JPH11242282A - Camera and photographic print system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the horizontal length of a camera body by guiding photographing light to a photographic film after reflecting the light by a mirror once. SOLUTION: As for a camera using a film cartridge for storing the photographic film 51 and equipped with an information storing means, a photographic optical system is installed in the camera, the photographic optical system includes the mirror 9 for reflecting the photographing light once so as to project the mirror image of the object to the photographic film 51. The information indicating that the image photographed on the film 51 is the mirror image is written in the information storing means of the film cartridge.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera, and more particularly, to a camera suitable for forming a camera body in a short lateral direction.

[0002] The present invention also relates to a photographic print system for printing an image taken by such a camera.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-82921, the angle of view is different from that of an image actually photographed on a photographic film by manipulating a magnification in a printing process. A photographic print system for printing an image is known. According to such a photographic print system, it is possible to obtain a print image as if photographed with a super-telephoto or super-wide-angle photographic lens, regardless of the focal length of the photographic lens.

When a camera for taking a photograph to which such a so-called pseudo-zoom technique is applied has a zoom photographing lens, the viewfinder of the camera exceeds the range of the angle of view change by the photographing lens and prints the finished image by the pseudo-zoom. It is desirable to be configured to be able to display a field-of-view image having the same angle of view. That is, by doing so, the photographer can shoot while checking the angle of view in the completed print.

[0005]

In order to cope with the demand in the pseudo zoom, it is necessary to use a zoom finder having an extremely large zoom magnification. Since such a zoom finder has a large zoom length, a camera equipped with the zoom finder necessarily has a considerably long overall length.

If the overall length of the camera becomes long under such circumstances, it is desirable to reduce the size of the camera as a whole by shortening the shape of the camera body in the left-right direction. Even in the absence of the above circumstances, there is a case where it is desired to form the camera body shorter in the left-right direction due to a requirement in camera design or the like.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a camera capable of forming the shape of a camera body short in the left-right direction.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a photographic print system suitable for such a camera.

[0009]

The camera according to the present invention comprises:
A camera that stores a photographic film and uses a film cartridge provided with information storage means, a photographic optical system including a mirror for reflecting photographic light once, and projecting a mirror image of a subject on the photographic film; And a writing unit for writing information indicating that the image photographed on the film is a mirror image.

In the camera according to the present invention,
A film loading chamber for accommodating a film cartridge and a film take-up chamber are set apart from each other in the front-rear direction of the camera, and shooting light reflected by the mirror enters a film stretched between these two chambers. It is desirable that a photographing optical system be configured at the same time.

On the other hand, a photographic print system according to the present invention is a system for obtaining a photographic print from a film cartridge used in the camera according to the present invention.
From the photographic film subjected to the development processing, a printing means capable of printing an image recorded thereon and a mirror image thereof on a recording material, and information indicating the mirror image written in the information storage means of the film cartridge And a control means for controlling the printing means so as to print a mirror image of the recorded image for the film of the film cartridge in which the information indicating the mirror image is written in the information storage means. It is characterized by having.

The printing means includes a film image reading means for reading a film image formed on a photographic film which has been subjected to a development process to obtain an image signal, and recording a film image on a recording material based on the image signal. A print image output means for performing image processing and a signal inversion processing means for subjecting the image signal to signal processing for mirroring an image represented by the image signal are preferably used.

[0013]

In a general camera, the film loading chamber for accommodating a film cartridge and the film take-up chamber are arranged apart from each other in the left-right direction of the camera, so that the width of the camera body in the left-right direction is reduced. Is getting harder.

On the other hand, in the camera of the present invention,
A mirror that reflects the photographing light once is included in the photographing optical system, so the film loading chamber and the film winding chamber, which must be separated from each other, are arranged side by side in the front-back direction of the camera or in a direction close to it. It becomes possible to do. By doing so, the lateral width of the camera body can be reduced.

If the photographing light is reflected once and guided to the film, a mirror image of the subject is photographed on the film. However, in the camera of the present invention, since the information storage means of the film cartridge is provided with writing means for writing information indicating that the image shot on the film is a mirror image, the fact that the shot image is a mirror image is printed. Can tell the process.

In the photographic printing system according to the present invention, for a film of a film cartridge in which information indicating a mirror image is written in the information storage means, the printing means controls the mirror image of the recorded image to be printed. Therefore, in printing, the subject is eventually recorded as a correct image which is not a mirror image.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows a plan sectional shape of a pseudo zoom camera according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 schematically shows a side sectional shape thereof.

As shown in the figure, this pseudo zoom camera has a body 1, a photographing lens 10 comprising a zoom lens, and a finder window 11, and a shutter button 20 and a zoom lever 21 on the upper surface of the body 1. ing.

As shown in FIG. 2, a finder optical system 30 is provided above the taking lens 10. The finder optical system 30 is a general relay type real image finder optical system, and includes an objective lens 35, a zoom lens 36,
37, a relay lens 38, a focusing plate 39 on which a finder image is formed, a field plate 40 indicating a range to be photographed, an eyepiece 41, and the like, which extend long in the front-rear direction of the camera body 1. I have.

A mirror 9 is provided behind the photographing lens 10. The photographing light is reflected by the mirror 9 to bend the optical path 90 ° in the horizontal direction, and then enters a photographic film 51 described later.

FIG. 3 shows a film cartridge 50 used in the pseudo zoom camera. This film cartridge 50 is made of a relatively wide negative type photographic film such as a brownie film.
With cartridge 51 wound around spool 52, cartridge 53
It is housed inside. And this cartridge
A storage element 54 formed of an IC memory chip is attached to a part of the outer surface of the 53.

As shown in FIG. 1, a film loading chamber 1a for accommodating the film cartridge 50 and a film winding chamber 1b are provided in the camera body 1 so as to be separated from each other in the front-rear direction of the camera. By arranging the film loading chamber 1a and the film winding chamber 1b which need to be separated from each other in this manner, the width of the camera body 1 in the left-right direction can be reduced.

FIG. 4 shows a main electric circuit of the pseudo zoom camera. As shown, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 60 that controls the basic operation of the pseudo zoom camera includes a release switch 62, a zoom switch 63,
Signals are input from a main switch 64 and a sensor (which controls various sensors and are shown as such) 65.

The CPU 60 includes, for example, an LCD (liquid crystal display) 66 for displaying various information in a viewfinder, a photometric device 67 for determining an appropriate exposure, an AF circuit 68, a strobe 69, and drivers 70, 71 and 72. Are connected, and their operation is controlled by the CPU 60, respectively.

The driver 70 drives a film winding motor 74 and a lens driving motor 75. The driver 71 has a shutter drive motor 76
And a reflector drive motor 77 that moves a reflector (reflector) that changes the light distribution characteristics of the strobe light 69. The driver 72 drives the zoom drive motor 78 and the finder drive motor 79.

The photographing lens 10 is a zoom drive motor
A predetermined number of lenses are moved in the direction of the optical axis by a known cam mechanism receiving a rotational force of 78, and the focal length changes. In the finder optical system 30, the zoom lenses 36 and 37 are moved in the optical axis direction by a known cam mechanism that receives the rotational force of the finder drive motor 79, and the focal length changes. In FIG. 2, for the zoom lenses 36 and 37, the solid line indicates the WIDE end position, and the broken line indicates the TELE end position.

Next, the operation of the pseudo zoom camera will be described. When the photographing light is reflected once by the mirror 9 and guided to the photographic film 51 as described above, a mirror image of the subject is photographed on the film 51. In order to correct this in a later printing process, when the film cartridge 50 is loaded in the film loading chamber 1a, the CPU 60 writes information G indicating that the image is a mirror image photographing in the storage element 54 thereof. The writing of this information may be performed in a contact manner via a contact point or in a non-contact manner.

Hereinafter, photographing will be described. In this pseudo zoom camera, a photographing lens 10 having a zoom magnification of 3 is applied. On the other hand, as the finder optical system 30, a zoom optical system having a zoom magnification of 6 is used. That is, in this case, a finder optical system 30 having a zoom magnification higher than that of the photographic lens 10 is used as the finder optical system 30 that is not involved in the quality of the captured image.

In the range of the zoom magnifications 1 to 3 of the photographing lens 10, the angle of view of the viewfinder display image and the photographing angle of view are changed in conjunction with the zooming operation, similarly to a normal camera. When the zooming operation is further performed on the TELE side beyond this range, only the display image of the finder optical system 30 changes the angle of view while the shooting angle of view remains constant. This control is performed by the CPU 60 of FIG. Hereinafter, the control will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 shows the flow of the overall control processing by the CPU 60. First, when the overall control process starts in Step P10, it is determined in Step P11 whether or not there is a change in the state of various switches of the camera. If there is no change in the switch, the internal clock is updated in step P13, and the process proceeds to step P11.
Return to

If it is determined in step P11 that a switch change has occurred, then in step P12, it is determined whether the switch is the main switch 64 (see FIG. 4). If so, then in step P14, the main switch change from OFF to O
It is determined whether the change is to N.

If it is determined that this is the case, then in step P15, an OPEN process for setting the zoom type photographing lens 10 to the standby state is performed, and then, in step P16, a process for setting the OPEN flag is performed. . On the other hand, in step P14, the change of the main switch is changed from ON to OFF.
If it is determined that the change to
After the CLOSE process for setting the zoom type photographing lens 10 to the retracted state is performed in step P18, in step P18, the OPE
Processing for resetting the N flag is performed.

After the OPEN flag is set or reset, or when it is determined in step P12 that the switch having changed is not the main switch 64,
The process shifts to Step P19. In this step P19, the OP
It is determined whether or not the EN flag is set, and if not, the process returns to Step P11. If the OPEN flag has been set, then in step P20, it is determined whether or not the zoom switch 63 (see FIG. 4) has been operated.

If the zoom switch 63 has not been operated, the process proceeds to step P22 described later. On the other hand, if it is determined that the zoom switch 63 has been operated, step P21
, A zoom process is performed. This zoom processing will be described later in detail.

Next, in step P22, it is determined whether or not the release switch 62 (see FIG. 4) has been operated. If the release switch 62 has not been operated, the process returns to step P11. If the release switch 62 has been operated, the release process is performed in step P23, and the process returns to step P11.

Next, the zoom processing performed in step P21 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown, when this subroutine processing is started in step P30, it is next determined in step P31 whether or not the operation of the zoom switch 63 is for the TELE side.

If the zoom switch 63 has been operated to the TELE side, in step P32 the finder optical system
A process for zooming the TELE side by a predetermined amount is performed.
This zooming is performed by operating the finder drive motor 79 by the driver 72. If it is determined that the operation of the zoom switch 63 is not to the TELE side, that is, if the zoom switch 63 is operated to the WIDE side, in step P33, the finder optical system 30 is zoomed to the WIDE side by a predetermined amount. Processing is performed.

After the zooming process toward the TELE side or the WIDE side is performed as described above, next, in step P34, it is determined whether or not the zoom switch 63 is continuously operated. If the zoom switch 63 is continuously operated, in step P35, it is determined whether or not the finder optical system 30 has reached the telephoto end position.
If so, the operation of the finder drive motor 79 is stopped in step P37.

If it is determined that the finder optical system 30 has not reached the TELE end position, it is determined in step P36 whether or not the finder optical system 30 has reached the WIDE end position. For example, in step P37, the operation of the finder drive motor 79 is stopped.

If it is determined that the finder optical system 30 has not reached the WIDE end position, the flow of processing is step P
Returning to 34, the same processing as described above is repeated. In this step P34, the zoom switch 63
If it is determined that is not operated, step P37
In, the operation of the finder drive motor 79 is stopped.

When the finder drive motor 79 is stopped in this way, if the finder optical system 30 is in the range of the zoom magnifications 1 to 3, the zoom position of the photographing lens 10 is also changed from the zoom magnification 1 as described above. 3 and is in a state where an image having the same angle of view as the viewfinder display image can be taken. On the other hand, when the finder optical system 30 is in the range of zoom magnifications 3 to 6, the photographing lens 10
Is always at the TELE end position.

Next, in step P38, the zoom position of the finder optical system 30 is detected. This detection is performed using, for example, the output of a linear encoder that detects the positions of the zoom lenses 36 and 37.

Next, in step P39, based on the zoom position of the finder optical system 30, the image range ratio between the image displayed in the finder field frame and the photographed image is calculated. The calculated image range ratio is temporarily stored in a predetermined memory (not shown) in association with the frame number to be photographed. Thereafter, in step P40, the subroutine processing relating to the zooming is completed, and the processing returns to the flow of FIG.

Next, the release process in step P23 shown in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown, when this subroutine processing is started in step P50, a battery check is performed in step P51. In the next step P52, the quality of the result of the battery check is determined. If the battery does not meet the required performance, step P
In 53, the effect is displayed in the viewfinder, for example.
In step P62, this subroutine processing ends.

If it is determined in step P52 that the result of the battery check is good, then in steps P54, 55,
At 56, lens driving processing for automatic focusing, photometry, and focusing is sequentially performed.

Next, in step P57, it is determined whether or not the shutter button 20 (see FIG. 2) has reached the predetermined depressed position P1, and if not, the subroutine processing is terminated in step P62, and the processing is terminated as shown in FIG. Return to the flow.

If the shutter button 20 has reached the pressed position P1, then in step P58, the shutter button 20 is pressed at a predetermined pressed position P2 deeper than the pressed position P1.
Is determined, and if not, the process returns to step P57. If the shutter button 20 has reached the pressed position P2, then a release is made in step P59, and the photographing is completed.

Next, in step P60, the information H of the image range ratio calculated in step P39 of FIG. 6 and stored in the memory in association with the frame number is stored in the storage element 54 of the cartridge 53 (see FIG. 3). Transferred and written.

Thereafter, in step P61, the film 51 is fed by one frame, and then in step P62, this subroutine processing is ended, and the processing returns to the flow of FIG.

The photographed cartridge 53 is taken out of the camera body 1 and subjected to a developing process at a developing shop in a city, for example, and the photographic latent image recorded on the photographic film 51 is visualized. From the negative film thus formed, a photographic print is formed using predetermined recording paper. At this time, a pseudo zoom process is performed as appropriate according to the information stored in the storage element 54.
Hereinafter, the pseudo zoom process will be described in detail.

FIG. 8 shows an outline of a photographic print system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system includes an image handling apparatus 101 and a photographic printer 102 connected thereto.

In the present embodiment, the image handling apparatus 101 is a general-purpose personal computer in which a dedicated program is incorporated, and stores, as peripheral devices, a film scanner for reading the developed photographic film 51A and the photographic film 51A. Element 54 of cartridge 53 (see FIG. 3)
And reading means 103 for reading information stored in the storage means. Further, the image handling apparatus 101 is provided with a CD-R, a Zi
A media drive such as p is built in or externally provided. Also, a communication facility (not shown) for exchanging image data with another computer via the network 104 is provided.

The photographic printer 102 is a known digital photographic printer, which receives image data and output instruction information (for example, the number of prints, size, etc.) from the image handling device 101 and performs print output based on these. .

In the above system, the image handling device 10
1 is for performing predetermined image processing on an image signal (image data) captured from the developed photographic film 51A,
This is transferred to the photo printer 102 and the CD-R
And the like on the medium 106. Further, the information G and H stored in the storage element 54 read by the reading means 103 are input to the image handling apparatus 101 from the reading means 103.

Next, the configuration of this system will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Note that among the components shown in FIG. 9, the functions related to image processing may be realized as the functions of the image handling apparatus 101 or the photographic printer 1.
02 or may be incorporated as a function of a film scanner, and therefore FIG. 9 will be described without associating it with FIG.

As shown in the figure, the photographic image captured by the scanner 110 is processed by various image processing means 111 to 116, and then output as a photographic print by the printer 102.

The setup gradation / color processing means 111 is means for automatically determining whether the exposure is under or over, and correcting the exposure to an appropriate value. The enlargement / reduction unit 112 is a unit that converts the pixel density in order to adapt the size of the print image to the width of the recording material (for example, roll-shaped print paper), and for pseudo zoom processing. The image inversion processing means 113 is means for processing the image signal so as to invert (mirror image) the image carried by the image signal, and the granularity suppression type sharpness enhancement processing means 114 is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-22460. This is means for performing a graininess suppression type sharpness enhancement process as described in (1).

Further, in addition to the above series of image processing, 3D conversion processing means for image data for print output
By 115 and 116, color conversion is performed according to the characteristics of the printer. The 3D conversion processing differs depending on whether the read film is a negative film or a reversal film.

Next, a description will be given of the pixel density conversion for the pseudo zoom process performed by the scaling means 112. The storage information H for each photographed frame is input from the reading means 103 to the scaling means 112. As described above, the storage information H indicates the image range ratio between the captured image and the viewfinder display image. The enlargement / reduction unit 112 performs enlargement / reduction (pixel density conversion) based on the image range ratio so as to obtain a print image having the same angle of view as the viewfinder display image.
Perform

At this time, the image photographed when the finder optical system 30 is set in the range of the zoom magnifications 1 to 3 has the same angle of view as the finder display image as described above. The relationship between the sizes of the print images is as shown in (1) and (2) of FIG. That is, in this case, the recorded image of the frame F on the developed photographic film 51A shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), print processing for reproducing the recording material 200 of a predetermined size as it is is performed.

On the other hand, for an image photographed when the finder optical system 30 is set in the range of zoom magnification 3 to 6, the relationship between the size of the film recorded image and the size of the printed image is shown in FIG. And (3), and the pseudo zoom process is performed appropriately.

As described above, according to the pseudo zoom camera and the photographic print system, it is as if a photographic lens with a zoom magnification of 6 was used while using a photographic lens 10 with an actual zoom magnification of 3. You can get a photo print.

Next, the image inversion processing by the image inversion processing means 113 will be described. When the reading unit 103 reads the storage information G from the storage element 54 of the film cartridge 50 and inputs it to the image inversion processing unit 113, the image inversion processing unit 113 sends the image signal to the film 51A of the cartridge 53 as described above. Perform inversion processing.

This storage information G indicates that a mirror image of the subject is photographed on the film 51A of the cartridge 53. Therefore, if the image signal obtained from such a film 51A is further subjected to inversion processing, the subject image in the photographic print is not a mirror image but a correct image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan sectional view showing a pseudo zoom camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side sectional view of the pseudo zoom camera.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a photographic film cartridge used in the camera.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration related to electrical control of the pseudo zoom camera.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of a control process according to the configuration of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing in detail a part of the flow of the control process of FIG. 5;

7 is a flowchart showing another part of the flow of the control processing of FIG. 5 in detail.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a photographic print system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a main part of the photo print system.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating pseudo zoom processing by the photo print system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 9 Mirror 10 Shooting lens 11 Viewfinder window 20 Shutter button 21 Zoom lever 30 Viewfinder optical system 35 Objective lens 36, 37 Zoom lens 38 Relay lens 39 Focus plate 40 Field plate 41 Eyepiece 50 Film cartridge 51 Photo film 51A Developed photographic film 52 Spool 53 Cartridge 54 Storage element 60 CPU 62 Release switch 63 Zoom switch 64 Main switch 65 Sensor 66 LCD (Liquid crystal display) 67 Metering device 68 AF circuit 69 Strobe 70, 71, 72 Driver 74 Film winding motor 75 Lens drive motor 76 Shutter Drive motor 77 Reflector drive motor 78 Zoom drive motor 79 Viewfinder drive motor 101 Image handling device 102 Photo printer 103 Reading means 110 Scanner 111 Setup gradation / color processing means 112 Enlargement / reduction means 113 Image inversion Management means 200 recording material

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor, Chief Ryosei 3-11-46 Izumi, Asaka-shi, Saitama Prefecture Inside Fujisha Shin Film Co., Ltd. Fujisha Shin Film Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A camera using a film cartridge containing a photographic film and provided with an information storage means, comprising: a mirror for reflecting a photographic light once, and projecting a mirror image of a subject on the photographic film. A camera comprising: an optical system; and writing means for writing information indicating that an image photographed on a film is a mirror image into information storage means of the film cartridge. 2. A film loading chamber for accommodating a film cartridge and a film take-up chamber are set apart from each other in the front-rear direction of the camera. 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the photographing optical system is configured to receive light. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the writing unit is configured to write information indicating an image range ratio between an image displayed in an area indicating a shooting range of a viewfinder and a shot image to the information storage unit. The camera according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. A system for obtaining a photographic print from a film cartridge used in a camera according to claim 1, wherein the image is recorded from the photographic film which has been subjected to a development process. And a printing means capable of printing a mirror image thereof on a recording material; reading means written in the information storage means of the film cartridge to read the information indicating the mirror image; and information indicating the mirror image. A photographic printing system comprising: a control unit for controlling the printing unit so as to print a mirror image of a recorded image of the film of the film cartridge written in the information storage unit. 5. A printing device comprising: a film image reading unit for reading a film image formed on the photographic film having undergone a development process to obtain an image signal; and the printing unit printing the film image on a recording material based on the image signal. 5. The photographic print system according to claim 4, comprising: a print image output unit for recording; and an image inversion processing unit for subjecting the image signal to signal processing for mirroring an image indicated by the image signal. 6. A printing means for printing a photographed image from a developed photographic film on a predetermined image forming area of a recording material with a changeable enlargement / reduction ratio, and written in an information storage means of the film cartridge. A reading unit for reading information indicating an image range ratio between a display image of the finder and a photographed image; and a print enlargement / reduction ratio by the printing unit based on the read information. 6. A photographic print system according to claim 4, further comprising: a scaling ratio control unit for setting a value to be printed in the image forming area without any change.