Movie camera for storing movie and still images in proper chronology on a common recording medium

• US 5,751,348 A
• Filed: 06/06/1996
• Issued: 05/12/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakayama, Yoshiaki, Inuiya, Masafumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Faile, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ho, Tuan V.
• Application Number:
  US08/659,513
• Time in Patent Office: 705 Days
• Field of Search: 348/207, 348/220, 348/221, 348/222, 348/223, 348/229, 348/230, 348/239, 348/370, 348/371, 348/362
• US Class Current: 348/220.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/72 Combination of two or more compensation controls
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/74 by influencing the scene brightness using illuminating means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/88 for colour balance, e.g. white-balance circuits or colour temperature control

Abstract

A movie camera having: a strobe light for illuminating a subject; a shutter speed switching circuit for changing speeds of a shutter for the charge coupled device (CCD); a white balance switching circuit for adjusting the balance between color signals; an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit for adjusting amplifying gain for an image signal; a control circuit for energizing the shutter speed switching circuit so that a flash of the strobe light is terminated within the storing time of the CCD by changing the shutter speed to a higher speed, for energizing the white balance switching circuit so that the white balance is adjusted to coincide with the color temperature of the strobe light, and for fixing the gain of the AGC circuit. Accordingly, clear pictures having uniform brightness are obtained in each shot by terminating a flash of the strobe light within the storing time of CCD and by switching the shutter speed to a higher speed, and fluctuation of the brightness of pictures shot after a flash of the strobe light is prevented by fixing the gain of an AGC circuit and by making the white balance coincide with the color temperature of the strobe light.

Claims

1. A movie camera for shooting a movie and for shooting a still image during a temporary interruption of the movie shooting, said movie camera comprising:

(a) a photoelectric device for producing an image signal of color signals corresponding to light received from a subject;

(b) a shutter associated with said photoelectric device;

(c) optical means for receiving said light from a subject and controlling the passage of said light to said photoelectric device;

(d) a light source for emitting an electronic flash, to illuminate the subject;

(e) shutter speed and light source controlling means, responsive to the temporary interruption, for setting the speed of said shutter higher than when shooting the movie, and for controlling said light source so that said electronic flash is synchronized with the opening of said shutter and is terminated before the closing of said shutter;

(f) an amplifier for amplifying said image signal;

(g) switcher means for manually temporarily interrupting a movie shooting operation to perform said still image shooting during emission of said electronic flash, and automatically returning to the movie shooting operation upon completion of said still shooting operation;

(h) amplification controlling means for automatically controlling the amplification of said amplifier, wherein the image signal corresponding to the still image is recorded on the same recording medium as the image signal corresponding to the movie shooting, such that said still image is recorded on said same recording medium between successive movie image signals in proper chronology and during a period in which said movie image signals are not recorded; and

(i) white balancing means for adjusting the white balance of the color signals of the image signal corresponding to the still image shot during the temporary interruption, for color temperature of the electronic flash.

2. A movie camera according to claim 1, wherein said optical means further comprises iris means for automatically controlling the amount of light focussed at said photoelectric device to obtain optimal exposure of the subject.

3. A movie camera according to claim 1, wherein said optical means comprises exposure controlling means for automatically controlling said optical means to adjust the amount of light received by said photoelectric device to obtain optimal exposure of the subject, and for controlling said amplifier to compensate when said optical means has been controlled to maximize the amount of light received, wherein the amount of light received is still insufficient for optical exposure.

4. A movie camera according to claim 3, wherein said exposure controlling means maintains the state of said optical means immediately preceding said electronic flash, throughout the duration of said electronic flash.

5. A method of taking a still picture of a subject with a movie camera normally shooting a video movie during a temporary interruption of shooting of the video movie, the camera having a shutter and photoelectric device, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) temporarily interrupting the shooting of the movie;

(b) opening and closing the shutter faster than when shooting the movie in response to the temporary interrupting of step (a);

(c) illuminating the subject by initiating a flash of light and then terminating said flash before said closing of said shutter in step (b);

(d) producing a still image signal of color signals corresponding to light received by the photoelectric device;

(e) returning to the conditions of amplification and exposure prevailing before said interruption of movie shooting, wherein the still image signal is recorded on the same recording medium as an image signal corresponding to the movie shooting, such that said still image is recorded on said same recording medium between successive movie image signals in proper chronology and during a period in which said movie image signals are not recorded; and

(f) adjusting said color signals so that the white balance of said color signals is adjusted for color temperature of said electronic flash.

6. A method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of amplifying said image signal at substantially the same level operating the movie shooting immediately preceding said temporary interruption.

7. A method according to claim 5, further comprising the steps of controlling the passage of said light to obtain optimal exposure of the subject during the moving shooting and amplifying the image signal if said controlling fails to obtain optimal exposure during the moving shooting.

8. A method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of controlling the passage of said light during said flash to the same extent as immediately prior to said interruption.

9. A method of taking a still picture of a subject with a movie camera normally shooting a video movie during a temporary interruption of shooting of the video movie, the camera having a shutter and photoelectric device, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) temporarily interrupting the shooting of the movie;

(b) opening and closing the shutter faster than when shooting the movie in response to the temporary interrupting of step (a);

(c) illuminating the subject by initiating a flash of light and then terminating said flash before said closing of said shutter in step (b);

(d) producing a still image signal of color signals corresponding to light received by the photoelectric device;

(e) amplifying said still image signal at substantially the same level operating during the movie shooting immediately preceding said interruption;

(f) returning to the conditions of amplification and exposure prevailing before said interruption of movie shooting, wherein the still image signal is recorded on the same recording medium as an image signal corresponding to the movie shooting, such that said still image is recorded on said same recording medium between successive movie image signals in proper chronology and during a period in which said movie image signals are not recorded; and

(g) adjusting the white balance of the color signals of the produced still image for the color temperature of the flash.

10. A method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of controlling the passage of said light to obtain optimal exposure of the subject during the movie shooting and amplifying the image signal if said controlling fails to obtain optimal exposure during the movie shooting.

11. A method according to claim 9, further comprising the step of controlling the passage of said light during said flash to the same extent as immediately prior to said interruption.