Eastman-Kodak Company

Stephen A Noble

Kenneth Alan Parulski

John F Hamilton, Jr

Paul B Gilman, Jr

Thomas C Nutting

Harry D Franchino

William P Lynch

Willy C Shih

A lightmeter-remote is usable in a system with a remotely settable camera and a plurality of remotely settable photolamps. The lightmeter-remote has a body, and a lightmeter, exposure controller, and transmitter disposed in the body. The exposure controller can be selectively actuated to set aperture, exposure time, and gain parameters of the camera and to set output parameters of each of the photolamps. The transmitter operatively and wirelessly connects the camera and photolamps with the exposure controller. The lightmeter-remote can have a plurality of lighting models, each providing user instructions defining a lighting setup and requiring one or more light measurements.

Photographic lightmeter-remote, system, and method

A method which substantially maintains the exposure latitude contained in one or more digital images captured in linear form and which uses an output device with a predetermined aim curve for producing visual images from such digital image includes the steps of selecting a particular reference portion of the scene corresponding to the digital image and adjusting the code value of such reference portion to a code value corresponding to a desired density and which corresponds to a point on the aim curve and changing the remaining code values of the digital image based upon the selected code value of the point on the aim curve so that a new digital image in linear form is produced; transforming the new digital image to form a third digital image which has code values based on the aim curve; and producing visual images by the output device in response to the transformed third digital image.

Transforms for digital images in linear form

A simultaneous image capture system including a film camera and an electronic image capture system includes a shutter release cable adapter with means for generating an output signal in response to initiation of a picture taking event. If the electronic image capture system is not ready to accept a new image, an imaging system controller responds to the adapter output signal to generate a warning indication to alert the photographer not to continue with the picture-taking event. The cable adapter is preferably a two position electromechanical device having an input responsive to the imaging system controller. When the electronic image capture system is not prepared to accept a new image, the controller sends a system busy signal to the adapter to cause the adapter to assume a blocking setting that physically blocks the cable release from initiating a picture taking event. When the image capature system is free, the system busy signal is removed causing the adapter to revert to an alternate position that physically allows the cable release to initiate the picture taking event.

Picture-taking control apparatus for a simultaneous image capture system

A system for simultaneous recording of a flash image on photographic film and video cameras in which flash operation during the process of image transfer out of an image sensor in the video camera is avoided by means of a simple synchronizing circuit. The synchronizing circuit operates in response to a flash request signal from the film camera to interrupt the transfer of image information out of the image sensor in the video camera for at least the duration of the flash illumination on the subject. Following conclusion of the flash illumination, the synchronizing circuit resets the image sensor processing circuits to restart transfer of the image information out of the image sensor at the beginning of an image field. The restart can coincide with conclusion of the flash illumination or can be delayed to coincide with a desired video frame in the composite video signal.

Image recording system and method

A system for simultaneous recording of a flash image on photographic film and video cameras in which flash operation during transfer of image out of the image sensor in the video camera is avoided by means of a simple synchronizing circuit. The synchronizing circuit generates a flash valid signal which allows the flash to be initiated only during a limited portion of the video field signal ending sufficiently far in advance of the next vertical blanking interval to assure that any flash illumination will be completed before the beginning of the next vertical blanking interval in which the video image transfer process occurs.

An image recording system is provided including a conventional photographic film camera, an electronic video camera, and an electronic flash. Synchronizing apparatus is provided such that, responsive to the actuation of the film camera shutter by a human operator, the flash is substantially immediately triggered to illuminate a subject. Responsive to the single flash illumination, the synchronizing apparatus synchronizes the operation of the video camera to the film camera such that the film camera captures a photographic image of the subject, and the electronic video camera captures a full frame image of a substantially identical view of the subject as two consecutive video fields. The video camera is further synchronized such that the flash illumination is substantially entirely and equally distributed between the two fields of video information. The video camera normally operates in a movie format according to NTSC standards. The capturing of the video image is accomplished by inhibiting, during the flash illumination, any transfer of charge from photosites to shift registers in a video imager contained in the video camera. Upon termination of the flash illumination, the next two video fields are transferred to provide a full video frame of the subject of interest.

Image recording system

A video display system for displaying still frame images which emulate photographic images by being bordered with a mask of selected dimensions; the mask being selected from several masks so as to display the image with a desired aspect ratio. The video image is stored in a frame store. A memory having two arrays which map the video screen in x and y coordinates, respectively, provides storage for a plurality of sets of x and y coordinate data each of which sets define a different one of the masks. The memory may be addressed by a computer and supplied with data to change any one or more of the available masks. The memory is scanned while the frame store is read out in synchronism with the scanning of the memory. Registers are provided for storing digitized video information representing a border of a selected color. The memory is read out to provide mask signals which control the multiplexing of data from the mask registers or the frame store to a digital output bus. Digital information representing images with the selected mask is available on the output bus and may be stored in a digital recorder and then converted into images for viewing on a monitor, or the information on the digital bus may be converted directly into analog form and applied to the monitor for viewing. The system enables proofing of the images without the delay in printing photographic prints for proofing and selecting such prints as are desired by customer.

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Rochester, NY, United States of America

Stephen A Noble