Abstract:
The present invention discloses a finder device capable of adjusting the amount of light emitted from a light-emitting display section arranged in the device according to the light-receiving level of an image pickup device. The amount of light emitted is adjusted, for example, so that the light-receiving level of the image pickup device is not saturated. The light-emitting display section can be configured, for example, to include a LED display element for projecting light onto a mat screen in the finder device and a drive circuit that can adjust the amount of LED light, or to include an LCD display unit provided adjacent to the mat screen and a backlight unit that can adjust the amount of light for the LCD unit.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-168267, filed on Jun. 8, 2006, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to a finder device. More particularly, the present invention relates to the improvement of a finder device in a digital camera capable of displaying on a display screen both an image being viewed and an image being shot.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Cameras are commonly known, which form an optical image of a subject on an image pickup device from light coming from the subject and passing through a photographing optical system, photoelectrically convert the optical image into electric image signals through the image pickup device, and display the resulting image on the screen of an image display device, such as an LCD monitor, based on the electric image signals.  
         [0006]     As an example of such a camera displaying a subject image, a camera is known, which is provided with an image pickup device for monitoring the subject field (image pickup device for live-view display) separately from an image pickup device for capturing the subject image. In this type of camera, a half mirror is arranged in a finder optical system to guide a light beam of the subject to the image pickup device for live-view display. In a live view mode that is one of the operation modes of the camera, the image pickup device for live-view display repeats imaging to display a series of live images on the screen of an image display device (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-165730).  
         [0007]     A technique is also known which uses another image pickup device, different from an image pickup device for capturing a subject image, to monitor a finder screen (for example, see the U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,022).  
         [0008]     It is common practice for conventional single lens reflex cameras (hereinafter simply called “SLR cameras”) to cause a superimpose display for displaying multiple focus points in a viewfinder or to display shooting information in the viewfinder using a display component for finder display.  
         [0009]     However, the camera described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-165730 is not to display shooting information and a subject image at a time on the screen of the display device.  
         [0010]     On the other hand, when a finder screen is monitored through another image pickup device as described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,022, there may be cases where the brightness of the display component for finder display does not fit the brightness of the subject on the finder screen.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     The finder device of the present invention is such that a light-emitting display section (light-emitting display device) arranged in the finder device adjusts the amount of light emitted therefrom depending on the light-receiving level of an image pickup device (imaging device).  
         [0012]     For example, the amount of light is adjusted so that the light-receiving level of the image pickup device is not saturated.  
         [0013]     According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a finder device comprising: a mat screen arranged in a finder optical path on which a subject image is formed; an imaging section for acquiring a finder image including the subject image on the mat screen; an image display section for displaying image data acquired by the imaging section; and a light-emitting display section arranged in the finder, wherein the light-emitting display section can adjust the amount of light emitted therefrom so that the light-receiving level of the imaging section is not saturated during the light-emitting display.  
         [0014]     The light-emitting display section can be configured, for example, to include a LED display element for projecting light onto the mat screen in the finder device and a drive circuit that can adjust the amount of LED light, or to include an LCD unit provided adjacent to the mat screen and a backlight unit that can adjust the amount of light for the LCD unit.  
         [0015]     Further, when the finder device has an imaging section that can adjust its imaging sensitivity automatically according to the brightness of a subject, the light-emitting display section is preferably configured to be able to adjust the amount of light emitted therefrom according to the imaging sensitivity of the imaging section.  
         [0016]     The present invention can also be understood as a camera provided with the finder device configured as mentioned above.  
         [0017]     According to the present invention, a finder device and a camera can be provided which can prevent the display of a subject image and the display of shooting information and the like from being difficult to see. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]     These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the apparatus and methods of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:  
         [0019]      FIG. 1  is an outline perspective view showing the structure of a single-lens reflex digital camera to which a finder device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is applied;  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing the structure of a finder optical system of the camera according to the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing a system configuration of the camera according to the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  is a circuit diagram showing the structure of a drive circuit for driving a set of focus point indicator LEDs  62  and a backlight LED unit  65 ;  
         [0023]      FIG. 5A  shows an example of a display screen  104  in a viewfinder, in which the display screen corresponds to a focusing screen  56 ;  
         [0024]      FIG. 5B  shows a display example of an LCD display panel  64  in the viewfinder;  
         [0025]      FIG. 6  shows a display example in which exposure information is displayed on the LCD monitor  36 ;  
         [0026]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart for explaining a basic shooting operation of the camera according to the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0027]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart for explaining the basic shooting operation of the camera according to the embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0028]      FIG. 9  is a flowchart for explaining the basic shooting operation of the camera according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0029]     A preferred embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0030]      FIG. 1  is an outline perspective view showing the structure of a single-lens reflex digital camera to which a finder device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is applied.  
         [0031]     In  FIG. 1 , the single-lens reflex digital camera (hereinafter simply called the “camera”)  1  consists principally of an interchangeable lens barrel  10  and a camera body  30 . In this structure, a desired lens barrel  10  is removably mounted on the front of the camera body  30 .  
         [0032]     A shutter button  31 , a mode dial  32 , a power switch lever  33 , a control dial  34 , etc. are provided on the top face of the camera body  30 .  
         [0033]     The shutter button  31  is to perform shooting preparation and exposure operations. The shutter button  31  consists of two-step switches, namely a first shutter release switch and a second shutter release switch. When the shutter button  31  is pressed halfway, the first shutter release switch is turned on to perform shooting preparation operations, such as photometering and distance measuring. Then, when the shutter button  31  is pressed fully, the second shutter release switch is turned on to make an exposure.  
         [0034]     The mode dial  32  is an operation part for allowing a user to set a shooting mode upon shooting. The mode dial  32  is rotated in a predetermined direction to set a shooting mode upon shooting. In the embodiment, the mode dial  32  also has a function for switching over the image display in an LCD monitor between a finder mode and a live-view mode as described in detail later. The power switch lever  33  is an operation part for allowing the user to power on or off the camera  1 . When the power switch lever  33  is moved, the main power supply of the camera  1  is turned on or off.  
         [0035]     The control dial  34  is an operation part for allowing the user to set shooting information. The user can set various shooting conditions upon shooting by operating the control dial  34 .  
         [0036]     Further, an LCD monitor  36  as an image display section for displaying a shooting image, a menu, etc., a playback button  37 , a menu button  38 , an arrow pad  40 , an OK button  41 , a viewfinder  43  in an eyepiece optical system, etc. are arranged on the back face of the camera body  30 .  
         [0037]     The playback button  37  is to switch over the camera  1  to a playback mode capable of playing back a JPEG image file recorded in a flash memory  84  or on a recording medium  85  as described in detail later. The menu button  38  is to display a menu screen on the LCD monitor  36 . The menu screen consists of menu items in a multi-layered structure. The user can select a desired menu item using the arrow pad  40  and confirm the selected item by pressing the OK button  41 .  
         [0038]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing the structure of a finder optical system of the camera according to the embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0039]     A finder optical system  50  includes a plurality of mirrors for guiding a light beam coming from a subject and passing through a photographing lens  11  in the lens barrel  10  to an eyepiece lens  57  constituting part of the viewfinder  43 , a focusing screen (matt screen)  56 , and the eyepiece lens  57 . The plurality of mirrors include a first reflection mirror  51 , a second reflection mirror  52 , a third reflection mirror  53 , and a fourth reflection mirror  54 .  
         [0040]     The first reflection mirror  51  is rotatable about an axis  51   a  in both directions indicated by arrow A in  FIG. 2 . Part of the first reflection mirror  51  is formed into a half mirror for an AF sensor unit  71  (see  FIG. 3 ) to be described later. As shown, when a photographer is looking into the viewfinder  43  ( FIG. 1 ) to observe a subject before shooting, the first reflection mirror  51  reflects a light beam incoming from the photographing lens  11  toward the second reflection mirror  52 , at an angle of approximately 90° with respect to the optical axis of the photographing lens  11 , that is, to the right in the camera body  30  as viewed from the lens barrel  10 . Then, upon shooting, the first reflection mirror  51  is withdrawn out of the photographing optical path so that the light beam from the subject will be guided to an image pickup device  67  (see  FIG. 3 ) located behind the first reflection mirror  51 .  
         [0041]     The light beam reflected on the reflection surface of the first reflection mirror  51  is incident on the second reflection mirror  52  through the focusing screen  56 . The second reflection mirror  52  is arranged in the optical axis of the reflected light from the first reflection mirror  51  and with its reflection surface tilted at a predetermined angle with respect to the optical axis of the reflected light from the first reflection mirror  51 . The light beam reflected from the first reflection mirror  51  and incident on the second reflection mirror  52  is reflected upward in the camera body  30  at an angle of approximately 90° with respect to the optical axis of the reflected light from the first reflection mirror  51 .  
         [0042]     The light beam reflected on the reflection surface of the second reflection mirror  52  is incident on the third reflection mirror  53  arranged in the reflective optical axis of the reflection surface of the second reflection mirror  52  and with its reflection surface tilted at a predetermined angle with respect to the reflective optical axis of the reflection surface of the second reflection mirror  52 . The light beam reflected from the second reflection mirror  52  and incident on the third reflection mirror  53  is reflected on the reflection surface of the third reflection mirror  53  at an angle of approximately 90° with respect to the reflective optical axis of the reflection surface of the second reflection mirror  52  in a direction opposite to the reflective direction of the reflection surface of the first reflection mirror  51 . In other words, the light beam reflected from the reflection surface of the second reflection mirror  52  is reflected on the reflection surface of the third reflection mirror  53  to the left in the camera body  30 . To sum up, the light beam reflected on the reflection surface of the first reflection mirror  51  is guided through the second and third reflection mirrors  52  and.  53  as if it is turned back, and directed toward the fourth reflection mirror  54  because the reflective optical axis of the reflection surface of the third reflection mirror  53  is almost parallel to that of first reflection mirror  51 .  
         [0043]     The light beam reflected on the reflection surface of the third reflection mirror  53  is incident on the fourth reflection mirror  54  arranged in the reflective optical axis of the reflection surface of the third reflection mirror  53  and with its reflection surface tilted at a predetermined angle with respect to the reflective optical axis of the reflection surface of the third reflection mirror  53 . Then, the light beam reflected from third reflection mirror  53  and incident on the fourth reflection mirror  54  is reflected on the reflection surface of the fourth reflection mirror  54  at an angle of approximately 90° with respect to the reflective optical axis of the reflected light from the third reflection mirror  53 . In other words, the light beam reflected from the reflection surface of the fourth reflection mirror  54  is incident on the eyepiece lens  57  arranged on the reflective optical axis of the reflection surface of the fourth reflection mirror  54 .  
         [0044]     The focusing screen  56  has a diffusing surface for diffusing the light beam incident on it to form an optical image from the light beam incident in the finder optical system  50 . The focusing screen  56  is arranged in a position optically equivalent to the imaging plane of the image pickup device  67  (see  FIG. 3 ) for capturing an image upon shooting. Further, an LCD display panel  64  inside the viewfinder (F) and a backlight LED unit  65  as a light-emitting display section for illuminating the LCD display panel  64  are provided adjacent to the focusing screen  56 .  
         [0045]     The second reflection mirror  52  and the fourth reflection mirror  54  are half mirrors. A set of focus point indicator LEDs  62  as another light-emitting display section and a photometric sensor  63  are arranged on the backside of the reflection surface of the second reflection mirror  52 . The set of focus point indicator LEDs  62  is to cause a superimpose display to indicate where a focus point is located on the screen in the viewfinder or the LCD monitor  36 . On the other hand, an imaging lens  60  and an image pickup device  61  for producing a series of live images (for live-view display) are provided on the backside of the reflection surface of the fourth reflection mirror  54 . The image pickup device  61  for live-view display is to capture an image on the focusing screen  56  through the imaging lens  60 . Therefore, the image formed on the image pickup device  61  for live-view display is the same as that observed by a photographer&#39;s eye  58  except that the image formed on the image pickup device  61  is reversed left to right.  
         [0046]     The light beam of the subject from the photographing lens  11  is guided to the eyepiece lens  57  through the first to fourth reflection mirrors  51 - 54  so that the image in the viewfinder  43  will be an erect-unreversed image. Thus, the subject image formed on the focusing screen  56  can be observed by the photographer&#39;s eye through the eyepiece lens  57  (viewfinder  43 ).  
         [0047]     In the embodiment, the first reflection mirror  51 , the second reflection mirror  52 , the third reflection mirror  53 , and the fourth reflection mirror  54  are all arranged to reflect the incident light beam at an angle of approximately 90°, but the present invention is not limited to this arrangement.  
         [0048]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing a system configuration of the camera according to the embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0049]     In  FIG. 3 , the lens barrel  10  is removably mounted on the camera body  30  through a mount, not shown, provided on the front face of the camera body  30 . The lens barrel  10  includes the photographing lens  11 , an aperture  12 , a lens drive mechanism  13 , an aperture drive mechanism  14 , and a lens control microcomputer (hereinafter abbreviated as “L μcom”)  15 .  
         [0050]     The photographing lens  11  is driven along its optical axis by a DC motor (not shown) provided in the lens drive mechanism  13 . The aperture  12  is driven by a stepping motor (not shown) provided in the aperture drive mechanism  14 . The L μcom  15  controls each component in the lens barrel  10 , such as the lens drive mechanism  13  and the aperture drive mechanism  14 . The L μcom  15  is electrically connected to a body control microcomputer (hereinafter abbreviated as “B μcom”)  80  to be described later through a communication connector  20  so that it is controlled in accordance with instructions from the B μcom  80 .  
         [0051]     The camera body  30  is configured as follows.  
         [0052]     A light beam from a subject, not shown, passing through the photographing lens  11  and the aperture  12  in the lens barrel  10  is reflected by the first reflection mirror  51  as a movable mirror to reach the eyepiece lens  57  through the second to fourth reflection mirrors (see  FIG. 2 ). On the other hand, part of the light beam from the subject passes through the half mirror portion of the first reflection mirror  51 , is reflected by a sub-mirror  70  movable independently of the first reflection mirror  51 , and is guided to an AF sensor unit  71  for automatic distance measurement. In  FIG. 3 , although the first reflection mirror  51  is shown separately from the second to fourth reflection mirrors, it constitutes part of the finder optical system  50  together with the second to fourth reflection mirrors.  
         [0053]     A focal-plane type shutter  66  and the image pickup device  67  for capturing an image upon shooting (hereinafter simply called “for image capturing”) are provided behind the first reflection mirror  51  along the optical axis. The image pickup device  67  for image capturing is a photoelectric converter in an imaging optical system, such as a CCD, for photoelectrical conversion of light from a subject passing through the optical system to produce a subject image. In other words, when the first reflection mirror  51  is withdrawn out of the optical path, the light beam passing through the photographing lens  11  and the aperture  12  forms an image on the imaging plane of the image pickup device  67  for image capturing.  
         [0054]     The set of AF point indicator LEDs  62 , the LCD panel  64  in the viewfinder, and the backlight LED unit  65  are arranged near the focusing screen  56 . The LCD display panel  64  in the viewfinder is driven by an LCD driver  68 , and controlled together with the back light LED unit  65  in accordance with instructions from the B μcom  80  to be described later.  
         [0055]     Further, as mentioned above, the finder optical system  50  is configured such that elements constituting the AF point indicator LEDs  62 , for example, three-color LEDs  62   a - 62   c , are arranged near the second reflection mirror  52 , and the image pickup device  61  for live-view display is arranged near the fourth reflection mirror  54 . Together with the LCD display panel  64  and the back light LED unit  65 , the LEDS  62   a - 62   c  are connected to the B μcom  80  and controlled in accordance with instructions from the B μcom  80 .  
         [0056]     The image pickup device  61  for live-view display and the image pickup device  67  for image capturing are connected to an image processing controller  82  for image processing through an interface circuit  81 . The LCD monitor  36  is also connected to the image processing controller  82 . An SDRAM  83 , the flash memory  84 , the recording medium  85 , etc. as memory areas are further connected to the image processing controller  82 . The LCD monitor  36  and these memory areas are configured to allow the camera to provide an electronic recording/display function as well as an electronic imaging function.  
         [0057]     The recording medium  85  is an external recording medium such as one of various types of memory cards removably inserted into the camera body  30  through a camera interface, not shown, or an external hard disk drive (HDD).  
         [0058]     The image processing controller  82  is connected to the B μcom  80  for controlling each component of the camera body  30 . A photometer circuit  87  including the photometric sensor  63 , an AF sensor drive circuit  72 , a mirror drive mechanism  73 , a shutter charge mechanism  75 , a shutter control circuit  76 , and a nonvolatile memory (EEPROM)  88  are also connected to the B μcom  80 .  
         [0059]     An LCD control panel  90  for providing a display screen to the photographer to show the operating state of the camera, a camera operating-switch part (SW)  91 , and a battery  93  through a power supply circuit  92  are further connected to the B μcom  80 .  
         [0060]     The B μcom  80  and the L μcom  15  are electrically connected through the communication connector  20  when the lens barrel  10  is mounted on the camera body  30 . The L μcom  15  cooperates dependently with the B μcom  80  to operate in the digital camera.  
         [0061]     The AF sensor drive circuit  72  is to control the drive of the AF sensor unit  71 , and the mirror drive mechanism  73  is to control the drive of the first reflection mirror  51 . The shutter charge mechanism  75  is to charge a spring for driving front and rear curtains (both not shown here) constituting the shutter  66 . The shutter control circuit  76  not only controls the traveling of the front and rear curtains of the shutter  66 , but also exchanges with the B μcom  80  a signal for controlling the opening/closing of the shutter and a signal synchronizing with the firing of an electronic flash. The photometer circuit  87  performs photometric processing based on an electric signal from the photometric sensor  63 .  
         [0062]     The nonvolatile memory  88  is a memory storing control parameters necessary for control of the camera as a storage area other than the SDRAM  83 , the flash memory  84 , and the recording medium  85 . The nonvolatile memory  88  is accessible from the B μcom  80 .  
         [0063]     The LCD control panel  90  is to provide a display screen to the photographer to show the operating state of the camera. The camera operating-switch part  91  is a group of switches including operation buttons necessary to operate the camera such as the shutter release switches, a mode change switch, a power switch, etc. The second shutter release switch in the shutter release switches is not only to instruct shooting but also to switch the position of the first reflection mirror  51  between the inside and outside of the shooting optical path. The mode change switch is to switch over between the shooting mode and an image display mode. The power supply circuit  92  is provided for converting the voltage of the battery  93  as a power source and supplying a voltage necessary for each circuit unit of the camera system.  
         [0064]      FIG. 4  is a circuit diagram showing the structure of a drive circuit of the set of focus point indicator LEDs  62  and the backlight LED unit  65 .  
         [0065]     In this case, the set of focus point indicator LEDs  62  consists of three LEDs  62   a ,  62   b , and  63   c , which are selectively switched by switching transistors Q 1 , Q 2 , and Q 3  in accordance with instructions from the ports P 01 , P 02 , and P 03  of the B μcom  80 , respectively. These LEDs  62   a ,  62   b , and  62   c  are connected to a current control transistor Q 5  through the transistors Q 1 , Q 2 , and Q 3 , respectively. Resistors R 1 , R 3  and an operational amplifier  95  are connected to the transistor Q 5 . The transistor Q 5  is controlled by the B μcom  80  through port DA 1  (D/A converter) of the B μcom  80  so that the amount of current flowing through the focus point indicator LEDs  62  will be decided on to control the brightness of the LEDs  62 .  
         [0066]     On the other hand, the backlight LED unit  65  consists of two LEDs  65   a  and  65   b , and the lighting of the backlight LED unit  65  is controlled by controlling a switching transistor Q 4  in accordance with an instruction from port P 04  of the B μcom  80 . Similarly, the backlight LED unit  65  is connected to a current control transistor Q 6  through the transistor Q 4 . Resistors R 2 , R 4  and an operational amplifier  96  are connected to the transistor Q 6 . The transistor Q 6  is controlled by the B μcom  80  through port DA 2  (D/A converter) of the B μcom  80  so that the amount of current flowing through the backlight LED unit  65  will be decided on to control the brightness of the backlight LED unit  65 .  
         [0067]     The B μcom  80  sends various kinds of information to the LCD driver  68  via serial communication. The LCD driver  68  drives the LCD panel  64  in the viewfinder to display information sent from the B μcom  80 .  
         [0068]      FIGS. 5A and 5B  show a display example in the viewfinder in the finder mode.  FIG. 5A  shows an example of a display screen  104  obtained by capturing the image on the focusing screen  56 .  FIG. 5B  is an enlarged view of a display part  107  of the LCD panel  64  in the viewfinder.  
         [0069]     As shown in  FIG. 5A , the display screen  104  is a combined screen consisting of a display part  105  for displaying an image captured by the image pickup device  61  for live-view display and the display part  107  for displaying shooting information appearing on LCD display panel  64  in the viewfinder. AF frames  106  used for AF appear almost in the central portion of the display part  105 . On the other hand, as shown in  FIG. 5B , marks indicating various kinds of shooting information appear in the display part  107 .  
         [0070]     In  FIG. 5B , reference numeral  110  denotes a mark indicating an aperture value,  111  is a mark indicating a shutter speed,  112  is an AF confirmation mark indicating that the subject is in-focus,  113  is a flash mark,  114  is a white balance mark,  115  is an AE lock mark,  116  is a mark indicating an exposure compensation value,  117  is a mark indicating an metering mode,  118  is a battery check mark indicating the amount of power remaining in the battery, and  119  is a mark indicating an exposure mode.  
         [0071]     In the live view mode, a display screen corresponding to these display parts  105  and  107  appears in the LCD monitor  36 , not in the viewfinder, as an image and shooting information.  
         [0072]      FIG. 6  shows a display example in which only the exposure information is displayed in the LCD monitor  36 .  
         [0073]     In  FIG. 6 , reference numeral  121  denotes a battery check mark,  122  is a mark indicating an exposure mode,  123  is a mark indicating a shutter speed,  124  is a mark indicating an aperture value,  125  is a mark indicating an exposure compensation value,  126  is a noise reduction (noise removal) mark,  127  is an AE lock mark,  128  is a mark indicating a metering mode, and  129  is a part for an exposure compensation indicator and an exposure level indicator. Further,  131  is a part for indicating a flash mode and the like,  132  is a part for indicating an AF frame(s),  133  is a part for indicating a drive mode and the like,  134  is a part for indicating an image quality mode (record mode and pixel count) and the like,  135  is a mark indicating an ISO-equivalent sensitivity,  136  is a white balance mark,  137  is a part for indicating color settings and the like, and  138  is a mark indicating the remaining number of capturable pictures.  
         [0074]     The following describes the basic shooting operation of the camera according to the embodiment of the present invention with reference to flowcharts of FIGS.  7  to  9 .  
         [0075]     When the battery  93  in the camera body  30  is turned on to start the routine, the camera is first initialized in step S 1 . Then, in step S 2 , the operated state of the power switch lever  33  is detected. If the power switch lever  33  is operated to power on the camera, then the state of the mode switch is detected in the following step S 3 . As a result of the mode switch detection, the setting or change of a mode is made in step S 4 . In step S 5 , the photometric sensor  63  and the AF sensor unit  71  perform photometry and distance measurement, and in step S 6 , photometric and distance calculations are made based on the values obtained in step S 5 .  
         [0076]     Then, in step S 7 , it is determined whether a predetermined period of time, eight seconds in the embodiment, has passed since the first shutter release switch was released. If eight seconds has passed, the procedure proceeds to step S 8  to determine whether the display mode is the finder mode or live view mode. If it is the live view mode, the procedure proceeds to step S 9  in which not only the display of the LCD panel  64  in the viewfinder but also the backlight LED unit  65  are turned off. Next, in step S 10 , the image pickup device  61  for live-view display is set up to run automatically. After that, the procedure shifts to step S 27 . On the other hand, if it is determined in step S 8  that the display mode is the finder mode, the procedure shifts to step S 11  in which not only the display of the LCD panel  64  in the viewfinder but also the backlight LED unit  65  are turned off. Then, in step S 12 , setting information is displayed on the LCD monitor (TFT)  36 , and the procedure shifts to step S 27 .  
         [0077]     In step S 7 , if the first shutter release switch is not released or eight seconds has not passed yet, the procedure shifts to step S 13 . In step S 13 , it is determined whether the display mode is the finder mode or live view mode. When it is determined that the display mode is the live view mode, the procedure proceeds to step S 14  to display on the LCD monitor (TFT)  36  a finder image obtained from the image pickup device  61  for live-view display. Then, in step S 15 , the display contents of the LCD panel  64  in the viewfinder are updated. In step S 16 , the image pickup device  61  for live-view display is set up to run automatically. In step S 17 , imaging sensitivity information on the image pickup device  61  for live-view display is read, and in step S 18 , the amount of light emitted from the backlight LED unit  65  that falls in the range not to saturate the image pickup device  61  is calculated using the imaging sensitivity information.  
         [0078]     On the other hand, if it is determined in step S 13  that the display mode is the finder mode, the procedure shifts to step S 24  in which the photometric sensor  63  performs photometry again. Next, in step S 25 , an exposure value is calculated based on the photometric value obtained in step S 24  and resulting exposure information is displayed on the LCD monitor (TFT)  36 . Further, in step S 26 , the amount of light emitted from the backlight LED unit  65  is calculated from the photometric value obtained in step S 24 .  
         [0079]     In step S 19 , the amperage of current flowing through the backlight LED unit  65  is calculated from the photometric value calculated in step S 18  or S 26 . Then, in step S 20 , the output voltage is calculated from the current flowing through the backlight LED unit  65  obtained in step S 19 . In step S 21 , the set voltage is output from the D/A port (DA 2 ) of the B μcom  80 . In step S 22 , the display contents of the LCD panel  64  in the viewfinder are updated. Then, in step S 23 , the backlight LED unit  65  is lit.  
         [0080]     Next, in step S 27 , the state of the first shutter release ( 1 R) switch of the shutter button  31  is detected. If the first shutter release switch is off-state, the procedure returns to step S 2 . On the other hand, if the first shutter release switch is on-state, the procedure proceeds to step S 28  to determine whether the display mode is the finder mode or the live view mode. When the display mode is the live view mode, the procedure proceeds to step S 29  to process and display on the LCD monitor  36  the image obtained from the image pickup device  61  for live-view display. On the other hand, when the display mode is the finder mode, the procedure shifts to step S 30  to turn off the LCD monitor  36 .  
         [0081]     In step S 31 , the photometric sensor  63  and the AF sensor unit  71  perform photometry and distance measurement, and in the following step S 32 , photometric and distance calculations are made based on the values obtained in step S 31 . Then, in step S 33 , it is determined again whether the display mode is the finder mode or the live view mode. As a result, if the display mode is the live view mode, the procedure proceeds to step S 34  to update the display contents of the LCD panel  64  in the viewfinder and turn on the backlight LED unit  65 . Next, in step S 35 , the finder image and the exposure information are combined and displayed on the LCD monitor  36 , and the procedure proceeds to step S 37 . On the other hand, if it is determined in step S 33  that the display mode is the finder mode, the procedure shifts to step S 36  to update the display contents of the LCD panel  64  in the viewfinder and turn on the backlight LED unit  65 . After that, the procedure proceeds to step S 37 .  
         [0082]     In step S 37 , it is determined whether the photographing lens  11  is within the in-focus range. As a result, if it is not within the in-focus range, the procedure proceeds to step S 38  to drive the photographing lens  11  through the lens drive mechanism  13  or the like. After that, the procedure returns to step S 27  to repeat the above-mentioned operations. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S 37  that the photographing lens  11  is within the in-focus range, the procedure shifts to step S 39  to show the AF confirmation mark  112  on the LCD panel  64  in the viewfinder to indicate that the subject is in-focus. Next, in step S 40 , updating of the imaging sensitivity of the image pickup device  61  for live-view display is disabled. Then, in step S 41 , the imaging sensitivity information on the image pickup device  61  for live-view display is read out.  
         [0083]     In step S 42 , the amount of light emitted from the focus point indicator LEDs  62  that falls in the range that does not saturate the image pickup device  61  using the imaging sensitivity information read out in step S 41  is calculated. Then, in step S 43 , the amperage of current flowing through the focus point indicator LEDs  62  is calculated from the amount of light obtained in step S 42 . Further, in step S 44 , the output voltage of the B μcom  80  is calculated from the LED current obtained in step S 43 . In step S 45 , the set voltage is output from the D/A port of the B μcom  80 .  
         [0084]     In step S 46 , one of the focus point indicator LEDs  62   a - 62   c  is lit for a predetermined period of time to light up a corresponding focus point. In the following step S 47 , updating of the imaging sensitivity of the image pickup device  61  for live-view display is enabled. This is to prevent the brightness of the screen from being decreased due to the fact that, when an LED is lit, the light emitted from the LED is fed back to control the brightness of the screen. Since the updating of the imaging sensitivity is enabled, the brightness of the screen can be adjusted to the correct exposure to fit the brightness of the image captured.  
         [0085]     Next, in steps S 48  and S 49 , the states of the first and second shutter release switches are detected. Here, the camera waits until the first shutter release switch and the second shutter release switch are turned on. If the first shutter release switch is turned off, the procedure returns to step S 2 . On the other hand, if the first shutter release switch and the second shutter release switch are both turned on, the procedure proceeds to step S 50  to turn off the LCD panel  64  in the viewfinder. Along with the turning off the LCD panel  64 , the backlight LED unit  65  is also turned off.  
         [0086]     In step S 51 , the first reflection mirror  51  is withdrawn out of the photographing optical path, and the aperture  12  is narrowed in the shooting preparation operation. In the following step S 52 , the image pickup device  67  for image capturing performs imaging. After completion of the imaging operation, the procedure proceeds to step S 53 , in which the first reflection mirror  51  is returned to the photographing optical path, the aperture  12  is opened to the maximum, and the image captured by the image pickup device  67  for image capturing is transferred to the image processing controller  82  through the interface circuit  81 . In step S 54 , the image captured is processed through the image processing controller  82 , and the processed image is displayed on the LCD monitor  36 . Next, in step S 55 , image data of the processed image is recorded on the recording medium  85 . After that, in step S 56 , it is determined whether the shooting mode is a continuous shooting mode or a single-frame shooting mode. As a result, if the shooting mode is the single-frame shooting mode, the procedure returns to step S 2 , while if it is the continuous shooting mode, the procedure returns to step S 27 . In both cases, the sequence of operations that follow step S 2  or S 27  are repeated.  
         [0087]     As described above, the amounts of LED light (in the embodiment, the amounts of light emitted from the backlight LED unit  65  and the focus point indicator LEDs  62 ) can be adjusted. This can prevent the shooting information and the like from being difficult to see, providing a finder device and a camera having an easy-to-use, high-grade live-view display function.  
         [0088]     While there has been shown and described what is considered to be a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will, of course, be understood that various modifications and changes in form or detail could readily be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is therefore intended that the invention not be limited to the exact form described and illustrated, but constructed to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.