JPH0850231A - Camera system, camera and photographic lens - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To instantaneously drive a photographic lens to an optional focusing position by driving the lens to a position stored by a storage means in response to switching a switching means to a non-operated state. CONSTITUTION:When a command is given by a commanding means 400 after the position of the optical system constituting the photographic lens 2 is stored by the storage means 300, a driving means 100 is controlled by a drive control means 600 so that the optical system may be driven to the stored position. When the switching means SW2 is switched to the non-operated state, the driving means 100 is controlled by the drive control means 600 so that the optical system may be driven to the stored position in response to the switching even in the case the command is not given by the commanding means 400. Thus, by focusing on a certain object and storing the position, it is possible to instantaneously focus on the former object by the command after photographing another object, and a focusing time can be shortened in the case a distance between both objects is drastically long, and also, the operability can be improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera having a replaceable taking lens and a driving means for driving the taking lens, and more particularly to a camera capable of promptly driving the taking lens to a desired position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a camera provided with an automatic focusing device having a function called focus lock is known. In one example, the focus position focused when the release button is half-pressed is locked while the half-press operation is continued. In another example, the shooting lens is always driven to the in-focus position while following the movement of the subject during the half-press operation, and the focus position is locked by a focus lock operating member other than the release button. To do. In these conventional focus locks, the focus lock is released when the half-push operation of the release button is interrupted in the former case and the focus lock operation member is interrupted in the latter case.

[0003]

In such a conventional apparatus, when the second subject is quickly photographed while the focus lock is performed on the first subject, in the former case, the release is performed.
Button and then press the release button halfway again to focus on the second subject. As described above, the
The in-focus position for the first object that has been Caslocked is cleared. Therefore, it is necessary to focus again on the original first subject and perform focus lock, which is inconvenient.

An object of the present invention is to provide a camera which can immediately drive a taking lens to an arbitrary focal position.

[0005]

According to the present invention, an interchangeable taking lens 2 and a driving means 100 for driving the taking lens 2 are provided.
Position detecting means 100 for detecting the current position of the taking lens 2
And a storage means 300 for storing the arbitrarily set position of the photographing lens 2, a command means 400 for issuing a command for driving the photographing lens 2 to the storage position, and a photographing in response to a command from the command means 400. The drive control means 600 for controlling the drive means 100 to drive the lens 2 to the position stored in the storage means 300, and the position of the shooting lens 2 stored in the storage means 300 are released as the shooting lens 2 is replaced. Memory release means S
And W4.

When a desired photographing lens position is stored in the storage means 300 and a command is issued from the command means 400, the drive control means 600 controls the driving means 100 to drive the photographing lens 2 to the storage position. When the taking lens 2 is replaced, the storage means 30
Since the position described in 0 is released, the newly mounted photographing lens is not accidentally driven to the storage position corresponding to the conventional photographing lens.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The taking lens 2 held by the helicoid 1 is driven in the optical axis direction by the rotational force of the lens driving motor 4 transmitted via the gear 3. A slit disk 6 is provided on the output shaft of the lens driving motor 4 controlled by the motor driving circuit 5, and a blinking signal corresponding to the rotation of the slit disk 6 is output from the photo interrupter 7. The blinking signal is converted into a pulse signal by the waveform shaper 8, is input to the position detecting up / down counter 9, and is input according to the up / down signal input from the lens drive control circuit 10 described later to the U / D terminal. The counted pulse signal is counted up or down. An up signal is input to the U / D terminal when the taking lens 2 moves in the infinity → close direction, and a down signal is input when the taking lens 2 moves in the close → infinity direction. When the taking lens 2 comes to the ∞ position, the switch SW1 is closed and the contents of the up / down counter 9 are reset to zero. Therefore, the count value of the up / down counter 9 represents the current position of the taking lens 2 from the ∞ position.

The count value of the up / down counter 9 is output to the storage circuit 11 and the subtraction circuit 21.

The memory circuit 11 stores the count value from the up / down counter 9 when the SET terminal becomes high level, and sets the FLG terminal to high level. Also, RESET
When the terminal goes high, the stored contents are reset to 0 and the FLG terminal goes low. Where switch SW
The storage and reset of the count value is controlled by turning on and off 3, and when the switch SW3 is turned on once, the Q terminal of the flip-flop 12 becomes high level, and the one-shot multivibrator 13 outputs a high-level one-shot pulse. When the switch SW3 is turned on again, the QI terminal becomes a high level and a high level one shot pulse is input from the one shot multivibrator 14 to the RESET terminal via the ogate 15 and the memory circuit 11 is input. Set and reset. The switch SW4 is turned on when the taking lens 2 is not removed from the camera body, and a high level signal is input to the RESET terminal via the objective 15. The switch SW5 is
It is interlocked with an operation member for selecting whether the photographing lens 2 is automatically focused or manually operated. It is turned on at the time of manual operation and a high level signal is inputted to the RESET terminal through the ogate 15. Therefore, the contents stored in the memory circuit 11 are cleared by the ON operation of the switches SW4 and SW5.

The stored value of the storage circuit 11 is input to the subtraction circuit 21, the difference from the count value of the up / down counter 9 is calculated, and the difference is input to the B terminal of a data selector 20, which will be described later.

On the other hand, a light beam passing through the taking lens 2 is guided to a pentaprism (not shown) from the quick return mirror 16 which is a semi-transparent mirror partially or wholly.
It is guided to a focus detection element 18 such as a CCD via a mirror 17. The output of the focus detection element 18 is supplied to the arithmetic circuit 19,
A movement amount and a movement direction of the photographing lens 2 required for focusing are calculated by a known method. These are input to the A terminal of the data selector 20 in the subsequent stage as signals indicating the rotation amount and the rotation direction of the lens driving motor 4.

The data selector 20 allows the A terminal input to pass when the SEL terminal is at the high level and allows the B terminal input to pass when the SEL terminal is at the low level. When the switch SW2 which is turned on by half-pressing the release button is turned on, the SEL terminal is set to a high level, and when the command switch SW6 which drives the taking lens 2 to a desired storage position is turned on, the SEL terminal is set to a low level.

The data selected by the data selector 20 is input to the I terminal of the lens drive control circuit 10. Control circuit 10
Permits driving of the taking lens 2 when the S / S terminal is at high level, and prohibits it when it is at low level.

When the S / S terminal goes high, I
A motor drive signal corresponding to the motor rotation direction signal input to the terminal is output to the motor drive circuit 5. At the same time, when the rotation direction of the motor drives the taking lens 2 to infinity → close-up direction, up signal from U / D terminal, close-up → ∞
When driving in the direction, a down signal is output. When the motor 4 starts rotating in this way, the amount of rotation is input as a pulse signal from the slit disk 6 and the photo interrupter 7 through the waveform shaper 8 to the FB terminal of the lens drive control circuit 10. It The lens drive control circuit 10 determines the required number of rotation pulses of the motor input to the I terminal and the FB
The numbers of pulses input to the terminals are compared with each other, and when they match each other, a motor stop signal is output to the motor drive circuit 5. At this time, a high-level pulse indicating the completion of motor driving is output from the E terminal.

When the half-press switch SW2 is turned on, the S terminal of the flip-flop 22 becomes high level and its Q
The I terminal goes low. Therefore, the S / S terminal of the lens drive control circuit 10 becomes high level via the inverter 23, and the driving of the taking lens 2 is permitted. When the half-push switch SW2 is turned off, the S terminal goes low, but QI
Since the terminal retains the previous state, the S / S terminal of the lens driving circuit 10 remains at the high level. In this state, when the high level pulse indicating the completion of the motor driving is input from the E terminal of the lens drive control circuit 10 to the R terminal of the flip-flop 22, the QI terminal of the flip-flop 22 becomes high level, and therefore, The S / S terminal goes low and the driving of the taking lens 2 is prohibited.

LED1 is a light emitting diode for display,
The switching transistor Q1 is turned on and off depending on whether it is turned on or off, and the transistor Q1 is turned on via the aperture 24.
Since the FLG terminal of the storage circuit 11 is connected to the base of F, when the position in the storage circuit 11 is stored, F
Since the LG terminal becomes high level, it lights up. When the position is not stored in the memory circuit 11, the FLG terminal is at the low level and the light emitting diode LED1 is turned off. At this time, when both the command switch SW6 and the half press switch SW2 are turned on, the AND gate is turned on. The light emitting diode LED1 blinks in accordance with the oscillation frequency of the oscillator 26 input to 25.

The elements of the above-described embodiment of the invention correspond to the elements of the invention as follows. Drive means 100: Lens drive motor 4 and motor drive circuit 5 Position detection means 200: Slit disk 6, photo interrupter 7, waveform shaper 8, up / down counter 9, switch SW1 Storage means 300: Storage circuit 11 , Switch SW3, flip-flop 12, one-shot multivibrator 13,1
4, target 15 command means 400: switch SW6 drive control means 600: data selector 20, lens drive control circuit 10 memory release means: switch SW4

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The timing chart will be described with reference to FIG. (I) Automatic focusing operation When the main power source (not shown) is turned on and the release button is half-pressed, the switch SW2 is turned on (Fig. 2a), the SEL terminal of the data selector 20 becomes high level, and it is input to the A terminal. The data that has been recorded, that is, the lens drive data calculated by the calculation circuit 19 for focus detection is output to the lens drive control circuit 10. Further, since the S terminal of the flip-flop 22 becomes high level and its QI terminal becomes low level, the S / S terminal of the lens drive control circuit 10 becomes high level. Therefore,
A drive signal based on the lens drive data from the arithmetic circuit 19 is supplied to the motor drive circuit 5, whereby the motor 4 rotates and the photographing lens 2 is driven toward the in-focus position. Mode
A pulse corresponding to the rotation amount of the lens 4 is passed through the photo interrupter 7 and the waveform shaper 8 to the FB of the lens drive control circuit 10.
Input to the terminal. The lens drive control circuit 10 is
The number of feedback pulses is counted, and compared with the I terminal input data, the photographing lens 2 is stopped at the in-focus position. When the lens driving is completed, the E terminal becomes high level (Fig. 2a ').

When the taking lens 2 is driven as described above, an up signal or a down signal is input to the U / D terminal of the up / down counter 9 according to the driving direction. It counts up or down by the pulse supplied from. Therefore, the count value of the up / down counter 9 represents the position data of the taking lens 2 from the ∞ position.

(II) Setting of arbitrary photographing lens position Here, the switch S is used to store the position of the photographing lens.
When W3 is turned on (Fig. 2b), Q of flip-flop 12
The terminal becomes high level, and the one-shot pulse is input from the one-shot multivibrator 13 to the SET terminal of the memory circuit 11. As a result, the count value of the up / down counter 9 at that time, that is, the current position of the taking lens 2 is stored in the storage circuit 11. At this time, F of the memory circuit 11
Since the LG terminal becomes high level and the transistor Q1 is turned on through the ogate 24, the light emitting diode for display L
ED1 lights up. Even if the current position of the memory circuit 11 is stored as described above, the SEL terminal of the data selector 20 does not become low level unless the command switch SW6 is turned on. Therefore, the data selector 20 inputs its A terminal input. Data, and the lens drive data from the arithmetic circuit 19
The photographing lens 2 is driven to the in-focus position at any time by the camera.

(III) Driving to storage position When the command switch SW6 is turned on when the taking lens 2 is at a position different from the position stored in the storage circuit 11 (FIG. 2c), the data selector 20 The SEL terminal becomes low level, and the data from the subtraction circuit 21 input to the B terminal is selected. Since the subtraction circuit 21 outputs the count value of the up / down counter 9, that is, the number of pulses indicating the difference between the current position of the taking lens 2 and the storage position of the storage circuit 11 and the direction of the difference, The lens drive control circuit 10 outputs a drive signal according to the data to the motor drive circuit 5, so that the taking lens 2 stores in the storage circuit.
Driven to the position stored in 11. Command switch S
Unless W6 is turned off, the position of the taking lens 2 is fixed at the storage position regardless of the distance to the object, that is, regardless of the signal indicating the focus state from the arithmetic circuit 19. When the command switch SW6 is turned off (FIG. 2d), the SEL terminal of the data selector 20 goes high and the normal automatic focus adjustment mode is set.

(IV) When the erasing switch SW3 of the memory position is turned on again (FIG. 2e), the QI terminal of the flip-flop 12 becomes high level, and the one-shot pulse from the one-shot multivibrator 14 passes through the ogate 15. Is input to the RESET terminal of the memory circuit 11. As a result, the stored contents of the storage circuit 11 are erased to 0, the FLG terminal becomes low level, and the display light emitting diode is turned on.
LED 1 turns off.

When the command switch SW6 is turned on in this state (FIG. 2f), the pulse signal of the oscillator 26 is supplied to the base of the transistor Q1 via the AND gate 25, so that the light emitting diode LED1 is turned on. It flashes to warn that it is not stored. In this case, the data selector 20
Selects the B terminal input data and supplies it to the lens drive control circuit 10, but since the content of the memory circuit 11 is reset to 0, the data output from the subtraction circuit 21 is Since the data is driven from ∞ to the position of 0 pulse, that is, the ∞ position, the taking lens 2 is driven to the ∞ position (FIG. 2f '). When the command switch SW6 is turned off, one input of the AND gate 25 is turned on via the inverter 27.
The display level LED 1 goes out (FIG. 2g).

(V) Completion of photographing, etc. After the switch SW3 is turned on again to store a predetermined position in the memory circuit 11 as shown in FIG. 2h, the release button is released in FIG. 2i and the half-press switch SW2 is turned off. Then, the SEL terminal of the data selector 20 becomes low level, and the B terminal input, that is, the data from the subtraction circuit 21 is input to the lens drive control circuit 10. If the taking lens 2 is not driven during h → i, the data of the subtraction circuit 21 is zero and the taking lens 2 is not driven, but there is a change between the current position of the taking lens 2 and the storage position. For example, since the data is input from the subtraction circuit 21 to the B terminal, the taking lens 2 is driven to the storage position. The S terminal of the flip-flop 22 becomes low level when the switch SW2 is turned off.
The lens drive control circuit 10
The S / S terminal of maintains the high level, and thus the driving of the taking lens 2 is permitted as described above.

When the taking lens 2 is driven to the storage position as described above, a lens drive completion signal is output from the E terminal (FIG. 2i '), and when this is input to the R terminal of the flip-flop 22, the QI terminal becomes. Since it is inverted and becomes high level, the S / S terminal of the lens drive control circuit 10 becomes low level, and the subsequent lens drive is prohibited.

Storage circuit when half-push switch SW2 is off
If the data is not stored in 11, the output of the subtraction circuit 21 becomes the data from the current position of the taking lens 2 to the infinity position, and when the half-press switch SW2 is off, the taking lens 2
Is driven to the ∞ position and stops. The switch SW2
May be interlocked with an external operation button provided separately from the release button.

Since the switch SW4 is turned on when the taking lens 2 is not removed from the camera, and the switch SW5 is turned on during the manual focusing photography, the RE of the memory circuit 11 is changed.
A high level signal is input to the SET terminal to erase the stored contents. Even if the main power switch is turned off, the memory circuit
Since the backup power source supplies power to the flip-flop 11, flip-flop 12 and ogate 15, the stored contents are retained. Further, since the switches SW4 and SW5 are also connected to the backup power source, even when the main power source is off, the switches SW4 and SW5 are
When is turned on, the stored contents are reset.

-Modification- As shown in FIG. 3, the output data of the up / down counter 9 is changed.
The data is input to the memory circuit 11 via the data selector 31, the position information of the photographing lens is input to the data selector 31 from the external input device 32, and two input data are appropriately switched and output. For example, you can easily input an arbitrary position from the outside without having to adjust the taking lens to the subject you want to remember each time.

Although the amount of movement of the taking lens 2 from the ∞ position was detected by the photo interrupter 7 and the slit disk 6, the helicoid 1 holding the taking lens 2 was provided with a digital code as a pattern. Alternatively, the movement amount of the photographing lens 2 may be output by a digital code.
Further, a plurality of storage circuits 11 may be provided to store a plurality of positions of the taking lens. Regarding which storage position is to be read, it is necessary to provide a changeover switch for that and read from the one with the highest priority.

[0030]

According to the present invention, an arbitrary position of the photographing lens is stored, and the photographing lens can be immediately driven to that position by a command. Therefore, a certain object is focused and the position is stored. If you leave it, you can immediately focus on the original subject by command after shooting another subject,
Focusing time can be shortened and usability is improved when the distance between both subjects is large. Further, when the focal length of the taking lens is different, the distance to the subject changes even if the stored contents are the same. However, in the present invention, the storage canceling unit for canceling the stored contents of the storage unit in accordance with the lens replacement. Since the above is provided, it is possible to prevent the lens from being driven to an unintended position when a different taking lens is attached.

Further, as in the case of the embodiment of the invention, by always returning to the storage position after the end of the release, the usability becomes extremely good when the subject moves back and forth a specific distance. Furthermore, by resetting the memory location,
If the photographic lens is set to the ∞ position after the end of the scan, the projection length of the photographic lens will be short, which is convenient for storage. Further, since the stored contents are reset when the photographing lens is replaced, when the position from the ∞ position changes among the lenses at the same photographing distance, the memory data is deleted each time.
Shooting mistakes can be prevented by resetting the settings.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart of signals of respective parts.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a main part showing a modified example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Shooting lens 100 Drive means 200 Position detection means 300 Storage means 400 Command means 500 Difference calculation means 600 Drive control means

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] September 7, 1995

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be amended] Title of invention

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

Title: Camera system, camera, photographing lens

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be amended] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Claims]

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0005

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0005]

A camera system and a camera according to claims 1 and 2 have a switching means SW2 for switching between an operating state and a non-operating state, and store an arbitrarily set position of an optical system. Storage means 300, driving means 100 for driving the optical system, command means 400 for issuing a command for driving the optical system to the position stored in the storage means 300, and storage means for storing the optical system by a command from the command means 400. Driving to the position stored in 300, switching means SW2
In response to being switched to the non-operating state, drive control means 600 for controlling the drive means 100 to drive the optical system to the position stored in the storage means 300 is provided. Further, the taking lens according to claim 3 is attached to a camera having a switching means SW2 for switching between an operating state and a non-operating state.
The storage means 300, the drive means 100, and the drive control means 600 similar to the above are provided.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0006

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

When the position of the optical system constituting the taking lens is stored in the storage means 300 and a command is issued from the command means 400, the drive control means 600 controls the drive means 100 to drive the optical system to the storage position. When the switching means SW2 is switched to the non-operating state, even if there is no command from the commanding means 400, the drive control means 600 controls the driving means 100 in response to the switching to drive the optical system to the storage position.

[Procedure Amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0017

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

The means of FIG. 1 is constructed as follows. Drive means 100: Lens drive motor 4 and motor drive circuit 5 Position detection means 200: Slit disk 6, photo interrupter 7, waveform shaper 8, up / down counter 9, switch SW1 Storage means 300: Storage circuit 11 , Switch SW3, flip-flop 12, one-shot multivibrator 13,1
4, target 15 command means 400: switch SW6 drive control means 600: data selector 20, lens drive control circuit 10 It corresponds to the switching means of the switch SW2.

[Procedure correction 6]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0030

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[0030]

According to the present invention, an arbitrary position of the optical system constituting the taking lens is stored, and the optical system can be immediately driven to that position by a command. , By focusing on a certain subject and storing that position, it is possible to focus on the original subject immediately by a command after shooting another subject, and when the distance between the two subjects is large. Focusing time can be shortened and usability is improved. Further, since the optical system is driven to the stored position in response to the switching means switching from the operating state to the non-operating state, for example, if the switching means is a release switch, it is always stored after the release is completed. Since it returns to the position, when it is applied to, for example, an automatic focusing device, it is extremely convenient when a subject moves back and forth a specific distance.

[Procedure Amendment 7]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0031

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

Further, as in the embodiment of the invention, if the photographing lens is set to the ∞ position after the release is completed by resetting the storage position, the projecting length of the photographing lens becomes short and it can be stored. It is convenient. Furthermore, since the memory contents are reset when the photographic lens is replaced, if the position from the ∞ position changes among the lenses at the same photographic distance, the erroneous shooting will be performed by resetting the memory data each time. Is prevented.

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Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A camera having an interchangeable taking lens and a driving means for driving the taking lens, wherein a position detecting means for detecting a current position of the lens, and an arbitrarily set position of the lens are stored. Storage means, command means for issuing a command to drive the taking lens to the storage position, and driving the taking lens to the position stored in the storage means in response to the command from the command means. A camera comprising: a drive control device that controls the drive unit; and a memory canceling unit that cancels the position of the photographing lens stored in the storage unit when the photographing lens is replaced. 2. The drive control means controls the drive means so as to drive the photographing lens to a storage position when the release button is released from the pressing operation. The camera described in.