JPH07270671A - Automatic focusing camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an automatic focusing camera taking a focusing action on an object to be detected in the selected focus detecting region, when an arbitrary focus detecting region is selected out of plural focus detecting regions. CONSTITUTION:The automatic focusing camera is equipped with region selecting members 4a-4d for accepting the selection of the focus detecting region by a manual operation, a switching member 3 for accepting the changeover of automatic and manual modes and a finder eyepiece window 6. Therefore, when the focus detecting region is selected by the region selecting members 4a-4d, the focusing on the object in the selected focus detecting region is executed, so that a photographer can select the focus detecting region while confirming the object through the finder eyepiece window 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an autofocus camera capable of multipoint distance measurement.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a type of autofocus camera capable of multi-point distance measurement, in which a focus detection area can be selected automatically or manually from a plurality of focus detection areas. FIG. 9 shows this type of autofocus camera.

In FIG. 9, the camera manually selects a focus detection area and a switching member 3 for inputting information indicating whether the focus detection area is automatically selected or manually selected. An area selection member 4 for selecting a focus detection area, a distance measurement start member 2 for instructing the start of distance measurement, and a viewfinder eyepiece window 6 for confirming a subject are provided. The area selection member 4 is a command dial, and the distance measurement start member 2 is
It is a release button. When the release button is pressed halfway, distance measurement is started, and when it is pressed fully, the shutter operation is performed.
In addition, the viewfinder of the camera has a 5
Area mark 21a-21e of the point is displayed.

When the input of the switching member 3 is automatically selected when the camera is used, the camera selects one of the five focus detection areas corresponding to the five area marks. The focus detection area of is automatically selected. Then, the lens is focused on the subject detected by the focus detection area. The area to be automatically selected is determined based on the information set in the camera in advance. For example, 5
Some of the focus detection areas are set so as to select the focus detection area in which the subject located closest to the camera is detected.

By the way, when photographing an object using the camera, it may be desired to focus on a region other than the focus detection region automatically selected by the camera.

At this time, first, the switching member 3 is switched to manual selection. Then, while looking through the viewfinder eyepiece window 6, the command dial is operated to select an area to be focused from the five area marks 21a to 21e. After that, the release button is pressed halfway to focus the lens on that area, and the release button is pressed to perform the shutter operation.

[0007]

However, in the camera as described above, when the focus detection area is manually selected,
The distance measurement operation of the camera stops. That is, the selected focus detection area is out of focus, and it is difficult to confirm the subject in the selected focus detection area. In order to confirm the subject in the selected focus detection area, the release button must be pressed halfway. Therefore, when the focus detection areas are successively selected and a desired focus detection area is searched for, the release button must be half-pressed each time the focus detection area is selected. This half-press operation is troublesome for the photographer.

Further, when the image is actually half-pressed to bring the subject into focus, there may be a case where a focus detection area in which a subject different from the photographing intention is detected is selected.

Therefore, in order to solve the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an autofocus camera which focuses on a subject detected by the selected focus detection area when manual selection of the focus detection area is performed.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention to achieve the above object, a selection means for selecting an arbitrary focus detection area from a plurality of focus detection areas,
Focus detection is performed on a subject detected by the focus detection area selected by the selection unit, and a focus detection unit that outputs the detection result, and a photographing lens is driven based on the detection result of the focus detection unit. An autofocus camera including lens driving means, wherein the selecting means includes an area selecting member for receiving a manual selection of the focus detection area, and the lens driving means receives a selection by the area selecting member. And, an autofocus camera characterized by driving a lens to a focus position of an object in a selected focus detection area is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a manual mode for manually selecting the focus detection area and an automatic mode for automatically selecting the focus detection area are provided. Further comprising a mode selection member for receiving an instruction for selecting, and the selection means selects the area selection member when the manual mode is selected by the mode selection member. Selected focus detection area,
Provided is an autofocus camera characterized in that when the auto mode is selected by the mode selection member, one of the focus detection areas is selected based on a preset selection rule. To be done.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, a posture detecting means for detecting the posture of the camera and outputting the detection result is further provided, and the selecting means comprises:
When the manual mode is selected, the focus detection area is selected based on the detection result of the posture detection means, and the selected focus detection area can be changed by the area selection member. A featured autofocus camera is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, a photographing mode selection for selecting a desired photographing mode from a plurality of photographing modes prepared in advance. Means for shooting at least a person for photographing a person, and the photographing mode selecting means selects the photographing mode. And a posture detecting means for detecting the posture of the camera only when the person photographing mode is selected by the photographing mode selecting member. An autofocus camera is provided.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect, the plurality of photographing modes have aperture values and shutter speeds corresponding to photographing situations in the respective photographing modes. An autofocus camera is provided, characterized in that at least one of them is set.

[0015]

When the automatic focus camera of the first aspect receives the selection made by the area selection member, the automatic focus camera drives the lens to the in-focus position of the subject in the selected focus detection area.

Further, in the automatic focusing camera of the second aspect, when the manual mode for manually selecting the focus detection area is selected by the mode selection member, the selection is made by the area selection member. Selected focus detection area and select
When the automatic mode for automatically selecting the focus detection area is selected by the mode selection member, any focus detection area can be selected based on the preset selection rule.

Furthermore, in the automatic focus camera of the third aspect, when the manual mode is selected, the focus detection area is selected based on the detection result of the attitude detection means. Then, the selected focus detection area can be changed by the area selection member.

Further, in the automatic focusing camera of the fourth aspect, the posture detecting means detects the posture of the camera only when the person photographing mode is selected by the photographing mode selection member.

Further, in the automatic focusing camera of the fifth aspect, in each of the plurality of photographing modes, at least one of the aperture value and the shutter speed according to the photographing situation is set in each photographing mode. ing.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An autofocus camera according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the camera comprises a camera body 1 and a taking lens 12.

Inside the photographing lens 12, a photographing lens group is provided. In addition, the photographing lens 12
Is detachably mounted on the camera body 1.

The camera body 1 has a release button 2 and
A switching member 3 for accepting setting of modes for automatic selection and manual selection of the focus detection area, a viewfinder eyepiece window 6, an information setting dial 8, and an external display 9 for displaying various setting information set in the camera. And are provided. Also,
The back cover 11 which is opened and closed when the film is loaded has a region selection member 4a used when manually selecting a focus detection region.
~ 4d are provided. For the external display 9, for example, a liquid crystal display device may be used. The viewfinder screen observed through the viewfinder eyepiece window 6 is, for example, as shown in FIG. In the viewfinder screen 25 shown in FIG. 3, area marks 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d and 26 corresponding to the five focus detection areas are provided.
e is displayed.

Inside the camera body 1, as shown in FIG. 2, a main mirror 13, a sub-mirror 14, a focus detection device 15, a screen 16, a pentaprism 17, a prism 18, an eyepiece 5, a photometric device 19 and a lens drive. A device 20 is provided. On the other hand, in the taking lens 12,
The lens group 10, a driving device 22 that drives the lens group 10 when performing focusing, and a power transmission device 24 that transmits the power of the lens driving device 20 to the driving device 22.
And are provided.

The main mirror 13 is partially a half mirror for guiding the light incident from the lens group 10 to the pentaprism 17 side and the focus detection device 15. The image sensor 4 is provided inside the focus detection device 15.
1 (see FIG. 4) is provided. The image sensor 4
1 has five focus detection areas. These focus detection areas are two-dimensionally arranged on the finder screen 25 so that distance measurement can be performed on a subject in a portion overlapping the five area marks. The image sensor 41 includes a CCD (ch
arge-coupled device). The photometric device 19 performs photometry on the luminous flux incident on the device.
A photometric element 42 (see FIG. 4) is provided inside the device. The screen 16 is provided with a finder display 7 (see FIG. 4) using liquid crystal or the like. The finder display 7 displays the five area marks on the subject image. Further, the selected area mark can be turned on so that it can be distinguished from other area marks.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the camera of this embodiment.

In FIG. 4, the control circuit 39 is, for example,
On / off in conjunction with the release button 2 and the switching member 3.
A pulse is generated in conjunction with a switch 37 for performing an off operation, an exposure mode switch 40 for performing an on / off operation in conjunction with an exposure mode switching lever (not shown), and a rotation operation of the information setting dial 8. Pulse generation circuit 45 for generating
A switch pulse for generating a pulse in association with the image sensor 41, the attitude sensor 38 for detecting the attitude of the camera, the photometric element 42, and the on / off switches 31, 32, 33 and 34. Generation circuits 27, 2
8, 29 and 30 are connected to receive signals from them to perform processing, and output signals to the display drive circuits 43 and 44 and the lens drive device 20 not shown here to give an instruction. In order to perform the processing, the control circuit 39 is provided with, for example, an MPU including an arithmetic control unit and a storage unit.

On / off switches 31, 32, 33
And 34 are configured to interlock with the on / off operations of the area selecting members 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d. Further, the external display 9 is connected to the display drive circuit 43. Then, the display drive circuit 43 controls the external display 9 based on the signal given from the control circuit 39. Further, the finder display 7 is connected to the display drive circuit 44. Then, the display drive circuit 44 uses the control circuit 39.
The finder display 7 is controlled on the basis of the signal given from the.

The switching member 3 selects one of two modes used in selecting a focus detection area for focusing the lens from a plurality of focus detection areas, an automatic mode and a manual mode. The photographer accepts whether to select. When the automatic mode is set, at the time of shooting, there is a focus detection area corresponding to the five area marks shown in FIG. 3 based on information preset in the camera. The focus detection area is automatically selected. The selected focus detection area is, for example, the focus detection area in which the subject closest to the camera is detected. The selection rule is stored in the storage unit as the preset information.

On the other hand, even in the manual mode,
A focus detection area is automatically selected. However, in this manual mode, if the automatically selected focus detection area is different from the area intended by the photographer, the photographer operates any of the area selecting members 4a to 4d to select an arbitrary area. The focus detection area can be selected. The automatic selection of the focus detection area in the manual mode will be described later.

The attitude sensor 38 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in (d), when the camera faces the subject, the reference direction of the camera itself is "upward" (see FIG. 7).
(A)), "downward" (Fig. 7 (b)), "leftward" (Fig. 7 (c)), or "rightward" (Fig. 7 (d)). Further, the winding side of the film is located on the right side when viewed from the rear side of the main body. In the camera, when the camera is in the “leftward” state, the film winding side is located on the upper side. As the attitude sensor 38, a sensor of a type in which electric contacts and mercury are enclosed in a glass tube and the contacts are turned on / off depending on the attitude of the camera may be used.

The exposure mode switching lever receives the setting of the photographing mode of the camera. Each shooting mode
The aperture value and the shutter speed according to the shooting situation are preset in the mode. The photographing mode includes, for example, a portrait photography mode and a landscape photography mode in which the subject to be photographed is scheduled to some extent. In the portrait photography mode, one or a plurality of persons are planned as subjects, and in the landscape photography mode, a subject far from the camera is planned. When shooting is performed with these modes set, the aperture value and shutter speed suitable for the intended subject are automatically set. The information indicating the set photographing mode is displayed on the external display 9 so that the photographer can confirm the information. Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the portrait mode is set in the camera, the focus detection area is automatically determined based on the detection result of the posture sensor. The focus detection area automatically selected can be changed by the area selection member.

Specifically, when the camera is in the state as shown in FIG. 7A, the detection result of the attitude sensor 38 is "upward", and in this case, the area mark is 2.
6a is automatically selected. The reason why this 26a is selected is that it is conceivable that a plurality of persons are photographed when the camera is photographed in the horizontal position (the state shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B), and the focus thereof is at the center. This is because it is often adjusted to the face of the person located at. For the same reason, when the camera is in the state shown in FIG. 7B, the detection result of the posture sensor 38 is "downward", and the area mark 26c is selected. On the other hand, when shooting with the camera in the vertical position (the state shown in FIGS. 7C and 7D), it is possible to shoot one person, and the focus is often on the person's face. There are many.
Therefore, in the state shown in FIG. 7C, that is, when the detection result of the attitude sensor 38 is "leftward", the area mark 26b is selected. In addition, the state shown in FIG. 7D, that is, the detection result of the posture sensor 38 is “rightward”.
If so, the area mark 26d is selected.

When the portrait mode is set in the camera as described above, the focus detection area is automatically selected, and the subject detected by that area is focused.

In addition to this, the lens may be previously focused on a predetermined distance. The predetermined distance may be determined based on the setting result of the photographing mode and the detection result of the attitude sensor 38. For example, if the portrait photography mode is set and the camera is in the horizontal position, it is possible that there are multiple persons as subjects, so the focus is set to a position 3 m away from the camera. You can leave it.

In addition, when the person who is the subject moves during shooting, and the focus detection area that has detected the subject detects a building or the like located considerably behind the person, The focus of the taking lens may be set to infinity. In order to prevent such a situation, when the portrait mode is set, for example, the driving of the taking lens is restricted so that only the subject at a position about 1 to 4 m away from the camera can be focused. May be.

Further, in the present embodiment, the photographing mode is set by using the mode switching lever, but it may be set by the information setting dial 8.

The selection operation of the focus detection area in the manual mode will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3.

When a manual mode is set in the camera at the time of photographing, an arbitrary area mark is selected from the five area marks shown in FIG. 3 by using the area selecting members 4a to 4d. You can manually select the clock. In FIG. 3, the area mark 2
6e is selected and the mark is on. In this state, to change the area mark to be selected from 26e to 26b, the area selecting member 4 is used.
Press b once. Then, the area mark 26e is turned off, the area mark 26b is turned on, and the area mark 26b is selected. Also, the area mark 26b to the area mark
If desired, change the area selection member 4d
Press twice. Then, this time, area mark 2
6d lights up, and the selected state is set. In this way, when the area mark is moved in the X direction, the area selecting member 4a or 4d is pressed, and when the area mark is moved in the Y direction, the area selecting member 4a or 4c is pressed. Good. Then, the focus detection area is selected corresponding to these operations.

Now, the operation of autofocus in the camera of this embodiment will be described.

In FIG. 2, the light flux 23 that has passed through the lens group 10 is transmitted by the main mirror 13 and transmitted by the reflected light 2a.
It is divided into 3b. The transmitted light 23 a is reflected by the sub mirror 14 and enters the focus detection device 15. Focus detection device 15
Divides the exit pupil of the lens group 10 to determine whether or not each of the five focus detection areas is in focus, and generates a signal corresponding to that. This signal is sent to the control circuit 39 as focus detection information. Control circuit 39
Is based on the focus detection information from the focus detection device 15,
A control signal is output to the lens driving device 20. The lens driving device 20 receives the control signal and drives a motor (not shown). The motor drives the lens driving device 20, and the power of the driving device 20 is transmitted to the driving device 22 via the power transmission device 24. Then, the lens group 10 is driven by the driving device 22 to perform focusing. The drive amount of the lens group 10 is determined based on the focus detection information. As one of the lens driving methods of the present embodiment, when a focus detection area is selected by the photographer when the manual mode is set, the subject detected by the focus detection area is in focus. Lens group 1 to fit
There is a lens drive in which 0 is driven. In addition,
When the person photograph mode is set in the camera at the time of photographing, the lens group 10 is driven so as to focus on a predetermined distance based on the detection result of the posture sensor. There is something.

Further, the camera is constructed such that when the release button 3 is half pressed, distance measurement is started, and when the release button 3 is fully pressed, a shutter operation is performed.

Further, the photometric mechanism is constructed as follows.

The light beam 23b forms an image on the screen 16 and further passes through the pentaprism 17. At this time, part of the light flux passes through the prism 18 and the photometric device 19
Incident on. The photometric element 42 provided inside the photometric device 19 performs photometry on the incident light,
The detection result is output to the control circuit 39. And
The detection result is displayed on the external display 9 as a photometric value, for example. On the other hand, most of the light flux passing through the pentaprism 17 passes through the eyepiece lens 5, so that the photographer can confirm the subject.

Here, an operation example of the camera of this embodiment will be described. The flowchart shown in FIG. 5 shows a first operation example, and the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 shows a second operation example. These operations can be realized by the components of the camera described above.

The programs necessary for the MPU to perform these operations are stored in the storage unit in advance.

In FIG. 5, first, when a power switch (not shown) provided in the camera is turned on, initial processing is started in each part of the camera.

Thereafter, in step 11 (S11), the control circuit 39 receives a signal sent from the release button 2 indicating whether or not the release button 2 has been half pressed, and determines the state of the release button 2. When the release button 2 is half pressed, the on / off state of the switching member 3 is detected (S1).
2). The control circuit 39 recognizes that the manual mode is set when the switching member 3 is on, and that the automatic mode is set when the switching member 3 is off.

When the automatic mode is set, distance measurement is started for a subject overlapping the five area marks on the viewfinder screen of FIG. The distance measurement is performed by the control circuit 39 in response to the detection results of the five focus detection areas (S34). After that, one of the five focus detection areas is automatically selected. The selected area is determined based on the selection rule stored in the storage unit in advance as described above. Then, the lens is driven based on the information obtained when the distance is measured so that the subject detected by the selected area is in focus (S35).

While looking through the viewfinder, the photographer determines whether or not the composition is as intended, and determines whether or not the release button is fully pressed (S28). After that, when the release button is fully pressed, the shutter operation of the camera is performed. If the photographer wants to change the composition of the subject, the photographer can start from S11.

On the other hand, when the manual mode is set in S12, the set photographing mode is judged (S13). If the portrait photography mode is set, it is determined whether the camera is in the horizontal position (S14), and whether the winding side of the camera is up (S18). S14, S18
The attitude sensor 38 detects the attitude of the camera as described above. In S14 and S18, it is determined whether or not the camera is in the horizontal position and whether or not the winding side is up. However, as shown in FIG. 7, any of "upward", "downward", "leftward", and "rightward". If a posture sensor that can detect that the camera is in such a state is provided, it is possible to detect the states of these four cameras. For example, to describe a case in which a posture sensor for detecting these four states is provided, when photographing a plurality of persons in the state as shown in FIG. 7A, first, 26 (a)
Distance measurement is started in each of the focus detection areas corresponding to the five area marks (e) to (e). After that, the focus detection area corresponding to the area mark 26a that overlaps the face of the person located in the substantially center is selected. The method of selecting this area is as described above. Next, the lens is driven so that the subject detected by the selected focus detection area is in focus. When the subject is completely focused, the area mark 26a is turned on. These operations correspond to the distance measurement in S15, the lens drive in S16, and the focus confirmation in S17 in FIG. In the state of FIG. 7C, the camera performs operations corresponding to the distance measurement in S19, the lens drive in S20, and the focus confirmation in S21. In the state of FIG. 7D, the distance measurement in S22, The operation corresponding to the lens driving in S23 and the focus confirmation in S24 is performed. Of course, when only the lateral position is determined without determining whether the camera is "upward" or "downward" as described above, the focus detection area selected in the lateral position is, for example, 2
It may be predetermined so as to be 6a.

After this, the photographer can change the focus detection area if the automatically selected focus detection area is not intended (S25). This change is performed using the area selection members 4a to 4d. When the change is made by the area selection member, distance measurement is performed on the changed focus detection area (S26) so that the object detected by the changed focus detection area is in focus. The lens is driven (S27).

Thus, each time the focus detection area is changed,
Since the focus detection area after the change is in focus, the photographer can change the focus detection area while checking the subject. Thereafter, the photographer determines whether or not the intended composition is obtained while looking through the viewfinder (S28), and if all is good, the release button is fully pressed to perform the photographing.

On the other hand, if the mode is set to a mode other than the portrait mode in S13, distance measurement is started in S29. Then, automatically, for example, the area mark 26a
The focus detection area corresponding to is selected. When the focus detection area is selected, the lens is driven so that the subject detected by the focus detection area is in focus (S30).
If the photographer does not like the automatically selected focus detection area, he or she can select any focus detection area (S31) as in S25. After that, distance measurement is performed on the subject in the selected focus detection area (S3).
2) The lens is driven so that it is in focus (S3).
3). Also in this case, the focus detection area can be selected while confirming the subject. And the photographer
When the focus detection area is determined (S28), the release button is fully pressed.

Next, according to the flow chart shown in FIG.
The second operation example will be described.

As for the second operation, since the same operation as the first operation exists, the difference from the first operation will be mainly described.

In S44 and S47 of FIG. 6, the attitude of the camera is detected by the same attitude sensor as described above.
The focus detection area is automatically selected. After that, in this operation, the preliminary lens drive is performed. In the preliminary lens driving, the lens is driven so that the lens is focused on a predetermined distance. As described above, when the portrait photography mode is set and a camera is used in the horizontal position, a plurality of subjects are photographed, and when the camera is used in the vertical position, one person is photographed. Considering that there are many cases. Therefore, in S45, for example, the lens is driven so as to be in focus about 3 m away from the camera. Further, in S48 and S50, the lens is driven so as to be closer to, for example, a position of about 2 m. This lens drive is performed even when the portrait mode is not set (S58), and in this case, the lens drive is performed so that an object located far from the camera is in focus. This lens driving is performed so that the lens is focused at infinity if the landscape photography mode is set, for example.

When the driving of these preliminary lenses is completed, the selected focus detection area is turned on as a signal indicating the completion (S46, S49, S51).

If the selected focus detection area is not the intended one, the focus detection area can be changed as in the first operation (S52, S59). However,
After changing the focus detection area, the lens drive as described in the first operation is not performed. This is because the focus of the lens is adjusted in advance in the vicinity of the subject by the drive of the preliminary lens.

After that, when the release button is pressed halfway (S
54), distance measurement is performed (S55), and the lens is driven so that the subject in the selected focus detection area is in focus (S56). In addition, since the lens is driven in advance in the vicinity of the subject by the preliminary lens drive in this case, the amount of movement of the lens is small and the subject can be focused in a short time.

The operation of the camera has been described above.
In the above-described embodiment, the focus detection area is moved by one unit each time the area selection members 4a to 4d are pressed. However, if the area selection members 4a to 4d are continuously pressed, the focus detection areas are continuously formed. You may make it move automatically.
Further, the area selecting member may be configured to perform input by a sliding operation, or a rotary information input dial may be used. Also, if a trackball is provided on the back of the camera,
When the number of focus detection areas is large, the operability is further improved.

The installation location of the area selection member is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and an optimum position may be selected according to the size and shape of the camera, such as the back surface of the upper cover of the camera.

Further, the focus detection area and the photometric area may be associated in advance, and when the focus detection area is selected by the area selection member, the corresponding photometric area may be automatically selected.

Further, the focus detection area in which distance measurement and lens drive are performed immediately after the manual selection is switched may be set according to the photographer's preference. of course,
The lens drive to the predetermined focus position may be released, and the distance measurement and the lens drive may be automatically performed immediately after the manual selection is switched.

[0065]

As described above, according to the autofocus camera of the present invention, the object detected by the selected focus detection area is brought into focus each time the selection member of the focus detection area is operated. The focus detection area can be selected while checking the subject. Further, when continuously changing the focus detection area, it is not necessary to perform an operation for focusing each time the change is made, so that operability is enhanced. Also, an automatic mode and a manual mode can be set.

Further, the focus detection area can be selected by the attitude of the camera before the manual selection of the focus detection area is accepted.

Further, with regard to the detection of the posture of the camera, it is associated with the photographing mode to be set in advance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a camera showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an area mark displayed on a finder screen according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a posture of a camera.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing an area mark displayed on a viewfinder screen of a conventional camera.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a conventional camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Camera body, 2: Release button, 3: Switching member, 4, 4a-4d: Area selection member, 5: Eyepiece lens, 6: Viewfinder eyepiece window, 7: Viewfinder display, 8: Information setting dial, 9: External display, 1
0: Lens group, 11: Back cover, 12: Photographic lens, 1
3: Main mirror, 14: Sub mirror, 15: Focus detection device, 16: Screen, 17: Penta prism, 18: Prism, 19: Photometric device, 20: Lens drive device, 21a-21e: Area mark, 2
2: drive device, 23: luminous flux, 23a: transmitted light, 2
3b: reflected light, 24: power transmission device, 25: finder screen, 26a to 26e: area mark, 27, 2
8, 29, 30: Switch pulse generation circuit, 31, 3
2, 33, 34: switch, 35: subject (in case of one person), 36: subject (in case of plural persons), 37: switch, 38: attitude sensor, 39: control circuit, 4
0: Exposure mode switch, 41: Image sensor,
42: photometric element, 4344 ,: display drive circuit, 4
5: Pulse generator

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A selection unit for selecting an arbitrary focus detection region from a plurality of focus detection regions, and focus detection is performed on an object detected by the focus detection region selected by the selection unit. In the autofocus camera including a focus detection unit that outputs the detection result, and a lens drive unit that drives a photographic lens based on the detection result of the focus detection unit, the selection unit manually selects the focus detection area. An area selection member for receiving a selection, wherein the lens driving means, when receiving the selection by the area selection member, drives the lens to a focus position of the subject in the selected focus detection area. Focus camera. 2. A mode for receiving an instruction for selecting a manual mode for manually selecting the focus detection area and an automatic mode for automatically selecting the focus detection area. Further comprising a mode selection member, wherein the selection unit selects the focus detection area selected by the area selection member when the manual mode is selected by the mode selection member, -When the automatic mode is selected by the mode selection member, one of the focus detection areas is selected based on a preset selection rule. 3. The posture detection device according to claim 2, further comprising posture detection means for detecting the posture of the camera and outputting the detection result, wherein the selection means is configured to detect the posture when the manual mode is selected. An autofocus camera characterized in that a focus detection area is selected based on the detection result of the detection means, and the selected focus detection area can be changed by the area selection member. 4. The photographing mode selecting means according to claim 3, further comprising photographing mode selecting means for selecting a desired photographing mode from a plurality of photographing modes prepared in advance. The mode includes at least a person photographing mode for photographing a person, and the photographing mode selection means includes a photographing mode selection member for accepting the selection of the photographing mode. The autofocus camera is characterized in that the posture detecting means detects the posture of the camera only when the person photographing mode is selected by the photographing mode selection member. 5. The plurality of photographing modes according to claim 4, wherein at least one of an aperture value and a shutter speed according to a photographing condition is set in each of the photographing modes. And an autofocus camera.