JPS6295522A - Remote controllable camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize remote control at low cost by using a light receiving element for light measurement as the light receiving means of a system which controls remotely the functions of a camera by using infrared light. CONSTITUTION:A shutter release motor is selected by a switch 7 and when a switch 6 is pushed, an infrared-light emitting element 13 emits infrared light 15 for remote control with the output signal of a blocking circuit 30. The element constant of an integration circuit 13 is set previously so that S2 does not exceed the threshold level of an IC in shutter release mode. Then, S5 is held at 'L'. When the 2nd pulse shown by S1 is inputted to a counter 33, S4 goes up to 'H' and S6 releases the shutter 24. Thus, the residual infrared sensitivity of the photodetecting element for light measurement of an automatic exposure camera is utilized, so inexpensive remote control is realized without requiring any photodetecting element dedicated to the remote control.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field of the Invention) The present invention relates to remote control of a camera equipped with a photometric element for automatic exposure.

(Background of the Invention) A photometric element for automatic exposure in a conventional camera, for example, in an eye reflex camera, is placed at the bottom of a mirror box as shown in FIG. The light is reflected by a sub-mirror 39 and measured.

In order to adjust the sensitivity of the photometric element to the diopter intensity, it is provided with an infrared cut filter 19 that allows only visible light to pass through and blocks infrared light.

However, the infrared cut filter 19 cannot cut 100% of infrared light and has residual infrared sensitivity as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, there are various systems that remotely control camera functions, such as remote control systems that remotely control the shirt release. For example, systems that use visible light receive strobe light (visible light) with a dedicated light receiving element. These include those that release the shutter, and those that transmit and receive signals using radio waves to release the shutter.

These remote control devices are expensive and have not yet become commonplace.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to obtain an inexpensive remote-controllable camera by utilizing the residual infrared sensitivity of a photometric element for automatic exposure of the camera.

(Summary of the Invention) The technical point of the present invention is to utilize the residual infrared sensitivity of a light receiving element for photometry to operate the emission of infrared light from a remote location, thereby making it possible to remotely control various functions of a camera.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a remote control device including an infrared light emitting element 13. A single pulse generation circuit 8 consisting of one multivibrator is activated by the switch 7, and a two-pulse generation circuit 11 consisting of two multivibrators 9 and 10 with very short pulse widths set for positive and negative edge triggers.
Select and press switch 6 to switch to LED driver circuit 1.
An infrared light emitting element 13 connected to the remote controller 2 emits infrared light 15 for remote control.

Further, the infrared light receiving element 5 receives infrared light 14 emitted from the infrared light emitting element 17 provided in the camera body 16, which is detected by the detection circuit 4, and the LED driver circuit 3 operates the LED 2. Emit visible light.

16 is a camera that includes an infrared cut filter 19 and a light receiving element 20 that serves both for photometry and for receiving the remote control signal 15.

The infrared light 15 emitted from the infrared light emitting element 13 passes through the infrared cut filter 19 and is received by the light receiving element 20.
This is detected by the detection circuit 21, and the LED drive circuit 1
8 to cause the infrared light emitting element 17 to emit light, or a shutter release circuit 23 to release the shutter 24.

22 is a photometric circuit.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the detection circuit 21.

The remote control signal 15 electrically converted by the photodetector 20 is separated from the photometric signal by passing through a DC blocking circuit 26, converted to an IC logic level by an amplification limit circuit 27, and then sent to a multivibrator 28 and a gate. 29
This output signal S is passed through a blocking circuit 30 consisting of
1 is counted by the counter 33, and the signal 33 (QO), S
4 (Ql) is output. The output S2 of the integrating circuit 31 whose input is 31 and the output S3 of the counter 33 are connected to the gate 36, and the obtained signal S5 is input to the LED drive circuit 18 of the infrared light emitting element 17.

In addition, the signal S1 and the output S4 of the counter 33 are connected to the gate 35.
This output S6 is input to the shirt release circuit 23.

The reset terminal of the counter 33 receives outputs S7 and S6 obtained by passing Sl and S2 through the gate 32.
and connect this output.

Further, the output of the light receiving element 20 is passed through an AC blocking circuit 37 as a photometric signal, and this output is input to the photometric circuit 22.

FIG. 3.4 shows the waveforms of signals at various parts of the circuit 81 to s7 shown in FIG.

Figure 3 shows a mode to check whether the remote control operator is within the shooting range (hereinafter referred to as test mode)
, FIG. 4 shows the waveform of a signal in a shutter release mode (hereinafter referred to as shutter release mode).

The dashed line indicates the threshold level of the IC.

FIG. 5 shows a camera body 16 equipped with a lens L, which is equipped with a light-receiving element 2o and an infrared cant filter 19 for both receiving infrared light 15 for remote control and normal photometry.

In FIG. 5, 38 is a mirror, 39 is a submirror, and 25
is a film, 24 is a shutter, and 40 is incident light to the lens L.

FIG. 6 shows a light receiving element 20 equipped with an infrared cant filter 19.
The horizontal axis shows the wavelength, the vertical axis shows the relative sensitivity, and the shaded area shows the residual infrared sensitivity.

The operation of the embodiment will be explained below for each mode (1)
Test mode When the operator selects the test mode (single pulse emission) with switch 7 and presses switch 6, the infrared light emitting element 13 outputs the output signal of the blocking circuit 30 as shown in FIG. 381. External light 15 is emitted.

Here, the blocking circuit 30 is a circuit for preventing the counter 33 from counting the reflected light of the infrared light 14 emitted from the infrared light emitting element 17 provided in the camera body 16.

When the operator is within the excessive range of the lens L, the signal S1 is input to the counter 33 as shown in FIG. 3, and at the same time, the output S3 of the counter 33 becomes (H).

The signal S1 is also input to the integrating circuit 31, and when the output S2 exceeds the threshold level of the IC, the signal S1 is input to the gate 36.
The output S5 becomes (H), and the infrared light emitting element 17 emits infrared light 14. This light is received by the infrared light receiving element 5 of the remote control device 1, and the LED 2 is turned on through the LED drive circuit 3, so that the operator can know that the operator is within the excessive range of the lens L.

Here, since the signal S1 becomes (L) at the fall of the output pulse of the single pulse generation circuit 8, the output S2 of the integrating circuit 31 becomes lower than the threshold voltage level of the IC for a certain period of time determined by the element constants of the circuit. value.

Resent of counter 33 in test mode, i.e. LED1
7 is turned off by connecting the output Sl, 32 to the gate 32, making use of the above-mentioned time delay.

(2) Shirt release mode The operator presses switch 7 to select shirt release mode (2).
When the switch 6 is pressed, the infrared light emitting element 13 emits an infrared light 15 for remote control using the output signal of the blocking circuit 3° as shown in FIG.

Here, the element constants of the integrating circuit 31 are set in advance so that 32 does not exceed the threshold level of the IC in the shank release mode.

As a result, S5 is kept at (L), and when the second pulse indicated by sl is input to the counter 33, 84 becomes (old) and the shutter 24 is released by S6.

In addition, the counter 33 is returned to the initial state by S6 (R
eset) Prepare for another shutter release and a test to determine whether the camera is in or out of the shooting range.

As described above, in this embodiment, the test mode allows the operator to know in advance whether or not remote control is possible, so that highly reliable shank release by remote control is possible.

In the above description, the remote control system for the test mode and shirt release mode has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to remote control of various functions of a camera.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, since the residual infrared sensitivity of the photometric light receiving element originally provided in the automatic exposure camera for remote control is utilized, the light receiving element exclusively for remote control is used. It is possible to obtain an inexpensive remote controllable camera without the need for

In addition, since the present invention uses infrared light, it can be controlled from a longer distance than a remote control system using visible light, and when hiding a wild animal, it can be hidden without being noticed by the wild animal, and it can also be used to prevent wild animals from being noticed. The advantage is that you can take photos in a more natural state than without.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment, it is possible to easily determine whether or not the operator is within the field of view of the lens attached to the camera, that is, whether or not the operator is in a position where remote control is possible. can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a block diagram of the embodiment, Figure 2 is a detailed block diagram of the detection circuit, Figure 3 is a signal waveform diagram of each part of the circuit in test mode, and Figure 4 is a signal waveform diagram in shirt release mode. , FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of the camera, and FIG. 6 is a spectral sensitivity characteristic diagram of a photometric light receiving element equipped with an infrared cut filter. (Explanation of the symbols of the main parts) 1.
LED5・−・・−・・・・・・・・−・・・・−・・
・Infrared light receiving element 13.17・---1−・Infrared light emitting element 14.15・・−111 Infrared light 19・・・−・−・−・−−1−−−−−・・Infrared cut filter 20−−−−−−−−−−−−−・−・−・
Photometric photodetector with residual infrared sensitivity Applicant Nippon Kogaku Kogyo Co., Ltd. Representative Patent Attorney Takashi Watanabe S5 Figure 3s S, □ Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an automatic exposure camera equipped with a visible light photometry photodetector having residual infrared sensitivity, the photometry photodetector can be used as a light receiving means for a system that remotely controls camera functions using infrared light. A remote controllable camera featuring: (2) The remote controllable camera according to claim 1, wherein the function is a shutter release.