JP2000069416A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily obtain a picture with a user's favorite generation image by generating the picture by executing a picture processing on condition that a generation image of the picture is obtained when the generation image of the picture is specified. SOLUTION: When a digital camera is set in a specified mode and a shutter key is depressed by a user, the picture processing is performed by every pattern, the contents of a VRAM 210 are read at any time and thumbnail pictures with different generation images are simultaneously displayed as preview images by an LCD display part 10. The favorite generation image is selected, a cursor is moved to the picture with the pattern and the shutter key is depressed again by the user. Thus, respective parameters of gradation, color tone and an edge processing are stored in a nonvolatile memory of a whole control part 211. When the picture is photographed next, the picture processing is executed to picture data which are temporarily stored in a picture memory 209 according to the parameter of the picture processing which is stored in the nonvolatile memory and the generated picture is recorded in a memory card 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a digital camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, in a digital camera, an optical image formed by a photographing lens is formed by an image pickup device, for example, a CCD (Charge Cou).
(Pled Device), and the electric signal is subjected to predetermined image processing to generate a final image.

Accordingly, by changing the image processing conditions, it is possible to obtain various images having different gradations, color tones, and the like, and thus different generated images.

[0004] The preference of a generated image for an image differs depending on the individual user. For this reason, it is very convenient if an image having a desired generated image can be generated by a user's selection.

However, in the conventional digital camera, image processing is performed only under processing conditions set on the camera side.
The user could not select the generated image according to his preference.

It is possible to temporarily capture an image captured by a digital camera into a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a personal computer) and adjust the gradation and color tone of the image using software on the personal computer. And software had to be prepared, which was troublesome.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a digital camera capable of obtaining an image having a generated image desired by a user.

[0008]

The object of the present invention is to provide an image pickup device on which a subject image is formed by a photographing lens, an image generating means for processing image data from the image pickup device to generate an image, Specifying means for specifying a generated image;
Control means for causing the image generating means to generate an image of the generated image specified by the specifying means.

According to this digital camera, when an image to be generated is specified by the specifying means, the image generating means executes image processing under image processing conditions for obtaining the generated image and generates an image. Therefore, the user
By specifying your favorite generated image by specifying means,
An image having that image can be obtained.

In order to specify a generated image, a display means for displaying a plurality of preview images having different generated images generated by the image generating means is provided, and the specifying means causes any one of the preview images to be selected. , It is better to specify the generated image. The user can select the generated image while checking the actual generated image on the basis of the preview image, thereby preventing inconvenience of erroneously selecting a generated image other than desired one.

The generated image is set corresponding to a generated image obtained by a plurality of types of silver halide films, and the specifying means specifies the generated image by specifying the type of the silver halide film. Is also good.
In this case, an image having a generated image equivalent to the designated silver halide film is obtained.

The generated image is preferably adjusted by changing a processing condition in at least one of the gamma correction processing, the color tone control processing, and the edge processing. This makes it possible to adjust the gradation, color tone, etc., and easily change the generated image of the image.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS <Structure of Digital Camera> As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a digital camera 1 is composed of a box-shaped camera body 2 and a rectangular parallelepiped imaging unit 3. FIG. The imaging unit 3 is detachably attached to the right side of the camera body 2 when viewed from the front (the front side in FIG. 1), and is rotatably mounted in a plane parallel to the right side.

The image pickup section 3 has an image pickup device including a photographing lens formed by a macro zoom and a photoelectric conversion element such as a CCD, and is constituted by a charge signal obtained by photoelectrically converting an optical image of a subject by each pixel of the CCD. They are converted into images and imported. On the other hand, the camera body 2 is provided with an LCD (Liq
It has a display unit 10 made of a liquid crystal display (UIC), a mounting unit 17 for a memory card 8, and a connection terminal 13 to which a personal computer is externally connected. Thereafter, processing such as display on the LCD display unit 10, recording on the memory card 8, and transfer to a personal computer is performed.

A photographing lens 301 composed of a macro zoom lens is provided inside the image pickup section 3, and a CCD color area sensor 3 is provided at an appropriate position behind the photographing lens 301.
03 (FIG. 4) is provided. Further, a dimming circuit 30 including a dimming sensor 305 that receives reflected light of the flash light from the subject at an appropriate position in the imaging unit 3.
4 (FIG. 4) are provided.

As shown in FIG. 1, on the front surface of the camera body 2, a grip 4 is provided at an appropriate position at the left end, and a built-in flash 5 is provided at an appropriate upper portion at the right end. As shown in FIG. 1, on the upper surface of the camera body 2, switches 6 and 7 for frame advance when reproducing a recorded image are provided substantially at the center. The switch 6 is used to advance the recorded image in the direction in which the frame number increases (the direction of the photographing order) (hereinafter, referred to as an Up switch). (Hereinafter referred to as Down switch). Further, an erasure switch D for erasing an image recorded on the memory card 8 is provided on the left side of the Down switch 7 when viewed from the rear side (the front side in FIG. 2), and a shutter button 9 is provided on the right side of the Up switch 6. Is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, on the back of the camera body 2, an LCD display for displaying a monitor of a photographed image (corresponding to a viewfinder) and reproducing and displaying a recorded image is provided substantially at the center of the left end. 10 are provided. The memory card 8 is located at the lower left end of the LCD display section 10.
Is provided with a slide type compression ratio setting switch 12 for switching and setting the compression ratio K of the image data recorded in the storage device. Further, on the right side of the compression ratio setting switch 12, there is provided a designation mode setting switch 16 which is operated when the user wants to designate a generated image of an image. Further, a power switch PS is provided in the upper part of the rear surface.
The connection terminal 13 is provided on a side surface of the camera body 2 on the imaging unit 3 side.

The digital camera 1 has a flash mode (hereinafter, flash is sometimes referred to as FL) flash mode, an "automatic flash mode" in which the built-in flash 5 is automatically flashed in accordance with the subject brightness. A "forced light emission mode" for forcibly emitting light from the built-in flash 5 and a "light emission inhibition mode" for forbidden light emission from the built-in flash 5 are provided above the LCD display section 10 on the back of the main body 2. Each time the FL mode setting switch 11 is pressed, each mode of “auto flash”, “forced flash” and “flash disabled” is cyclically switched,
One of the modes is selected and set.
In the digital camera 1, two kinds of compression ratios K of 1/8 and 1/20 can be selectively set. For example, when the compression ratio setting switch 12 is slid to the right, the compression ratio K = 1/8.
Is set, and slide to the left, the compression ratio K = 1/20
Is set. In the present embodiment, two types of compression ratios K can be selectively set. However, three or more types of compression ratios K may be selectively set.

Further, a photographing / playback mode setting switch 14 for switching between a "photographing mode" and a "playback mode" is provided at the upper right end of the rear surface of the camera body 2. The photographing mode is a mode in which a photograph is taken, and the playback mode is a mode in which a photographed image recorded in the
This is a mode for reproducing and displaying on the D display unit 10. The shooting / playback mode setting switch 14 also includes a two-contact slide switch. For example, sliding to the right sets the playback mode, and sliding to the left sets the shooting mode.

A battery loading chamber 1 is provided on the bottom of the camera body 2.
8 and a card loading chamber 17 for the memory card 8 are provided.
The loading ports of the loading chambers 17 and 18 are closed by a clamshell type lid 15. The digital camera 1 according to the present embodiment uses a power supply battery formed by connecting four AA batteries in series as a drive source.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system of the digital camera 1.

In the image pickup section 3, the CCD 303
Transforms an optical image of a subject formed by the macro zoom lens 301 into image signals of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) color components (from a signal train of pixel signals received by each pixel). ) And output. The timing generator 314 generates various timing pulses for controlling driving of the CCD 303.

The exposure control in the image pickup section 3 is performed by adjusting the exposure amount of the CCD 303, that is, the charge accumulation time of the CCD 303 corresponding to the shutter speed, since the stop is a fixed stop. If the appropriate shutter speed cannot be set when the subject brightness is low,
By adjusting the level of the image signal output from D303, improper exposure due to insufficient exposure is corrected. That is, when the luminance is low, the exposure control is performed by combining the shutter speed and the gain adjustment. The level adjustment of the image signal is performed in the gain adjustment of the AGC circuit in the signal processing circuit 313.

The timing generator 314 generates a drive control signal for the CCD 303 based on a reference clock transmitted from the timing control circuit 202.
The timing generator 314 generates clock signals such as integration start / end (exposure start / end) timing signals and light-receiving signal readout control signals (horizontal synchronization signal, vertical synchronization signal, transfer signal, etc.) for each pixel. Output to the CCD 303.

The signal processing circuit 313 performs predetermined analog signal processing on an image signal (analog signal) output from the CCD 303. The signal processing circuit 313
It has a DS (correlated double sampling) circuit and an AGC (auto gain control) circuit. The CDS circuit reduces the noise of the image signal, and the level of the image signal is adjusted by adjusting the gain of the AGC circuit.

The light control circuit 304 controls the light emission amount of the built-in flash 5 in flash photography to a predetermined light emission amount set by the overall control unit 211. In flash photography, the reflected light of flash light from the subject is received by the light control sensor 305 at the same time as the start of exposure, and when the amount of received light reaches a predetermined light emission amount, the light control circuit 3
An emission stop signal is output from 04 to the flash control circuit 214 via the overall control unit 211. The flash control circuit 214 forcibly stops the light emission of the built-in flash 5 in response to the light emission stop signal, whereby the light emission amount of the built-in flash 5 is controlled to a predetermined light emission amount.

In the camera body 2, the A / D converter 205 converts each pixel signal of the image signal into a 10-bit digital signal. The A / D converter 205 is
A / D input from an A / D clock generation circuit (not shown)
Each pixel signal (analog signal) is converted into a 10-bit digital signal based on a clock for D conversion.

In the camera body 2, a timing control circuit 202 for generating a reference clock, a timing generator 314, and a clock for the A / D converter 205 is provided. The timing control circuit 202 is controlled by the overall control unit 211. Black level correction circuit 206
Is for correcting the black level of the pixel signal (hereinafter, referred to as pixel data) A / D-converted by the A / D converter 205 to a reference black level. Further, a white balance circuit (hereinafter referred to as a WB circuit) 207 adjusts R, G, B so that the white balance is also adjusted after the γ correction.
The level conversion of pixel data of each color component is performed. The WB circuit 207 converts the level of the pixel data of each of the R, G, and B color components using the level conversion table input from the overall control unit 211. The conversion coefficient (gradient of the characteristic) of each color component in the level conversion table is set by the overall control unit 211 for each captured image.

The gamma correction circuit 208 corrects gamma characteristics of pixel data. The γ correction circuit 208 has, for example, six types of γ correction tables having different γ characteristics, and performs γ correction of pixel data using a predetermined γ correction table according to a shooting scene or shooting conditions.

The image memory 209 is a memory for storing pixel data output from the gamma correction circuit 208. The image memory 209 has a storage capacity for one frame. That is, in the image memory 209, the CCD 303
In the case of having pixels in rows and m columns, it has a storage capacity for pixel data of n × m pixels, and each pixel data is stored in a corresponding pixel position.

The VRAM 210 is a buffer memory for image data reproduced and displayed on the LCD display unit 10. VR
The AM 210 has a storage capacity for image data corresponding to the number of pixels of the LCD display unit 10.

In the photographing standby state, each pixel data of the image picked up by the image pickup unit 3 every 1/30 (second) is
After being subjected to predetermined signal processing by the A / D converters 205 to γ correction circuit 208, the signals are stored in the image memory 209, transferred to the VRAM 210 via the overall control unit 211, and displayed on the LCD display unit 10. You. Thus, the photographer can visually recognize the subject image from the image displayed on the LCD display unit 10. In the playback mode, after the image read from the memory card 8 is subjected to predetermined signal processing by the overall control unit 211, the VRAM 210
And reproduced and displayed on the LCD display unit 10.

The card I / F 212 is an interface for writing image data to the memory card 8 and reading image data. Also, the communication I / F 21
Reference numeral 3 denotes an interface for externally connecting the digital camera 1 to the personal computer 19 in a communicable manner.
It conforms to the B standard.

The flash control circuit 214 controls the light emission of the built-in flash 5. The flash control circuit 214 controls the presence / absence of light emission of the built-in flash 5, the amount of light emission, the light emission timing, and the like based on the control signal of the overall control unit 211, and based on the light emission stop signal STP input from the dimming circuit 304. Is controlled.

The RTC 219 is a clock circuit for managing the shooting date and time, and is driven by another power source (not shown).

The operation unit 250 includes the Up switch 6, Down switch 7, shutter button 9, FL mode setting switch 11, compression ratio setting switch 12, photographing / playback mode setting switch 14, and designated mode setting switch 16 described above. It is configured.

The overall control unit 211 is composed of a microcomputer, and controls the driving of each member in the image pickup unit 3 and the camera body unit 2 in an organic manner to control the photographing operation of the digital camera 1 overall. is there.

Further, as shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 1 includes a luminance determining unit 211a for setting an exposure amount control value (shutter speed (SS)) and a shutter speed (SS) setting unit 211b. The brightness determination unit 211a determines the brightness of a subject in an imaging standby state by using an image captured by the CCD 303 every 1/30 (second). That is, the luminance determination unit 211a determines the brightness of the subject using the image data that is renewedly stored in the image memory 209.

The luminance determining unit 211a is provided with an image memory 209
Is divided into nine blocks, and the luminance data representing each block is calculated using the pixel data of the G (green) color component included in each block.

The shutter speed setting unit 211b is a shutter speed (integration time of the CCD 303) based on the result of the brightness determination of the subject by the brightness determination unit 211a.
Is set. Shutter speed setting unit 21
1b has a shutter speed table.

The shutter speed is set to 1 when the camera is started.
/ 128 (seconds), and in the shooting standby state, the shutter speed setting unit 211b shifts one step from the initial value to the high-speed side or the low-speed side according to the result of the brightness determination of the subject by the brightness determination unit 211a. Change and set each time.

The overall control unit 211 performs “low-brightness scene”, “medium-brightness normal scene”, “middle-brightness scene”, and A scene determination unit 211c that determines four types of shooting scenes, that is, a “medium brightness backlight scene” and a “high brightness scene” is provided. "Low brightness scene"
Is usually used for flash 5 like indoor photography and night photography.
The “medium-luminance normal scene” is a scene in which illumination light (including natural light and artificial light) for the main subject is in normal light and its brightness is appropriate and there is no auxiliary light. This is a scene that can be taken with. The “medium brightness backlight scene” is a scene in which the overall brightness is appropriate, but the flash light is preferable because the illumination light for the main subject is backlight, and the “high brightness scene” is, for example, a clear sea scene. It is a very bright scene like shooting at a ski resort. The determination result by the scene determination unit 211c is stored in the memory 211d.

Further, the general control unit 211 determines whether the captured image is an image of a normal photographing of a landscape, a person, or the like (hereinafter, such a captured image is referred to as a natural image) or drawn on a white board or the like. Images of characters, charts, etc.
An image similar to the value image is called a character image. ) Is provided.

The image judging section 211e includes an image memory 209
A histogram of the luminance data at each pixel position is created based on the pixel data constituting the captured image stored in the storage device, and the content of the captured image is determined based on the histogram. In general, a histogram of luminance data of a captured image is a so-called one-peak distribution having a single peak value with a small bias in the luminance distribution in the case of a natural image. In the case of a character image, a bias in the luminance distribution is observed in each of a white background portion and a black character portion.
Mountain distribution. Therefore, the image determination unit 211e determines whether the histogram of the luminance data of the captured image has a single peak distribution,
It is determined whether the captured image is a natural image or a character image by determining whether the image is a mountain distribution. Then, this determination result is also stored in the memory 211d.

The overall control unit 211 includes a filter unit 211f for performing a filtering process and a recorded image generating unit 211g for generating a thumbnail image and a compressed image in order to perform the recording process of the photographed image. In order to reproduce the reproduced image on the LCD display unit 10, a reproduction image generation unit 211h that generates a reproduction image is provided.

The filter section 211f corrects high-frequency components of an image to be recorded by a digital filter to correct image quality related to edges.

The recording image generating section 211g reads out pixel data from the image memory 209 and generates a thumbnail image and a compressed image to be recorded on the memory card 8. The recording image generation unit 211g reads pixel data for every eight pixels in both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction while scanning from the image memory 209 in the raster scanning direction, and sequentially transfers the pixel data to the memory card 8, thereby obtaining the thumbnail image. Is recorded on the memory card 8 while generating. Further, the recording image generation unit 21
1g reads out all pixel data from the image memory 209, performs predetermined compression processing by JPEG such as two-dimensional DCT conversion and Huffman coding on the pixel data to generate image data of a compressed image, Data is recorded in the main image area of the memory card 8.

In the photographing mode, when photographing is instructed by the shutter button 9 in the photographing mode, the overall control section 211 displays the thumbnail image of the image taken into the image memory 209 after the photographing instruction and the compression ratio set by the compression ratio setting switch 12. A compressed image compressed by the JPEG method using K is generated, and tag information (frame number, exposure value, shutter speed, compression ratio K, shooting date, flash on / off data at shooting, scene information, image Both information is stored in the memory card 8 together with the information such as the judgment result of the above.

The memory card 8 has a compression ratio of 1/20
Zero frames of images can be stored, and each frame includes a tag portion and high-resolution image data (64
0 × 480 pixels) and image data for thumbnail display (8
0 × 60 pixels). For example, each frame can be handled as an image file in the EXIF format.

<Description of Generated Image Designation Process> In this embodiment, in the generated image designation mode, a plurality of image processing conditions combining the conditions of the color tone control process and the edge processing are set. A plurality of generated images corresponding to the conditions are set, and one of them can be selected by the user.

That is, the filter unit 211f selectively performs three types of edge processing, strong, normal, and weak, by selectively superimposing three types of filters, strong, normal, and weak, represented by the following coefficients on each pixel. Is set to do.

[0052]

(Equation 1)

Further, the recording image generation unit 211g performs the following matrix operation for each pixel from RGB to R'G'B '.
Is set so that three types of color tones A, B, and C can be obtained by performing the conversion into. Note that here, RGB
Are processed in 8 bits, and each gradation level is 0
It is represented by 256 levels from (dark) to 255 (bright).

[0054]

(Equation 2)

Then, nine image processing conditions from pattern 1 to pattern 9 are set in which the above conditions of the γ correction processing, the color tone control processing, and the edge processing are combined as follows.

[0056]

[Table 1]

When selecting the gradation, a γ curve in the γ correction circuit 208 may be selected instead of the filter processing.

When the designated mode setting switch 16 is not operated, the image signal from the CCD 303 is processed and recorded under image processing conditions set in advance on the camera side.

When the user designates a generated image, the designated mode is set by operating the designated mode setting switch 16.

Next, in the shooting mode,
Press the shutter button 9. Then, image processing is performed for each of the nine patterns, and the LCD display unit 1 is processed.
0 indicates the content of the VRAM 210 as DMA (direct m
The image data is read out at any time by using an “e.m. memory access”, and as shown in FIG. 6, three different thumbnail images of a total of nine generated images in three rows and three columns and three colors and three gradations are simultaneously displayed as preview images. VR at this time
FIG. 7 shows the data structure of AM210. However, VRA
The entire M210 is composed of M × N pixels, and the number of pixels per thumbnail image is m × n. In DMA,
Since the image data is read while being scanned in the horizontal direction as needed, the image data read while being thinned out from the image memory 209 is subjected to image processing for each pattern, and
It is stored in.

In the image processing of each pattern, one line (m pixels) in the horizontal direction is stored as a minimum unit while leaving blanks for predetermined i pixels. First,
The data of the patterns 1 to 3 is stored in the VRAM 210 in this manner, and after repeating the number of vertical lines n times, a blank of M × j pixels is placed. After that, thumbnail images of patterns 4 to 6 are stored. Similarly, after placing blanks of M × j pixels, thumbnail images of patterns 7 to 9 are stored. The blank portion may be a specific color.

As a result, an image having an arrangement of 3 rows and 3 columns is displayed on the LCD display unit 10. A blank portion (a blank portion surrounded by a bold line) surrounding a certain image (pattern 6 in FIG. 6) is defined as a different color so as to be regarded as a cursor, and the Up switch 6 and the Down switch 7 sequentially position the cursor. Move. When the Up switch 6 is pressed, the cursor moves to pattern 1 → 2 → 3 ... 9 → 1 and Dow
When the n switch 7 is pressed, the cursor moves in the pattern 3 → 2 → 1 → 9.

Then, the user selects one having a desired generated image, moves the cursor to the image of the pattern, and presses the shutter button 9 again. As a result, the generated image of the selected pattern is determined, and the parameters of gradation, color tone, and edge processing for obtaining the image are stored in the nonvolatile memory (not shown) of the overall control unit 211. Also, the digital camera 1 returns to the shooting standby state, and the live view image is displayed on the LCD display unit 10.

At the time of next photographing, image processing is executed on the image data temporarily stored in the image memory 209 according to the image processing parameters stored in the nonvolatile memory, and the generated image is stored in the memory. The image is recorded on the card 8 and thereafter, unless the designated mode setting switch 16 is operated, the image is generated under the same image processing conditions, and the image of the same generated image is obtained.

When the user wants to change the generated image, the user may operate the designated mode setting switch 16 to temporarily release the designated mode, and then enter the designated mode again and perform the same operation as described above.

As described above, since the user can arbitrarily specify the generated image, it is possible to generate an image having a gradation, a color tone, and the like according to the user's preference, thereby satisfying the user's request. In addition, since the user can actually specify the preview image while viewing it, there is no mistake in specification.

<Description of Another Embodiment> In the above embodiment, the preview image for each generated image is displayed, and the generated image of the recorded image is designated by selecting the image. In this embodiment, Overall control unit 21
The name of the existing silver halide film and the image processing conditions for obtaining a generated image equivalent to the silver halide film are stored in the first memory, and the generated image is designated by selecting the name of the silver halide film. Configuration. Note that the generated image is adjusted by changing only the parameters relating to the color tone. The color tone is changed by performing a conversion from RGB to R'G'B 'for each pixel in the recording image generation unit 211g, as in the above-described embodiment.

When the designated mode is set by operating the designated mode setting switch 16, the LCD display unit 10 displays "A1 film" to "D film" as shown in FIG.
Are displayed. A black circle is displayed beside the selected film. Each time the Up switch 6 is pressed, the black circle moves from top to bottom, and Down is displayed.
Each time the switch 7 is pressed, the black circle moves from bottom to top.
When proceeding to the next page shown in FIG.
Select "t" and select "Back" to return to the previous page shown in FIG. A black circle may be displayed on the bottom film name or top film name, and when the Up switch 6 or the Down switch 7 is pressed in this state, the display may proceed to the next page or return to the previous page.

When deciding on the selected film, the shutter button 9 is pressed. Thus, the image processing conditions corresponding to the film are stored in the nonvolatile memory of the overall control unit 211. Also, the digital camera 1 returns to the shooting standby state, and the live view image is displayed on the LCD display unit 10.

At the time of next photographing, image processing is executed on the image data temporarily stored in the image memory 209 according to the image processing parameters stored in the nonvolatile memory, and the generated image is The image is recorded on the memory card 8, and thereafter, unless the designated mode setting switch 16 is operated, the image is generated with the same image processing condition and the same generated image.

When the user wants to change the generated image, the user may operate the designated mode setting switch 16 to release the designated mode, and then enter the designated mode again to perform the same operation as described above.

As described above, by selecting the name of an existing silver halide film, a generated image equivalent to that obtained by that film is automatically specified, so that a user familiar with the silver halide film can specify the generated image. The work becomes easy, and an image without a sense of incongruity in the generated image can be obtained. In place of the name of the silver halide film, a display such as a model or the like in which the type of the silver halide film can be specified may be performed.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, a system is shown in which a system for designating a generated image by selecting a preview image and a system for designating a generated image by selecting a silver halide film are separately provided, but both systems are provided in one digital camera. They may be incorporated so that they can be selectively used by switching operation members.

In the above-described embodiment, the designation mode setting switch 16 provides a designation mode in which a user can designate a generated image and a non-designated mode in which only a preset generated image is obtained as in the related art. ,
If it is not desired to specify the generated image, the image may be used in the non-designated mode, and the degree of freedom in selecting the use mode increases.

Also, the number of generated images that can be specified is not limited to the embodiment, and it is sufficient that at least one generated image can be specified.

[0076]

As described above, according to the present invention, when an image to be generated is specified by the specifying means, the image generating means executes image processing under the conditions for obtaining the generated image and generates an image. The user can easily obtain an image having a desired generated image by specifying the generated image by the specifying means. Therefore, a digital camera with high commercial value that can respond to individual user demands for the generated image of the image can be obtained.

Further, there is provided display means for displaying a plurality of preview images of different generated images generated by the image generating means, and the designation means selects one of the preview images to thereby display the generated image. When the configuration for designating is adopted, the user only has to designate from the preview images, so that the designation operation becomes easier. Moreover, since the actual generated image can be confirmed by the preview image, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience of specifying an undesired generated image by mistake.

When the type of the silver halide film is specified to specify the corresponding generated image, an image having a generated image equivalent to the specified silver halide film can be obtained. Users familiar with the silver halide film can easily select a generated image.

When the generated image is adjusted by changing the processing conditions in at least one of γ correction processing, color tone control processing, and edge processing, it is possible to adjust the gradation, color tone, etc. of the image. It is possible to easily change the generated image of the image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the digital camera.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the digital camera.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system of the digital camera shown in FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an overall control unit in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state where a preview image for specifying a generated image is displayed on a display unit.

FIG. 7 is a VRAM 210 when the display shown in FIG. 6 is performed.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data structure of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state where various silver halide film names for designating a generated image are displayed on a display unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Digital camera 301 ... Shooting lens 303 ... Imaging element 6 ... Up switch 7 ... Down switch 9 ... Shutter button 10 ... LCD Display unit (display means) 16: designation mode setting switch 208: gamma correction circuit 209: image memory 210: VRAM 211: overall control unit 211f: filter unit 211g: recorded image Generator

Continued on the front page F-term (reference) LA01 LA06

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup device on which a subject image is formed by a photographing lens, image generation means for processing image data from the image pickup device to generate an image, and designating means for specifying a generated image of the image And a control unit for causing the image generating unit to generate an image of the generated image specified by the specifying unit. 2. A display device for displaying a plurality of preview images having different generated images generated by the image generating device, wherein the designation unit selects one of the preview images to generate the generated image. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the digital camera is specified. 3. The generated image is set corresponding to a generated image obtained by a plurality of types of silver halide films, and the specifying unit specifies the generated image by specifying a type of the silver halide film. Item 1. The digital camera according to item 1. 4. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the generated image is adjusted by changing a processing condition in at least one of gamma correction processing, color tone control processing, and edge processing.