Nikon Corporation

Yukikazu Iwane

Sueyuki Ohishi

Tatsuo Amanuma

Yoshikazu Iida

Toshiyuki Nakamura

Daiki Tsukahara

Kiyosada Machida

Toshimi Watanabe

Yoshiaki Ohtsubo

Toshiaki Maeda

Riichi Higaki

Hiroyuki Tsuru

Shigeo Takahashi

Tadashi Ohtani

Masayuki Koga

An autofocus apparatus includes an imaging device that captures a subject image through a photographic lens; an AF area determining device that determines a range of image signals to be used for autofocus adjustment based upon image signals provided by the imaging device; a focus adjustment device that adjusts a focal point position achieved through the photographic lens by driving a focus lens so as to maximize contrast achieved with the image signals in the determined range; and a control device that controls the focus adjustment device, if the range of the image signals determined by the AF area determining device has been altered, so as to adjust the focal point position by using image signals in the altered range.

Autofocus apparatus

When displaying operational settings and measurements on a pointer type display device, the starting position of the needles is automatically adjusted even when there are battery exchange and needle drive process errors. The display device may be used to display physical quantities using pointers which move above scale plates. Even though the displays may be changed by electric supply loading, battery exchange or a fall in electric supply voltage, the display can be automatically corrected. A memory stores the movement destination position of the pointers, and instructions are generated by a controller which calculates the movement destinations of the pointers after the electrical supply voltage is stabilized properly. The instructions which control operation of a driver for the pointers preferably use a combination of movement to predefined positions and incremental movement. This minimizes the number of instructions when moving automatically, while enabling the pointers to follow movement of operator controls.

Rotary pointer display device

A camera adapted to obtain a correct exposure, even with a film having a film sensitivity outside an automatic setting range of the camera. A film sensitivity outside the automatic setting range of the camera is stored, or canceled by manipulating a manipulation member in a manipulation order that differs from that used during photography. Further, two manipulation members may be used in a combined manipulation order that differs from that used during photography. For example, a zoom up and a zoom down switch may be used in conjunction with a main switch to set a higher and a lower, respectively, film sensitivity. Additionally, the setting may be canceled by manipulating the zoom up and zoom down switches simultaneously. A display device which normally displays photographic information regarding the camera, temporarily displays the manually set film sensitivity.

Film sensitivity setting and display device for a camera

A camera with a vibration correction function prevents a battery from unnecessarily exhausting due to a failure of a vibration corrective lens driving system and provides accurate vibration-resistant control. A vibration corrective lens is subjected either to a centering drive operation to drive an optical axis to a center position of the photographing system or to a resetting drive operation to drive the optical axis to the initial position. When an abnormal drive operation is detected, the centering or resetting operation ceases to supply electric power to the angular velocity detecting circuit, the motor drive circuit, and the lens displacement detecting circuit.

Camera having vibration correction function

In a camera with vibration correcting function, by varying the optical axis of the phototaking lens according to the vibration of the camera, there are provided a main control device for controlling the phototaking exposure process of the camera and a vibration correcting control device for controlling the vibration correcting operation of the camera, in which the vibration correcting control device has at least a stopped state without function and a function state, and the main control device is electrically connected with the vibration correcting control device and is adapted to control the same. The power consumption in the vibration correcting control device is reduced by switching the stopped state and the function state of the vibration correcting control device, by the control signal from the main control device.

Camera with vibration correcting function

A camera having an electronic flash light apparatus capable of performing a phototaking with an optimal exposure both for an object and its background when a flash light phototaking is performed on the wide angle side of the camera with a backlight is provided with an electronic flash light apparatus for illuminating an object with ignition, driving means for varying the illuminating angles of the electronic flash light apparatus between the direction of the telescopic side and the direction of the wide angle side, driving means for moving a phototaking lens to the telescopic side and to the wide angle side, photometering means for photometering a principal object and the circumference of the main object respectively, luminance comparison means for comparing the luminance of the main object photometered by the photometering means and the luminance of the circumference of the main object, and control means for shifting the illuminating angle to the telescopic side by the electronic flash light apparatus driving means if the luminance comparison means determines the light to be a backlight when the phototaking lens is on the wide angle side.

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Kawasaki, Japan

Yukikazu Iwane