JPH0625843B2 - Camera display - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device of a camera which illuminates a display device such as a liquid crystal display panel provided outside a camera body.

[Background of the Invention]

In recent years, a camera has been provided that can collectively display camera information such as shutter speed, ISO speed, number of shots, shooting mode, surveying mode, flash charging completion, lens mode, etc. on a display provided outside the camera body. There is.

A liquid crystal element (LCD) is generally used for such a display device, and the shutter speed, the number of shots, etc. are displayed numerically,
The film winding and rewinding conditions are displayed graphically.

However, since such a liquid crystal display panel is not provided with an illumination means, there is a problem that various displays are difficult to see when shooting at night or in a dark place.

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, there is a device in which an illumination means such as a lamp is auxiliary provided outside the liquid crystal display panel and the lamp is turned on to illuminate the liquid crystal display panel as needed. Proposed.

However, in such an illumination system, it is necessary to operate the lighting switch of the lamp to check the display state every time the display is switched, and there is a disadvantage that it is inconvenient and difficult to use.

[Object of the Invention]

The present invention has been made in view of such a point of view, and in accordance with the input of the display signal to the display for displaying the camera information, the display illuminating means such as a lamp is lit for a predetermined time to display the display state. It is an object of the present invention to provide a display device of a camera in which a display state can be easily confirmed in a dark place or the like only by changing the operation.

[Outline of Invention]

A display device for a camera according to the present invention includes an information setting operation member for manually setting shooting information, an information setting circuit for setting information by operating the operation member, and an information setting circuit. In a display device for a camera having liquid crystal display means for displaying the information outside the camera and illuminating means for illuminating the liquid crystal display means, detection means for detecting the operation of the operation member, and the detection means A driving circuit for driving the illuminating means while the operation of the operating member is detected, and a timer circuit for measuring a predetermined time after the operation of the operating member are provided, and the time measured by the timer circuit after the operation of the operating member is completed. The illuminating means is driven by the drive circuit.

Example of Invention

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a block diagram of a camera to which the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a battery which is a power source. Reference numeral 10 denotes a microcomputer (hereinafter, referred to as a microcomputer) that controls the entire camera including a ROM storing a control program for the camera and a RAM for storing data. Reference numeral 11 denotes a clock oscillator that generates a reference clock for the microcomputer 10, and 12
Is a reset circuit that resets the microcomputer 10 when the power is turned on. 20 is the data bus 100 from the microcomputer 10.
A drive circuit for displaying an LCD (liquid crystal) on the basis of data output via the reference numeral 21 is an LCD display driven by the drive circuit 20, and is provided outside a camera body (not shown). 30 is a data bus 10 from the microcomputer 10.
A drive circuit for performing LED display based on the data output via 0, 31 is an LED display driven by the drive circuit 30, and is provided in the viewfinder of the camera. Reference numeral 40 denotes an AE control magnet 41, a quick return mirror control magnet 42, a shutter front curtain holding magnet 43, and a rear shutter shutter based on the data output from the microcomputer 10 to the address designated by the address 101 via the data bus 100. Curtain holding magnet 44, shutter and AE mechanical charging motor 4
5, a film winding motor 46, a film rewinding motor 47, a control circuit for controlling the LCD illumination lamp 48,
The LCD illumination lamp 48 is arranged on the upper side surface of the LCD display 21 if the LCD display 21 is of a reflection type, and is arranged on the back side of the LCD display 21 if it is of a transmission type. It is designed to illuminate. Reference numeral 50 is obtained from the photometric circuit 51 (for average photometry), the photometric circuit 52 (for partial photometry), and the photometric circuit 53 (for spot photometry) based on the address output via the address bus (ADRBUS) 101 of the microcomputer 10. This is an AD converter that performs AD conversion by selecting photometric output, and the AD conversion result is output to the microcomputer 10 via the data bus 100. Here, the photometric circuits 51 to 53 are, for example,
It consists of SPC, MOS amplifier, and logarithmic compression diode. Reference numeral 60 is an up / down counter for setting photographing information, and the contents of the counter are increased or decreased by signals of switches 61 and 62 which are turned on / off in conjunction with a dial operation (not shown).

The switch 61 is a switch for setting the up-count mode and down-count mode of the counter 60, and the switch 62 is connected to the clock input of the up-down counter 60. 70 is a switch 71-84
Is a switch interface (hereinafter referred to as SWI / F) for the microcomputer 10 to select on / off state information based on an address output to the address bus 101 and send it to the data bus 100. Here, switches 71 to
Reference numeral 82 denotes a photometric switch 71 and a release switch 7, respectively.
2. Film switch 73 that turns on to off when winding is completed, AE mode setting switch 74, metering mode setting switch 75, film sensitivity setting switch 76, continuous shooting single shooting switching switch 77 that turns on during continuous shooting, and turns off during single shooting , A switch 78 that is turned on when the release is completed and is turned off when the AE mechanical shutter is charged, a mode setting switch 79 for multiplex shooting, a switch 80 that outputs a signal indicating a 4-bit lens open F value, and a drive amount of the diaphragm. Switch 81 for outputting several pulses, off when the lens is in AF mode,
The switch 82 is turned on in the case of a manual operation. Further, 83 is a switch for selecting lighting or non-lighting of a lamp for illuminating the LCD 21, and 84 is a switch for switching a set step width at the shutter speed in the shutter priority mode.

Reference numeral 102 denotes a read signal which is output when the microcomputer 10 receives data from another circuit via the address bus 100. 103 is a write signal for the microcomputer 10
Is a signal output when data is output to another circuit via the address bus 100. A clock signal line 104 is connected from the microcomputer 10 to another block for synchronizing the entire circuit. A reset signal line 105 outputs a reset signal for resetting the entire circuit.

The RAM built in the microcomputer 10 corresponds to the RAMs 1 to 13 as shown in FIG.
Metering mode, ASA brightness, number of frames, multiplex setting value,
An aperture value setting value, a shutter speed setting value, a subject brightness AD conversion value, a calculated aperture value, a calculated shutter speed, an aperture control step number, a multiple exposure remaining exposure amount, a multiple flag, and a magic flag are stored. Here, the multiplex flag is "0" when the film is set in the unexposed state, that is, in the multiplex mode and no photographing has been performed. It becomes "1". Further, the magic flag is a flag indicating whether or not the magic photographing in which the exposure information such as the aperture value and the shutter speed value is automatically shifted due to the subject being too bright or too dark is performed.

Next, the operation of the camera of the embodiment of the present invention configured as above will be described.

Electric power is supplied from the battery 1 to each circuit of the camera, and in a steady state, the camera has completed winding, that is, the switch 73 is off. In such a state, the microcomputer 10 is the LCD
The display of the display 21 displays the number of shots, the number of shots, etc. shown in FIG. Also, the microcomputer 10 is a SW
The states of the switches 71 to 79 are sequentially and repeatedly detected through the I / F 70. At the same time, it is repeatedly detected whether or not the content of the counter 60 has changed from zero.
This state is called the standby mode.

Next, the operation when the microcomputer 10 detects that the AE mode setting switch 74 is turned on in this state will be described.

Each RAM is set to a predetermined state, and for example, the content of RAM1 is set to "1" before the AE mode setting switch 74 is turned on. The relationship between the contents of the RAM 1 and the setting mode is the shutter priority mode as shown in Fig. 2-2, and "TV" is displayed on the LCD display 20 as shown in Fig. 4-1.
The display is not clear. When the AE mode setting switch 74 is turned on and the microcomputer 10 detects the state of the switch, the microcomputer 10 causes the LCD display 20 to perform the display shown in FIG. Here, when a mode other than the shutter priority mode is selected, the dial of the up / down counter 60 is operated with the switch 74 turned on. Switch SW6 works in conjunction with rotating this dial
1, 62 repeats on and off. Here, the signals of the terminals A and B of the up / down counter 60, that is, the U / V input and the CLK input are changed to the third by rotating the dial (not shown) to the right.
The waveform is as shown in FIG. 3a, and when it is rotated to the left, the waveform is as shown in FIG. Counter 6 here
0 performs up-counting and down-counting according to the up-count mode and down-count mode set by the level of the signal of the terminal A because the CLK input is inverted from L level to H level. Therefore, for example, when the dial (not shown) is rotated to the right, the up / down counter 60 performs a count-up operation, and if the dial (not shown) is rotated by three pulses, the count value of the counter becomes "3". As described above, the microcomputer 10 repeatedly detects whether or not the content of the counter 60 has changed from zero. The microcomputer 10 fetches the count value of the counter 60 and resets it every time such repetition is performed. Therefore, the microcomputer 10 takes in the fact that the count value becomes "3" and resets the count value of the counter 60. Since the AE mode setting switch 74 is turned on, in this case, the count value of the counter 60 is added to the contents of the RAM 1 which stores the AE mode information. Since the content of RAM1 was "1" as described above,
It becomes "4" by adding the count value "3" of the counter 60. The AE mode corresponding to the content "4" of the RAM1 in FIG. 2-2 is a normal program. LC here
The D display 21 displays as shown in FIG. 4-3. Here, if the dial (not shown) is rotated further to the right,
A signal as shown in Fig. a is generated, the counter 60 counts up, and the count value is added to the contents of RAM1 by the microcomputer 10. The contents of RAM1 are "4" → "5" →
It changes cyclically like “1” → “2” → “3”. AE when AE mode is normal program
When the mode setting switch 74 is turned off, the microcomputer 10
Resets the count value of the counter 60 to "0" and then returns to the standby mode. Therefore, when the switch 74 is turned off after setting the content of the RAM1 to "4", the display 21 displays the display as shown in FIG. 4-7.

Next, the operation when the microcomputer detects that the photometry mode setting switch 75 is turned on after setting the content of the RAM 1 to "4", that is, the normal program as described above, will be described.

Metering mode setting switch 7 in standby mode
When the microcomputer 10 detects through SWI / F70 that 5 is on, the microcomputer 10 outputs the contents of the RAM 2 to the drive circuit 20 via the data bus 100.
The photometric mode shown in FIGS. 4-4 to 4-6 corresponding to the contents of the RAM 2 is displayed. RAM in metering mode
The contents of No. 2 are shown in Fig. 2-2. Here, also in the case of the above-mentioned AE mode setting, similarly, the content of the counter 60 is changed by rotating a dial (not shown), and the photometric mode is set by adding the content of the counter to the content of the RAM 2. You can The content of RAM2 is "1"
After setting to (Average metering), the metering mode setting switch 7
When 5 is turned off, the microcomputer 10 finishes the above operation, resets the counter 60 and returns to the standby mode, and displays as shown in FIG. 4-7. Incidentally, FIG. 4-4 shows the average metering mode, and FIG. 4-5 shows the partial metering mode, the fourth metering mode.
-6 shows the spot metering mode. After that, the operation when the microcomputer 10 detects that the film sensitivity setting switch 76 is turned on will be described.

Film sensitivity setting switch 7 in standby mode
When the microcomputer 10 detects that the 6 is turned on through the SWI / F70, the microcomputer 10 causes the LCD display 21 to display the fourth signal.
Data to be displayed as shown in FIG. 8 is sent to the drive circuit 20 via the data bus 100. Therefore, the display as shown in FIG. 4-8 is performed to let the user recognize that the mode is the film sensitivity setting mode.

When the dial (not shown) is rotated with the film sensitivity setting switch 76 turned on, the count value of the counter 60 changes from "0", and the content of the counter 60 is the microcomputer 10
The contents of the RAM 3 are added and the contents are reset. Therefore, the number of pulses generated in the switch 62 that turns on and off in synchronization with the rotation of a dial (not shown) is input to the RAM 3.

The microcomputer 10 sends the data stored in the RAM 3 to the drive circuit 20 via the data bus 100 and displays the film sensitivity according to the data stored in the RAM. For example, when the content of the RAM 3 is "3" as shown in FIG. 2-2, the display as shown in FIG. 4-8 is displayed.

Next, the setting of the shutter speed in the TV priority mode will be described. The camera is in standby mode Figure 4-
When in the display state of 1, dial (not shown) to the left
When rotated by a pulse, the up / down counter 60 performs a countdown operation, and the count value of the counter becomes "-1". When the microcomputer 10 detects that the content of the counter 60 has changed from "0", and detects that the other switches have not changed at this time, the shutter time setting operation is performed. The microcomputer 10 reads and stores the content of the counter 60. Next, the state of the switch 84 is read, and the stored value is multiplied by 8 when the switch 84 is off, and multiplied by 4 when the switch 84 is on. RA this value
It is added to the value in M7 and stored again in RAM7. After that, according to the value of the RAM 7, that is, when the switch 84 is on in the state of FIG. 4-1 (TV125), the shutter speed becomes 1/90. This is displayed on the LCD 21 as shown in FIG. 4-9, for example. The relationship between the value in RAM 7 and the TV value is shown in Figure 2-2. The sequence is shown in FIG.

As described above, when the switch 84 is off, the shutter time changes by one step, and when the switch 84 is on, the shutter time changes by 1/2 step.

The microcomputer 10 also detects the state of the switch 82 indicating the state of the lens (auto focus, manual). For example, when the lens is manual, the switch 8
2 turns on and the LCD display 21 shows “M” as shown in FIG. 4-9.
Is displayed.

Next, the operation of the illumination lamp 48 of the LCD display 21 will be described. The microcomputer 10 switches the switches 71 to 8 as described above.
When the change of the state of 4 is detected and various information setting, display change or operation such as photometry and release is performed, the state of the switch 83 is read and the lamp 48 is turned on when it is on and the lamp is turned off when it is off. 48 is turned off. Further, the microcomputer 10 keeps the lamp 48 lit for a predetermined time, for example, 1 second after the above-described information setting, display change, or operation such as photometry, release, etc., and then does not illuminate.

Next, the lighting operation of the lamp 48 by the microcomputer 10 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

The microcomputer 10 operates by turning on the power switch, receives the basic clock from the clock oscillator 11, is reset by the reset circuit 12, and the program starts from standby.

[Step (1)] Input from the switch 83 is received via the SWI / F 70. Step if switch 83 is on
If the switch 83 is off in (3), step (2)
Proceed to.

[Step (2)] The output of the control circuit 40 to the lamp 48 is turned off, the lamp 48 is turned off, and the process proceeds to step (5).

[Step (3)] The output of the control circuit 40 to the lamp 48 is turned on to turn on the lamp 48, and the process proceeds to step (4).

[Step (4)] A lighting time, for example, 1 second is created by a fixed time timer.

[Step (5)] The LCD display 21 displays various information set in the camera. That is, the LCD display 21 is illuminated by the lamp 48 for 1 second, and it is possible to confirm the set mode before photographing by the camera.

[Step (6)] The switches 71 to 79 through the SWI / F70,
It receives an input from the switch 82. If any of these switches 71 to 79, 82 has changed, the routine jumps to the routine corresponding to that switch, and if all of these switches have not changed, the process proceeds to step (7).

[Step (7)] Input from the counter 60 is received.
If the count value is "0", the process proceeds to step (8). If the count value is not "0", the process proceeds to the dial mode routine. The dial mode routine will be described later.

[Step (8)] Check the operation of the timer for a certain period of time. If the timer is running, go to step (10), and if the timer is not running, go to step (9).

[Step (9)] The output of the control circuit 40 to the lamp 48 is turned on to turn off the lamp 48, and the process returns to step (6).

[Step (10)] The input from the switch 83 is again received via the SWI / F 70. If the switch 83 is off, proceed to step (11), and if the switch 83 is on, step
Return to (6) and repeat this routine until the timer expires.

[Step (11)] The output of the control circuit 40 to the lamp 48 is turned off to turn off the lamp 48, and the process proceeds to step (12).

[Step (12)] After turning off the timer for a certain period of time, the process returns to step (6). Now L in standby mode
When the lighting control of the lamp 48 for illuminating the CD display 21 is completed and other processing such as ISO sensitivity, photometric mode, continuous / single shooting mode is changed, or the shutter speed setting is changed in the standby mode, that is, the dial In the mode, the lamp 48 is turned on.

Next, the dial mode process will be described with reference to FIG.

[Dial mode processing]

[Step (20)] The mode of RAM 1 is determined. If the mode of RAM1 is the shutter priority mode, the process proceeds to step (21). If it is another mode, the process proceeds to the routine corresponding to the mode.

[Step (21)] The input of the switch 83 is received via the SWI / F 70. If the switch 83 is off, step (2
Proceed to step 2), and if switch 83 is on, step (23).
Proceed to.

[Step (22)] The output of the control circuit 40 to the lamp 48 is turned off to turn off the lamp 48, and the process proceeds to step (24).

[Step (23)] The output of the control circuit 40 to the lamp 48 is turned on to light the lamp 48.

[Step (24)] Receive the input from the counter 60,
The count pulse number is stored in the B register.

[Step (25)] The counter 60 is reset.

[Step (26)] The input of the switch 84 is received via the SWI / F 70. If switch 84 is on, step (28)
If the switch 84 is off, the process proceeds to step (27) to select the TV setting step width.

[Step (27)] The contents of the B register are multiplied by 8 and stored in the C register. That is, the TV value is changed for each stage.

[Step (28)] The contents of the B register are multiplied by 4 and stored in the C register. That is, the TV value is changed every 1/2 step.

[Step (29)] The value of the C register is added to the content of the RAM 7 (TV value that has been set up to now) and stored.

[Step (30)] Whether the count number stored in the B register is positive or negative is determined. If the count B is positive, step (3
Proceed to 1), and if the count number is negative, proceed to step (32). That is, it is determined whether the counter 60 is counting up or down, and it is checked whether the value of the RAM 7 is a settable value.

[Step (31)] Check the upper limit of the set value. RAM7
If the value of is less than or equal to the upper limit value, the process proceeds to step (33) and the value is displayed on the display unit 21, and if it is greater than or equal to the upper limit value, the shutter speed setting value is set to the upper limit value, for example, "1/4000". It is fixed to and the upper limit value is displayed on the display 21.

[Step (32)] Check the lower limit of the set value. RAM7
If the value of is greater than or equal to the lower limit value, the process proceeds to step (33) to display the value on the display 21, and if it is less than or equal to the lower limit value, the shutter speed set value is fixed to the lower limit value, for example, “8”. , The lower limit value is displayed on the display 21.

[Step (33)] The shutter setting value is displayed on the display 21. With the above, the dial mode process ends, and the mode returns to the standby mode. Therefore, after the step (23) of the dial mode process, the lamp 48 continues to be lit, and the LCD display 21 is illuminated until the timer for the fixed time operated in the step (4) of the standby mode expires, and the changed display is dim. It can be easily confirmed at the place.

Although the description of the other processing modes is omitted in each of the above-mentioned flowcharts, the lamp 48 is turned on for a predetermined time in accordance with each display change as in the dial mode processing.

Further, although the LCD display 21 is illuminated by a lamp, it is not limited to this, and needless to say, it may be an LED, an EL, or the like that emits light.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the camera information before the start of shooting and the changed camera information can be easily confirmed in a dark place or the like only by performing an operation necessary for shooting, and the operation member Since the illumination is performed for a predetermined time even after the setting of the information is completed by the operation of 3, the effect that the confirmation after the setting of the information is easy can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a camera to which a display device for a camera according to the present invention is applied, FIG. 2-1 is a diagram showing allocation of RAM incorporated in a microcomputer 10, and FIG. Diagram showing correspondence between RAM contents and shooting information, Fig. 3 (a),
FIG. 3B is a waveform diagram showing a time chart of signals generated from the switches 61 and 62 when the operating member is moved to the right, and FIGS. 4-1 to 4-9 show the display 21. Explanatory diagrams showing examples of display, FIGS. 5 and 6 show flowcharts. 1 ... Power supply 10 ... Microcomputer 11 ... Clock oscillator, 12 ... Reset circuit 20,30 ... Drive circuit, 21 ... LCD display 31 ... LED, 40 ... Control circuit 48 ... Lamp, 50 ... A / D converter 60 ... Counter 70 ... Switch interface

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An information setting operation member for manually setting photographing information, an information setting circuit for setting information by operating the operation member, and a camera for setting information set in the information setting circuit. A display device for a camera having a liquid crystal display means for displaying outside the display and a lighting means for illuminating the liquid crystal display means, a detection means for detecting an operation of the operation member, and an operation of the operation member by the detection means. A driving circuit for driving the illuminating means while the operation member is detected, and a timer circuit for measuring a predetermined time after the operation of the operating member is completed. 2. A display device for a camera, wherein the illuminating means is driven.