JPH09130660A - Digital still video camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable photographing while changing photographic conditions for the same composition and to speedily and surely photograph a desired image by automatically changing the photographic conditions. SOLUTION: The combination of photographic conditions provided for a digital video camera is previously stored in a storage means 114. As a designating means, an operation display part 116 designates a multi-photographing mode for performing sequential photographing while using the combination of photographic conditions stored in the storage means 114. When the multi- photographing mode is designated through the designating means 116, a CPU 113 to be functioned as a multi-photographing/recording means automatically performs photographing/recording for each combination while using the combination of photographic conditions stored in the storage means 114.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital still video camera which captures an image and records it on a storage medium such as a memory card.
Change settings such as whether to use automatic white balance,
The present invention relates to a digital still video camera capable of shooting images under a plurality of different shooting conditions.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when a digital still video camera having an automatic strobe light emission function is used for photographing, the strobe light is automatically emitted in a dark place. Also,
The flash fires automatically when the subject is in front of the window frame and the subject is backlit. As a result, it is possible to shoot a subject without worrying about the condition of light at the time of shooting.

However, the state of the photographed image changes variously depending on the conditions such as the degree of insertion of light from the window and the state of the surface of the subject, so that a good image is not always obtained and the photographed image becomes whitish. It may happen.
For this reason, the photographed image is displayed on an image display means such as a liquid crystal monitor, and after confirmation, the user sets the photographing condition considered to be appropriate according to the situation, and then the photograph is taken again, and this is repeated. A desired image is taken.

[0004]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional digital still video camera, the photographed image is displayed on the image display means such as a liquid crystal panel, and after confirmation, it is appropriate according to the situation. After the user sets the expected shooting conditions, another shot is taken and the desired image is taken again. However, by changing the shooting conditions, the orientation and angle with respect to the subject change, so the same The problem is that it is difficult to shoot with different composition under the composition, and the change of shooting conditions takes some time and effort, and in some cases misses the opportunity to shoot. was there.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and by automatically changing the photographing conditions, it is possible to change the photographing conditions with the same composition and perform photographing.
The purpose is to be able to take a desired image quickly and surely.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a digital still video camera according to claim 1 is provided with:
In a digital still video camera having an image display means for displaying a photographed image, using a storage means that stores in advance a combination of shooting conditions of the digital still video camera and a combination of the shooting conditions stored in the storage means. Shooting is performed by using a combination of designating means for designating a multi-shooting mode for performing sequential shooting and a shooting condition automatically stored in the storage means when the multi-shooting mode is designated through the designating means. The multi-photographing / recording means for photographing / recording for each combination of conditions is provided.

The digital still video camera according to a second aspect of the present invention controls the image display means to display a plurality of images photographed / recorded by the multi-photographing / recording means sequentially or collectively. And selecting means for selecting a desired image from the images displayed on the image display means, and deleting means for deleting the recording of images other than the image selected by the selecting means.

In the digital still video camera according to a third aspect of the present invention, the shooting conditions include at least whether or not a strobe is used and whether or not automatic white balance is used.

In the digital still video camera according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the multi-photographing / recording means continuously shoots and records the number of combinations of the photographing conditions with one shutter ON. .

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the digital still video camera of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the digital still video camera of this embodiment, which is roughly classified into a camera body 101, a liquid crystal monitor 102 as an image display means for displaying a captured image, and a captured image. It is composed of a memory card 103 for recording.

The camera body 101 converts a lens unit 104 including a lens, an auto focus (AF), an aperture, a filter, a mechanical mechanism, and the like, and an image input through the lens unit 104 into an electric signal (analog image data). CCD (charge coupled device) 105 and CCD 10
5, A / D converter 106 for converting analog image data input from 5 into digital image data, and A / D converter 10
An IPP (Image Pre-Processor) 107 that divides the digital image data input from 6 into color difference and luminance and performs various processing, correction, and data processing for image compression / decompression,
DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) 108 for performing orthogonal transformation which is a process of image compression / decompression based on JPEG
And a coder (Huffman Encoder /) that performs Huffman encoding / compositing, which is a process of JPEG-compliant image compression / decompression.
Decoder) 109, compressed image and microphone 11
The audio that was captured from 1 and digitized is temporarily stored,
An MPCM (Memory Card Controller) 110 that simultaneously processes and records / reads to / from the memory card 103, and an ADPCM (Adaptive Diffe) that digitally converts voice input by a microphone 111 and performs compression / expansion processing.
rential pulse code modulation) 112, a CPU 113 for controlling each of the above parts, a MEM 114 which is a work memory for a system including a ROM and a RAM, a remote control function part 115 having a remote control reception function, and various button / switch groups described later. Enter the key of
An operation display unit 116 that controls the display of the display panel and a battery 117 that supplies power to the above units are provided. In addition, 118 shows an optical low pass filter.

The liquid crystal monitor 102 has at least a liquid crystal panel (LCD) 119 and a speaker 120. Reference numeral 121 represents a battery for the liquid crystal monitor 102.

2A and 2B show the camera body 101.
The external view of is shown. Here, the arrangement of various button / switch groups and the display panel constituting the operation display unit 116 will be described with reference to FIG. The various buttons and switches include a main switch 201 of the camera body, a self-mode button 202 for setting self-timer shooting (self mode), and a strobe / light for setting a mode (strobe mode) related to strobe light emission. It has a delete button 203, a recording mode button 204 for setting the recording mode, a zoom lever 205 for changing the size of the subject in the viewfinder, and a two-step button. Then, the release button 206 to start recording on the memory card 103 when further pressed, the date button 207 used for date adjustment, and the time button 2 used for time adjustment
08 and an image quality mode switch 209 used for switching between image quality modes (for example, there are an economy mode in which the number of recorded images has priority and a normal mode in which image quality has priority).

In the figure, 210 is a card insertion slot for inserting the memory card 103, and 211 is a battery lid of a battery unit in which a battery 117 is housed. Further, as shown in the figure, a microphone 111 is arranged.

Further, reference numeral 212 denotes a display panel, which is arranged on the upper surface of the camera body as shown in the drawing, and the state of the camera such as the state of the battery, the number of recordable images, and the set mode are indicated by marks or numbers. It is a configuration to be displayed.

In the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, M
The EM 114 functions as the storage unit of the present invention, and the combination of the shooting conditions of the digital still video camera is stored in advance in the ROM of the MEM 114 as multi-shooting information. Further, the operation display unit 116 (display panel 212 and recording mode button 204) constitutes the designation means of the present invention for designating the multi-photographing mode. Also, the ROM in the CPU 113 and the MEM 114
The multi-photographing / recording means, the control means, and the deleting means of the present invention are constituted by the control program (flowchart in FIG. 5) stored therein. Further, the operation display unit 116 plays the role of the selection means of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a display screen of the display panel 212, which is used for remaining number of sheets / remaining time / date / time / card status display / mode display during recording, and image file number display / counter display / display during playback. A recording information display unit 301 used for card status display / mode display, a flash display unit 302 indicating whether or not a flash is used, a flash display unit 302, a card display unit 303 indicating whether or not a memory card 103 is set, and a memory. A memory card battery mark portion 304 indicating presence / absence of remaining battery (battery) for the card 103, a battery mark 305 indicating presence / absence of remaining battery 117, a still image mode display portion 306 indicating still image mode setting, A voice mode display unit 307 showing the setting of the voice mode, a continuous shooting mode display unit 308 showing the setting of the continuous shooting mode, and a continuous shooting mode. Multi photographing mode display unit 3 showing a setting of a multi-imaging mode in combination with the display unit 308
08a and moving picture mode display section 3 showing the setting of the moving picture mode
09, and a character mode display section 31 showing the setting of the character mode
0.

Although the figure shows a state in which all the information is displayed at the same time, only the necessary information is actually displayed. Further, in the present embodiment, as will be described later, the continuous shooting mode display unit 308 and the multiple shooting mode display unit 308a are simultaneously displayed to display the multiple shooting mode, and the still image mode display unit 306 and the audio mode display unit 307 are displayed. Shall be used to display the still image + audio mode.

FIG. 4 shows switching of the display screen on the display panel 212 according to the set recording mode. Each time the recording mode button 204 shown in FIG. 2 is pressed, the display screen of the display panel 212 is displayed as shown in FIG. Will switch.

The operation of the above configuration will be described. When the user uses the multi-shooting mode in which shooting conditions are automatically changed to shoot / record a plurality of images, the user presses the recording mode button 204 to display the display panel 21.
2. Set the multi shooting mode on.

When the multi-shooting mode is set, the CPU 113 executes shooting / recording based on the recording process in the multi-shooting mode shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, when the user holds the camera body 101 toward a desired subject and presses the release button 206 (shutter) (S501), the CPU 113 causes the R of the MEM 114 to operate.
Multi-photographing information (a combination of the number of photographed images N and photographing conditions) is input from the OM (S502).

Here, the multi-photographing information will be described. As described above, the multi-shooting information consists of a combination of shooting conditions that the digital still video camera has,
For example, it is possible to use a combination of whether or not the shooting result of a digital still video camera changes greatly, whether or not a strobe is used, the type of automatic white balance (AWB) (type 0, type 1), whether or not to use automatic exposure control (AE), etc. it can. In this case, the number of combinations is 2 × 2 × 2 = 8 because there are three imaging conditions.
The number of this combination is the number of shots N in the multi-shot mode.
Becomes

Next, 1 is set to the counter value i indicating the combination number of the photographing conditions (S503), and it is determined whether the counter value i is larger than the number of photographed images N (S504).
If i> N is not satisfied, shooting is performed under the i-th shooting condition combination (S505), and the shot image is stored in the memory card 1
03 (S506), 1 is added to the counter value i (S507), and the process returns to step S504.

On the other hand, in step S504, i> N
If so, it means that the shooting of N number of shots is completed, and the process proceeds to step S508.

In step S508, the photographed image is read from the memory card 103, and the images shown in FIGS.
A liquid crystal panel 119 of the liquid crystal monitor 102 is displayed as shown in FIG. Here, as the display of the photographed images, a method of displaying one by one on the liquid crystal panel 119 at a predetermined interval or a method of manually turning and displaying can be applied. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which x images (here, 4 images) reduced by thinning processing or interpolation processing are simultaneously displayed on one screen of the liquid crystal panel 119.

Next, the user operates a predetermined key of the operation display unit 116 to select the selection frame 6 shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b).
01 is moved to select a desired image (S50
9) Then, information (image data) other than the selected image is deleted from the memory card 103 (S510), and the process ends.

As described above, in the digital still video camera of this embodiment, the photographing conditions can be changed automatically by changing the photographing conditions automatically, and the desired image can be photographed. You can shoot quickly and reliably.

Further, since the photographing of a plurality of images under different photographing conditions is started with one shutter, the orientation and angle with respect to the subject are stable, and a plurality of images can be photographed reliably with the same composition. In addition, it is possible to shoot a plurality of images with different shooting conditions without missing an opportunity to shoot.

Further, it is convenient that a plurality of photographed images can be checked and a desired image can be selected immediately after photographing. Moreover, since image data other than the desired image is not left in the memory card 103, the memory card 103 can be used efficiently.

[0031]

As described above, the digital still video camera of the present invention (Claim 1) is a digital still video camera having image display means for displaying a photographed image. A storage unit that stores the combination of the above in advance, and a specifying unit that specifies a multi-shooting mode in which sequential shooting is performed using a combination of shooting conditions stored in the storage unit;
When a multi-photographing mode is designated through the designating unit, the combination of the photographing conditions automatically stored in the storage unit is used to perform the photographing / recording for each combination of the photographing conditions. Since it is provided with the means, the photographing conditions can be changed automatically with the same composition, and a desired image can be photographed quickly and surely.

Further, in the digital still video camera of the present invention (claim 2), the image display means is controlled to display a plurality of images photographed / recorded by the multi-photographing / recording means sequentially or collectively. Since a control means, a selection means for selecting a desired image from the images displayed on the image display means, and a deletion means for deleting a record of an image other than the image selected by the selection means are provided, a plurality of photographed images are taken. A desired image can be selected by checking one image, and convenience can be improved. Further, since no image data other than the desired image is stored, a memory or the like can be used efficiently.

In the digital still video camera of the present invention (claim 3), since the shooting conditions include at least the use of strobe and the use of automatic white balance, in other words, shooting with the digital still video camera. Since a combination of shooting conditions that greatly changes the result is used, even if the situation at the time of shooting changes significantly, it is possible to respond by combining the shooting conditions.

In the digital still video camera of the present invention (claim 4), the multi-photographing / recording means continuously shoots and records the number of combinations of the photographing conditions with one shutter ON. Therefore, the orientation and angle with respect to the subject are stable, and it is possible to reliably capture multiple images with the same composition. In addition, it is possible to shoot a plurality of images with different shooting conditions without missing an opportunity to shoot.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a digital still video camera according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the digital still video camera body of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a display screen of a display panel.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a switching state of display screens on a display panel according to a set recording mode.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a recording process in a multi-photographing mode.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of an image shot in a multi-shot mode and an example of a selection method.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 camera body 102 liquid crystal monitor 103 memory card 104 lens unit 105 CCD (charge coupled device) 106 A /
D converter 107 IPP (Image Pre-Processor) 108 DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) 109 coder (Huffman Encoder / Decoder) 110 MCC (Memory Card Controller) 111 Microphone 112 ADPCM (Adaptive Differential Pulse)
Code Modulation) 113 CPU 114 ME
M 115 Remote control function unit 116 Operation display unit 117 Battery

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A digital still video camera having an image display means for displaying a photographed image, a storage means for preliminarily storing a combination of photography conditions of the digital still video camera, and a photography condition stored in the storage means. And a combination of the photographing conditions stored in the storage unit automatically when the multi-photographing mode is designated through the designating unit. A digital still video camera, comprising: a multi-shooting / recording unit that shoots / records for each combination of shooting conditions by using. 2. A control means for controlling the image display means to display a plurality of images photographed / recorded by the multi-photographing / recording means sequentially or collectively, and an image displayed on the image display means. 2. The digital still video camera according to claim 1, further comprising: a selection unit that selects a desired image from the selection unit and a deletion unit that deletes a record of images other than the image selected by the selection unit. 3. The digital still video camera according to claim 1, wherein the photographing conditions include at least whether or not a strobe is used and whether or not automatic white balance is used. 4. The multi-shooting / recording means continuously shoots / records as many times as the number of combinations of the shooting conditions with one shutter ON.
Or the digital still video camera described in 3.