Camera with pointing aid
First Claim
1. A camera comprising:
- a camera body;
an objective lens that receives light from a scene and directs it to an objective lens focal plane in the camera body;
a pointing aid emitter that receives power and produces a visible beam oriented generally along the optical axis of the objective lens such that the visible beam illuminates an object in the scene;
a scene measurement system that measures an aspect of the scene; and
an emitter controller that adjusts the output power of the pointing aid emitter in accordance with the scene aspect measured by the scene measurement system to minimize power consumed by the emitter.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A camera having a pointing aid emitter that produces a visible beam generally aligned with the optical axis of the camera objective lens such that the visible beam illuminates an object in the scene includes a scene measurement system that measures an aspect of the scene and an emitter controller that adjusts the output power of the pointing aid emitter in accordance with the scene aspect measured by the scene measurement system to reduce power consumption and reduce the risk of damage to the object that is illuminated by the beam. The scene measurement system of the camera preferably comprises an ambient light measuring system of a camera automatic exposure system and a distance measuring system of a camera automatic focus system. The emitter preferably comprises a laser light source that produces a visible laser beam.
59 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A camera comprising:
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a camera body; an objective lens that receives light from a scene and directs it to an objective lens focal plane in the camera body; a pointing aid emitter that receives power and produces a visible beam oriented generally along the optical axis of the objective lens such that the visible beam illuminates an object in the scene; a scene measurement system that measures an aspect of the scene; and an emitter controller that adjusts the output power of the pointing aid emitter in accordance with the scene aspect measured by the scene measurement system to minimize power consumed by the emitter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 43)
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22. A camera including:
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a camera body; an objective lens that receives light from a scene and directs it to an objective lens focal plane in the camera body; a viewfinder through which a camera user views the scene; a power source that provides illuminating power to the laser light source; a laser light source that produces a visible laser beam generally aligned with the optical axis of the objective lens such that the beam illuminates an object in the scene; an automatic exposure system that measures the ambient light level in the scene; a camera automatic focus system that determines the distance from the camera to an object in the scene; and a laser controller that adjusts the output power of the laser light source in accordance with the detected distance to the object and the detected ambient light level to reduce the power consumption of the light source. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35)
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33. A method of providing a camera pointing aid for assisting a camera user in pointing the camera so as to capture an image of an object in a scene through a camera objective lens, the method comprising the steps of:
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detecting the pressing of an image capture button of the camera; responding to the pressing of the button by emitting a visible-light output beam from an emitter such that the emitter beam is generally aligned with the optical axis of the objective lens and illuminates the object; and adjusting the output power level of the beam so as to minimize the power consumed by the emitter. - View Dependent Claims (34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification