Nikon Corporation

Yoshihiro Takeuchii

Hiroshi Wakabayashi

Hitoshi Aoki

Junichi Omi

Kiyosada Machida

Hidefumi Ohta

A camera having a lens barrier unit that opens without encountering obstructions in response to the operation of an operating member and without increasing the size of the lens barrel of the camera. The lens barrier unit covers the front surface of a photographic lens in a closed position, and moves clear of the front surface of the photographic lens in an open position. A sliding member, which is a separate member from the operating member, mechanically drives the lens barrier unit to an open position in response to the movement of an operating member by means of the operation for photographic preparation (e.g., when the camera is switched ON), and drives the lens barrier unit to a closed position, by coupling to the movement of the photographic lens unit while moving from the extended position to the retracted position (e.g., when the camera is switched OFF). The camera may include a finder optical system for visually recognizing an image of an object, with the sliding member disposed in the vicinity of a film aperture. The slide member is disposed in a face-to-face position to the finder optical system with the film aperture being interposed therebetween.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Yoshihiro Takeuchii