System for and method of taking picture

Claim 2

A picture-taking system comprising: a video camera having a solid-state electronic image sensing device, vertical synchronizing signal generating means for generating a vertical synchronizing signal that defines one field period in said video camera, and field-shift signal generating means responsive to an electronic-shutter control signal for generating a field-shift signal that defines an exposure time of said solid-state electronic image sensing device using the vertical synchronizing signal as a reference, wherein a video signal representing a photographic image of a subject is output by said solid-state electronic image sensing device in response to the field-shift signal; a film camera, which has a shutter, for capturing on photographic film the photographic image of the subject incident thereon when the shutter is released in response to a shutter release signal; a shutter switch for entering a photographic trigger signal; and a strobe light-emission device for firing a strobe flash in response to a strobe-fire permitting signal, said video camera having synchronous control means for generating the shutter release signal in synchronism with the vertical synchronizing signal in response to the photographic trigger signal that enters said video camera from said shutter switch, for generating an electronic-shutter control signal in synchronism with the vertical synchronizing signal in such a manner that said solid-state electronic image sensing device is exposed to light in a time zone when said shutter, which is released in response to the shutter release signal, is fully open, and for generating the strobe-fire permitting signal in such a manner that said strobe light-emission device fires the strobe flash during exposure of said solid-state electronic image sensing device to light.

Claim 3

The system according to claim 1, wherein said solid-state electronic image sensing device has a number of first light-receiving elements for a first field and a number of second light-receiving elements for a second field arranged in close proximity to respective ones of said first light-receiving elements; said field-shift signal generating means generating the field-shift signals in such a manner that a timing at which said first light-receiving elements are cleared and a timing at which said second light-receiving elements are cleared are made slightly different from each other, a readout timing for reading signal charge out of said first light-receiving elements and a readout timing for reading signal charge out of said second light-receiving elements are made slightly different from each other, and said first and second light-receiving elements are capable of being exposed in an essentially common time period in one field interval.

Claim 4

The system according to claim 1, wherein said video camera comprises delay-time setting means for setting a delay time from a moment at which the shutter release signal is applied to a moment at which said shutter is opened fully in said film camera; said synchronous control means generating the shutter release signal and the electronic-shutter control signal on the basis of the delay time set by said delay-time setting means.

Claim 5

The system according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit for displaying the photographic image of the subject represented by the video signal output by said video camera.

Claim 6

In a picture-taking system having a video camera including a solid-state electronic image sensing device, vertical synchronizing signal generating means for generating a vertical synchronizing signal that defines one field period in said video camera, and field-shift signal generating means responsive to an electronic-shutter control signal for generating a field-shift signal that defines an exposure time of said solid-state electronic image sensing device using the vertical synchronizing signal as a reference, wherein a video signal representing a photographic image of a subject is output by said solid-state electronic image sensing device in response to the field-shift signal, a film camera, which has a shutter, for capturing on photographic film the photographic image of the subject incident thereon when the shutter is released in response to a shutter release signal, a shutter switch for entering a photographic trigger signal, and a strobe light-emission device for firing a strobe flash in response to a strobe-fire permitting signal, a picture taking method comprising the steps of: measuring in advance a delay time from a moment at which the shutter release signal is applied to a moment at which said shutter is opened fully in response to the shutter release signal; setting a time from generation of the shutter release signal to generation of an electronic-shutter control signal to a time corresponding to the delay time; and controlling said video camera to generate the shutter release signal, the electronic-shutter control signal and the strobe-fire permitting signal, in synchronism with the vertical synchronizing signal, in response to a photographic trigger signal generated by said shutter switch, in such a manner that said solid-state electronic image sensing device is exposed to light in a time zone when said shutter, which is released in response to the shutter release signal, is fully open, and such that said strobe-light emission device fires the strobe in response to the strobe-fire permitting signal during exposure of said solid-state electronic image sensing device to light.

Claim 7

In a picture-taking system having a video camera including a solid-state electronic image sensing device, vertical synchronizing signal generating means for generating a vertical synchronizing signal that defines one field period in said video camera, and field-shift signal generating means responsive to an electronic-shutter control signal for generating a field-shift signal that defines an exposure time of said solid-state electronic image sensing device using the vertical synchronizing signal as a reference, wherein a video signal representing a photographic image of a subject is output by said solid-state electronic image sensing device in response to the field-shift signal, a film camera, which has a shutter, for capturing on photographic film the photographic image of the subject incident thereon when the shutter is released in response to a shutter release signal, a shutter switch for entering a photographic trigger signal, and a strobe light-emission device for firing a strobe flash in response to a strobe-fire permitting signal, a picture taking method comprising the steps of: measuring in advance a delay time from a moment at which the shutter release signal is applied to a moment at which said shutter is opened fully in response to the shutter release signal; setting a time from generation of the shutter release signal to generation of an electronic-shutter control signal to a time corresponding to the delay time; and controlling said video camera to generate the shutter release signal, the electronic-shutter control signal and the strobe-fire permitting signal, in synchronism with the vertical synchronizing signal, in response to a photographic trigger signal generated by said shutter switch, in such a manner that said solid-state electronic image sensing device is exposed to light in a time zone when said shutter, which is released in response to the shutter release signal, is fully open, and such that said strobe-light emission device fires the strobe in response to the strobe-fire permitting signal during exposure of said solid-state electronic image sensing device to light.

Claim 8

The method according to claim 5, said solid-state electronic image sensing device performs to pseudo-frame photography and exposure of said solid-state electronic image sensing device is completed within one field interval.

Claim 9

The method according to claim 5, further comprising the steps of: applying the shutter release signal to said film camera; accepting the generated strobe-fire permitting signal from said film camera in response to the shutter release signal; and measuring the delay time by clocking time from a moment at which the shutter release signal is applied to a moment at which the strobe-fire permitting signal is accepted, using the period of the vertical synchronizing signal as a unit for clocking.

Claim 10

The method according to claim 5, wherein the video signal output by said video camera is applied to a display unit and the image represented by the video signal is displayed on said display unit.

Claim 11

The system according to claim 1, wherein said film camera includes a shutter release signal terminal for receiving the shutter release signal from said video camera, said film camera and said video camera being separately implemented.

Claim 12

The system according to claim 3, wherein the delay time is set as a positive whole-number multiple of a period of the vertical synchronizing signal.

Claim 13

The method according to claim 5, wherein said film camera receives the shutter release signal from said video camera via a shutter release signal terminal of said film camera, said film camera and said video camera being implemented separately.