Camera having built-in flash light emitting device for improving picture quality and method thereof

Claim 2

A camera having a built-in flash light emitting system, for taking a photograph of a subject, the camera comprising: a lens having an optical axis; a first flash light emitting unit intersected by a perpendicular plane defined by said optical axis and a first line perpendicular to both said optical axis and a long dimension of a photographic image frame; a second flash light emitting unit located at a front surface of the camera, and spaced away from said perpendicular plane; a distance determining unit to determine a distance of the subject from the camera; and wherein said first flash light emitting unit and said second flash light emitting unit simultaneously emit light only when said distance determining unit determines that the subject is closer to the camera than a first prescribed distance.

Claim 3

The camera as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: an autofocus unit including said distance determining unit, to adjust a focus of the lens; and wherein said first flash light emitting unit is positioned adjacent to said autofocus unit.

Claim 4

The camera as claimed in claim 2, wherein said autofocus unit further comprises: a light projecting unit to send out light; and a light receiving unit to receive the light sent out by said light projecting unit; and wherein said first flash light emitting unit is positioned between said light projecting unit and said light receiving unit.

Claim 5

The camera as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the subject is closer to the camera than the first prescribed distance, said first flash light emitting unit has an effective luminous intensity distribution characteristic related to a lens field angle of the lens.

Claim 6

The camera as claimed in claim 1, wherein a first total light emission quantity of said first flash light emitting unit is less than a second total light emission quantity of said second flash light emitting unit.

Claim 7

The camera as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a control unit to control emission of light from said first and second flash light emitting units; and wherein, during photography, said control unit causes only said second flash light emitting unit to emit light when the subject is further than a second prescribed distance and said control unit causes said first and second flash light emitting units to emit light when the subject is closer than said first prescribed distance, said first prescribed distance being less than said second prescribed distance.

Claim 8

The camera as claimed in claim 6, wherein, during photography, said control unit causes said second flash light emitting unit to emit light and said first flash light emitting unit to pre-emit light when the subject is further than said second prescribed distance, and said control unit causes only said second flash light emitting unit to emit light when the subject is between said first and second prescribed distances.

Claim 9

A camera having a built-in flash system, for photographing a subject, the camera comprising: a lens having an optical axis; a first flash unit intersected by a perpendicular plane defined by said optical axis and a first line perpendicular to both said optical axis and a film running direction; a second flash unit located on the front surface of the camera and spaced away from said perpendicular plane; and wherein said first and second flash units simultaneously emit light, during photography, when the subject is closer than a first prescribed distance from the camera, and only said second flash unit emits light, during photography, when the subject is further than said first prescribed distance from the camera.

Claim 10

A camera having a built-in flash system, for photographing a subject, the camera comprising: a lens having an optical axis; a first flash unit intersected by a perpendicular plane defined by said optical axis and a first line perpendicular to both said optical axis and a film running direction; a second flash unit located on the front surface of the camera and spaced away from said perpendicular plane; and wherein said first and second flash units simultaneously emit light, during photography, when the subject is closer than a first prescribed distance from the camera, and only said second flash unit emits light, during photography, when the subject is further than said first prescribed distance from the camera.

Claim 11

The camera as claimed in claim 8, wherein a total amount of light emitted by said first flash unit is approximately the same as the amount of light emitted by said second flash unit.

Claim 12

The camera as claimed in claim 8, wherein: only said second flash unit emits a first amount of light when the subject is greater than said first prescribed distance from the camera; and said second flash unit emits a second amount of light less than said first amount of light and said first flash unit emits said first amount of light when the subject is less than said first prescribed distance.

Claim 13

The camera as claimed in claim 8, wherein: said second flash unit emits a first amount of light when the subject is greater than said first prescribed distance from the camera and a second amount of light less than said first amount of light when the subject is less than said first prescribed distance, said first flash unit pre-emits light before photography when the subject is greater than a second prescribed distance greater than said first prescribed distance and does not emit light when the subject is between said first and second prescribed distances and emits said first amount of light when the subject is less than said first prescribed distance from the camera.

Claim 14

The camera as claimed in claim 8, wherein: during a first mode, only said second flash unit emits a first amount of light when the subject is greater than said first prescribed distance from the camera and said second flash unit emits a second amount of light less than said first amount of light and said first flash unit emits said first amount of light when the subject is less than said first prescribed distance; and during a second mode, said second flash unit emits said first amount of light when the subject is greater than said first prescribed distance from the camera and said second amount of light less than said first amount of light when the subject is less than said first prescribed distance, and said first flash unit pre-emits light before photography when the subject is greater than a second prescribed distance greater than said first prescribed distance and does not emit light when the subject is between said first and second prescribed distances and emits said first amount of light when the subject is less than said first prescribed distance from the camera.

Claim 15

The camera as claimed in claim 8, further comprising: an autofocus unit to adjust the lens and to determine a distance between the lens and the camera, said autofocus unit including: a light projection window to project light; and a light receiving window to receive reflected light projected from the light projection window; and wherein said first flash unit is positioned between said light projection window and said light receiving window.

Claim 16

The camera as claimed in claim 8, further comprising: an autofocus unit to adjust the lens and to determine a distance between the lens and the camera, said autofocus unit including: a light projection window to project light; and a light receiving window to receive reflected light from the light projection window; and wherein said first flash unit intersects a plane encompassing said optical axis and running between said light projection window and said light receiving window, said first flash unit positioned on a side of said lens opposite said light projection window and said light receiving window.

Claim 17

The camera as claimed in claim 11, further comprising: an autofocus unit to adjust the lens and to determine a distance between the lens and the camera, said autofocus unit including: a light projection window to project light; and a light receiving window to receive reflected light from the light projection window; and wherein said first flash unit is positioned between said light projection window and said light receiving window.

Claim 20

The method as claimed in claim 16, further comprising: pre-emitting light from said first flash unit when said first determination is true and said camera is set to a first mode; and emitting no light from said first flash unit when said first determination is true and said camera is set to a second mode.

Claim 21

A camera having a built-in flash system, for photographing a subject, the camera comprising: a lens having an optical axis; a first flash unit of which a portion is directly above said optical axis when the camera is oriented in a standard photographing position; a second flash unit located on the front surface of the camera and of which no portion is directly above said optical axis; and wherein said first flash light emitting unit and said second flash light emitting unit simultaneously emit light only when said distance determining unit determines that the subject is closer to the camera than a first prescribed distance.

Claim 22

A camera having a built-in flash system, for photographing a subject, the camera comprising: a lens having an optical axis; a first flash unit of which a portion is directly above said optical axis when the camera is oriented in a standard photographing position; a second flash unit located on the front surface of the camera and of which no portion is directly above said optical axis; and wherein said first flash light emitting unit and said second flash light emitting unit simultaneously emit light only when said distance determining unit determines that the subject is closer to the camera than a first prescribed distance.

Claim 23

A camera having a built-in flash system, for photographing a subject, the camera comprising; a lens having an optical axis; a first flash unit of which a portion is directly below said optical axis when the camera is oriented in a standard photographing position; a second flash unit located on the front surface of the camera and of which no portion is directly above said optical axis; and wherein said first flash light emitting unit and said second flash light emitting unit simultaneously emit light only when said distance determining unit determines that the subject is closer to the camera than a first prescribed distance.

Claim 24

A camera having a built-in flash system, for photographing a subject, the camera comprising; a lens having an optical axis; a first flash unit of which a portion is directly below said optical axis when the camera is oriented in a standard photographing position; a second flash unit located on the front surface of the camera and of which no portion is directly above said optical axis; and wherein said first flash light emitting unit and said second flash light emitting unit simultaneously emit light only when said distance determining unit determines that the subject is closer to the camera than a first prescribed distance.