JP3832291B2 - Camera device and light emission control method in camera device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002]
The present invention relates to a camera device that performs photographing by irradiating a subject with light from an LED (Light Emitting Diode), and a light emission control method in the camera device.
[0003]
[Prior art]
[0004]
Conventionally, in a camera device such as a silver salt camera or an electronic still camera, a flash device typified by a strobe is provided in order to enable proper shooting when shooting in a dark place or shooting in backlight. . Many of these flash devices use a discharge tube. In addition, various filters are selectively mounted on the front surface of the lens to shoot. By using various filters selectively, special effects (filter effects) corresponding to the filter used are photographed, such as making the photographed image look different from the actual image or adding color to the image. It can be given to images.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
[0006]
However, the flash device using the discharge tube needs to charge the capacitor with electric power for the flash. Therefore, there is a restriction that light cannot be emitted while the capacitor is charged with electric power, and a photo opportunity may be lost.
[0007]
Further, in order to obtain a desired special effect by attaching the filter to the front surface of the lens, it is necessary to always carry a plurality of filters that will be used, which is complicated. Furthermore, since it is necessary to replace the filter that is currently attached to the front surface of the lens with another filter, this is cumbersome in this respect as well, and there is a case where the shutter chance is lost due to the time required for replacement. It was.
[0008]
The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a camera device that can add a special effect (filter effect) to a captured image without any restrictions or complexity. .
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
[0010]
  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the invention of claim 1,A light emitting means that is arranged on the camera body and irradiates the subject with red, green, and blue colored light, and variably sets at least one light emission amount of the plurality of light emitting diodes according to an operation input. Setting means; display means for displaying the captured image as a through image; and control means for controlling the light emission amounts of the plurality of light emitting diodes at the time of photographing according to the light emission amounts set by the setting means, The setting means displays the meter display corresponding to the light emission amount for each of red, green, blue, and each color of the plurality of light emitting diodes on the display means, and causes the plurality of light emitting diodes to emit light.It is a feature.
[0011]
That is, the present invention uses light emitting means comprising a plurality of light emitting diodes as a flashing device at the time of photographing. Therefore, unlike the case where a strobe is used as the flash device, there is no restriction that light cannot be emitted while the capacitor is charged with electric power, and there is no loss of a photo opportunity.
[0012]
  In addition, by variably setting at least one light emission amount of a plurality of light emitting diodes that irradiate the subject with red, green, and blue colored light, and controlling the light emission amounts of the plurality of light emitting diodes at the time of shooting, The color of light emitted from the light emitting means including the light emitting diode changes. Therefore, the subject can be photographed by irradiating the subject with the desired color, and the photographer does not need to carry a plurality of filters or replace the filter attached to the front surface of the lens with another filter. Can give a desired special effect to the photographed image.Furthermore, the color of the light emitted from the light emitting means to the subject can be arbitrarily changed, and the desired color can be obtained while visually confirming the emission color generated by the light emission from the plurality of light emitting diodes in the through image. The emission color can be set.
[0019]
  Also,Claim 2According to the invention, there is provided a light emission control method for controlling a light emitting means including a plurality of light emitting diodes arranged on a camera body and irradiating a subject with red, green, and blue colored light. By executing the process,Claim 1The same effects as those of the described invention can be obtained.
[0020]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0021]
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 are views showing the external appearance of the electronic still camera 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1 is a front view, FIG. 2 is a plan view, and FIG. 3 is a rear view.
[0022]
As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic still camera 1 includes a lens 3, a light control sensor 4, and an LED (Light Emitting Diode) group 5 on the front side of the camera body 2. The LED group 5 is composed of red LEDs 51R to 55R whose emission color is red, green LEDs 51G to 55G whose emission color is green, and blue LEDs 51B to 55B whose emission color is blue. It is arranged. The red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B can be turned on and off individually by the control of the MPU 19 to be described later, and the light emission amount can be individually changed. Therefore, the LED group 5 can be turned on and off by turning on, turning off, and emitting light of the red LEDs 51R to 55R, green LEDs 51G to 55G, and blue LEDs 51B to 55B (hereinafter, the turning on, turning off, and the amount of emitted light are simply referred to as light emission). Light emission of different colors is possible even with the same color.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 2, a photographing dial 6, a power / function switch 7, a shutter key 8, a control panel 9, and a plurality of function keys 10 are provided on the upper surface of the camera body 2. The shooting dial 6 is a dial for setting shooting modes such as “person shooting mode” and “macro shooting mode”. As shown in FIG. 3, a menu key 11, a cursor key 12, a set key 13, a liquid crystal monitor / switch 14, an optical viewfinder 15, and a TFT liquid crystal monitor 16 are provided on the back surface.
[0024]
FIG. 4 is a block configuration diagram showing an outline of the electrical configuration of the electronic still camera 1. The electronic still camera 1 is mainly configured by an MPU 19 having an image processing function such as converting an image captured by a CCD 17 serving as an imaging unit into a JPEG format. An optical image of the subject is formed on the light receiving surface of the CCD 17 through the lens 3, the focus lens 20, and the diaphragm 21. The focus lens 20 is held by a drive mechanism 22 composed of an AF motor or the like, and moves forward and backward on the optical axis when a drive signal output from the AF driver 23 is supplied to the drive mechanism 22 by a control signal from the MPU 19. Perform focusing operation. The diaphragm 21 is driven by a drive signal generated by the diaphragm drive unit 24 based on a control signal from the MPU 19, and adjusts the light quantity of the subject image incident on the CCD 17.
[0025]
The MPU 19 is connected with a TG (Timing Generator) 25 that generates a timing signal, and a V driver 26 (vertical driver) drives the CCD 17 based on the timing signal generated by the TG 25. An analog imaging signal corresponding to the luminance of the image is output and sent to the unit circuit 18. The unit circuit 18 includes a CDS that holds an imaging signal output from the CCD 17, a gain adjustment amplifier (AGC) that is an analog amplifier that is supplied with the imaging signal from the CDS, and an imaging signal that has been amplified and adjusted by the gain adjustment amplifier. It comprises an A / D converter (AD) that converts it into image data, and the output signal of the CCD 17 is sampled with the black level matched here and sent to the MPU 19 as a digital signal. The sent digital signal (imaging signal) is temporarily stored in the DRAM 27, and after various image processing is performed by the MPU 19, it is finally stored in the flash memory (FLASH) 28 as a compressed video signal. . The stored video signal is read by the MPU 19 as necessary, and is generated into a digital video signal or an analog video signal through processing such as expansion processing, addition of a luminance signal and a color signal.
[0026]
Further, the MPU 19 is connected with an MROM 29, a power supply circuit 30, an operation key unit 31 including various keys and switches shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the TFT liquid crystal monitor 16, and the LED group 5. The MROM 29 is a program ROM in which an operation program of the MPU 19 shown in a flowchart described later is recorded. Further, the MROM 29 stores program AE data constituting a program diagram indicating a combination of an aperture value (F) corresponding to an appropriate exposure value (EV) at the time of shooting and a shutter speed.
[0027]
In addition, as shown in FIG. 5E, which will be described later, the MROM 29 generates samples of colors such as “white”, “red”, “green”, “yellow”, “orange”, and the like, and light of that color. The light emission amounts of the red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B are stored correspondingly. Further, in the MROM 29, when the “person photographing mode” is set by the operation of the photographing dial 6, the light emission amounts of the red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B that can photograph a person with good appearance, When the “macro shooting mode” is set, the light emission amounts of the red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B that can shoot a close-up subject with a good appearance are stored.
[0028]
The MPU 19 functions as a setting unit and a control unit of the present invention by operating in accordance with the operation program using the built-in RAM as a working memory. Further, according to the program diagram, the charge accumulation time of the CCD 17, the opening degree of the diaphragm 21, the gain setting of the gain adjustment amplifier (AGC) of the unit circuit 18 and the like are performed. The charge accumulation time set by the MPU 19 is supplied as a shutter pulse to the V driver 26 via the TG 25, and the charge accumulation time, that is, the exposure time is controlled by the V driver 26 driving the CCD 17 according to this. That is, the CCD 17 functions as an electronic shutter. The operation program stored in the MROM 29 includes a program related to autofocus control. Based on the program, the MPU 19 drives the focus lens 20 to perform focusing (autofocus).
[0029]
The TFT liquid crystal monitor 16 displays sequentially captured images as a through image in the recording mode, and displays an image based on an analog video signal generated from the image data recorded in the flash memory 28 in the reproduction mode. The LED group 5 is driven as necessary when the shutter key 8 is operated (during photographing) and emits auxiliary light.
[0030]
The program data and the like stored in the MROM 29 described above can be stored on another recording medium such as an IC card that is separately provided or detachably mountable as long as the recorded contents can be retained. The program data may be recorded, and the program data may be supplied from another device such as a personal computer.
[0031]
Next, the operation of the electronic still camera 1 having the above configuration will be described. When the user operates the menu key 11, a menu such as “normal light emission”, “light emission setting”,... Shown in FIG. Here, “normal light emission” is a setting in a case where all LEDs constituting the LED group 5 are caused to emit light and used as a normal flash at the time of photographing, and “light emission setting” is an LED constituting the LED group 5 as described later. This is a setting for giving a special effect similar to that in the case of using a filter to the captured image by controlling the amount of emitted light.
[0032]
In the screen state of FIG. 5A, when the user operates the cursor key 12 to move the cursor over “light emission setting” and operates the set key 13, “light emission setting” is selected. . Then, a menu screen of the next light emission mode including “manual”, “photographing scene”, “photographed image”, and “preliminary photographing” shown in FIG. 5B is displayed on the TFT liquid crystal monitor 16.
[0033]
From this state, the MPU 19 executes processing according to the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 according to the program stored in the MROM 29. That is, it is determined whether any of “Manual”, “Shooting Scene”, “Shooting Image”, and “Preliminary Shooting” shown in FIG. 5B has been selected (set) by the user (step S1). Then, when “manual” is selected by operating the cursor key 12 and the set key 13 as described above, manual mode processing is executed (step S2), and when “shooting scene” is selected, shooting is performed. A scene handling mode process is executed (step S3). When “captured image” is selected, a captured image corresponding mode process is executed (step S4), and when “preliminary capture” is selected, a preliminary capture mode process is performed (step S5).
[0034]
(1) Manual mode processing
When “manual” is selected as shown in FIG. 5B and the manual mode process in step S2 is selected, the manual mode process is executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the next menu screen composed of “light emission ON” and “light emission OFF” shown in FIG. 5C is displayed on the TFT liquid crystal monitor 16, and in this display state, the user operates the cursor key 12 and the set key 13. Thus, “light emission ON” or “light emission OFF” is selected (step S21).
[0035]
When “light emission” is selected, a meter is displayed for each of RED (red), GREEN (green), and BLUE (blue) on the TFT liquid crystal monitor 16 as shown in FIG. The red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B constituting the LED group 5 are caused to emit light with the light emission amount displayed on the meter, and the light emission amounts of the RGB LEDs are determined (step S22).
[0036]
That is, as shown in FIG. 5D, when the cursor key 12 is operated in a state where meters for each of RED (red), GREEN (green), and BLUE (blue) are displayed on the TFT liquid crystal monitor 16, Along with this, the lighting number of each meter changes, and the light emission amounts of the red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B change in synchronization therewith. Therefore, the user operates the cursor key 12 to change the light emission amounts of the red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B, and observe the color of the light actually hitting the subject while referring to the meter. Of course, only one of RGB may be emitted, or three colors can be arbitrarily combined. When the set key 13 is operated when light of a desired color hits the subject, the RGB light emission amounts are determined by the processing in step S22.
[0037]
Here, the TFT liquid crystal monitor 16 may display only the meters for each of RED (red), GREEN (green), and BLUE (blue) as shown in FIG. You may make it display on a through image so that it may overlap. As an example of overlapping display, it may be displayed over the entire surface of the through image, or may be overlapped as a small sub screen on the right end of the through image. The user can confirm the subject that is exposed to light even in the through image, and it becomes easier to set each LED.
[0038]
Thereafter, when the shutter key 8 is operated, a photographing process is executed (step S24), and the red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B according to the RGB light emission amounts determined in the above-described step S22. , And the captured image is stored in the flash memory 28.
[0039]
If the result of the selection in step S21 indicates that “light emission” is not selected, the RGB light emission amounts are determined from the color sample menu (step S23). That is, when “light emission” is not set, the TFT liquid crystal monitor 16 has “white”, “red”, “green”, “yellow”, “orange”,... As shown in FIG. Etc. are displayed. In this display state, the cursor key 12 is operated to move the cursor onto a desired sample, and the set key 13 is operated to determine the color from the sample menu. Therefore, in this case, since there is no lighting of the LED group 5 and power consumption associated therewith, it is preferable not to select “light emission” if a desired emission color is determined in advance.
[0040]
The relationship between the displayed color sample and the light emission amounts of the red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B for generating the light of the color is stored in the MROM 29 as described above. . Therefore, after the process of step S23 is completed, when the shutter key 8 is operated and the photographing process is executed (step S24), the red LEDs 51R to 55R and the green LEDs 51G to the light emission amounts corresponding to the determined color samples. The captured image is stored in the flash memory 28 while the 55G and blue LEDs 51B to 55B are emitting light.
[0041]
Therefore, according to the above-described manual mode processing, the user can arbitrarily set the light emission amount of the LED and project a desired color onto the subject for shooting. Therefore, the photographer can easily obtain the special effects desired by the photographer without the need to carry a plurality of filters or to replace the filter attached to the front surface of the lens with another filter as in the past. Can be granted.
[0042]
(2) Shooting scene handling mode processing
[0043]
When the shooting scene handling mode process (step S3) is selected, the shooting scene handling mode process is executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, it is determined whether or not the “portrait shooting mode” is set by the user operating the shooting dial 6 (step S31). When the “portrait shooting mode” is set, the red LEDs 51R to 55R, which are stored in the MROM 29 as described above, and can capture a person with a good appearance when the “portrait shooting mode” is set, and green The light emission amounts of the LEDs 51G to 55G and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B are read and set (step S32). Then, when the shutter key 8 is operated and the photographing process is executed (step S35), the red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B emit light with the set light emission amounts. The processed image is stored in the flash memory 28.
[0044]
If the “portrait shooting mode” is not set, it is determined whether the “macro shooting mode” is set (step S33). When the “macro shooting mode” is set, red LEDs 51R to 55R that are stored in the MROM 29 in the same manner as described above, and that allow close-up shooting of the close-up subject to be photographed when the “macro shooting mode” is set. The light emission amounts of the green LEDs 51G to 55G and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B are read and set (step S34). Here, in the “macro shooting mode”, the light emission amounts of RGB are set in consideration of the fact that the camera body 2 tends to be close to the subject due to the close-up and becomes a shadow. Then, when the shutter key 8 is operated and the photographing process is executed (step S35), the red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B emit light with the set light emission amounts. The processed image is stored in the flash memory 28.
[0045]
Therefore, according to this shooting scene corresponding mode, in the “portrait shooting mode” and the “macro shooting mode”, light emission of the LED suitable for each mode is performed, and shooting with good appearance can be performed. Further, even a user who has no knowledge about the filter effect can easily shoot an image having an atmosphere different from that of normal shooting.
[0046]
In the shooting scene handling mode processing in the present embodiment, the light emission amounts of RGB corresponding to each shooting mode stored in advance in the MROM 29 are read and the LED group 5 is caused to emit light. A combination of the corresponding mode functions may be used to detect the subject image and set the RGB light emission amount. Thereby, in the “person photographing mode”, appropriate RGB light emission according to the color of the person's skin (skin white, black color) and RGB light emission considering back light are possible. Similarly, in macro photography, when the subject is a flower, for example, there are various colors. Therefore, after detecting the subject, the subject image may be detected to set the RGB light emission amount.
[0047]
(3) Captured image handling mode processing
[0048]
When the captured image support mode (step S4) is selected, the captured image support mode process is executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, an image from the CCD 17 is analyzed (step S41). Here, the image analysis is a determination of the ratio of the color of the entire image, for example, yellow or blue as a whole, and the RGB emission amount suitable for the image is determined based on the analysis result (step S42). Then, when the shutter key 8 is operated and a photographing process is executed (step S43), imaging is performed in a state where the red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B emit light with the set light emission amounts. The processed image is stored in the flash memory 28.
[0049]
Therefore, according to this photographed image correspondence mode, when the subject is a bright red flower, RGB light emission corresponding to it is made, and in the situation where the whole is orange due to light such as sunset, the similar system without any sense of incongruity RGB light emission such as color light emission is performed. Therefore, as in the above-described shooting scene support mode, the user is not particularly conscious, and can easily shoot a good-looking image regardless of the shooting mode regardless of the shooting mode.
[0050]
(4) Preliminary shooting mode processing
[0051]
When the preliminary photographing mode (step S5) is selected, preliminary photographing mode processing is executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, a first subject is photographed to photograph a subject of a color to be set (step S51). That is, when there is a wall of a certain color and it is desired to cause the LED group 5 to emit light having the same color as that color, the wall is photographed with the LED group 5 turned off. Next, the emission color is set from the photographed image (step S52). That is, if the wall is orange, the light emission amounts of the red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B are set so that the orange color is emitted by the light emission of the LED group 5.
[0052]
Thereafter, when the user points the lens 3 toward the subject to be photographed and operates the shutter key 8, the red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B emit light with the light emission amounts set in the above-described step S52. Thus, second shooting and light emission are performed (step S53). Next, photographing processing is executed (step S54), and the captured image is stored in the flash memory 28 in a state where the red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B are emitting light.
[0053]
Therefore, according to this preliminary photographing mode, it is possible to emit light of a color that approximates the color of an object such as a wall that exists in the surroundings. For example, by photographing a fluorescent lamp in the first photographing in step S51, In step S53, the LED group 5 can emit light having the same color or approximate color as the emission color of the fluorescent lamp. Therefore, even if the image is taken outdoors, it is possible to take an image expressed as if it was taken in a room with a fluorescent lamp. Further, it is possible to automatically set light emission of intermediate colors, which is difficult with setting in the manual mode, and it is possible to easily set light emission of a subtle color.
[0054]
In each of the above modes, the next shooting after the image is saved is shot with the same settings as the previous unless the menu screen shown in FIGS. 5A to 5B is changed.
[0055]
In the present embodiment, the red LEDs 51R to 55R, the green LEDs 51G to 55G, and the blue LEDs 51B to 55B are arranged linearly in the horizontal direction in units of five, but the arrangement form of the LEDs constituting the LED group 5 The number and number of the LEDs are not limited to this, and other arrangement forms and numbers may be used as long as a necessary amount of light can be obtained at the time of shooting, and the red, blue, and green LEDs do not have to be the same number.
[0056]
【The invention's effect】
[0057]
As described above, according to the present invention, since the light emitting means including a plurality of light emitting diodes is used as a flash device at the time of photographing, there is no restriction that the light cannot be emitted, and the inconvenience of losing a photo opportunity can be solved. it can. In addition, since it is possible to shoot by irradiating a subject with a desired color, it is possible to easily give a special effect to a photographic image without carrying a plurality of filters or replacing the filter.
[0058]
  In addition, at the time of setting, since the meter display corresponding to the light emission amount for each color of red, green, and blue of the plurality of light emitting diodes is superimposed on the through image and displayed, the plurality of light emitting diodes are caused to emit light.Setting can be performed while visually checking the emission color generated by light emission from a plurality of light emitting diodes, and a desired emission color can be set easily and accurately.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view of an electronic still camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same.
FIG. 3 is a rear view of the same.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the electronic still camera.
FIG. 5 is a display transition diagram of the electronic still camera.
FIG. 6 is a general flowchart showing a processing procedure in the electronic still camera.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure in a manual mode.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of a shooting scene handling mode.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of a captured image correspondence mode.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a detailed procedure of a preliminary shooting mode.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Electronic still camera
2 Camera body
3 Lens
5 LED group
6 Shooting dial
7 Power / Function switch
8 Shutter key
9 Control panel
11 Menu key
12 Cursor keys
13 Set key
16 TFT LCD monitor
17 CCD
19 MPU
28 Flash memory
29 MROM
31 Operation key section
51B-55B Blue LED
51G-55G green LED
51R-55R Red LED

Claims (2)

A light emitting means comprising a plurality of light emitting diodes disposed on the camera body for irradiating the subject with red, green and blue colored light;
Setting means for variably setting the light emission amount of at least one of the plurality of light emitting diodes according to an operation input;
Display means for displaying the captured image as a through image;
Control means for controlling the light emission amounts of the plurality of light emitting diodes during photographing according to the light emission amount set by the setting means,
The setting means causes the display means to display a meter display corresponding to the light emission amount for each of red, green, blue, and each color of the plurality of light emitting diodes on the through image, and to cause the plurality of light emitting diodes to emit light. A camera device characterized by the above. A light emission control method for controlling a light emitting means composed of a plurality of light emitting diodes disposed on a camera body and irradiating a subject with colored light of red, green, and blue,
A display step for displaying the captured image as a through image;
A meter display corresponding to the light emission amount for each of red, green, blue, and each color of the plurality of light emitting diodes is displayed on the through image, and the plurality of light emitting diodes are caused to emit light. A setting step to variably set the amount of light emission,
And a control step of controlling the light emission amounts of the plurality of light emitting diodes during photographing according to the light emission amounts set in the setting step.

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