JP2000165705A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain power saving, and to improve operability in a digital camera having an optical finder and an image pickup data displaying part equipped with a back light. SOLUTION: This digital camera is provided with an optical finder 31 and a liquid crystal display part. This digital camera is provided with an eyepiece detecting unit Seye for detecting whether or not a photographer is using the optical finder 31 and a control means for turning on or turning off the back light of the liquid crystal display part based on the output of the eyepiece detecting unit Seye. Thus, the back light of the liquid crystal display part can be automatically turned on or turned off according to the detected result. Also, power saving can be attained, and operability can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a digital camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the progress of semiconductors and image processing technology, digital cameras have been widely used in place of silver halide cameras using silver halide films. Such digital cameras have a backlight. There is known an image data display unit provided with a display unit such as a liquid crystal display unit as a finder. Even in a digital camera provided with such a liquid crystal display portion, an optical finder similar to that of a silver halide camera is often provided in addition to the liquid crystal display portion in order to save power.

As described above, in a digital camera having both a liquid crystal display and an optical finder, an on / off switch for turning on or off the backlight of the liquid crystal display is provided, and when photographing is performed using the optical finder, It is known that the backlight is turned off to prevent power consumption.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-191115 discloses a digital camera that includes an optical viewfinder and a liquid crystal display unit and operates an on / off switch of a liquid crystal power supply in conjunction with an opening and closing operation of a liquid crystal protection cover. According to this, when the liquid crystal display unit is not used as a viewfinder, the backlight of the liquid crystal display unit is turned off by sliding the liquid crystal protective cover so as to cover the liquid crystal display unit. Can be planned.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional digital camera, the operation of turning on and off the backlight of the liquid crystal display unit is manually performed, so that the operation is troublesome, and as a result, the optical viewfinder is used. Even when photographing is performed, the backlight of the liquid crystal display unit is often left in a lit state, and there is a disadvantage that power saving cannot be sufficiently achieved.

In order to more sufficiently achieve power saving, there is also known a digital camera having an auto power-off function of automatically turning off the power of the camera when the operation of the digital camera has not been performed for a certain period of time. I have.

However, in this digital camera,
While framing with the optical viewfinder,
In some cases, the power supply is cut off due to the execution of the auto power-off process, which is extremely inconvenient.

The present invention has been made in view of the above technical background, and has been made in consideration of a digital camera having an optical viewfinder and a display unit of imaging data having a backlight, or operating a camera for a predetermined time. It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital camera having an auto power-off control unit that shuts off a power supply when not performed, while sufficiently achieving power saving and improving operability.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide an optical viewfinder, a display unit for image data having a backlight, a detecting means for detecting whether or not a photographer uses the optical viewfinder, and the detecting means. And control means for controlling the turning on and off of the backlight of the display unit based on the detection result of the above.

According to this digital camera, the control unit automatically turns on or off the backlight of the display unit in accordance with the detection result of the detection unit. It is possible to perform the optimal control that enables the conversion. Further, since the operation of turning on and off the backlight, which has conventionally been required by the photographer, is automatically performed, the operability is improved.

Preferably, when the use of the optical finder by the photographer is detected by the detection means while the backlight is on, the control means preferably turns off the backlight.

According to this, when the optical viewfinder is used, the backlight of the display section is surely turned off, and power saving is reliably achieved.

In this case, the control means turns off the backlight when the use of the optical viewfinder is continued for a predetermined time after the use of the optical viewfinder by the photographer is detected. For example, the backlight is turned off only when it is certain that the photographer is using the optical viewfinder, thereby preventing erroneous detection and improving operability.

An operation member for turning on or off the backlight is provided. If the backlight is turned on by operating the operation member before using the optical viewfinder, the photographer detects by the detecting means. When it is detected that has stopped using the optical viewfinder,
The control means may be configured to turn on a backlight.

According to this, when the use of the optical viewfinder by the photographer is released, the backlight is returned to the original lighting state, so that the framing is performed mainly using the display unit for confirmation and the like. In the case where an optical finder is used, the operation for turning on the backlight again becomes unnecessary, and the control according to the photographing operation pattern of the photographer can be performed, and the operability is further improved.

In this case, if it is configured that the control means turns on the backlight when the optical finder is not used for a predetermined time after detecting that the photographer has stopped using the optical finder, When the use of the optical viewfinder by the photographer is surely released, the backlight can be turned on, thereby preventing erroneous detection.

An operation member for turning on and off the backlight is provided, and the control unit invalidates the operation of the operation member while the use of the optical viewfinder by the photographer is detected by the detection unit. It is good.

In this case, it is possible to prevent an increase in power consumption caused by erroneously turning on the backlight while using the optical viewfinder.

Further, at the time of start-up by turning on the power, when the use of the optical finder by the photographer is detected by the detection means, the control means may hold the backlight in an off state.

According to this, power saving is achieved by turning off the backlight from the time when the power is turned on.

In this case, there is provided an operation member for turning on or off the backlight, and when the backlight is turned on by the operation of the operation member at the time of the previous power-off, the photographer uses the detection means to turn the optical viewfinder on. The control means may be configured to turn on the backlight when it is detected that the backlight is no longer used.

With this configuration, when the photographer stops using the optical viewfinder, the backlight automatically returns to the lighting state when the power was last shut off, and the photographing using the display unit is continued following the previous photographing. Therefore, control according to the photographing operation pattern of the photographer can be performed, and operability is improved.

It is also recommended that a digital camera be provided with a notifying means for notifying a photographer of a change in the output of the detecting means.

By providing such notification means, the photographer can easily recognize whether or not the user is using the optical viewfinder, and the operability is improved.

In this case, the notification means changes the notification mode depending on whether the output of the detection means changes from the use state of the optical viewfinder to the non-use state or from the non-use state to the use state. The setting is desirable because the photographer can more reliably recognize the use or non-use of the optical viewfinder.

In another digital camera according to the present invention, an optical viewfinder, auto power-off control means for shutting off a power supply when the camera is not operated for a predetermined time, and a photographer using the optical viewfinder. The automatic power-off control is disabled when the use of the optical finder is detected by the photographer.

According to this digital camera, power can be saved by the automatic power-off control, and the power is unintentionally shut off when the photographer performs framing or the like using the optical viewfinder. Inconvenience is prevented.

[0028]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the digital camera 1 includes a box-shaped camera body 2 and a rectangular parallelepiped imaging unit 3. The imaging unit 3 is detachably mounted on the right side of the camera body 2 when viewed from the front, and is rotatably mounted in a plane parallel to the right side.

The image pickup section 3 has a length substantially the same as the length of the camera body 2 in the height direction, and has a size slightly larger than the width of the camera body 2. A vertically elongated rectangular parallelepiped imaging unit main body 3A is provided.
A mounting section 3B for mounting the imaging section 3 to the camera body 2 is provided on one side of A.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image pickup section 3 is provided with a macro zoom lens 301 which is a photographing lens, and a CCD (Charge Coupled Dev) at an appropriate position behind the macro zoom lens 301.
ice) Imaging circuit 3 provided with color area sensor 303
02 (shown in FIG. 5). Also, the imaging unit 3
A dimming circuit 304 (shown in FIG. 5) including a dimming sensor 305 for receiving the reflected light of the flash light from the subject is built in an appropriate place in the inside. The light control sensor 305 is arranged at an appropriate position on the front end surface of the mounting portion 3B.

Further, a zoom motor M1 for changing the zoom ratio of the macro zoom lens 301 and a motor M2 for focusing (both shown in FIG. 5) are provided inside the image pickup section 3. Have been.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the image pickup section 3 is provided with an optical finder 31 which is often used in a silver halide lens shutter camera. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, an eyepiece detection unit Seye is provided on the near side of the eyepiece lens 31a of the optical viewfinder 31 and on the back side of the eyepiece hood F.

The eyepiece detecting unit Seye functions as a detecting means for detecting whether or not the user is in the eyepiece state, in other words, whether or not the photographer is using the optical viewfinder 31. EyeS
And a light receiving element EyeR. And the light emitting element E
Only when the pulse light output by yeS is reflected by the eye Pey of the photographer P and received by the light receiving element EyeR, one signal (high-level signal) is output. As a specific circuit configuration, for example, a configuration described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-38631 filed by the present applicant may be employed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the camera body 2 has, for example, a liquid crystal (LCD: Liquid Cr).
The display unit 10 includes a display unit 10 formed of an external display, a mounting slot 17 for the memory card 8, and a connection terminal 13 to which a personal computer is externally connected. After that, processing such as display on the liquid crystal display unit 10, recording on the memory card 8, and transfer to a personal computer is performed.

As shown in FIG. 1, on the front surface of the camera body 2, a grip portion 4 is provided at an appropriate position on the left end, and a built-in flash 5 is provided at an appropriate upper portion on the right end. On the upper surface of the camera body 2, switches 6 and 7 for frame advance when reproducing a recorded image are provided substantially at the center. The switch 6 is a switch (hereinafter, referred to as an UP switch) for advancing the recorded image in the direction in which the frame number increases (the direction of the photographing order), and the switch 7 operates in the direction in which the frame number decreases. This is a switch for frame advance (hereinafter referred to as a DOWN switch). Further, an erasure switch D for erasing an image recorded on the memory card 8 is provided on the left side of the DOWN switch 7 when viewed from the rear side, and a shutter button 9 is provided on the right side of the UP switch 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, on the rear surface of the camera body 2, a backlight for displaying a captured image on a monitor (corresponding to a viewfinder) and reproducing and displaying a recorded image is provided substantially at the center of the left end. A liquid crystal display unit 10 provided with a liquid crystal display 16 (shown in FIG. 5) is provided. A compression ratio setting slide switch 12 for switching and setting a compression ratio K of image data recorded on the memory card 8 is provided below the liquid crystal display unit 10, and a light source for projecting the liquid crystal display unit 10 from the back. An on / off switch 19 for operating the backlight 16 is provided, and a power switch PS and a flash (hereinafter sometimes referred to as FL) mode setting switch 11 and the like are provided above the liquid crystal display unit 10. Has been established. A connection terminal 13 to which the personal computer 100 is externally connected is provided on a side surface of the camera body 2 opposite to the imaging unit 3.

In the digital camera 1 according to this embodiment, an "automatic flash mode" in which the built-in flash 5 is automatically fired according to the subject brightness as a mode relating to flash emission, and the built-in flash 5 is forcibly set regardless of the subject brightness. There is a “flash off mode” that emits light to the flash and a “flash off mode” that inhibits the flash of the built-in flash.
Each time the FL mode setting switch 11 is pressed, each mode of "automatic flash", "forced flash" and "flash prohibited" is cyclically switched, and any one of the modes is selectively set.

In the digital camera 1, two kinds of compression ratios K of 1/8 and 1/20 can be selected and set by the compression ratio setting switch 12, and when the compression ratio setting switch is slid to the right, for example, the compression ratio is changed. The rate K = 1/8 is set,
When sliding to the left, a compression ratio K = 1/20 is set. In the present embodiment, two types of compression ratios K can be selectively set. However, three or more types of compression ratios K may be selectively set.

Further, a photographing / playback mode setting switch 14 for switching between a "photographing mode" and a "playback mode" is provided at the upper right end on the back of the camera body 2. The photographing mode is a mode for photographing, and the reproduction mode is a mode for reproducing and displaying a photographed image recorded on the memory card 8 on the liquid crystal display unit 10. The shooting / playback mode setting switch 14 also includes a two-contact slide switch. For example, sliding to the right sets the playback mode, and sliding to the left sets the shooting mode.

A quad switch Z is provided at the right end on the back of the camera body 2. The quad switch Z includes a zoom button Z1 (wide direction) and a zoom button Z2 (tele direction) for performing a zoom operation of the photographing lens 301, an exposure correction button Z3 for correcting exposure in a positive direction, and a negative direction in a negative direction. And an exposure compensation button Z4 for compensation. When the zoom button Z1 or the zoom button Z2 is pressed, an overall control unit 2 described later is pressed.
11 drives the zoom motor M1 via the zoom motor drive circuit 215 to move a part of the taking lens 301,
The focal length is changed while maintaining focus.

Further, on the back of the camera body 2,
A buzzer Buz is provided below the quadruple switch Z. The buzzer Buz functions as a notifying means for notifying the photographer of a change in the output of the eyepiece detection unit Seey by a beep sound, and is constituted by a piezoelectric buzzer. Note that the notification means is not limited to the buzzer, and a sound generation means other than the buzzer or a notification means based on a visual display may be employed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a battery loading chamber 8 and a memory card slot 17 for loading the memory card 8 are provided on the bottom surface of the camera body 2. The loading port of the chamber 18 and the memory card slot 17 is closed by a clamshell type lid 15. The digital camera 1 according to this embodiment uses a power supply battery E, which is formed by connecting four AA batteries in series, as a drive source. Of course, an AC adapter may be used to convert an AC power supply into a DC power supply to use as a drive source.

In the digital camera 1, an automatic power-off control for automatically turning off the power when no operation is performed for a predetermined time is performed by the overall control unit 211 shown in FIG. I have.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control system of the digital camera 1.

First, the internal configuration of the image pickup unit 3 will be described. In the image pickup unit 3, the CCD 303 converts the light image of the subject formed by the macro zoom lens 301 into R (red), G (green), Image signal of B (blue) color component (signal composed of a signal sequence of pixel signals received by each pixel)
And outputs the result. Timing generator 31
Reference numeral 4 denotes various kinds of timing pulses for controlling the driving of the CCD 303.

The exposure control in the image pickup unit 3 is performed by adjusting the exposure amount of the CCD 303, that is, the charge accumulation time of the CCD 303 corresponding to the shutter speed, since the stop is a fixed stop. If the appropriate shutter speed cannot be set when the subject brightness is low,
By adjusting the level of the image signal output from D303, improper exposure due to insufficient exposure is corrected. That is, when the luminance is low, the exposure control is performed by combining the shutter speed and the gain adjustment. The level adjustment of the image signal is performed in the gain adjustment of the AGC circuit in the signal processing circuit 313.

The timing generator 314 generates a drive control signal for the CCD 303 based on the reference clock transmitted from the timing control circuit 202.
The timing generator 314 generates clock signals such as integration start / end (exposure start / end) timing signals and readout control signals (horizontal synchronization signal, vertical synchronization signal, transfer signal, etc.) of the light receiving signal of each pixel. , To the CCD 303.

The signal processing circuit 313 performs predetermined analog signal processing on an image signal (analog signal) output from the CCD 303. The signal processing circuit 313
It has a DS (correlated double sampling) circuit and an AGC (auto gain control) circuit. The CDS circuit reduces the noise of the image signal, and the level of the image signal is adjusted by adjusting the gain of the AGC circuit.

The dimming circuit 304 controls the light emission amount of the built-in flash 5 in flash photography to a predetermined light emission amount set by the overall control unit 211. In flash photography, the reflected light of flash light from the subject is received by the light control sensor 305 at the same time as the start of exposure, and when the amount of received light reaches a predetermined light emission amount, the light control circuit 3
04 from the FL control circuit 214 via the overall control unit 211
, A light emission stop signal is output. The FL control circuit 214
The light emission of the built-in flash 5 is forcibly stopped in response to the light emission stop signal, whereby the light emission amount of the built-in flash 5 is controlled to a predetermined light emission amount.

The eye detection unit Seey is provided in the optical viewfinder 31 as described above. As shown in FIG. 6, the eyepiece detection unit Seey outputs a signal (high-level signal) of 1 at the same time that the light-emitting pulse of the light-emitting element EyeS and the light-receiving pulse of the light-receiving element EyeR are aligned. Is exhausted, 0
(Low level). And
The output of the eyepiece detection unit Seye is, as described later,
It is input to the overall control unit 211 and used for detection control of the eyepiece state.

The above-described photographing section 3 and the camera body section 2 described below are provided on a mounting surface 334 of the
4a, 334b, 334c, 334d, 334e, 33
4f, 334g, and 234a, 2c provided on the connection section 234 of the camera body 2.
34b, 234c, 2334d, 234e, 234f,
They are electrically connected by seven groups of connection terminals consisting of 234 g.

Next, the internal configuration of the camera body 2 will be described. In the camera body 2, the A / D converter 205 converts each pixel signal of the image signal into a 10-bit digital signal. . The A / D converter 205 is
Each pixel signal (analog signal) is set to 1 based on an A / D conversion clock input from the timing control circuit 202.
It is converted into a 0-bit digital signal.

The timing control circuit 202 includes a reference clock, a timing generator 314, and an A / D converter 20.
5 is generated. The timing control circuit 202 is controlled by the overall control unit 211.

The black level correction circuit 206 corrects the black level of the A / D converted pixel signal (hereinafter referred to as pixel data) to a reference black level. Further, a white balance circuit (hereinafter referred to as a WB circuit) 207 adjusts the white balance after γ correction,
The level conversion of the pixel data of each of the R, G, and B color components is performed. The WB circuit 207 converts the level of the pixel data of each of the R, G, and B color components using the level conversion table input from the overall control unit 211. The conversion coefficient (gradient of the characteristic) of each color component in the level conversion table is set by the overall control unit 211 for each captured image.

The γ correction circuit 208 corrects γ characteristics of pixel data. The γ correction circuit 208 has six types of γ correction tables having different γ characteristics, and performs γ correction of pixel data using a predetermined γ correction table according to a shooting scene or shooting conditions.

The image memory 209 is a memory for storing pixel data output from the gamma correction circuit 208. The image memory 209 has a storage capacity for one frame. That is, in the image memory 209, the CCD 303
In the case of having pixels in rows and m columns, it has a storage capacity for pixel data of n × m pixels, and each pixel data is stored in a corresponding pixel position.

The VRAM 210 is a buffer memory for image data reproduced and displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 10. VRA
M210 has a storage capacity of image data corresponding to the number of pixels of the liquid crystal display unit 10.

In the photographing standby state, each pixel data of the image picked up by the image pickup unit 3 every 1/30 (second) is A
After being subjected to predetermined signal processing by the / D converters 205 to γ correction circuit 208, the signals are stored in the image memory 209, transferred to the VRAM 210 via the overall control unit 211, and displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 10. (Live view display). Thus, the photographer can visually recognize the subject image from the image displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 10. In the reproduction mode, the image read from the memory card 8 is subjected to predetermined signal processing by the overall control unit 211, then transferred to the VRAM 210, and reproduced and displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 10.

The card I / F 212 is an interface for writing image data to the memory card 8 and reading image data. Also, communication I / F
Reference numeral 213 denotes an interface conforming to, for example, the USB standard for externally connecting the personal computer 19 so that communication is possible.

The FL control circuit 214 has a built-in flash 5
This is a circuit for controlling the light emission. The FL control circuit 214
The built-in flash 5 based on the control signal of the overall control unit 211
The presence or absence of light emission, the amount and timing of light emission,
The light emission amount of the built-in flash 5 is controlled based on the light emission stop signal input from the light control circuit 304.

The RTC 219 is a clock circuit for managing the shooting date and time. It is driven by another power source (not shown).

The auto focus (AF) motor drive circuit 216 controls the auto focus motor M2 in the image pickup section 3
The zoom motor drive circuit 215 drives each of the zoom motors M1.

The nonvolatile memory MX stores the on / off state of the backlight 16 with respect to the liquid crystal display unit 10 at the time of the previous power-off, and is read by the overall control unit 211 as described later.

The operation section 250 includes the above-described UP switch 6, DOWN switch 7, shutter button 9, FL mode setting switch 11, compression ratio setting switch 12, photographing / playback mode setting switch 14, and quadruple switch Z. I have.

The shutter button 9 is a two-stage switch capable of detecting a half-pressed state (S1) and a depressed state (S2) as employed in a silver halide camera. When the shutter button 9 is set to the S1 state in the standby state, the overall control unit 211 controls the autofocus motor M2 via the autofocus motor control circuit 216 so that the contrast of the image data in the image memory 209 is maximized. When the shutter button 9 is released, the focus is locked at that position.

The power supply control circuit 260 is a circuit for supplying power from the power supply E to each unit. The auto power off is performed based on an instruction from the overall control unit 211 based on the power supply control circuit 2.
60 is performed by stopping the power supply.

The overall control section 211 is composed of a microcomputer, and controls the driving of each member in the image pickup section 3 and the camera main body section 2 in an organic manner to control the photographing operation of the digital camera 1 in an integrated manner. is there. The liquid crystal display unit 1
The overall control unit 211 also controls the turning on and off of the backlight 16 of 0, which will be described later.

The overall control unit 211 includes a luminance determination unit for setting an exposure control value (shutter speed (SS)) and a shutter speed setting unit.

In the photographing standby state, the luminance judgment unit
The brightness of the subject is determined by using an image captured by the CD 303 every 1/30 (second). That is, the luminance determination unit 211a determines the brightness of the subject using the image data that is renewedly stored in the image memory 209.

The luminance judgment section 211a is provided in the image memory 209.
Is divided into nine blocks, and the luminance data representing each block is calculated using the pixel data of the G (green) color component included in each block.

The shutter speed setting section sets the shutter speed (integration time of the CCD 303) based on the result of the brightness determination of the subject by the brightness determination section. The shutter speed setting section has a table of shutter speed SS.

The shutter speed is set to 1 when the camera is started.
/ 128 (seconds), and in the shooting standby state, the shutter speed setting unit changes the initial value from the initial value to the high-speed side or the low-speed side step by step according to the result of the brightness determination of the subject by the brightness determination unit. .

The overall control unit 211 includes a filter unit for performing a filtering process and a recorded image generating unit for generating a thumbnail image and a compressed image in order to perform a recording process of a photographed image. In order to reproduce the image on the liquid crystal display unit 10, a reproduced image generating unit for generating a reproduced image is provided.

The filter section corrects the high-frequency component of the image to be recorded by the digital filter to correct the image quality related to the outline. The filter unit has a compression ratio K = 1.
For each of / 8 and 1/20, a digital filter for performing a standard contour correction, and two types of digital filters for strengthening the contour and two types of digital filters for weakening the contour with respect to the standard contour correction It has five types of digital filters.

The recording image generator reads out pixel data from the image memory 209 and generates a thumbnail image and a compressed image to be recorded on the memory card 8. The recording image generation unit reads pixel data for every eight pixels in both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction while scanning from the image memory 209 in the raster scanning direction, and sequentially transfers the pixel data to the memory card 8 to convert the thumbnail image. While being generated, it is recorded on the memory card 8.

Further, the recording image generation unit is provided with the image memory 20.
9, all pixel data are read out, and these pixel data are subjected to a predetermined compression process according to the JPEG method such as two-dimensional DCT conversion and Huffman coding to generate image data of a compressed image. In the main image area.

In the photographing mode, all the control units 211
When shooting is instructed by the shutter button 9, after the shooting is instructed, a thumbnail image of the image taken in the image memory 209 and a compressed image compressed by the JPEG method with the compression ratio K set by the compression ratio setting switch 12 are generated. Then, both images are stored in the memory card 8 together with tag information (information such as frame number, exposure value, shutter speed, compression ratio K, shooting date, flash ON / OFF data at the time of shooting) related to the shot image.

The image recorded by the digital camera 1 can record 40 frames at a compression ratio of 1/20, and each frame is composed of a tag portion and high-resolution image data (640 × 480 pixels) and thumbnail display image data (80 × 60 pixels). For example, each frame can be handled as an image file in the EXIF format.

When the photographing / reproduction mode setting switch 14 is set to the reproduction mode, the image data having the largest frame number in the memory card 8 is read out, the data is decompressed by the reproduction image generation section, and this is transferred to the VRAM 210. As a result, the image having the largest frame number, that is, the most recently captured image is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 10. By operating the UP switch 6, an image with a large frame number is displayed, and by pressing the DOWN switch 7, an image with a small frame number is displayed.

Next, the operation of the digital camera according to the illustrated embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. In the following description and drawings, steps are abbreviated as S.

First, in FIG. 7, when the power switch PS is turned on, in S111, each unit is initialized as start-up processing. However, the information on the turning on and off of the backlight 16 at the time of the previous power-off stored in the nonvolatile memory MX connected to the overall control unit 211 is not initialized.

Next, in S112, the eyepiece detection unit Se
Based on the output of yes, the photographer can
, That is, whether the eye is in contact with the optical viewfinder 31 (eye detection). If the eye is detected (YES in S112), S113 is performed.
Sets the eyepiece activation flag to 1. When the eyepiece is not detected (NO in S112), the eyepiece activation flag is set to 0 in S114, and in any case, the process further proceeds to S115.

In S115, whether the backlight 16 of the liquid crystal display unit 10 was turned on at the time of the previous power-off is determined.
Alternatively, the overall control unit 211 determines from the information in the nonvolatile memory MX whether the backlight 16 has been turned off, and when the backlight 16 was turned on at the time of the previous power-off (S115).
YES), the return mode flag is set to 1 in S116,
When the backlight 16 has been turned off (S115
NO), the return mode flag is set to 0 in S117, and in any case, the process further proceeds to S118.

In S118, the above-mentioned eyepiece activation flag is set to 1
It is checked whether the eyepiece activation flag is 1 (YES in S118). In S119, energization of the backlight 16 is stopped and the light-off state is maintained. On the other hand, when the eyepiece activation flag is 0 (N in S118)
O) In S120, it is checked whether the return mode flag is 1 or 0. If the return mode flag is 0, S1
At 19, the backlight 16 is energized and the light-off state is maintained, and when the return mode flag is 1, the backlight 16 is energized and turned on at S121. And FIG.
To S201.

As described above, if the photographer uses the optical viewfinder 31 when the power is turned on, the backlight 1
Since 6 is kept off, wasteful power consumption can be prevented. Also, when the photographer is not using the optical viewfinder 31 when the power is turned on, the backlight 16 is turned off or turned on depending on the state of the backlight 16 being turned on and off at the time of the previous power-off. For the photographer who mainly used the optical viewfinder 31 and did not use the liquid crystal display unit 10 even when the power was last turned off, the liquid crystal display unit is turned off as it is, and the liquid crystal display unit 10 is mainly used and the last time the power is turned off. For the photographer who has used the liquid crystal display unit 10, the liquid crystal display unit can be turned on, and the liquid crystal display unit 10 (backlight 16) is controlled according to the photographing operation pattern of the photographer.

Next, in S201 of FIG. 8, in order to determine whether or not the photographer has taken his / her eyes off the optical viewfinder 31, it is detected whether or not the state change 2 of the eyepiece detection unit Seey has occurred. Here, the state change 2 refers to a state in which the output of the eyepiece detection unit changes from 1 to 0 as shown in FIG.
By keeping the output 0 state for a while, it is possible to detect that the photographer has taken his / her eyes off the optical viewfinder 31 without fail.
Of course, a configuration may be adopted in which the state change 2 occurs when the output of the eyepiece detection unit changes from 1 to 0.

When the state change 2 has occurred in S201 (YES in S201), it is determined whether the return mode flag is 1 or 0 in S202, and when the return mode flag is 1, it is determined in S203. Backlight 1
6 is energized and turned on.

If it is determined in step S202 that the return mode flag is 0, the backlight 1 is reset in step S205.
6 is checked, and when the power is not supplied (S2
(05: NO), the process returns to S201. If the power is on (YES in S205), in S206, the backlight 16 is turned off and turned off.

As described above, when the photographer who has been using the optical finder 31 at the time of turning on the power turns his / her eyes off the optical finder, the backlight 16 returns to the light-on state or the light-off state at the time of the previous power-off. Therefore, the photographer can continue photographing in the same state as when the power was last turned off.

On the other hand, when the state change 2 has not occurred in S201 (NO in S201), in order to determine whether or not the photographer is looking into the optical viewfinder 31,
In S204, it is detected whether the eyepiece detection unit has changed to state change 1. Here, the state change 1 refers to a state in which the output of the eyepiece detection unit Seye changes from 0 to 1 and the state of 1 has passed for 2 seconds as shown in FIG.
Since the state of the output 1 continues for a while, it can be detected that the photographer is looking into the optical viewfinder 31 without fail. Of course, a configuration may be adopted in which the state change 1 occurs when the output of the eyepiece detection unit changes from 0 to 1.

When the state change 1 occurs in S204 (YES in S204), the process proceeds to S205 to check whether the backlight 16 is turned on or off. When the backlight 16 is turned off (NO in S205), the process proceeds to S201. Return. If it is lit (YES in S205), S206
Then, the backlight 16 is turned off and turned off. In this way, after turning on the power, the photographer sets the optical viewfinder 3
In the case where 1 is used, the backlight 16 which has been turned on is used.
Is turned off, so that waste of power consumption due to continuous energization of the backlight can be prevented.

If the result of determination in S204 is that state change 1 has not occurred (NO in S204), it is determined in S207 whether an on / off switch 19 for turning on or off the backlight 16 has been pressed. Is pressed (YES in S207), S2
At 08, it is determined whether or not the eyepiece is detected.

When the eyepiece is detected in S208 (YES in S208), the process returns to S201 without any operation. Therefore, when the photographer is using the optical viewfinder 31, the on / off switch
Even if 9 is operated, the operation becomes invalid. For this reason,
When the photographer is using the optical viewfinder 31,
Backlight 16 due to erroneous operation of on / off switch 19
Is prevented from being turned on.

On the other hand, when the eyepiece is not detected (S
(NO in 208), the state of lighting and extinguishing of the backlight 16 is checked in S209, and if the backlight is on (YES in S209), the backlight 16 is de-energized by turning off the power, and returned to the return mode. Set the flag to 0. When the backlight is off (NO in S209), the backlight 16 is energized and turned on, and the return mode flag is set to 1.

When the ON / OFF switch 19 of the backlight 16 is not pressed in S207 (NO in S207)
O) In S212, it is determined whether or not the operation of the digital camera has been performed for 10 minutes or more. If the operation has not been performed for 10 minutes or more (YES in S212), S213 is performed.
To determine whether or not the eyepiece is detected.

When the eyepiece is detected in S213 (YES in S213), the automatic power off timer is cleared in S214, and the process returns to S201. This allows
While the optical viewfinder 31 is in use, the power of the camera is not shut off due to the operation of the auto power off timer. When the eyepiece is not detected (N in S213)
O) In S215, the state of lighting or extinguishing of the backlight 16 at that time is recorded in the nonvolatile memory MX, and S216
Then, the power of the digital camera 1 is shut off, and this routine ends.

When the operation is performed in S212 (NO in S212), after performing other processing of the digital camera in S217, it is determined whether or not the power switch PS is pressed in S218, and the power switch is pressed. If it is performed (YES in S218), the process proceeds to S215, in which the ON / OFF state of the backlight 16 at that time is stored (S215), and the power of the digital camera is cut off (S215).
216). When the power button is not pressed (S2
(NO at 18), and returns to S201.

If the photographer uses the optical viewfinder 31 after turning on the power and then releases the use of the optical viewfinder 31, it is determined in S201 that state change 2 has occurred (YES in S201), and the state of the return mode flag is set. (S202), the backlight is turned on (S203),
Alternatively, the light is turned off (S206). Since the return mode flag after the power is turned on is set based on the state of the backlight 16 when the optical finder 31 is not used (S209, S210, S211), when the use of the optical finder 31 is canceled. , Backlight 16
Returns to the state before use of the optical viewfinder 31. For this reason, when the photographer who is taking a picture using the liquid crystal display unit 10 looks at the optical viewfinder 31 a little and looks away again, the liquid crystal display unit 10 is turned on again, The photographing using the liquid crystal display unit 10 can be continued, which is convenient.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of the state change 1 determination process.

First, in S2041, the eyepiece detection unit Se is used.
It is determined whether the output of ye is 1 or not. If the output is not 1 (NO in S2041), it is determined that there is no state change 1. If the output is 1 (YE in S2041).
S), the internal timer is started in S2042.

Then, in S2043, it is determined again whether or not the output of the eyepiece detection unit Seey is 1, and if the output is not 1 (NO in S2043), S2047 is executed.
After the timer is cleared, it is determined that there is no state change 1. When the output is 1 (YE at S2043)
S), In S2044, it is determined whether or not the timer has elapsed for 2 seconds. If the timer has not elapsed for 2 seconds (S20
(NO in 44), the timer is counted up in S2045, and the process returns to S2043. When the timer has elapsed for 2 seconds (YES in S2044), a beep is emitted once in S2046, and it is determined that state change 1 has occurred. I do.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for determining the state change 2.

First, at S2011, the eyepiece detection unit Se
It is determined whether or not the output of ye is 0. If the output is not 0 (NO in S2011), it is determined that there is no state change 2. When the output is 0 (YE in S2011)
S), a timer is started in S2012.

Then, in S2013, it is determined again whether or not the output of the eyepiece detection unit Seye is 0. If the output is not 0 (NO in S2013), S2017 is executed.
To clear the timer and determine that there is no state change 2. On the other hand, when the output is 0 (YE in S2013)
S), In S2014, it is determined whether or not the timer has elapsed for 2 seconds. If 2 seconds have not elapsed in S2014 (NO in S2014), the timer is counted up in S2015, and the process returns to S2013. When the timer has elapsed for 2 seconds (YES in S2014), the process proceeds to S20
At 16, two beeps are emitted, and it is determined that there is a state change 2.

As described above, when the state change 1 and the state change 2 occur, the user is notified by a beep sound, so that the photographer can easily recognize that the state change has occurred, and the state change 1 and the state change 2 , The number of beeps is changed, so that the photographer can surely recognize the state change 1 or the state change 2.

[0107]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the control unit automatically turns on or off the backlight of the display unit according to the detection result of the detection unit. In relation to the above, while being able to perform optimal control that enables power saving,
The operation of turning on or off the backlight, which was performed by the photographer, can be automatically performed, and the operability can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above effects, the backlight can be reliably turned off when the optical viewfinder is used, and power saving can be reliably achieved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the backlight is turned off only when it is certain that the photographer is using the optical viewfinder, so that erroneous detection can be prevented and operability is further improved. .

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the use of the optical viewfinder by the photographer is released, the backlight returns to the original lighting state, so that framing is mainly performed using the display section. On the other hand, when the optical finder is used for confirmation or the like, an operation for turning on the backlight is not required, and control in accordance with a photographing operation pattern of the photographer can be performed, thereby further improving operability.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the backlight can be turned on when the use of the optical finder by the photographer is surely released, and erroneous detection is prevented.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent an increase in power consumption caused by erroneously turning on the backlight while using the optical viewfinder.

According to the invention described in claim 7, power saving can be achieved by turning off the backlight from the time of turning on the power.

According to the present invention, when the photographer stops using the optical viewfinder, the state of the backlight at the time of the previous power-off is automatically restored, and the display section is displayed following the previous photographing. Can be continued, the control can be performed in accordance with the photographing operation pattern of the photographer, and the operability can be improved.

According to the ninth aspect, the photographer can easily recognize whether or not the photographer is using the optical viewfinder by the notifying means, and the operability can be improved.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, since the notification mode of the notification means is different, the photographer can more reliably recognize whether or not the user is using the optical viewfinder.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, the power can be saved by the automatic power-off control. In addition, when the photographer is performing framing or the like using the optical viewfinder, the photographer is unwillingly. The inconvenience of shutting off the power can be prevented, and the operability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the same.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a situation of eye detection by an eye detection unit;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control system of the digital camera shown in FIGS.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an output state in the eyepiece detection unit.

FIG. 7 is a part of a flowchart showing the operation of the digital camera in FIGS. 1 to 5;

FIG. 8 is the remaining part of the flowchart showing the operation of the digital camera.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart relating to a determination process of state change 1 in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart relating to a determination process of state change 2 in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Digital camera 2 ... Camera body part 3 ... Imaging part 10 ... Liquid crystal display part (display part) 16 ... Backlight 31 ····· Optical finder 211 ··· Overall control unit (control means) Seey ··· Eyepiece detection unit (detection means) Buz ··· Buzzer (notification means)

Claims (11)

[Claims] An optical viewfinder; a display unit for displaying image data having a backlight; a detecting means for detecting whether or not a photographer is using the optical viewfinder; A digital camera, comprising: control means for controlling turning on and off of a backlight of a display unit. 2. In the lighting state of the backlight,
2. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the control unit turns off the backlight when the use of the optical viewfinder by the photographer is detected by the detection unit. 3. The control unit according to claim 2, wherein the control unit turns off the backlight when the use state of the optical viewfinder has been continued for a predetermined time since the use of the optical viewfinder by the photographer is detected. Digital camera. 4. An operation member for turning on or off the backlight, and before using the optical finder,
The control unit turns on the backlight when the detecting unit detects that the photographer has stopped using the optical viewfinder when the backlight is turned on by the operation of the operation member. 2. The digital camera according to 1. 5. The control unit according to claim 4, wherein after detecting that the photographer has stopped using the optical viewfinder, the control unit turns on the backlight when the optical viewfinder has not been used for a predetermined time. Digital camera. 6. An operation member for turning on or off the backlight, wherein the control unit invalidates the operation of the operation member while the use of the optical viewfinder by the photographer is detected by the detection unit. The digital camera according to claim 1. 7. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the control unit keeps the backlight turned off when the use unit detects the use of the optical viewfinder by the detection unit at the time of startup by turning on the power. 8. An operation member for turning on or off the backlight, and when the backlight is turned on by the operation of the operation member at the time of the previous power-off, a photographer operates the optical viewfinder by the detection means. The digital camera according to claim 7, wherein the control unit turns on the backlight when it is detected that the backlight is no longer used. 9. The digital camera according to claim 1, further comprising a notifying means for notifying a photographer of a change in the output of said detecting means. 10. The notification means changes the notification mode depending on whether the output of the detection means changes from a use state of the optical viewfinder to a non-use state or from a non-use state to a use state. Item 10. A digital camera according to item 9. 11. An optical viewfinder, auto power-off control means for shutting off a power supply when a camera operation is not performed for a predetermined time, detecting means for detecting whether a photographer uses the optical viewfinder, A digital camera, comprising: a control unit that disables the automatic power-off control when the use of the optical viewfinder by the photographer is detected by the detection unit.