Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha

Minolta Company, Ltd.

Toshihiko Ishimura

Hiroshi Ootsuka

Norio Ishikawa

Reiji Seki

Takehiro Katoh

Nobuyuki Taniguchi

Yoshihiko Azuma

Kenji Tsuji

Masayasu Hirano

Yasuaki Akada

Naohiro Kageyama

Masaaki Nakai

Masayuki Ueyama

Manabu Inoue

Masataka Hamada

Shuji Izumi

Hideo Kajita

Tokuji Ishida

Kenji Ishibashi

Takahisa Shimada

Katsumi Kozakai

Hirokazu Kuroda

Hiroshi Yoshino

Shinichi Nishimura

Akihiko Fujino

Takeshi Egawa

Yasuteru Yamano

Akira Okuno

Sueyoshi Okumura

Sinji Katayori

Yasuo Nakanishi

Yoshihiro Hara

Junichi Tanii

Toshihiko Karasaki

Takashi Kondo

Mashio Kitaura

Toshio Yamaki

Noriyuki Ishii

Atsushi Sumitani

Katsuyuki Nanba

Sadafusa Tsuji

Shigeto Ohmori

Nobuharu Murashima

Tsuneyo Metabi

Yukio Maekawa

Makoto Ando

Takashi Iida

Yasuo Hawai

Koji Hata

Tatsuya Ishida

Tatsuro Izumi

Yasuhisa Honda

Keijiro Tsuchihama

Nori Ishikawa

A camera includes an operation device having a plurality of operation modes for executing an operation, a mode changing device for changing over operation modes, a designation device for designating a desired operation mode as an initial mode, and a reset device for resetting the operation device to the designated initial mode.

Camera

A camera system comprises a brightness measuring circuit, a exposure line choosing circuit, an operable switch, a film driver and a film driving mode selector. The brightness measuring circuit measures brightness of a photographic scene to send a brightness value. The exposure line choosing circuit chooses one of a plurality of exposure lines in which each lines selects a combination of an aperture value and a shutter speed value at each brightness value. The film driver drives a film in either of a first mode in which the film is wound only one frame in response to the operation of the operable switch and a second mode in which the film is wound frame by frame continuously as long as the operable member is operated. The film driving mode selector selects one of the modes in accordance with the exposure line chosen by the choosing circuit. In the camera system, a photographer may only select the exposure mode in accordance with his intention and purpose in photography, and then the film driving mode corresponding to the intention and purpose is automatically selected.

Camera system

A camera which includes an operation button which is capable of being depressed, a lever which is rotatably mounted around the operation button, a memory which stores the camera condition which is presently set in response to the rotation of the lever in a predetermined direction, and a circuit arrangement which changes over the camera condition to the condition which is stored in the memory in response to the depression of the operation button. When the lever is rotated, the camera condition presently set is stored in the memory. Thereafter, the stored contents are resumed when the operation button is depressed.

A camera system including interchangeable lenses each having a switch to control many functions provided to the camera system. By simply operating one lens switch, the working mode of auto-focusing (AF) functions of the camera system can be changed: single-spot AF/multi-spot AF modes, one-shot AF/continuous AF modes, and focus-locing/non-locking modes. When used with an IC card also attached to the camera body, the lens switch can further control the functions of the camera system added or selected by the IC card.

Exposure value setting device for a camera

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.

A camera includes an object distance detecting device. The detected object distance can be used to calculate magnification which, in turn, can be used to determine an aperture value. The object distance detecting device can be selectively operated depending on, for example, whether flash lighting is being used.

A display system for a camera that includes both a segment display portion and a dot matrix display portion. The two different display systems are driven by different duty ratios for assuring clearer presentation and quicker recognition by the photographer. The disclosure also includes an energy-saving control system for such a combination display system where the more energy-consuming dot matrix portion is stopped operating while the less energy-consuming segment portion remains operation after a predetermined time since the last operation of any switch of the camera. The disclosure further includes an elaborate analog display that clearly shows exposure parameters of the camera.

Display system for camera having segment display portion and dot matrix

According to this invention, a camera system has a camera body and a first and second lenses exchangeable to the camera body. The first lens comprises a device for outputting first data which indicates the first lens belongs to a first lens type. The second lens comprises a device for outputting second data which indicates the second lens belongs to a second lens type and third data with respect to the characteristic of the second lens. The camera body comprises: a device for inputting the data from the outputting device of the first or second lens attached to the camera body, a device for discriminating the lens type based on whether the inputted data is the first or second data, a device for storing data with respect to the characteristic of the lens belonging to the first lens type, and a processing device for carrying out a process based on the third data when the discriminating device judges the attached lens belongs to the second lens type and controlling it based on the stored data in the storing device when the discriminating device judges the attached lens belongs to the first lens type. The discriminating means judges the attached lens belongs to the first lens type.

A pseudo format camera system comprises a film cartridge including a memory which stores film speed data and limitation data, and a camera including a means for setting pseudo focal length, a means for inputting the film speed data and the limitation data from the memory, a means for controlling exposure based on the film speed data, and a means for limiting the pseudo focal length depending on the limitation data. In this camera system, the pseudo focal length can be limited based on the limitation data stored in the memory in the film cartridge, and therefore it is surely prevented that a picture becomes rough because of a bad grainness of a film.

Pseudo format camera system

A photographic camera having a photographic operating device including a focus detecting circuit, a shutter control circuit, a light measuring circuit and a light emission control circuit, an adjustment data memory for storing adjustment data based on functional characteristics of the respective circuits of the photographic operating device and an adjustment circuit for adjusting the respective circuits by using adjustment data read from the adjustment data memory. The adjustment data memory is consituted by an EEPROM for making it possible to conveniently and readily rewrite the adjustment data. The adjustment data is calculated from a linear function expression established between a design value and an actual value for avoiding trial-and-error preparatory operations for the adjustment.

Photographic camera including a memory for storing adjustment data and a

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Osaka, Japan

Toshihiko Ishimura