Electronic camera

• US 6,643,459 B2
• Filed: 08/16/2002
• Issued: 11/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nikon Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nikon Corporation
• Inventors: Ota, Hidefumi
• Primary Examiner(s): GRAY, DAVID M
• Application Number:
  US10/219,501
• Publication Number:
  US 20020191974A1
• Time in Patent Office: 445 Days
• Field of Search: 348/333.09, 348/374, 348/333.06, 348/341, 396/85, 396/84
• US Class Current: 396/84
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/51 Housings
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/531 being rotatable or detachable

Abstract

An electronic camera includes: a substantially rectangular parallelepiped image-capturing unit main body provided with an image-capturing device for generating an image signal by capturing an optical image formed by a photographic lens unit; a substantially rectangular parallelepiped display unit main body provided with an external display device for displaying an image based upon the image signal generated by the image-capturing device; and a linking portion that links the image-capturing unit main body and the display unit main body in a manner that the image-capturing unit main body and the display unit main body can rotate relative to each other. And, at the display unit main body, a shutter release button is provided and a grip portion is provided near an end surface furthest away from the image-capturing unit main body; and at the image-capturing unit main body, an optical viewfinder unit is provided beside the photographic lens unit.

Claims

1. A camera comprising:

an optical unit provided with a photographic optical system that has at least a first lens group and a second lens group and forms an image of a subject, an image-capturing device that captures an image of the subject via said photographic optical system, a first drive device that drives back and forth said first lens group, a second drive device that drives back and forth said second lens group, and an optical viewfinder that forms a view field image, wherein

at said optical unit,

said photographic optical system and said optical viewfinder are provided beside each other, and

said first drive device and said second drive device are each arranged in either one of two spaces formed between said photographic optical system and said optical viewfinder in a direction intersecting a direction in which said photographic optical system and said optical viewfinder are provided beside each other.

2. A camera according to claim 1, wherein:

at said optical unit, a guide shaft for both said first lens group and said second lens group is arranged in a middle space enclosed by said photographic optical system, said viewfinder optical system, said first drive device and said second drive device.

3. A camera according to claim 1, wherein:

said optical unit has a first sensor for detecting a lens position of said first lens group and a second sensor for detecting a lens position of said second lens group;

one of said first sensor and said second sensor is arranged in a space extending from said first drive device along a direction of lens optical axis; and

another one of said second sensor and said first sensor is arranged in a space extending from said second drive device along the direction of the lens optical axis.

4. A camera according to claim 1, wherein

said optical unit has:

a zoom control device that varies a zoom quantity for said photographic optical system by controlling said first drive device and said second drive device;

a focal point control device that varies a focal position of said photographic optical system by controlling said first drive device; and

an interlocking mechanism that transmits a drive force imparted by said second drive device toward said optical viewfinder through movement of said second lens group to cause a lens of said optical viewfinder to engage in a zooming movement.

5. A camera according to claim 4, wherein:

a control resolution at said first drive device is finer than a control resolution at said second drive device.

6. A camera according to claim 4, wherein:

said second drive device has a higher thrust and a longer stroke than said first drive device.