Camera incorporating automatic focusing apparatus

Claim 2

A camera incorporating an automatic focusing apparatus, comprising: (a) a focus detecting circuit for detecting a focusing state of a focusing optical system with respect to an object to be photographed and outputting a focusing signal corresponding to the focusing state; (b) a driving circuit for driving said focusing optical system on the basis of the focusing signal; (c) a control circuit having a first mode for continuously causing to perform detection of the focusing state by said focus detecting circuit and driving of said focusing optical system by said driving circuit to perform focusing control according to movement of the object to be photographed and a second mode for inhibiting driving of said focusing optical system by said driving circuit after a detection result by said focus detecting circuit indicates that an in-focus state is-obtained; (d) mode selecting means for manually selecting the first or second mode; and (e) an auxiliary light control circuit for emitting auxiliary light on the object to be photographed when the focusing state is detected by said focus detecting circuit, and when auxiliary light emission control is to be performed by said auxiliary light control circuit, for compulsorily switching the mode to the second mode even if the first mode is selected by said mode selecting means.

Claim 3

A camera according to claim 1, wherein said auxiliary light control circuit inhibits emission of the auxiliary light after said focus detecting circuit detects the in-focus state.

Claim 4

A camera according to claim 2, wherein said automatic focusing apparatus has luminance detecting means for detecting luminance of the object to be photographed, and said control circuit switches the mode to the first mode when said luminance detecting means detects that the luminance exceeds a predetermined value after said focus detecting circuit detects the in-focus state under emission of the auxiliary light.

Claim 5

A camera according to claim 3, wherein said auxiliary light control circuit is operated when said luminance detecting means detects that the luminance is below the predetermined value.

Claim 6

A camera incorporating an automatic focusing apparatus which detects luminance of an object to be Photographed, and when the detected luminance is below a predetermined value, causes an auxiliary light source to emit auxiliary light, thereby performing a focus detecting operation under emission of the auxiliary light and a focusing operation of a focusing optical system based on a result of the focus detecting operation, comprising: (a) luminance detecting means for detecting the luminance of the object to be photographed; (b) focus detecting circuit for repeatedly detecting a focusing state of said focusing optical system with respect to the object to be photographed and outputting a focusing signal corresponding to the focusing state, said focusing detecting circuit including image signal accumulating means for accumulating image light of the object to be photographed for a predetermined time interval and a focusing state determination circuit for outputting a focusing signal representing an in-focus state, a defocus amount, and the like on the basis of an image signal accumulated by said image signal accumulating means, said luminance detecting means detects a luminance level on the basis of a level of the accumulated image signal; (c) a driving circuit for driving said focusing optical system on the basis of the focusing signal from said focus detecting circuit; (d) an auxiliary light control circuit for energizing said auxiliary light source when the luminance detected by said luminance detecting means is below a predetermined value during a focusing state detecting operation by said focus detecting circuit so that said focus detecting circuit performs the focusing state detecting operation under emission of the auxiliary light and for deenergizing said auxiliary light source when the luminance exceeds the predetermined value so that said focus detecting circuit performs the focusing state detecting operation without emission of the auxiliary light; and (e) an inhibiting circuit for inhibiting OFF control of said auxiliary light source by said auxiliary light control circuit under emission of the auxiliary light.

Claim 7

A camera incorporating an automatic focusing apparatus which detects luminance of an object to be Photographed, and when the detected luminance is below a predetermined value, causes an auxiliary light source to emit auxiliary light, thereby performing a focus detecting operation under emission of the auxiliary light and a focusing operation of a focusing optical system based on a result of the focus detecting operation, comprising: (a) luminance detecting means for detecting the luminance of the object to be photographed; (b) focus detecting circuit for repeatedly detecting a focusing state of said focusing optical system with respect to the object to be photographed and outputting a focusing signal corresponding to the focusing state, said focusing detecting circuit including image signal accumulating means for accumulating image light of the object to be photographed for a predetermined time interval and a focusing state determination circuit for outputting a focusing signal representing an in-focus state, a defocus amount, and the like on the basis of an image signal accumulated by said image signal accumulating means, said luminance detecting means detects a luminance level on the basis of a level of the accumulated image signal; (c) a driving circuit for driving said focusing optical system on the basis of the focusing signal from said focus detecting circuit; (d) an auxiliary light control circuit for energizing said auxiliary light source when the luminance detected by said luminance detecting means is below a predetermined value during a focusing state detecting operation by said focus detecting circuit so that said focus detecting circuit performs the focusing state detecting operation under emission of the auxiliary light and for deenergizing said auxiliary light source when the luminance exceeds the predetermined value so that said focus detecting circuit performs the focusing state detecting operation without emission of the auxiliary light; and (e) an inhibiting circuit for inhibiting OFF control of said auxiliary light source by said auxiliary light control circuit under emission of the auxiliary light.

Claim 8

A camera according to claims 5 and, wherein said auxiliary light control circuit is inhibited to perform response with respect to a luminance detection result of said luminance detecting means after emission of the auxiliary light is controlled, and keeps the auxiliary light source in an ON state during the focus detecting operation.

Claim 9

A camera incorporating an automatic focusing apparatus which detects luminance of an object to be photographed, and when the detected luminance is below a predetermined value, causes an auxiliary light source to emit auxiliary light, thereby performing a focus detecting operation under emission of the auxiliary light and a focusing operation of a focusing optical system based on a result of the focus detecting operation, comprising: (a) luminance detecting means for detecting the luminance of the object to be photographed; (b) focus detecting circuit for repeatedly detecting a focusing state of said focusing optical system with respect to the object to be photographed and outputting a focusing signal corresponding to the focusing state, said focus detecting circuit including image signal accumulating means for accumulating image light of the object to be photographed for a predetermined time interval and a focusing state determination circuit for outputting a focusing signal representing an in-focus state, a defocus amount, and the like of the basis of an image signal luminance detecting means detects a luminance level on the basis of a level of the accumulating image signal; (c) driving circuit for driving said focusing optical system on the basis of the focusing signal from said focus detecting circuit; (d) a control circuit for determining whether the luminance detected by said luminance detecting means is below the predetermined value, for causing said auxiliary light source to emit the auxiliary light during the focus detecting operation when the luminance is below the predetermined value, and for deenergizing said auxiliary light source when the luminance exceeds the predetermined value to perform the focus detecting operation; and (e) inhibiting means for inhibiting determination for turning on or off said auxiliary light source by said control circuit on the basis of luminance information detected by said luminance detecting means under emission of the auxiliary light.

Claim 10

A camera incorporating an automatic focusing apparatus which detects luminance of an object to be photographed, and when the detected luminance is below a predetermined value, causes an auxiliary light source to emit auxiliary light, thereby performing a focus detecting operation under emission of the auxiliary light and a focusing operation of a focusing optical system based on a result of the focus detecting operation, comprising: (a) luminance detecting means for detecting the luminance of the object to be photographed; (b) focus detecting circuit for repeatedly detecting a focusing state of said focusing optical system with respect to the object to be photographed and outputting a focusing signal corresponding to the focusing state, said focus detecting circuit including image signal accumulating means for accumulating image light of the object to be photographed for a predetermined time interval and a focusing state determination circuit for outputting a focusing signal representing an in-focus state, a defocus amount, and the like of the basis of an image signal luminance detecting means detects a luminance level on the basis of a level of the accumulating image signal; (c) driving circuit for driving said focusing optical system on the basis of the focusing signal from said focus detecting circuit; (d) a control circuit for determining whether the luminance detected by said luminance detecting means is below the predetermined value, for causing said auxiliary light source to emit the auxiliary light during the focus detecting operation when the luminance is below the predetermined value, and for deenergizing said auxiliary light source when the luminance exceeds the predetermined value to perform the focus detecting operation; and (e) inhibiting means for inhibiting determination for turning on or off said auxiliary light source by said control circuit on the basis of luminance information detected by said luminance detecting means under emission of the auxiliary light.

Claim 11

A camera incorporating an automatic focusing apparatus which has a first automatic focusing mode for performing lens driving on the basis of a focus detecting operation performed without turning on an auxiliary light source and of a detection result obtained by the focus detecting operation and a second automatic focusing mode for performing lens driving on the basis of a focus detecting operation performed while turning on said auxiliary light source and of a detection result obtained by the focus detecting operation, comprising: (a) a focusing control circuit having the first and second modes; (b) a camera control circuit having a first camera control mode for causing said focusing control circuit to perform focus detecting and lens driving operations when a release operation member is in a predetermined operation state and causing a releasing operation when the predetermined operation state of said release operation member is changed to another predetermined operation state and a second camera control mode for alternately and repeatedly causing the focus detecting and lens driving operations by said focusing control circuit and the releasing operation; and (c) a designating circuit for compulsorily designating the first automatic focusing mode as a mode of said focusing control circuit when said camera control circuit is in the second camera control mode.

Claim 12

A camera incorporating an automatic focusing apparatus which has a first automatic focusing mode for performing lens driving on the basis of a focus detecting operation performed without turning on an auxiliary light source and of a detection result obtained by the focus detecting operation and a second automatic focusing mode for performing lens driving on the basis of a focus detecting operation performed while turning on said auxiliary light source and of a detection result obtained by the focus detecting operation, comprising: (a) a focusing control circuit having the first and second modes; (b) a camera control circuit having a first camera control mode for causing said focusing control circuit to perform focus detecting and lens driving operations when a release operation member is in a predetermined operation state and causing a releasing operation when the predetermined operation state of said release operation member is changed to another predetermined operation state and a second camera control mode for alternately and repeatedly causing the focus detecting and lens driving operations by said focusing control circuit and the releasing operation; and (c) a designating circuit for compulsorily designating the first automatic focusing mode as a mode of said focusing control circuit when said camera control circuit is in the second camera control mode.

Claim 13

A camera according to claim 9, wherein said camera comprises a mode setting circuit for setting the second automatic focusing mode when a luminance level is below a predetermined level on the basis of luminance information, and said designating circuit inhibits a second automatic focusing mode operation performed by said mode setting circuit when said camera control circuit is in the second camera control mode.

Claim 14

A camera incorporating an automatic focusing apparatus which has a first automatic focusing mode for performing lens driving on the basis of a focus detecting operation performed without turning on an auxiliary light source and of a detection result obtained by the focus detecting operation and a second automatic focusing mode for performing lens driving on the basis of a focus detecting operation performed while turning on said auxiliary light source and of a detection result obtained by the focus detecting operation, comprising: (a) a focusing control circuit having the first and second modes; (b) detecting means for detecting an emission count of the auxiliary light emitted in accordance with an focus detecting operation which is repeatedly performed in an automatic focusing operation in the second automatic focusing mode, and when the auxiliary light is emitted by a predetermined number of times, for generating an output; and (c) a control circuit for switching the mode of the focusing control circuit to the first mode in accordance with the output from said detecting means so that said focusing control circuit continuously performs the focus detecting and lens driving operations.

Claim 15

A camera incorporating an automatic focusing apparatus which has a first automatic focusing mode for performing lens driving on the basis of a focus detecting operation performed without turning on an auxiliary light source and of a detection result obtained by the focus detecting operation and a second automatic focusing mode for performing lens driving on the basis of a focus detecting operation performed while turning on said auxiliary light source and of a detection result obtained by the focus detecting operation, comprising: (a) a focusing control circuit having the first and second modes; (b) detecting means for detecting an emission count of the auxiliary light emitted in accordance with an focus detecting operation which is repeatedly performed in an automatic focusing operation in the second automatic focusing mode, and when the auxiliary light is emitted by a predetermined number of times, for generating an output; and (c) a control circuit for switching the mode of the focusing control circuit to the first mode in accordance with the output from said detecting means so that said focusing control circuit continuously performs the focus detecting and lens driving operations.

Claim 16

A camera according to claim 11, wherein said control circuit inhibits lens driving after an in-focus state is obtained in the focus detecting operation performed after the second mode is switched to the first mode.