JPH11119316A - Digital still camera capable of macrophotographing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital still camera capable of preventing a failure in taking a photograph, in normal photographing, in particular. SOLUTION: The digital still camera capable of switching a photographic lens 2 to the normal photographing and macrophotographing by the operation of a photographing switching plate 4 is provided with a macrophotographing button 6 for making a photographing operation by a release button 8 possible only when the lens 2 is switched to the macrophotographing and then, a manual operation is executed. At this time, in the switched state to the macrophotographing, the execution of the photographing operation only by the operation of the release button 8 is inhibited to prevent the occurrence of the failure in taking a photograph caused by the execution of the normal photographing in this state. Further, at the time of executing the macrophotographing, a photographer operates the release button 8, while operating the macrophotographing button 6, so that he or she can take a photograph, while surely recognizing that the macrophotographing is executed. Thus, the failure in the macrophotographing can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital still camera capable of switching between normal shooting and macro shooting, and more particularly to a digital still camera capable of preventing a shooting failure in each shooting state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various so-called digital still cameras have been proposed in which a subject image formed by a photographing optical system is picked up by a CCD element and the picked-up image data is recorded. In this type of camera, since the area of the CCD element is extremely small, the focal length of the photographing lens is correspondingly shortened, so that the depth of focus is deepened, and photographing in a state close to a so-called fixed focal point becomes possible. Therefore, when performing macro shooting with such a digital still camera, it is possible to obtain a clear shot image simply by extending the shooting lens by a certain length, thereby enabling conventional macro shooting. In a digital still camera, a mechanism for extending a photographing lens is provided, and during macro photographing, the mechanism is manually operated to extend the photographing lens by a certain length. However, in a state in which the photographing lens is extended at the time of the macro photographing, it is difficult to follow even with the above-mentioned depth of focus, and therefore, there is a possibility that a normally photographed image may be blurred. In this case, with a digital still camera having a monitor such as an LCD, it is possible to confirm the focus state during normal shooting from the monitor image, but since the amount of blur is small, it can be confirmed only with the monitor. In other words, it is a cause of a failure in photographing, such as the fact that blurring occurs only after the photographed image is enlarged after photographing.

For this reason, conventionally, when the photographing lens is moved to the macro photographing position, the fact that macro photographing is being performed is displayed on a monitor or the like in conjunction with the above-mentioned extension mechanism, and the photographer keeps the photographing lens extended. When performing normal shooting,
There has also been proposed one that recognizes a macro shooting state by checking a macro display on a monitor.

[0004]

However, even with such a configuration for displaying a macro, it is possible to take a picture without taking notice of the macro display, since the photographing itself is possible. Therefore, the above-mentioned problem is not fundamentally solved. Note that shooting may fail due to macro shooting with the shooting lens in the normal shooting position, but in general, when performing special shooting such as macro shooting,
Since the photographer performs photographing while checking the extension position of the photographing lens, there is relatively little risk of photographing failure in such a situation.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital still camera which prevents photographing failure particularly in normal photographing.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a digital still camera capable of switching between normal shooting and macro shooting, when a macro shooting state is switched.
It is characterized in that it comprises a macro photographing permitting means that enables a release operation only when manually operated. It is preferable that the macro photographing permitting means is configured as a macro photographing switch which is operated by a switch when manually operated to enable a release operation. Further, as a preferred form of the digital still camera of the present invention, a photographing lens capable of switching between a normal photographing state and a macro photographing state, photographing switching means for setting the photographing lens to switch between the normal photographing state and the macro photographing state, A photographing switch that is operated according to a photographing switching state of the photographing lens, a macro photographing switch that is operated when manually operated, a release switch that is operated by a release operation, the photographing changeover switch, A release signal generation circuit configured to include a macro photography switch and a release switch, and to output a release signal for executing a photography operation in the camera. When the camera is switched to the When the macro switch is switched to the macro shooting state, a release signal is output when the switch is operated, and a release signal is output when the macro shooting switch and the release switch are both switched. Is done.

[0007] Further, the digital still camera of the present invention comprises:
In a digital still camera capable of shooting by switching between normal shooting and macro shooting, the digital still camera includes a shooting switching unit that switches to a macro shooting state only when a manual operation is performed and returns to a normal shooting state when the manual operation is released. It is characterized by. In this camera, a photographing lens that can be set to be switched between a normal photographing state and a macro photographing state, a unit that holds the photographing switching unit in a normal photographing state, and a photographing switching unit that is manually operated when the photographing switching unit is in a macro photographing state Means for switching and moving. For example, the photographing switching means is constituted by a switching plate which is reciprocated by a manual operation, and the means for holding the normal photographing state is constituted by an elastic member for giving the returning behavior to the moving position of the switching plate in the normal photographing state. The macro image capturing state switching moving means includes:
It is constituted by a mechanism including a macro shooting button for moving the switching plate to a moving position in the macro shooting state against the returning behavior force when manually operated.

[0008]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a thin digital still camera. The photographing lens 2 is disposed substantially at the center of the camera body 1, and a CCD 3 as an image pickup device is disposed on the optical axis at the rear of the photographing lens 2. The subject image formed by the photographing lens 2 is converted into an electric signal. Output as an imaging signal. The taking lens 2 has an optical lens 22 incorporated in an inner cylinder 21 of a lens barrel, and the inner cylinder 21 is helicoidally coupled to an outer cylinder 23 coaxially arranged on the outer periphery thereof. Therefore, a switching lever 25 provided in a part of the inner cylinder 21 and protruding in a radial direction through a groove 24 provided in a part of the circumference of the outer cylinder 23 is rotated around the cylinder axis. The inner cylinder 21 is moved in the optical axis direction while being relatively rotated with respect to the outer cylinder 23. Therefore, when the inner cylinder 21, that is, the optical lens 22 is in the retracted position in the state of FIG. 1 and is in the state of performing normal shooting, the switching lever 25 is rotated in the direction of arrow S <b> 2 in FIG. The inner cylinder 21 is extended and set to a state in which macro shooting is performed.

In order to switch between the normal photographing and the macro photographing, the tangential direction of the turning operation of the switching lever 25, ie, the horizontal direction of the camera body 1, is provided in the camera body above the photographing lens 2. The photographing switching plate 4 is extended and supported. The photographing switching plate 4 is supported by the camera body 1 by supporting pins 42 inserted into long holes 41 provided at both ends thereof, and is capable of reciprocating in the longitudinal direction along the long holes 41. . A fork-shaped engaging piece 43 that is engaged with a switching pin 26 protruding from a switching lever 25 of the photographing lens 2 is projected from a part of a lower side of the photographing switching plate 4, and the photographing switching is performed. An operation piece 44 protrudes from a part of the upper side of the plate 4, and is engaged with a photographing switching knob 11 provided on the upper surface of the camera body 1 with which the operation piece 44 is engaged. Therefore, by operating the imaging switching knob 11 to move the imaging switching plate 4 in the longitudinal direction, the engagement piece 43 rotates the switching lever 25 via the switching pin 26 in accordance with the moved position. As described above, the normal shooting and the macro shooting of the shooting lens 2 can be switched and set. In this embodiment, notches 45 are formed at two other portions in the longitudinal direction in the other part of the lower piece of the photographing switching plate 4, and a spring piece 46 that can be fitted into the notch 45 is elastically contacted. Have been. For this reason, the spring piece 4 is provided at each of the moving positions of the photographing switching plate 4 for the normal photographing and the macro photographing.
By fitting the cutouts 6 into the notches 45 that are respectively moved, the photographing switching plate 4 can be stably held at each switching position by a so-called click mechanism.

On the other hand, a photographing changeover switch 5 is provided at one end of the photographing changeover plate 4, here, at the end on the side where the photographing changeover plate 4 is switched to macro photographing. Each of the photographing changeover switches 5 includes a movable contact 51 made of a conductive piece having a spring property and first and second fixed contacts 52 and 53, and the photographing changeover plate 4 is set to a position for normal photographing. In some cases, the movable contact 51 is in a state of being electrically connected to the first fixed contact 52, and when the movable contact 51 is moved to the switching position for macro photography, the movable contact 51 becomes the second fixed contact 5.
The switching operation is performed so as to be conducted to No. 3. The details of this operation are described in FIG. 3, but this point will be described later.

A macro photographing button 6 is disposed on a part of the upper rear surface of the camera body 1 as macro photographing permitting means, and a macro photographing button 6 is provided in the camera body at a position opposed to the macro photographing button 6. Is provided with a macro shooting switch 7 that is turned on when the macro shooting button is pressed. This macro shooting switch 7
A general switch including a pair of movable contacts 71 and a fixed contact 72 is used. Further, the camera body 1
A release button 8 for photographing is provided on the upper surface of the camera body 1. A movable contact 91 which is turned on by a pressing operation of the release button is fixed inside the camera body 1 immediately below the release button 8. A release switch 9 including a contact 92 is disposed. A display unit 10 such as an LCD for displaying a captured image is provided on the rear surface of the camera body 1 at a position indicated by a broken line in FIG.

FIG. 2A is a block circuit diagram schematically showing the circuit configuration of the camera, including the connection state of each switch. Image signals generated by the imaging lens 2 and the CCD 3 are signal-processed to generate image signals.
And a signal processing unit 14 for outputting the same from the output terminal 13 and displaying the monitor image on the display unit 10 at the same time. The signal processing unit 14 is provided with a release signal generation circuit 15 that generates a release signal when the release switch 9 is turned on. Based on the release signal output from the release signal generation circuit 15, It is configured to execute a shooting operation such as recording and display of the captured image signal.

FIG. 2B shows the photographing changeover switch 5,
A release signal generating circuit 1 for generating a release signal for executing the above-described photographing operation based on the switch operation of the macro photographing switch 7 and the release switch 9
FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a fifth example. That is, the photographing changeover switch 5 is connected to the first fixed contact 52 and the second fixed contact 5.
Based on the switching state of the movable contact 51 with respect to 3, a state is selected by switching between a state directly connected to the release switch 9 and a state indirectly connected to the release switch via the macro shooting switch 7. The circuit is configured as described above. When the release switch 9 is selected during normal shooting, a release signal is output via the shooting changeover switch 5 when the release switch 9 is turned on. At the time of macro photography, a macro photography switch 7 is provided.
When the release switch 9 is turned ON only when the macro shooting switch 7 is ON, a release signal is output via the macro shooting switch 7 and the shooting changeover switch 5.

According to the above configuration, in normal photographing, FIG.
As shown in (a), the shooting switching knob 11 is set to the normal shooting side (∞).
The photographing switching plate 4 is moved in the direction P1 in the figure, and the photographing lens 2 is in the retracted position with the rotation of the switching lever 25 in the S1 direction. It is in a state of being imaged. Further, at this time, since the photographing switching plate 4 is separated from the movable contact 51 of the photographing switch 5, the movable contact 51 is in a state of being connected to the first fixed contact 52. Therefore, when the release button 8 is depressed and the release switch 9 is turned on, the release signal is immediately generated from the release signal generation circuit 15 and input to the signal processing unit 14 as described above. Then, an image is captured by the CCD 3 and an image capturing operation by the signal processing unit 14 is performed.

On the other hand, in macro photography, as shown in FIG. 3B, the photography switching knob 11 is operated to the macro photography side (M) to move the photography switching plate 4 in the direction P2 in the drawing. Is in the extended state in accordance with the rotation of the switching lever in the S2 direction, and forms an object image on the CCD 3 while focusing on the close object. At this time, since the movable contact 51 is connected to the second fixed contact 53 by the photographing changeover plate 4, the release signal is output even if the release button 8 is pressed and the release switch 9 is turned on. There is no. In this case, the macro shooting button 6
Is pressed, the macro shooting switch 7 is turned on. When the macro shooting switch 7 is turned on, the release signal is input to the signal processing unit 14 only when the release switch 9 is turned on. The imaging operation can be executed at the same time. That is, when the camera is switched to the macro shooting mode, shooting is not performed even if the release button 8 is pressed unless the macro shooting button 6 is pressed.

Therefore, when the camera is switched to the macro shooting mode, if the photographer presses the release button 8 to perform normal shooting without noticing this, the shooting operation is not performed. The photographing in which the defocus occurs is prevented beforehand. On the other hand, at the time of macro shooting, since shooting is not performed unless the release button 8 is pressed while pressing the macro shooting button 6, macro shooting can be performed while reliably recognizing that macro shooting has been performed. There's no mistake in macro photography.

In this embodiment, although not shown, a signal from the photographing changeover switch 5 and a signal from the release switch 9 are input into the signal processing section 14 shown in FIG. A warning mark generation circuit is provided for generating a predetermined warning mark signal in accordance with the input state of these signals and displaying a predetermined warning mark on the display unit 10 based on this signal. When the photographing changeover switch 5 is switched to the macro photographing side, the warning mark generating circuit is provided with a small warning mark on a part of the display unit 10 as shown in FIG. Is displayed. Therefore, by recognizing the tulip mark 100, the photographer can recognize that the camera is currently switched to the macro shooting state.

If the user presses the release button 8 without depressing the macro photographing button 6 by erroneously recognizing the normal photographing without noticing that the tulip mark is displayed, A warning enlargement signal is output from the warning mark generation circuit instead of the release signal, and the enlarged tulip mark 200 is displayed on the display unit 10 as shown in FIG. As a result, the photographer can reliably recognize that the normal shooting has been performed in the macro shooting state, and can perform an appropriate operation. It should be noted that the photographing operation is not performed in any of these cases, but the user can hardly misunderstand that at least the camera has failed by seeing the change of the tulip marks 100 and 200 on the display unit 10. There is no possibility that shooting is completely stopped.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a main part of a second embodiment of the present invention, in which parts equivalent to those in FIG. 1 of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. . In this embodiment, switching between macro shooting and normal shooting of the shooting lens 2 is realized only by pressing the macro shooting button 6A, and macro shooting is realized by pressing the release button 8 while pressing the macro shooting button 6A. It is configured to be. That is, a photographing switching plate 4 for switching the photographing lens 2 between a macro photographing state and a normal photographing state is provided by a tension coil spring 4 mounted between the photographing lens 2 and the camera body 1.
7, the photographing lens 2 is normally set to a normal photographing state. Further, a switching operation piece 48 is formed in a part of the photographing switching plate 4 toward the rear side of the camera body 1, and a tip end of the switching operation piece 48 is engaged with the switching lever 61. . The switching lever 61 is formed of an L-shaped plate, and a pin 62 is provided at a central portion thereof by the camera body 1.
And is rotatable in the horizontal direction in the figure. The switching operation piece 48 comes into contact with the engagement pin 63 implanted at one end of the switching lever 61 from the counterclockwise direction. The other end of the switching lever 61 is in contact with the tip of the macro shooting button 6A from the clockwise direction. The photographing switching plate 4 is provided with the tension coil spring 47.
In order to enable the return to the normal position by the
The click mechanism provided in the embodiment, that is, the notch 45 and the spring piece 46 are not provided.

In the second embodiment, when the macro photographing button 6A is not pressed, the photographing switching plate 4
Is moved rightward in the figure by the urging force of the tension coil spring 47, whereby the photographing lens 2 is set to the retracted position and the normal photographing state is set. Therefore, when the release button 8 is pressed, normal shooting is performed. On the other hand, when the macro photographing button 6A is pressed, the other end of the switching lever 61 is pressed clockwise, so that the switching lever 61 is rotated clockwise in the drawing, and the engagement lever 63 is engaged with the engagement pin 63 at one end. The switching operation piece 48 is moved leftward in the figure. Thereby, the photographing switching plate 4 integrated with the switching operation piece 48
Is moved to the left in the figure against the urging force of the tension coil spring 47 to bring the photographic lens 2 into the extended state and the macro photography state. Therefore, by pressing the release button 8 while pressing the macro shooting button 6A, macro shooting is executed.

In the second embodiment, since the photographing lens 2 is set to the macro photographing state only when the macro photographing button 6A is pressed, the photographer performs photographing while erroneously recognizing macro photographing as normal photographing. Never. When the macro shooting button 6A is not pressed, the normal shooting state is restored, so that shooting can be performed as a normal camera. This makes it possible to appropriately perform both macro shooting and normal shooting. Also in the second embodiment, the operation of pressing the release button 8 while pressing the macro shooting button 6A during shooting to perform shooting is the same as in the first embodiment, and the operability of shooting is the first. There is no lowering as compared with the embodiment. Although not shown, also in the second embodiment, a macro shooting state can be displayed on the display unit 10 by providing a shooting switch for detecting the moving position of the shooting switching plate 4. It is possible, and when the photographer presses the macro photography button without knowing, it is displayed that this macro photography button switches between macro photography and normal photography, and erroneous photography by photographer's erroneous operation is avoided It is also possible.

In each of the above embodiments, the photographing switching plate is used to switch the photographing lens between the normal photographing position and the macro photographing position, but the photographing lens switching lever or the switching pin is directly rotated. It may be configured to be operated.
In addition, in the case of such a configuration, the imaging changeover switch in the first embodiment may be configured to perform a switch operation in accordance with the rotation position of the switching lever or the switching pin. Further, as long as the macro shooting switch is an automatic reset type switch that can be switched to one state only at the time of manual operation, the configuration and the arrangement position in the camera are not limited to those of the above embodiment. Further, the warning mark displayed on the display unit is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the digital still camera is switched to macro photography, the macro photography permission means for enabling the release operation only when manually operated is provided. In this state, the photographing operation is not performed simply by operating the release button, and the photographing does not fail due to performing the normal photographing in this state. Further, at the time of macro shooting, by performing a release operation while operating the macro shooting permitting means, shooting can be executed while reliably recognizing that macro shooting has been performed, and macro shooting does not fail.

Similarly, the present invention includes means for switching to the macro shooting state only when a manual operation is performed, and for returning to the normal shooting state when the manual operation is released. Macro shooting is possible only by performing operations, and only normal shooting is possible when no manual operation is performed, so that shooting can be performed while reliably recognizing macro shooting, and normal shooting and macro shooting can be performed. You won't miss every shot.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a main configuration of a digital still camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the camera for explaining a switching operation by a switching plate for switching a shooting state.

FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram of a main part of the camera including a release signal generation circuit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display state of a macro shooting warning mark.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing a main configuration of a digital still camera according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 camera body 2 shooting lens 3 CCD 4 shooting switching board 5 shooting switching switch 6 macro shooting button 6A macro shooting button 7 macro shooting switch 8 release button 9 release switch 10 display section 100, 200 macro shooting warning mark

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A digital still camera capable of switching between normal shooting and macro shooting, comprising macro shooting permitting means for enabling a macro shooting release operation only when manually operated. A possible digital still camera. 2. The macro photographing permission means is a manually operated macro photographing button and a macro photographing switch which is operated by a switch when the macro photographing button is operated to enable a macro photographing release operation. Item 1. A digital still camera capable of macro photography according to item 1. 3. A photographing lens that can be switched between a normal photographing state and a macro photographing state, photographing switching means for switching the photographing lens between the normal photographing state and the macro photographing state, and a photographing switching state of the photographing lens. A photographing switch which is operated in response to the operation, a macro photographing switch which is operated when manually operated, a release switch which is operated by a release operation, and the photographing changeover switch, a macro photographing switch and a release switch. A release signal generation circuit configured to output a release signal for performing a shooting operation in the camera, wherein the release signal generation circuit is configured such that when the shooting changeover switch is switched to a normal shooting state, the release switch is turned on. Outputs a release signal when activated, When the shadow changeover switch is switched to the macro shooting state, the macro shooting switch and the release switch are configured to output a release signal when both of the switches are operated, so that a macro shooting capable digital is output. Still camera. 4. The photographing switching means is constituted by a switching plate which is reciprocated by manual operation, and the photographing lens is set to a normal photographing state and a macro photographing state according to a moving position of the switching plate. 4. The digital still camera capable of macro photography according to claim 3, wherein the macro photography switch is configured to be operated when the switching plate is moved to a macro photography position. 5. The photographing changeover switch selects a circuit connected to the release switch when switching a normal photographing state, and selects a series circuit of the macro switch and the release switch when switching a macro photographing state. 5. A circuit according to claim 3, wherein a signal generated when the release switch is turned on is output as a release signal.
A digital still camera capable of macro photography as described in 1. 6. A digital still camera capable of shooting by switching between normal shooting and macro shooting, switching to a macro shooting state only when a manual operation is performed, and returning to a normal shooting state when the manual operation is released. A digital still camera capable of macro shooting, comprising a shooting switching unit. 7. The photographing switching means is configured to be manually moved to a normal photographing position and a macro photographing position,
A photographing lens which can be set to switch between a normal photographing state and a macro photographing state in accordance with the moving position of the photographing switching means, a holding means for holding the photographing switching means in a normal photographing position in a normal state, and 7. The digital still camera capable of macro photography according to claim 6, further comprising: means for switching the switching means to a macro photography state against the urging force of the urging means. 8. The photographing switching means is constituted by a switching plate which is reciprocated by a manual operation, and the holding means is constituted by an elastic member which gives the switching plate a return behavior to a moving position in a normal photographing state. 8. The macro photographing state switching means is configured by a mechanism including a macro photographing button for moving the switching plate to a moving position in the macro photographing state against the return learning force when manually operated. A digital still camera capable of macro photography as described in 1.