JP2001147466A - Photographing camera recording image information by condensing light, silver halide photographing system using the camera and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new photographing camera by which excellent sensitivity is obtained at a photographing time and where graininess is improved, and a silver halide photographic system using it and an image forming device thereof. SOLUTION: This silver halide photographic system has a means to discretely condense light between a shutter mechanism and a silver halide photographic sensitive material on the inside of a camera, and object information is discretely condensed and recorded on a silver halide photographic sensitive material surface at the photographing time, and image information is read by the means to convert into an electric signal after developing a silver halide photographic sensitive material, and a non-condensed area caused by the means to discretely condense the image information is interpolated by image processing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photographic camera for recording image information by condensing light, a silver halide photographic system using the camera, and an image forming apparatus therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a method currently used as conventional color photography, a silver halide color light-sensitive material for photographing, a so-called color negative film (hereinafter simply referred to as a film or a light-sensitive material) usually records blue light. A yellow dye image, a layer forming green light to form a magenta dye image, and a layer forming red light to form a cyan dye image. Therefore, the function of the silver halide color photosensitive material for photography is to convert the brightness information for each color component of the subject into yellow, magenta, and cyan image density information,
This is defined as being transmitted as image information to each of the blue, green and red photosensitive layers of the color paper in the color printing process. The basic performance factors of the silver halide color light-sensitive material for photography are expressed by sensitivity and image quality. The image quality elements are further classified into granularity, sharpness, and color reproducibility.

In order to improve the performance of the silver halide color light-sensitive material for photographing, usually, in addition to improving the sensitivity, granularity and sharpness of each light-sensitive layer, spectral performance is also improved to obtain a desired color reproducibility. Designs have been made to adjust the sensitivity distribution or to incorporate a compound that releases a development inhibitor during color development, a so-called DIR compound, to emphasize the effect of suppressing the development between layers, the so-called interimage effect. Therefore, the form of silver halide color photosensitive material for photography is
To achieve the above objectives, more and more complex designs are being used. That is, not only is it necessary to carry out a coating step of laminating at least three types of photosensitive layers on a support, but also, for example, yellow colloidal silver, a dye, a dye-forming coupler, and a color for enhancing the color sensitivity of these three types of photosensitive layers. A variety of materials are required, such as colored couplers for masking to enhance the fidelity of color when exposing to paper or the like, and fine black colloidal silver and dyes for preventing halation.

[0004] In recent years, with the spread of personal computers and the increasing density of recording media, information recorded on color-developed photosensitive materials has been converted into electronic image information, which is an electrical signal, using an A / D converter such as a film scanner. Conversion methods are becoming popular. As a result, the opportunity to output to materials such as silver halide color paper and inkjet paper after processing such as image processing is increasing.

In such a method of once converting the image information of a photosensitive material into digital image data, the blue image information, green image information and red image information of the subject do not necessarily correspond to the yellow, magenta and cyan dye image information, respectively. This eliminates the need for color film design restrictions to be applied. As a result, the image quality of the obtained image information greatly depends on the resolution of an image sensor (imaging element) used for A / D conversion, or when producing a hard copy such as color paper or ink-jet paper, It will depend on the resolution. For example, after color development of a silver halide color light-sensitive material for photography, the size of the color paper used for printing is 89 mm long × 127 m wide called L size.
m is widely used, but from digital image data, L
The output resolution to the plate size is most commonly 300 dpi. In the present invention, dpi represents the number of dots per inch, that is, 2.54 cm.

As a form of a silver halide color light-sensitive material for photographing, a photographing area of 24 mm (vertical) × 36 mm (horizontal) which is called a 35 mm size (also referred to as 135) is used.
m ² ) is often used for optically recording one shot of image information. At this time, the enlargement magnification from the film image to the size of the color print L plate is about 3.5 times, and in order to output at a resolution of 300 dpi, the reading resolution of the film image needs to be 1050 dpi.
This means that sufficient information can be obtained if information is given at intervals of about 25 μm. This means
The use of a new system different from the current silver halide photographic system using conventional photosensitive materials suggests that there is still room for further functional improvement.

[0007] On the other hand, a camera designed to use a 35 mm size film with a small photographic recording area per frame and an optical exposure based on the recorded information to color paper. There is a photo system using a printer. For example, a panorama size in which the photographing recording area per frame is set to 13 mm in length × 36 mm in width (468 mm ^{2 in} photographing area) is well known. When shooting with a camera that has a function to switch between standard size and panorama size, or a camera manufactured exclusively for panorama shooting, and printing on silver halide color paper after color development processing, it is longer than the normal print size ratio. The prints are produced as panoramic sizes with the same horizontal length of 254 mm. There is also a continuous photographing photographing system in which a 35 mm size film is divided into eight and recorded at a screen size of 9 mm × 12 mm per frame, and is used for a golf swing check and the like.
Further, the photographing recording area is set to 17 mm long × 24 mm wide (photographing area: 408 mm ² ), and the total number of photographing and recording is 35 m
A half-size standardized as one that can be double the m-size or a stereoscopic photograph (or 3D)
It is known as a photographic system using a 5 mm size film and having a small recording area for one frame.

Further, as a form other than the conventionally known 35 mm size film, a film size of 17 mm long × 30 mm wide (a photographing area of 510 mm ² ) compatible with the Advanced Photo System (APS), 13 mm × 110 mm long of 110 film 17mm wide (shooting area 221mm ² )
Film size, Minox 8mm x 11mm
(Area 88 mm ² ), disc film, etc., each of which has a recording area for photographing information that is reduced both vertically and horizontally from the 35 mm size. As a result, the camera and the film with the lens to be used are reduced in size, weight, and photographed. It contributes to the expansion of applications.

As described above, it is possible to increase the amount of received light per unit area by reducing the recording area of photographing information for a 35 mm size film. For example, in the process of collecting the sun's light into small points with a magnifying glass,
This is the same principle as increasing the brightness gradually, or increasing the brightness by reducing the projection area of the projector. That is, if the photographing area is reduced, the amount of accumulation of the image information increases, and as a result, there is an advantage that the sensitivity of the film necessary for obtaining the appropriate exposure amount can be set low. For example, in a film with a lens having a focal length of 30 mm and an F = 11 enclosing a 35 mm size negative film, the focal length of the Minox size is 9.4 m.
m, so that F = 3.5, resulting in ISO
This means that an appropriate exposure amount at a sensitivity of 400 can be obtained with a photosensitive material equivalent to an ISO sensitivity of 50.

[0010] As for the mode of photographing the photosensitive material, there are cases where the photographer sets the film by himself on a single-lens reflex camera or the like, and a case where the photographer directly touches the film like the film with the lens. There is a case to shoot without. The former is a photographic system in which a photographer himself / herself can select an image quality recorded on a film by himself / herself selecting a photographing lens and a type of film.
However, depending on shooting conditions, image quality may be degraded due to a decrease in granularity. Degradation of the granularity observed in photographic prints often appears particularly under low-exposure shooting conditions where the exposure amount is insufficient, that is, under-exposure shooting.
This is due to the high sensitivity emulsion layer in each photosensitive layer that is mainly exposed in the low exposure photographing area, and the size of the silver halide grains used therein. Therefore, in general photosensitive materials, when photographing in a low-exposure range, or in a high-sensitivity photosensitive material using silver halide particles having a similarly large particle size, the image quality tends to deteriorate due to graininess. In addition, low-exposure negative film is more likely to cause gradation softening than under proper shooting conditions.As a result, contrast enhancement processing is performed to correct soft original gradation for image information read via a scanner. Need to be applied. This is one of the factors that deteriorate the granularity. On the other hand, in the case of using a film with a lens, even if a strobe is provided to obtain an appropriate exposure, an inexpensive lens configuration and a high-sensitivity film are used in many cases. Much of the image quality obtained compared to cases is reduced.

As described above, it is practically impossible to suppress a decrease in image quality of photographing record information, especially in a color print of L plate size or more obtained from a film with a lens. In some cases, such as the case of enlarging or partially enlarging and printing at a high magnification, the sharpness and the granularity are further reduced, which further reduces the print image quality.

The above-mentioned problems are caused by optically reading the image information of the above-mentioned color film with a film scanner or the like, temporarily converting the image into an electric signal, and then performing image processing to create digital image data. The same applies to a method of transferring image information to another image recording material. However, the difference between analog projection exposure by a printer and reading by a film scanner is that image quality may be improved by devising a film scanner reading method or performing special digital processing on an image after reading.

In recent years, there has been proposed a light-sensitive material in which an image forming silver halide emulsion layer is provided on a support having a color filter array. U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,869 discloses an example in which a monochrome emulsion is used as an image recording emulsion layer, and a yellow, green and cyan stripe color filter array pattern is coated thereon. As the color filter array, for example, a stripe pattern having a repeating pattern of red, green, and blue as one unit, or US Pat.
971,065, and the like. The Bayer pattern is a pattern in which red and blue, called chrominance colors, are arranged in half and half between green checkered patterns, called luminance colors, and green appears every other in the filter element. , And improved image quality. In a single-panel color digital camera or a color liquid crystal display (LCD), a Bayer array filter is mainly used.

In a single-chip color digital camera using a color filter, a non-image information area in each of red, green, and blue image information obtained by photographing is interpolated by image recording information of an adjacent pixel, and discretely. A uniform planar image is obtained from various information. Also, based on the knowledge that it is not necessary to obtain sufficient resolution for the luminance information with respect to the luminance information, based on the knowledge that a color filter array and interpolation processing of the non-image information area in the color separation image are achieved, a color image forming system is achieved. ing.

A color liquid crystal display (LCD) is
This system forms a color image by controlling the light transmitted through the color filter array by switching the liquid crystal display provided on the back surface. At this time, in order to enhance the color reproducibility of the displayed color image, particularly the saturation, a so-called backlight system using a surface-emitting fluorescent lamp on the back of the liquid crystal is generally used. However, the adoption of this backlight method is effective in increasing the brightness of the screen, but the increase in power consumed by this is smaller than that of other display devices such as a CRT monitor. This is a factor that impairs the inherent characteristics of LCR. Therefore, as a means for increasing the irradiation rate of the light source to the color filter array, a liquid crystal display device using a microlens is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-165623. Further, even in a single-chip color digital camera, when light transmitted through the color filter array is received by the light receiving portion of the image sensor, an imaging device using a microlens for the purpose of increasing the light receiving amount ratio to the total light amount, It is disclosed in JP-A-61-67003.

As described above, microlenses are used in some fields. However, in a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, a unit area is recorded while recording minimum information necessary for digital image output. A method using a microlens or the like for discretely condensing image information for the purpose of increasing the amount of received light per unit, and a discrete lens recorded on a silver halide photosensitive material by a microlens or the like after A / D conversion. Of a method of obtaining a color image with high sensitivity by interpolating important information by image processing, a camera having the microlens, and a reading device having a function of interpolating a non-light-collecting area (non-image area) are still known. Not been.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel photographing camera capable of obtaining high photographing sensitivity at the time of photographing and having improved graininess, a silver halide photographic system using the same, and a silver halide photographing system using the same. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus.

[0018]

The above object has been attained by the following means.

1. There is a means for discretely focusing light between a shutter mechanism in the camera and the silver halide photosensitive material, and the subject information is discretely focused and recorded on the surface of the silver halide photosensitive material during shooting, After the silver halide light-sensitive material is developed, the image information is read by a means for converting the silver halide light-sensitive material into an electric signal, and the non-light-collecting region generated by the means for discretely condensing the image information is interpolated by the image processing. Characterized silver halide photographic system.

2. 2. The silver halide photographic system according to claim 1, wherein the means for discretely condensing light is a microlens array in which microlenses are arranged.

3. At the time of photographing, a means for discretely focusing light and a photosensitive surface of the silver halide photosensitive material are brought into close contact with each other, and the image information is recorded on the silver halide photosensitive material, and the information is recorded by the means for discretely focusing light. A photographing camera having means for providing information identifying the fact to a silver halide photosensitive material.

4. Means for discriminating that the image information is a silver halide photosensitive material recorded by means for discretely condensing image information, means for converting image information recorded on the silver halide photosensitive material into an electric signal, and An image forming apparatus comprising: means for interpolating, by image processing, a non-light-collecting region generated by means for discretely condensing obtained image information.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail. As a camera that can incorporate the means for discretely condensing light according to the present invention, a single-lens reflex camera, a compact camera,
Any form of film with a lens may be used.
Using a 10-camera, a Minox camera, a lens-equipped film with an 8-frame continuous shooting function or a three-dimensional photographing function, or a lens-equipped film with a unique format as a dedicated camera for obtaining digital image data, It may have a continuous shooting function or a three-dimensional shooting function. FIG. 1 shows a conceptual diagram of a camera incorporating a means for discretely condensing light according to the present invention.

The form of the light-sensitive material according to the present invention is not particularly limited, and a normal roll film is preferable. Further, a disk type like a disk film is preferable in that the camera can be made thin. In addition, it is more preferable that the design is such that the processed film can be processed simply by setting it in the developing device without taking out the photographed film from the camera during the color developing process, because the processing time can be shortened.

The term “discrete light collection” as used in the present invention means a state in which, when a plurality of light collection areas are formed on a plane, the light collection areas do not overlap each other. Also, the term “discretely condensed and recorded” refers to a state in which an area where discretely condensed and recorded on a photosensitive material surface is surrounded by an unrecorded area. It is preferable that the ratio of the region is 10% to 90% of the entire region.

The means for discretely condensing light in the present invention include a microlens and a lenticular lens. In the present invention, one feature of the present invention is to use a microlens as shown in FIG. It is.
The arrangement of the microlenses used in the present invention is preferably in a lattice shape. However, the arrangement of the microlenses is not uniform or the microlenses having different diameters (diameters in plan view) are arranged. It may be.

In general, the light-collecting rate (sensitivity) of a microlens is determined by the ratio of the area occupied by the microlens itself in the plane on which the microlens is arranged and the irradiation area condensed by the microlens. It is determined. In the present invention, the microlens 1 on the photosensitive material surface
It is preferable that the light condensing area per unit is 50% or less of the area of one lens, that is, the light receiving amount per unit area is twice or more. On the other hand, as long as the level of precision such as flatness can be maintained at a high level, it is also a preferable embodiment to control the light collection rate by a mechanism for adjusting the distance between the microlens array and the photosensitive material. However, if the focal length of light condensed by the microlens is designed to be long, the influence of blurring of the image on the surface of the photographic photosensitive material is likely to increase, so that the focal length is naturally limited.

Further, the interpolation or the interpolation processing in the present invention refers to the above-mentioned discretely focused area, that is, the lack of the non-photographed area which is not recorded by using the information of the photographed area where image information is recorded. This refers to the process of filling the department.

The photographic camera according to the third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that it has a means for discretely condensing light with a microlens and the like and a means for bringing the photosensitive material into close contact with the silver halide emulsion surface. is there. Although there is no particular limitation on the means for bringing into close contact, for example, it is preferable to simultaneously provide a crimping mechanism using a spring or the like and a film guide as shown in FIG. 3, or a micro lens array site as shown in FIG. Provide a gap through which photosensitive material passes,
A configuration in which one frame used for imaging is always completely contained in the microlens array portion may be used.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, in a single-lens reflex camera or the like, when a discrete light condensing recording method using a microlens according to the present invention is appropriately selected and used, a microlens array portion is required. May be automatically set as required, or may be manually attached by the photographer each time. Further, when high photographing sensitivity is required, a light control mechanism that can selectively set the microlens array may be provided. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a mechanism for automatically switching a neutral density (ND) filter for light control, etc., in front of the taking lens or inside the camera, separately from the micro lens, is provided. It is also preferable to replace them depending on whether or not they are used.

At the time of reading image information or requesting printing, an information providing means for identifying that the photographed photosensitive material is a frame photographed by using the microlens array may be incorporated. Is effective in the image processing of. Specifically, when the information is optically recorded, a method of providing a light shielding portion in the microlens for recording a minute missing portion that can be corrected by the subsequent image processing in the shooting screen, or A method of recording information by printing a latent image on the outside of the screen, for example, in a perforation section, or a method of recording information using a photosensitive material having a magnetic recording layer when using magnetic recording, or a micro lens An array, a press plate, or the like may be provided with a protrusion, and a physical recording method using the protrusion may be used.

As a specific means for automatically recognizing that the processed image is a photographed image by the microlens array, for example, a signal optically recorded at a specific position in the photographed screen as described above is confirmed. As means for performing this, there is a method of providing software with a function of performing recognition by pattern matching or the like and a function of determining the non-light-collecting area before interpolation processing. As a means for reading a signal similarly recorded outside the shooting screen, a method using a film holder having the recognition function, a method for adding a discriminating means together with a function for adjusting the size of the read screen, or a method for directly reading magnetic recording information Etc. Among the above-mentioned means, it is particularly preferable to record a signal in a photographing screen since a signal can be easily determined using a commercially available film scanner and interpolation software can be easily incorporated.

As a commercially available scanner for 35 mm film that can be used in the present invention, for example, Qscan manufactured by Konica Corporation can be mentioned. As an image sensor (imaging element) used in a commercially available film scanner device as described above, a CCD having a CCD arranged in one line is used.
Although a device comprising a two-dimensional line sensor and a scanning mechanism is generally used, in the present invention, it is preferable to use a device comprising a two-dimensional monochrome CCD area sensor. In the present invention, in order to more efficiently separate red, green, and blue visible color image information, a rotating plate provided with each of red, green, and blue filters is provided between the imaging element and the photosensitive material. It is preferable that reading is performed by rotating the rotating plate. Of course, the method of reading the visible color separation image is not limited to this. For example, a light emitting diode (LED) may be used as a light source, and the light source may be switched and used. 8 and 9 are schematic diagrams of an example of a device for reading a color separation image.

In the step of converting the image recording information of the photosensitive material after the color development processing into electronic image information using a scanner or the like, for example, the red, green and blue colors generated by discretely condensing means such as a microlens are used. It is necessary to interpolate the non-light-collecting area (non-image area) occupying in each color separation image after reading. This interpolation process can be easily performed by using application software of a PC having an image processing function. For example, as interpolation processing in Konica Photoshop, filter processing such as maximum brightness or Gaussian blur is performed,
If the filter arrangement direction is constant for one screen frame, this can be executed by using a blurring (moving) function of performing averaging processing only in a direction parallel to the arrangement direction. Of course, the interpolation process is not limited to this,
By using image processing software such as Photoshop,
It can be easily performed, and a series of operations can be automated. Furthermore, an image processing program may be separately created, incorporated as a plug-in into software such as the above-mentioned photo shop, or incorporated in scanner application software to automate a series of operations.

Although the non-light-collecting area or the non-image area is removed by the interpolation processing, the resolution is low because the image information amount is still the original. Therefore, by optimizing the ratio of the light-collecting area (image area) to the entire screen, that is, by appropriately adjusting the distance at which the microlenses are arranged, it is possible to obtain an image having a sufficient resolution without affecting the output resolution. Can be done. As described in the previous section, image information is provided at intervals of about 25 μm in order to obtain a resolution equivalent to that obtained when an L-color print is printed from a 35 mm photographic photosensitive material (magnification: about 3.5 times). Therefore, the microlens according to the present invention also has at least about 25
It is preferable to arrange them every μm.

The output resolution of a CRT or hard copy depends on the magnification at the time of output. In the present invention,
Microlenses were installed at intervals of about 25 μm in order to obtain sufficient resolution with a magnification of about 3.5 times, which is equivalent to the output from a 35 mm film to the L size, but it is necessary to support higher magnification. When the arrangement intervals of the microlenses are increased, it is more preferable to incorporate an image processing process for further improving the image quality.

The present applicant has proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-007747 a method of performing a combination of a sharpening process and a smoothing process. Also in the present invention, using the means for separating the obtained color image information into luminance information and color information, perform a sharpening process on the extracted luminance information,
Next, it is preferable to combine image processing methods for performing a smoothing process. In addition, by using the above-described interpolation processing, it is possible to smooth image information and reduce noise due to a certain degree of granularity.

A method of manufacturing a microlens array in which microlenses are arranged is described in JP-A-5-040216.
No., No. 10-062606, No. 10-123305
No. 10-177104, No. 11-160502, etc., the microlens array according to the present invention has no particular restrictions on the manufacturing method and material selection, but the precision of the microlens is Since it affects the light collection rate and the resulting shooting sensitivity and sensitivity level within one screen, select a microlens with a precision within 5% of the error from the design stage. Is preferred.

Each image data obtained as described above can be confirmed through various image display devices. Examples of the image display device include an arbitrary device such as a color or monochrome CRT, a liquid crystal display, a plasma light emitting display, and an EL display.

An object of the present invention is to output an image signal read in this way and output the image signal on another recording material to form an image. As a material for outputting an image, various hard copies can be used in addition to a silver halide photosensitive material. Specific examples of the output method include an inkjet method, a sublimation thermal transfer method, a sublimation thermal transfer method, and an electrophotographic method. There are various systems such as a system, a cycolor system, a thermoautochrome system, a method of exposing to a silver halide color paper, and a silver halide heat development system. As specific examples of the system using the above method, products such as a CRT printer DP-8180 manufactured by Konica Corporation, a digital minilab QD-21, and a frontier 350 system manufactured by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. are known. In any of the output systems, the effects of the present invention can be sufficiently exerted, but among them, the output material is particularly preferably a silver halide photosensitive material.

[0041]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to examples, but embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.

Example 1 A Konica Corporation color negative film CENTURIA400 was loaded into a Nikon SLR camera F4 equipped with a photographic lens having a focal length of 35 mm and F = 2, and Eastman Kodak was used under the following three exposure conditions. A gray scale chart (18 steps) manufactured by Konica, a sharpness chart manufactured by Konica and a color chart manufactured by Macbeth were shot. Next, the photographed samples were subjected to the color development processing described below to produce the development-treated comparative samples 101 to 103.

Sample No. Shutter aperture 101 1/125 sec F = 8 102 1/250 sec F = 8 103 1/500 sec F = 8 (Color development processing) Processing step Processing time Processing temperature Replenishment amount * Color development 3 minutes 15 seconds 38 ± 0. 3 ° C 780ml Bleaching 45 seconds 38 ± 2.0 ° C 150ml Fixing 1 minute 30 seconds 38 ± 2.0 ° C 830ml Stability 60 seconds 38 ± 5.0 ° C 830ml Drying 60 seconds 55 ± 5.0 ° C-* The replenishment amount is a value per 1 m ² of the photosensitive material.

The following color developing solutions, bleaching solutions, fixing solutions, stabilizing solutions and replenishers were used. [Color developer] Water 800 ml Potassium carbonate 30 g Sodium bicarbonate 2.5 g Potassium sulfite 3.0 g Sodium bromide 1.3 g Potassium iodide 1.2 mg Hydroxylamine sulfate 2.5 g Sodium chloride 0.6 g 4-amino-3 -Methyl-N-ethyl-N- (β-hydroxylethyl) aniline sulfate 4.5 g Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid 3.0 g Potassium hydroxide 1.2 g Add water to make 1 liter, and add potassium hydroxide or 20
The pH is adjusted to 10.06 with% sulfuric acid. [Color developing replenisher] Water 800 ml Potassium carbonate 35 g Sodium bicarbonate 3.0 g Potassium sulfite 5.0 g Sodium bromide 0.4 g Hydroxylamine sulfate 3.1 g 4-Amino-methyl-N-ethyl-N- (β- Hydroxylethyl) aniline sulfate 6.3 g Potassium hydroxide 2.0 g Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid 3.0 g Add water to make 1 liter, and add potassium hydroxide or 20
The pH is adjusted to 10.18 with% sulfuric acid. [Bleaching solution] Water 700 ml 1,3-diaminopropanetetraacetic acid ammonium (III) ammonium 125 g ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid 2.0 g sodium nitrate 40 g ammonium bromide 150 g glacial acetic acid 40 g Water was added to make 1 liter, and ammonia water or glacial acetic acid was added. And adjust to pH 4.4. [Bleaching replenisher] water 700 ml 1,3-diaminopropanetetraacetate ammonium (III) ammonium 175 g ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid 2.0 g sodium nitrate 50 g ammonium bromide 200 g glacial acetic acid 56 g adjusted to pH 4.4 using aqueous ammonia or glacial acetic acid Then add water to make 1 liter. [Fixing solution] Water 800 ml Ammonium thiocyanate 120 g Ammonium thiosulfate 150 g Sodium sulfite 15 g Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid 2.0 g After adjusting the pH to 6.2 using aqueous ammonia or glacial acetic acid, add water to make 1 liter. [Fixing replenisher] Water 800 ml Ammonium thiocyanate 150 g Ammonium thiosulfate 180 g Sodium sulfite 20 g Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid 2.0 g After adjusting the pH to 6.5 using aqueous ammonia or glacial acetic acid, add water to make 1 liter. [Stabilizing Solution and Stabilizing Replenishing Solution] Water 900 ml Paraoctylphenyl polyoxyethylene ether (n = 10) 2.0 g Dimethylol urea 0.5 g Hexamethylenetetramine 0.2 g 1,2-Benzoisothiazolin-3-one 0.1 g Siloxane (UCC L-77) 0.1 g ammonia water 0.5 ml After adding water to make 1 liter, add ammonia water or 5
Adjust to pH 8.5 with 0% sulfuric acid.

Each of the developed samples obtained above was
Three kinds of LED light sources (manufacturer: maximum peak wavelength, Stanley R: 635 nm, Nichia G: 535 n)
m, Nichia Corporation B: 470 nm) and 2048 × 20
A monochrome CCD (KX4 manufactured by Eastman Kodak Co.) is arranged between 48 pixels, and the LED light source is sequentially switched to convert the RGB separated color image information of each sample into a monochrome CCD.
Read by.

Then, the obtained three color separation images of each sample are subjected to gradation inversion processing, and then the inverted color separation information of R, G, and B are converted into one image data using a Photoshop made by Adobe. Was synthesized.

Next, the developed negative of the sample 101 was printed on a color paper type QAA7 manufactured by Konica using an analog printer NPS858 manufactured by Konica.
A current L-version analog reference print is prepared, and the color correction process for approximating the reference print is performed while observing the gradation of the above-combined grayscale image on a CRT screen based on the color reproducibility. RGB digital composite images corresponding to to 103 were prepared.

Further, each of the RGB digital composite image data was converted to an L-size (89 mm.times.) At a resolution of 300 dpi using a digital minilab system QD-21 manufactured by Konica Corporation.
(127 mm) Konica Color Paper Type QAA7 to produce L-size print sample samples 101 to 103.

Next, the Nikon single-lens reflex camera F4
A microlens array was mounted between the camera body frame around the shutter screen and the film guide of the body frame. In addition, the micro lens array has
A minute light-shielding portion is provided in order to record a signal that can be used to recognize that the image has been shot in the shooting screen. Furthermore, in order to increase the degree of adhesion between the microlens array and the photosensitive material,
A component in which a sponge was attached to a plastic plate having a thickness of 0.5 mm was attached to a crimp plate provided on a camera back cover. A Konica color negative film CENTURIA400 was loaded into a camera having the above specifications, and a gray scale chart (18 steps in total), a Konica sharpness chart and a Macbeth chart were produced under the following three exposure conditions. The color chart was photographed and then subjected to the above-described color development processing to produce developed samples 104 to 106 according to the present invention.

Sample No. Shutter aperture 104 1/125 sec F = 8 105 1/250 sec F = 8 106 1/500 sec F = 8 Until a uniform screen is obtained as the image processing, that is, the distinction between the photographing area and the non-imaging area of the image read by the scanner is made. The same processing as that performed for the samples 101 to 103 was performed except that the interpolation processing by
Digital composite images corresponding to Nos. 04 to 106 and L-size print sample samples 104 to 106 were obtained. (Image Evaluation and Result) Using the obtained grayscale composite image, the number of gradation reproduction steps was observed and evaluated on a CRT screen. In the evaluation, the limit number of gray scale steps at which a density change was observed in the obtained gray scale was obtained. In addition, it means that sensitivity is so high that a limit step numerical value is small.

Next, the sample 10 photographed under appropriate exposure conditions
Based on the analog print samples prepared from No. 1, print sample samples 101 to 106 were subjected to a sensory evaluation for sharpness using a sharpness chart scene, color reproducibility using a Macbeth color chart scene, and graininess from both scenes. went. The sensory evaluation was 1
Three panelists evaluated the panel according to the following criteria by 0 panelists.

：: almost no difference in image quality compared to the analog reference print Δ: slight deterioration in image quality compared to the analog reference sample ×: clear deterioration in image quality compared to the analog reference sample Can be

Table 1 shows the results obtained as described above.

[0054]

[Table 1]

As is clear from Table 1, the sample using the microlens array according to the present invention has a higher photographing sensitivity and the sharpness evaluation is higher than the comparative sample not using the microlens array. It was confirmed that sufficient characteristics were obtained despite the interpolation processing. Furthermore, regarding the graininess, the graininess of the comparative sample was significantly deteriorated at the stage of gradation restoration work by image processing, whereas the sample of the present invention using the microlens array, even after performing the interpolation process, It was also observed from the histogram data that a sufficient gradation distribution was obtained, and as a result, granular deterioration due to image processing could be suppressed. From the above results, it was confirmed that the microlens was effective in increasing the sensitivity and improving the graininess of the silver halide photosensitive material at the time of photographing.

[0056]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a novel photographing camera which has high sensitivity at the time of photographing and has improved graininess, a silver halide photographic system using the same, and an image forming apparatus therefor. Was.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 schematically shows an example in which a microlens array is mounted in a camera.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of light focusing from a microlens array to a film surface during photographing.

FIG. 3 shows an outline of a close contact mechanism using a microlens array and a film pressure bonding plate.

FIG. 4 schematically shows a microlens array provided with a mechanism for inserting a film.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a mechanism for switching a micro lens array in a camera.

FIG. 6 shows an outline of a switch for switching a microlens array in a camera.

FIG. 7 schematically shows a dimming mechanism using a filter.

FIG. 8 schematically shows an apparatus for reading a color-separated image by using a three-wavelength fluorescent lamp or a halogen lamp as a light source and switching filters.

FIG. 9 schematically shows an apparatus for reading a color separation image using a light emitting diode (LED) as a light source.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Camera main body 2 Microlens array 3 Microlens 4 Photosensitive material (film) 5 Incident light from a camera lens 6 Crimping plate mounted on camera 7 Crimping spring 8 ND filter switching knob 9 ND filter 10 Film shooting target frame 11 Micro lens array switching knob 12 Light emitting diode light source 13 Diffusion plate 14 Condenser lens 15 Film 16 Diffusion optical system lens 17 CCD image receiving unit 18 Preamplifier unit 19 Drive motor 20 Sensor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A means for discretely focusing light between a shutter mechanism in a camera and a silver halide photosensitive material,
At the time of photographing, subject information is discretely condensed and recorded on the surface of the silver halide light-sensitive material, and after the silver halide light-sensitive material is processed, image information is read by means for converting it into an electric signal, and the image is read. A silver halide photographic system characterized by interpolating, by image processing, a non-light-collecting region generated by means for collecting light discretely. 2. The silver halide photographic system according to claim 1, wherein the means for discretely condensing light is a microlens array in which microlenses are arranged. 3. A means for discretely converging light at the time of photographing and a photosensitive surface of a silver halide light-sensitive material, and a means for recording image information on the silver halide light-sensitive material; A camera for photographing, comprising: means for providing to a silver halide light-sensitive material information for identifying the information recorded by the means. 4. A means for identifying a silver halide photosensitive material recorded by means for discretely condensing image information, and converting the image information recorded on the silver halide photosensitive material into an electric signal. An image forming apparatus comprising: means for converting; and means for interpolating, by image processing, a non-light-collecting region generated by means for discretely condensing obtained image information.