Electronic flash device

In a flash photography system wherein an electronic flash is fired to illuminate an object to be photographed, a light measuring circuit measures the light reflected from the object and generates a stop signal when the integration of the measured light attains a given level, and the flash firing is interrupted in response to the stop signal, an indication is made when the stop signal is generated within a predetermined period from the generation of a synchro signal for firing the flash tube in conjunction with shutter opening, the period is longer than the period required for the flash tube to fully emit its light, i.e. consuming fully the charge stored in the main capacitor. The period may be approximately equal to or a little longer than a maximum flash synchronizable shutter speed. Thus, there is an indication that a proper flash photography has been made, not only when the flash firing is interrupted before the flash tube has emitted the light fully, but also when a proper exposure is attained after the full light emission of the flash tube.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to an electronic flash device in which the 
amount of light emitted therefrom can be controlled, and more particularly 
relates to such an electronic flash device which stops its light emission 
in response to a signal supplied from a camera when the integration of the 
light reflected from a film being exposed reaches a given value. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
To make more convenient flash photography with an electronic flash device 
(referred to as strobe hereinafter) that stops its light emission in 
response to a stop signal supplied from a camera, a flash photography 
system has been proposed wherein, when a desired amount of light has been 
reached to generate the stop signal and stop the light emission of the 
flash tube before the flash tube has fully or entirely emitted its light, 
a specific indicating element arranged to be seen in the camera viewfinder 
field is energized intermittently or continuously to indicate to the user 
that the flash photography at that time has been made properly within the 
capacity of the strobe to provide a desired amount of exposure. 
The present invention improves the strobe used in such a flash photography 
system. As is well known in the art, the shutter speed must be set to a 
flash synchronizable value e.g. 1/60 second or less for flash photography 
with a focal plane shutter camera. The flash tube of a strobe emits light 
for about 1 millisecond at the most which is considerably shorter than the 
flash synchronizable shutter speed. Thus, in the photograph with the flash 
synchronizable shutter speed, the film is exposed to the light of a scene 
under the illumination of ambient light for the period the flash tube does 
not emit light. Accordingly, it sometimes possibly occurs that a proper 
exposure is obtained after the flash tube has emitted its light fully, 
i.e. after the main capacitor has been substantially discharged, with the 
scene light due to the ambient light illumination compensating for the 
shortage of the exposure by the flash light. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A general object of the present invention is to provide an improved strobe 
which can inform a camera of a sufficient exposure having been obtained 
with the flash light. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a strobe which 
generates a signal for driving an indication device in the camera not only 
when the flash light is interrupted in accordance with light measurement, 
but also when a proper exposure is obtained after the full light emission 
of the flash tube. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a system for a 
camera and a strobe which makes an indication in the camera when the flash 
tube is fired and a proper exposure is obtained by an automatic flash 
duration control device. 
A further object of the present invention is to enable an indication to be 
made in such a system mentioned above when a proper exposure has been 
obtained with the strobe having emitted its light, consuming all the 
charge in the main capacitor. 
A strobe according to the present invention is adapted to be used with a 
camera which includes a light receiving element or photocell receiving 
light reflected from the film surface being exposed to a scene light, and 
means for supplying a flash stop signal to the strobe when the amount of 
the light received by the light receiving element reaches a given level. 
In response to the flash stop signal from the camera, the strobe stops 
firing. The strobe includes a signal generator which supplies an 
indication drive signal to the camera when the strobe receives the flash 
stop signal within a predetermined period, (for example, by the time of 
shutter closure,) from the closure of the synchro switch in the camera. 
The camera energizes continuously or intermittently a specific indicator 
element in response to the indication drive signal from the strobe. Thus, 
indication is made when a desired amount of exposure is obtained, even if 
the strobe has emitted its light fully without its firing being 
interrupted. 
According to the present invention, indication of suitable flash exposure 
is made not only when the flash light from the strobe is interrupted and 
the amount of flash light is automatically controlled before the main 
capacitor is discharged fully, but also when a suitable exposure is 
obtained by the illumination of fully fired flash and ambient light. Thus, 
an indication is made whenever a proper exposure is obtained in flash 
photography, whereby the user can be provided with more appropriate 
information.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
First of all, the general operation of the embodiment will be described. 
With reference to FIG. 1, when main capacitor 2 for storing the electric 
energy for energizing flash tube 18 is charged above a given level, the 
voltage at node 8 between resistors 4 and 6 actuates a voltage detection 
circuit incorporated in later-to-be-described control circuit 44 so that 
the voltage detection circuit produces a detection output signal. In 
response to the detection output signal, a train of pulse signals having a 
frequency of 2 Hz (Hertz) are supplied through external terminal 52 to the 
camera circuit. In the camera circuit shown in FIG. 2, driver circuit 66 
responds to the pulse signal to intermittently or periodically energize 
LED 68 arranged in the camera viewfinder, with a period of 1/2 second, 
thereby indicating the ready condition of the strobe wherein the main 
capacitor has been charged above the given level. The camera including 
light measuring circuit 80 is a focal shutter camera which measures the 
intensity of the light coming from an object to be photographed, passing 
through the camera objective and its diaphragm aperture and reflected from 
the film plane being exposed, and which supplies a "High" voltage through 
terminal 54 to the strobe when the integration of the measured light 
intensity reaches a given value. The "High" voltage serves to command the 
stopping of the firing of the flash tube. When shutter release operation 
is made, timing control circuit 62 in the camera generates a "High" 
voltage for a short time, e.g. 1 millisecond, during which transistor 64 
conducts to provide terminal 52 with a "Low" voltage and terminal 54 a 
"High" voltage. The strobe circuit responds to that state of the camera 
circuit, detects the commencement of the shutter release operation and 
becomes ready for the subsequent operation. 
When synchro switch 78 is closed after the commencement of exposure, flash 
tube 18 is triggered to begin its firing. When a proper exposure is 
attained with the light of the flash tube, light measuring circuit 80 
generates a "High" voltage which is applied through terminal 54 to the 
strobe circuit wherein the "High" voltage is interpreted as a flash stop 
signal to stop the flash firing when the flash tube is being fired upon 
receiving the "High" voltage, and to produce a pulse signal having a 
frequency of 8 Hz at terminal 52 when the "High" voltage is received 
within a predetermined time period from the closure of the synchro switch. 
In response to the pulse signals, light emitting diode 68 is periodically 
turned on and off with a period of 1/8 second to indicate that a desired 
amount of exposure has been attained. The pulse signals of 2 Hz and 8 Hz 
alternate their levels between two levels, for example, 1 volt and 2 volts 
with the lower level not being zero DC voltage which switches the camera 
exposure time control circuit to a condition for providing a flash 
sychronizable shutter speed. 
With reference to FIG. 1, main capacitor 2 is supplied with electric energy 
from power source battery 12 through voltage booster circuit 10 consisting 
of a DC-DC converter, and stores the energy produced therefrom. Flash tube 
18 is serially connected with thyristor 20 which together with commutation 
capacitor 22 and the thyristor 24, forms a flash stop circuit. Trigger 
transformer 26, capacitor 28, resistor 30 and thyristor 32 together form a 
flash tube triggering circuit wherein, when thyristor 32 is applied with a 
"High" voltage at its gate, conducts to discharge capacitor 28 and trigger 
flash tube 18. When flash tube 18 is triggered, the potential at node 34 
between flash tube 18 and the anode of thyristor 20 rises. The potential 
rise is transmitted through diode 36, capacitor 22, resistor 38, capacitor 
40 and resistor 42 to the gate of thyristor 20, which conducts so that the 
electric charge stored in main capacitor 2 is discharged through flash 
tube 18. 
The operation of camera circuit 60 is described with reference to the 
circuit shown in FIG. 2. When the shutter release button is depressed to 
generate a shutter release command signal, timing control circuit 62 
generates an output signal which renders transistor 64 conductive for a 
short time, for example, 1 millisecond, grounding terminal 52. Before the 
conduction of transistor 64, the strobe may have reached a charge 
completion state to supply through terminal 52 to driver circuit 66 a 
pulse signal of a rectangular waveform with the voltage alternating 
between 1 volt and 2 volts with a frequency of 2 Hz. In response to the 
pulse signal, LED 68 in the camera viewfinder is intermittently energized 
to indicate the charge completion state of the strobe. At this time, if 
the automatic flash light amount control mode has been selected, switch 70 
is opened by the operation of a mode selection dial (not shown). Thus, 
upon conduction of transistor 64, AND gate 72 generates a "High" voltage 
which is applied through OR gate 76 and terminal 54 to the strobe. 
Then, when the shutter is fully opened to close synchro switch 78 after the 
initiation of an exposure, flash tube 18 is triggered to begin its firing. 
While the flash tube 18 is emitting light, photodiode 82 included in light 
measuring circuit 80 receives the light reflected from the film surface 
being exposed and light measuring circuit 80 integrates the signal 
commensurate with the light received by photodiode 82 to generate a single 
pulse of a "High" voltage for the interruption of the flash firing when 
the integration attains a given value. In response to the flash 
interruption signal, the strobe circuit stops the firing of flash tube 18 
and, at the same time, supplies for a given period, e.g. 1 second, a pulse 
signal of 8 Hz in place of the 2 Hz pulse signal, through terminal 52 to 
the camera circuit, wherein LED 68 is turned on and off in response to the 
pulse signal. Thus, the user, observing the flashing of LED at the higher 
frequency, can see that the flash light has been controlled to provide a 
proper exposure. 
The construction and operation of the control circuit will now be described 
with reference to the circuit shown in FIG. 3. Input terminal 88 of 
voltage comparator circuit 86 is connected through lead line 46 of the 
circuit to node 8 (see FIG. 1) and is applied with a voltage corresponding 
to the charged voltage of main capacitor 2. When the voltage applied to 
input 88 exceeds a voltage Vo generated by voltage source 94, voltage 
comparator circuit 86 generates a "High" voltage output, which shows that 
main capacitor 2 has been charged sufficiently and the charging thereof 
has been completed. As will be described later, input terminal 106 of AND 
gate 102 receives a "High" voltage before the synchro switch is closed, so 
that AND gate 104 responds to the "High" voltage from voltage comparator 
circuit 86 to generate a "High" voltage output which causes transistor 100 
to conduct. With the conduction of transistor 100, the potential at input 
terminal 90 of voltage comparator circuit 86 drops from reference voltage 
Vo to a voltage given by the voltage divider composed of resistors 96 and 
98. Thus, voltage detection circuit 110 including voltage comparator 
circuit 86 is arranged to have a hysteresis characteristic. When synchro 
switch 78 is closed, input terminal 106 is applied with a "Low" voltage so 
that transistor 100 is blocked to release the hysteresis condition. The 
output terminal of voltage comparator circuit 86 is also connected to 
input terminal 114 of AND gate 112 whereby, before the closure of the 
synchro switch, the "High" voltage from voltage comparator circuit 86 is 
applied through AND gate 112, buffer circuit 120 and AND gate 122 to input 
terminal 132 of signal generator circuit 130 and to input terminal 140 of 
OR gate 138 as will be described later. In response to the "High" voltage, 
signal generator circuit 130 produces a pulse signal having a frequency of 
2 Hz and assuming a voltage alternating between two non-zero levels as 
shown in FIG. 5. 
The definite construction of signal generator circuit 130 is shown in FIG. 
4. Terminals 132 and 134 are respectively connected to the input terminals 
of NOR gate 214 which has its output terminal connected through resistor 
216 to the base of PNP transistor 218. When either one of terminals 132 
and 134 receives a "High" voltage, NOR gate 214 generates a "Low" voltage 
output to conduct transistor 218. Between the collector of transistor 218 
and a ground terminal is connected a load circuit composed of resistors 
220, 222 and 224 and PNP transistor 226. At terminal 136 tapped from the 
load circuit is produced a voltage according to the voltage division by 
serially connected resistors 220 and 222 when transistor 226 is 
non-conductive with transistor 218 being conductive, and a voltage 
according to the voltage division by the ratio of the combined resistance 
of resistors 220 and 224 and the resistance of resistor 222 when 
transistor 226 is conductive. The circuit comprising inverter 230, AND 
gates 232 and 234 and NOR gate 236, selectively applies to the base of 
transistor 226 two kinds of pulse signals, 2 Hz and 8 Hz, which are 
provided from pulse generating circuit 129 in FIG. 3. The circuit selects 
the pulse signals in accordance with the signals applied to terminals 132 
and 134. When terminals 132 and 134 are applied with "High" and "Low" 
signals respectively, AND gates 232 and 234 are respectively unblocked and 
blocked to select the pulse signal of 2 Hz which is output from NOR gate 
236. When terminal 134 receives a "High" voltage, AND gate 232 is blocked 
and AND gate 234 is unblocked to preferentially generate the pulse signal 
of 8 Hz from NOR gate 236 regardless of the signal level at terminal 132. 
Thus, in accordance with the levels of input signal supplied to terminals 
132 and 134, the pulse signal of 2 Hz or 8 Hz is selected to be generated 
at terminal 136 with the level of signals alternating between two levels 
neither of which is zero. Referring back to FIG. 3, the signal generated 
from signal generator circuit 130 in response to the charge completion of 
the main capacitor, makes transistor 144 conductive and its collector 
terminal changes to a "Low" voltage. Accordingly, AND gate 148 having 
input terminal 150 connected with the collector of transistor 144, 
generates a "Low" voltage output. Output terminal 154 of AND gate 148 is 
connected with reset input terminal 208 of one-shot circuit 204. Terminal 
52, which applies pulse signals to the camera circuit, is grounded for 1 
millisecond when transistor 64 (see FIG. 2) in the camera circuit is made 
conductive for that period in conjunction with a shutter release 
operation. The grounding of terminal 52 blocks transistor 144 so that its 
collector is at a "High" voltage. When the collector of transistor 144 is 
at a "High" voltage in response to the shutter release operation with 
input terminal 152 of AND gate 148 receiving a "High" voltage due to the 
charge completion in the strobe circuit, AND gate 148 generates a "High" 
voltage output which resets one-shot circuit 204. Thus, AND gate 148 
generates a "High" voltage output in a corresponding relationship with the 
conduction of transistor 64 in the camera circuit. 
The following is an explanation of the circuit preceding one-shot circuit 
204. AND gates 156 and 168 and inverters 166 and 182 along with AND gate 
112, capacitor 118 and buffer 120 form a circuit which generates a single 
pulse for triggering one-shot circuit 174 in response to the closure of 
synchro switch 78. Before the shutter release operation is made with the 
strobe circuit being in a charge completion state, AND gate 156 receives 
"High" voltages at all three terminals thereof so that AND gate 112 and 
buffer 120 generate "High" voltages. On the other hand, AND gate 168 is 
supplied with a "Low" voltage at its input terminal 172 from inverter 166, 
and generates a "Low" voltage. When synchro switch 78 is closed, AND gate 
156 receives a "Low" voltage at its input terminal 160 and inverts its 
output from a "High" to a "Low" voltage. In response to that inverted 
output, input terminal 176 of AND gate 168 is immediately applied with a 
"High" voltage from inverter 166. On the other hand, receiving the "Low" 
voltage from AND gate 156, AND gate 112 and buffer 120 produce "Low" 
voltages for a little time (e.g. 5.mu. second) after the inversion of the 
output of AND gate 150 due to the delaying action of capacitor 118. During 
that delay time, AND gate 168 is supplied with "High" voltages at both 
input terminals 170 and 172 to generate a single pulse of "High" voltage 
which triggers one-shot circuit 174 to generate a "High" voltage for 15 
milliseconds therefrom. Terminal 184 is connected to gate 33 of thyristor 
32 in the circuit of FIG. 1. The "High" voltage from one-shot circuit 174 
makes thyristor 32 to trigger flash tube 18. At the same time, the "High" 
voltage from one-shot circuit 174 is applied to input terminals 190 and 
200 of AND gates 188 and 198. The other input terminals 192 and 202 of AND 
gates 188 and 198 are connected through terminal 54 to the camera circuit. 
Input terminal 194 of AND gate 188 is the output terminal of gate signal 
generator circuit 186 which generates a "High" voltage output only when 
flash tube 18 is being fired. Output terminal 196 of AND gate 188 is 
connected through lead line 50 to the gate of thyristor 24 in the circuit 
of FIG. 1. The output terminals of AND gate 198 are connected to input 
terminal 206 of one-shot circuit 204. In response to the "High" voltage 
from AND gate 198, one-shot circuit 204 generates, for 1 second, a "High" 
voltage which is applied to input terminals 142 and 134 of OR gate 138 and 
signal generator circuit 130. Thus, when a "High" voltage is supplied for 
15 milliseconds from the camera circuit through terminal 54 to input 
terminal 202 of AND gate 198 while one-shot circuit 174 is triggered by 
the closure of synchro switch 78, AND gate 198 generates a "High" voltage 
to trigger one-shot circuit 204. In response to the "High" voltage from 
one-shot circuit 204, signal generator circuit 130 generates a pulse 
signal of 8 Hz which is received by the camera circuit to energize LED 68 
intermittently for a period of 1/8 second. 
Additionally, when a "High" voltage is supplied from the camera circuit to 
terminal 54, AND gate 188, in response thereto, generates a "High" voltage 
output. By this "High" voltage, thyristor 1 in the circuit of FIG. 24 is 
triggered to stop the firing of flash tube 18 in a manner well known in 
the art. 
The general operation of the above described circuitry is as follows. When 
power switch 14 is closed, main capacitor 2 is charged towards a high 
voltage, by voltage booster circuit 10 until the charged voltage of main 
capacitor 2 exceeds a given value, e.g. 300 volts. Then the output of 
voltage comparator circuit 86 inverts to a "High" voltage which causes 
signal generator circuit 130 to generate a pulse signal of 2 Hz. In 
response to the pulse signal, the camera circuit energizes LED 68 
intermittently with a period of 1/2 second to indicate that the strobe 
circuit has reached a charge completion state. Subsequently, when the 
shutter release operation is made, a signal from the camera circuit 
grounds terminal 52 for a short time whereby a "High" voltage from AND 
gate 148 resets one-shot circuit 204. The reset of one-shot circuit 204 is 
intended for the later-to-be-described effect in the case where the 
shutter is cocked again and the shutter release operation is made during 
the time (for 1 second in the embodiment) while the one-shot circuit is 
producing a "High" level voltage. 
When the shutter is released by a shutter release operation and opens fully 
to close synchro switch 78, one-shot circuit 174 is triggered to generate 
a "High" level voltage output for 15 milliseconds. In response to the 
"High" level voltage, flash tube 18 begins to emit its light to illuminate 
an object to be photographed. Light measuring circuit 80 in the camera 
receives with its photodiode 82 the light reflected from the film surface 
being exposed and integrates the photoelectric current commensurate with 
the intensity of the light received by photodiode 82 until the integration 
reaches a given value whereupon light measuring circuit 80 generates a 
"High" level voltage output as a proper exposure signal. When the "High" 
level voltage output is generated while flash tube 18 is emitting light, 
AND gate 188 generates a "High" level voltage to interrupt the firing of 
flash tube 18. At the same time, AND gate 198 generates a "High" level 
voltage to trigger one-shot circuit 204, which then generates a "High" 
level voltage for one second during which the camera circuit 
intermittently energizes LED 68 at a frequency different from that for the 
indication of the charge. Thus, LED 68 flickers or flashes to indicate 
that a proper exposure has been obtained. In the case when a "High" level 
voltage is applied to terminal 54 from the camera circuit after the flash 
tube 18 has emitted its light fully, i.e. after the main capacitor has 
been discharged fully, one-shot 204 can be triggered to effect the 
indication of a proper exposure if the "High" level voltage is produced 
while one-shot circuit 174 is generating a "High" level voltage. It is to 
be understood that the time of 15 milliseconds assigned to one-shot 
circuit 174 is approximately equal to the flash synchronizable minimum 
exposure time of the camera. Thus, according to the strobe of the present 
invention, a signal for the indication of a proper exposure is generated 
even when a proper exposure has been obtained with both the fully emitted 
flash light and ambient light illumination during the flash synchronizable 
exposure time. Accordingly, the present invention can provide a more 
reasonable indication in comparison with the conventional indication 
system which makes the indication of a proper exposure only when light 
emission of a flash tube is interrupted before it emits light fully. 
The following description concerns the case where the film is wound up, the 
shutter is cocked and shutter release is commanded while the indication of 
a proper exposure with flash light is still continued. This case may occur 
when pictures are taken successively over a short period with a camera 
provided or coupled with a motor driven wind-up device. When a shutter 
release operation is made, a signal from the camera circuit grounds 
terminal 52 to apply a "High" level voltage to input terminal 150 of AND 
gate 148. If one-shot circuit 204 is generating a "High" level voltage at 
that time due to the preceding photographic operation, the "High" level 
voltage from one-shot circuit 204 is applied through OR gate 138 to input 
terminal 152 of AND gate 148, which, in response to the grounding of 
terminal 52, generates a "High" level voltage output to reset one-shot 
circuit 204. Thus, when the next photographic operation is initiated while 
one-shot circuit 204 is generating a signal for the indication of a proper 
or appropriate flash exposure, the signal generating operation of one-shot 
204 is interrupted for the preparation of the next new photographic 
operation. 
The above described proper exposure indication has been made when the 
shutter is controlled at the flash synchronizable minimum speed. 
Additionally, flash photography may be made with shutter speeds slower 
than the flash synchronizable minimum shutter speed, and such flash 
photography is sometimes made actually. Assume the case where an exposure 
is made with a shutter speed of one second. As the proper flash exposure 
indication signal is generated by the aforementioned circuit for about one 
second from the firing of the flash tube, the indication signal will 
disappear when the exposure of one second is terminated. If the indicating 
device is arranged not to make the indication in the camera viewfinder 
field during the exposure, the user can not see the proper flash exposure 
indication when the exposure is made with a shutter speed not less than 
one second. The second embodiment shown in FIG. 6 provides the means for 
enabling the proper flash exposure indication even in the case of long 
time exposure. 
Circuit 240 enclosed by a broken line in FIG. 6 is added for that purpose 
to the circuit of FIG. 3, with the other parts of FIG. 6 circuit being the 
same as the FIG. 3 circuit although only the parts related to circuit 242 
are shown in FIG. 6. In circuit 240, when a proper exposure signal is 
generated from the camera circuit within 15 milliseconds from the closure 
of synchro switch 78, AND gate 198, in response thereto, generates a 
"High" level voltage and the generation of the "High" level voltage is 
memorized in D-flip-flop 242 so that when synchro switch 78 is opened in 
conjunction with the shutter closure i.e. termination of an exposure, 
one-shot 204 is triggered in accordance with the memory in D-flip-flop 204 
to generate a proper flash exposure indication signal for one second from 
that time. 
In circuit 240, D-flip-flops 242 and 246 have their reset terminals 244 and 
248 connected to the output terminal of AND gate 148 to be reset by a 
"High" level output generated by AND gate 148 in response to a signal 
supplied from the camera circuit at an initial stage of a shutter release 
operation. D-input terminal 245 of flip-flop 242 is always supplied with a 
"High" level voltage. When AND gate 198 generates a "High" level voltage 
in response to a proper exposure signal from the camera circuit, flip-flop 
242 is set by the "High" level voltage. The set output of flip-flop 242 is 
applied to D-input terminal 247 of flip-flop 246 and to one of the input 
terminals of AND gate 260. The other input terminal of AND gate 260 is 
connected through inverter 258 to the output terminal of AND gate 156, 
which in turn generates a "Low" level voltage output while synchro switch 
78 is being closed. Accordingly, after flip-flop 242 has been set, 
inverter 258 generates a "High" level voltage and accordingly AND gate 260 
also generates a "High" level voltage while synchro switch 78 is being 
closed. The "High" level voltage from AND gate 260 is supplied through OR 
gate 262 to input terminal 134 of signal generator circuit 132 and input 
terminal 142 of OR gate 138. In the case when a proper exposure signal is 
generated from the camera circuit, AND gate 260 generates a "High" level 
voltage which is applied through OR gate 262 to signal generator circuit 
130 while synchro switch 78 is being closed i.e. while the shutter is 
open. Then after a lapse of 15 milliseconds from the closure of synchro 
switch 78, one-shot circuit 174 generates a "Low" level voltage output 
which is inverted by inverter 250 to a "High" level voltage, which in turn 
is applied to one of the input terminals of AND gate 252. With this 
condition, when the shutter is closed to open synchro switch 78 at that 
state, AND gate 252 receives a "High" level voltage also to the other 
input terminal 253 and generates a "High" level voltage output, which sets 
flip-flop 246. 
The set output of flip-flop 246 triggers the one-shot circuit, 204 which 
generates a "High" level voltage for one second. The "High" level voltage 
is applied through OR gate 262 to signal generator circuit 130 to effect 
the proper flash exposure indication as described above. Thus, the circuit 
of FIG. 6 is constructed to make the proper flash exposure indication when 
the camera circuit produces a proper exposure signal within 15 
milliseconds after the closure of synchro switch 78, even in the case of 
long exposure. 
The circuit of FIG. 7 is a further modification wherein the indication of 
the proper flash exposure is made when a proper exposure has been obtained 
within the period from the closure of synchro switch 78 to the opening of 
the same, regardless of the period given by one-shot circuit 174. The FIG. 
7 circuit is obtained by modifying the FIG. 3 circuit in such a way that 
the connection between input terminal 200 of AND gate 198 and output 
terminal 178 of one-shot circuit 174 in FIG. 3 is disconnected, terminal 
56 to be connected to synchro switch 78 is connected through newly 
provided inverter 264 to input terminal 200 of AND gate 198, and the 
output of AND gate 198 is connected to T-input terminal 243 of flip-flop 
242 which is the same as shown in FIG. 6. With this arrangement, a "High" 
level voltage signal which represents a proper exposure having been 
obtained and which is supplied to terminal 56 from the camera circuit, is 
allowed to pass AND gate 198 while synchro switch 78 is being closed, i.e. 
while the camera shutter is open to effect film exposure. Thus, even in 
the case of a long exposure, the indication of the proper flash exposure 
is made, similarly as in the case of the FIG. 6 circuit, when a proper 
exposure has been obtained within an exposure time. It is to be understood 
that, although the indication of the proper flash exposure is made in the 
camera only in the above described embodiments, a similar indication may 
be made on the strobe. 
Having described our invention as related to the embodiments shown in the 
accompanying drawings, it is our intention that the invention be not 
limited by any of the details of description, unless otherwise specified, 
but rather be construted broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in 
the accompanying claims.