JPH08317265A - Composite camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent a user from missing the shutter chance of still picture photographing by preventing the erroneous operation between an operation member for still picture photographing and a zoom operation member for magnification varying with respect to the composite camera provided with a video camera part for dynamic picture photographing and a still camera part for still picture photographing. CONSTITUTION: The video camera part which records photographed dynamic picture information in a first recording medium and the still camera part which records photographed still picture information in a second recording medium are provided as one body, and a photographing optical system which can vary the magnification is provided. A zoom lever 34 to adjust the magnification is arranged in the middle position of the line connecting a trigger button 36, which starts and stops the recording operation of the video camera part, and a shutter button 37 which starts the photographing (exposure) operation or the still camera part, and the operation direction or the zoom lever 34 is so set that it is different from the direction or this line, for example, it is orthogonal to the line.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a composite camera in which a movie video camera using an electronic image pickup device and a still camera using a silver salt film are integrally formed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, at the time of an event such as an athletic meet or an arts and crafts event, while shooting with a video camera capable of recording a moving image on a recording medium such as a magnetic tape, a silver salt film or the like is used to make There are many requests to take pictures even with a still camera that records images.

In addition, when traveling, it is sometimes annoying to carry both a video camera and a still camera separately, and in order to respond to this, various video cameras with a still camera in which the video camera and the still camera are integrated are available. Invented.

For example, in US Pat. No. 3,546,375, a movable mirror is arranged in the optical path of an objective lens for photographing, and the position of the movable mirror is selectively switched so that the recording medium remains stationary on a different recording medium. It is disclosed that an image and a moving image can be recorded respectively.

Further, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-96444 discloses a video camera body in which an optical image pickup portion for photographing a silver salt film is integrally or separately provided detachably in the body portion. are doing.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-185533 proposes a camera with a confirmation function, which is a composite camera and displays on a monitor an image signal from a photoelectric conversion image pickup device corresponding to an image formed on a silver salt film. There is.

[0007]

However, in the conventional compound camera as described above, it is possible to prevent the operability from becoming complicated due to the integrated construction of the device which originally handles moving images and still images separately. However, there has not been a sufficient solution to allow the user to easily perform the intended shooting.

That is, a conventional video camera with a still camera has two operating members, a trigger button for starting and stopping moving image shooting and a shutter button for shooting a still image. In the compound camera disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-261336, a trigger button for recording a moving image and a shutter button for recording a still image are individually arranged on different surfaces of the main body.

With such a structure, since the operation of starting / stopping the moving image shooting and the operation of starting the still image shooting are performed by different fingers of the photographer, there is an effect that the operation is difficult to make a mistake. , The photographing optical system is a single focus lens, and can always photograph only a fixed angle of view.

At present, a single still camera and a video camera are mainly equipped with a zoom function that allows the photographing magnification to be variable, and the still camera has a few functions.
It is not uncommon for a video camera to be 10 times more than a video camera. Under these circumstances, a single focus video camera with a still camera cannot give the user sufficient satisfaction.

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, there has been proposed a video camera with a still camera equipped with a zoom means capable of changing the photographing magnification. For example, JP-A-4-50709 and JP-A-5-199441 show that the zoom operation member is arranged on the same surface as the shutter button for taking a still image and in front of the shutter button. ing.

However, by arranging this zoom operating member, a new problem has arisen. That is,
Since the shutter button and zoom button are arranged on the same surface, the shooting operation can be performed with one finger, especially the index finger, or with multiple fingers, for example, the shutter button is the index finger and the zoom button is the middle finger. Will be done. Considering the case of actually shooting, when operating with one finger, if you try to press the shutter while pressing the zoom button, the amount of movement of the finger between the zoom button and the shutter button is large, and there is a shutter chance. If you miss it or move your finger, it will shake. Further, when operating with multiple fingers, it is quite possible that the user intended to press the shutter button and accidentally pressed the zoom button. In either case, a situation occurs in which a momentary photo opportunity is missed.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and it is possible to prevent an erroneous operation in which the shutter button for recording a still image and the zoom button for changing the photographing magnification are pressed by mistake, and a shutter chance is provided. The purpose is to provide a compound camera that will not be missed.

[0014]

A composite camera according to the present invention has a video camera section for shooting a moving image and a still camera section for shooting a still image, and is provided with a shooting optical system capable of changing a shooting magnification. At the same time, a zoom operation member for adjusting the magnification of the photographing optical system, a first operation member for starting and stopping a recording operation of a captured image of the video camera unit, and a photographing operation of the still camera unit are started. The zoom operation member is arranged in the middle of the second operation member for performing the operation, and the operation direction of the zoom operation member is set to a direction different from the direction connecting the first operation member and the second operation member.

Further, in the above compound camera, the zoom operation member is arranged near an intermediate position of a straight line connecting the first operation member and the second operation member, and its operation direction is set to a direction orthogonal to the straight line. It was done.

[0016]

According to the present invention, the zoom operating member for varying the magnification of the photographing optical system is arranged in the middle of the operating member for the still camera and the operating member for the video camera, and their operating directions are changed. By setting the direction different from the line segment connecting the two, it is possible to eliminate an erroneous operation such as an erroneous pressing of the operation member for the still camera at the time of zoom operation, and it is possible to avoid missing a photo opportunity.

[0017]

【Example】

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a video camera unit for recording captured moving image information on a first recording medium and captured still image information. 2 shows a main part of a video camera with a still camera that is integrally provided with a still camera unit that records the data in a second recording medium.
FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the overall structure of the video camera with a still camera.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an exterior cover which constitutes a camera body, and is composed of fastening parts such as screws and other plural parts. Reference numeral 2 denotes a lens unit (photographing optical system) for capturing a subject image in a silver salt film (second recording medium) 5.
Is a lens barrel for constituting the lens unit 2, 4 is an iris diaphragm for silver salt still photography, and 5 is the above-mentioned silver salt film on which still image information is recorded.

In this embodiment, the lens unit 3 is a zoom lens capable of varying the photographing magnification, and is a variable magnification lens which can be moved along the optical axis of the image pickup light in association with automatic or manual zoom operation. It has an element group and a focusing lens element group driven by information from an automatic focus adjusting device which will be described later.

A shutter device 6 is arranged immediately in front of the silver salt film 5, and is composed of a shutter curtain 6a and a shutter frame 6b. Reference numeral 7 is a semitransparent thin film mirror for distributing the image pickup light from the subject to the still camera side and the video camera side, 8a is an optical axis incident from the subject side, and 8b is silver transmitted through the semitransparent thin film mirror 7. Optical axes 8c and 8d reaching the salt film side are optical axes reflected by the semitransparent thin film mirror 7.

Field lenses 9a and 9b are provided on the optical axis 8c for aligning the pupil of the subject image, 10 is a reflecting mirror for deflecting the image pickup light of the optical axis 8c, and 11 is on the optical axis 8d. The reduction lens unit is provided with a diaphragm unit 12 for shooting video moving images inside. Reference numeral 13 is an optical low-pass filter, 14 is a solid-state image sensor (first recording medium) on which moving image information is recorded, and 15 is an aerial image formed at a position equivalent to the silver salt film 5.
The solid-state image sensor 14 via the reduction lens unit 11
Reimaged on top.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a sub-mirror behind the semi-transparent thin film mirror 7 which can be retracted at the time of photographing, and guides a part of the image pickup light to the automatic focus detection device 17. Note that the automatic focus detection device 17 in the present embodiment is a conventionally known phase difference shift detection method, and compares a plurality of images generated by light fluxes passing through a plurality of different regions of the photographing lens (lens unit 2), The defocus amount and the direction on the film surface are detected. However, since the subject image is always obtained on the solid-state image sensor 14, the blurring method is performed based on the high-frequency video signal from the solid-state image sensor 14. The automatic focus adjustment may be performed, or a combined method with the shift method of this embodiment may be used.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a light shielding plate provided to prevent light leakage due to the use of the semitransparent thin film mirror 7, which can be retracted at the time of image pickup. Reference numeral 19 denotes a back lid unit which is provided so as to be openable and closable when the silver salt film 5 is loaded. In this embodiment, a 135 type silver salt film is used, but the invention is not limited to this, and a drop-in type or a disc type is used. No matter what kind of film it is, it does not matter.

Reference numeral 20 denotes an electronic viewfinder unit, which outputs a photographed image to a small liquid crystal panel 21 for monitoring the image signal from the solid-state image pickup device 14 so that it can be observed through a reflection mirror 22 and an eyepiece lens 23. It has become. Further, the electronic viewfinder unit 20 is rotatable about a rotary shaft 24 as a spindle.

Here, in the above-described structure, the iris diaphragm 4 for taking a silver salt still picture is always kept open during the video recording of a video, and a shutter button (release switch) for taking a silver salt still picture described later is pressed. When it is opened, it is narrowed down to a predetermined diameter. Therefore, during video recording, the exposure is controlled only by the aperture unit 12 in the reduction lens unit 11, and the accumulation time of the solid-state image sensor 14 and the gain of the signal processing system are changed as necessary to obtain proper exposure. Has become.

Reference numeral 25 denotes a secondary battery detachably attached to the lower portion of the camera body, which is a common single power source for supplying all power used by the camera. An openable / closable barrier 27 incorporating a strobe 26 is arranged in front of the lens unit 3. Reference numeral 28 is a microphone for recording audio during video shooting, and 29 is an external terminal that functions as an interface with an external device such as a television or a stereo device.

FIG. 3 is a top sectional view of the video camera with a still camera. In the figure, 30 is a cartridge chamber for the silver salt film 5, and 31 is a spool for winding the film 5. In this embodiment, a prewind system is adopted in which the last frame is wound up on the spool 31 in advance when the film is loaded, and the exposed frames are sequentially rewound during shooting.

Reference numerals 32 and 33 denote zoom driving motors and focus driving motors of the lens unit 2, 34 denotes a zoom lever (zoom operating member) arranged at a position where the photographer (user) can operate with his / her right hand. Reference numeral 35 is a main mode selection switch that also serves as a power switch, 36 is a trigger button (first operation member) for video movie shooting, and 37 is used when shooting a silver salt still picture alone or simultaneously shooting a video movie and a silver salt still picture. It is a possible shutter button (second operating member) for the still camera described above.

Here, on the side opposite to the above operation members,
A mode selection dial 38, which can be selected and used in common in both moving image shooting and still shooting, such as a program exposure mode, a portrait mode with many open apertures, a sports mode with priority on shutter speed, and a backlight mode, is provided.

In addition, the photometry corresponds to the above various modes,
Feedback control is performed according to the brightness signal level of the solid-state image sensor 14. In the present embodiment, the image pickup device for video is electrically divided into areas and is also used as a photometric element, but a dedicated photometric element may be arranged separately.

Reference numeral 39 denotes a video tape cassette housing portion arranged on the right side of the lens unit 2. In the present embodiment, a video tape having a tape width of 8 mm is used as a video recording medium, but it is not limited to this. Absent. The cassette housing 39 is provided with a recording mechanism including a magnetic head cylinder, a capstan, a pinch roller, etc., and a control panel 40 for controlling recording / reproduction of a video tape on its upper surface and an automatic loading operation instruction. An eject button 41 and the like for performing the operation are arranged.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the system control configuration of this embodiment. This system is roughly classified into a camera microcomputer 42 that receives and controls operation inputs such as zoom, exposure, and AF, a mode microcomputer 43 that controls the release and mode setting of the camera body, and a mechanical microcomputer 44 that drives and controls the tape recording / reproducing servomechanism. A video signal processing circuit board 45, an audio signal processing circuit board 46, a strobe board 47, a power supply board 48, and the like are connected to these as the core.

In FIG. 4, 49 is a power switch, 50 is a strobe xenon lamp, 51-53 and 55-58.
Is a circuit board for various processes, and 54 is a recorder mechanism.

Here, in the present embodiment, the video camera section for shooting a moving image and the still camera section for shooting a still image are integrally formed, but each operation member is arranged at the position shown in FIG. ing.

That is, the zoom lever (zoom operating member) 34 for adjusting the magnification of the lens unit 2 starts the operation of recording the image taken by the video camera section on the upper surface of the upper cover 61 of the back cover unit 19. A trigger button (first operation member) 36 that is a first trigger means for (starting) and stopping (stopping) and a second for starting a photographing operation (exposure operation) of the still camera unit.
Is arranged at or near an intermediate position of a straight line connecting the shutter button (second operation member) 37 which is the trigger means of the above, and the operation direction is different from the above straight line, for example, the straight line as in the example of FIG. It is set in the rotation direction of the orthogonal arrows.

By pushing the trigger button 36 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1, that is, in the direction of the optical axis of the optical system,
Recording of the video camera unit is started and stopped. On the other hand, the shutter button 35 provided on the upper surface of the device
By pressing, the exposure operation of the still camera unit is started. Further, by rotating the zoom lever 34 in the direction of the arrow, the zoom magnification of the photographing optical system can be changed.

As described above, the zoom lever 34 for changing the photographing magnification is arranged near the middle position of the straight line connecting the trigger button 36 for the video camera and the shutter button 37 for the still camera, and the zoom lever is also provided. Three
Since the operation direction of No. 4 is set to a direction different from the above straight line, it is possible to prevent an erroneous operation of pressing the shutter button 37 and the zoom lever 34 by mistake, and never miss a photo opportunity of the still camera.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the structure of the operation section of the video camera section. Back cover 19 of the back lid unit 19
A printed circuit board 62 is fixed to b, and the printed circuit board 62 has a pattern 63 made of copper foil with a thickness of several μm.
a and 63b are attached. Also, the printed circuit board 6
A switch 64 made of silicone rubber is superposed on the second member 2, and a conductive member 65 through which an electric current flows in a part thereof.
Is stuck. The trigger button 36 for pressing the switch 64 is located above the switch 64, and the back cover 19a of the back cover unit 19 causes the printed circuit board 62, the conductive member 65, and the back cover 19b of the back cover unit 19 to move. It is sandwiched so that the trigger button 36 cannot be removed.

Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the patterns 63a and 63b are usually not in contact with each other, so that no current flows. When the trigger button 36 is pushed in this state, the pushing force is transmitted to the switch 64, and the switch 64 is elastically deformed. Therefore, the conductive member 65 fixed to the switch 64 comes into contact with the patterns 63a and 63b, and the patterns 63a and 63b are in a state where current flows. At this time, if the potential of the pattern 63a is higher than that of the pattern 63b, the patterns 63a to 63b
Current flows through. Therefore, in the block diagram shown in FIG. 4, a signal indicating that the trigger button 36 has been pressed is input to the mode microcomputer 43 to enter the recording state.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the structure of the operation section of the still camera section. The shutter button 37 for taking a still picture is provided on the upper cover 61 and is biased by a shutter spring 66. When you press the shutter button 37 for this still picture, the tip 37
a pushes the first switch contact 67. Mode microcomputer 4
When the switch contact piece 67 and the GND contact piece 68 contact each other, 3 recognizes that a switch signal for determining AF or AE has been input.

After that, when the shutter button 37 is further pressed to bring the GND contact piece 68 and the next switch contact piece 69 into contact with each other, the exposure start switch signal is sent to the mode microcomputer 43.
Recognized as input to. 70 is a switch contact piece 67 and G
A seat between the ND contact piece 68 and the switch contact piece 56, which prevents a short circuit.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the structure of the zoom operation section. The zoom lever 34 is provided on the upper cover 61, and its rotation shaft 34 b is rotatably held by the upper cover 61. Further, the torsion spring 71 is attached to the zoom lever 34 in such a manner that it is biased in the opening direction of the torsion spring 71 by the stopper 34a of the zoom lever 34, and is also opened in the opening direction with respect to the stopper 61a of the upper cover 61. Energized.

The zoom lever 34 is attached to the rotary shaft 34b.
On the other hand, when the zoom lever 34 rotates counterclockwise, the protrusion 34c of the zoom lever 34 pushes the GND contact piece 72 and contacts the switch contact piece 73 on the wide side. At this time, the mode microcomputer 43
A signal for moving the photographing optical system (zoom lens 2) to the wide side is input to, and the photographing optical system is moved to the wide side.

When the zoom lever 34 rotates clockwise, the photographing optical system is moved to the tele side. 75 is a seat for the wide side switch contact piece 73, the GND contact piece 72, or the tele side switch contact piece 74, the GND contact piece 72 to prevent a short circuit.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the structure of the second embodiment of the present invention. The same reference numerals are attached to the same parts as those of the first embodiment of FIG. The description is omitted.

The camera of the present embodiment is used when the photographing optical system is independent of the silver halide camera and the video camera. The zoom lever 34A for the video camera and the zoom lever 34B for the still camera are used. The top cover 61
Are provided so that their rotation axes are on the same straight line, and are located near the intermediate position of the straight line connecting the trigger button 36 and the shutter button 37 for the still camera. In this case, the zoom lever 34A is rotated to change the zoom lens ratio of the video camera optical system, and the zoom lever 3 is changed to change the zoom ratio of the still camera optical system.
Rotate 4B. In addition, regarding other structures,
Since the structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the third embodiment of the present invention, and the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 denote the same components. The zoom lever 34 of the present embodiment is a seesaw-type button switch, and the structure of the operating portion using this is shown in FIG.

The seesaw type zoom lever 34 is rotatable about a hinge shaft 82 supported by a bearing 81 in the vertical direction of FIG. 10, and the operating method thereof is the same as in the above-described embodiments. is there. Even with such a configuration, the same operational effects as those of the above-described respective embodiments can be obtained, erroneous operation of the operation unit can be prevented, and a photo opportunity is not missed.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A zoom operation member for adjusting the magnification of the photographing optical system is arranged between the operation member for still photography and the operation member for video recording, and the operation direction of the zoom operation member is set for still photography. Since it is set in a direction different from the straight line connecting the operation member and the operation member for video recording,
It is possible to prevent an erroneous operation between the zoom operation member and the operation member for the still camera, and it is possible to avoid missing a photo opportunity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the overall configuration of a video camera with a still camera.

FIG. 3 is a top sectional view showing the overall configuration of a video camera with a still camera.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a system control configuration of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the operation unit of the video camera unit.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the structure of the operation unit of the still camera unit.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the structure of a zoom operation unit.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of an operation unit using the zoom lever of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 zoom lens (photographing optical system) 5 silver salt film (second recording medium) 14 solid-state image sensor (first recording medium) 34 zoom lever (zoom operating member) 36 trigger button (first operating member) 37 shutter Button (second operation member)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A video camera unit for shooting a moving image, a still camera unit for shooting a still image, a shooting optical system capable of changing a shooting magnification, and for adjusting a magnification of the shooting optical system. Of the zoom operation member between the first operation member for starting and stopping the recording operation of the captured image of the video camera unit and the second operation member for starting the capturing operation of the still camera unit. A compound camera, wherein the compound camera is arranged and the operation direction of the zoom operation member is set to a direction different from the direction connecting the first operation member and the second operation member. 2. The zoom operation member is arranged in the vicinity of an intermediate position of a straight line connecting the first operation member and the second operation member, and its operation direction is set to a direction orthogonal to the straight line. The compound camera according to claim 1.