission filter is closed in the infrared photographing mode. By doing so, and by changing the lighting voltage automatically by changing the lighting voltage according to the information of the opening / closing state of the infrared transmission filter, it is possible to prevent the inconvenient shooting due to the operation error as described above. In the infrared photographing mode, the voltage supplied to the light is lowered, which can greatly contribute to power saving and also has an excellent effect that the working life of the lamp is significantly extended.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view showing the video camera body, the video light, and the battery of the same video camera separately.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a notch of a main part on a photographing optical path side in the video camera.

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view in the infrared photographing mode in which the video light of the video camera is separated.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a main part of the video light in a visible light shooting mode.

FIG. 6 is a schematic explanatory view of the same video light in a visible light photographing mode.

FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory view of the same video light in an infrared photographing mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Video Camera Main Body 2 Video Light 3 Battery 4 Lens 5 Microphone 6 Viewfinder 7 Cover 8 Operation Button Group 9, 11, 13, Power Supply Terminal 10, 12 Signal Terminal 14 Power Supply Terminal 15 Infrared Cut Filter 15a, 16a Pick 16, 23 Infrared transmission filter 17,24 Micro switch 18 Power switch 19 Arm 20 Light part 21 Reflector 22 Lamp (light source) 25,26 L Visible light L-1 Light emitted from light source L-2 Infrared

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. The video camera body is equipped with a video light, and the video light can be switched between a visible light photographing mode and an infrared photographing mode. In the infrared photographing mode, the lighting voltage is lowered to lower the color temperature of the lamp. A video camera that is characterized by 2. An infrared cut filter is arranged in the optical path of the video camera body so that the infrared cut filter can be selectively set, and the color temperature of the lamp is changed according to the set position of the infrared cut filter. Video camera described in. 3. The video light is equipped with a power supply and a control circuit, and an infrared transmission filter is provided on the front surface of the light source so as to be openable and closable, and the infrared transmission filter is closed in the infrared photographing mode. Video camera described in. 4. The video light is detachable, and the color temperature of the lamp is changed by automatically changing the lighting voltage according to the information on the open / close state of the infrared transmission filter.
Alternatively, the video camera according to Item 3.