JP2000267151A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a camera capable of obtaining appropriate exposure in spite of simple constitution by switching a stroboscopic emitted light quantity control system according as preliminary light emission is performed or not. SOLUTION: This camera is provided with a stroboscopic light emitting part 8 capable of executing preliminary light emission before normal light emission and an AF sensor 12a receiving subject light passing through a photographing lens 1 and outputting a signal for focusing. In the case of executing the preliminary light emission by the light emitting part 8, the sensor 12a is actuated to decide the light quantity in stroboscopic normal light emission performed at the time of exposure according to the result obtained by evaluating reflected light by the preliminary light emission.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera having a built-in flash device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the following methods have been developed and put into practical use as automatic exposure control methods for flash photography by a camera.

[0003] First, the flashmatic system has been put to practical use. This is to determine the aperture value at the time of flash shooting in accordance with the guide number including the ISO information of the flash device and the subject distance, and is a mainstream control in the LS camera.

[0004] Second, the TTL light control method has been put to practical use. This is a single-lens reflex camera (SLR camera) that controls the amount of light in real time during flash photography by using a flash unit with a variable light emission amount and TTL light control means for integrating the reflected light from the film surface during exposure. , And a multi-segment dimming system is also in practical use.

In addition to the above, an external light type auto strobe, a guide number control method, and the like are also employed. The external light type auto strobe controls the amount of light emission by a strobe device capable of inputting an ISO value and an aperture value. The guide number control method is a modification of the flashmatic method, and is a light control strobe. Is used.

On the other hand, according to recent technical trends, pre-flash emission is required to reduce the red-eye phenomenon, and as a result, flash devices capable of dimming tend to be used frequently.

An example of this is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-289.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 925 discloses a technique in which pre-flash emission is performed before main emission by a flash device, and a light emission amount in main emission is calculated based on a photometric light amount by the pre-flash emission.

[0008]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, when calculating the amount of light emission at the time of main light emission by flash pre-emission, the light amount of the entire object field is integrated, so that a new TTL light control integration is required. A circuit had to be provided. Further, in the technique of adjusting light during main light emission, it is difficult for the AF sensor to integrate through the sub-mirror when the quick return mirror is flipped up, and it is necessary to provide a dedicated integrated circuit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to provide a camera which is capable of obtaining an appropriate exposure amount with a simple structure, in relation to the above-mentioned strobe light amount control. Is to do.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a strobe device capable of performing a pre-flash prior to a main flash, and a strobe device which receives subject light passing through a taking lens. A photoelectric conversion element that outputs a focus adjustment signal, and a flash unit that is used at the time of exposure according to the result of evaluating the reflected light due to the pre-emission by operating the photoelectric conversion element when performing pre-emission of the strobe device. Means for determining the amount of emitted light.

In a second aspect, a strobe device capable of performing pre-emission prior to main emission, a photoelectric conversion element for receiving a subject light passing through a photographic lens and outputting a focus adjustment signal, and the photoelectric conversion element Distance calculating means for obtaining a subject distance based on the output of the above; flashmatic calculating means for determining the amount of strobe light emission at the time of exposure based on at least the subject distance; and The strobe light amount of the main emission determined based on the evaluation result of the reflected light by the pre-emission is adopted, and if the pre-emission is not performed, the strobe light amount of the main emission determined by the flashmatic operation unit is adopted. And a camera.

According to a third aspect, there is provided the camera according to the first or second aspect, wherein the pre-emission is a pre-emission performed for reducing a red-eye effect. In a fourth aspect, there is provided the camera according to the first or second aspect, wherein the pre-emission is a pre-emission performed for a focusing operation.

According to the above-described first to fourth aspects, the following operations are provided.

That is, in the first aspect of the present invention, preflash is performed by the strobe device prior to main flash, and subject light having passed through the photographing lens is received by the photoelectric conversion element, and a focus adjustment signal is output. When performing pre-emission of the strobe device, the amount of main strobe light to be performed at the time of exposure is determined based on the result of evaluating the reflected light due to the pre-emission by operating the photoelectric conversion element.

In the second mode, a pre-flash is performed by a strobe device prior to a main flash, a subject light passed through a photographic lens is received by a photoelectric conversion element, a focus adjustment signal is output, and a distance calculation is performed. Means for obtaining the subject distance based on the output of the photoelectric conversion element, determining the amount of strobe light emission at the time of exposure based on at least the subject distance by the flashmatic calculating means, and performing pre-emission by the strobe device. Adopts the strobe light amount of the main light emission determined based on the evaluation result of the reflected light by the pre-emission, and when the pre-emission is not performed, the strobe light amount of the main light emission determined by the flashmatic operation means Is adopted.

In a third aspect, in the first or second aspect, the pre-emission is a pre-emission performed to reduce a red-eye phenomenon, and in a fourth aspect, the pre-emission is performed in the first or second aspect. In the aspect, the pre-emission is a pre-emission performed for a focusing operation.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an optical system of a camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, a photographing lens 1 is disposed at a predetermined position, and on the optical path of subject light incident through the photographing lens 1,
A movable mirror 2 is provided. A sub-mirror 3 is provided on the rear surface of the movable mirror 2, and an AF sensor 4 is provided on an optical path of light reflected by the sub-mirror 3.

A pentaprism 6 is provided on the optical path of the light reflected by the movable mirror 2 via a focusing screen 5. A finder section is provided on the optical path of the light reflected by the pentaprism 6. 7 are provided. In addition, a strobe light emitting unit 8 such as a Xe tube is provided at a predetermined position of the camera.

In such a configuration, the subject light incident through the photographing lens 1 is reflected upward by the movable mirror 2, and is reflected on the photographer's eyes via the focusing screen 5, the pentaprism 6, and the finder section 7. Be guided.

On the other hand, the light transmitted through the movable mirror 2 is
Further, the light is reflected downward by the sub-mirror 3 and forms an image on the AF sensor 4. The AF sensor 4 receives the subject light and makes an output according to the intensity of the received light.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the camera according to the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the AF sensor 12a
And the interface circuit 12b constitute a charge storage type photoelectric conversion unit 12. The CPU 11, which is a central control unit that controls the entire system, includes the charge storage type photoelectric conversion unit 12, the photometry sensor 13, the flash control unit 14, the shutter control unit 15, the lens drive circuit 18, and the mirror drive circuit 1.
9, is electrically connected to the switch detection unit 20.

The flash control unit 14 is connected to the flash light emitting unit 8. The shutter control unit 15 is connected to a front curtain holding magnet 16 and a rear curtain holding magnet 17. In this example, an SLR camera having a focal plane shutter is assumed. The lens driving circuit 18 is connected to the taking lens 1 via a mechanical mechanism, and the mirror driving circuit 19 is connected to the movable mirror 2 via a mechanical mechanism. The switch detection unit 20 is electrically connected to a first release switch 1R and a second release switch 2R.

In such a configuration, the AF sensor 12
The object light is received by a, and an output signal corresponding to the light intensity is sent to the CPU 11 via the interface circuit 12b. Further, the CPU 11 also receives subject luminance information obtained by the photometric sensor 13. Further, the state of the first release switch 1R which is turned on when the release switch is half-pressed and the state of the second release switch 2R which is turned on when the release switch is fully pressed are also detected by the switch detecting section 20 and are sent to the CPU 11 as appropriate.

Further, the CPU 11 controls the strobe control unit 14 to drive the strobe light emitting unit 8 at the time of photographing or focus detection. Further, by controlling the shutter control unit 15 to supply electricity to the front curtain holding magnet 16 and the rear curtain holding magnet 17, the focal plane shutter is opened and closed. Further, the photographing lens 1 is driven via the lens driving circuit 18. The driving of the photographing lens 1 includes driving for focusing and zooming. Further, the CPU 11
Controls the mirror driving circuit 19 to drive the movable mirror 2. That is, at the time of viewfinder observation, the optical system is driven so as to incline at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the optical axis of the photographing lens, reflect the light flux upward and guide it to the focusing screen 5, jump up for photographing and retreat from the photographing optical path, At the end of photographing, driving is performed so as to return to the original position again.

Next, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a camera that further embodies the configuration of FIG.

In FIG. 3, a main CPU (hereinafter referred to as a CP)
Reference numeral 21) controls the peripheral blocks by sequentially executing programs stored in an internal ROM (not shown) in advance. The CPU 21 is electrically connected to an auto focus (hereinafter, referred to as AF) IC 22 serving as a photoelectric conversion unit. The AF IC 22 employs a TTL phase difference detection method for automatic focus adjustment.

The AFIC 22 transmits the subject light having passed through the photographing lens 48 via an AF optical system 47 having a condenser lens 46 and separator lenses 45L and 45R to photosensor arrays 44L and 44 disposed on the upper surface.
R, and performs processing such as light intensity integration and quantization, which will be described later.
Transferred to PU21.

Further, the photo sensor array 44L,
In the case where there is a variation in the characteristics of each element of the 44R, in consideration that accurate distance measurement information cannot be obtained as it is, information on the variation of the photosensor arrays 44L and 44R is stored in advance in the EEPROM 23 which is a nonvolatile recording element. The CPU 21 performs a correction calculation of the distance measurement information obtained from the AFIC 22 in advance.

Various adjustment values such as mechanical variations and variations in the electrical characteristics of various elements are stored in advance in the EEPROM 23, and these adjustment values are stored in the EEPROM as necessary.
It is configured so that various operations can be performed by sending it to the PU 21.

The CPU 21, the AFIC 22, and the EEPR
The exchange of data between the OMs 23 is performed by serial communication.

A data bag 25 is electrically connected to the CPU 21.
The date is imprinted on the film based on the control signal output from the control unit 21. In addition, this data back 2
The light quantity of the imprinting lamp 5 is configured to change stepwise according to the ISO sensitivity of the film.

The CPU 21 has an interface IC.
(Hereinafter, referred to as IFIC) 27 is connected so as to perform 4-bit parallel communication.
Measurement of subject brightness, measurement of camera internal temperature, waveform shaping of output signals from photo interrupters, etc., constant voltage drive control of motor, generation of various constant voltages such as temperature stabilization, temperature proportional voltage, remaining battery check, infrared It receives an optical remote control, controls motor driver ICs 28 and 29 described later, controls various LEDs, checks a power supply voltage, controls a booster circuit, and the like.

The IFIC 27 has a photometric silicon photodiode (hereinafter referred to as SPD) for measuring the brightness of the object.
43) are electrically connected. This SPD4
3 is that the light receiving surface is 2 in the center part of the screen and the peripheral part.
It is divided and configured to perform two types of photometry: spot photometry that performs photometry only at a part of the center of the screen, and average photometry that performs photometry using the entire screen.

When the SPD 43 outputs a current corresponding to the object brightness to the IFIC 27, the IFIC 27 converts the output from the SPD 43 into a voltage and transfers it to the CPU 21, and the CPU 21 performs exposure based on the information of the voltage. Arithmetic calculations and backlight determination are performed.

When a voltage proportional to the absolute temperature is output by a circuit built in the IFIC 27, the signal is A / D-converted by the CPU 21 and then output as a temperature measurement value of the camera internal temperature. The temperature value is used for correcting a mechanical member or an electric signal whose state changes according to the temperature.

Further, the waveform shaping of the photo interrupter or the like performed in the IFIC 27 is such that the photocurrent output from the photointerrupter or the photoreflector is compared with a reference current and output as a rectangular wave from the IFIC 27. At this time, noise is removed by giving the reference current a hysteresis. Also, IF
The IC 27 can also change the reference current and the hysteresis characteristics by communicating with the CPU 21.

The battery remaining amount check performed in the IFIC 27 is performed by dividing the voltage across the battery when a low resistance is connected to both ends of the battery and causing a current to flow therein (not shown) in the IFIC 27 and outputting the divided voltage to the CPU 21, The A / D conversion is performed in the CPU 21 to obtain an A / D value.

The reception of the infrared light remote control performed by the IFIC 27 uses the modulated infrared light emitted from the light emitting LED 41 of the remote control transmission unit 40 as a signal.
The reception is performed by the light receiving silicon photodiode 42 electrically connected to the IFIC 27. The output signal of the silicon photodiode 42 is
After processing such as waveform shaping is performed inside C27, the CPU
21.

The low voltage monitoring of the power supply voltage performed by the IFIC 27 is performed by providing a dedicated terminal for the IFIC 27, and when the power supply voltage input to the dedicated terminal falls below a prescribed value, the reset signal from the IFIC 27 is output. Is output to the CPU 21 to prevent runaway of the CPU 21 or the like.

The control of the booster circuit performed by the IFIC 27 is to operate the booster circuit when the power supply voltage falls below a predetermined value.

The IFIC 27 is electrically connected to a display LED 39 in a finder for issuing an end of AF distance measurement, a flash emission warning, etc., and an LED used in a photo interrupter and the like. L
The ON / OFF of the ED and the control of the light emission amount are performed by the communication between the CPU 21, the EEPROM 23, and the IFIC 27, and the IFIC 27 directly performs the control.

In addition, the IFIC 27 also performs constant voltage control of the motor. That is, the IF
A motor driver IC 28 is electrically connected to the IC 27. The motor driver IC 28 includes a shutter charge motor (SCM) 32 for feeding a film and charging a shutter, and a lens driving motor (LDM) for focus adjustment. ) 33, a motor for zooming the lens frame (ZM) 34, a booster circuit, a self-timer operation display LED, and the like.

The IFIC 27 receives a signal from the CPU 21 for controlling these operations, for example, "which device should be driven", "whether the motor should be rotated forward or reversely", and "whether to apply braking". The IFIC 27 controls the motor driver IC 28.

The shutter charge photo interrupter (SCPI) 35 detects whether the SC motor 32 is in the shutter charge, film winding or rewinding state by using a clutch lever. The detected information is sent to the CPU 21
Is forwarded to.

The amount of extension of the lens is detected by a lens driving photo-interrupter (LDPI) 36 for focus adjustment attached to the LD motor 33, and its output is subjected to waveform shaping by the IFIC 27. To be forwarded to.

Further, the feed-out amount of the zooming amount of the lens frame is determined by a photo interrupter (ZMP) for zooming the lens frame.
I) 38 and a photo reflector (ZMPR) 37.

That is, when the mirror frame is located between the telephoto end and the wide end, the ZMPR 37 detects the reflection of the silver sticker attached to the mirror frame, and inputs the output to the CPU 21. , Tele end and wide end are detected. The ZMPI 38 is a ZM motor 34.
To detect its operating state.
After the output is shaped by the IFIC 27, the
1, the zooming amount from the telephoto end or the wide end is detected.

The CPU 21 has a motor driver IC 2
9 is electrically connected to the motor driver IC.
Reference numeral 29 denotes an AV motor (AVM) 30, which is a stepping motor for driving the aperture adjustment unit, driven by a control signal from the CPU 21.

The operation state of the AV motor 20 is detected by an aperture photo interrupter (AVPI) 31. The output of the AVPI 31 is an IFIC 27
Is output to the CPU 21 to detect the aperture opening position.

A liquid crystal display panel 24 is electrically connected to the CPU 21. This liquid crystal display panel 24
A signal sent from the CPU 21 displays the number of film frames, a shooting mode, a strobe mode, an aperture value, a remaining battery level, and the like.

A strobe circuit 26 serving as a light source is electrically connected to the CPU 21. The strobe circuit 26 emits light from a light emitting tube when the brightness of the subject is insufficient during photographing or AF distance measurement. The IFIC 27 controls the IFIC 27 based on a signal from the CPU 21.

Further, the CPU 21 has a first release switch R1SW and a second release switch R2.
SW, zoom up switch ZUSW, zoom down switch ZDSW, self switch SELFSW, spot switch SPOTSW, portrait mode switch PCT1SW, night view mode switch PCT2SW, landscape mode switch PCT3SW, macro mode switch P
CT4SW, program switch PSW, strobe switch STSW, AV priority switch AVSW, power switch PWSW, panorama switch PANSW, back cover switch BKSW, shutter charge switch SCSW, mirror up switch MUSW, and DX switch DXSW are electrically connected.

The first release switch R1SW
Is a switch that is turned on when the release button is half-pressed. When the switch is turned on, a distance measurement operation is performed. The second release switch R2SW is a switch that is turned on when the release button is fully pressed, and when this switch is turned on, a photographing operation is performed based on various measured values.

The zoom up switch ZUSW and the zoom down switch ZDSW are switches for performing zooming of the lens frame. When the zoom up switch ZUSW is turned on, the zoom down switch ZDSW is moved in the long focal direction.
Is turned on, zooming is performed in the short focus direction.

The self-switch SELFSW is a switch which, when turned on, enters a self-timer photographing mode or a standby state of the remote controller. In a state where this switch is turned on, self-timer shooting is performed when the second release switch R2SW is turned on, and remote control shooting is performed when a shooting operation is performed by the remote control transmission unit 30. In order to confirm the reception of a remote control signal, the amount of light emitted from the strobe, pre-flash integration, and main flash is calculated.

The spot switch SPOTSW is a switch which, when turned on, enters a "spot metering mode" in which metering is performed only at a part of the center of the photographing screen.
This spot photometry is performed by an AF sensor described later. The normal photometry when the spot switch SPOTSW is turned off is the evaluation photometry performed by the photometric SPD 33.

Further, the portrait mode switch PCT1SW, night scene mode switch PCT2SW, landscape mode switch PCT3SW, macro mode switch P
The CT4SW and the program switch PSW are switches for “program photographing mode”, and the photographer selects a mode according to photographing conditions. The portrait mode switch PCT1SW is a switch that enters a “portrait mode” when turned on. When the portrait mode switch PCT1SW is entered, the aperture and shutter speed are adjusted so that the depth of field becomes shallow within an appropriate exposure range. decide.

The night scene mode switch PCT2SW is
When the switch is turned on, the switch enters a “night view mode”. When the mode is entered, the value is set one step lower than a value of an appropriate exposure at the time of normal photographing. The landscape mode switch PCT3SW is a switch that enters a “landscape mode” when turned on. When the mode is entered, the depth of field becomes as deep as possible within an appropriate exposure range.
Determine the aperture and shutter speed values. The macro mode switch PCT4SW is a switch that enters a “macro mode” when turned on, and is used during close-up photography.

The portrait mode switch PCT1SW, night scene mode switch PCT2SW, landscape mode switch PCT3SW, macro mode switch PT
The CT4SW is configured so that two or more cannot be selected at the same time.

Then, the program switch PSW
Is a changeover switch for entering a normal “program shooting mode” when turned on. When the PSW is pressed, the PCT1SW, PCT2SW, PCT
Reset of TS3W and PCT4SW, and A
The V priority switch AVSW is reset. The AV priority switch AVSW is a switch that sets the shooting mode to the “AV priority program mode” when turned on. The AV priority program mode is a mode in which a photographer determines an AV value and determines a shutter speed by a program according to the AV value.
In this mode, the PCT2SW and PCT4SW do not have the above-described functions and become AV value setting switches.
That is, PCT2SW is a switch for increasing the AV value, and PCT4SW is a switch for decreasing the AV value.

The above-mentioned strobe switch STSW is a switch for switching a strobe light emission mode, and is usually "automatic light emission mode (AUTO)", "red eye reduction automatic light emission mode (A
UTO-S) "," Forced flash mode (FILL-I)
N) "and" flash off mode (OFF) ".

The power switch PWSW is a switch for turning on the main power supply of the camera. When the switch is turned on, an image is taken.

The panorama switch (PANSW) is
This is a switch for detecting whether the shooting state is panoramic shooting or normal shooting, and is configured to be turned on during panoramic shooting.

When the panorama switch PANSW is turned on and the shooting mode is panorama, a photometric correction calculation and the like are performed. This is because the upper and lower parts of the shooting screen are masked during panoramic shooting, and part of the photometric sensor is also masked along with this,
This is because accurate photometry cannot be performed as it is.

The back cover switch BKSW is a switch for detecting the open / closed state of the back cover, and is configured to turn off when the back cover is closed. When the back cover switch BKSW shifts from ON to OFF, film loading starts.

The above-mentioned shutter charge switch SCSW
Is a switch for detecting shutter charge. The mirror up switch MUSW is a switch for detecting a mirror up, and is configured to be turned on when the mirror is up. The above DX switch DX
SW is a switch for reading a DX code indicating the film sensitivity printed on the film cartridge and detecting the presence / absence of film loading, and is composed of five switch groups (not shown).

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the AFIC 22.

In FIG. 4, the AFIC 22 includes photodiode arrays FDL and FDR and a pixel amplifier circuit EA.
C, a shift register SR, and a sensor control circuit SCC. Each of the photodiode arrays FDL and FDR has a plurality of photodiodes. The photodiode arrays FDL and FDR generate electric charges corresponding to the photoelectric incident on each photodiode and output the charges to the pixel amplifier circuit EAC independently.

The pixel amplifier circuit EAC independently amplifies the charges generated by the photodiodes of the photodiode arrays FDL and FDR, and generates a voltage signal for the generated charges. The pixel amplifier circuit EAC generates a monitor output according to the maximum value of the charges generated by each photodiode, that is, the output of the pixel amplifier circuit corresponding to the photodiode with the largest incident light amount, and outputs the monitor output to the monitor output terminal MDATA. I do. The sensor control circuit SCC is
Each signal (CEN, RES, END, C
LK), the internal operation of the AFIC 22 is controlled.
Further, the shift register SR receives the photodiode array FDL in response to the clock signal CLK from the CPU 21.
And the output of the pixel amplifier circuit EAC corresponding to each photodiode of the FDR is sequentially output to the sensor data output terminal SDAT.
Output to A.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing the detailed configuration of the photodiode arrays FDL and FDR of the AFIC 22 and the pixel amplifier circuit EAC.

The photodiode arrays FDL and F
DR is the photodiode PD1, PD2, P
D3... PDn. Further, the pixel amplifier circuit EAC has the same circuit for each photodiode, and therefore, only the part corresponding to the photodiode PD1 will be described here.

In the first-stage amplifier, an integrating circuit is constituted by an inverting amplifier A11, an integrating capacitor C11 and a switch SW11. The charge generated in the photodiode PD1 starts to be accumulated in the integration capacitor C11 by turning off the switch SW11, and the output V corresponding to the accumulation level is output.
s1 is generated.

Further, in the second-stage amplifier, a voltage VS2 obtained by further amplifying the output of the first-stage amplifier VS1 by -C21 / C31 times.
Is generated. The switch SW21 is a switch SW21.
It is turned off almost simultaneously with 11. Switch SWSR1 is 2
This switch connects the stage amplifier output VS2 and the sensor data output SDATA, and is turned on by a signal from the shift register SR.
The second stage amplifier output VS2 of each pixel amplifier circuit is output to TA. Switches SW11, SW12,... For each pixel
, And SW21, SW22,...
1. Operates in synchronization with all pixels by R2.

The monitor circuit is composed of PMOS transistors PM1, PM2,..., PMn and a resistor Rp. Each PMOS transistor is used as a source follower, and follows a substantially peak level of the second-stage amplifier output VS2 of each pixel amplifier circuit, and outputs a peak output to the monitor output MDATA, that is, of the photodiode arrays FDL and FDR. A monitor output corresponding to the pixel having the maximum incident light amount is generated.

Next, the operation of the CPU 21 and the AFIC 22 will be described with reference to the timing chart of FIG. First, when the reset signal RES is received by the CPU 21,
In the sensor control circuit SCC, each block in the AFIC 22 is initialized, and the accumulation operation by the photodiode arrays FDL and FDR and the pixel amplification circuit EAC is started. During the accumulation operation, the pixel amplifier circuit EAC outputs a monitor signal corresponding to the charge accumulation level to the monitor output MDATA. In the CPU 21, the monitor output MDATA is monitored by a built-in AD converter at any time, and when the level reaches an appropriate charge accumulation amount, an accumulation end signal END is output to the AFIC 22, and the accumulation operation is ended.

Next, the read clock C is output from the CPU 21.
LK is output to AFIC22. Then, the output voltage of the pixel amplifier circuit EAC corresponding to the accumulated charge of the photodiode of the photodiode array FDL is correspondingly changed by the shift register SR to the sensor data output SDAT.
A is sequentially output. In the CPU 21, the sensor data output SDATA is sequentially A / D-converted by a built-in AD converter.
The data is converted and stored in the internal RAM.

Hereinafter, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
The sequence of the camera according to the first embodiment will be described in detail.

When the first release switch R1 is turned on by half-pressing the release button (step S).
1), photometry by the photometry sensor 13 and exposure calculation are performed (step S2), and then distance measurement is performed (step S2).
3). At this time, the amount of reflected light from the subject is also integrated at the same time. Subsequently, the CPU 11 detects whether the subject brightness is low contrast or the subject is dark based on the photometric result (step S4).

If it is determined in step S4 that the contrast is low, a strobe auxiliary light is emitted to perform distance measurement and integration (step S5). Based on the result, the driving amount of the photographing lens 1 is determined. (Step S
6) The reflected light amount is detected based on the distance measurement / integration result (step S7). Then, the amount of main emission is calculated based on the information of the amount of reflected light (step S8), and the photographing lens 1 is driven by the lens driving circuit 18 to perform a predetermined focusing operation (step S9).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S4 that the contrast is not low, the driving amount of the photographing lens is calculated (step S10), a predetermined focusing operation is performed (step S11), and the flashmatic calculation is performed. Is performed (step S12). Here, based on the definition of the guide number (the product of the aperture and the irradiation distance is constant), the flash irradiation distance (photographing distance, lens extension amount) and the aperture are linked, the flash guide number is set, and the distance is set. To obtain the proper exposure.

Subsequently, the state of the second release switch 2R is detected (step S13). If the second release switch 2R is not turned on, the process returns to step S1 and repeats the above operation. On the other hand, when the second release switch 2R is turned on, the movable mirror is flipped up (step S14), the front curtain is driven (step S15), and it is determined whether a strobe is necessary (step S16). If the main flash light emission is required, it is detected whether or not the flash auxiliary light has been further emitted (step S17). If the flash emission is being performed, the light amount calculation result (step S8) (Step S19). If the light emission is not performed, the result of the flashmatic calculation (step S1)
The light amount is determined by 2) (step S19), and the main light emission is performed (step S20).

If it is determined in step S16 that the main flash is unnecessary, and after the main flash (step S20), the rear curtain is driven (step S21).
The movable mirror is lowered (step S22), and the shooting for one frame is completed.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The configuration of the camera according to this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment described above. Therefore, a duplicate description is omitted here, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals. An imaging sequence will be described.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the camera according to the second embodiment. This is basically the same as the first embodiment (FIG. 7), but differs in the sequence after the second release switch 2R is turned on in step S13.

That is, when the second release switch 2R is turned on, red-eye pre-emission and integration are performed (Step S).
30), the amount of reflected light is detected from the integrated value (step S3)
1) From this, the amount of main emission is calculated (step S3)
2).

Here, the red eye means that, when the optical axis of the camera and the optical axis of the strobe light are approximated, when the optical axis of the strobe light enters the eyeball through the pupil, infrared light is reflected by blood vessels in the eyeball. This means that the pupil portion is reproduced in red, and the red-eye pre-emission refers to intermittent light emission for preventing the red-eye phenomenon.

Since the subsequent sequence is the same as that of FIG. 7 (steps S14 to S22), detailed description is omitted here.

As described above, the second embodiment is characterized in that the amount of light during main emission is calculated based on the amount of reflected light during red-eye pre-emission.

In the main light emission in step S20, one of the light amount calculated from the reflected light amount by the strobe auxiliary light, the light amount calculated by the flashmatic operation, and the light amount calculated from the reflected light amount by the red-eye pre-emission is selected. Then, a sequence in which the main light emission is performed based on the light amount can be adopted.

In addition to the above, in a camera that emits a strobe when a remote control signal is received, the main light emission amount can be set based on the sensor integration result when the remote control response strobe is emitted.

The above embodiments of the present invention include the following inventions.

(1) Strobe means for irradiating the object with strobe light during the exposure operation, photoelectric conversion means for photoelectrically converting the luminous flux of the object passed through the taking lens to detect the amount of defocus of the object, An auxiliary light unit that irradiates the subject with focus adjusting auxiliary light in accordance with a detection result of the photoelectric conversion unit; and an exposure operation based on an output of the photoelectric conversion unit when the auxiliary light irradiation is performed. A light amount control means for controlling the light amount of the strobe means at the time of shooting.

(2) The camera according to (1), wherein the auxiliary light means is also used as the strobe light means.

(3) Photoelectric conversion means for photoelectrically converting the luminous flux of the subject passing through the photographing lens to detect the amount of defocus of the subject, and preliminary irradiation means for irradiating the subject with preliminary irradiation light prior to the exposure operation And a determining means for detecting an output of the photoelectric conversion means at the time of performing the preliminary irradiation and determining an amount of strobe light emission at the time of an exposure operation based on the detection result.

(4) Strobe light emitting means for irradiating the subject at the time of exposure, a distance measuring sensor for outputting a focusing signal based on the result of integrating the subject light passing through the photographing lens, and strobe light for the subject at the time of distance measuring Means for irradiating and determining the amount of strobe light emission at the time of exposure based on the signal output from the distance measurement sensor and the amount of strobe light emission.

(5) Strobe light emitting means for irradiating the subject at the time of exposure, a distance measuring sensor for outputting a focus signal based on the result of integration of the subject light passing through the photographing lens, and a red-eye prevention device prior to the exposure operation Means for determining the amount of strobe light emission at the time of exposure based on a signal output from the distance measuring sensor and the amount of strobe light emission when performing light emission.

(6) Strobe light emitting means for irradiating a subject at the time of exposure, a distance measuring sensor for outputting a focusing signal based on the result of integrating the subject light passing through the photographing lens, and an object based on the output of the distance measuring sensor Distance calculating means for calculating the distance, flashmatic calculating means for obtaining the amount of strobe light emission at the time of exposure according to the distance to the subject, and irradiating the subject with strobe light at the time of distance measurement, the signal output from the distance measuring sensor and the strobe Means for switching between a first light amount obtained from the amount of strobe light emission at the time of exposure based on the amount of light emission and a second light amount obtained from the amount of strobe light emission at the time of exposure by flashmatic operation, thereby obtaining the amount of strobe light emission during exposure. A camera comprising: (7) The strobe light emission amount determining means adopts the first calculation result when the strobe light is emitted before the exposure, and the second calculation result when the strobe light is not emitted before the exposure. The camera according to the above (6), wherein

(8) Strobe means for performing pre-emission before main issuance, distance measurement sensor for detecting a phase difference between subject images and outputting a focus signal, and integration of the distance measurement sensor in synchronization with pre-emission Means for starting operation and calculating a light emission amount at the time of main light emission based on a result of the integration.

(9) The camera according to the above (8), wherein the pre-light emission is light emission for reducing the red-eye phenomenon.

(10) The first light amount obtained from the integration result at the time of the pre-emission is compared with the second light amount obtained by the flashmatic operation based on the distance measurement data, and one of them is determined as the actual light amount. The camera according to (8), wherein the camera is selected as:

(11) The camera according to the above (8), wherein the pre-emission is a pre-emission of auxiliary light at the time of distance measurement.

(12) The camera according to (8), wherein the camera emits a strobe when a remote control signal is received, and the main light emission amount is set based on a sensor integration result at the time of the remote control response strobe light emission. camera.

According to the above-described embodiment, since the pre-flash emission is integrated by the AF sensor and the light quantity at the time of the main emission is determined based on the result, it is necessary to separately provide a dedicated TTL light control means. No, and when there is no pre-emission, since flashmatic control is used,
As a result, appropriate flash light control can always be performed regardless of the presence or absence of the pre-flash.

[0107]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the strobe light emission amount control method is switched depending on whether or not the pre-emission is performed, it is possible to provide a camera that has a simple configuration and can obtain an appropriate exposure amount.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an optical system of a camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system of the camera according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a camera that further embodies the configuration of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of an AFIC 22.

FIG. 5 shows a photodiode array FDL of the AFIC22.
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a detailed configuration of a pixel amplifier circuit and an FDR.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining operations of a CPU 21 and an AFIC 22;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the sequence of the camera according to the first embodiment in detail.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of the camera according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 photographing lens 2 movable mirror 3 sub-mirror 4 AF sensor 5 focusing screen 6 pentaprism 7 finder section 8 strobe light emitting section 11 CPU 12 charge storage type photoelectric conversion section 13 photometric sensor 14 strobe control section 15 shutter control section 16 front curtain holding magnet 17 Rear curtain holding magnet 18 Lens drive circuit 19 Mirror drive circuit 20 Switch detector

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A strobe device capable of pre-emission prior to main light emission, a photoelectric conversion element for receiving a subject light passing through a photographing lens and outputting a focus adjustment signal, and performing pre-emission of the strobe light device Means for determining the amount of main flash light emission performed at the time of exposure in accordance with a result of evaluating reflected light due to pre-emission by operating the photoelectric conversion element. 2. A strobe device capable of performing pre-emission prior to main light emission, a photoelectric conversion element for receiving a subject light passing through a photographing lens and outputting a focus adjustment signal, and based on an output of the photoelectric conversion element. Distance calculating means for determining a subject distance by means of: a flashmatic calculating means for determining a strobe light emission amount at the time of exposure based on at least the subject distance; and a reflection by the pre-flash when the pre-flash is performed by the strobe device. Means for adopting the strobe light amount of the main emission determined based on the evaluation result of light, and adopting the amount of the strobe light of the main emission determined by the flashmatic operation means when the pre-emission is not performed. A camera characterized by comprising: 3. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the pre-emission is a pre-emission performed for reducing a red-eye effect. 4. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the pre-emission is a pre-emission performed for a focusing operation.