JPH02143231A - Camera with AE lock - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] A. Industrial Field of Application The present invention makes it possible to select the optimum method for photographing conditions from among a plurality of photometry methods, and to set information related to photometry output in a predetermined manner. This invention relates to a camera with an AE lock that can be held and photographed under certain conditions.

B. Conventional technology The field of view is divided into multiple areas, each area is metered, and the most suitable metering method for the shooting conditions is selected from a number of predetermined metering methods. Cameras that do this have been known for some time. Multiple flls of this kind
Examples of the ll light method include a multi-pattern photometry method and a center-weighted photometry method. On the other hand, A and E locks that retain (lock) information related to photometric output under predetermined conditions have also been known.

C1 Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in such conventional cameras, operating members for selecting a plurality of photometry methods and operating members for selecting A and Eron 9 are provided separately. For example, the center-weighted photometry method is selected by operating the photometry method selection operation member, and the AE lock is activated by operating the AE lock button.

Alternatively, the center-weighted photometry method is selected by operating the photometry method selection operation member, and the AE lock is activated by pressing the release button halfway.

Therefore, in the former type of camera where the AE lock is activated by a separate member from the release button, the metering method must be selected in advance before shooting, and if the AE lock is to be activated, the AE lock must be operated at the same time as the release button. The members must be operated, and the operation is complicated. On the other hand, with the latter type of camera, where the AE lock is activated in conjunction with the initial operation before shooting, such as pressing the release button halfway, the AE lock is activated by pressing the release button halfway, so if you change the framing while pressing the release button halfway, The exposure value may be held at a value suitable for the subject before framing, contrary to the photographer's intention, and the desired exposure may not be obtained.

A technical problem of the present invention is to select and select the photometry method and the presence/absence of AE lock with a simple operation before the photographing operation.

00 Means for Solving the Problems To explain with reference to FIG. 1, which is a diagram corresponding to the claims, the present invention comprises a photometry means 501- capable of photometry using a plurality of photometry methods;
It includes an AE locking means 502 that holds information related to the photometric output from the photometry means 501, and a selection means 504 that selects one of a plurality of photometry methods by operating an operating member 503 before starting the photographing operation. Applies to cameras with AE lock.

The above-mentioned technical problem is solved by the following configuration. A plurality of photographing conditions combining a plurality of photometry methods and presence/absence of AE lock are set in advance in the selection means 504. Operation member 50
The selection means 504 is configured to select any one of the plurality of imaging conditions according to the operation of 3.
Locking means 502 is activated by initial operation of release button 505.

When the operating member 503 is operated before the initial operation of the E1 action release button 505, one of a plurality of photographing conditions combining the photometry method and the presence or absence of the AE lock is selected. If the metering method with AE lock is selected, release button 5
In conjunction with the initial operation in step 05, the AE locking means 502 is activated, the photometry output of the photometry means 501 is held, and photography is performed by operating the AED.

F. Embodiment An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a single-lens reflex camera will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 7.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the camera. A photographing lens 2 is detachably attached to the camera body 1. The photographing lens 2 performs a focusing operation based on a signal from the camera body 1, and the distance to the subject is confirmed from a distance display window 2a provided in the lens barrel. The aperture operation of the photographic lens 2 is also performed by a signal from the camera body 1, and the aperture value to be controlled is confirmed by the aperture dial 3 of the camera body 1 or the display in the finder.

A grip 4 is formed on the right side of the camera body 1, and a release button 5 is provided on the upper cover on the grip side. When the release button 5 is pressed halfway, the power is turned on, various operation calculations are performed, and the power is automatically turned off after a predetermined period of time has elapsed after pressing the release button 5 halfway. Further, by fully pressing the release button 5, a photographing operation is performed and the film is wound. Further, on the upper cover on the right side of the camera body 1, there is a film counter 6 that displays the number of frames to be photographed next, and R, L, A, etc.

2000.1000. ...8,4. ．． 2,1
A shutter dial 7 provided with each display of °B, S,
22,16. ...2, 1.4 and intermediate display r
, J is provided with an aperture dial 3.

Also, on the left side of the top cover of the camera body 1 is an ISO.

+2. +1. O, -1, -2 and intermediate display r, J
, F, M, and an exposure compensation dial 8 are provided. Furthermore, an up/down/power focus button 9 is provided on the right side of the back of the camera body 1 so that it can be easily operated with the thumb of the right hand.

An eyepiece lens 1o is provided at the center of the back of the camera body 1, and the photographing angle of view and various states of the camera are checked through the eyepiece lens 10. This various information is displayed on a display 11 shown in FIG. 5 provided within the viewfinder. This display 11 will be described later.

FIG. 3 shows a control circuit for such a camera.

The input side of the CPU 100 includes a focus detection circuit 101, a photometry circuit 102, an aperture dial 3, a shutter dial 7, an exposure compensation dial 8, a DX value detection circuit 103, and an up/down/power focus button 9. , a half-press switch 104 interlocked with the release button 5, and a full-press switch 105 are connected. On the other hand, on the output side of the CPU 100, an aperture control circuit 107 and a shutter control circuit 1 are provided.
08 and the display device 11 are connected via a display driver 106.

The focus detection circuit 101 has a well-known CCD line sensor, detects the focus adjustment state of the subject by the photographic lens based on the output signal thereof, and outputs focus adjustment information.

The photometry circuit 102 has a light receiving element that divides the field into six areas as shown in FIG. 4, and outputs the brightness of the object based on the photometry output of each area. In this embodiment, the field of view consists of a central area 102a and a donut-shaped area 102b surrounding it.
and further divided into six surrounding four areas 102c to 102f.

A light receiving element corresponding to each area is arranged. When the center spot photometry is selected by the operation described later, the center area 102a and the donut-shaped area 10 are selected based on the signal from the center area 102a.
When multi-pattern photometry is selected based on the signal from 2b, the brightness of the subject is calculated based on the signals from all areas 102a to 102f.

Each of the above photometry methods (hereinafter referred to as photometry modes) is selected by the following operation. When the exposure compensation dial 8 is set to M, the metering mode confirmation setting mode is set and the release is locked.In this state, by operating the up/down/power focus button 9, the multi-pattern metering mode The feature of the present invention is that weighted metering mode, center-weighted metering mode with AE lock, center spot metering mode, and center spot metering mode with AE lock are selected in sequence. The AE lock mode is selected in the photographing preparation operation before the photographing operation, that is, along with the photometry mode selection operation before starting the photographing operation.

Settings for other various shooting conditions are as follows.

The number on shutter dial 7 is 2000, 1000°...
・2. ] matches index 7a.

The shutter speed in the manual exposure mode and the shutter speed priority mode is set in the CPU 100, and when A matches the index 7a, the program auto mode is set in the CPU 100 if it is the same as the aperture priority mode or the SH setting of the aperture dial 3. Set. Further, when B matches the index 7a, the valve is activated, and when R matches the index 7a, the rewind operation mode is activated, respectively. Set within OO. Further, when L is made to match the index 7a, the release is locked and the power switch is turned off.

Numbers 22, 16 on aperture dial 3. ...2゜1.
When 4 and the intermediate display "," match the aperture dial index 3a, the aperture value in manual exposure mode and aperture priority mode is set in the CPU 100, and when S matches the aperture dial index 3a, the shutter speed priority mode or If it is the same as the A setting of the shutter dial 7, the program auto mode is similarly set in the CPU 100.

Exposure compensation dial 8 +2. +1. When O, -1°-2 and the intermediate display "," match the exposure compensation index 8a,
The number of exposure correction steps is set within the CPU 10. This state is the state in which photography is possible.

When IS○ matches the exposure compensation index 8a, the film sensitivity confirmation setting mode is set and the release is locked, and when the up/down/power focus button 9 is operated in this state, the film sensitivity increases or decreases. When F matches the exposure compensation finger [8a, the focus mode confirmation setting mode is set and the release is locked. If you operate the up/down/power focus button 9 in this state, continuous autofocus will drive the shooting lens to focus on the subject within the focus detection area while the release button 5 is pressed halfway. and single focus, in which the photographic lens is locked in the focused state once the subject within the focus detection area is focused by pressing the release button 5 halfway, are sequentially set. Additionally, freeze focus mode and power focus mode are also set sequentially.

When the freeze focus mode is set, the photographic lens is manually driven by the up/down/power focus button 9, but the release is locked until the photographic lens reaches the in-focus position. When the power focus mode is set, the photographic lens is manually driven by the up/down/power focus button 9, and even if the photographic lens is not in the in-focus position, a photograph is taken when the release button 5 is fully pressed.

Also, when the exposure compensation dial 8 is set to +2 to -2, the shutter dial 7 is set to A.

When the aperture dial 3 is set to S, the program auto mode is set, and when the aperture dial 3 is set to S and the shutter dial 7 is set to 2000-1 or B, the shutter speed priority mode is set.

Furthermore, by setting the shutter dial 7 to A and the aperture dial 3 to 22-1.4, aperture priority mode is set.
Turn the shutter dial 7 from 2000 to 1. Alternatively, when setting the aperture dial 3 to 22 to 1.4 in B, the manual exposure mode is set.

FIG. 5 shows the display form of the display 11, in which a light emitting diode or a liquid crystal is used as the 0 display element, which is shown with all display elements lit for ease of understanding.

In FIG. 5, from the left side, a focus adjustment state display section 20, a photometry mode display section 30. Exposure mode display section 40, l5Ov-
Display section 50. AEO display section 55, 4-digit number display section 60, aperture display section 70, exposure deviation amount display section 80, exposure compensation mark display section 90, speedlight mark display section 95
are arranged respectively.

The focus adjustment state display unit 20 includes the focus detection circuit 101 described above.
Based on the focus adjustment state detected by Is displayed.

As described above, when the exposure compensation dial 8 is operated to M and the metering mode confirmation setting mode is set, when the up/down/power focus button 9 is operated, the metering mode display section 30 displays the values shown in FIGS. (k, ) are lit respectively. The display (g) lights up when the multi-pattern photometry mode is selected. The display (h) is lit when the center-weighted metering mode is selected. The display (i) lights up when the center-weighted metering mode with AE lock is selected. The display (j) lights up when the center spot metering mode is selected. The display (k) lights up when the center spot metering mode with AE lock is selected. This lighting can be done by setting the exposure compensation dial 8 from +2 to -2 to 81
The light goes out when the 1-light mode confirmation display mode is canceled.

The exposure mode display section 40 displays P when the program auto mode is set, S when the shutter priority mode is set, A when the aperture priority mode is set, and M when the manual exposure mode is set. The ISO mark display section 50 lights up when the exposure compensation dial 8 is set to ISO, indicating that the film sensitivity is set to be displayed.

The AEron 9 display section 55 consists of the English letters A, E-L, and indicates the above-mentioned AE lock state. That is, it means locking the exposure value determined based on the photometric value in various automatic exposure modes such as program auto mode, aperture priority mode, and shutter speed priority mode. Specifically, when the release button 5 is pressed halfway and the halfway press switch 105 is turned on when center spot metering with release lock or center weighted metering with release lock is selected as described above, this display section 55 lights up.

The 4-digit number display section 60 shows that the exposure compensation dial 8 is +2 to -.
2000 to 2000 in normal shooting conditions that match 2.
The number 1 or bulb lights up to display the shutter speed, when the exposure compensation dial 8 is set to ISO, the film sensitivity is displayed, and when the exposure compensation dial 8 is set to F, the focus mode is displayed. are displayed respectively. C-AF is displayed when the continuous autofocus mode is set, 5-AF is displayed when the single autofocus mode is set, Fr-F is displayed when the freeze focus mode is set, and Po-F is displayed when the power focus mode is set.

The aperture display section 70 lights up together with the shutter speed in the photographing ready state to display the controlled aperture value.

The exposure deviation amount display section 80 displays how much the shutter speed and aperture value set in manual exposure mode deviate from the appropriate exposure value, and also displays the exposure value when AE lock operation is performed in other exposure modes. Displays how much the value deviates from the appropriate exposure value. When the exposure compensation dial 8 is set to a value other than O among +2 to -2, one of the exposure compensation mark display sections 90 lights up to display whether the exposure compensation is on the + side or on the one side. The speedlight mark display section 95 displays various states of the electronic flash device attached to the camera body 1. It blinks once to notify the photographer that the electronic flash device will be used for photography, and when lit, the electronic flash device is activated. Notifies the completion of charging.

Next, an example of the procedure for selecting the photometry mode and the AE lock mode will be explained with reference to FIG.

The flowchart in FIG. 7 is based on the CPU 10 shown in FIG.
0, and only the portions related to the photometry mode will be explained in detail here.

In step S1, the current mode is determined based on the signal from the exposure compensation dial 8.

If the exposure compensation dial 8 matches M and the metering mode confirmation display mode is selected, the process advances to step S2, and the operating state of the up/down/power focus button 9 is determined. If it is determined that the up button 9a is operated, step S3
The process proceeds to step S4, where +1 is added to the count value EP, and when it is determined that the down button 9b is operated, the process proceeds to step S4.
Subtract 1 from the count value EP. Step S3. S4
Subsequently, the process proceeds to step S2 again, and the operating state of the up/down/power focus button 9 is determined, and the same process is repeated. If step S2 is negative, the process proceeds to step S5. In this step S5, the contents of the count EP are determined. The set of photometry mode and photographing conditions with/without AE lock corresponding to is read out and set, and the set photographing conditions are displayed on the display 11 in step S6. For example, when EP=1, use multi-pattern metering mode, and when EP=2
Center-weighted metering mode is used for EP=3, center-weighted metering mode with AE lock is used for EP=4, center spot metering mode is used for EP=5, and center-weighted metering mode is used for EP=5. Set it in advance. Then, in step S10, the count value EP is set to O.

In step S1, if it is determined that the exposure compensation button 8 matches the ISO, the process proceeds to step s7, and the ISO
The magazine confirmation setting mode is set and related processing is performed, and when it is determined that the exposure compensation button 8 matches F, step S
Proceeding to step 8, the focus mode confirmation setting mode is set and related processing is performed. If it is determined in step S1 that the exposure correction button 8 matches +2 to -2, the process proceeds to step S9, where processing such as correcting the calculated exposure value is performed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, by operating the up/down/power focus button 9 with the exposure compensation dial 8 matched to M, a plurality of photometry modes and AE
A plurality of photographing conditions combining the presence or absence of locking can be sequentially changed, and the AE lock mode can be selected at the photographing preparation stage before pressing the release button. therefore,
This eliminates the complexity associated with setting the AE lock during shooting operations.In addition, in the system where the AE lock is activated by pressing the release button halfway, if you change the framing while pressing the release button halfway, then press the button fully. A against the photographer's intention
There is a possibility that the E-lock will operate and a shooting error will occur; however, since the present invention allows the photographer to select the metering mode and the presence or absence of the AE lock at his/her discretion before starting the shooting operation, such a shooting error can be avoided. is prevented.

FIG. 8 is a top view of a camera according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The main switch 20 is located on the upper cover on the right side of the camera body 1.
12 Rewind mode button 202. An exposure correction button 203, a command dial 204, and the above-mentioned liquid crystal display panel 200 are provided.

Also, on the upper left side cover of the camera body 1, there are a focus mode button 205, a metering mode button 206, and a self-timer button 2.
07, exposure mode button 208, ISO button 209. A film feed mode button 210 and a multiple exposure/rewind button 211 are provided.

Furthermore, a power focus button 212 is provided on the right side of the back of the camera body 1 so that it can be easily operated with the thumb of the right hand, and an aperture button 213 is provided on the camera mount.

FIG. 9 shows a control circuit for such a camera.

The input terminal of the CPU 100 includes a focus detection circuit 101;
A photometry circuit 102, a DX value detection circuit 103, a half-press switch 104 linked to the release button 5, a full-press switch 105, a main switch 201, and a command dial 204 are connected to the rewind mode button 6. 20
2. Exposure compensation button 203, focus mode button 205. Metering mode button 206, self-timer button 207, exposure mode button 208, Is○ button 209. Film feeding mode button 21
0. Multiple exposure/rewind button 211. Power focus button 2
12 are connected to a switch group SW that is linked to each other. On the other hand, the above-mentioned display 11 and liquid crystal display panel 20 are connected to the output terminal of the CPU 100 via the 1-display driver 106.
0 is connected, and an aperture control circuit 107 and a shutter control circuit 108 are also connected.

In this embodiment configured in this way, a photometry mode that is exactly the same as that in the first embodiment is provided, and the photometry mode button 2 is
Rotate the command dial 204 while pressing 06 to select multi-pattern metering mode, center-weighted metering mode,
The center spot photometry mode, the center-weighted photometry mode with AE lock, and the center spot photometry mode with AE lock are selected and set, respectively.

Other various settings can be made in the same manner as in the above embodiment, so their explanation will be omitted.

Note that the photometry method is not limited to the above embodiments, and the present invention is effective for various methods. Furthermore, the combination of the photometry method and the presence or absence of the AE lock, or the selection method thereof, is not limited to the embodiment.

G0 Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, it is possible to set the AE lock mode in conjunction with the photometry method prior to the shooting operation by operating the release button, thereby eliminating the complexity associated with setting the AE lock mode during the shooting operation. In addition to eliminating the problem, the photographer can check whether the AE lock is activated or not before taking a picture, so the AE lock can be activated against the photographer's intention, such as when the AE lock is activated by pressing the release button halfway. is prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a complaint correspondence diagram. FIGS. 2 to 7 illustrate one embodiment, in which FIG. 2 is a top view of the camera, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control circuit,
Figure 4 is a diagram explaining the photometry area, Figure 5 is a diagram showing the display in the finder, Figure 6 is a diagram explaining the display mode, and Figure 7 is a diagram showing the 81'l light mode and AE lock. It is a flowchart explaining the procedure of selecting a set. FIG. 8 is a top view of a camera showing another embodiment, and FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing its control circuit. 1: Camera body 2: Shooting lens 3: Aperture dial 5 Release button 7: Shutter dial 8: Exposure compensation dial 9 Near-down/power focus button 9a Near-down button 9b: Down button 11: Display 30: m'l light Mode display section 40: Exposure mode display section 55: AE lock display section 100: CPU

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A photometry means capable of measuring light using a plurality of photometry methods; an AE lock means that holds photometry information related to photometry output from the photometry means; and a selection means for selecting one of the photometry methods.
In the camera with a lock, a plurality of photographing conditions combining the plurality of photometry methods and presence/absence of AE lock are set in advance in the selection means, and the selection means selects the plurality of photographing conditions according to the operation of the operation member. 1. A camera with an AE lock, wherein the AE lock means is activated by an initial operation of a release button.