JP2000347278A - Camera and photographing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute photographing when a subject satisfies a specified photographing condition by making a timing signal generation part output a photographing timing signal when the subject satisfies the specified photographing condition. SOLUTION: In a control unit 50, an extraction part receives a parallax image picked up by a parallax image input means 22 and a sub-image picked up by an image input means 24 from a memory 40, extracts a main subject from the sub-image based on information included in the parallax image and the sub-image, and detects a notable part for judging whether the main subject satisfies the specified photographing condition. A condition storage part stores as a photographing condition that the main subject included in the sub-image obtained by picking up a subject image is photographed nice. The timing signal generation part outputs the photographing timing signal. Namely, when the notable part extracted by the extraction part satisfies the specified photographing condition stored in the condition storage part, the timing signal generation part outputs the timing signal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera, and more particularly to a camera that automatically shoots when a subject satisfies predetermined shooting conditions.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a person is photographed as a subject, a technique for modifying the photograph in order to improve the photographed photograph is known. However, modifying photos requires advanced techniques, and for example, modifying a person's blinking moment to a non-blinking photograph or laughing a person's non-laughing photograph Difficult to do.

[0003] On the other hand, conventionally, there is known a technique in which a plurality of photographs are continuously photographed, a plurality of photographed images are collectively displayed on a screen, and a satisfactory image is selected from among the photographed images ( JP-A-9-212620, JP-A-10-210
191216).

[0004]

Conventionally, however, the above-mentioned prior art is applied to a silver halide photograph using an expensive film, for example, because the remaining unselected photograph among a plurality of photographed photographs is discarded. Hard to do. In addition, it is necessary to select an optimal image after shooting, which is troublesome. Conventionally, when you want to take a good-looking subject,
It is up to the photographer to determine the optimum shooting timing, and it was troublesome because the optimum shooting timing could not be measured without human intervention. Further, when the subject is a plurality of persons, it has been difficult for many of the persons to take satisfactory photographs.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a camera which can solve the above-mentioned problems. This object is achieved by a combination of features described in the independent claims. The dependent claims define further advantageous embodiments of the present invention.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to a first embodiment of the present invention, an image input section for capturing an image of a subject and a predetermined photographing condition relating to the subject are stored. And a timing signal generator that outputs a shooting timing signal when the subject satisfies the shooting condition.

The image processing apparatus further includes an extraction unit for extracting a main subject from the image based on a first extraction condition, wherein the shooting condition includes a predetermined shooting condition for the main subject, and the timing signal generating unit includes There may be provided a means for outputting the photographing timing signal when the subject satisfies the photographing condition. The first extraction condition may include a predetermined extraction condition based on depth distribution information indicating a distance to each part of the subject. The extraction unit further includes a unit that extracts a plurality of the main subjects from the image, and the timing signal generation unit outputs the shooting timing signal when the plurality of the main subjects satisfy the shooting condition. It may further have a means for outputting. The timing signal generator is configured to include, among a plurality of the main subjects,
The image forming apparatus may further include a unit that outputs the photographing timing signal when the main subject having a predetermined ratio or more satisfies the photographing condition.

[0008] The extraction unit may further include means for detecting a region of interest of the main subject from the main subject based on a second extraction condition different from the first extraction condition. The timing signal generator may include a predetermined imaging condition related to a part, and the timing signal generation unit may further include a unit that outputs the imaging timing signal when the target part satisfies the imaging condition. The extraction unit, when extracting a plurality of the main subjects from the image, further includes a unit configured to detect the attention site of each of the plurality of the main subjects, the timing signal generation unit, The apparatus may further include means for outputting the photographing timing signal when the region of interest satisfies the photographing condition. The timing signal generating unit outputs the photographing timing signal when the target part of a predetermined ratio or more satisfies the photographing condition among the plural target parts of the main subject. May be further provided.

[0009] An imaging control unit for causing the input unit to capture the image based on the imaging timing signal may be further provided. An input condition determining unit that determines a predetermined image input condition based on the information about the region of interest detected by the extracting unit; and an image forming unit that forms an image of the subject on the input unit based on the image input condition. A control unit may be further provided. The image processing apparatus may further include a recording unit that records the image on an exchangeable non-volatile recording medium based on the photographing timing signal. The image processing apparatus may further include an image processing unit that performs image processing on the image based on the information on the target region detected by the extraction unit. The image processing apparatus may further include a notification unit that outputs a notification signal that notifies a photographer whether the subject has satisfied the imaging conditions. The condition storage unit stores a plurality of the shooting conditions,
Further, there may be provided a means for selecting at least one desired condition from among the plurality of photographing conditions and presetting the selected condition.

The second embodiment of the present invention includes a timing signal generating step of outputting a photographing timing signal when a subject satisfies a predetermined photographing condition. An extraction step of extracting a main subject from an image obtained by capturing the subject based on a first condition, further comprising:
The method may include a predetermined photographing condition for the main subject, and the timing signal generating step may include outputting the photographing timing signal when the main subject satisfies the photographing condition. The extracting step further includes a step of detecting a target region of the main subject from the image based on a second condition different from the first condition, wherein the photographing condition includes a predetermined photographing condition relating to the target region. Including
The timing signal generating step may further include outputting the imaging timing signal when the target part satisfies the imaging condition.

[0011] The method may further include the step of imaging the subject based on the imaging timing signal. The method may further include a step of determining a predetermined image input condition based on the information on the target part detected in the extraction step, and a step of forming an image of the subject based on the image input condition. The method may further include a step of recording an image of the subject on a nonvolatile recording medium based on the photographing timing signal. The method may further include a step of performing image processing on the image based on the information on the region of interest detected in the extracting step.

The above summary of the present invention does not list all of the necessary features of the present invention, and a sub-combination of these features may also be an invention.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the present invention. However, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims and are described in the embodiments. Not all combinations of features are essential to the solution of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a digital camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The camera of this embodiment is
An image of a subject is preliminarily photographed, and when the preliminarily photographed image (sub image) satisfies a predetermined imaging condition, main imaging is performed based on a predetermined image input condition. Then, the image (main image) obtained by the actual shooting is subjected to image processing based on predetermined image processing conditions. It is to be noted that normal photographing can be performed at a timing desired by the photographer without automatically determining the photographing timing, and the user can switch between the automatic photographing mode and the normal photographing mode by a predetermined method.

The camera of the present embodiment has an input unit 20 and an A /
D conversion unit 30, memory 40, control unit 50, release switch 52, notification unit 54, recording unit 90, and output unit 92
And The camera of the present embodiment includes, for example, a digital still camera, a digital video camera capable of capturing a still image, and the like.

The input unit 20 includes a parallax image input unit 22 and an image input unit 24. The parallax image input unit 22 includes:
A parallax image for capturing an object from a different viewpoint is input.
The parallax image input unit 22 includes a parallax lens 32, a parallax shutter 34, and a parallax CCD (Charge coupled device:
Charge-coupled device) 36. The parallax lens 32 forms an image of a subject. The parallax shutter 34 includes a plurality of openable and closable opening / closing portions serving as viewpoints, and one of the opening / closing portions is opened. The parallax CCD 36 receives the image of the subject formed by the parallax lens 32 and converts the image into an electric signal.

By opening one of the plurality of opening / closing portions included in the parallax shutter 34, the image of the subject is transmitted through the parallax lens 32 and one of the open / closed portions. It is connected to the CCD 36. Next, by opening another opening / closing part, the parallax lens 32 is opened.
And the opening / closing part which is open, the image of the subject
It is tied to CD36. The image captured in this manner is a parallax image obtained by capturing an object from a different viewpoint.

The image input means 24 inputs an image of a subject taken from one viewpoint. The image input means 24 includes a lens 25, an aperture 26, a shutter 27, a color filter 28, and a CCD 29. The lens 25 forms an image of the subject, the aperture 26 adjusts the aperture amount, and the shutter 27 adjusts the exposure time. The color filter 28 decomposes the RGB components of the light received through the lens 25. CCD29
Receives the image of the subject formed by the lens 25 and converts it into an electric signal.

The A / D conversion section 30 is a parallax image input unit 2
2 and converts the analog signal received from the image input means 24 into a digital signal, and outputs the digital signal to the memory 40. The memory 40 stores the input digital signal. That is, the memory 40 stores the parallax image of the subject captured by the parallax image input unit 22 and the image captured by the image input unit 24.

The control unit 50 generates a photographing timing signal when the subject satisfies predetermined photographing conditions,
The photographing operation is controlled based on the photographing timing signal. Further, the control unit 50 performs image processing on the captured image of the subject and outputs the processed image. The control unit 50 controls at least one of the focus of the lens 25, the aperture amount of the aperture 26, the exposure time of the shutter 27, the signal output of the CCD 29, the opening and closing of the parallax shutter 34, and the signal output of the parallax CCD 36.

The release switch 52 is connected to the control unit 5
A signal for starting the control of the photographing operation is output to 0. That is, when the photographer turns on the release switch 52, the control unit 50 controls the input unit 20 to photograph the subject. The notifying unit 54 outputs a notification signal for notifying the photographer whether or not the subject satisfies predetermined photographing conditions, based on the signal received from the control unit 50. Notification unit 54
For example, an alarm sound generator or a lamp may be considered.

The recording section 90 records the image received from the control unit 50 on a recording medium. The recording medium on which the recording unit 90 records the image may be, for example, a magnetic recording medium such as a floppy disk or an exchangeable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory. The output unit 92 outputs the image recorded on the recording unit 90 to the outside. As an output method, there are a print output by a printer, an image output by a monitor, and the like. For example, when the camera has a built-in small-sized liquid crystal monitor, the user can immediately confirm the image of the processing result of the image processing by the control unit 50.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control unit 50 of this embodiment in detail. The control unit 50 of the present embodiment includes an imaging control unit 56, an imaging control unit 58, and an extraction unit 6
0, a condition storage unit 70, a timing signal generation unit 80, an input condition determination unit 82, and an image processing unit 84.

The extraction unit 60 receives from the memory 40 the parallax image captured by the parallax image input unit 22 and the sub-image captured by the image input unit 24. Extraction unit 6
0 extracts the main subject from the sub-image based on the information included in the parallax image and the sub-image. The main subject referred to here is an independent target object that the photographer intentionally photographs, among the subjects to be photographed. For example, the main subjects are the person when photographing a person in a room, the fish when photographing a fish swimming in an aquarium, and the bird when photographing a bird perching on a tree branch. In the present embodiment, especially when a person is photographed with a subject as the subject, the extraction unit 60 extracts the face portion of the person as the main subject.

The extraction unit 60 detects a target part based on information on a face part. The part of interest referred to here is a part that is particularly noticed when judging whether or not the main subject satisfies a predetermined imaging condition among the parts included in the main subject to be imaged, and the part to which the judgment condition is assigned. It is. For example, the eyes of the person when photographing a person, the feathers of the bird when photographing a bird, and the like are the target parts. In the present embodiment, the extraction unit 6 is particularly used when shooting with a person as a subject.
0 detects the shape and color of the eyes and mouth of the person. Information about the target region is output to the timing signal generator 80, the input condition determiner 82, and the image processor 84.

The condition storage unit 70 stores predetermined photographing conditions relating to the main subject included in the sub-image of the subject. In the present embodiment, the photographing condition is that the main subject is well-viewed in the sub-image. The condition storage unit 70 may store a plurality of shooting conditions. The user may select at least one desired condition from among a plurality of photographing conditions and set the condition in the condition storage unit 70.

The timing signal generator 80 outputs a photographing timing signal. That is, when the region of interest extracted by the extraction unit 60 satisfies a predetermined imaging condition stored in the condition storage unit 70, the timing signal generation unit 80 outputs an imaging timing signal.

The input condition determining unit 82 determines an image input condition based on the information on the main subject or the attention site received from the extracting unit 60. The image input condition is output to the imaging control unit 58. As the image input condition, for example,
Conditions such as focusing on the subject in which the eye, which is the attention site, is detected are conceivable. As described above, the input condition determination unit 82 determines image input conditions such as focus, and the input unit 20 inputs an image based on the determined image input conditions, so that a good-looking image can be captured.

The image forming control section 58 causes the input section 20 to form an image of a subject based on image input conditions. That is, the imaging control unit 58 determines the focus of the lens 25, the aperture amount of the aperture 26,
Exposure time of shutter 27 and shutter 3 for parallax
At least one of the four open / close operations is controlled based on image input conditions.

The imaging control section 56 causes the input section 20 to capture an image. That is, the imaging control unit 56 controls at least one of the signal output of the CCD 29 and the signal output of the parallax CCD 36. Further, the imaging control unit 56 causes the input unit 20 to capture the main image based on the capturing timing signal,
The image processing unit 84 performs image processing of the main image.

The image processing section 84 receives the main image captured by the image input means 24 from the memory 40. Then, the image processing unit 84 performs image processing on the main image based on the information on the main subject or the attention site extracted by the extraction unit 60.

The following methods are conceivable as image processing methods. For example, the image processing unit 84 optimizes the face part and the part other than the face when the image part is not good as a whole because the gradation is significantly different between the face part and the part other than the face in the main image. The image may be processed after being processed to an appropriate gradation. Further, when it is desired to compress the image data size of the entire main image without deteriorating the image quality of the face part, the image processing unit 84 performs different color reduction (color compression) for the face part and the part other than the face and combines them. You may. Further, the image processing unit 84
The image of the face portion may be enlarged and emphasized to be combined with a portion other than the face, or the image of the face portion may be combined with an arbitrary background image. Further, the above-described image processing may be separately performed on the main subject in which the attention site is detected and the other subjects. As described above, since the extraction unit 60 extracts the main subject and the attention site, image processing can be separately performed on the main subject and other subjects.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the extraction unit 60. It is said that most subjects photographed by the camera are people. Therefore, photographing a good image often determines whether or not a person who is a subject is well-looking as a criterion for photographing timing. In the present embodiment, when a person is set as a subject, an image is captured at the moment when the person is captured with good appearance. The conditions under which the person looks good are, for example, "not blinking", "the line of sight is facing the camera", "smiling", and the like.

The extracting section 60 includes a depth information extracting means 62, an image information extracting means 64, a main subject extracting means 66, and a target part detecting means 68.

The depth information extracting means 62 extracts depth distribution information indicating the distance to each part of the subject based on the parallax image received from the memory 40. That is, the depth information extracting unit 62 obtains a parallax amount by performing a corresponding point determination process on a predetermined subject based on the parallax image,
The depth distribution information is extracted based on the obtained amount of parallax. The corresponding point determination processing is a conventionally known technique, and a description thereof will be omitted. The process of extracting the depth distribution information based on the amount of parallax can be performed based on a conventionally known principle of triangulation, and a description thereof will not be repeated.

The image information extracting means 64 extracts image information of the image, for example, luminance distribution information, color distribution information, texture distribution information, motion distribution information, etc., based on the sub-image received from the memory 40.

The main subject extracting means 66 extracts a face portion from the sub-image as a main subject based on the depth distribution information and the image information. Here, the extraction condition of the main subject is
In addition to a simple majority or average of the depth distribution information and the image information, the information may be extracted by another calculation method. For example, after extracting a plurality of subjects included in the image based on the depth distribution information, a main subject is selected from the plurality of subjects based on the following determination factors.

As a determining factor for selecting a main subject, for example, whether the subject is located near the camera, near the center of the image, or the height of the subject in the image is determined by the height of the image relative to the vertical width of the image. For example, the ratio is within a predetermined range.
In this case, the distance from each subject to the camera is quantified based on the depth distribution information, and the distance of each subject from the center of the image and the ratio of the height of each subject to the image vertical width are quantified based on the image information. . A sum of numerical values obtained by giving different weights to the respective quantified judgment elements is calculated, and the calculated sum is used as a weighted average value of each subject. Then, the subject having the largest weighted average value among the calculated weighted average values is set as the main subject.

When there is a judgment element which is particularly important among the judgment elements, the weight of the numerical value of the judgment element may be increased. In the present embodiment in which a person is the subject, the main subject extracting means 66 extracts the face of the person as the subject as the main subject. When extracting a face portion, whether or not there is a skin color portion may be used as a further determining factor. In this case, the amount of skin color is quantified based on the image information,
The weight of the skin color amount may be particularly increased. When a plurality of persons are included in the image, the faces of all the plurality of persons are extracted.

The main subject extracting means 66 extracts a main subject based on depth distribution information and image information. Thereby, for example, even when face images of a plurality of persons partially overlap in front and behind, unlike the case where extraction is performed based only on image information, the face of the front person and the back of the front person are accurately determined based on the depth distribution information. A human face can be extracted.

The attention site detection means 68 detects the attention site from the face portion extracted by the main subject extraction means 66 based on the image information included in the sub-image. In the present embodiment, the eyes and the mouth are detected from the face part under conditions different from the extraction conditions of the main subject extracting means 66. Hereinafter, conditions for detecting the eyes and the mouth in the attention site detecting means 68 will be described.

Human eyes have little individual difference in color, shape, and relative position with respect to the face. Therefore, the eye color, shape, relative position, and the like are patterned in advance, and a shape similar to the eye pattern is recognized from the face portion. The color, shape, and relative position of the human mouth with respect to the face have little individual difference, and the shape of the mouth is recognized from the face portion by patterning in advance similarly to the eyes. The extraction unit 60 first extracts a face part, and detects one part of the face such as eyes and mouth from the extracted face part. Therefore, the extraction unit 60 erroneously detects a pattern similar to the eyes and mouth from an image such as a background. Can be prevented.

When a plurality of persons are included in the image, the target part detecting means 68 detects a target part for each person from each face part. Then, the attention site detection unit 68 outputs information on the attention site to the timing signal generation unit 80.

Next, the method of determining the photographing timing and the photographing conditions will be described. Examples of the photographing conditions under which a person is well-appeared include, for example, conditions such as “the part of interest is not blinking”, “the line of sight is facing the camera”, and “smile”. The method of determining whether or not the target site satisfies the imaging conditions differs depending on the imaging conditions. Hereinafter, a determination method for each shooting condition will be described.

In the case of the photographing conditions of "not blinking" and "the line of sight is facing the camera", the color, shape, size, and the like of the eyes are used as judgment materials. In the case of the shooting condition of “smiling”, the size of the eyes, the shape of the mouth, the size of the mouth, and the like are used as the judgment material. Whether these determination materials satisfy the photographing conditions is determined by a predetermined algorithm based on an empirical rule for each photographing condition.

When the photographing condition is that the eyes are not "blinking", the following judgment is made. When a person blinks, the eyeball is hidden by the eyelids. In addition, even when the eyes are half closed during the blinking operation, the white eye portion of the eyeball surface is particularly difficult to see from the outside. Therefore, the area of the white part of the eye detected by the attention site detecting means 68 is calculated based on the image information, and the imaging condition is satisfied when the area exceeds a predetermined reference area. Since the lateral length of the eye is constant whether the eye is opened or closed, the reference area is a value relative to the lateral length of the eye. In addition, since blinking is usually performed simultaneously with both eyes, it is sufficient to judge only one eye.
However, the accuracy of the determination may be further improved by performing the determination for both eyes.

When the photographing condition is that "the line of sight is facing the camera", the following judgment is made. When the line of sight is facing the camera, the line connecting the camera and the iris substantially coincides with the normal vector of the iris.
Therefore, after recognizing, as an iris, a substantially circular or substantially elliptical portion in which at least the periphery of the eye detected by the attention site detecting means 68 is brown or the like, the center point of the iris is detected based on the image information. . Then, a normal vector of the center point of the iris is obtained based on the depth distribution information. When the angle of the normal vector of the iris substantially coincides with the angle of the line connecting the camera and the iris, the target site satisfies the imaging condition.

The normal vector of the iris can also be obtained from the relative positional relationship between the camera and the face, the relative positional relationship between the face and the eyes, and the relative positional relationship between the entire eyes and the iris. When the angle of the normal vector of the iris obtained in this way substantially coincides with the angle of the line connecting the camera and the iris, the target part satisfies the imaging condition. If the judgment is made for both eyes, the accuracy of the judgment can be increased.

When "smiling" is set as the photographing condition, the following judgment is made. When a person smiles,
Although there are individual differences, generally the right and left ends are spread in the horizontal direction, and teeth are often visible in the mouth. In addition, the eyes when smiling are often narrower than usual, although there are individual differences. Therefore, the area of the white part in the eyes detected by the attention part detecting means 68, the lateral length of the mouth,
And the area of the white part in the mouth is calculated based on the image information.

A white area in the eye is smaller than a predetermined reference area, a lateral length of the mouth is longer than a predetermined reference length, and a white area in the mouth is smaller than a predetermined reference area. When each condition of being larger than the area is satisfied, the photographing condition is satisfied. The reference area of the white part of the eye is a value relative to the lateral length of the eye. The reference length of the lateral length of the mouth is a value relative to the lateral length of the face. The reference area of the white part of the mouth is a value relative to the face area.

When the target part satisfies the imaging conditions by the above determination, the timing signal generator 80 outputs an imaging timing signal. As described above, in the present embodiment, the control unit 50 extracts a face portion based on the sub-image and the information on the sub-image, and detects a target portion from the extracted face portion. Then, since the photographing is performed when the detected part of interest satisfies the photographing conditions, it is possible to automatically photograph a good image without any human judgment.

When a plurality of persons are set as subjects, the timing signal generation section 80 determines whether or not the attention site of each person satisfies the photographing conditions. Also, among multiple people,
The imaging timing signal may be output to the timing signal generation section 80 when the target portion included in the predetermined number of persons or more satisfies the imaging condition. In this case, it is possible to automatically capture an image in which many of the plurality of persons are clearly displayed.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a photographing method according to this embodiment. First, the release switch 52
The photographing operation is started by operating (S10).
0). When the photographing operation is started, the parallax image input unit 22
(S102), and the sub-images are continuously input by the image input unit 24 (S10).
4). Next, the main subject extracting means 66 extracts the face portion of the person who is the subject as the main subject (S10).
6). Next, the attention part detecting means 68 detects the attention part based on the information on the face part (S108). Next, the timing signal generation section 80 outputs an imaging timing signal when the target part satisfies the imaging conditions (S110). The imaging control unit 56 that has received the imaging timing signal causes the input unit 20 to perform actual imaging (S112).

Next, the image processing section 84 performs image processing such as synthesis on the main image obtained by the main photographing (S11).
4). The processing result image subjected to the image processing is stored in the recording unit 90.
Is recorded on the recording medium (S116). Output unit 92
Outputs a processing result image (S118), and the photographing operation ends (S120).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the detailed operation of the face portion extraction step (S106) in FIG. First, the depth information extracting unit 62 extracts depth distribution information based on a parallax image (S130), and the image information extracting unit 64 extracts image information based on a sub-image (S132). Next, the main subject extracting means 66
A face portion is extracted based on the depth distribution information and the image information. When a plurality of persons are set as subjects, the main subject extracting means 66 is used until the faces of all the plurality of persons are extracted.
Repeats the extraction of the face part (S134) (S136).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a detailed operation of the step of detecting a target part (S108) in FIG. First, the attention site detecting means 68 detects the attention site based on the information on the face portion (S150). In the case where a plurality of persons are used as subjects, the attention site detection means 68 detects the attention site from the face portions of all the plurality of persons (S15).
2, S150). Next, the input condition determination unit 82 determines an image input condition based on the information on the target part (S
154).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the detailed operation of the photographing timing signal generation step (S110) in FIG. First, the timing signal generator 80 determines whether or not the target site detected by the target site detector 68 satisfies the imaging conditions (S160). Until at least a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the imaging operation, the timing signal generation unit 80 repeats the determination as to whether or not the target part satisfies the imaging conditions (S164, S160). If the timing signal generator 80 determines that the target site satisfies the imaging conditions, it outputs an imaging timing signal (S162). If the target region does not satisfy the imaging condition even after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the imaging operation, the imaging control unit 56 sets the input unit 20
To stop the imaging of the image (S164, S16
6).

FIG. 8 shows the main photographing step (S11) in FIG.
It is a flowchart which shows the detailed operation | movement of 2). Based on the photographing timing signal output in the photographing timing signal generation step (S110), the photographing control unit 56 causes the input unit 20 to photograph the main image and perform automatic photographing (S17).
0). Then, the main image is input by the input unit 20 (S172).

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the notification unit 54 outputs a notification signal such as an alarm sound or lighting of a lamp based on a shooting timing signal. The photographer who senses the notification signal manually turns on the release switch 52.
The configuration of the digital camera according to the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a description of the configuration will be omitted.

The photographing method according to the present embodiment is almost the same as the photographing method according to the first embodiment, and is the same as the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 except for detailed operations. FIG.
5 is a flowchart showing a detailed operation of a main photographing step (S112) in FIG. Based on the shooting timing signal output in the shooting timing signal generation step (S110), the notification unit 54 outputs a notification signal such as an alarm sound or lighting of a lamp (S190). When the photographer who senses the notification signal manually turns on the release switch 52 and shoots (S192), the main image is input (S19).
4).

According to the present embodiment, the notifying section 54 outputs a notification signal such as an alarm sound or lamp lighting based on the photographing timing signal, so that the photographer can photograph without determining the optimal photographing timing. Can be. Also, the person who is the subject can confirm the shooting timing by sound or light.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. This embodiment is different from the first and second embodiments in that when the notifying unit 54 does not receive a shooting timing signal within a predetermined time from the start of shooting, it outputs a notification signal such as an alarm sound or lighting of a lamp. . The configuration of the digital camera according to this embodiment is the same as that of the first and second embodiments, and a description of the configuration will be omitted.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the detailed operation of the photographing timing signal generation step (S110) of this embodiment in FIG. First, the timing signal generator 80 determines whether or not the target site detected by the target site detector 68 satisfies the imaging condition (S180). Until at least a predetermined time elapses from the start of the operation of the timing signal generation unit 80, the timing signal generation unit 80 repeatedly determines whether or not the target part satisfies the imaging condition (S184, S180). Timing signal generator 80
Outputs an imaging timing signal when it is determined that the attention site satisfies the imaging conditions (S182). Even if a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the operation of the timing signal generator 80,
If the target region does not satisfy the imaging conditions, the notification unit 54 outputs a notification signal such as an alarm sound or lighting of a lamp (S1).
84, S186). Then, the imaging control unit 56 sets the input unit 2
The photographing of the image by 0 is stopped (S188).

In the present embodiment, when the notifying section 54 does not receive a shooting timing signal within a predetermined time from the start of shooting, it outputs a notification signal such as an alarm sound or lighting of a lamp. Both the photographer and the subject can confirm that the condition is not satisfied by sound or light.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of the silver halide camera according to the present embodiment. The camera according to the present embodiment preliminarily captures an image of a subject, and when the preliminarily captured image (sub image) satisfies a predetermined imaging condition, performs a main imaging based on a predetermined image input condition. The silver halide camera of FIG. 11 includes an input unit 20, an A / D converter 30, a memory 40, a control unit 50, a release switch 52, and a notification unit 54. A / D converter 3
0, the memory 40, the control unit 50, the release switch 52, and the notification unit 54 have substantially the same configuration as those in the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

The input unit 20 includes a parallax image input unit 122, a sub image input unit 124, and a main image input unit 130. Parallax image input means 122 and sub-image input means 124
Has the same configuration as the parallax image input unit 22 and the image input unit 24 of the first embodiment. The main image input unit 130 includes a lens 132, an aperture 134, and a shutter 13.
6 and a photographing unit 138. Lens 132 and aperture 134
The shutter 136 has the same configuration as the lens 25, the aperture 26, and the shutter 27 in FIG. The imaging unit 138 causes a silver halide photosensitive film or the like to capture an image of a subject by a photochemical reaction.

In the digital camera of the first embodiment, both the preliminary photographing and the actual photographing are performed by the image input means 24. In the silver halide camera of the present embodiment, the preliminary photographing is performed by the sub-image input means 124, The photographing is different in that the main image input means 130 performs the photographing. The sub-image input unit 124 has a CCD as an image pickup body similarly to the image input unit 24 of the digital camera of the first embodiment, and outputs an image of a subject as an electric signal.

FIG. 12 shows a control unit 50 according to this embodiment.
It is a block diagram which shows in detail. The control unit 50 of the present embodiment includes an imaging control unit 56, an imaging control unit 58, an extraction unit 60, a condition storage unit 70, a timing signal generation unit 80, and an input condition determination unit 82. Extraction unit 60 of the present embodiment
The configuration of the condition storage unit 70, the timing signal generation unit 80, and the input condition determination unit 82 are the same as those of the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

The image forming control section 58 causes the input section 20 to form an image of a subject. Further, the imaging control unit 58 controls at least one of the focus of the lens 132, the aperture amount of the aperture 134, and the exposure time of the shutter 136 based on the image input conditions. Imaging control unit 56
Causes the input unit 20 to capture an image. Further, the imaging control unit 56 causes the imaging unit 138 to capture the main image based on the image input condition.

In this embodiment, a silver halide type image pickup section is used only for image input means in the main photographing, and an image input means with a built-in CCD is used for preliminary photographing. This allows
An optimum photograph can be taken without taking many silver halide photographs using expensive films.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the main subject extracting means 66 extracts a main subject based on the depth distribution information and the image information. This allows, for example,
Even if face images of multiple people partially overlap in front and behind, unlike the case of extracting based on image information only, the front face and the back face are extracted with high accuracy based on depth distribution information can do.

According to the first embodiment, the extraction unit 60
However, since the face part is extracted first and one part of the face such as eyes and mouth is detected from the extracted face part, it is possible to prevent a pattern similar to the eyes and mouth from being erroneously detected from the image such as the background. be able to.

Further, according to the first embodiment, the control unit 50 extracts a face portion based on the sub-image and the information on the sub-image, and detects a target portion from the extracted face portion.
Then, since the photographing is performed when the detected part of interest satisfies the photographing conditions, it is possible to automatically photograph a good image without any human judgment.

Further, according to the first embodiment, when a plurality of persons are to be taken as subjects, when a portion of interest included in a plurality of persons of a predetermined ratio or more satisfies the photographing condition. , And causes the timing signal generator 80 to output a shooting timing signal. As a result, it is possible to automatically shoot an image in which many of the plurality of persons are clearly displayed.

According to the first embodiment, the input condition determination unit 82 determines image input conditions such as focus, and the input unit 20 inputs an image based on the determined image input conditions. Good images can be taken.

According to the first embodiment, the extraction unit 60
Processing unit 84 based on the main subject extracted by
Performs image processing, so that the main subject and other subjects can be separately image-processed.

According to the second embodiment, the notification unit 54
Outputs a notification signal such as an alarm sound or lighting of a lamp based on the shooting timing signal, so that the photographer can determine the optimum shooting timing only by the notification signal and shoot. Also, the person who is the subject can confirm the shooting timing by sound or light.

According to the third embodiment, the notification unit 54
Outputs a notification signal such as an alarm sound or lighting of a lamp when a shooting timing signal is not received within a predetermined time from the start of shooting, so that both the photographer and the subject can be notified that the shooting condition has not been satisfied. It can be confirmed by sound or light.

Further, according to the fourth embodiment, the silver halide type image pickup section is used only for the image input means in the main photographing.
Thus, an optimum photograph can be taken without photographing many silver halide photographs using an expensive film.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiment, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiment. It is apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes or improvements can be added to the above embodiment. It is apparent from the description of the appended claims that embodiments with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to take a picture when the subject satisfies predetermined photographing conditions.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a digital camera.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control unit 50.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an extraction unit 60.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a photographing method.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a detailed operation of a face part extraction step (S106) in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a step of detecting a target part in FIG. 4 (S108).
5 is a flowchart showing a detailed operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows a photographing timing signal generation step (S
It is a flowchart which shows the detailed operation of 110).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a detailed operation of a main photographing step (S112) in FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a detailed operation of a main photographing step (S112) in FIG. 4;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a detailed operation of a shooting timing signal generation step (S110) of the embodiment in FIG. 4;

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a silver halide camera.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a control unit 50 in detail.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 input unit 22 parallax image input unit 24 image input unit 25 lens 26 aperture 27 shutter 28 color filter 29 CCD 30 A / D conversion unit 32 parallax lens 34 parallax shutter 36 parallax CCD 40 memory 50 control unit 52 release switch 54 Notification unit 56 Imaging control unit 58 Imaging control unit 60 Extraction unit 62 Depth information extraction unit 64 Image information extraction unit 66 Main subject extraction unit 68 Attention site detection unit 70 Condition storage unit 80 Timing signal generation unit 82 Input condition determination unit 84 Image Processing unit 85 Detection start unit 86 Change detection unit 88 Judgment unit 90 Recording unit 92 Output unit 122 Parallax image input unit 124 Sub-image input unit 130 Main image input unit 132 Lens 134 Aperture 136 Shutter 138 Imaging unit

Claims (21)

[Claims] An image input unit configured to capture an image obtained by forming an image of a subject; a condition storage unit configured to store predetermined shooting conditions related to the subject; and a shooting timing signal output when the subject satisfies the shooting condition. A camera comprising: 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an extraction unit configured to extract a main subject from the image based on a first condition, wherein the shooting condition includes a predetermined shooting condition regarding the main subject, and the timing signal generating unit includes: 2. The camera according to claim 1, further comprising: means for outputting the photographing timing signal when a main subject satisfies the photographing condition. 3. The camera according to claim 2, wherein the first condition includes a predetermined extraction condition based on depth distribution information indicating a distance to each part of the subject. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the extracting unit further includes a unit configured to extract a plurality of the main subjects from the image, wherein the timing signal generating unit is configured to execute the processing when the plurality of the main subjects satisfy the photographing condition. 4. The camera according to claim 1, further comprising a unit that outputs the photographing timing signal. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the timing signal generator further includes: a unit configured to output the photographing timing signal when a predetermined ratio or more of the main subjects among the plurality of main subjects satisfy the photographing condition. The camera according to claim 4, wherein: 6. The extraction unit further includes means for detecting a region of interest of the main subject from the main subject based on a second condition different from the first condition. 6. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a predetermined imaging condition relating to a part, wherein the timing signal generator further includes a unit configured to output the imaging timing signal when the target part satisfies the imaging condition.
The camera according to any one of the above. 7. The method according to claim 7, wherein the extracting unit further includes: a unit configured to detect the target part of each of the plurality of main subjects when extracting the plurality of main subjects from the image; 7. The camera according to claim 6, further comprising: a unit that outputs the photographing timing signal when a plurality of the target parts satisfy the photographing condition. 8. The timing signal generating section outputs the photographing timing signal when a target ratio of a predetermined ratio or more satisfies the photographing condition among a plurality of target regions of the main subject. 8. The camera according to claim 7, further comprising: means. 9. The camera according to claim 1, further comprising an imaging control unit configured to cause the input unit to capture the image based on the timing signal. 10. An input condition deciding unit for deciding an image input condition based on information on the target part detected by the extraction unit; and forming an image of the subject on the input unit based on the image input condition. The camera according to any one of claims 2 to 9, further comprising: an imaging control unit configured to perform the operation. 11. The camera according to claim 1, further comprising a recording unit that records the image on an exchangeable non-volatile recording medium based on the photographing timing signal. 12. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: an image processing unit configured to perform image processing on the image based on information on the target region detected by the extraction unit.
12. The camera according to any one of claims 11 to 11. 13. The camera according to claim 1, further comprising: a notifying unit that outputs a notifying signal to notify a photographer whether the subject has satisfied the photographing condition. 14. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the condition storage unit stores a plurality of the photographing conditions, and further includes means for selecting and presetting at least one desired condition from the plurality of the photographing conditions. The camera according to any one of claims 1 to 13. 15. A photographing method comprising a timing signal generating step of outputting a photographing timing signal when a subject satisfies predetermined photographing conditions. 16. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: extracting a main subject from an image obtained by capturing the subject based on a first condition, wherein the shooting condition includes a predetermined shooting condition related to the main subject, 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the step includes outputting the photographing timing signal when the main subject satisfies the photographing condition. 17. The method according to claim 17, wherein the extracting step further comprises a step of detecting a target part of the main subject from the image based on a second condition different from the first condition. 17. The photographing method according to claim 16, further comprising a step of outputting the photographing timing signal when the region of interest satisfies the photographing condition. Method. 18. The imaging method according to claim 15, further comprising a step of imaging the subject based on the imaging timing signal. 19. The method according to claim 19, further comprising: determining an image input condition based on the information on the target part detected in the extracting step; and forming an image of the subject based on the image input condition. Claims 16 to 1
8. The imaging method according to any one of 8. 20. The photographing method according to claim 15, further comprising a step of recording an image of the photographed object on a nonvolatile recording medium based on the photographing timing signal. 21. The imaging method according to claim 16, further comprising a step of performing image processing on the image based on information on the target part detected in the extraction step. .