JPH10268399A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a camera compact by shortening the length of a camera body in a lateral direction. SOLUTION: Plural circuit boards are housed sideways in the flat box-shaped camera body 10. A photographing lens part 20 is pulled to the right end of the camera body 10 so as to avoid the circuit boards. A circular arc part 14a is formed in accordance with the shape of the lens part 20 on the right side surface 14 of the camera body 10. An optical finder part 21 is arranged adjacently to a plane part 14b existing on the circular-arc part 14a. A grip part 15a housing a battery is formed on the left front surface of the camera body 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera, and more particularly, to an electronic camera having a photographing lens section and an optical finder section disposed at the right end of a camera body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of personal computers, electronic cameras have become increasingly popular. In this electronic camera, an image sensor such as a color CCD is disposed on an image forming surface of a photographing lens, converts an image of a subject into an image signal, and writes the image signal in a storage medium such as an IC memory. Recently, in addition to still images, moving images and audio signals can be written to a storage medium.

[0003] A video image captured by an electronic camera can be taken into a personal computer in addition to being viewed on a home TV. A video image edited and processed by a personal computer can be converted into a hard copy by a video printer.

A camera body of a recent electronic camera has a box shape with a small thickness (depth) like a compact camera. A plurality of circuit boards are accommodated in the camera body in a state substantially parallel to the front surface of the camera body.
The photographic lens unit is disposed at the upper right end of the camera body when viewed from the front, in order to prevent the photographic lens unit from hitting the circuit board and to prevent the photographer's finger from being applied.

[0005]

In a conventional electronic camera, a right side surface of a camera body is flat, and a photographing lens portion is arranged close to the right side surface. For this reason, when the camera body was viewed from the front, it became horizontally long, giving the impression that the camera body was large.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic camera capable of reducing the size of a camera body.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided an electronic camera having a substantially box-shaped camera body having a thickness smaller than a vertical and horizontal length, and a first flat portion provided above a right side surface of the camera body. And a circuit board housed in the camera body in a state substantially parallel to the front surface of the camera body, and an arc portion in which a part of the right side surface protrudes in an arc shape so that the second plane portion remains below. A photographing lens portion disposed on the right side of a camera body so as to be located beside the circuit board and partially enter the arc portion; and the first flat portion so as to be located above the photographing lens portion. And an optical finder disposed adjacent to the optical finder.

In the electronic camera according to the present invention, an external connection terminal is arranged on the second plane portion. In the electronic camera according to the third aspect, a knob for adjusting a photographing lens such as a macro zoom, an aperture, and a focus is disposed on an outer surface of the arc portion. In the electronic camera according to the fourth aspect, the left side of the front surface of the camera body protrudes forward to form a grip portion, in which a battery is stored. In the electronic camera according to the fifth aspect, the recording medium can be moved in and out of the camera body from the left side surface of the camera body.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG.
Is almost box-shaped, thin and long. Assuming that the horizontal length of the camera body 10 is W, the vertical length is H, and the thickness (depth) is D, D <H ≦ W. Note that D <W ≦
H may be used.

As is clear from FIG. 2, the camera body 1
0 indicates that the upper surface 11, the lower surface 12, and the left side surface 13 are substantially flat, but the right side surface 14 is protruded in the middle to form an arc portion 14a.
It is. Since a part of the photographing lens unit 20 is housed in the arc portion 14a, the lateral length of the camera body 10 can be apparently shortened. Upper and lower portions of the circular arc portion 20 are flat portions 14b and 14c.

A left side of the front surface 15 is formed as a grip portion 15a protruding forward. This grip part 15a
When the camera body 10 is in the horizontal posture shown in FIG. 1, it is easy to hold the camera body with the right hand of the photographer, and the volume inside the camera body 10 is widened to secure a battery storage space.

Above the photographing lens section 20, a flat section 14b
The optical finder section 21 is arranged adjacent to.
The optical finder section 21 is for observing a subject, and includes an objective lens and an eyepiece as is well known.

On the upper surface 11 of the camera body 10, an up-and-down flash light emitting section 23 and a release button 24 are arranged. The photographing lens unit 20 is provided in the arc portion 14a.
A focus adjustment knob 25 for adjusting the focus of the lens and an aperture adjustment knob 26 for adjusting the aperture. When the macro zoom is used as the photographing lens unit, a knob operated for switching to macro photographing and zooming is provided. Also, the knob
In addition to mechanically moving the taking lens unit 20,
N · OFF may be performed, and the photographing lens unit 20 may be electrically operated.

A digital video terminal (RS-232C terminal) for connecting to a personal computer is provided on the flat portion 14c.
27, an analog video terminal 28 for connecting to a TV receiver and a power terminal 29 for connecting to an external DC power supply.

In FIG. 3, the photographing lens section 20 is composed of a lens optical system 20a and a lens barrel 20b. By operating the focus adjustment knob 25, the lens optical system 2
0a moves in the direction of the optical axis, and three-point zone focusing can be performed. A well-known aperture mechanism is disposed in or behind the lens optical system 20a, and the aperture opening can be adjusted in two stages by operating the aperture adjustment knob 26. The arc portion 14a is preferably arranged on a circumference centered on the optical axis of the lens optical system 20a. This makes it easy to move the lever that projects from the lens barrel 20b and rotates together with the knob.

A plurality of positioning ribs 30 project toward the optical axis of the lens optical system 20a inside the arc portion 14a. By mounting the photographing lens unit 20 such that the lens barrel 20b contacts these ribs 30, the photographing lens unit 20 can be easily set at a predetermined position.

The photographing lens section 20 may have a zoom function, an autofocus function, and a macro photographing function. In this case, the zoom mechanism, the auto-focus mechanism, and the macro mechanism can be arranged at the positions indicated by the solid lines 31. Because this position is close to the circuit board,
The connection is simplified.

Behind the taking lens unit 20, there is a color CC.
An image sensor 32 such as D is disposed, and the lens optical system 2
The image of the object formed by Oa is photoelectrically converted.
The image sensor 32 is attached to an image pickup board 33. On the imaging substrate 33, a driver circuit and the like of the imaging element are mounted.

The image pickup board 33 is connected to a sub-board 34, on which image processing such as digital conversion and gamma conversion is performed. The sub board 34 is the main board 3
5 where it is converted to analog and digital video signals. The memory card 36 is connected to a connection terminal of the main board 35, and a digital video signal of a captured image is written. By opening the side cover 37, the memory card 36 can be inserted and removed from the left side surface 13 of the camera body 10. Note that, instead of the memory card 36, a storage medium such as a magnetic floppy disk can be used.

A flash board 37 is arranged on the front side of the camera body 10, and an LCD board 38 is arranged on the rear side. The flash substrate 37 includes a flash light emitting unit 2
2 are connected. An LCD attached to the rear surface of the camera body 10 is connected to the LCD board 38. The LCD is used for shooting information such as the number of shot frames, operation procedures, and the like.
Displays warnings, etc.

The sub-board 34, the main board 35 and the like are arranged in the camera body 10 in a horizontal state so as to be orthogonal to the optical axis of the taking lens unit 20. Also, the photographic lens unit 20 and the optical finder unit 21 are attached to the camera
To the right of

The left side of the front surface 15 is projected forward to form a grip portion 15a, so that the photographer's right hand can be easily applied, and the internal volume is widened. This grip part 15a
The two batteries 40 are housed in a state in which a part of the batteries 40 is contained. The battery 40 can be taken out by opening and closing a battery cover (not shown) attached to the lower surface of the camera body 10.

In the shooting preparation operation, first, the side cover 37 is opened,
Insert the memory card 36 from the left side 13a into the camera body 10
Insert inside. This memory card 36 is attached to the main board 3
5 terminal. Turn the power switch (not shown)
N, if the subject is dark, the flash
2 pops up automatically.

The photographer grasps the left side of the camera body 10 with the right hand so that the finger of the right hand hits the grip portion 15a.
Then, the user grips the right side of the camera body 10 with the left hand so that the palm of the left hand hits the plane portion 14c. At this time, the arc 1
From the position 4a, the electronic camera can be properly held so that the finger of the left hand does not catch on the taking lens unit 20.

The focus adjustment knob 25 and the aperture adjustment knob 26 are operated according to the brightness and the distance of the subject. next,
After observing the subject through the optical viewfinder 21,
The release button 23 is pressed. This release button 2
When 3 is pressed, a subject is imaged by the image sensor 32.
The color signal and the synchronization signal from the image sensor 32 are sent to the sub-circuit board 34, where digital conversion, gamma conversion and the like are performed. Next, the digital video signal is converted into a digital video signal by the main board 35 and then written into the memory card 36.

After photographing, the digital video terminal 28 and the personal computer are connected to the RS-23 via a cable (not shown).
By connecting via 2C cable, memory card 3
6 can be taken into a personal computer.
In addition, by connecting the analog video terminal 27 to a home TV set, the captured image can be viewed on the home TV set. Also, the memory card 36 is inserted into the camera body 10.
Digital video images can also be imported to a personal computer by extracting it from a computer and loading it into a card adapter connected to the personal computer.

[0027]

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, a circuit board is housed laterally in a thin, substantially box-shaped camera body, and a photographic lens unit and an optical finder unit are mounted so as to avoid the circuit board. Move it to the right end of the body and project a part of the right side of the camera body to
Since the photographing lens section is arranged so as to have an arc portion and a flat portion and a part thereof enters the arc portion, the lateral length of the camera body can be reduced, and the whole can be made compact.

Also, since the optical finder is provided adjacent to the upper flat surface on the right side and above the photographing lens, the right eye, which is the dominant eye, can be easily applied to the optical finder.

Further, since the external connection terminal is provided on the lower flat portion on the right side, the cable connected to the external connection terminal does not hinder the operation of the camera. Furthermore, on the outer surface of the arc,
By arranging the aperture adjustment knob and the focus adjustment knob, this part can be effectively used. The left side of the front surface of the camera body protrudes forward to form the grip portion, so that the camera can be easily held, and the internal volume is widened, so that the battery storage space can be easily secured. When the battery is stored in the grip portion, the weight balance with the right side in which the photographing lens portion is stored is improved.

By providing a knob for adjusting the photographing lens portion in the arc portion, the lever and the like can be moved along a circle centered on the optical axis of the photographing lens portion, so that lens adjustment can be easily performed.

Since the recording medium is taken in and out from the left side opposite to the photographing lens section, there is no possibility that dust or dust enters the photographing lens section even if it enters through the entrance.

Since a part of the right side protrudes in the shape of an arc, the strength of the right side is improved, and the photographic lens can be firmly fixed. Can be effectively protected.

Further, the distance between the photographing lens unit and the flash light emitting unit can be maximized while reducing the lateral length of the camera body, which is effective in preventing red-eye during flash photographing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electronic camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the electronic camera.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the electronic camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Camera body 13 Left side 14 Right side 14a Arc part 14b, 14c Flat part 15 Front 15a Grip part 20 Shooting lens part 21 Optical finder part 27 Analog video terminal 28 Digital video terminal 25 Focus adjustment knob 26 Aperture adjustment knob 32 Image sensor 33 , 34,35,38,39 Circuit board 36 Memory card 40 Battery

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A substantially box-shaped camera body having a thickness smaller than the vertical and horizontal lengths, a first flat portion remaining above a right side surface of the camera body, and a second flat portion remaining below the right side surface of the camera body. An arc portion having a part of the right side protruding in an arc shape; a circuit board housed in the camera body in a state substantially parallel to the front surface of the camera body; and a circuit board located beside the circuit board and inside the arc portion. A photographing lens unit disposed on the right side of the camera body so that a part of the photographing lens unit enters, and an optical viewfinder unit disposed adjacent to the first plane unit so as to be located above the photographing lens unit. An electronic camera characterized in that: 2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein an external connection terminal is arranged on the second plane portion. 3. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein a knob for adjusting a photographing lens such as a macro zoom, an aperture, and a focus is disposed on an outer surface of the arc portion. 4. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein a left side of the front surface of the camera body is protruded to form a grip portion, and a battery is housed therein. 5. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein a recording medium is taken in and out of the camera body from a left side surface of the camera body.