JPH07134240A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To change the contents of a preparatory operation for photographing in accordance with the operation state of a release button by calculating an exposure value and detecting focusing information so as to display them and focusing a photographic lens when a photographing preparatory signal is still inputted at this time. CONSTITUTION:This camera is equipped with a control means 20 calculating the exposure value by photometry means 5 and 20 and simultaneously, detecting the focusing information by a focusing information detecting means 4, to display each of the exposure value and the focusing signal on display means 14 and 15, when the photographing preparatory signal is inputted from a releasing means 1, and focusing the photographic lens by a lens driving means 9 if the photographing preparatory signal is still inputted at this time. When the photographing preparatory signal is inputted, the exposure value is calculated, the focusing information is detected and each is displayed and if the photographing preparatory signal is still inputted at this time, the photographic lens is focused. Therefore, a battery is prevented from wasting uselessly and a shutter chance is accurately taken to photograph.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is known a camera that performs a shooting preparation operation with a first stroke (half-press) of a shutter release button and an exposure operation of a film with a second stroke (full-press) longer than the first stroke. In the shooting preparation operation by the first stroke operation, the subject brightness is measured, the exposure value is calculated based on the subject brightness and the film sensitivity,
Furthermore, a photometry operation that determines the optimal combination of shutter speed and aperture based on the calculated exposure value, distance measurement operation that detects the shooting distance to the subject to drive the shooting lens in focus, or focus adjustment state of the shooting lens The focus detection operation for detecting the shutter speed, the display operation for displaying the shutter speed and the aperture determined by the photometry operation on the external display or the in-viewfinder display are included.

Further, in order to reduce the time lag until the exposure operation of the film is started when the second stroke operation is performed after the first stroke operation of the release button, the focus adjustment operation of the taking lens is performed in the shooting preparation operation. Cameras including are known. In this type of camera, in addition to the shooting preparation operation described above with the first stroke of the release button, the focus adjustment operation of the shooting lens is performed according to the shooting distance of the distance measurement result or the defocus amount of the focus detection result.

[0004]

By the way, when using a camera, it is sometimes desired to simply check the shutter speed and aperture according to the shooting distance to the object and the brightness of the object without taking a picture. In such a case, usually, the first stroke operation of the release button is performed only for a short time, that is, the so-called “depress button” operation of the release button is performed to perform the distance measuring operation and the light measuring operation. The shutter speed and aperture of are displayed on the display.

However, in the latter camera described above, the focus stroke of the taking lens is adjusted by the first stroke operation of the release button.
Even if you just want to check the shutter speed and aperture, there is the problem that the photographic lens is unnecessarily extended. Also, when actually taking a picture next, after returning the taking lens that has already been extended, it is necessary to perform the focus adjustment operation again based on the distance measurement result or the focus detection result. There is a problem that the time lag before starting the exposure operation becomes large.

An object of the present invention is to provide a camera capable of changing the contents of the photographing preparation operation according to the operation state of the release button and performing the photographing preparation operation according to the intention of the photographer.

[0007]

The present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 showing the configuration of an embodiment. In the invention of claim 1, the photometric means 5 for measuring the subject brightness and calculating the exposure value. 20, focus adjustment information detecting means 4 for detecting information on focus adjustment of the taking lens, and lens driving means 9 for adjusting the focus of the taking lens based on the focus adjusting information detected by the focus adjusting information detecting means 4. , Display means 14 and 15 for displaying the exposure value calculated by the photometric means 5, 20 and focus adjustment information detected by the focus adjustment information detection means 4, and a shooting preparation signal is output when the first stroke is operated, The second longer than this first stroke
Is applied to a camera provided with a release means 1 which outputs a shooting command signal when operated up to the stroke of 1., and when a shooting preparation signal is input from the release means 1, the photometric means 5, 20
The focus adjustment information is detected by the focus adjustment information detection means 4 and the exposure value is displayed by the display means 1
4 and 15, and the control means 20 for adjusting the focus of the photographing lens by the lens driving means 9 if the photographing preparation signal is still input at that time, thereby achieving the above object. Further, in the camera of the second aspect, the information regarding the focus adjustment of the photographing lens is the photographing distance to the subject. Further, in the camera according to claim 3, the information regarding the focus adjustment of the taking lens is the defocus amount of the taking lens.

[0008]

When the shooting preparation signal is input, the exposure value is calculated and the focus adjustment information is detected and displayed. If the shooting preparation signal is still input at that time, the focus of the shooting lens is adjusted. As a result, if you just want to check the shooting distance, shutter speed, and aperture by pressing the release button, you can prevent the shooting lens from being unnecessarily extended and prevent unnecessary battery drain. In addition, the time lag from the release to the exposure is reduced when the next actual shooting is performed, so that it is possible to accurately capture the shutter opportunity and perform the shooting, thereby improving the quick shooting performance of the camera.

Incidentally, in the section of means and action for solving the above-mentioned problems for explaining the constitution of the present invention, the drawings of the embodiments are used in order to make the present invention easy to understand. It is not limited to.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the structure of an embodiment. The release switch 1 is turned on and off in conjunction with a release button (not shown), and a central processing unit (hereinafter,
The operation information of the release button is output to the CPU 20). That is, the shooting preparation signal S1 is output during the first stroke operation (half press) of the release button, and the shooting command signal S2 is output during the second stroke operation (full press).
The strobe mode changeover switch 2 is turned on and off in synchronization with a strobe mode setting button (not shown), and outputs the set strobe mode information to the CPU 20. In addition,
The strobe mode is generated by an automatic light emission mode in which the strobe device 6 automatically emits light according to the brightness of the subject, a forced light emission mode in which the strobe device 6 is forced to emit light, a light emission prohibition mode in which the strobe light emission is prohibited, and a strobe light emission. There is a red-eye reduction mode that reduces the so-called red-eye phenomenon. The panorama changeover switch 3 is turned on and off in conjunction with a panorama changeover button (not shown), and the set panorama shooting mode or normal shooting mode information is displayed as a CP.
Output to U20.

The distance measuring device 4 detects the photographing distance to the subject and outputs it as information regarding the focus adjustment of the photographing lens. As the distance measuring device 4, a so-called passive type,
In addition to a distance measuring device such as an active system or sonar focus, a focus detection device that detects the focus adjustment state of the photographing lens by a contrast system or a phase difference detection system and outputs a defocus amount can also be used. The photometric device 5 measures the subject field to detect the subject brightness, and the strobe device 6 illuminates the subject during flash photography. Shutter drive device 7
Exposes the film by driving the exposure diaphragm and shutter blades with the aperture value and shutter speed determined based on the subject brightness and the film sensitivity. Film drive device 8
Automatically winds the film to the first frame when the film is loaded, then winds the film one frame at a time for each shooting, and automatically rewinds the film when the filming is completed. The lens barrel driving device 9 adjusts the focus of the photographing lens based on the photographing distance detected by the distance measuring device 4.

The distance measuring mode changeover switch 10 is turned on and off in conjunction with a distance measuring mode changeover button (not shown), and the information of the set auto focus mode, forced infinity mode or manual photographing distance setting mode is stored in the CPU.
Output to 20. The DX code reading device 11 reads the DX code of the loaded film and outputs the film sensitivity information to the CPU 20. Exposure correction value input device 12
Is an apparatus for setting and inputting a correction amount of the exposure value calculated based on the measurement result of the subject brightness and the film sensitivity. The display control device 13 drives and controls the needle display device 14 and the finder liquid crystal display device 15 to display various information.
The CPU 20 includes peripheral parts such as a memory, is connected to the above-described devices 1 to 13 to exchange various information, and performs various calculations and sequence control of the camera.

2 to 5 are flowcharts showing a main program of the CPU 20, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are flowcharts showing a continuous photometry processing routine. The operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to these flowcharts. Step S101
Then, when the power of the camera is turned on, the CPU 20 operates as shown in FIGS.
Start execution of the main program shown in. Step S
At 102, the continuous photometry processing flag is cleared.
The continuous photometry processing flag is for performing photometry every 0.5 seconds when the flag is 1 in the shooting preparation state. In step S103, the timer is started, and the process proceeds to step S104 to send a charging signal to the strobe device 6 to start charging. In step S105, it is determined whether or not the timer has expired. If the time is up, the process proceeds to step S118 to stop the process, and if the time is not up, the process proceeds to step S106. Step S
At 106, it is determined whether or not the charging of the strobe device 6 is completed, and if completed, the process proceeds to step S107 to stop the charging of the strobe device 6; otherwise, step S107.
Skip. In step S108, it is determined whether or not the continuous photometry processing flag is 1, and if the flag is 1, the process proceeds to step S109, and if not, step S1.
Proceed to 11. In step S109, the photometric processing flag is cleared, and in the subsequent step S110, the continuous photometric processing routine shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is executed to perform photometry every 0.5 seconds.

In step S111, it is determined whether the first stroke operation of the release button has been performed to input the shooting preparation signal S1 (hereinafter, this state is referred to as S1 = ON), and the shooting preparation signal S1 is input. Then, the process proceeds to step S112, and if not, the process returns to step S105. In step S112, the charging of the strobe device 6 is interrupted, and in subsequent step S113, a wait of 10 msec is made so as not to accept chattering of the release switch 1. In step S114, it is determined whether the first stroke operation of the release button has been performed again and the shooting preparation signal S1 is input. If the shooting preparation signal S1 is input, the process proceeds to step S116, and if not, the step is performed. Proceed to S115. If the first stroke operation is not performed at this point, the strobe device 6 is pressed in step S115.
If the charging is stopped, the charging is restarted, and if not stopped, the charging is continued and the process returns to step S105, and steps S105 to S111 described above are performed until the timer ends.
After repeating the above process, the process ends in step S118.

When the photographing preparation signal S1 is input in step S114, the voltage of the battery is measured in step S116 and compared with the reference voltage to determine whether or not photographing is sufficient. If the battery voltage is equal to or higher than the reference voltage, the process proceeds to step S119, and if not, the process proceeds to step S117. If the battery voltage is not sufficient for shooting, the first stroke operation of the release button is completed in step S117, and the shooting preparation signal S1 is turned off.
It waits until it becomes F, and when the photographing preparation signal S1 is turned off, the processing ends in step S118. On the other hand, if the battery voltage is sufficient for shooting, step S
In step 119, power is supplied to the photometric device 5 to start the photometric operation, and in the following step S120, the DX code of the loaded film is read by the DX code reading device 11. In step S121, the exposure correction value input device 12
The exposure correction value set in step S1 is read, and the subsequent step S1
At 22, the panorama shooting mode or the normal shooting mode set by the panorama changeover switch 3 is read.
Further, in step S123, the strobe mode set by the strobe mode changeover switch 2 is read.

In step S124, the autofocus mode (A
It is determined whether or not the F mode) is set. If the AF mode is set, the process proceeds to step S126, and if not, the process proceeds to step S125. When the AF mode is set, in step S126, the distance measuring device 4 detects the shooting distance to the subject, calculates the amount of extension of the shooting lens based on the detected shooting distance, and proceeds to step S127. . On the other hand, when the forced infinity mode or the manual distance setting mode is set, step S12
In step 5, after waiting for the time required for distance measurement in the auto focus mode, the process proceeds to step S127. The standby time is the time required for the operation of the photometric device 5 that has been supplied with power in step S119 to be stable. When the operation of the photometric device 5 becomes stable, photometry is performed in step S127, and in subsequent step S128, exposure calculation is performed based on the subject brightness and film sensitivity of the photometric result, and the aperture value and shutter speed are determined.

In step S129, it is determined whether the flash emission flag is 1 or not. If the strobe light emission flag is recognized as the forced light emission mode in step S123,
Alternatively, 1 is set when it is determined from the photometric results in steps S127 and S128 that strobe light emission is required. If the strobe light emission flag is 1, it is determined in step S130 whether or not the charging of the strobe device 6 has been completed. If completed, the process proceeds to step S137, and if not, the process proceeds to step S131. When the strobe device 6 is not completely charged, the non-charging lock is performed in step S131 to prohibit the subsequent photographing operation, and in the subsequent step S132, the finder liquid crystal display 15 displays an uncharged warning. Then, in step S133, charging of the flash device 6 is started. Then, step S134
Then, it is determined whether or not the shooting preparation signal S1 is turned off after the operation of the first stroke of the release button is completed, and it is turned off.
In that case, the process returns to step S102 and the above-described processing is repeated. If the first stroke operation is still performed, the process proceeds to step S135 to determine whether or not the strobe device 6 has been charged. If charging is completed, step S1
In step 36, the charging of the strobe device 6 is stopped, and if the charging is not completed, the process returns to step S134.

If the strobe light emission flag is not 1 in step S129, or if the strobe device 6 has been charged in step S130, it is determined in step S137 whether the S2 flag is 1 or not. The S2 flag is set to 1 when the second stroke operation of the release button is performed and the shooting command signal S2 is input, and is cleared to 0 when the shooting is completed. If the S2 flag is 1, the process proceeds to step S142, and if the S2 flag is not 1, the process proceeds to step S138. In step S138, shooting information such as the distance measurement result, aperture value, and shutter speed is displayed on the finder liquid crystal display device 14, and then step S139.
Then, these pieces of photographing information are displayed on the needle indicator 14. In step S140, it is determined whether or not the shooting preparation signal S1 is input. If it is input, the process proceeds to step S142, and if not, the process proceeds to step S141. In step S141, 1 is set to the continuous photometry processing flag, the process returns to step S105, and the above processing is repeated. However, in this case, since the continuous photometry processing flag is 1, the process proceeds from step S108 to S109, and the photometry processing flag is set to 1
Is set and continuous photometry processing is performed in step S110.
After that, the timer ends and proceeds to step S117 to stop, or the step S111 again recognizes that the shooting preparation signal S1 is ON, and the processes of steps S105 to S111 are repeated until the process proceeds to step S112. repeat.

When the S2 flag is 1 in step S137, or in step S140, the photographing preparation signal S1
Is ON, in step S142, the lens barrel drive device 9 extends the photographic lens by the lens drive amount calculated in step S126 or the lens drive amount according to the distance measurement mode determined in step S124. It proceeds to step S143. In step S143, it is determined again whether or not the S2 flag is 1, and if it is 1, step S
If not, the process proceeds to step S144. If the S2 flag is not 1, the photometric processing flag is set to 1 in step S144, and in the subsequent step S145, the continuous photometric processing routine shown in FIGS.
Meter every second. In step S146, it is determined whether or not the shooting preparation signal S1 is ON, and if it is ON, the process proceeds to step S149, and if not, step S14.
Proceed to 7. In step S149, it is determined whether or not the shooting command signal S2 is ON, and if it is ON, step S1
If not, the process returns to step S145.
That is, continuous photometry processing is repeated while the shooting preparation signal S1 is input and the shooting command signal S2 is not input. When it is determined in step S146 that the shooting preparation signal S1 is not ON, the lens barrel driving device 9 returns the lens barrel to the original position in step S147, and the subsequent step S14
In step 8, the continuous photometry processing flag is set to 1 and step S10 is performed.
Return to 5. However, in this case, the continuous photometry processing flag is 1
Therefore, the process proceeds from step S108 to S109, sets 1 to the photometric processing flag, and then proceeds to step S11.
At 0, continuous photometry processing is performed. After that, the timer ends and the process proceeds to step S117 to stop or the step S1
Since the process of steps S105 to S111 is repeated until the photographing preparation signal S1 is turned on again at 11 and the process proceeds to step S112, the continuous photometry process is performed during that period.

If the S2 flag is 1 in step S143, or if the photographing command signal S2 is ON in step S149, the shutter drive unit 7 determines the aperture value and shutter speed of the film as the exposure calculation result in step S150. Perform exposure. At this time, if the strobe light emission flag is 1, the strobe device 6 is caused to emit light. After the exposure is completed, the process proceeds to step S151, the lens barrel driving device 9 returns the lens barrel to the original position, and in the subsequent step S152, the film driving device 8 winds one frame of film. In step S153, the first release button
It waits until the shooting preparation signal S1 is turned off after the stroke operation is completed, and when it is turned off, the process returns to step S102 to repeat the above process.

Next, the continuous photometry processing will be described with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. In step S201, it is determined whether or not 0.5 second has elapsed from the previous photometry. If not, the process returns to the main program, and if so, the process proceeds to step S202 to perform photometry by the photometric device 5. . In step S203, the photometric processing flag is 1
If it is 1, the process proceeds to step S205,
If not 1, the process proceeds to step S204. Step S20
At 4, it is determined whether or not the shooting preparation signal S1 is ON.
If not, the process proceeds to step S205. Step S205
In step S206, an AV value is calculated by performing an AV calculation based on the subject brightness and the film sensitivity as a result of photometry.
Go to. In step S206, it is determined whether or not the photometric processing flag is 1, and if it is 1, the process proceeds to step S208, and if it is not 1, the process proceeds to step S207. In step S207, it is determined whether or not the shooting preparation signal S1 is ON, and O
If it is N, the process returns to the main program, and if it is not ON, the process proceeds to step S208. In step S208,
TV based on subject brightness and film sensitivity as a result of photometry
The shutter speed is calculated by performing calculation.

In step S209, it is determined whether or not the photometric processing flag is 1, and if it is 1, the process proceeds to step S211, and if it is not 1, the process proceeds to step S210. In step S210, it is determined whether or not the shooting preparation signal S1 is ON, and if it is ON, the process returns to the main program, and O
If not N, the process proceeds to step S211. Step S21
At 1, the calculated aperture value and shutter speed are displayed on the viewfinder liquid crystal display 15. In step S212,
It is determined whether or not the photometric processing flag is 1, and if it is 1, the process proceeds to step S214, and if it is not 1, the process proceeds to step S213. In step S213, it is determined whether or not the shooting preparation signal S1 is ON. If it is ON, the process returns to the main program, and if it is not ON, the process proceeds to step S214.
In step S214, the calculated aperture and shutter speed are displayed on the needle display device 14, and then the process returns to the main program.

In the configuration of the above embodiment, the photometric device 5
The central processing unit 20 serves as the photometric means and the distance measuring device 4
Is the focus adjustment information detecting means, the lens barrel driving device 9 is the lens driving means, the needle display device 14 and the finder liquid crystal display 15 are the displaying means, the release switch 1 is the releasing means, and the central processing unit 20 is the controlling means. Respectively.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the photographing preparation signal is input, the exposure value is calculated and the focus adjustment information is detected and displayed, and the photographing preparation signal is input at that time. If you just want to adjust the focus of the shooting lens, if you just want to confirm the shooting distance, shutter speed, and aperture by pressing the release button, the shooting lens will be unnecessarily extended. It is possible to prevent unnecessary consumption of the battery and to reduce the time lag from the release to the exposure when actually taking the picture next time. The quick-shooting property is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a main program executed by the CPU of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a main program following FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a main program following FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a main program following FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a continuous photometry processing routine.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a continuous photometric processing routine continued from FIG. 6;

[Explanation of reference symbols] 1 Release switch 2 Strobe mode changeover switch 3 Panorama changeover switch 4 Distance measuring device 5 Photometric device 6 Strobe device 7 Shutter driving device 8 Film driving device 9 Lens barrel driving device 10 Distance measuring mode switching switch 11 DX mode reading Device 12 Exposure correction value input device 13 Display control device 14 Needle display device 15 Viewfinder liquid crystal display device 20 Central processing unit

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] November 9, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0001

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera release tie.
Regarding improvement of mulag .

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Hiroshi Wakabayashi 3 2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nikon Corporation (72) Inventor Yoshikazu Iida 3 2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nikon Corporation In (72) Inventor Tadashi Otani 3 2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Nikon Corporation

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A photometric means for measuring a subject brightness to calculate an exposure value, a focus adjustment information detection means for detecting information about focus adjustment of a photographing lens, and focus adjustment information detected by the focus adjustment information detection means. A lens driving means for adjusting the focus of the photographing lens based on the above, a display means for displaying the exposure value calculated by the photometric means and the focus adjustment information detected by the focus adjustment information detecting means, and a first stroke When a camera is provided with a release means for outputting a shooting preparation signal when operated up to a second stroke longer than the first stroke, and a release means for outputting a shooting command signal when operated up to a second stroke, the shooting preparation signal is input from the release means. Then,
The exposure value is calculated by the photometric means, the focus adjustment information is detected by the focus adjustment information detection means, and the focus adjustment information is displayed on the display means. If the shooting preparation signal is still input at that time, the lens drive is performed. A camera comprising a control means for adjusting the focus of the photographing lens by means. 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the information regarding the focus adjustment of the photographing lens is a photographing distance to a subject. 3. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the information regarding focus adjustment of the taking lens is a defocus amount of the taking lens.