Abstract: A flexible printed circuit board for use in a display unit of a camera, which includes a flexible substrate with a printed circuit pattern, a die of an integrated circuit chip mounted on said substrate for driving the display drive, a plurality of wires, and resin sealant for covering said integrated circuit chip. The flexible substrate has first terminals to be in contact with a display device and second terminals in electric connections to said first terminals, respectively. The die of the integrated circuit chip includes a plurality of connecting terminals. The plurality of wires are for bonding said connecting terminals of the integrated circuit chip to said second terminals of said printed circuit pattern.

Abstract: An electronic flash unit being effective in emitting light repeatedly at high speed by boosting an applying voltage between main electrodes of a flash discharge tube twice or more as much as a charged voltage in a main capacitor connected parallel to a high voltage DC power source, wherein the electronic flash device has a plurality of boosting capacitors connected with the flash discharge tube through plural second control switches respectively and a common circuit including an insulated gate bipolar transistor IGBT, the main capacitor and a first control switch for selective excitations, and also connected with a primary winding of a trigger transformer via a trigger capacitor, a diode and so on for charges during being un-excited, and wherein the electronic flash device has a switch control device for selectively turning on one of the plural second switches and for simultaneously turning on the first switch so as to supply a high voltage to the flash discharge tube being combined with the charged voltages

Abstract: In a distance measuring device of a camera, a distance measuring optical system unit has light-emitting and light-receiving elements for distance measurement. The distance measuring optical system unit is rotated from one end of a photographing screen to the other end thereof to perform a distance measuring operation. The distance measuring optical system unit is rotated and stopped in a set distance measuring range by a cam rotated by a DC motor and a driven arm portion of the distance measuring optical system unit. Distance measuring object ranges of the distance measuring optical system unit are switched by a switch. For example, the distance measuring object ranges are set with respect to many-point distance measurement or one-point distance measurement.

Abstract: A camera system with an auto-focusing system includes a camera body and an interchangeable zoom lens. The interchangeable objective lens stores various data to be sent to the camera body for improving automatic focus adjustment, such as an information necessary to convert the detected defocus information into a movement of the driving power source to carry out the automatic focus adjustment. The driving power source in the camera body is controlled in response to the data from the interchangeable objective lens and the detected focus information, the driving power being transmitted to the interchangeable objective lens. The camera body is further capable of inhibiting the focus adjustment or focus indication in response to a data from the interchangeable objective lens under an unfavorable condition.

Abstract: An image stabilization device having vibration detecting means for detecting the vibration state of an image, vibration correcting means responsive to the vibration detecting means to correct the vibration of the image, and control means for effecting the regulation or warning of the photographing operation until the operation of the vibration detecting means becomes stable.

Abstract: A photometry apparatus in a camera includes a light receiving portion having a plurality of light receiving elements for flash photographing, and a plurality of amplifiers for amplifying the outputs of the light receiving elements, respectively, and is provided with a push button switch for selecting one or more of the light receiving elements, a photographing data setting dial rotated while the push button switch is pushed, and a display device for displaying the set state of the dial, and is further provided with a central processing unit for converting a digital signal into an analog value through a digital-analog converter and variably controlling the output voltage thereof so that the outputs of the light receiving elements may be the same in order to change the amplification factor or factors of the amplifier or amplifiers corresponding to the selected light receiving element or elements so as to make up for the outputs of the light receiving elements which have not been selected.

Abstract: A camera system includes a camera having a focal plane shutter and an electronic flash device cooperable with the camera. The flash device, which emits light repetitively, has two operating modes. In a first mode, a light emission start signal is synchronized with the start of the exposure of a film exposure area by a leading curtain of the shutter, and a light emission stop signal is synchronized with the end of the exposure of the film exposure area by a trailing curtain of the shutter. In a second mode, the light emission start signal is synchronized with the full exposure of the film exposure area by the leading curtain, and the light emission stop signal is synchronized with the start of shielding of the film exposure area by the trailing curtain.

Abstract: An automatic focusing device, in which a focus lens is driven by tracking an object-in-motion to obtain an in-focus state, based upon a focus prediction that is executed from repeated distance measurements. In-focus indicating is executed only when the focus lens is in the in-focus condition and the object-in-motion is moving at a speed that is less than a predetermined speed.

Abstract: A driving section relatively drives an optical system and an object in a direction of an optical axis of the optical system. An information detecting section detects information of the object obtained by the optical system. A focusing position detecting section detects evaluation values representing in-focus states of a plurality of positions in a focusing position and positions near the focusing position, in response to a plurality of focusing position calculation methods different from each other, based on the information of said object respectively. An initializing section initializes an optimal focusing position calculation method, of the plurality of focusing position calculation methods, which is most suitable for a focusing operation of the object.

Abstract: A camera system comprises a selector, an operable switch, a changing circuit and an inhibiting circuit. The selector selects one of a plurality of exposure lines. The changing circuit change as combination of the aperture value and the shutter speed value determine by both the selected exposure line and a brightness value in response to the operation of the operable switch. The inhibiting circuit inhibits the operation of changing circuit when a predetermined exposure line is selected by the selector. In the camera system, a photographer may only select the exposure mode through the operable switch in accordance with his intention and purpose in photography, and then the change of the exposure combination is inhibited in a certain exposure mode.

Abstract: A camera is provided with two display devices, one for making a superimposed display of information inside an image plane frame within a viewfinder and the other for displaying information outside the image plane frame. The superimposed display is controlled to be made for a shorter period of time than the display made outside the image plane frame, so that the viewfinder can be sighted without being hindered by the superimposed display.

Abstract: According to a measuring apparatus for a camera, light is projected to an object from a projection section, and light reflected on the object is received at a first light receiving section and a second light receiving section arranged to be adjacent to each other. In the first light receiving section, a first and second signals relating to a light receiving position and a quantity of received light are output, and in the second light receiving section, a third signal relating to a quantity of light of the reflected light is output. In a discriminating and calculating section, if it is discriminated that the reflected light is positioned at a place, which is nearer than a predetermined distance, a measuring distance can be calculated from an output ratio of the first signal to the second signal by a measuring calculation circuit.

Abstract: In a camera remote-controlling apparatus, the incident angle based on a remote-controlling signal issued from a specific object to be photographed is detected by a signal receiving unit and the position of the object is operated and specified. The photographing optical system is driven to vary the focal length so that the specified object may enter the photographed picture. Further, distance measuring information for the object is detected by a distance measuring part, the photographing optical system is focused and, at the same time, light measuring information for the luminance of the same specified object is detected by, a light measuring part to control the exposure.

Abstract: The present invention is designed such that during flash photographing which involves pre-light emission for preventing red eye, focus adjustment is effected on the basis of focus adjustment information detected during the time from after the pre-light emission is effected until shutter release is effected and therefore, the time lag from the detection of the focus adjustment information until the shutter release can be minimized and a photo-taking lens can be reliably focused to a desired object even during flash photographing which involves the pre-light emission.

Abstract: A method based on image defocus information is disclosed for determining distance (or ranging) of objects from a camera system and autofocusing of camera systems. The method uses signal processing techniques. The present invention includes a camera characterized by a set of four camera parameters: position of the image detector inside the camera, focal length of the optical system in the camera, the size of the aperture of the camera, and the characteristics of the light filter in the camera. In the method of the present invention, at least two images of the object are recorded with different values for the set of camera parameters. The two images are converted to one-dimensional signals by summing them along a particular direction whereby the effect of noise is reduced and the amount of computations are significantly reduced. Fourier coefficients of the one-dimensional signals and a log-by-rho-squared transform are used to obtain a calculated table.

Abstract: An image stabilizing device for a camera includes an image stabilizing means for preventing an image blur of the camera and a control means for changing a function of the image stabilizing means in accordance with a photometry or focus mode of the camera.

Abstract: A zoom lens barrel is disclosed with includes a stationary barrel. A rotatable cam ring is supported by the stationary barrel and is adapted to move along an optical axis direction in association with rotation of the rotatable cam ring. A lens guide ring is adapted to move together with the cam ring along the optical axis direction, and the cam ring is adapted to rotate relative to the lens guide ring, in association with axial movement of the cam ring. Cam grooves are provided for guiding the movement of at least two movable front and rear lens groups, with at least one groove being formed on the cam ring. Lens guide grooves are formed on the lens guide ring and are adapted to correspond to the cam grooves of the cam ring. At least one guide pin is provided which is adapted to extend through an associated cam groove and an associated lens guide groove.

Abstract: A photometric apparatus of a camera for carrying out a multi-segmented photometry by receiving object light reflected at a film or the shutter, includes a plurality of photometric elements which are disposed at positions to respectively receive reflected light from the film or the shutter. The elements are segmented in accordance with each of regions segmenting the object field, corresponding to regions of the film or the shutter, and are arranged in parallel in a predetermined direction within a mirror box so as to respectively receive light reflected with diffusion angles less than a predetermined angle from respective reflection regions of the film or the shutter.

Abstract: In the multi point range finding device according to this invention, the photosensitive means 11 for detecting the light reflected from the subject (3) incudes the PSDs (20a) to (20c) which are disposed at positions and intervals corresponding to plural light-irradiating sources (4a to 4c), and the semiconductor resistance elements (21a to 21c), each of the PSDs (20a to 20c) and each of the semiconductor resistance elements (21a to 21c) are connected in series to each other, and a set of the PSDs (20a to 20c) as well as a set of the semiconductor resistance elements 21a to 21c are connected in parallel with one another. The photoelectric currents generated in the PSDs (20a to 20c) are outputted through common output electrodes E1 and E2. With this structure, a compact multipoint range finding device having high precision can be produced in low cost.

Abstract: In a focus detection device for a camera, a plurality of distance sensors each for detecting a distance to an object in a plurality of areas of a photographing image plane are provided and distance data obtained by the distance sensors for each object in each area is supplied to a main object detection circuit and a normalizing circuit. The normalizing circuit normalizes the distance data into a real number ranging from 0 to 1 and then supplies the same to a neural network. The neural network formed of a single-layered neuron units of which the synapse connection weighting factors are previously obtained by the learning process, calculates a vector difference between the distance data and the synapse connection weighting factors of each neuron unit, detects the minimum vector difference, and outputs position data of a main object corresponding to a neuron unit which gives the minimum vector difference. The position data of the main object is input to a main object detection circuit.