Optical apparatus

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6546206
  • Patent Number
    6,546,206
  • Date Filed
    Friday, November 2, 2001
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, April 8, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
An optical apparatus includes an actuator for driving an optical function member of an interchangeable lens, a storage part (memory) storing a plurality of driving patterns for the actuator in advance, and a controller for controlling the actuator to perform driving using one of the plurality of driving patterns stored in the storage part (memory). The controller selects one of the plurality of driving patterns from the storage part (memory) in accordance with the type of image pickup apparatus on which the interchangeable lens is mounted.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to an optical apparatus and, more particularly, to an optical apparatus including different types of image pickup apparatuses in different image taking forms, an interchangeable lens used for the image pickup apparatuses, and a driving scheme for the aperture stop of this interchangeable lens.




2. Related Background Art




As an image taking apparatus of the lens interchangeable type which consists of a lens detachably attached to a body of the image taking apparatus, a video camera, a single-lens reflex camera using a silver halide film, and the like are available. In an interchangeable lens camera system of this type, an interchangeable lens is comprised of an image taking lens for taking an image, a driving part for driving the image taking lens for zooming and focusing, an aperture stop, a stop driver part, a control part (CPU or the like) for controlling the respective driving parts and communicating information with a camera body, a mount part, and the like.




An interchangeable lens is mounted on a camera body by mechanically coupling the mount part of the interchangeable lens to the mount part of the camera body. Each mount part has electric contacts. When the mount parts are mounted on each other, they are electrically coupled to each other immediately to allow mutual communication of various kinds of information in a predetermined format between the interchangeable lens and the camera body. This makes it possible to perform various control operations for the camera and realize an interchangeable lens type camera system.




For a single-lens reflex camera, an interchangeable lens having unique characteristics based on a format unique to the single-lens reflex camera is prepared. In addition, for a video camera, an interchangeable lens having unique characteristics based on a format unique to the video camera is prepared. For this reason, an interchangeable lens for a single-lens reflex camera cannot be directly mounted on a video camera. Recently, however, an exchange adaptor has been available, which allows an interchangeable lens for a single-lens reflex camera to be used with a video camera by matching the respective mount parts, optical paths, communication formats, and various data.




Of the basic functional differences between the single-lens reflex camera and the video camera, the AE (Automatic Exposure) control schemes will be described below.




According to the AE control scheme in the single-lens reflex camera, the difference between the absolute value information of the current aperture stop and the absolute value information of a target aperture stop is converted on the camera side in accordance with a driving means on the lens side. The converted data is then sent to the lens side. On the lens side, light amount control is performed by driving the aperture stop by the designated amount, thereby performing control to finally achieve the aperture stop (light amount) intended by the user.




The stop driver part of an interchangeable lens for a single-lens reflex camera therefore uses a stepping motor as a driving source, with one step of the stepping motor being made to correspond to a predetermined number of stages of an aperture stop (e.g., 1/8 stage). A step count is received from the camera body at a predetermined timing by mutual communication based on the predetermined format, and the aperture stop is driven at the maximum speed determined by the characteristics of the driver part on the lens side. In the driving scheme for the stepping motor, rectangular wave driving is performed to realize high-speed driving.




According to the AE control scheme for the video camera, the difference value between a reference amount of light and the current amount of light is sent to the lens side, and the aperture stop is then driven on the basis of the difference value on the lens side to perform light amount control, thereby finally matching the actual amount of incident light with the reference amount of light. For example, Japanese Patent No. 2873877 discloses a matching means in this AE control scheme. In the above adaptor, the difference value between the reference amount of light and the current amount of light is received from the video camera side, and the difference value is converted into information of an absolute driving amount and sent to the lens side. With this operation, an interchangeable lens for a single-lens reflex camera can be used for a video camera.




Although no problem arises in terms of mechanical, electrical, and optical coupling between an interchangeable lens for a single-lens reflex camera and a video camera owing to the above adaptor, the following problem is posed due to the operation characteristics of an aperture stop because of the differences in basic function between the single-lens reflex camera and the video camera.




First of all, the single-lens reflex camera and video camera differ in their necessary aperture stop operation characteristics. The basic function of the video camera includes recording sounds as well as taking images. The operation of the aperture stop of the interchangeable lens for the video camera needs to be quiet.




If, however, the conventional interchangeable lens for the single-lens reflex camera is used for the video camera through the above adaptor, since the aperture stop is driven at the maximum speed by rectangular wave driving in the lens, quiet operation cannot be substantially performed. For this reason, sound produced in this operation is also recorded.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its object to provide an optical system including an interchangeable lens which can be effectively applied to a plurality of types of image pickup apparatuses and can always ensure a proper function and an image pickup apparatus on which the interchangeable lens is mounted.




In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises:




an actuator for driving an optical function member of an interchangeable lens;




a storage part storing a plurality of driving patterns for the actuator in advance; and




a controller for controlling the actuator to perform driving by using one of the plurality of driving patterns stored in the storage part,




wherein the controller selects one of the plurality of driving patterns from the storage part in accordance with a type of image pickup apparatus on which the interchangeable lens is mounted.




In addition, the present invention comprises:




an actuator for driving an optical function member;




a storage part storing a plurality of driving patterns for the actuator in advance; and




a controller for controlling the actuator to perform driving by using one of the plurality of driving patterns stored in the storage part,




wherein the controller selects one of the plurality of driving patterns from the storage part in accordance with a type of image pickup apparatus on which an interchangeable lens is mounted.




Furthermore, the present invention comprises:




an interchangeable lens having a mount with an electric contact for communication;




an image pickup apparatus having a mount which is detachably coupled to a mount of an interchangeable lens and has an electric contact connected to the electric contact of the interchangeable lens to perform communication;




an actuator for driving an optical function member of the interchangeable lens;




a storage part storing a plurality of driving patterns for the actuator in advance; and




a controller for obtaining predetermined information from the image pickup apparatus by the communication through the electric contacts and controlling the actuator to perform driving by using one of the plurality of driving patterns stored in the storage part,




wherein the controller selects one of the plurality of driving patterns from the storage part in accordance with the predetermined information obtained by the communication.




The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING





FIG. 1

is a block diagram showing an interchangeable lens and camera in an embodiment of an optical apparatus of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a view showing an example of an arrangement for driving a stop motor in the embodiment of the optical apparatus of the present invention;





FIG. 3

is a view showing the internal arrangement of a driver circuit in the embodiment of the optical apparatus of the present invention;





FIG. 4

is a view showing the input/output logic table of the driver circuit in the embodiment of the optical apparatus of the present invention;





FIG. 5

is a view showing the duty ratio data of 1-2 phase excitation patterns in the embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 6

is a view showing the duty ratio data of sine wave excitation patterns in the embodiment of the present invention;





FIGS. 7A and 7B

are graphs showing changes in current in motor windings in 1-2 phase excitation driving and sine wave excitation driving in the embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 8

is a block diagram showing an interchangeable lens and camera in another embodiment of the optical apparatus of the present invention; and





FIG. 9

is a block diagram showing an interchangeable lens, adaptor, and camera in still another embodiment of the optical apparatus of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below.





FIG. 1

is a block diagram for explaining an optical apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and showing a state in which an interchangeable lens is mounted on a single-lens reflex camera. Referring to

FIG. 1

, this apparatus includes a lens


1


, a camera


2


, lens microcomputer


3


, and camera microcomputer


4


. The lens microcomputer


3


communicates with the camera microcomputer


4


through electric contacts for communications, i.e., an electric contact


5




a


(for clock signals), electric contact


5




b


(for the transfer of signals from the camera to the lens), and electric contact


5




c


(for the transfer of signals from the lens to the camera). In this case, the camera


2


is a single-lens reflex camera for image taking (recording) an object image on a silver halide film.




A focus motor


6


is formed by, for example, a vibration type motor. The focus motor


6


is controlled by the lens microcomputer


3


through a focus driver circuit


7


to perform focusing by driving a focus adjustment lens. A stop motor


8


is formed by using, for example, a stepping motor. The stop motor


8


is controlled by the lens microcomputer


3


through a stop driver circuit


9


to stop down the lens to a predetermined position or restore the camera to the full aperture state.




The lens microcomputer


3


transfers the state in the lens (e.g., a zoom position, focus position, and aperture value) and information about the lens (e.g., a full aperture value, focal length, and data required for distance measuring operation) to the camera side through the communication line


5




c


. The lens microcomputer


3


, focus driver circuit


7


, and stop driver circuit


9


constitute a lens electric system. A power supply in the camera supplies power to this lens electric system through electric contacts (a signal processing system power supply, signal processing system ground, driving system power supply, and driving system ground) (not shown).




The camera


2


incorporates a distance measuring part


10


, a photometry part


11


, a shutter part


12


, a display part


13


, other control parts


14


, and the camera microcomputer


4


for controlling the operation start/stop and the like of these parts and performing exposure computation, distance measurement computation, and the like. The camera microcomputer


4


transfers information about lens control (e.g., an aperture control value and focus control value) and information about the camera (the type of camera body and information indicating whether to record sound information) to the lens microcomputer


3


through the communication line


5




b.






A switch (to be also referred to as an SW


1


)


15


is used to start photometry or distance measurement. A release switch (to be also referred to as an SW


2


)


16


is used to start release operation. These switches are generally two-stroke switches. The release button is pressed to the first stroke to turn on the switch SW


1


and is pressed to the second stroke to turn on the release switch SW


2


. This system also includes an exposure mode selection switch (to be also referred to as an SWM)


17


. An exposure mode can be changed by turning on/off the exposure mode selection switch


17


or simultaneously operating the exposure mode selection switch


17


and other operation members.





FIG. 2

shows an example of the detailed arrangement of the lens microcomputer


3


, a 2-phase pulse motor serving as a stepping motor forming the stop motor


8


, and the stop driver circuit


9


. This arrangement also includes driver circuits


21


and


22


, motor windings


23


and


24


of the 2-phase pulse motor


8


, and a magnet (rotor)


25


of the 2-phase pulse motor


8


. The lens microcomputer


3


has a PWM output function (signals IN


1


and IN


2


) capable of setting a duty ratio (the ratio of H level to a PWM period) and a timer function of switching excitation patterns at predetermined time intervals. The lens microcomputer


3


stores duty ratio data corresponding to the excitation patterns in a ROM.





FIG. 3

is a circuit diagram showing the internal arrangement of the driver circuits


21


and


22


. This arrangement includes PNP transistors


26


and


27


, NPN transistors


28


and


29


, diodes


30


,


31


,


32


, and


33


, resistors


34


,


35


,


36


, and


37


, AND gates


38


and


39


, and a NOT gate


40


.




Referring to

FIG. 3

, when EN


1


is at “H” level and the input IN


1


is at “H” level, the transistor (to be referred to as the Tr hereinafter)


26


and Tr


29


are turned on, and the Trs


27


and


28


are turned off. As a consequence, a current flows in the motor winding


23


in

FIG. 2

from OUT


1


to OUT


2


.




When the input EN


1


is at “H” level and the input IN


1


is at “L” level, the Trs


27


and


28


are turned on and the Trs


26


and


29


are turned off. As a consequence, a current flows in the motor winding


23


in

FIG. 2

from OUT


2


to OUT


1


.




When the input EN


1


is at “L” level, the Trs


26


,


27


,


28


, and


29


are turned off regardless of the input level of the input IN


1


. As a consequence, OUT


1


and OUT


2


are set in a high-impedance state.

FIG. 4

shows the relationship between these inputs and outputs. This applies to IN


2


, EN


2


, OUT


3


, and OUT


4


.




A method of controlling motor winding currents by using the PWM signals (IN


1


and IN


2


) will be described next.




The lens microcomputer


3


inputs PWM signals each having a predetermined frequency (e.g., a frequency higher than the human audio frequency) to the driver circuits


21


and


22


. The motor windings


23


and


24


are driven according to the above logic (

FIG. 4

) depending on whether the PWM signals are “H” level or “L” level. Since each PWM frequency is high, a current corresponding to the duty ratio flows in the motor winding due to the influence of the inductance of the motor winding.




A method of performing 1-2 phase excitation driving, i.e., rectangular wave excitation driving, of the 2-phase pulse motor by using the driver circuit will be described next with reference to FIG.


5


.




The duty ratio data (Dn


12


) of the 1-2 phase excitation patterns (rectangular wave excitation driving patterns) shown in

FIG. 5

is stored in the ROM in the lens microcomputer


3


. The upper rows represent the addresses of the duty ratio data (Dn


12


) which are assigned for the sake of convenience. The 1-2 phase excitation patters include eight patterns (0 to 7) per period. The numerical values on the lower rows of the data are the duty ratio data (hexadecimal notation) stored at the respective addresses. The maximum value of the duty ratio data is represented by H′FF, and the minimum value will be represented by H′OO. When the data is H′FF, IN


1


is always at “H” level. When the data is H′


00


, IN


1


is always at “L” level. When the data is H′


80


, the duty ratio becomes 50%.




The duty ratio data of the 1-2 phase excitation patterns (rectangular wave excitation driving patterns) are sequentially read out, set, and output by timer interruption of the lens microcomputer


3


. By shifting the readout data address of IN


2


by 2 with respect to the readout data address of IN


1


, the 1-2 phase excitation patterns of the 2-phase pulse motor are realized. The rotational speed of the motor can be controlled by operating a timer interruption time (Tt).




A method of performing sine wave excitation driving of the 2-phase pulse motor by using the driver circuit will be described next with reference to FIG.


6


.




The duty ratio data (DnS) of sine wave excitation patterns shown in

FIG. 6

are stored in the ROM of the lens microcomputer


3


. The upper rows represent the addresses of the duty ratio data (DnS) which are assigned for the sake of convenience. In this case, one period is divided into 64 parts (0 to 63). The numerical values on the lower rows represent the duty ratio data (hexadecimal notation) stored at the respective addresses.




The duty ratio data of the sine wave excitation patterns are sequentially read out, set, and output by timer interruption of the lens microcomputer


3


. By shifting the addresses of read data of IN


1


and IN


2


by


16


, the sine wave excitation patterns of the 2-phase pulse motor are realized. By controlling the timer interruption time (Tt), the rotational speed of the motor can be controlled.





FIGS. 7A and 7B

show currents flowing in the respective motor windings when the motor is driven by the above methods.

FIG. 7A

shows the case of 1-2 phase excitation driving (rectangular wave excitation driving).

FIG. 7B

shows the case of sine wave excitation driving. Referring to each of

FIGS. 7A and 7B

, the abscissa represents the address of each read data.




By the above methods, 1-2 phase excitation driving (rectangular wave excitation driving) and sine wave excitation driving of the 2-phase pulse motor forming the stop motor


8


can be performed.




In the optical apparatus of the embodiment shown in

FIG. 1

, the interchangeable lens


1


is mounted on the single-lens reflex camera


2


for image taking (recording) an object image on a silver halide film (that is, this camera does not record sound information and includes a digital still camera for image taking (recording) only an image). The operation of this system will be described below. Note that the mount of the interchangeable lens


1


can be directly attached/to or detached from the mount of the camera


2


.




When the interchangeable lens


1


is mounted on the camera


2


, electric contacts


20




a


,


20




b


, and


20




c


of the camera


2


are connected to the electric contacts


5




a


,


5




b


, and


5




c


of the lens


1


to form a plurality of communication lines between the lens


1


and the camera


2


. Communication between the lens and the camera is performed through these communication lines. With this communication, the camera microcomputer


4


transmits, to the lens microcomputer


3


, information indicating that “the camera on which the lens


1


is mounted is a camera designed to record images (record no sound)”. In accordance with this information, the lens microcomputer


3


controls the stop driver circuit


9


to perform rectangular wave excitation driving of the stop motor


8


by using the rectangular wave excitation patterns in the ROM which have been described with reference to FIG.


5


. The lens microcomputer


3


controls the stop driver circuit


9


to perform rectangular wave excitation driving of the stop motor


8


in accordance with the information of aperture control values output from the camera microcomputer


4


, thereby driving the aperture stop (not shown) to a target aperture value at high speed.




In the above embodiment, the optical apparatus having the interchangeable lens


1


mounted on the single-lens reflex camera or digital still camera designed to record only images (record no sound information) has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to an optical system having the above interchangeable lens


1


mounted on an image pickup apparatus such as a video camera or digital still camera having an image pickup device, e.g., a CCD, and a microphone and designed to record image and sound information. An embodiment of an optical apparatus having the interchangeable lens


1


mounted on a video camera (including a digital still camera) designed to record image and sound information will be described below.





FIG. 8

is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an optical apparatus of the present invention which has the interchangeable lens


1


mounted on a video camera


200


. In this case, the mount of the interchangeable lens


1


can be directly attached/to or detached from the mount of the video camera


200


.




The video camera


200


includes an image pickup device


210


for picking up an object image from the interchangeable lens


1


, a microphone


220


for capturing sounds in image-taking operation, and a camera microcomputer


230


for controlling each function of the video camera


200


and communicating with the lens microcomputer


3


to exchange various type of information. The image signal output from the image pickup device


210


is sent to a recorder part (not shown) through an image processor part (not shown) to be recorded. The image signal from the image pickup device


210


is also output to the camera microcomputer


230


. The camera microcomputer


230


then outputs information of an aperture control value to the lens microcomputer


3


on the basis of the brightness information of the image signal. The sound signal output from the microphone


220


is sent to the recorder part (not shown), together with the image signal, through an amplifier (not shown) to be recorded.




When the interchangeable lens


1


is mounted on the video camera


200


, electric contacts


201




a


,


201




b


, and


201




c


of the video camera


200


are electrically connected to the electric contacts


5




a


,


5




b


, and


5




c


of the lens


1


to form a plurality of communication lines between the lens


1


and the video camera


200


. Communication between the lens and the video camera is performed through these communication lines. With this communication, the camera microcomputer


230


transmits, to the lens microcomputer


3


, information indicating that “the camera on which the interchangeable lens


1


is mounted is a video camera (including a digital still camera) designed to record image and sound information”. With this information, the lens microcomputer


3


controls the stop driver circuit


9


to perform sine wave excitation driving of the stop motor


8


by using the sine wave excitation patterns in the ROM which have been described with reference to FIG.


6


. The lens microcomputer


3


controls the stop driver circuit


9


to perform sine wave excitation driving of the stop motor


8


in accordance with the information of the aperture control value output from the camera microcomputer


230


, thereby driving the aperture stop (not shown) to a target aperture value. When image taking operation is performed by using the video camera


200


, an image is picked up by the image pickup device


210


, and sounds are captured by the microphone


220


. The image signal and sound signal are then recorded on the recorder part. In this case, since the aperture stop is driven by performing sine wave excitation driving of the stop motor


8


, aperture stop operation produces very small sounds. This makes it possible to prevent the sound produced by aperture stop operation from being captured by the microphone


220


.




An embodiment in which the interchangeable lens


1


is mounted on a video camera


400


through an adaptor


300


will be described next.





FIG. 9

is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an optical apparatus according to the present invention which has the interchangeable lens


1


mounted on the video camera


400


through the adaptor


300


. In this case, the video camera is used to record image and sound information. This camera may be video camera or digital still camera. In this case, the mount of the interchangeable lens


1


can be directly attached/to or detached from a mount


300




a


of the adaptor


300


which is located on one side. A mount


300




b


of the adaptor


300


which is located on the other side can be directly attached/to or detached from the video camera


400


. In this case, therefore, the interchangeable lens


1


cannot be directly mounted on the video camera


400


but is mounted on the video camera


400


through the adaptor


300


.




The video camera


400


includes an image pickup device


410


for picking up an object image through the interchangeable lens


1


, a microphone


420


for capturing sounds in image-taking operation, and a camera microcomputer


430


for controlling each function of the video camera


400


and communicating with the lens microcomputer


3


through the adaptor


300


to exchange various type of information. The image signal output from the image pickup device


410


is sent to a recorder part (not shown) through an image processor part (not shown) to be recorded. The image signal from the image pickup device


410


is also output to the camera microcomputer


430


. The camera microcomputer


430


then outputs information of an aperture control value to the lens microcomputer


3


on the basis of the brightness information of the image signal. The sound signal output from the microphone


420


is sent to the recorder part (not shown), together with the image signal, through an amplifier (not shown) to be recorded.




When the interchangeable lens


1


is mounted on the video camera


400


through the adaptor


300


, electric contacts


401




a


,


401




b


, and


401




c


of the video camera


400


are electrically connected to the electric contacts


5




a


,


5




b


, and


5




c


of the lens


1


through electric contacts


301




a


,


301




b


, and


301




c


and correspondence contacts


302




a


,


302




b


and


302




c


of the adaptor


300


to form a plurality of communication lines between the lens


1


and the video camera


400


. Communication between the lens and the video camera (through the adaptor) is performed through these communication lines. With this communication, the camera microcomputer


430


transmits, to the lens microcomputer


3


, information indicating that “the camera on which the interchangeable lens


1


is mounted is a video camera designed to record image and sound information”. With this information, the lens microcomputer


3


controls the stop driver circuit


9


to perform sine wave excitation driving of the stop motor


8


using the sine wave excitation patterns in the ROM which have been described with reference to FIG.


6


. The lens microcomputer


3


controls the stop driver circuit


9


to perform sine wave excitation driving of the stop motor


8


in accordance with the information of the aperture control value output from the camera microcomputer


430


, thereby driving the aperture stop (not shown) to a target aperture value. When an image pickup operation is performed using the video camera


400


, an image is picked up by the image pickup device


410


, and sounds are captured by the microphone


420


. The image signal and sound signal are then recorded on the recorder part. In this case, since the aperture stop is driven by performing sine wave excitation driving of the stop motor


8


, aperture stop operation produces very small sounds. This makes it possible to prevent the sound produced by aperture stop operation from being captured by the microphone


420


.




In the above embodiment, information indicating a mounted camera is, for example, an ID code indicating the type of image pickup apparatus. In the above lens-camera communication, the ID code is transmitted from the camera to the lens. The lens then determines on the basis of the ID code whether the mounted camera is a single-lens reflex camera or video camera. If the camera is determined to be a single-lens reflex camera, rectangular wave (1-2 phase) excitation driving is performed. If the camera is determined to be a video camera, sine wave excitation driving is performed.




In the above embodiment, in the communication between the lens and the camera, the camera may transmit a code designating rectangular wave (1-2 phase) excitation driving or sine wave excitation driving to the lens, and the lens may switch data tables on the basis of the code, thereby switching excitation driving patterns.




As described above, according to the optical apparatus of this embodiment, when the interchangeable lens for a single-lens reflex camera is used for a single-lens reflex camera, high-speed operation can be realized by performing rectangular wave (1-2 phase) excitation driving. In addition, when the interchangeable lens for a single-lens reflex camera according to this embodiment is used for a video camera or digital still camera directly or through an adaptor, more quiet operation can be performed by performing sine wave excitation driving.




The respective function blocks and procedures of the embodiments described above may be implemented by hardware or a microcomputer system constituted by a CPU or MPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, which is operated in accordance with an operation program stored in the ROM or RAM. A software program for implementing the function of each function block described above may be supplied to the RAM, and each function block described above is operated in accordance with this program. This implementation is also included in the embodiments described above.




In this case, the program code of the software itself realizes the functions of the above embodiments, and the program code and means for supplying the program code to the computer, e.g., a storage medium which stores the program code, constitutes the present invention. As the storage medium storing the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-I, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, zip, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, and the like may be used.




Needless to say, this program code is included in the embodiments of the present invention not only in a case wherein the functions of the above embodiment are realized by executing the supplied program code by the computer but also in a case wherein the functions of the above embodiment are realized in cooperation with an OS (operating system) running on the computer or other applications.




Furthermore, it is included in the present invention that the functions of the above embodiments may be realized by some or all of actual processing operations executed by a CPU or the like arranged in a function extension board or a function extension unit, which is inserted in or connected to the computer, on the basis of instructions from the program code, after the supplied program code is stored in a memory in the function extension board of the computer or the function extension unit connected to the computer.




As has been described above, according to the above embodiments, there is provided an optical apparatus, in which aperture stop driving patterns can be switched in accordance with the image pickup apparatus on which the interchangeable lens is mounted, thereby realizing aperture stop driving suitable for each image pickup apparatus.



Claims
  • 1. An optical apparatus including an interchangeable lens to be mounted on a plurality of types of image pickup apparatuses in different image taking forms, comprising:an actuator for driving an optical function member of said interchangeable lens; a memory storing a plurality of driving patterns for said actuator in advance; and a controller for controlling said actuator to perform driving by using one of the plurality of driving patterns stored in said memory, wherein said controller selects one of the plurality of driving patterns from said memory in accordance with a type of image pickup apparatus on which said interchangeable lens is mounted.
  • 2. An optical apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe optical function member comprises an aperture stop, and said actuator for driving the aperture stop comprises a stepping motor.
  • 3. An optical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of types of image pickup apparatuses in the different image taking forms comprise an image pickup apparatus for recording an image and an image pickup apparatus for recording both an image and a sound.
  • 4. An optical apparatus according to claim 3, whereinthe image pickup apparatus for recording the image comprises a single-lens reflex camera using a silver halide film and digital still camera, and the image pickup apparatus for recording both the image and the sound comprises a video camera and a digital still camera.
  • 5. An optical apparatus according to claim 1, whereinsaid actuator comprises a stepping motor, and the plurality of driving patterns stored in said memory to drive the stepping motor comprise a rectangular wave driving pattern and a sine wave driving pattern.
  • 6. An optical apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said controller selects the rectangular wave driving pattern when the image pickup apparatus on which said interchangeable lens is mounted is an image pickup apparatus for recording an image, and said controller selects the sine wave driving pattern when the image pickup apparatus on which said interchangeable lens is mounted is an image pickup apparatus for recording both an image and a sound.
  • 7. An interchangeable lens mountable on a plurality of types of image pickup apparatuses in different image taking forms, comprising:an actuator for driving an optical function member; a memory storing a plurality of driving patterns for said actuator in advance; and a controller for controlling said actuator to perform driving using one of the plurality of driving patterns stored in said memory, wherein said controller selects one of the plurality of driving patterns from said memory in accordance with a type of image pickup apparatus on which said interchangeable lens is mounted.
  • 8. An interchangeable lens according to claim 7, whereinthe optical function member comprises an aperture stop, and said actuator for driving the aperture stop comprises a stepping motor.
  • 9. An interchangeable lens according to claim 7, wherein the plurality of types of image pickup apparatuses in the different image taking forms comprise an image pickup apparatus for recording an image and an image pickup apparatus for recording both an image and a sound.
  • 10. An interchangeable lens according to claim 9, whereinthe image pickup apparatus on which has said interchangeable lens is mountable and which records the image comprises a single-lens reflex camera using a silver halide film and digital still camera, and the image pickup apparatus on which said interchangeable lens is mountable and which records both the image and the sound comprises a video camera and a digital still camera.
  • 11. An interchangeable lens according to claim 7, whereinsaid actuator comprises a stepping motor, and the plurality of driving patterns stored in said memory to drive the stepping motor comprise a rectangular wave driving pattern and a sine wave driving pattern.
  • 12. An interchangeable lens according to claim 11, wherein said controller selects the rectangular wave driving pattern when the image pickup apparatus on which said interchangeable lens is mounted is an image pickup apparatus for recording an image, and said controller selects the sine wave driving pattern when the image pickup apparatus on which said interchangeable lens is mounted is an image pickup apparatus for recording both an image and a sound.
  • 13. An optical apparatus including an interchangeable lens having a mount with an electric contact for communication, and an image pickup apparatus having a mount which is detachably coupled to the mount of said interchangeable lens and has an electric contact connected to the electric contact of said interchangeable lens to perform communication, comprising:an actuator for driving an optical function member of said interchangeable lens; a memory storing a plurality of driving patterns for said actuator in advance; and a controller for obtaining predetermined information from the image pickup apparatus by the communication through the electric contacts and controlling said actuator to perform driving using one of the plurality of driving patterns stored in said memory, wherein said controller selects one of the plurality of driving patterns from said memory in accordance with the predetermined information obtained by the communication.
  • 14. An optical apparatus according to claim 13, whereinthe optical function member comprises an aperture stop, and said actuator for driving the aperture stop comprises a stepping motor.
  • 15. An optical apparatus according to claim 13, wherein image pickup apparatus is one of a plurality of types of image pickup apparatuses in different image taking forms that comprise an image pickup apparatus for recording an image and an image pickup apparatus for recording both an image and a sound.
  • 16. An optical apparatus according to claim 15, whereinthe image pickup apparatus for recording the image comprises a single-lens reflex camera using a silver halide film and digital still camera, and the image pickup apparatus for recording both the image and the sound comprises a video camera and a digital still camera.
  • 17. An optical apparatus according to claim 13, whereinsaid actuator comprises a stepping motor, and the plurality of driving patterns stored in said memory to drive the stepping motor comprise a rectangular wave driving pattern and a sine wave driving pattern.
  • 18. An optical apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the predetermined information obtained by said controller by the communication comprises information indicating a type of image pickup apparatus.
  • 19. An optical apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the predetermined information obtained by said controller by the communication comprises information for designating a type of driving pattern.
  • 20. An optical apparatus according to claim 18, whereinsaid controller selects the rectangular wave driving pattern stored in said memory when the information indicating the type of image pickup apparatus, obtained by the communication, is information indicating an image pickup apparatus for recording an image, and said controller selects the sine wave driving pattern stored in said memory when the information indicating the type of image pickup apparatus, obtained by the communication, is information indicating an image pickup apparatus for recording both an image and a sound.
  • 21. An optical apparatus according to claim 19, whereinsaid controller selects the rectangular wave driving pattern stored in said memory when the information designating the type of driving pattern, obtained by the communication, is information designating the rectangular wave driving pattern, and said controller selects the sine wave driving pattern stored in said memory when the information designating the type of driving pattern, obtained by the communication, is information designating the sine wave driving pattern.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
2000-344464 Nov 2000 JP
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Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number Date Country
2873877 Jan 1999 JP
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry
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