Konica Corporation

Masazi Yoshimura

Kazuyuki Shimizu

Satoshi Harada

Tsuyoshi Kakita

Satoshi Nakamoto

An automatic focusing camera for exposing an image of an object on a film with a function of automatically focusing on the object. The camera includes a range-finding unit to measure the distance between the object and the camera, in which the range-finding unit is capable of measuring the distance with plural measuring areas; a circuit to calculate a moving speed of the object according the measured distance; a circuit to estimate a distance between the object and the camera when the camera exposes the image according to the measured distance by the range-finding unit and the calculated moving speed, before the camera exposes the image; a circuit to determine whether the moving speed exceeds a predetermined speed; and a controller to change the measuring area of the range-finding unit from one measuring area to the other area when the camera determines that the moving speed exceeds the predetermined speed.

Automatic focusing camera

An electronic flash device includes a flash discharge tube, an IGBT, connected to the flash discharge tube, for controlling light emission, a trigger means for driving the flash discharge tube, an AC voltage generating means having an oscillation transformer for generating an AC voltage from an input voltage, and a power supply section for generating a gate drive voltage for the IGBT from a counter electromotive voltage generated at a terminal of a winding of the oscillation transformer. The electronic flash device further includes an IGBT drive voltage generating means, a first resistor connected between the IGBT drive voltage generating means and a gate of the IGBT, a capacitor having a terminal connected to the IGBT drive voltage generating means and having a capacitance larger than an electrostatic capacitance across the gate and an emitter of the IGBT, a second resistor having a terminal connected to the other terminal of the capacitor and the other terminal connected to the gate of the IGBT and a resistance smaller than that of the first resistor, and a third resistor connected between a ground terminal and a connection terminal between the IGBT drive voltage generating means and the first resistor.

Electronic flash device

A swinging camera includes a distance measuring section, an automatic release section, a rotating section, an angle detecting section, a determining section, a storage section, and a control section. The rotating section rotates the camera within one plane. The angle detecting section detects a rotational angle of the camera set by the rotating section and outputs rotational angle data. The determining section operates the distance measuring section in unit of a predetermined angle while the camera is rotated by at least one revolution by operating the rotating section prior to photography, and determines on the basis of output distance data and/or rotational angle data whether objects to be photographed are people. The storage section stores only rotational angle data of objects determined to be people, of rotational angle data output from the angle detecting section. The control section rotates the camera to each angular position based on the rotational angle data stored in the storage section when the automatic release section is operated, and stops the camera at each angular position.

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Hachioji, Japan

Masazi Yoshimura