JP2002271654A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic camera that can recognize the attitude of the camera in a photographing state so as to easily take horizontal positioning, without the addition of a particular display device in the configuration of the camera. SOLUTION: The digital cameral provided with a liquid crystal display monitor 30 is equipped with an attitude detector. A horizontal reference lien 82, denoting a horizontal line of the camera itself and a horizontal photographing auxiliary line 80 whose tilting angle varies, with respect to the horizontal reference line 82 with angle data obtained from the attitude detector are displayed on a screen of the liquid crystal display monitor 30. The two straight lines are colored to enable easy discrimination and a degree of tilt can easily be grasped by checking the difference between the both lines. Furthermore, a mode is preferable wherein the axis of the tilt is extended in an elevating angle direction (camera movement angle direction).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera for converting an optical image into electronic image data and recording the image, and more particularly to a photographing assisting technique capable of holding the camera horizontally during photographing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art JP-A-10-307323 discloses that
A single-lens reflex camera equipped with a level is disclosed. This camera has a level display section in the viewfinder, and corrects the tilt of the camera while looking at the level display so that accurate leveling can be performed. Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-2
The electronic camera disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 47512 includes azimuth measuring means that moves integrally with the optical system.
It is configured to output information of the elevation angle or the rotation angle.

[0003]

However, in order to realize the camera proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-307323, it is necessary to newly install a device for displaying a posture in the viewfinder of the camera. In addition, when adjusting the level using a tripod or the like, it is inconvenient to look into the viewfinder.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-247512 proposes an electronic camera capable of displaying and recording a photographing direction (elevation angle and the like), but this merely records information.
The information is not corrected using the information at the time of shooting.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and in view of the structure of the camera, it is possible to know the camera attitude at the time of shooting without adding a special display device, and to easily perform leveling. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic camera capable of performing such operations.

[0006]

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic camera, comprising: an imaging unit for converting an optical image into an electric signal; Display means capable of displaying an image, posture detection means for detecting the posture of the camera, and displaying on the display means a horizontal reference line indicating the horizontal direction of the camera itself, and in accordance with the detection result of the posture detection means Display control means for displaying tilt information indicating the degree of tilt of the actual shooting screen with respect to the horizontal reference line.

According to the present invention, the attitude of the camera at the time of photographing is detected by the attitude detection means built in or external to the camera, and the tilt information which varies depending on the attitude (tilt) and the horizontal position of the camera itself are displayed on the image display means. Display the reference line at the same time. The photographer can easily correct the tilt of the camera with reference to these displays.

According to the aspect of the present invention, a straight line whose inclination angle with respect to the horizontal reference line is changed in accordance with the detection result of the attitude detection means is displayed as the inclination information, and the horizontal direction of the camera itself and the actual direction are displayed. When the horizontal direction of the photographing screen matches, the variable straight line is superimposed on the horizontal reference line and displayed as one straight line. In this case, it is preferable that the straight line and the horizontal reference line that are variable depending on the posture are displayed in different colors. The photographer can easily recognize the inclination of the camera by looking at the difference between these two straight lines. Further, by also displaying the vertical reference line of the camera itself, horizontal shooting when shooting in a vertical position becomes easy.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the attitude detecting means includes a tilt angle (hereinafter, referred to as an elevation angle) of the photographing optical system.
It is called tilt angle. ), Wherein the display control means causes the image display means to display information indicating a tilt state in accordance with the tilt angle detected by the attitude detection means.

[0010] It is preferable that the tilt axis is extended to the elevation direction, the tilt angle of the photographing optical axis is detected, and information indicating the state of the elevation is displayed on the image display means. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, as the information indicating the tilting state, a line drawing depicting a state of elevation of a lattice pattern in which a horizontal straight line and a vertical straight line intersect is displayed. . In this case, the imaging optical axis of the imaging optical system is parallel to the horizontal plane (that is, the tilt angle =
(0 °), the vertical straight line of the lattice pattern disappears, and the grid pattern is preferably displayed as a straight line superimposed on the horizontal reference line.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic camera, comprising: an image pickup means for converting an optical image into an electric signal; an image display means capable of displaying an image picked up via the image pickup means; A tilt angle detecting means for detecting a tilt angle (hereinafter referred to as tilt angle) in an elevation direction, and a display for displaying information indicating a tilt state on the image display means according to the tilt angle detected by the attitude detecting means. And control means.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of an electronic camera according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a digital camera according to the present embodiment. A photographing lens 1 is provided on the front of the camera 10.
2, a finder window 14 and a strobe light emitting unit 16 are provided, and a shutter button 18 and a power switch 20 are provided on the upper surface of the camera. A card slot 26 for mounting a memory card 24 is provided on the side of the camera opposite to the grip portion 22.

The power switch 20 is also used as a mode changeover switch.
"Shooting ON position" that powers on in still image shooting mode,
And the "reproduction ON position" at which the power is turned on in the reproduction mode.
The position can be switched. A power switch (hereinafter, referred to as a power / mode switch) 20 as in this example 20.
Alternatively, a power switch for only power ON / OFF and a mode switching means such as a mode dial for switching between a still image shooting mode and a reproduction mode may be separately provided.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the camera 10. On the back of the camera 10, a finder 28, a liquid crystal monitor 30, a zoom switch 32, a cross button 34, a menu button 35, an execution button 36, and a cancel button 37 are provided. The liquid crystal monitor 30 is an image display means that can be used as an electronic finder for confirming the angle of view during photographing, and can display a preview image of a photographed image, a reproduced image read from the memory card 24, and the like. The menu selection using the cross button 34 and the setting of various items in each menu are also performed by the liquid crystal monitor 3.
This is performed using the display screen of “0”.

The zoom switch 32 is composed of a lever switch that can be operated up and down. The switch is operated upward to perform zoom movement in a telephoto (TELE) direction, and is operated downward to be wide-angle (WIDE). ) Zoom in the direction. The cross button 34 is a multi-function button configured to be capable of instructing input of up, down, left, and right directions. The cross button 34 is used as an operation button for instructing selection of various setting items on the menu screen and change of setting contents. It is used as a means for instructing a zoom magnification adjustment or a playback frame return / return.

The menu button 35 is used to make a transition from the normal screen of each mode to the menu screen. The execution button 36 is used for confirming the selected contents, executing (confirming) processing, or the like. The cancel button 37 is used to cancel (cancel) an item selected from the menu or to return to the previous operation state. The photographer operates the zoom switch 32 to determine the angle of view while checking the real-time image (through image) displayed on the viewfinder 28 or the liquid crystal monitor 30, and presses the shutter button 18 to perform photographing.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the camera 10. As shown in FIG. The light passing through the photographing lens 12 is adjusted on the amount of light by the shutter / aperture mechanism 38 and then forms an image on the imaging device 40. The imaging device 40 includes a CCD
Various devices such as an image sensor and a CMOS image sensor can be applied. The mechanical shutter prevents light from entering the imaging device 40 and causing smear when reading a signal from the imaging device 40.
It is not always necessary depending on the configuration of the imaging device 40. As the aperture mechanism, an aperture mechanism having a single aperture or an aperture mechanism capable of switching a plurality of apertures can be applied.

Photosensors are arranged in a plane on the light receiving surface of the image pickup device 40. The subject image formed on the light receiving surface is converted by each photosensor into a signal charge of an amount corresponding to the amount of incident light. Is done. The drive circuit 42 includes an imaging device driver, and operates the imaging device 40 based on a timing signal provided from the clock generator 44. The drive circuit 42 is a block including a drive circuit for the photographing lens 12, the shutter / aperture mechanism 38, and the strobe light emitting unit 16, and is controlled by the CPU 50.

The signal charge stored in each photosensor of the image pickup device 40 is sequentially read out as a voltage signal (image signal) corresponding to the signal charge based on the pulse given from the drive circuit 42, and the analog signal processing unit 52 Sent to The analog signal processing unit 52 includes signal processing circuits such as a sampling and holding circuit, a color separation circuit, and a gain adjustment circuit. In the analog signal processing unit 52, correlated double sampling (CDS) processing and R, G, and B color signals are performed. Then, the signal level of each color signal is adjusted (pre-white balance processing).

The signal output from the analog signal processing unit 52 is converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter 53, and then temporarily stored in a memory 56 via a main bus 54. The image data stored in the memory 56 is sent to the digital signal processing unit 58. Digital signal processing unit 58
Denotes image signal processing means including a luminance / color difference signal generation circuit, a gamma correction circuit, a sharpness correction circuit, a contrast correction circuit, a white balance correction circuit, and the like.
The image signal is processed in accordance with the command from F.50.

The image data input to the digital signal processor 58 includes a luminance signal (Y signal) and color difference signals (Cr, Cb).
After being converted to a signal and subjected to predetermined processing such as gamma correction, it is written back to the memory 56. When a captured image is displayed and output, image data is read from the memory 56 and converted into a video signal according to a predetermined display format via the digital signal processing unit 58. The video signal thus obtained is output to the liquid crystal monitor (LCD) 30 via the monitor driver 60.

The image data in the memory 56 is periodically rewritten by an image signal taken from the image pickup device 40, and a video signal generated from the image data is supplied to the liquid crystal monitor 30. The captured video is displayed in real time.

The operation unit 62 is a block including the shutter button 18, the power / mode switch 20, the cross button 34, and other various operation switches. When the shutter button 18 is pressed, a shooting start instruction (release ON)
When a signal is issued, the CPU 50 detects a release ON signal and executes an imaging operation for recording. That is, CPU
The control unit 50 controls the drive circuit 42 in response to the reception of the release ON signal, starts capturing image data for recording, and sends a command to the compression / expansion circuit 64. Thus, the compression / expansion circuit 64 compresses the image data in the memory 56 in accordance with JPEG or another predetermined format.

The compressed image data is recorded on the memory card 24 via the card interface 66.
In the camera 10 of the present embodiment, for example, smart media (Solid-State Floppy Dis
k Card) applies. The form of the recording medium is not limited to this, and may be a PC card, a compact flash (registered trademark), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a memory stick, or the like, and may be electronic, magnetic, optical, or a combination thereof. Various readable and writable media can be used according to the method described in the above. Signal processing means and interfaces corresponding to the medium used are applied. A configuration may be adopted in which a plurality of media can be mounted irrespective of different types or the same type of recording media. The means for storing an image is not limited to a removable medium, but may be a recording medium (internal memory) built in the camera 10. In the case of storing the image in the internal memory, a communication interface for transferring data to an external device such as a personal computer is provided.

In the reproduction mode, image data is read from the memory card 24, and the read image data is
After being expanded by the compression / expansion circuit 64, the memory 5
The data is reproduced and output to the liquid crystal monitor 30 through the LCD 6.

The CPU 50 is a control unit of the camera 10. The CPU 50 is connected to the timer 68, the clock generator 44 and other peripheral circuits, and via the control bus 70, the memory 56, the digital signal processing unit 58, the monitor driver 60,
It is connected to each block such as the compression / expansion circuit 64, the operation unit 62, the drive circuit 42, and the posture detection device 74. CPU 50
Controls the operation of the corresponding circuit based on an input signal received from the operation unit 62, and controls display on the liquid crystal monitor 30, strobe light emission control, auto focus (AF) control, automatic exposure (AE) control, and recording processing. The control of the photographing operation such as the control of is performed.

The CPU 50 performs various calculations such as a focus evaluation calculation and an AE calculation from the captured image data in response to the "half-press" operation of the shutter button 18, and controls the drive circuit 42 based on the calculation results. Shooting lens 12
Is moved to the in-focus position, the shutter / aperture mechanism 38 is controlled, and the charge accumulation time of the imaging device 40 is controlled.

The posture detecting device 74 is a means for detecting the posture of the camera 10, and for example, a level, a gravity sensor, a gyro sensor, or the like can be used. The detection signal obtained by the attitude detection device 74 is sent to the CPU 50. CP
U50 calculates a tilt angle of the camera 10 based on the detection signal received from the attitude detection device 74, and from the calculation result, a straight line for horizontal shooting assistance to be displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 30 (hereinafter, referred to as a horizontal shooting auxiliary line). ) Is obtained, and data for displaying the straight line is generated.

The data of the horizontal shooting auxiliary line generated according to the tilt angle data is sent to the liquid crystal monitor 30 via the monitor driver 60, and the horizontal shooting auxiliary line is displayed on the monitor screen.

FIG. 4A shows an example of display on the liquid crystal monitor 30 when the camera 10 is tilted for photographing. In FIG. 1, the screen of the liquid crystal monitor 30 is shown upright, but this is an example of a screen when the upper part of the camera 10 is tilted to the left as viewed from the photographer side.

A straight line indicated by reference numeral 80 in FIG. 4A is a horizontal photographing auxiliary line displayed according to the inclination angle detected by the posture detecting device 74, and is displayed, for example, as a yellow line. The straight line indicated by reference numeral 82 is a horizontal line of the camera itself (hereinafter, referred to as a horizontal reference line), and is displayed as a fixed line at the center of the monitor screen. The horizontal reference line 82 is, for example,
Displayed as a blue line. The display colors of the lines are not limited to the above example, and it is preferable that each line is color-coded so that each line can be easily distinguished. Further, the configuration may be such that the user can freely select the display color of the line.

When the inclination angle of the camera 10 is changed, a horizontal shooting auxiliary line 80 with respect to a horizontal reference line 82 is changed according to the posture.
Is changed. When the camera 10 is held horizontally, as shown in FIG.
Are displayed as one straight line in agreement with the horizontal reference line 82. Thereby, the photographer can recognize the camera posture at the time of photographing, and can easily perform leveling.
In FIG. 4, a horizontal shooting auxiliary line 80 and a horizontal reference line 82 are shown.
Is displayed at the same time as the captured video (through image), but with the horizontal image
And a horizontal reference line 82 can also be displayed.

Although not shown, it is preferable to display not only the horizontal reference line 82 but also the vertical line (vertical reference line) of the camera itself on the liquid crystal monitor 30. Displaying the vertical reference line facilitates horizontal display when shooting in a vertical position. Further, a mode is also possible in which a vertical shooting assistance line whose inclination changes in accordance with the camera posture detected by the posture detection device 74 is displayed. A mode in which means for switching display / non-display of at least one of a vertical reference line, a horizontal reference line, a vertical shooting auxiliary line, and a horizontal shooting auxiliary line is added, and an image displayed from these reference lines and auxiliary lines A mode in which a means for arbitrarily selecting is added is also possible.

As a modification of the above-described embodiment, it is preferable that the axis for detecting the inclination of the camera 10 is extended not only in the horizontal direction but also in the elevation angle direction. That is, the posture detection device 7
4, the tilt angle of the photographing optical axis (optical axis of the photographing lens 12) is detected, and based on the data of the detected tilt angle, a display is displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal monitor 30 so that the degree of the depression can be intuitively grasped. . 5 to 8 show examples of the display.

FIG. 5 is a display example in which the photographing optical axis of the camera 10 is slightly downward, and FIG. 6 is a display example in which the photographing optical axis is further downward from the state of FIG. As shown in these drawings, on the screen of the liquid crystal monitor 30, a line drawing depicting the state of elevation of the lattice pattern 84 in which the horizontal straight line and the vertical straight line intersect is displayed, and the tilt angle of the camera 10 is displayed. , The display content of the lattice pattern 84 (a trapezoidal line drawing indicating a state of looking down or looking up) is changed.
When the photographing optical axis is directed upward, the trapezoidal lattice pattern 84 is turned upside down.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a screen when the upper portion of the camera 10 is further tilted leftward when viewed from the photographer side from the state shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, when the camera 10 is tilted with respect to the horizontal line, the tilt angle of the grid pattern 84 with respect to the horizontal reference line 82 is changed and displayed according to the tilt angle.

When the photographing optical axis of the camera 10 is directed straight ahead and the camera 10 is held horizontally, as shown in FIG. Will be displayed as When the camera 10 is tilted in the horizontal direction in a state where the photographing optical axis is directed straight ahead (tilt angle = 0 °), the display content is the same as that in FIG.

As described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8, camera posture information (tilt information) is displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal monitor 30 in a display form using a three-dimensional figure. Can intuitively grasp the tilt angle of the photographing optical axis and the tilt angle of the camera 10,
It is possible to easily correct the camera posture at the time of shooting.

In implementing the present invention, the method of displaying the tilt information of the camera is not limited to the example of the horizontal photographing auxiliary line 80 and the lattice pattern 84 described above. For example, it is also possible to display an image for indicating the posture (tilt) information of the camera at an appropriate place such as the upper right of the screen of the liquid crystal monitor 30, and change the display of the image according to the camera posture. There is also a mode in which a numerical value of the tilt angle, a level block (indicator), and the like are displayed instead of or in addition to the icon image, but it is preferable that the mode is such that the photographer can recognize at a glance.

In the above-described embodiment, a digital camera for recording a still image has been described as an example. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a digital camera or a video camera capable of recording a still image and a moving image can be used. The present invention can be widely applied to an electronic camera that obtains an electronic image signal by converting an optical image into an electric signal.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, the attitude of the camera is detected by the attitude detecting means provided in the camera, and the horizontal reference line of the camera itself and the attitude of the camera are displayed on the screen of the image display means. And the variable tilt information are displayed at the same time, so that the photographer can easily correct the tilt of the camera by referring to these displays.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front external view of a digital camera according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the back side of the digital camera according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the digital camera according to the present embodiment.

4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating a display example of a liquid crystal monitor, in which FIG. 4A illustrates a screen example when the camera is tilted to the left, and FIG. 4B illustrates a screen example when the camera is held horizontally.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of displaying tilt information of an imaging optical axis in an elevation angle direction.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which the photographing optical axis is further directed downward from the state of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of a screen when the camera is tilted to the left from the state of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of a screen in a state where a shooting optical axis is directed straight ahead and a camera is held horizontally.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 camera (electronic camera), 12 photographing lens, 18
... Shutter button, 24 ... Memory card, 30 ... Liquid crystal monitor (image display means), 40 ... Imaging device (Imaging means), 50 ... CPU (Display control means), 74 ... Position detecting device (Posture detecting means, tilt angle detection) Means), 80: horizontal shooting auxiliary line, 82: horizontal reference line, 84: grid pattern

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G03B 17/20 G03B 17/20 5C022 17/56 17/56 Z 19/02 19/02 // H04N 101: 00 H04N 101: 00 F term (reference) 2H018 AA32 BE02 2H020 MA06 MA07 MC87 MD17 2H054 AA01 BB11 CB19 CD03 2H102 AB23 BA05 BA06 BA27 BB08 CA11 2H105 EE16 5C022 AB00 AC03 AC13 AC18 AC42 AC69

Claims (6)

[Claims] An imaging unit configured to convert an optical image into an electric signal; an image display unit capable of displaying an image captured through the imaging unit; an attitude detection unit configured to detect an attitude of a camera; Means for displaying a horizontal reference line indicating the horizontal direction of the camera itself, and simultaneously displaying tilt information indicating the degree of tilt of the actual shooting screen with respect to the horizontal reference line according to the detection result of the attitude detecting means. Means, and an electronic camera. 2. As the tilt information, a straight line whose tilt angle with respect to the horizontal reference line is changed according to the detection result of the attitude detecting means is displayed, and the horizontal direction of the camera itself and the horizontal direction of the actual shooting screen match. 2. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein in the case, the variable straight line is displayed as a single straight line superimposed on the horizontal reference line. 3. 3. The attitude detecting means includes means for detecting an inclination angle (hereinafter referred to as a tilt angle) of an imaging optical system in an elevation direction, and the display control means includes a tilt detected by the attitude detecting means. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein information indicating a tilt state is displayed on the image display means according to an angle. 4. A line drawing depicting a state of elevation of a lattice-like pattern in which a horizontal straight line and a vertical straight line intersect is displayed as the information indicating the tilt state. Electronic camera as described. 5. When the photographing optical axis of the photographing optical system is parallel to a horizontal plane, a vertical straight line of the lattice pattern disappears and is displayed as a straight line superimposed on the horizontal reference line. The electronic camera according to claim 4, wherein: 6. An image pickup means for converting an optical image into an electric signal, an image display means capable of displaying an image picked up via the image pickup means, an inclination angle of an image pickup optical system in an elevation direction (hereinafter, a tilt angle). ), And display control means for displaying information indicating the tilt state on the image display means according to the tilt angle detected by the attitude detecting means. Electronic camera.