GB2303929A - Lens-fitted photographic film unit - Google Patents
Lens-fitted photographic film unit Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2303929A GB2303929A GB9619819A GB9619819A GB2303929A GB 2303929 A GB2303929 A GB 2303929A GB 9619819 A GB9619819 A GB 9619819A GB 9619819 A GB9619819 A GB 9619819A GB 2303929 A GB2303929 A GB 2303929A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- lens
- panoramic
- photographic film
- full size
- size
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
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Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03B—APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR
- G03B19/00—Cameras
- G03B19/02—Still-picture cameras
- G03B19/04—Roll-film cameras
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- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03B—APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR
- G03B1/00—Film strip handling
- G03B1/42—Guiding, framing, or constraining film in desired position relative to lens system
- G03B1/48—Gates or pressure devices, e.g. plate
- G03B1/50—Gates or pressure devices, e.g. plate adjustable or interchangeable, e.g. for different film widths
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- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03B—APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR
- G03B13/00—Viewfinders; Focusing aids for cameras; Means for focusing for cameras; Autofocus systems for cameras
- G03B13/02—Viewfinders
- G03B13/10—Viewfinders adjusting viewfinders field
- G03B13/12—Viewfinders adjusting viewfinders field to compensate for change of camera lens or size of picture
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- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03B—APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR
- G03B2219/00—Cameras
- G03B2219/02—Still-picture cameras
- G03B2219/04—Roll-film cameras
- G03B2219/045—Roll-film cameras adapted for unloading the film in the processing laboratory, e.g. disposable, reusable or recyclable cameras
Landscapes
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Structure And Mechanism Of Cameras (AREA)
Abstract
A lens-fitted photographic film unit has a picture frame size changing mechanism for changing the size of picture frames between a full size and a panoramic size. The taking lens has a fixed focal length of not less than 28 mm and not more than 32 mm.
Description
LENS-FITTED PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM UNIT
The present invention relates to a lens-fitted photographic film unit with a picture frame size changing device, and more particularly to a lens-fitted photographic film unit which is changeable between a panoramic size position and a standard or full size position.
Compact cameras having a picture frame size changing device are known, wherein either full size photography or panoramic photography may be practiced in a strip of photographic film, and the field of view of the viewfinder is also changed to correspond to either the full size or the panoramic size photographic field.
Also lens-fitted photographic film units (hereinafter referred to as film units) are widely used, each of which contains a photographic film cassette and has a simple exposure mechanism and a fixed focus plastic lens, e.g., as disclosed in U.S.P.No. 4,884,087, so that anyone may enjoy photographing with ease at low cost. It is desirable to provide a picture frame size changing device in such a film unit.
According to the present invention there is provided, in a lens-fitted photographic film unit having a preloaded photographic film, a taking lens, a rearwardly convex exposure aperture and an exposure mechanism for exposing said photographic film, and a pair of exposure aperture masking plates movable in front of said exposure aperture between a full size position outside a light path from said taking lens for photographing a full size picture frame, on one hand, and a panoramic size position wherein said exposure aperture masking plates are inserted in said light path to define a panoramic size picture frame; the improvement wherein:
said taking lens has a fixed focal length of not less than 28 mm and not more than 32 mm.
Preferably the said taking lens comprises a rear lens element and a front lens element, said rear lens element being a biconvex spherical plastic lens, and said front lens element being a convex meniscus plastic lens having an aspherical front surface.
Some embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a film unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a main body section and a rear cover of the film unit shown in Fig. 1;
Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of a front cover unit;
Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the film unit;
Figure 5 is an exploded front perspective view of a photograph taking unit;
Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the taking lens;
Figure 7 is an exploded rear perspective view of a photograph taking unit;
Figure 8A is a diagram illustrating a panoramic size position of the picture frame size changing mechanism;;
Figure 8B is a diagram illustrating a full size position of the picture frame size changing mechanism;
Figure 9 is an exploded perspective view of a front cover unit according to a second embodiment of the invention; and
Figure 10 is an exploded perspective view of a front cover unit according to a third embodiment.
A film unit 2 shown in Fig. 1 is capable of photographing a picture frame selectively in a full size (e.g., 24 x 36 mm, aspect ratio: 1.5) or in a panoramic size (e.g., 13 x 36 mm, aspect ratio: 2.8), by sliding an operation member comprising a knob 3 to one of two corresponding switch positions. The film unit 2 is packed in an outer case 4 having openings or cutouts for exposing the knob 3, a taking lens 5, a shutter button 6, a flash charge switch 7, a film advancing wheel 8, a viewfinder 9, a charge lamp window 10, a frame number window 11, a flash window 12, and so forth to the outside.
As shown in Figs. 2 to 4, the film unit 2 is mainly constituted of a main body section 14, a rear cover 15, a flash unit 16, a photograph-taking unit 17 and a front cover unit 18, which are assembled in a fashion suitable for disassembling later. In the photograph-taking unit 17, a shutter mechanism including the taking lens 5, and a picture frame size changing mechanism (Fig. 7) are incorporated.
An exposure aperture 21 is formed through the main body section 14, so as to be coaxial with the taking lens 5 when the photograph-taking unit 17 is removably attached to the front of the exposure aperture 21 by claw-hole engagement or the like. A cassette chamber 22 and a film roll chamber 23 are disposed on opposite sides of the exposure aperture 21. An ISO 135-type photographic film cassette 24 loaded in the main body section 14 is shielded from ambient light by the rear cover 15. A roll of unexposed photographic film 24a is initially held in the film roll chamber 23, and a cassette shell 24b of the photographic film cassette 24 is held in the cassette chamber 22.
The exposure aperture 21 has a size equal to a full size picture frame of ISO 135-type film. A film supporting surface 25 formed on the rear side of the main body section 14 surrounding the exposure aperture 21 is rearwardly convex so as to curve the photographic film 24a forwardly concave relative to the film advancing direction. The radius of curvature around the optical axis 5a of the taking lens 5 is for example 100 mm. A film confining surface 26 of the rear cover 15 is also curved complementarily to the curvature of the film supporting surface 25 in a portion behind the exposure aperture 21.
The flash unit 16 has a light emitting portion 27, a printed circuit board 16a, a capacitor 31, a pair of contacts 29 and a charge lamp 32. The capacitor 31 begins to be charged by a battery 28 upon depression of a metal contact plate 30 through the resilient charge switch 7 which is formed integrally with the front cover 18. When the capacitor 31 is fully charged, the charge lamp 32 lights intermittently, and this can be seen through the charge lamp window 10 formed in the top of the front cover 18. The light emitting portion projects light through the flash window 12 in response to a trigger signal which is applied when the contacts 29 are turned on in cooperation with a shutter release.
The front cover unit 18 is constituted by a front cover 34, a panoramic finder mask 35 and a cover panel 36. The front cover 34 has the flash window 12, the shutter button 6, a finder objective window 37, and other elements which are integrally formed therewith, and the panoramic finder mask 35 and the cover panel 36 are attached to the front cover34. The finder mask 35 has a panoramic window 38 which limits the field of view of the viewfinder 9 to the same aspect ratio as a panoramic size frame. The knob 3 is formed integrally with the finder mask 35. The cover panel 36 has an opening 40 formed coaxially with an optical axis 39 of the viewfinder 9, for defining the full size field of view. The cover panel 36 also has a slot 41 in which the knob 3 is slidably engaged to be exposed to the outside.
By sliding the knob 3 along the slot 41, the finder mask 35 is slidable between a panoramic position where the panoramic window 38 is coaxial with the finder optical axis 39, and a full size position where the finder mask 35 is retracted from the field of view of the viewfinder 9. Arresting members comprising notches 42 and 43 formed in both ends of the bottom edge of the finder mask 35 are fitted on resilient clicks 44 and 45 formed integrally with the front cover 34, in the full size position and the panoramic position, respectively.
The finder mask 35 also has a cam 46 through which the movement of the finder mask 35 is transmitted to the picture frame size changing mechanism. The right edge 47 of the finder mask 35 is cut off so as to minimize the stroke of the finder mask 35 without interfering with the field of view in the full size position.
As shown in Fig. 5, the photograph-taking unit 17 is formed integrally with a light-shielding box 50 for conducting light from the taking lens 5 to the exposure aperture 21 and shielding extraneous light. The lightshielding box 50 is removably secured to the front of the exposure aperture 21 through snap-in engagement or the like. The bottom wall of the light-shielding box 50 is curved complementarily to the contour of the cylindrical battery 28 disposed therebelow. The lightshielding box 50 has front and rear openings 50a and SOb for the passage to the photographic film 24a of the exposure light entering through the taking lens 5. The rear opening 50b is aligned with the exposure aperture 21.
On the top of the light-shielding box 50, two axles 51 and 52 and a bearing sleeve 53 are integrally formed therewith. A shutter actuating lever 54 and a frame counter dial 55 are rotatably fitted on the axle 51, and a snap ring 56 retains them on the axle 51. A coiled spring 57 and an arresting lever 58 are rotatably fitted on the axle 52, and a snap ring 59 secures the spring 57 and the arresting lever 58 to the axle 52.
The bearing sleeve 53 receives a cam unit 60 which has a one-tooth gear 60a disposed on the top thereof.
The bottom tip of the cam unit 60 is coaxially coupled to a sprocket wheel 61. The sprocket wheel 61 engages with perforations of the photographic film 24a and makes one revolution while the photographic film 24a is advanced one frame by rotating a spool 24c of the film cassette 24 through the film advancing wheel 8. When the sprocket wheel 61 is rotated along with the film advance, the cam unit 60 is rotated together and causes the shutter actuating lever 54 to move to a cocked position through the arresting lever 58.
Simultaneously, a claw 58a of the arresting lever 58 is engaged with one of the grooves formed around the periphery of the film advancing wheel 8. One revolution of the cam unit 60 also causes the frame counter dial 55 to rotate by one unit through the one-tooth gear 60a.
Upon depression of the shutter button 6, the shutter actuating lever 54 rotates counterclockwise about the axle 51 under the force of the spring 57, to strike a shutter blade 64 at a distal end 54a of the shutter actuating lever 54. The shutter blade 64 is of a crank-shape and is pivotally mounted on an axle 63 which is integrally formed on the front of the lightshielding box 50 parallel to the optical axis 5a of the taking lens 5. The shutter blade 64 is urged by a spring 65 to a closed position to close the opening 50a formed coaxially with the optical axis 5a in the lightshielding box 50, and is swung to an open position to open the opening 50a when struck by the shutter actuating lever 54.
A shutter cover 66 is mounted in front of the shutter blade 64 to prevent the shutter blade 64 from fluttering in the direction of the optical axis 5a. The shutter cover 66 has a stop aperture 66a and a lens barrel 66b around the stop aperture 66a, which are integrally formed as one body. After the taking lens 5, consisting of rear and front lens elements 67 and 68 and a spacer 69 inserted therebetween, is mounted in the lens barrel 66b, a lens cover 70 is fitted on the lens barrel 66b.
The rear lens element 67 is preferably a biconvex spherical plastic lens, and the front lens element 68 is preferably a convex meniscus plastic lens having an aspherical front surface, as shown in Fig. 6. Although a conventional panoramic film unit produced by Fuji
Photo Film Co., Ltd. has a taking lens whose focal length is designed to be 25 mm especially for a wide angle panoramic photographic field, the taking lens 5 of the film unit of the present embodiment is designed to have a focal length of 32 mm and an f-number of 10.5, because the film unit of the present embodiment is changeable between full size and panoramic size photography. Thereby, a wide angle effect is achieved in the panoramic size photography, while a full size view is provided in the full size photography.
The reason why the taking lens 5 should have such a large f-number is to make the taking lens 5 pan-focus without the need for focusing. The focal length F of the taking lens for a film unit whose exposure aperture size is changeable between the panoramic size and the full size is not less than 28 mm and not more than 32 mm. It is possible to constitute the taking lens of a single lens element, wherein the single lens element is an aspherical lens having aspherical opposite surfaces.
In this way, a photo-print made from a panoramic size picture frame taken in the film unit 2 looks like a real panoramic photograph, while a full size photo-print obtained through the film unit 2 looks natural, like a scene viewed with the naked eye.
A channel-shape finder lens frame 71 for removably receiving objective lens 72 and eyepiece 73 of the viewfinder 9, an inverted Galilean viewfinder in this instance, is integrally formed on an upper portion of the light-shielding box 50. A finder lens holding plate 74 is removably mounted on the top of the finder lens frame 71 to hold the lenses 72 and 73. These lenses 72 and 73 are disposed between the finder objective window 37 of the front cover 34 and an eyepiece window 75 which is formed in the rear cover 15.
Referring to Fig.7, the picture frame size changing mechanism is mainly comprised of an interconnecting mechanism comprising a switching lever 80 and a crank lever 82, a spring 81, upper and lower aperture masking plates 83 and 84 and an urging member a helical comprising tension spring 95 suspended between these aperture masking plates 83 and 84. The switching lever 80 is pivotal about an axle 86 which is provided on the top surface of the finder lens holding plate 74. The switching lever 80 has a projection 80a which slides on the cam 46 of the finder mask 35. The spring 81 urges the switching lever 80 to rotate in a direction to contact the projection 80a with the cam 46, that is, the clockwise direction in Fig. 7. The switching lever 80 also has an arm 80b projecting downward. The arm 80b is brought into contact at its one side on a pin 82a formed at an upper end portion 82c of the connecting member or crank lever 82, when the switching lever 80 is rotated by the panoramic finder mask 35 moving from the full size position to the panoramic size position. The switching lever 80 is made of hard plastic, whereas the crank lever 82 is made of resilient plastic. The crank lever 82 is provided with a bearing portion 82b at a lower end thereof. The bearing portion 82b pivotally bears the upper aperture masking plate 83 through a bearing hole 89 of the light-shielding box 50. The bearing portion 82b is fixedly coupled to the upper aperture masking plate 83 by a force fit pin 85.
Accordingly, the upper aperture masking plate 83 swings together and coaxially with the crank lever 82.
A second bearing hole 90 for bearing the upper aperture masking plate 83 is formed on the side of the light-shielding box 50 opposite the bearing hole 89 so as to allow pivoting of the upper aperture masking plate 83. Another pair of bearing holes 91 and 92 are formed correspondingly below the bearing holes 89 and 90, for bearing the lower aperture masking plate 84. Annular bosses 90a, 91a and 92a are respectively formed around the bearing holes 90, 91 and 92 on the outside wall of the light-shielding box 50 (see Fig. 5), so as to reliably shield extraneous light from entering through the bearing holes 90 to 92.Two pairs of stopper members 93 and 94 are formed integrally on the inside of the side walls of the light-shielding box 50 in those positions corresponding to the bearing holes 90 to 92, so as to stop the aperture masking plates 83 and 84 in their panoramic position as shown in Fig. 8A.
The upper aperture masking plate 83 is made of resilient plastic and has a pair of pivots 83a and 83b on opposite horizontal sides of its front end portion.
A rear edge 83c of the upper aperture masking plate 83 has a curve which is complementary to the curvature of the film supporting surface 25. A gap is formed between the pivots 83a and 83b so that the pivots 83a and 83b can be snapped in the bearing holes 89 and 90 by resiliently inwardly deforming the upper aperture masking plate 83. A blocking wall 83d for blocking light entering through the gap is formed between the gap and the rear edge 83c. The upper masking plate 83 has a pin 83e for transmitting the motion of the crank lever 82 to the lower masking plate 84. The tension spring 95 biases the upper and lower masking plate 83 and 84 in a direction to cause an arm 84a of the lower masking plate 84 to contact the pin 83e, that is, the direction toward their full size position as shown Fig. 8B.
According to the present embodiment, the switching lever 80 is formed such that, when the panoramic finder mask 35 is slid from the full size position to the panoramic position, the cam 46 causes the switching lever 80 to move by a larger amount than is necessary for moving the upper and lower aperture masking plates 83 and 84 from the full size position to the panoramic size position. The upper or distal end portion 82c of the crank lever 82 is made slimmer than the other portion of the crank lever 82 so as to be resiliently bent to absorb the over-stroke of the switching lever 80 beyond the necessary range of movement of the aperture masking plates 83 and 84, as is indicated by phantom lines in Fig. 8A. A pair of ribs 82e are formed below the distal end portion 82c for reinforcing the crank lever 82.
The lower masking plate 84 is made of resilient plastic, and has a pair of pivots 84c and 84d on opposite horizontal sides of its front end portions. A cut-out is formed behind each pivot 84c, 84d so that the pivots 84c and 84d can be snapped in the bearing holes 91 and 92. According to this construction, the lower masking plate 84 can pivotally move in cooperation with the upper masking plate 83 between the full size position shown in Fig. 8B and the panoramic position shown in Fig. 8A, where the masking plates 83 and 84 are inserted into the exposure light path. A slot 84b is formed through the arm 84a of the lower masking plate 84 so as to receive pressure transmitted from the pin 83e to the arm 84a.
A light-trapping frame 96 for preventing flare effect in the full size position of the aperture masking plates 83 and 84 is mounted inside the light-shielding box 50. Because the tension spring 95 is disposed out of the light path from the light-trapping frame 96 to the exposure aperture 21, as is shown in Fig. 4, the light-shielding box 50 can still be compact.
The lower aperture masking plate 84 is curved correspondingly to the bottom wall of the lightshielding box 50 for reliably preventing internal reflection. The lower aperture masking plate 84 has a flange 84e which extends perpendicularly upwardly from the main portion of the masking plate 84, and is curved correspondingly to the film supporting surface 25.
Blocking walls 84f are formed to cover the cut-outs behind the pivots 84c and 84d for blocking extraneous light entering through the cut-outs. It is to be noted that the exposure mechanisms are omitted from Fig. 7, for clarity.
The operation of the above-described film unit 2 is as follows:
The film unit 2 is set in the panoramic position before being packed in a moisture proof envelop in the factory. Since the amount of movement of the switching lever 80 that is caused by the cam 46 is larger than the necessary amount for moving the aperture masking plate 83 and 84 between the full- and panoramic size positions, the distal end portion 82c of the crank lever 82 is resiliently bent to absorb the play between the respective elements of the picture frame size changing mechanism. Accordingly, the upper aperture masking plate 83 is brought into tight contact with the stoppers 93.Moreover, in the panoramic size position, since the arm 84a is pushed by the pin 83e of the upper aperture masking plate 83 in a direction to rotate the lower aperture masking plate 84 farther in the clockwise direction in Fig. 8A, also the lower aperture masking plate 84 is brought into tight contact with the stopper 94, while the excessive movement of the lower aperture masking plate 84 is absorbed by the resiliency of the arm 84a and the slit 84b. In this way, the film unit 2 is stably set in the panoramic position.
To get ready for a photograph, the film advancing wheel 8 is rotated to advance the photographic film 24a.
When the photographic film 24a has been advanced one frame amount, the shutter actuating lever 54 is held in the cocked position. Simultaneously, the film advancing wheel 8 is locked, and the one-tooth gear 60a advances the frame counter dial 55 one unit.
After cocking the shutter actuating lever by rotating the film advancing wheel, the photographer may depress the charge switch 7 while framing a photographic field through the viewfinder 9, so as to charge the main capacitor 31 of the flash unit 16 to a high voltage with the battery 28. When the main capacitor 31 has been charged up to the high voltage, the charge lamp 32 starts emitting intermittently, so that the photographer can confirm the completion of charging during the framing.
The film unit 2 is initially set in the panoramic position. Therefore, the field of view of the viewfinder 9 is defined by the panoramic window 38, so that the photographer can frame the photographic field in the panoramic size. When the shutter button 6 is depressed in the panoramic position, the shutter blade 64 swings to open and then close the stop aperture 66a.
Concurrently, the shutter blade 64 turns the contacts 29 on to cause the flash unit 16 to project light from the light emitting portion 27 toward a subject. The upper and lower aperture masking plates 83 and 84 cut off upper and lower parts of the light entering through the taking lens 5, so that a panoramic size picture frame is recorded on the film 24a.
For taking a full size picture frame, the knob 3 is slid to the left of Fig. 3, that is, to the right of
Fig. 7, disengaging the notch 43 of the finder mask 35 from the click 45 of the front cover 34. After the notch 43 is disengaged from the click 45, the finder mask 35 smoothly moves to the right of Fig. 7 under the force of the spring 81 which urges the switching lever 80 to rotate in the clockwise direction. The finder mask 35 and thus the picture frame size changing mechanism is arrested in the full size position by fitting the notch 42 on the click 44. At that time, the photographer is informed by the click that the film unit 2 is switched to the full size position.
The clockwise rotation of the switching lever 80 under the force of the spring 81 causes the crank lever 82 to rotate about the bearing portion 82b in the counterclockwise direction, so that the upper aperture masking plate 83 moves about the pivots 83a and 83b in the counterclockwise direction. By virtue of the spring 95, the lower aperture masking plate 95 is rotated about the pivots 84c and 84d in the clockwise direction. In this way, the upper and lower aperture masking plates 83 and 84 are set to the full size position as shown in
Fig. 8B.
After switching the film unit 2 to the full size position by sliding the knob 3 as described above, the field of view of the viewfinder 9 is defined by the opening 40 of the cover panel 36 to correspond to the full size defined by the exposure aperture 21. In this position, a full size picture frame is recorded on the photographic film 24a upon depression of the shutter button 6, in the same way as above.
Photographing continues thereafter by setting the knob 3 to either the full size or the panoramic position. After all available frames have been photographed, the film unit 2 containing the exposed photographic film 24a is forwarded to a photo-lab. At the photo-lab, the photographic film cassette 24 is removed from the film unit 2. If a depiction is printed on the cassette shell 24b indicating that the photographic film 24a includes both full size frames and panoramic size frames, this cassette 24 can be easily grouped with others that should be subjected to the following special process.
After this grouping, the photographic film 24a is pulled out of the cassette shell 24b, and is developed and inspected. At the time of this film inspection, a notch is provided to each full size frame in order to discriminate between full size and panoramic size frames. Because the panoramic size picture frames are about 13 x 36 mm, having a less height than the full size picture frame, they are easy to detect. The photographic film 24a after inspection is set in a scanner, which first scans the images of only the full size picture frames marked with the notches, and calculates an exposure correction value for each full size picture frame. The data of exposure correction values is written in a memory card along with the associated frame numbers.Thereafter, the photographic film 24a and the corresponding memory card is set in a printer-processor to continuously make photo-prints of 89 x 127 mm size from the full size picture frames with reference to the exposure correction value.
Next, the photographic film 24a is again set in the scanner, which then picks up the images of only the panoramic picture frames to calculate exposure correction values for the respective panoramic size picture frames, and records exposure correction data in the memory card. Then, photo-prints of 89 x 254 mm size are continuously made from the panoramic size picture frames by the printer-processor, after the format of photographic paper and the size of paper mask are changed correspondingly. The print magnification for the full size picture frame is about 3.5, whereas that for the panoramic size picture frame is about 7. The resulting photo-prints and the developed photographic film 24a are forwarded back to the customer, and the film unit 2 containing no photographic film is recovered for recycling.
Although the excessive movement or over-stroke of the switching lever 80 is absorbed by resilient bending of the crank lever 82 in the above-described embodiment, it is instead possible to give resiliency to the arm 80b of the switching lever 80 for absorbing the excessive movement.
Although the knob 3 for sliding the finder mask 35 is formed on the front of the finder mask 35 in the above embodiment, it is also possible to dispose such a knob 100 on a top surface of a cam 46a of a finder mask 35a, as is shown in Fig. 9. In this embodiment, a slot 101 for exposing the knob 100 to the outside is formed through a top wall of a front cover 34a, rather than in a front panel 36a. As shown in Fig. 10, a knob 102 for operating a finder mask 35b may be formed on a rear end of a cam 46b of the finder mask 35b, so as to be exposed to the outside through a cut-out 103 formed through a rear cover 15b of a film unit above an eyepiece window 75 of a viewfinder. Also in this embodiment, a front panel 36b has no slot for the knob 102.Other elements of these variations may be equivalent to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 8, so they are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted for brevity.
Instead of urging the exposure aperture masking plates toward the full size position, it may be possible to urge them toward the panoramic position, for example, by a compression spring. In this alternative, the switching lever should be over-moved in a direction to contact the masking plates against the top and bottom walls of the light-shielding box to maintain the masking plates stable in the full size position.
While the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments shown in the drawings, the present invention is not limited by the embodiments. The picture frame size changing mechanism according to the invention may be applied to a compact camera as well as a film unit.
It will thus be seen that the present invention, at least in its preferred forms, provides a picture frame size changing device in a film unit, wherein a pair of light-shielding plates or exposure aperture masking plates are reliably positioned in a predetermined panoramic size position as well as in a full size position; and furthermore provides a film unit having a picture frame size changing device which is compact, inexpensive and easy to assembly; and furthermore provides a film unit which can take a panoramic size picture frame that results in a photograph worthy of calling panoramic, as well as a full size picture frame that results in a standard photograph that looks as natural as if it were viewed with the naked eye.
Claims (2)
1. In a lens-fitted photographic film unit having a preloaded photographic film, a taking lens, a rearwardly convex exposure aperture and an exposure mechanism for exposing said photographic film, and a pair of exposure aperture masking plates movable in front of said exposure aperture between a full size position outside a light path from said taking lens for photographing a full size picture frame, on one hand, and a panoramic size position wherein said exposure aperture masking plates are inserted in said light path to define a panoramic size picture frame; the improvement wherein:
said taking lens has a fixed focal length of not less than 28 mm and not more than 32 mm.
2. A film unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said taking lens comprises a rear lens element and a front lens element, said rear lens element being a biconvex spherical plastic lens, and said front lens element being a convex meniscus plastic lens having an aspherical front surface.
2. A film unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said taking lens comprises a rear lens element and a front lens element, said rear lens element being a biconvex spherical plastic lens, and said front lens element being a convex meniscus plastic lens having an aspherical front surface.
Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows
Claims: 1. In a lens-fitted photographic film unit having a preloaded photographic film, a taking lens, a rearwardly convex exposure aperture and an exposure mechanism for exposing said photographic film, and a pair of exposure aperture masking plates movable in front of said exposure aperture between a full size position outside a light path from said taking lens for photographing a full size picture frame, on one hand, and a panoramic size position wherein said exposure aperture masking plates are inserted in said light path to define a panoramic size picture frame; the improvement wherein: said taking lens has a fixed focal length of not
33 less than 28 mm and not more than t mm.
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
JP05275610A JP3121186B2 (en) | 1993-11-04 | 1993-11-04 | Exposure screen switching device |
JP27986993A JP3215761B2 (en) | 1993-11-09 | 1993-11-09 | Film unit with lens |
GB9422335A GB2283578B (en) | 1993-11-04 | 1994-11-04 | Lens fitted photographic film unit |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
GB9619819D0 GB9619819D0 (en) | 1996-11-06 |
GB2303929A true GB2303929A (en) | 1997-03-05 |
GB2303929B GB2303929B (en) | 1997-04-30 |
Family
ID=27267461
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
GB9619819A Expired - Fee Related GB2303929B (en) | 1993-11-04 | 1994-11-04 | Lens fitted photographic film unit |
Country Status (1)
Country | Link |
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GB (1) | GB2303929B (en) |
Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5258790A (en) * | 1991-04-19 | 1993-11-02 | Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd. | Variable format camera with a retractable lens |
GB2272977A (en) * | 1990-03-22 | 1994-06-01 | Asahi Optical Co Ltd | Camera having compulsive exposure means |
-
1994
- 1994-11-04 GB GB9619819A patent/GB2303929B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Patent Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB2272977A (en) * | 1990-03-22 | 1994-06-01 | Asahi Optical Co Ltd | Camera having compulsive exposure means |
US5258790A (en) * | 1991-04-19 | 1993-11-02 | Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd. | Variable format camera with a retractable lens |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
GB2303929B (en) | 1997-04-30 |
GB9619819D0 (en) | 1996-11-06 |
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Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
PCNP | Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee |
Effective date: 20091104 |