JP2003280078A - Waterproof camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adjust display luminance so that the display of an LED or an LCD is easily viewed even when using a camera under water. <P>SOLUTION: Water pressure applied to a camera body is detected by a water pressure sensor 62. A CPU 56 controls an LED driver 64 in accordance with the detected water pressure so as to adjust the display luminance of the LEDs 24, 32, and 34. The CPU 56 adjusts the display luminance of the LCD 28 in accordance with the detected water pressure. Meanwhile, the display luminance of the LEDs 24, 32, and 34, and the LCD 28 can be optionally changed by manual input by a user. The waterproof camera has a display part having recommended luminance as an index in the case of the manual input, and the recommended luminance is calculated from the water pressure detected by the sensor 62 and the remaining capacity of a battery detected by a battery remaining capacity checker 60. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a waterproof camera used underwater.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an invention for solving various problems in water has been made by providing a waterproof camera capable of photographing underwater with a detecting means for detecting water pressure and based on the water pressure information obtained by the detecting means. There is. For example, JP-A-8-184887
The publication discloses a waterproof camera having a water pressure detecting means, wherein the water pressure detecting means also has at least one of a water pressure display means, a water depth display means, and an overwater pressure warning means. . Further, this waterproof camera is also provided with a focus adjusting means for performing focus adjustment which corrects the shift of the focal position of the taking lens in water when recognizing that the camera is underwater, and a color correcting means for compensating for a change in color tone. There is.

[0003]

However, when photographing underwater, it is often dark in the water, and since the user wears underwater glasses, the conventional waterproof camera uses various notification LEDs (light emitting diodes). ) Was difficult to see. In addition, as various notification LEDs,
For example, an AF warning LED that lights up when the in-focus position cannot be detected by AF (autofocus), and a self-timer notification LE that notifies the shooting timing by the self-timer
D, a strobe charge notification LED and the like to notify the completion / non-completion of strobe charging.

In many digital cameras and video cameras, in addition to the notification LED, an LCD (liquid crystal display panel) is attached to the back surface of the main body. Although the user determines the shooting angle of view and views the reproduced image on the LCD, the LCD is difficult to see underwater.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a waterproof camera which makes it easy to take a picture by raising the display brightness of a light emitting display device such as a notification LED or LCD during underwater photography. To do.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the waterproof camera of the present invention has a water pressure sensor for detecting the water pressure outside the camera, and automatically operates according to the water pressure information obtained by the water pressure sensor. In addition, the display brightness of the light emitting display device is increased.

On the other hand, the display brightness of the light emitting display device is
It can be arbitrarily changed according to the manual input by the user.

As an index at the time of manual input, the waterproof camera of the present invention has a display unit of recommended brightness, and the recommended brightness is based on the water pressure detected by the water pressure sensor and the remaining amount of the battery incorporated in the camera body. It is calculated.

[0009]

1 is a perspective view showing the outer appearance of a waterproof digital camera 10 embodying the present invention. The digital camera body 11 is waterproof and can be photographed underwater. On the front surface of the digital camera body 11, a lens barrel 14 in which the taking lens 12 is incorporated, an objective side finder window 18 forming a finder 16, a strobe light emitting section 20 for irradiating a subject with strobe light, and shutter relays operation. The relays button 22 used and a self-timer notification LED 24 for notifying the photographing timing by the self-timer are provided.

FIG. 2 shows a rear appearance of the waterproof digital camera 10. On the back surface of the digital camera body 11, a finder window 26 constituting the finder 16 and an image display L
CD (liquid crystal display panel) 28, digital camera body 11
An operation unit 30 for performing various settings and operations, and a strobe charging notification LED 32 for notifying completion / non-completion of strobe charging are provided.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the LCD 28 and the operation unit 30. Reference numeral 34 is an AF warning LED, which lights in green when the AF (autofocus) focus position can be detected, and lights in orange when the AF (autofocus) focus position cannot be detected. Reference numeral 36 is an operation button, and the user performs a predetermined operation here to set the basic specifications of the digital camera main body 11 and LC.
The display operation of D28 and the like can be performed.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the system structure of the waterproof digital camera 10. Shooting lens 12
Behind the, is a diaphragm 38, a CCD (charge coupled device) 4
0 is placed. The subject light that has passed through the taking lens 12 and the diaphragm 38 is converted into an analog signal by the CCD 40 and input to the analog signal processing unit 42. The analog signal processing unit 42 is a CDS (correlated double sampling circuit),
Includes AMP (amplifier), analog signal is CDS
The noise is removed by and amplified by AMP. After that, A
The analog signal is converted into a digital signal by the / D converter 44 and input to the digital signal processing unit 46.

The digital signal processing unit 46 separates the digital signal into a luminance signal and a color signal, and performs luminance signal processing, color signal processing, contour correction processing, encoding processing and the like. The signal-processed digital signal is temporarily stored in the memory 48 and the display memory 50, respectively. The digital signal stored in the memory 48 is processed by the compression circuit 52 in the JPEG (Join
t Photographic Cording Experts Group) compression processing is performed, and is recorded as an image file in the memory card 54. On the other hand, the digital signal stored in the display memory 50 is resized according to the number of pixels of the LCD 28 and displayed on the LCD 28.

The digital signal processing section 46 includes a CPU 5
Controlled by 6. The user operates the operation unit 30.
From the CPU 56 through the CPU 56, the basic specification setting of the digital camera main body 11, the display operation of the LCD 28, the memory card 54
It is possible to write / read image files to / from.

Further, the CPU 56 is connected with a battery level checker 60 which is connected to a power source 58 and detects the remaining amount of the battery, and a water pressure sensor 62 which detects the water pressure outside the camera. As will be described later in detail, the CPU 56 controls the brightness of the notification LEDs 24, 32, 34 via the LED driver based on the values detected by the battery remaining amount checker 60 and the water pressure sensor 62, and the L
The display brightness of the CD 28 is controlled.

FIG. 5 shows various notification LEDs 24, 32, 34.
And a brightness control flow of the LCD 28. First CPU5
At 6, the battery remaining amount checker 60 confirms the remaining amount of the battery, and the recommended gain is calculated based on the confirmation, and displayed on the LCD 28 screen. If the user changes the gain from the recommended value, the CPU 56 adopts the user set gain, and if there is no setting from the user, the CPU 56 adopts the recommended gain.

Next, the CPU 56 detects the value of the water pressure sensor 62. In this waterproof digital camera 10, when the water pressure exceeds 1.2 atm, that is, when the digital camera body 11 is at a water depth of about 2 m, it is determined to be in water.
If the digital camera body 11 is recognized to be underwater, various notification Ls are sent according to the gains adopted above.
Increase the brightness of the EDs 24, 32, 34 and LCD 28.
On the other hand, when the digital camera body 11 is not recognized as being underwater, the various notification LEDs 24, 32, 34 and L
The brightness of the CD 28 does not change.

The display of the recommended gain and the change of the gain by the user are performed through the LCD 28.
FIG. 6 is a plan view of the LCD 28 and the operation unit 30 when setting the gain. The user operates the operation button 3
By performing a predetermined operation with 6, the gain adjustment panel 6
6, the recommended gain 68, and the set gain 70 can be displayed on the LCD 28. Although the recommended gain 68 and the set gain 70 are set in advance to be equal to each other, the user can change the set gain 70 to an arbitrary value by performing a predetermined operation with the operation button 36.

Further, when it is desired to make the battery last longer, even if the water pressure sensor 62 recognizes that the digital camera body 11 is under water, the various notification LEDs 24, 3
It is also possible to set the brightness of the LCDs 2, 34 and the LCD 28 not to be increased. In this case, even in underwater photography, the same setting gain 70 as in the case of photography in air is adopted.

In the above embodiment, when the water pressure detected by the water pressure sensor 62 exceeds 1.2 atm, that is, when the water pressure dives to about 2 m, it is determined that the camera body is under water, and various notifications are sent. LEDs 24, 32, 34 and LCD 2
Although the brightness of No. 8 is supposed to increase, it is considered that the display of the light emitting display device becomes easy to see even if the brightness is not increased and the surroundings become even darker. In that case, the brightness that has once risen above 1.2 atm may be lowered again as the atmospheric pressure further rises.

Further, when the display brightness of the LCD 28 is increased, it is easy to increase the brightness of the backlight, but this increases the load on the battery. It is preferable to increase the transmittance of the LCD 28 while keeping the brightness of the light as it is.

As described above, the present invention is suitably used for the digital camera 10 having the LCD 28, but it can be applied not only to a movie digital camera but also to a photo camera. it can.

7 and 8 are perspective views showing the front appearance of the waterproof type photographic camera 72. As shown in FIG. Like the waterproof digital camera 10, the camera body 74 is provided with an LED 76 for notifying the self-timer and an LED 78 for displaying the completion of strobe charging. Further, in the case of the waterproof camera 72, the AF warning is given inside the viewfinder 80.
FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of the inside of the finder 80 seen through the finder window 82. An LED 84 for AF warning is provided at the lower left of the finder 80.

Further, a gain setting dial 86 is provided on the side of the camera body 74. The user operates the gain setting dial 86 to adopt the recommended gain calculated from the remaining battery capacity, set an arbitrary gain, or use it in water even in water. The same gain can be adopted or selected. When setting an arbitrary gain, the user rotates the gain setting dial 86 to adjust the gain.

According to the above construction, the display brightness of each of the LEDs 76, 78, 84 is changed in accordance with the water pressure (water depth) even when the photographic camera 72 is used underwater, so that the lighting display can be surely recognized. It has become. It is also possible to adjust the display brightness according to the user's settings and the remaining battery power.

[0026]

As described above, in the waterproof camera of the present invention,
Since the water pressure sensor for detecting the water pressure outside the camera is provided and the display brightness of the light emitting display device is automatically increased according to the water pressure information obtained by the water pressure sensor, the lighting display can be surely recognized.

On the other hand, since the adjustment of the display brightness of the light emitting display device can be changed according to the manual input by the user, it is possible to perform the photographing with the setting suitable for the user.

Further, as an index for manual input,
The waterproof camera of the present invention has a display unit of the recommended brightness, and the recommended brightness is calculated from the water pressure detected by the water pressure sensor and the remaining amount of the battery incorporated in the camera body. As a result, the user can easily determine the display brightness by manual input.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a waterproof digital camera embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the waterproof digital camera.

[Figure 3] LCD on the back of a waterproof digital camera
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the operation unit.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a system structure of a waterproof digital camera.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a brightness control flow of the waterproof digital camera.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an LCD and an operation unit when a gain is set.

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of a waterproof camera embodying the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a rear perspective view of the waterproof camera.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view showing the inside of the viewfinder of the waterproof camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

62 Water pressure sensor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A water pressure sensor for detecting a water pressure applied to a camera body, a light emitting display device incorporated in the camera body, and a brightness adjustment for adjusting a display brightness of the light emitting display device according to the water pressure detected by the water pressure sensor. A waterproof camera having means. 2. The waterproof camera according to claim 1, wherein the brightness adjusting unit changes the display brightness of the light emitting display device according to a manual input. 3. The display device has a display of a recommended brightness which is an index of the manual input, and the recommended brightness is calculated from a water pressure detected by a water pressure sensor and a remaining amount of a battery incorporated in the camera body. The waterproof camera according to claim 2, wherein