JPH0815597A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To execute automatic focusing in accordance with the setting of various modes by easy operation. CONSTITUTION:When an AF mode switch 13 is set to a 'single AF mode', AF is started by half depressing a shutter button 14. When the switch 13 is set to a 'continuous AF mode' and a 'continuous AF and focus-lock feasible mode', AF actions are started according to the detection signal of a finger detection switch 15. In the 'single AF mode' and the 'continuous AF and focus- lock feasible mode', focus-lock is performed by half depressing the shutter button 14. In such a way, operation is made common and an operation system is made easy to understand without increasing the number of operation switch.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera for performing distance measurement and automatic focus adjustment according to various mode settings by operating switches.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a camera that performs automatic focus adjustment,
As a distance measuring operation mode, a "single auto focus (AF) mode" in which only one distance measuring operation is performed and a "continuous AF mode" in which a distance measuring operation is repeatedly performed can be freely set.

This single AF mode is a mode mainly used in general photographing, and the continuous AF mode is a convenient mode to use in a situation where the user does not want to miss a photo opportunity even when the subject is moving. there were.

In detail, the selection of these two modes has been made freely possible by a mode selection switch provided near the lens of the camera body. Further, when shooting is started, the distance measuring operation is started with the shutter button composed of a two-stage switch being half pressed, and in the single AF mode, the distance measuring operation is locked after the distance measuring is completed.

In such a conventional photographing mode, when it is desired to perform focus lock during continuous AF, the shutter cannot be half-pressed as in the case of selecting the single AF mode, so a dedicated focus lock switch is used. It was either provided newly, or was made to be able to be used by combining the function with other switches.

[0006]

However, in the conventional structure as described above, when the focus lock is desired, the function of the switch is changed depending on the photographing mode.
It was necessary to operate extra switches, and it was not always convenient.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems. An object of the present invention is to reduce the number of operation switches and realize highly accurate automatic focus adjustment according to various mode settings with a simple operation. Especially.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the camera according to the first aspect of the present invention has a mode selecting means for selecting one of a plurality of distance measuring modes and a distance measuring operation. A first and a second distance measuring operation starting member for starting, and one of the distance measuring operation starting members is set as an effective member in association with the selected distance measuring mode. It is characterized by

In the camera according to the second aspect, the first distance measuring operation starting member and the second distance measuring operation starting member are a half-press detecting member of the shutter release button and a finger detecting member provided near the shutter release button, respectively. It is characterized by being.

Further, in the camera according to the third aspect, a mode selecting means for selecting one of a plurality of distance measuring modes, a release switch means for giving a timing to start a predetermined operation of the camera, and a finger of a photographer. Is provided on the release switch means, and the finger detection means is disabled when a predetermined distance measurement mode is selected.

[0011]

That is, in the camera of the present invention, in the above structure, when the AF operation is performed, the AF is started by pressing the shutter button halfway in the S mode, and in the C mode and the CLK mode, the finger detection unit. The AF operation is started by the detection signal.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 mainly shows a portion mainly relating to the invention in the configuration of the camera with interchangeable lenses of the present invention, and will be described.

In FIG. 1, a microcomputer (BCPU) 7 is arranged on the camera body 2 side, and an input of the BCPU 7 is an autofocus (AF) section 8, a drive (DRV) section 9 and a display (DIS).
P) section 10, automatic exposure adjustment (AE) section 11, E ² PRO
The outputs of M12, the AF mode switch 13, and the shutter button 14 are electrically connected to each other. DRV section 9
A finger detection switch 15 is connected to.

On the other hand, a microcomputer (LCPU) 3 is arranged on the lens 1 side, and a lens drive (LDRV) unit 4, a lens encoder (LENC) unit 5, an auto focus / manual focus ( The outputs of the AF / MF) switch 6 are electrically connected to each other.

In such a structure, the camera body 2
The BCPU 7 on the side communicates with the LCPU 3 on the lens 1 side. The BCPU 7 is electrically connected to each unit in the camera body 2 to execute and read operations,
Make a decision. The AE unit 11 is a unit for performing photometry for exposure control, and a module having a sensitivity distribution having a characteristic not shown on the film equivalent surface detects the photometric state, and the BCPU 7 determines the exposure condition from the result. D
The ISP unit 10 is a unit that controls a display unit (not shown) provided in the viewfinder and in the upper portion of the camera. The display contents display information necessary for the photographer, such as the setting mode of the camera and the remaining battery level. The E ² PROM 12 stores a correction coefficient and the like generated when the camera is assembled.

The AF section 8 is a unit for detecting the focus state of the film surface, and sends data for driving the photographing lens to the in-focus state to the BCPU 7, and the BCPU 7 calculates from the result and the LCPU 3 on the lens 1 side. The lens drive amount information is sent to. The DRV unit 9 is a unit that drives and controls an actuator and a light emitting member in the camera, and also controls reading of the finger detection switch 15, which is one of the configurations of the present invention.

The finger detection switch 15 is composed of a non-contact type sensor means such as a photo reflector, projects infrared light as will be described later, and detects whether the finger is present at a predetermined position by the reflected light. To do. The AF mode switch 13 is a switch for the photographer to select an autofocus operation mode, and here, three modes can be selected. The shutter button 14 is composed of a two-stage switch,
The first release switch is turned on in the half-pressed state, and the second release switch is turned on by further pressing. When the second release switch is turned on, the camera starts the exposure operation, the shutter runs, and shooting is performed.

On the other hand, on the lens 1 side, the LENC section 5
Is a unit for detecting the extension position and zoom position of the photographing lens, and informs the LCPU 3 of the current position of the lens. L
The DRV unit 4 is a unit that drives a lens and a diaphragm (not shown) provided in the lens. Drive control is L
It is performed by the CPU 3. The AF / MF switch 6 is a switch for the photographer to switch between auto focus and manual focus. The LCPU 3 determines which is selected and communicates the information to the BCPU 7.

The structure of the distance measuring optical system of the AF unit 8 is shown in FIG. The light flux passing through different areas of the photographing lens 20 has its field limited by a field diaphragm 21 arranged near the primary image plane, passes through a condenser lens 22, a diaphragm mask 23, and a re-imaging lens 24, and then on the image sensor 25. It is guided to the light receiving surface. The light flux is symmetrically displaced from the reference interval on the sensor surface with the optical axis in between depending on the focus state. Therefore, if the positional relationship between the two images is obtained by the correlation calculation based on the received signal output, the focus state can be identified.

Next, FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of the shutter button 14 provided on the camera body 2, the AF mode switch 13 provided around the shutter button 14, and the detection window 16 for description. FIG.
(A) shows a state where a finger is placed on the shutter button 14. As described above, when the finger is placed on the shutter button 14, the infrared light emitted from the light emitting portion of the finger detection switch 15 provided below the finger detection window 16 in FIG. The reflected light is received by the light receiving section. Therefore, when the reflected light is detected, it is determined that the finger is placed on the shutter button 14.

The AF mode switch 13 is a shutter button 14
It is movable in a concentric circle and clicks and stops at three positions. Three modes are set in order from the lens side of the camera: a single AF mode “S”, a continuous AF mode “C”, and a continuous AF / focus lockable mode “CLK”.

The detection window 16 has the shutter button 14 as described above.
The finger is placed so as to be positioned above the window when the finger is placed on the detection window 16, and at the same time, the detection window 16 is covered when the AF mode switch 13 is in the position for selecting the mode "S". That is, this makes the finger detection switch 15 undetectable. Since the finger detection switch 15 detects the presence of an object at a relatively short distance, its output energy is made relatively small. Moreover, if the output at the time of detection is controlled by the brightness of the outside light to eliminate the influence of so-called "background light", the reliability of the detection will increase.

Next, FIG. 4 shows the operating state in each of the above modes. The AF operation is started by pressing the shutter button 14 halfway in the mode "S", and by the finger detection switch 15 in the modes "C" and "CLK". The continuous mode is a mode used when the subject is moving, and in many cases, it is desired to bring the subject into focus as soon as possible after entering the shooting state. Therefore, the operation is started when the finger is detected in order to start the operation before pressing the shutter button 14. On the other hand, in the mode "S", shooting is performed for each shot. In other words, in the mode used when shooting relatively slowly, finger detection is prohibited and the shutter button 14 is pressed halfway in accordance with conventional camera operation so that the shooting lens does not suddenly start driving. To start.

The focus lock does not exist in the mode "C", and the focus operation is continuously repeated following the movement of the subject. On the other hand, in the modes "S" and "CLK", the shutter button is locked in a half-pressed state. These two modes correspond to when it is desired to fix the focus position during shooting. From the photographer's point of view, there is no particular operation to perform the above operation,
Performing the same operation eliminates erroneous operation and annoyance.

Next, the operation when each mode is selected will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. However, here, the drive mode of the camera is limited to the case of the single sequence. When the shooting is disclosed, the BCPU 7 sets A
The AF mode set by the F mode switch 13 is read (step S1).

When the "S" mode is selected (step S
2) The finger detection is disabled, and it is detected whether or not the first-stage 1st release switch, which is entered by pressing the shutter button 14 halfway, is turned on (step S13). When the 1st release switch is turned on, control of the AF operation is started (step S14). In this AF operation control, sensor accumulation,
Controls including data reading, defocus amount calculation, correction, extension amount calculation, and lens drive control are executed. This A
When the out-of-focus determination is made by the F control, the camera performs the out-of-focus display and returns to step S13 (step S16).

On the other hand, when the focus is determined in step S15, the camera displays the focus and the BCPU 7 checks whether or not the 1st release switch is still on (steps S17 and S18). When the 1st release switch is off, it is determined that the photographing operation has been temporarily stopped, the focus display is turned off, and the process returns to step S1 (step S19).

On the other hand, when the 1st release switch is on (step S18), the focus is locked and the 2nd release switch is turned on (steps S20 and S21). When the second release switch is not turned on, the process returns to step S18 to check the state of the first release switch. When the second release switch is turned on (step S21), the shutter control is started. That is, the exposure operation on the film is performed (step S22).

When not in the "S" mode (step S
2) First, wait until the finger detection switch 15 is turned on (step S3). Then, when the finger detection switch 15 is turned on, AF control is started (step S4). This flow is the same as the above conditions. As a result, when it is determined that the object is out of focus (step S5), the camera displays the object out of focus (step S6), and returns to step S1 to repeatedly perform AF control. On the other hand, when the focus is determined (step S5),
The camera displays the focus (step S7) and checks the mode (step S8).

When the "CLK" mode is selected, if the 1st release switch is on, focus lock is performed (step S11). When the 1st release switch is off, the focus display is turned off, and the process returns to step S1 to repeat the AF control. Then, it is checked whether or not the focus is locked or the 2nd release switch is turned on in the "C" mode (step S1).
2). Then, when the second release switch is on, shutter control is performed to perform the exposure operation (step S22), and when the second release switch is off, the process returns to step S9 to check the switch setting conditions.

When shooting with a remote controller, the remote controller has a function equivalent to the finger detecting switch 15 in the flowchart of FIG. 5 instead, and the finger detecting switch 15 of the camera body is inactive. .

As described above, in the present invention, the finger detection switch 15 is used as the AF start switch other than the S mode, and the focus lock is unified to the half-press of the shutter button 14. As a result, the operations can be made common without increasing the number of operation switches, so that the operation system can be easily understood and a camera that is easy to use can be provided.

Further, in the present embodiment, in the S mode, the mode lever 13 covers the finger detection window 16 to disable the finger detection. However, as can be read from the flowchart of FIG. 5, the finger detection is judged in the S mode. Therefore, it is not necessary to inactivate the finger detection switch 15 itself.
Furthermore, even when the finger detection switch 15 performs interrupt processing, when the BCPU 7 reads the AF mode,
In the S mode, the finger detection switch 15 can be disabled by electrical means such as turning off the light projection and invalidating the light reception signal. This method can also be applied to the non-operation of the finger detection switch 15 during the remote control.

According to the above embodiment of the present invention, the following configuration can be obtained. (1) In a camera having a plurality of distance measurement modes and capable of autofocus photography, distance measurement mode selection means for selecting one distance measurement mode and a focus lock for holding the focal position of the lens at the time of completion of the distance measurement operation. A camera comprising: a means and a photographing start detection means for detecting that a finger is placed on the release button. (2) The camera according to (1), wherein the photographing start detecting means is inoperative when the remote controller is used. (3) The camera according to (1), wherein the photographing start detection means is inoperative depending on the mode selected by the distance measurement mode selection means. (4) The camera according to (1) above, wherein the photographing start detection means is composed of a non-contact type detector. (5) The camera according to (1), wherein the distance measuring mode includes at least two modes of a single mode, a continuous mode, and a continuous lock mode. (6) The camera according to (1), wherein the focus lock means always operates by half-pressing the release button regardless of the distance measurement mode.

[0035]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a camera which realizes highly accurate automatic focus adjustment according to various mode settings with a simple operation by reducing the number of operation switches.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a camera of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a distance measuring optical system of an AF unit 8.

FIG. 3 is a shutter button 1 attached to a camera body 2.
4 is a diagram showing an arrangement of an AF mode switch 13 and a finger detection switch 15 provided on the periphery of No. 4 and its periphery.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation state in each mode.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the camera of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Lens, 2 ... Camera body, 3 ... LCPU, 4 ... L
DRV section, 5 ... LENC section, 6 ... AF / MF switch,
7 ... BCPU, 8 ... AF section, 9 ... DRV section, 10 ... DI
SP section, 11 ... AE section, 12 ... E ² PROM, 13 ... A
F mode switch, 14 ... Shutter button, 15 ... Finger detection switch, 16 ... Detection window.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A mode selecting means for selecting one of a plurality of distance measuring modes, and a first and a second distance measuring operation starting member for starting a distance measuring operation. A camera characterized in that any one of the distance measuring operation starting members is set as an effective member in association with the distance measuring mode. 2. The first and second distance measuring operation starting members,
The camera according to claim 1, wherein the camera is a half-press detection member of the shutter release button and a finger detection member provided near the shutter release button, respectively. 3. A mode selecting means for selecting one of a plurality of distance measuring modes, a release switch means for giving a timing to start a predetermined operation of the camera, and a finger of a photographer touching the release switch means. And a finger detecting means for detecting that the finger detecting means is disabled, and the finger detecting means is invalidated when a predetermined distance measurement mode is selected.