JPH1051667A - Video camera with built-in level - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a video camera with a built-in level that can keep the video camera parallel without using a level as an accessory. A video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention includes a level built in a viewfinder, a lighting window, a shutter, a mirror, a display, and a lens. Then, the shutter 8 is opened and the external light A is taken in from the lighting window 7 and enters the level 1. The external light A transmitted through the transparent spirit level 1 is bent by a mirror 9 disposed thereunder, and is enlarged through a light path B together with an image projected on a display 10 by a lens 11 to be enlarged by a lens 11. Reach C. Thus, the user can display 1
The parallelism of the level 1 can be recognized at the same time as the video of 0, and video shooting with the parallelism maintained can be performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to, for example, a viewfinder of a video tape recorder (hereinafter, simply referred to as a "video camera") integrated with a camera and a level near a liquid crystal monitor of a video camera with a liquid crystal monitor. The present invention relates to a video camera with a built-in level, which can check the inclination of the video camera even during shooting by incorporating a level.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In many cases, images taken by a video camera are reproduced on a monitor device such as a television receiver, and images taken at the time of shooting are displayed as they are. Is difficult to fix. That is, in the conventional video camera, since the horizontal state of the video camera cannot be confirmed, even if the user changes the shooting posture and the video camera is tilted, the user does not notice it, and the video is tilted for the first time after watching the playback video. Often they made mistakes to notice that. Such an image shot with an inclination is not preferable because it is conspicuous. In particular, when photographing a horizon or a building standing upright on the ground, a slight inclination of the image is noticeable, which is not preferable.

[0003] As an accessory for solving such a problem, a level which is used by being attached to a video camera or a tripod has been released, but in a state where an object is photographed while looking at a viewfinder or a monitor device, It was difficult to confirm such a level at the same time, and the mounting operation was troublesome.

[0006] A level 20 as an accessory as shown in FIG.
When the level 20 is attached to the video camera main body 21, the level 20 protrudes from the video camera main body 21 and the design of the video camera is impaired. It is. Also,
In general, the video camera body 21 is provided with only one accessory shoe 22, and when the level 20 is attached, other accessories such as a strobe,
There is a problem that it is difficult to attach accessories such as a video light and a microphone.

In connection with the present invention, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-528
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-28
"Video camera with horizontal display" described in Japanese Patent No. 0581
However, none of the above-mentioned problems was fundamentally solved. That is, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-52828
The "video camera" described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-21095 has a level provided in a viewfinder, but differs from the present invention in the embodiment. Further, the "video camera with horizontal display" described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-280581 is to attach a level which is detachably provided to the video camera each time, and the configuration is different from the present invention. Is what you do.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a video camera which can maintain a parallel level without using a level as a conventional accessory. It is to provide a built-in video camera.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the present invention, the following means have been taken. That is, a video camera with a built-in electronic level according to the first aspect of the present invention is a video camera with a built-in electronic level having a video camera main body and a viewfinder provided on the video camera main body and having a display. , A level fixed in the viewfinder, a lighting window for taking in external light into the level, and adjusting the amount of external light taken in from the lighting window.As an example, the brightness of the level is adjusted by closing the shutter slightly. The shutter is provided to adjust the level or to make the level invisible when not in use, and a mirror for reflecting external light transmitted through the level and guiding the level to the user's field of view. When using a video camera with a built-in level, the level of parallelism of the level can be checked together with the image on the display. The degree can be recognized, and the video can be photographed with the video camera kept parallel.

A video camera with a built-in electronic level according to a second aspect of the present invention is a video camera with a built-in electronic level having a video camera main body and a viewfinder provided on the video camera main body and having a display. A level that is fixed in the viewfinder, a light source that illuminates the level, and a mirror that reflects the light transmitted through the level and guides it to the user's field of view. When a video camera is used, the parallelism of the level can be checked together with the image of the display. Thus, the user can simultaneously recognize the parallelism of the level transmitted by the irradiation light of the light source together with the image of the display, and can shoot the video camera with the parallelism maintained.

A video camera with a built-in electronic level according to a third aspect of the present invention is a video camera with a built-in electronic level having a video camera main body and a viewfinder provided on the video camera main body and having a display. A level that is fixed in the viewfinder, a lighting window that takes in external light into the level, a shutter that adjusts the amount of external light that is taken in from the lighting window, and an external light and display that has passed through the level. And a half-mirror for reflecting the image to guide the user's field of view. When using a video camera with a built-in level, the level of parallelism of the level can be superimposed and confirmed together with the image of the display. As a result, the user can superimpose and check the image on the display and the display on the level, and can perform video shooting with the parallelism maintained without any discomfort.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a video camera with a built-in electronic level having a video camera main body and a liquid crystal monitor provided in the video camera main body. And a level fixed in the vicinity of the display screen, and when using a video camera with a liquid crystal monitor, the parallelism of the level can be checked together with the image on the display screen of the liquid crystal monitor. As a result, the liquid crystal monitor can be moved to set the electronic level at a position where the level can be easily viewed, and video shooting with parallelism can be performed. When a video camera with a liquid crystal monitor is mounted on a tripod for video shooting, the parallelism of the video camera including the tripod can be adjusted.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the structure of a level commonly used in a video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a level used in a video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention.

A small level 1 used in the video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention has a gentle R shape (a part of an arc).
Is filled with the liquid 4 so that the bubbles 3 remain in the transparent sealed container 2. The bubbles 3 in the sealed container 2 move in the sealed container 2 according to the inclination, and are always stabilized at the highest position with respect to the horizontal ground. A mark 5 indicating a horizontal point is drawn on this level 1, and a bubble 3
When the mark 5 matches, the parallelism of the level 1 can be recognized. Hereinafter, specific embodiments of a video camera incorporating such a level 1 will be sequentially described.

First Embodiment A first embodiment of a video camera with a built-in electronic level according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing Embodiment 1 of the video camera with a built-in electronic level according to the present invention.
Note that the same reference numerals are given to the common parts in the figures hereinafter.

The video camera with a built-in level of the present invention in FIG. 2 is an example of an external light irradiation type. That is, the configuration of the video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention includes the level 1 fixed at a predetermined position in the viewfinder 6 of the video camera,
It is generally constituted by a lighting window 7, a shutter 8, a mirror 9, a display 10 comprising a liquid crystal display device or a cathode ray tube (CRT), and a lens 11.

When using the video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention, the shutter 8 is opened and the lighting window 7 is opened.
From outside. The captured external light A is incident on the level 1 disposed immediately below the external light A. Since the level 1 is fixed to the viewfinder 6, it is tilted according to the tilt of the video camera. The level 1 is composed of a transparent sealed container 2 and a liquid 4 (see FIG. 1), and the external light A transmitted through the level 1 is bent by a mirror 9 disposed thereunder, passes through an optical path B, The image is enlarged by the lens 11 together with the image projected on the display 10 and reaches the user's eyeball C and is recognized.

In the video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention, the brightness of the level 1 can be changed by slightly closing the daylighting window 7 with the slide type shutter 8 attached to the upper part thereof. When the built-in video camera is not used, it is possible to make the level 1 invisible by closing the shutter 8. Thus, the user can simultaneously recognize the parallelism of the level 1 together with the image on the display 10, and can perform video shooting while maintaining the parallelism.

Embodiment 2 This embodiment is an example in which a light source is provided inside a view finder to form a light source irradiation type, which will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing Embodiment 2 of the video camera with a built-in electronic level according to the present invention.

The video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention has a level 1, a mirror 9, a display 10 and a lens 11 built in a viewfinder 6, and additionally includes a lamp or an LED (light emitting diode). A light source 12,
It is provided with a reflecting plate 13 that reflects the irradiation light of the light source 12.

When the video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention is used, the light emitted from the light source 12 is reflected by the reflection plate 13 and then irradiates the level 1 indirectly. The light transmitted through the level 1 is bent by the mirror 9, passes through the optical path B, and the lens 1 together with the image projected on the display 10.
It is enlarged at 1 and reaches the user's eyeball C.

In the video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention, the brightness of the level 1 can be freely adjusted by adjusting the light amount of the light source 12. Further, when the level is not used, the level 1 can be made invisible by turning off the light source 12. Furthermore, when the level with the light source 12 turned on is used, the parallelism of the level 1 can be simultaneously recognized together with the image on the display 10, and video shooting with the parallelism maintained can be performed.

Embodiment 3 This embodiment is an example in which a half mirror is used in place of the above-described mirror, which will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing Embodiment 3 of the video camera with a built-in electronic level according to the present invention.

The video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention comprises a level mirror 1, a lighting window 7, a shutter 8, a display 10 and a lens 11 provided in a viewfinder 6, and a half mirror instead of a mirror. (Beam splitter) 14.

When using the video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention, the shutter 8 is opened and the lighting window 7 is opened.
From outside. The captured external light A is incident on the level 1 disposed immediately below the external light A. The external light A transmitted through the level 1 has its optical path bent by the half mirror 14,
The optical path B of the light illuminating the level is used. Similarly, the display 10
Is transmitted through the half mirror 14 as it is, and becomes the optical path D of the light emitted from the display. The optical path B of the light illuminating the level and the optical path D of the light emitted from the display are both enlarged by the lens 11. And reaches the user's eyeball C.

The brightness of the level 1 can be adjusted by slightly closing the shutter 8, and when the level 1 is not used, the level 1 can be made invisible by closing the shutter 8. Thus, the user can check the image of the display 10 by superimposing the level 1 on the image, and can perform video shooting while maintaining the parallelism of the video camera.

Embodiment 4 This embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to a video camera with a liquid crystal monitor, which will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a fourth embodiment of the video camera with a built-in electronic level according to the present invention.

The video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention is a liquid crystal monitor 1 provided in a video camera 15 with a liquid crystal monitor.
The level 1 is arranged near the display screen 17 of FIG. When photographing a subject with such a video camera 15 with a liquid crystal monitor, there is little chance to look into the viewfinder (some devices do not have the viewfinder itself). A method of arranging in the vicinity is effective.

That is, in the video camera 15 with a liquid crystal monitor, the liquid crystal monitor 16 can be arbitrarily moved to
Can be set so as to be easily viewable, so that video shooting can be easily performed while maintaining the parallelism. When the video camera 15 with a liquid crystal monitor is attached to a tripod for video shooting, the video camera including the tripod can be used for video shooting while maintaining the parallelism since the parallelism of the video camera including the tripod can be adjusted. be able to. In addition, the above-mentioned built-in level video camera is an example of a design,
It goes without saying that the location of the level and the shape of the entire video camera may be other designs.

According to the above-described video camera with a built-in electronic level, the level of the tilt of the video camera around the optical axis can always be recognized by the electronic level even during shooting, so that the video camera can be held horizontally. Becomes easier. Also,
According to the present invention, since the level is incorporated in the video camera, a level-equipped video camera which is compact and excellent in design can be proposed without requiring a level as an accessory. Further, since the present invention does not use an accessory shoe, video shooting can be performed by attaching accessories such as a strobe, a video light, and a microphone.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can employ various embodiments. For example, the present invention is not limited to a video camera, but can be applied to a digital video camera, a digital still camera, and the like. In addition, it goes without saying that the present invention can be developed in various forms without being limited to the embodiment described above.

[0031]

As described above, according to the video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention, since the level is built into the video camera, the tilt of the video camera can always be recognized by the level even during shooting. It is possible to shoot with the video camera kept horizontal. Further, according to the present invention, since the level is built in the video camera, a video camera with a built-in level which is compact and excellent in design can be constructed, which is beneficial.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a level used in a video camera with a built-in level according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing Embodiment 1 of the video camera with a built-in electronic level according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the video camera with a built-in electronic level according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing Embodiment 3 of a video camera with a built-in electronic level according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a fourth embodiment of a video camera with a built-in electronic level according to the present invention.

6A and 6B are views showing a level as a conventional accessory, FIG. 6A is a perspective view showing an example of mounting a level on a video camera body, and FIG. 6B is a perspective view showing the level on the video camera body. It is an enlarged view which shows a mounting example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 20 level, 2 closed container, 3 bubbles, 4 liquid, 5 marks, 6 viewfinder, 7 lighting window,
8 shutter, 9 mirror, 10 display, 11 lens, 12 light source, 13 reflector, 14 half mirror, 15 video camera with liquid crystal monitor, 16 liquid crystal monitor, 17 display screen, 21 ... Video camera body, 22
… Accessory shoe

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A level built-in video camera having a video camera main body and a viewfinder provided with a display provided in the video camera main body, wherein a level fixed in the viewfinder is provided. A lighting window that takes in external light into the level, a shutter that adjusts the amount of external light that is taken in from the lighting window, and a mirror that reflects external light that has passed through the level and guides the user to the field of view. A video camera with a built-in level, wherein when using the video camera with a built-in level, the parallelism of the level can be checked together with the image on the display. 2. A video camera with a built-in electronic level having a video camera main body and a viewfinder provided on the video camera main body and having a display, wherein a level fixed in the viewfinder is provided. A light source that irradiates the level with light, and a mirror that reflects light transmitted through the level and guides the level to a user's field of view, wherein when using the level built-in video camera, the display A video camera with a built-in level, wherein the parallelism of the level can be confirmed together with the image of the level. 3. A video camera with a built-in electronic level having a video camera main body and a viewfinder provided on the video camera main body and having a display, wherein a level fixed in the viewfinder is provided. A lighting window that takes in external light into the level, a shutter that adjusts the amount of external light that is taken in from the lighting window, and a user that reflects the external light transmitted through the level and the image on the display to reflect the user's image. A half mirror for guiding to the field of view, wherein when using the video camera with a built-in level, the level of parallelism of the level is superimposed and confirmed together with the image of the display. Built-in video camera. 4. A video camera with a built-in electronic level having a video camera main body and a liquid crystal monitor provided in the video camera main body, comprising a level fixed near a display screen of the liquid crystal monitor, When the video camera with the liquid crystal monitor is used, the parallelism of the level can be confirmed together with the image on the display screen of the liquid crystal monitor. 5. The level according to claim 1, wherein the level has a structure filled with a liquid so that bubbles remain in a gently rounded transparent sealed container. A video camera with a built-in level.