JP2001313849A - Photographing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable even a single photographer to take a photo along with a desire of a customer, while fully keeping communication with the customer in a photo studio or the like. SOLUTION: The photographing apparatus is provided with a digital camera, a frame for supporting the camera, a monitor display device that extracts a finder image of the digital camera and displays it separately, a remote controller that can remotely control required operations, such as focusing of the digital camera, camera angle adjustment, tilt angle adjustment, zooming and vertical position adjustment of the camera, and a background device. It is furthermore convenient to direct the sight of line toward the camera, by providing a device for calling the attention of an object.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photographing apparatus which can perform operations required for photographing by remote control, thereby eliminating the need for manual operations for photographing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a photograph is taken in a photo studio or the like, a subject (customer) stands or sits in a predetermined position, and a photographer standing behind the camera focuses while looking into a viewfinder of the camera. He performed zooming, angle adjustment, height adjustment, etc., and when these settings were made, he shouted out to get the attention of the subject and pressed the shutter at that moment to shoot.

[0003] However, in the above conventional photographing method,
Since the photographer and the subject are far apart and the photographer must concentrate on the operation of the camera, communication with the most important customers at the shooting site is insufficient, and it is difficult to take satisfactory photos There was a problem. In addition, an assistant other than the photographer was required to adjust the pose and position of the customer.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention is an improvement of the above-mentioned conventional photographing method, and allows a single photographer to photograph a photograph according to the customer's demand while sufficiently communicating with the customer. The challenge is to do so.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides the following system. That is, a photographing device according to the present invention includes a digital camera, a gantry supporting the camera, a monitor display device for taking out a finder image of the digital camera and separately displaying the image, a focusing of the digital camera, and a camera angle adjustment. And a remote controller capable of performing necessary operations such as tilt angle adjustment, zooming, and camera vertical position adjustment by remote control.

In this photographing device, the camera can be operated by remote control to adjust the camera angle, focus, tilt angle, zooming, and the like, and the finder image can be observed on the monitor device at a position away from the camera. In addition, the photographer can select poses and images and perform actual shooting while talking with the customer near the customer. For this reason, it is possible to take a picture that the customer likes more efficiently than the conventional method.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 and subsequent drawings illustrate an embodiment of the present invention. This photographing apparatus includes a camera 1 in a studio, an image processing apparatus 3 also serving as a second monitor,
A pause controller 4, a first monitor device 5, a lighting device 6, a background device 7, and the like are provided. The pause controller 4 is a personal computer that also serves as a control device for the lighting device 6. The camera 1 is a CCD camera mounted on the gantry 2 so as to be able to adjust the vertical position, and has a CCD camera for taking out a finder image thereof.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the structure of a camera 1. This camera 1 includes a main image recording CCD 11, a small CCD 12 for a finder, and mirrors 13 and 14 for switching optical paths. Small CCD12 for
The output of the monitor device with a cable (display device)
The digital image output of the image recording CCD 11 is supplied to the image processing device 3 via a cable. The information of the camera 1 is divided into main image data having a large amount of data for print printing and lightweight data which can easily follow the movement in the viewfinder. For this reason, the image quality of the main image having a large amount of data is good, and the finder image composed of lightweight data has a quick movement, so that it has good followability to the movement of the subject. Since the mirror 13 is raised at the moment when the shutter is released, the main image can be recorded by the CCD. Further, since this camera is a single-lens reflex device, there is no shutter time lag.

The camera 1 is mounted on a gantry 2.
As shown in FIG. 3, the gantry 2 has upper and lower horizontal frames fixed to columns 21, 21 erected on a base 20 with casters, and a vertical screw rod 23 is rotatably supported by the frame. . On the other hand, an elevating platform 25 is provided between the columns 21 and 21 that can move up and down by using the columns as a guide. The camera 1 is mounted on the platform 25 and a nut member 26 screwed to the screw rod 23 is attached to the column. It is attached to a lifting platform. A rotating shaft of a motor 24 is connected to the screw rod 23, and the rotation of the motor causes the screw rod to rotate forward and reverse. For this reason, when the motor 24 is rotated, the lift 25 on which the camera is mounted moves up and down in accordance with the rotation direction. The vertical position of the camera 1 is adjusted by this elevation. In addition, the mount on which the camera 1 is mounted is not limited to the illustrated example, and various structures such as a conventional tripod type can be used.

An image processing device for processing image information of the camera 1 and a personal computer 3 also serving as a second monitor device, and a lighting control device are provided beside an intermediate portion between the camera 1 and a person M as a subject. PC 4 as a pause controller
And a display device (television) 5 as a monitor device for displaying the finder image.
A background panel device 7 is installed on the back of the person M, and a plurality of lighting devices (lights) 6 (a, b, c...) Are provided on the front side, the rear side, and the like. Further, an attraction device 9 that performs an operation to draw the attention of a subject such as an infant is installed at an appropriate position near the camera.

The background panel device 7 is provided so that a plurality of panels displaying various backgrounds (for example, landscapes, bouquets, color screens, etc.) can be switched. Specifically, paper or cloth displaying the backgrounds is made of paper or cloth. It hangs down from above. By selecting this paper and hanging it behind the subject, an arbitrary background can be displayed behind the subject. Also,
The attraction device 9 is a stuffed animal, a doll, a light-emitting device (patlite), a robot, or the like, performs vocalization, exercise, light emission, and the like as necessary, and directs the subject's line of sight to the camera side during shooting.

Each of the above devices is provided with a remote controller 10
Can be operated remotely. FIG. 4 shows this remote controller 10. A shutter operation button 20, a focus button 21, a zoom tele button 22, a zoom wide button 23, a tilt (upward) button 24, and a tilt ( Down) button 25, pan (left) button 26,
A pan (rightward) button 27, an attraction device selection button (a to c) 28, an intermediate speed button 29, and the like are provided. On the upper surface of the case, a gantry up button 30, a gantry down button 31, a high speed button 32, and a low speed button. 33 and the like are provided. The types and arrangement of these buttons are not limited to those in the illustrated example, but can be appropriately arranged. The high speed 32, the middle 29, and the low speed 33 buttons are used to change the pan and tilt speeds. By pressing these buttons, a shift is made to the low speed side or the high speed side.

The focusing is performed as follows. First, when the subject (person M) is looked through the viewfinder, if the subject is on the focus area F of the camera as shown in FIG. 5A, the camera automatically focuses on the subject M. Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, when a background object W such as a tree behind the person M as the subject is on the focus area F, the background object is focused. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 5C, the person M is first focused on with the person M positioned at the focus area F, and then the person M is focused on, as shown in FIG.
An operation to return to the composition is required.

Conventionally, in such a case, the shutter is half-pressed in the composition of FIG. 5C to perform focusing, and the operation is returned to the composition of FIG. 5B and the shutter is released. By doing so, the distance is locked when the shutter is half-pressed, and even in the composition of FIG.
Is focused on (focus lock work),
Changing the composition by pressing the shutter halfway (moving the camera)
Required skill and often released the shutter. In order to avoid this, in this apparatus, such a malfunction is prevented by dividing the button into two and providing a button 21 dedicated to focusing and a button 20 dedicated to shutter.

The pause controller 4 is a personal computer for the customer to select a favorite from various poses prepared in a menu in advance. A number is assigned to each of a plurality of poses prepared in advance in the menu, and the customer selects a pose corresponding to the number of times of shooting and designates the pose by a number.
FIG. 6 shows this pause input screen, and the numbers in parentheses indicate the order of photographing. A favorite pose number displayed in advance corresponding to the photographing order is selected. In the illustrated example, photographing (1) is performed in pose 12, and photographing (6) is performed in pose 65. When "Execute" in FIG. 6 is pressed, the picture corresponding to each selected pose number is displayed and registered.

At the time of actual shooting, the screen shown in FIG.
Every time the "Execute" is pressed, the currently displayed background disappears (the panel rises), and the panel of the selected background is set (falls from above). At the same time, the necessary lighting of the lighting device 6 is set. When the "confirm" button is pressed, items of the pause manual registered in advance are displayed. This item is, for example, “Camera height”
The information includes “standing position of customer”, “angle”, “expression of hand”, and “other”. The photographer confirms these items and shoots. Pressing the "end button" ends shooting,
The time from the start to the end of shooting is recorded.

As shown in FIG. 9, the first monitor device 5 displays only the current viewfinder information, and is used by the cameraman C to check the pose of the customer. The second monitor also serving as the image processing device 3
As shown in FIG. 8, a display unit 51 for displaying the immediately preceding main photographed image and a display unit 52 for sequentially capturing and displaying the previous main photographed image are provided. As this software, for example, capture software “Nikon Capture” for the Nikon digital camera D1 can be used.
Furthermore, in the illustrated example, the video board is used to display the moving image 53 in the viewfinder as a monitor in front of the image, so that the current image and the captured image can be compared to improve the operability. be able to. These monitors allow photographer C to see the actual camera image on either the first or second monitor without having to look behind the camera and look through the viewfinder.
Work can proceed quickly.

In this photographing apparatus, since the photographer C performs photographing while looking at the monitor at a position close to the subject, the photographer can immediately follow the subject even if it moves. In addition, since the camera focus and shutter are operated with separate buttons, the operation is simple and shooting can be prevented, and moreover,
Focus lock that focuses on the object near the edge of the image can also be easily performed. Since the attraction device 9 that attracts the attention of the subject can be provided and operated by remote control, it is possible to take a good photograph with the gaze directed toward the camera even if the subject is an infant or the like. For this reason, the conventionally required assistant becomes unnecessary and manpower can be saved. In remembering the camera operation, many people were reluctant to operate the machine, and in the past, people with bad eyes could not participate in shooting, but by operating with a fingertip in a remote control type as shown in the example, Shooting can be performed like a game, and anyone can participate in shooting. Therefore, if this photographing device becomes widespread, it is expected that the training of photographers will be simplified and that the price of photographs will be reduced.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a photographing system using the photographing apparatus of the present invention. When necessary data such as photographing information is inputted to the input devices 61,.
This information is supplied to a plurality of photographing rooms, and necessary information is selected in each photographing room, and a pause controller (computer) 4, ...
It is possible to take out with. This information can be taken into the image processing device 3 and photographed. For this reason, in each shooting room, the photographer can sufficiently recognize the shooting information corresponding to each customer and perform shooting suitable for the information. “Beauty” in the figure represents a beauty salon. As described above, according to the photographing system using the present invention, it is possible to efficiently photograph a large number of customers.

[0020]

As is apparent from the above description, the photographing apparatus according to the present invention can perform photographing by remote control while observing the viewfinder image of the camera on the monitor. It is possible to do.
In addition, since the necessary devices are operated by the remote control, the photographer can take a picture near the person who is the subject while maintaining close communication. For this reason, it is possible to shoot images that meet the needs of each customer. Furthermore, it is more effective to provide a background device or an attraction device as shown in the illustrated example.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view (a) and a side view (b) of the camera.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a gantry supporting a camera.

FIG. 4 is a plan view (a), a front view (b), and a side view (c) of the remote controller.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a focusing method.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a pause controller screen.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a pause controller screen.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a monitor screen of the image processing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a monitor screen of the monitor device.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a photographing system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 camera 2 base 3 image processing device 4 pose controller 5 display 10 remote controller C cameraman M subject

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A digital camera, a gantry supporting the camera, a monitor display device for taking out a finder image of the digital camera and separately displaying the image, a focusing of the digital camera, a camera angle adjustment, a tilt angle adjustment, A photographing apparatus comprising: a remote controller capable of performing necessary operations such as zooming and camera vertical position adjustment by remote control. 2. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of replaceable background panels are provided behind the subject, and can be replaced by a remote controller. 3. The photographic device according to claim 1, wherein an attraction device is provided near the camera to attract attention of an infant or the like as a subject by light emission, operation, or the like, and is operated by a remote controller. apparatus. 4. The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein the lighting device is configured to adjust the brightness, the light projecting direction, and the like according to preset shooting conditions such as a background and a pose. Photography equipment. 5. The photographing device according to claim 1, further comprising a monitor display device capable of simultaneously displaying a previously photographed main image and a finder image.