Light measuring device

Claim 2

A camera having a light measuring device comprising: (a) a distance information circuit for forming object distance information; (b) a focal length information circuit for forming focal length information; (c) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring parts; and (d) a selection circuit for selecting an output of at least one of said light measuring parts of said light measuring circuit based on a combination of said distance information and said focal length information.

Claim 3

A camera according to claim 1, and further comprising a processing circuit which computes the output of each of said light measuring parts to form different computation output, said selection circuit selecting an operation mode of said processing circuit.

Claim 4

A camera according to claim 1, wherein said selection circuit selects the output of said light measuring part in accordance with a photographic magnification determined on the basis of said distance information and said focal length information.

Claim 5

A light measuring device, comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring portions, said circuit outputting an output corresponding to a logarithmic compression value of light incident on each of said portions; and (b) a weighting circuit for weighting outputs by multiplying the outputs corresponding to each of said portions by a factor predetermined for each output, said factor for each output being determined in accordance with focal length information or object distance information.

Claim 6

A light measuring device, comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring portions, said circuit outputting an output corresponding to a logarithmic compression value of light incident on each of said portions; and (b) a weighting circuit for weighting outputs by multiplying the outputs corresponding to each of said portions by a factor predetermined for each output, said factor for each output being determined in accordance with focal length information or object distance information.

Claim 7

A light measuring device, comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring modes; and (b) a selecting circuit for selecting a predetermined mode out of said light measuring modes in accordance with the ratio of the area of an image of an object to that of a picture frame.

Claim 8

A light measuring device, comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring modes; and (b) a selecting circuit for selecting a predetermined mode out of said light measuring modes in accordance with the ratio of the area of an image of an object to that of a picture frame.

Claim 9

A light measuring device, for a camera having an auto-focus function for automatically shifting a photographic lens to an in-focus position by an automatic focusing device, said device measuring light within a photographic picture frame enclosing an image of an object and comprising: (a) selection means for selecting said auto-focus function: (b) light measuring circuit portions having a plurality of different light measuring modes including a first light measuring mode; and (c) mode determining means for forcibly selecting said first light measuring mode when said auto-focus function is selected by said selection means.

Claim 10

A light measuring device, for a camera having an auto-focus function for automatically shifting a photographic lens to an in-focus position by an automatic focusing device, said device measuring light within a photographic picture frame enclosing an image of an object and comprising: (a) selection means for selecting said auto-focus function: (b) light measuring circuit portions having a plurality of different light measuring modes including a first light measuring mode; and (c) mode determining means for forcibly selecting said first light measuring mode when said auto-focus function is selected by said selection means.

Claim 11

A light measuring device according to claim 6, wherein said first mode is a mode for determining a light measuring value based on a brightness information at a center part of the photographic frame.

Claim 12

A light measuring device for a camera having an auto-focus function for automatically shifting a photographic lens to an in-focus position by an auto-focus device and/or an AE lock function for effecting an exposure control at a time of photographing based on a light measuring value obtained by a photographer prior to a commencement of a picture taking, said light measuring device measuring light within a picture frame enclosing an object and comprising: (a) light measuring circuit portions having an evaluation light measuring mode in which light measuring outputs of said portions are weighted, and a not-weighted light measuring mode; and (b) first selection means for selecting the auto-focus function or the AE-lock function; and (c) second selection means for selecting said evaluation light measuring mode when the auto-focus function or the AE-lock function has been selected by said first selection means.

Claim 13

A light measuring device for a camera having an auto-focus function for automatically shifting a photographic lens to an in-focus position by an auto-focus device and/or an AE lock function for effecting an exposure control at a time of photographing based on a light measuring value obtained by a photographer prior to a commencement of a picture taking, said light measuring device measuring light within a picture frame enclosing an object and comprising: (a) light measuring circuit portions having an evaluation light measuring mode in which light measuring outputs of said portions are weighted, and a not-weighted light measuring mode; and (b) first selection means for selecting the auto-focus function or the AE-lock function; and (c) second selection means for selecting said evaluation light measuring mode when the auto-focus function or the AE-lock function has been selected by said first selection means.

Claim 14

A light measuring device according to claim 8, wherein said not-weighted light measuring mode is an average light measuring mode.

Claim 15

A light measuring device for a camera having an auto-focus function for automatically shifting a photographic lens to an in-focus position by an auto-focus device and/or an AE lock function for effecting an exposure control at a time of photographing based on a light measuring value obtained by a photographer prior to a commencement of a picture taking, said light measuring device measuring light within a picture frame enclosing an object and comprising: (a) a plurality of photosensitive element means for measuring light in segments of a picture frame; (b) a processing circuit having a first mode in which an exposure value is sought by evaluating the output of said prescribed photosensitive element means, and a second mode in which an exposure value is sought by fixedly processing the output of a prescribed photosensitive element means; (c) first selection means for selecting the auto-focus function or the AE-lock function; and (d) second selection means for selecting the first mode when the auto-focus function of the AE-lock function has been selected by said first selection means.

Claim 16

A light measuring device for a camera having an auto-focus function for automatically shifting a photographic lens to an in-focus position by an auto-focus device and/or an AE lock function for effecting an exposure control at a time of photographing based on a light measuring value obtained by a photographer prior to a commencement of a picture taking, said light measuring device measuring light within a picture frame enclosing an object and comprising: (a) a plurality of photosensitive element means for measuring light in segments of a picture frame; (b) a processing circuit having a first mode in which an exposure value is sought by evaluating the output of said prescribed photosensitive element means, and a second mode in which an exposure value is sought by fixedly processing the output of a prescribed photosensitive element means; (c) first selection means for selecting the auto-focus function or the AE-lock function; and (d) second selection means for selecting the first mode when the auto-focus function of the AE-lock function has been selected by said first selection means.

Claim 17

A light measuring device, comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring portions, each of which produces an output corresponding to a light incident thereon; (b) means for determining a photographic magnification information; and (c) a processing circuit for selecting an output from said light measuring parts based on said photographic magnification information and forming an exposure value based on said selected output, said photographic magnification being determined by combination of the object distance and the focal length.

Claim 18

A light measuring device, comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring portions, each of which produces an output corresponding to a light incident thereon; (b) means for determining a photographic magnification information; and (c) a processing circuit for selecting an output from said light measuring parts based on said photographic magnification information and forming an exposure value based on said selected output, said photographic magnification being determined by combination of the object distance and the focal length.

Claim 19

A light measuring device, comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring portions, wherein each of said portions produces an output corresponding to light incident on each of said portions, respectively; (b) a weighting circuit for weighting outputs by multiplying the outputs from each of said portions by a factor predetermined for each output, said factor from each output being determined in accordance with the ratio of the area of an image of an object to that of a picture frame.

Claim 20

A light measuring device, comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring portions, wherein each of said portions produces an output corresponding to light incident on each of said portions, respectively; (b) a weighting circuit for weighting outputs by multiplying the outputs from each of said portions by a factor predetermined for each output, said factor from each output being determined in accordance with the ratio of the area of an image of an object to that of a picture frame.

Claim 21

A light measuring device, comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring parts, each of which produces an output corresponding to a light incident thereon; and (b) a selection circuit for selecting an output from a plurality of light measuring parts in accordance with an object distance information.

Claim 22

A light measuring device, comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring parts, each of which produces an output corresponding to a light incident thereon; and (b) a selection circuit for selecting an output from a plurality of light measuring parts in accordance with an object distance information.

Claim 23

A light measuring device according to claim 13, and further comprising a weighting circuit for weighting the output selected by said selecting circuit with a factor corresponding to said object distance information.

Claim 24

A light measuring device according to claim 13, and further comprising a computer circuit for performing a prescribed computation on the basis of the output selected by said selecting circuit, said computer circuit performing different computations in accordance with said object distance information.

Claim 25

A light measuring device for a camera having an AE lock function for effecting an exposure control at a time of photographing based on a light measuring value obtained by a photographer prior to commencement of a picture taking, said light measuring device measuring light within a picture frame enclosing an object and comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring modes including a first mode in which a plurality of light receiving element portions of said light measuring circuit measure brightness in different regions of the picture frame in such a manner that a light measuring output from each light receiving element portion is calculated into a light measuring value to be outputted; (b) first selection means for selecting the AE lock function; and (c) second selection means for selecting said first mode out of said plurality of light measuring modes when the AE lock function has been selected by said first selection means.

Claim 26

A light measuring device for a camera having an AE lock function for effecting an exposure control at a time of photographing based on a light measuring value obtained by a photographer prior to commencement of a picture taking, said light measuring device measuring light within a picture frame enclosing an object and comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring modes including a first mode in which a plurality of light receiving element portions of said light measuring circuit measure brightness in different regions of the picture frame in such a manner that a light measuring output from each light receiving element portion is calculated into a light measuring value to be outputted; (b) first selection means for selecting the AE lock function; and (c) second selection means for selecting said first mode out of said plurality of light measuring modes when the AE lock function has been selected by said first selection means.

Claim 27

A camera system having a view field forming a photographic picture frame enclosing an image of an object to be photographed, said camera having a light measuring device comprising: (a) a distance information circuit for forming object distance information; (b) a focal length information circuit for forming focal length information; (c) light measuring portions having a plurality of light measuring modes; and (d) a selection circuit for selecting the light measuring modes of said light measuring circuit portions based on said distance information and said focal length information, said light measuring circuit portions having a segmented photosensitive element portion including a plurality of concentric round light measuring patterns located substantially at a central portion of the picture frame, and a weighting portion for selecting prescribed light measuring pattern by said selection circuit and multiplying outputs of the selected patterns by a plurality of predetermined weights.

Claim 28

A camera system having a view field forming a photographic picture frame enclosing an image of an object to be photographed, said camera having a light measuring device comprising: (a) a distance information circuit for forming object distance information; (b) a focal length information circuit for forming focal length information; (c) light measuring portions having a plurality of light measuring modes; and (d) a selection circuit for selecting the light measuring modes of said light measuring circuit portions based on said distance information and said focal length information, said light measuring circuit portions having a segmented photosensitive element portion including a plurality of concentric round light measuring patterns located substantially at a central portion of the picture frame, and a weighting portion for selecting prescribed light measuring pattern by said selection circuit and multiplying outputs of the selected patterns by a plurality of predetermined weights.

Claim 29

A light measuring device for a camera, comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring parts, each of which produces an output corresponding to a light incident thereon; (b) a computer circuit for selecting the output from each of said light measuring parts and performing computation in a plurality of different modes, said circuit having at least a first mode in which a light measuring value is obtained according to a first computation formula using an output from a prescribed light measuring part, and a second mode in which a light measuring value is obtained according to a second computation formula different from said first computation formula, using an output of a light measuring part other than the output of the light measuring part used for the first computation formula; and (c) a selecting circuit for selecting the modes of the computer circuit based on said object distance information.

Claim 30

A light measuring device for a camera, comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring parts, each of which produces an output corresponding to a light incident thereon; (b) a computer circuit for selecting the output from each of said light measuring parts and performing computation in a plurality of different modes, said circuit having at least a first mode in which a light measuring value is obtained according to a first computation formula using an output from a prescribed light measuring part, and a second mode in which a light measuring value is obtained according to a second computation formula different from said first computation formula, using an output of a light measuring part other than the output of the light measuring part used for the first computation formula; and (c) a selecting circuit for selecting the modes of the computer circuit based on said object distance information.

Claim 31

A light measuring device for a camera, comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring parts, each of which produces an output corresponding to a light incident thereon; (b) a computer circuit for selecting the output from each of said light measuring parts and performing computation in a plurality of different modes, said circuit having at least a first mode in which a light measuring value is obtained according to a first computation formula using an output from a prescribed light measuring part, and a second mode in which a light measuring value is obtained according to a second computation formula different from said first computation formula, using an output of a light measuring part other than the output of the light measuring part used for the first computation formula; and (c) a selection circuit for selecting the modes of the computer circuit based on the focal length information.

Claim 32

A light measuring device for a camera, comprising: (a) a light measuring circuit having a plurality of light measuring parts, each of which produces an output corresponding to a light incident thereon; (b) a computer circuit for selecting the output from each of said light measuring parts and performing computation in a plurality of different modes, said circuit having at least a first mode in which a light measuring value is obtained according to a first computation formula using an output from a prescribed light measuring part, and a second mode in which a light measuring value is obtained according to a second computation formula different from said first computation formula, using an output of a light measuring part other than the output of the light measuring part used for the first computation formula; and (c) a selection circuit for selecting the modes of the computer circuit based on the focal length information.

Claim 33

A light measuring device according to claim 19, wherein said selection circuit selects the modes in accordance with a combination of said focal length information and said object distance information.

Claim 34

A camera having a light measuring device having a plurality of light measuring patterns dividing a photographic picture frame into plural parts, comprising a selection circuit for selecting the light measuring patterns and changing the area of light measurement, said selection circuits selecting the light measuring pattern in accordance with a combination of object distance information and focal length information.

Claim 35

A camera having a light measuring device having a plurality of light measuring patterns dividing a photographic picture frame into plural parts, comprising a selection circuit for selecting the light measuring patterns and changing the area of light measurement, said selection circuits selecting the light measuring pattern in accordance with a combination of object distance information and focal length information.

Claim 36

A camera according to claim 21, wherein said selection circuit selects the light measuring pattern in accordance with a photographic magnification determined by the object distance information and the focal length information.

Claim 37

A camera according to claim 21, wherein said selection circuit changes the area of light measurement by weighting the output of each light measuring pattern.

Claim 38

A camera according to claim 21, wherein said selection circuit selects the output of each light measuring pattern for use in the computation of a light measuring value.

Claim 39

A camera system having a view field forming a photographic picture frame enclosing an image of an object to be photographed, said camera having a light measuring device, comprising: (a) a plurality of light measuring patterns for dividing the photographic picture frame; and (b) a weighting circuit for weighting each output of the light measuring patterns in accordance with a combination of an object distance and focal length.

Claim 40

A camera system having a view field forming a photographic picture frame enclosing an image of an object to be photographed, said camera having a light measuring device, comprising: (a) a plurality of light measuring patterns for dividing the photographic picture frame; and (b) a weighting circuit for weighting each output of the light measuring patterns in accordance with a combination of an object distance and focal length.