Abstract: Manual/automatic focus control mode selecting means are provided for an adjustable focus lens camera having both manual and automatic focus controls wherein said mode selecting means causes said automatic focus control to position said lens to a known reference point when the automatic focus control mode is selected and, in addition, reduces the power requirements of said automatic focus control.

Abstract: An automatic focusing camera which upon initiation of a camera cycle drives the lens to a focus position, and responsive thereto, provides an exposure operation, and termination of the camera cycle includes a jam sensor arrangement operable, responsive to a lens jam, to actuate the shutter mechanism of the camera and terminate the exposure cycle. The jam sensor arrangement, in conjunction with an auto-focus circuit, terminates the lens drive and completes the camera cycle whenever a malfunction occurs in the lens drive mechanism such that its motor is energized but the lens fails to move.

Abstract: A focusing mechanism for a camera includes a drive arrangement for displacing the camera lens in accordance with the contents of a counter into which the output of a pulse generator is gated during a range pulse whose duration is directly related to the distance of a subject from the camera. The pulse generator is programmed so that its pulse repetition rate matches the time-derivative of the function relating the subject distance to the lens position at which a subject is in focus. Integration of the generator output is carried out by gating the generator pulses into a counter during the range pulse such that at the trailing edge of the range pulse, the contents of the counter will be the integral of the time-derivative evaluated between the limits of the range pulse, i.e., a definite integral representative of the lens position at which a subject will be in focus when located at a distance defined by the duration of the range pulse.

Abstract: A camera having an automatic focus control system for an adjustable focus lens is provided with a demountable adjustable or fixed focus lens that incorporates a device having an adjustable or fixed focus lens characteristic that causes said automatic focus control system to vary in accordance with said lens characteristic. The device is removable with the lens and means are provided for interconnecting said device with said control system when the lens is mounted on said camera.

Abstract: The operational range of an adjustable focus lens is subdivided into a plurality of focus zones, of finite size, by a lens control system that produces a plurality of discrete signals representative of said focus zones, said control system utilizing bidirectional drive means to position the movable element of said lens to one of said focus zones from any position within said operational range in order to focus an image of a remote object at an image plane. The present invention equalizes and minimizes the focusing error introduced into said lens control system resulting from the use of such focus zones with bidirectional drive means, by utilizing electrodynamic braking to arrest lens movement within a predetermined portion of a focus zone, once said lens has entered said zone to focus an image of said remote object at said image plane.

Abstract: An artificial illumination control system is provided for a photographic camera for operation in a manner whereby under extremely low levels of ambient light intensity, the control system initiates the energization of a source of artificial illumination at a predetermined time period subsequent to the initiation of the exposure interval while under conditions of substantially higher levels of ambient light intensity, the control system initiates the energization of the source of artificial illumination as a consequence of the time integration of the scene light intensity incident to a photoresponsive element reaching a predetermined value. Hence, the artificial illumination control system may be automatically operated in both a normal flash mode and a "fill-in flash" mode.

Abstract: This invention relates to a photographic apparatus which includes an exposure control system having shutter blade elements with respective selectively shaped aperture openings therethrough which, depending upon the position of the blades, symmetrically overlap over a light entering exposure opening within the camera to define an effective scene light admitting aperture. During an exposure interval, the blades move simultaneously in correspondence with each other to define a progressively variable effective aperture opening over the camera light entering opening. The exposure control system additionally includes exposure control circuitry having a photoresponsive element therein as well as means responsive to the output condition of the photoresponsive element for arresting the shutter blade movement to define a maximum effective size aperture opening as a function of a first select scene light condition during a photographic exposure interval.