Abstract: An electronically programmed shutter assembly for a camera including an oing ring and a closing ring with locking shutter blades activated by rotation of the rings is provided. The locking ring is held in position upon rotation of the opening ring by a holding member attached to a holding magnet. The holding member is prevented from releasing the closing ring until the opening ring has travelled a minimum distance and the holding magnet has been demagnetized in order to insure attainment of a minimal lens opening prior to closing of the shutter blades. Insuring minimal lens opening will prevent the closing ring from closing the shutter immediately upon activation of the opening ring under intensive lighting conditions.

Abstract: A camera including an electronically programmed shutter including improved witches closed during operation of the shutter is provided. The shutter assembly includes an opening member and a locking member carrying shutter blade pivotably mounted to the opening member. Actuation of the opening member triggers closing of the switch which closes the current circuit to an electronic flash device at a maximum predetermined lens opening and initiates the shutter closing. The switches are closed by displacement of a transfer member which is positioned in the locus of movement of the opening member. The position of the transfer member may be set by a switch in the flash device through a linking flash slide or may be changed in response to rotation of the camera focusing element.

Abstract: An assembly including a single activation element for tensioning and releng the tension on a camera shutter is provided. The activating element is an elongated slide displaceable transverse to the axis of the lens having activating surfaces for tensioning the shutter when displaced in a first direction towards the axis of the lens and for releasing the shutter when the lever is displaced in the direction away from the axis of the lens. The slide is displaced towards the lens axis by the film transport and tensions the shutter by pivoting a shutter tension lever in engagement with a shutter ring and locks the shutter ring. The slide is displaced away from the lens axis and unlocks the shutter ring which is biased for opening the shutter. In a further embodiment of the invention, a camera including the assembly also includes a separately activated integrated time-delay release mechanism.

Abstract: A removable assembly for attaching a carrying strap or similar member to a amera or other article is provided. The assembly includes a thin planar link having an opening therethrough which extends into an opening slit in the forward or coupling end of the link. The opening slit has a width which is smaller than the largest width of the opening. A cooperating stepped-locking pin positioned in the camera or other article has one dimension which is thicker than the width of the slit and smaller than the largest width of the opening and a second dimension smaller than the width of the slit. The faces of the opening slit are inclined with respect to the link surface and the locking pin has a cooperating inclined surface between the strap for permitting displacement of the pin within the article body as the link is inserted into the article in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the pin.

Abstract: A camera leaf shutter assembly having at least one activation ring rotatable about a stationary carrier ring for operating the shutter assembly is provided. The number of individual parts of the assembly is reduced and assembly is facilitated by forming the activation ring and carrier ring of a synthetic material.The carrier ring is formed with a groove for receiving the activation ring with the groove walls securing the activation ring in the radial direction. The camera ring is formed with securing elements for securing the activation ring in the axial direction. The securing element may be a bayonet-type closure or deformable tabs biased toward the axis of the assembly. In a preferred embodiment the shutter blades are pivotably mounted between two activation rings, the activation rings and shutter blades disposed within a shutter chamber formed by an outer ring cooperating with the camera ring for securing the assembly.

Abstract: A pivot-joint construction for a binocular telescope wherein each telescope ube is pivotable for adjusting the interocular distance between the tubes is provided. Required friction between hinged telescope tube and connection bridge elements is provided by hinge friction tabs stressed in the direction of the axis of the hinge. The tube and the bridge include at least two outer pairs of cooperating non-tensioned hinge tabs having axial holes therein for retaining a hinge pin. A pre-stressed spring is disposed on a central hinge tab of one element about the pin between cooperating tabs on the other element for stressing in the axial direction so that the interocular distance of the telescope will remain set without disturbing the required parallelism between the telescope tubes. The construction is particularly well suited for binocular telescopes fabricated from synthetic materials.

Abstract: A film cartridge loading type camera is provided with improved apparatus controlling camera exposure comprising a sensing slide for sensing a film speed code carried on a film cartridge, and a pivotable lever operatively connected to the sensing slide which is responsive to latching of the camera housing after mounting the film cartridge thereon. The operative connection between the pivotable lever and sensing slide is a variable function of the film speed of the cartridge load. A regulable intermediately mounted bell crank and lever arrangement integrally connected to the sensing slide control the position of a camera exposure regulating member.

Abstract: A system for mounting an accessory unit, such as a flash unit, on a camera ousing comprises at least one fixed hook-shaped bolt and at least one movable hook-shaped bolt on the accessory unit with corresponding apertures in the camera housing for receiving the bolts, the inner surface of the camera housing being provided with inclined surfaces leading away from the apertures, the hook-shaped bolts being provided with corresponding inclined surfaces and the inclined surface of the movable hook-shaped bolt being substantially parallel to the contact plane, the locking action being secured by a spring urging the bolts into contact with the inclined surfaces associated with their corresponding apertures.

Abstract: A camera which has a shutter-control structure for cocking and releasing a amera shutter and a film-transporting structure for transporting film is provided with a drive for driving both the shutter-control structure and the film-transporting structure. A drive-control is provided for controlling this drive in such a way that when it is operated first the shutter-control is operated to cock a shutter of the camera, while no drive is transmitted to the film-transporting structure, and then when the shutter is cocked by the shutter-control structure, the drive to the latter is terminated while during the continued operation of the drive, the drive therefrom is transmitted to the film-transport structure.

Abstract: A ranging system for a camera is provided including a reflecting means and marking means including movable masking means reflected thereby into the viewfinder of a camera. The reflecting means within the scope of this invention includes means for translating an axial movement of the movable masking means to the camera viewfinder as a positional movement transverse to the actual displacement direction thereof. To effect this image transfer, the marking means includes at least one mirror mounted adjacent to the masking means at an angle of about 45 degrees to the displacement direction thereof. According to one embodiment of the invention, an annular mark is projected into the viewfinder. To project an image of this character, the marking means includes an interiorly mirrored conical member, and the masking means includes a mandrel axially mounted therein, the mandrel being displaceable along the conical axis.

Abstract: A camera incorporating a light-meter and a battery-powered lamp for indicng when the level of incident light is so low as to be unsuitable for photography also includes means for determining the state of charge of the battery. The possibility of making an erroneous determination of the state of charge of the battery as the result of failing to cover the photosensitive element during the determination of the state of charge is eliminated.

Abstract: A camera which has the capability of making exposures according to apertu distance, and exposure-time settings and which can also make flash exposures is provided with a housing which carries an adjustable structure movable with respect to the camera housing to provide one of the above settings, this adjustable structure also having a flash position at which it can be set with respect to the camera housing. An electronic flash device is capable of being removably connected with the camera housing by way of a connecting structure carried in part by the flash device and in part by the camera housing. This electronic flash device has a normally open switch which must be closed to render the electronic flash device operative. A switch-operating member is movably carried by the camera housing for movement with respect thereto between a rest position and a switch-closing position where the switch-operating member cooperates with the switch of the flash device to close the latter switch.