JPH09211659A - Camera displaying film information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to confirm the kind of a film or the like. SOLUTION: With a release switch half-pressed (#212), the ISO sensitivity and kind of a loaded film are displayed in place of a date display on a liquid crystal display part (#216). After detecting fully pressing of the release switch (#218), the ISO sensitivity and the film kind are replaced by the date display (#220). The above processing is conducted only in the photographing enable state.

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 function of reading a data disk of a film cartridge and optically detecting film information such as a specified number of shots of the film contained in the cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years,
A new film provided with a magnetic layer on one side of a silver salt film has been proposed (US Pat. No. 5,130,745), and a film cartridge containing the film (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-7).
No. 5741), and a camera using this film cartridge have been developed and standardized worldwide. In addition, this film cartridge is provided with a data disk that rotates coaxially with the spool core, as will be described in detail later, and this data disk contains film information such as film type, sensitivity, and specified number of shots. Written as a bar code. Then, when the film cartridge is loaded in the camera, the camera reads the film information of the data disc and automatically makes various settings.

On the other hand, in a conventional camera, a window through which the inside can be seen is formed on the back surface of the camera body corresponding to the loading portion of the film, and the user can select the type of film loaded, the sensitivity, and the number of shots. I was able to check the film information such as "etc." through this window at any time.

However, the camera newly standardized this time does not have such a viewing window, and the user cannot visually check the type of the loaded film. In such a case, it may be possible to provide a display unit or the like on the camera body and always display the film information read by the camera on this display unit, but this is not preferable for effectively utilizing the limited display space. .

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a camera capable of notifying a user of film information by effectively utilizing a limited display space. To provide.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera for displaying film information, wherein a film cartridge having a data disk that rotates coaxially with a film spool is loaded, and then a bar attached to the data disk. With a camera that has a function to optically detect the specified number of shots of the film stored in the cartridge from the code information, the film sensitivity, and the film type, display means for displaying various information to the user and shooting are possible. First display control means for displaying the number of sheets on the display means, and second display control means for displaying date and time information of date or time on the display means,
When it is detected that the release switch has been pressed to a predetermined half-pressed position, the third display control means for displaying the film sensitivity and the film type on the display means instead of the date and time information, and the release switch being pressed for photographing. When the film is set to the next frame position, a fourth display control means for displaying date and time information on the display means instead of the film sensitivity and the film type is provided.

By performing the display control of the display means in this way, the film sensitivity and the film type display and the date and time display are alternately displayed in conjunction with the release switch operation performed by the user.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the camera for displaying film information, when the photographing mode is the stroboscopic light emission mode and the charging voltage of the capacitor for accumulating the light emission energy is less than the predetermined voltage value, the third display is provided. The control means is provided with a prohibition means for prohibiting display control.

In the strobe light emission mode, if the battery is not charged, shooting is impossible. In such a case, even if the user half-presses the release switch, the display of the display means remains the date and time information. This allows the user to know that the shooting is impossible.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the camera for displaying film information further detects the prescribed number of shots, the film sensitivity, and the film type until the first frame of the film is set at a predetermined position. During the fifth period, the detected film sensitivity and film type are displayed on the display means.
The display control means is provided.

Thus, even immediately after the film cartridge is loaded in the camera, the user can confirm the information of the film actually loaded.

[0012]

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

First, the film cartridge used will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the film cartridge 10 includes a fan-shaped data disk 12 at one end of a film spool 11 and a fan-shaped flag plate 13 at the other end thereof. Spool 11
Together with this, it is a mechanism that rotates integrally and coaxially.

The data disc 12 has film types such as black and white / reversal / negative, a prescribed number of shots, and ISO.
A fan-shaped bar code display portion 12A indicating film information indicating sensitivity, and a quiet zone 12B having the same function as a bar code bar formed in a strip shape are formed in the remaining area.
A part of the data disk 12 is exposed through the cutout window 10A. When loaded in the camera, the data disk 12 is rotated by rotationally driving the film spool 11, and the barcode or the like displayed at this portion is optically read by the sensor 21 on the camera side (FIG. 4). In this way, the number of shots of the loaded film,
The camera has a mechanism for automatically recognizing ISO sensitivity and film type.

On the opposite end surface of the film cartridge 10, there are provided a total of four openings 14, which are round, semi-circular, x-shaped and quadrangular. Each shape has a film inside the cartridge. Is unexposed or exposed, etc.
It means the usage condition of each film. The flag plate 13 described above has a white color, and the white flag plate 13 passes through the inside of the surface in which the opening 14 is formed. The flag plate 13 is directly below the opening 14 having a predetermined shape. When it is stopped, the inside of the corresponding opening changes to white, and the user is informed of the usage status of the film in the cartridge.

Further, the film cartridge 10 is provided with a light lock door 15 for light shielding, and when the film cartridge 10 is loaded in the cartridge accommodating chamber 24, the door key 29 is fitted into the fitting hole 16. The light lock door 15 is opened by rotating the door key 29.

The film contained in the film cartridge 10 is of a type having a magnetic layer on the back surface of the silver salt film.

Here, as a camera 20 corresponding to such a film cartridge, for example, as shown in FIG.
It has an appearance as shown in (b), and on the back side thereof, the detected film information of the film cartridge,
A liquid crystal display unit 22 for displaying date, time, etc. is provided.

Here, a standard flow from the loading to the removal of the film cartridge 10, which is the basic operation of the camera 20, will be schematically described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 7.

As shown in FIG. 4, the user opens the cartridge lid 23 at the bottom of the camera body (# 102), inserts the film cartridge 10 into the cartridge accommodating chamber 24 (# 104), and then the cartridge lid 23. Is closed (# 106). On the camera side, the presence or absence of the film cartridge 10 is detected by the SCC switch that detects the displacement of the locking lever that locks the cartridge lid 23 and the SCT switch 25 that is pushed by the loaded film cartridge 10. Based on these detection results, it is determined whether the film cartridge 10 has been loaded (# 108).

When it is determined in # 108 that the film cartridge 10 is not loaded, the subsequent processing is terminated and the standby state is set (# 110). On the other hand, when it is determined in # 108 that the film cartridge 10 is loaded, the drive motor of the spool driver 26 is rotationally driven in the rewind direction (# 1
12). As a result, the film spool 11 is rotated in the rewind direction, the door key 29 is rotated in conjunction with this, and the light lock door 15 is opened (# 114, FIG. 1,
2).

Since the data disk 12 rotates with the rotation of the film spool 11, the sensor 21 reads the bar code attached to the data disk 12. At this time, since the relative positional relationship between the rotation start position of the data disk 12 and the sensor 21 is defined in advance according to the use state (unexposed, exposed, etc.) of the film, first, the use state display ( Visual Exposure Inde
x) information (hereinafter, VEI information) is read (# 11
6). Specifically, depending on the number of transitions from the rotation of the data disk 12 to the first recognition of the quiet zone 12B (change from the bar of the bar code to the space or vice versa), the cartridge state immediately before the rotation of the data disk (initial The angle) is recognized to determine the usage state of the film cartridge 10. Subsequently, the film information indicating the type of film is read from the bar code attached to the data disk 12 (# 118).
The processing of # 116 and # 118 is referred to as DEP / DD.

After reading the film information, the drive motor of the spool driver 26 is rotated in the wind direction (# 120). As a result, the feeding of the film is started, and the film is delivered from the light lock door 15 in the open state. Then, the first frame of the film is set (# 122). The process of setting the first frame of the film is called FFS.

After that, if the user operates a release switch or the like to take a picture by moving to a normal photographing process (# 12
4), the spool driver 26 rotates to feed the film to the next frame (# 126), and the photographing is performed again (# 1).
28).

This processing is repeated until the photographing is completed, and at the stage when the photographing is completed ("Yes" at # 130),
The drive motor of the spool driver 26 is rotated in the rewind direction, and the operation of winding the film having been photographed is started (# 132). When all the film is wound (# 134
"Yes"), the rewinding process ends, but in this case, the film spool 11 is rotated by a predetermined amount so that the flag plate 13 described above is positioned directly below the x-shaped opening portion 14 indicating that the exposure has been completed. Stop at an angle (# 136). When the user operates the opening / closing lever 27 to open the cartridge lid 23 (# 138), the door key 29 is rotated in conjunction with the opening / closing lever 27 and the light lock door 15 is closed (# 140). Then, the film cartridge 10 is taken out from the cartridge storage chamber 24 (# 14
2).

Although the camera functions as described above, the film information read from the data disk 12 is displayed on the liquid crystal display section 22 as follows.
Hereinafter, the display state of the liquid crystal display unit 22 will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the power switch 30 on the back of the camera is turned off.
Then, the date is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 22 in the mode as shown in FIG. 9A (# 202).
In this example, with the display showing December 31, 1995,
Although "F" and "B" are displayed, this symbol is a symbol indicating the print mode of the displayed date, and "F"
Is FRONT PRINT, "B" is BACK PRI
It represents NT. Therefore, in this example, the liquid crystal display unit 2
The date shown in 2 is printed on the front and back of the photo.
A cartridge mark is displayed at the left end of the liquid crystal display unit 22, which is the film cartridge 1.
0 indicates that the cartridge is accommodated in the cartridge accommodating chamber 24. Further, the display mode of the date and the print mode can be changed by the button operation.

After the power is turned on, when the user inserts the film cartridge 10 into the cartridge accommodating chamber 24 and closes the cartridge lid 23, the above-mentioned DEP / DD process is started (# 204). First, the VEI information is detected from the bar code attached to the data disk 12, and subsequently, the specified number of shots of the film accommodated in the film cartridge 10, the ISO sensitivity (film sensitivity), and the film type are read. When this DEP / DD is completed (“Yes” at # 204), FFS is started. Here, instead of the date display, as shown in FIG. 9B, the ISO sensitivity and film of the film just read out are displayed. The type and the type are displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 22 (# 206). In this case, the ISO sensitivity is "400" and the film type is "b". The film type will be described later.

Next, when the FFS ends ("Yes" in # 208), the display of the ISO sensitivity and the like is returned to the date display, and the liquid crystal display unit 22 also displays the specified number of shots read by DEP / DD ( FIG. 9C, # 21
0). The example of FIG. 9C shows the case where the prescribed number of shots is 40.

After # 210, actual photographing is performed, but at this time, the following display control is performed. The release switch is provided with a two-step switch consisting of an SP1 switch that detects a half-pressed state and an SP2 switch that detects a fully-pressed state. When the user half-presses the release switch (# 212: Yes )), First, it is determined whether or not the photographing is possible (# 214). The image-capable state in the present embodiment refers to a case where the main capacitor storing the light-emission energy is charged to a voltage value of a predetermined level (charge is completed) when the image-capturing mode of the camera is the strobe light-emission mode. .

When it is determined in # 214 that the photographing is possible, instead of the date display, as shown in FIG.
The O sensitivity and the film type are displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 22. In FIGS. 11A to 11D, “4” indicating the ISO sensitivity is shown.
On the left side of "00", "(no display)", "b", "P",
Although the symbol "o" is displayed, this symbol indicates the type of the loaded film. "(Not shown)" is a negative film, "b" is a black and white film, "P" is a reversal film, “O” indicates other films, respectively. By displaying in this way, the user can check the ISO of the loaded film even after the film is loaded.
You can check the sensitivity and film type.

When the release switch is fully pressed to take a picture ("Yes" in # 218), instead of displaying the ISO sensitivity and the like, the date display is again displayed on the liquid crystal display section 22 (# 220). . At the same time, the film is fed, the next frame is set, and the number of possible shots is displayed as "4.
It is counted down from 0 "to" 39 ".
The processing after 212 is repeated.

On the other hand, in the stroboscopic light emission mode in which the stroboscopic light is emitted for photographing, the power is supplied from the power supply means, and the necessary light emission energy is stored in the main capacitor provided in the light emission circuit (FIG. 10). Specifically, C
When the main capacitor starts to be charged by the charge start signal given from PU and it is charged to the specified voltage level,
A charge completion signal is output to the CPU. Since it takes a predetermined time to complete the charging, the charging may not be completed when the flash shooting is performed again immediately after the flash shooting. In this way, when the capacitor is not charged, it is determined in # 214 that the photographing is impossible (“No” in # 214), and the above-mentioned display control of # 216 and thereafter is prohibited. Therefore, during this period, the display on the liquid crystal display unit 22 remains the normal date display. In such a case, since the release lock is applied under the control of the CPU,
It waits for the user to stop pressing the release switch (# 222). After that, the processing from # 212 onward is repeated. As described above, when the flash discharge mode is not charged, the release switch is locked to prevent erroneous shooting and operation, and even when the release switch is half-pressed, the display on the liquid crystal display unit 22 remains the date display. By doing so, it is possible to inform the user that the photographing is impossible.

The flow chart described above shows an example in which the date is displayed as the date and time information.
There are a date display mode in which the date is displayed and a clock display mode in which the time is displayed as shown in FIG. 12 (in this case, 23:00 is shown), and a mechanism for selecting either display mode is provided. If the user selects the time display mode,
Instead of the date display, the time display as shown in FIG. 12 is performed.

[0035]

As described above, in the camera according to each of the claims, the display of the film sensitivity and the film type and the date and time display are alternately displayed on the display means in association with the release switch operation performed by the user. Therefore, the limited display space can be effectively utilized, and the user can check the information of the loaded film at any time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a film cartridge.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a film cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a spool provided in the film cartridge shown in FIGS.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing the vicinity of the cartridge housing chamber of the camera.

5A and 5B are perspective views showing the appearance of a camera.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a standard operation / process from loading to unloading of a film cassette.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart following FIG. 6, showing a standard operation / process from loading to unloading of the film cassette.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing display processing on a liquid crystal display unit.

9A to 9C are explanatory diagrams showing display modes of a liquid crystal display unit.

FIG. 10 is an I / O block diagram showing the internal structure of the camera.

11A to 11D are explanatory diagrams showing display modes of the liquid crystal display unit.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a display mode of a liquid crystal display unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Film cartridge, 12 ... Data disc,
20 ... Camera, 22 ... Liquid crystal display

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. After a film cartridge equipped with a data disk that rotates coaxially with a film spool is loaded, the specified number of shots of the film accommodated in the cartridge is determined from the bar code information attached to the data disk, In a camera having a function of optically detecting film sensitivity and film type, display means for displaying various kinds of information to a user, first display control means for displaying the number of shootable images on the display means, Second display control means for displaying date and time information of date or time on the display means, and, when it is detected that the release switch has been pressed to a predetermined half-pressed position, the film sensitivity and film are replaced with the date and time information. A third type for displaying the type on the display means
Display control means: When the photograph is taken by pressing down the release switch and the film is set to the next frame position, the date and time information is displayed on the display means instead of the film sensitivity and film type. A camera for displaying film information, comprising a fourth display control means. 2. When the photographing mode is the stroboscopic flash mode,
The inhibiting means for inhibiting the display control by the third display control means when the charging voltage of the capacitor for accumulating the light emission energy is less than a predetermined voltage value.
A camera that displays the described film information. 3. The detected film sensitivity and film type are set until the first frame of the film is set to a predetermined position after the specified number of shots, film sensitivity and film type are detected. The camera for displaying film information according to claim 1, further comprising a fifth display control unit for displaying on the display unit.