Camera system with means for varying exposure control data

• US 5,111,234 A
• Filed: 04/11/1990
• Issued: 05/05/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/1983
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Fujii, Akira, Sahara, Masayoshi, Nakai, Masaaki, Taniguchi, Nobuyuki, Hoda, Takeo, Sekida, Minoru, Niwa, Masatake
• Primary Examiner(s): Perkey, W. B.
• Application Number:
  US07/508,669
• Time in Patent Office: 755 Days
• Field of Search: 354/289.1, 354/289.12, 354/471, 354/474, 354/475, 354/455, 354/286
• US Class Current: 396/227
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 2217/18 Signals indicating condition of a camera member or suitability of light
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 7/097 for control of both exposure time and aperture
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 7/24 automatically in accordance with markings or other means indicating film speed or kind of film on the magazine to be inserted in the camera
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 7/26 Power supplies; Circuitry or arrangement to switch on the power source; Circuitry to check the power source voltage

Abstract

In a camera adapted to function with stored data, aperture value data is stored at a predetermined step in accordance with a manual operation of a manually operable member and digital data, showing a controllable range of an aperture diaphragm of an interchangeable lens, is transmitted from the interchangeable lens and read. The stored aperture value data is detected to determine whether such data is out of the controllable range and the aperture value data to be stored is set to a limited value within the controllable range when the detection of the stored aperture value data is out of the controllable range.

Claims

1. A camera system including a camera body and an interchangeable lens mountable on the camera body, comprising:

a manually operable member;

means for storing an aperture value;

means for altering the aperture value to be stored in said storing means at a predetermined step in response to a manual operation of said manually operable member;

means, provided in the camera body, for receiving a plurality of kinds of data from an interchangeable lens mounted on the camera body, said plurality kinds of data being transmitted serially from the interchangeable lens and including a minimum aperture value of the interchangeable lens;

means for producing, in accordance with the minimum aperture value received by said receiving means, a first minimum aperture value representing the minimum aperture value;

means for detecting whether or not the aperture value altered by said altering means is smaller than the first minimum aperture value;

means for setting the aperture value to be stored in said storing means to the first minimum aperture value when said detecting means detects that the aperture value altered by said altering means is smaller than the first minimum aperture value; and

means, operated when the first minimum aperture value is stored in said storing means for increasing, in response to a manual operation of said manually operable member, the stored minimum aperture value by a value corresponding to a difference between the first minimum aperture value and a second minimum aperture value representing a minimum aperture value in a plurality of aperture values changeable at said predetermined step in a response to a manual operation of said manually operable member.

2. The camera system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising means for indicating an aperture value on the basis of the aperture value stored in said storing means.

3. The camera system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising means for controlling an exposure operation of the camera system on the basis of the aperture value stored in said storing means.