JP2002131799A - Electronic camera, image pickup device and camera shake correcting function control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic camera realizing the actuation of what is called a camera shake correcting function for correcting image blur on an image pickup surface caused by the shake of a camera main body in more appropriate timing while considering measures for power saving. SOLUTION: A system controller 31 examines first whether or not the camera shake correcting function is set to be on and continuously examines whether or not a photographing mode is a manual focusing mode when the camera shake correcting function is set to be on. When the photographing mode is the manual focusing mode, the controller 31 actuates the camera shake correcting function unconditionally. Meanwhile, when it is not the manual focusing mode, the controller 31 examines whether or not a 1st step release switch is turned on, that is, a release button is half depressed and actuates the camera shake correcting function when the release button is half depressed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic camera, an image capturing apparatus, and a method for controlling a camera shake correction function for capturing an image of a subject using a semiconductor image sensor such as a two-dimensional image sensor. The present invention relates to an electronic camera, an image capturing apparatus, and a method for controlling a camera shake correction function, which realize a function of operating a correction function at more appropriate timing while taking power saving measures into consideration.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a subject image is formed on a semiconductor imaging device, for example, a CCD two-dimensional image sensor by an imaging optical system and converted into an electric signal. A so-called electronic camera that records data on a recording medium such as a disk has been widely used.

Many electronic cameras of this type have a so-called camera shake correction function for minimizing the influence of shaking of the camera body, so that even if the hand holding the camera shakes during shooting, To some extent, it is possible to correct image blur on the imaging surface.

[0004] In addition, since this type of electronic camera is a product that is often carried by a user, for example, on a trip, it is naturally configured to be driven by a battery. In order to secure the continuous operation time by the battery as much as possible, various kinds of power saving measures are taken in this type of electronic camera.

For example, with respect to the above-described camera shake correction function, the user can set on / off of the camera shake correction function, and when the battery level becomes low, the camera shake correction function is set to off. The battery consumption can be reduced even slightly. further,
Even when it is set to ON, the camera shake correction function is not always activated, but, for example, by pressing the release button halfway, the shooting preparation for the AF (automatic focusing) function, the AE (automatic exposure) function, and the like is performed. The camera shake correction function is activated when the operation for the camera is instructed.

[0006]

By the way, this type of electronic camera has, as a shooting mode, a manual focus mode in which a user manually selects a shooting distance in addition to an autofocus mode using an AF function. ,
In the case of the manual focus mode, the user performs an operation to select an appropriate shooting distance while checking a subject image on a liquid crystal panel or an optical viewfinder provided on the back of the camera body, for example.

However, this operation for selecting the photographing distance is completely different from the operation for half-pressing the release button for instructing the start of photographing preparation. Since the release button for instructing is not half-pressed normally, even if the camera shake correction function is set to ON, the operation is not performed during the selection operation of the shooting distance. Therefore, the image of the subject moves due to camera shake, making it difficult to focus.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a so-called camera shake correction function for correcting image blur on an image pickup surface due to shaking of a camera body, while taking power saving measures into consideration. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic camera, an image capturing apparatus, and a method for controlling a camera shake correction function that can be operated at appropriate timing.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an electronic camera according to the present invention, when the camera shake correction function is set to ON, uniformly releases the release button halfway as in the prior art. In the manual focus mode only, the camera shake correction function is activated when the mode is switched to the manual focus mode. An electronic camera having a camera shake correction function for correcting image blur on a surface, and capable of switching between a first shooting mode in which focusing is automatically performed and a second shooting mode in which a user can arbitrarily select a shooting distance. A setting unit for setting the validity / invalidity of the camera shake correction function; and setting the camera shake correction function to valid by the setting unit. In the first shooting mode, the camera shake correction function is activated at the start of shooting preparation based on a predetermined operation, and in the second shooting mode, the camera shake correction function control that activates the camera shake correction function from the time point when the mode is switched to the mode. Means.

In the electronic camera of the present invention, the camera shake correction function always operates in the manual focus mode, so that the subject image provided by the liquid crystal panel or the optical viewfinder is prevented from moving due to camera shake.
By always operating this camera shake correction function only in the manual focus mode, it is possible to achieve both power saving measures.

Further, the electronic camera of the present invention has a camera shake correction function for correcting an image blur on the image pickup surface due to a shake of the camera body, and a first shooting mode for automatically executing focusing and a user shooting mode. In an electronic camera capable of switching between a second photographing mode for arbitrarily selecting a distance, setting means for setting enable / disable of the camera shake correction function, and the camera shake correction function is enabled by the setting means. Sometimes, in the first shooting mode, the camera shake correction function is activated at the time of starting shooting preparation based on a predetermined operation, and in the second shooting mode, when the shooting distance is selected and shooting preparation is started based on the predetermined operation. A camera shake correction function control means for sometimes activating the camera shake correction function.

In the electronic camera according to the present invention, since the camera shake correction function is activated when the photographing distance is selected in the manual focus mode, the electronic camera is always operated in the manual focus mode. Further power saving measures will be taken.

Also, in the electronic camera according to the present invention, when the camera shake correction function control means selects a shooting distance based on the predetermined operation in the second shooting mode, a zoom magnification exceeds a predetermined value. Activating the camera shake correction function.

In the electronic camera according to the present invention, even when the photographing distance is selected in the manual focus mode, the operation of the camera shake correction function is suppressed until the effect of the camera shake becomes noticeable. Power consumption can be further reduced without deteriorating the power consumption.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of the electronic camera.

As shown in FIG. 1, this electronic camera mainly comprises a camera body 1 and a lens barrel 2.
The camera body 1 includes an optical viewfinder 3 and a pop-up type flash 4 as well as a release button 5, a menu button 6, a cross button 7, an OK button 8 and the like as operation units, and a color liquid crystal display (LCD) as a display unit. 9) is provided.

Next, a detailed configuration inside the electronic camera will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 2, the subject light is transmitted through a lens barrel 2.
After passing through the correction lens 11 and the AF lens 12 provided in the lens, the aperture 13 controls the light amount. The correction lens 11 is an anti-vibration actuator 14 and the AF lens 12 is A
The subject light that has been driven by the F motor 15 and passed through the correction lens 11, the AF lens 12, and the aperture 13 is guided into the camera body 1 and split by the mirror 16, and one of the subject lights is opened by the shutter 17 Sometimes, the light enters a CCD two-dimensional color image sensor (hereinafter, simply referred to as a CCD) 18 which is a color semiconductor image pickup device,
A subject image is formed on the imaging surface of D15. The other subject light is supplied to the optical finder 3 via the mirror 19.

The CCD 18 constitutes an imaging surface by arranging a plurality of pixels for performing photoelectric conversion in a two-dimensional matrix.
Furthermore, a color filter is arranged on the imaging surface,
The signal charges corresponding to the subject image formed on the imaging surface are accumulated. An imaging circuit 20 is attached to the CCD 18, and controls the exposure, readout, element shutter, gain adjustment, power supply, and the like. The output from the CCD 18 is converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter 21 and then sent to an AE (automatic exposure) processing unit 22, an AF (automatic focus adjustment) processing unit 23, and an image processing unit 24 as an image signal. Is entered.

The AE processing section 22 receives the digitized pixel signal output from the A / D converter 21 and performs an arithmetic processing mainly on the cumulative addition of the pixel signals from each pixel. A according to the brightness of the subject based on
Find the E evaluation value.

The AF processing unit 23 receives the digitized pixel signal output from the A / D converter 21 and extracts, for example, a high-frequency component of the pixel signal for one screen by a high-pass filter, and accumulates the extracted high-frequency component. By performing arithmetic processing such as addition, an AF evaluation value corresponding to the contour component amount on the high frequency side is calculated.

The image processing section 24 applies ISO sensitivity setting, auto white balance, luminance / luminance / voltage conversion to the digitized pixel signal output from the A / D converter 21.
By performing color signal generation, gamma processing, and the like, a color image signal in a predetermined format is generated.

The color image signal generated by the image processing section 24 is temporarily stored in a buffer memory 25 composed of, for example, a DRAM. This buffer memory 2
5, a liquid crystal control unit 26 is connected, and the color image signal is
Here, after being converted into a form suitable for display output, it is supplied to a color liquid crystal display (LCD) 9 such as a TFT system and displayed as an image.

The buffer memory 25 is further connected to a compression / expansion unit 27. The compression / expansion unit 27 reads out the image signal stored in the buffer memory 25 and performs a compression (encoding) process, thereby forming a form suitable for recording on the recording medium 28. An expansion processor for reading out image data recorded on the medium 28 and performing expansion (decoding) processing. As a method of this compression processing, for example, a JPEG method is used, but it is not limited to this. At the time of reproduction, the expanded image signal is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 25,
The color liquid crystal display (LC
D) Displayed as appropriate at 9. As the recording medium 28, for example, a memory card constituted by a semiconductor memory such as a card type flash memory is generally used.
The present invention is not limited to this, and various forms such as a magnetic recording medium such as a hard disk or a floppy (registered trademark) disk can be used.

The strobe 4 is a light source for illuminating a subject, and the amount of light emitted from the strobe 4 is controlled by a strobe control circuit 29. The flash control circuit 29
A strobe capacitor capable of storing a predetermined amount of charge is provided, and the strobe 4 is driven by charging and discharging the strobe capacitor. The camera shake detection sensor 30 is, for example, a vibration gyro-type angular velocity sensor or the like, and acquires the amount of movement of the camera body 1.

The operation of each unit described above is entirely controlled by a system controller 31. The system controller 31 is based on the processing results of the AE processing unit 22 and AF processing unit 23 and commands from the operation unit 40. It controls each unit and is configured using a CPU.

That is, the system controller 31
The aperture 13 based on the AE evaluation value obtained by the E processing unit 22
The automatic exposure (AE) process is performed by controlling the amount of light by controlling the
The AF motor 15 is controlled based on the AF evaluation value obtained in step 3, and the AF lens 11 is moved in the optical axis direction to perform an automatic focus adjustment (AF) process. Further, the system controller 31 controls the image stabilizing actuator 14 based on the movement amount of the camera body 1 obtained by the camera shake detection sensor 30 and corrects the image shake on the photographing surface of the CCD 18 due to the camera body 1 shake.

The operation unit 40 generates a command signal for performing various operations based on an operation by a user and transmits the command signal to the system controller 31. Specifically, the operation unit 40 is provided with a first-stage release switch 41 and a second-stage release switch 42 as switches for instructing photographing.

The first-stage release switch 41 generates a command signal for starting AE processing and AF processing, which are preliminary operations performed prior to an image capturing operation. The second-stage release switch 42 receives a command signal generated by the first-stage release switch 41 and generates a command signal for starting an actual image pickup operation.

Further, the operation unit 40 is provided with a menu switch 43, a cross switch 44, and an OK switch 45 for instructing an operation mode and a photographing mode of the electronic camera or setting various photographing conditions. .

Explaining the correspondence with FIG. 1, the first-stage release switch 41 and the second-stage release switch 42
This switch is turned on when the release button 5 is pressed.
Only the step release switch 31 is turned on to instruct shooting of an image, and under the control of the system controller 31, AE processing and AF processing, which are preliminary operations prior to the shooting operation, are started.

When the release button 5 is fully pressed, the second-stage release switch 32 is also turned on to instruct recording of an image, and the image is recorded on the recording medium 28 under the control of the system controller 31.

The menu switch 43 is turned on when the menu button 6 is pressed. When the menu switch 43 is turned on, an instruction to display a menu is issued. (LCD) 9. The cross switch 44 is a switch that is turned on when the cross key 7 is pressed. When the cross switch is turned on, selection of any item on the menu is instructed, and the item is controlled by the system controller 31. Move to the setting of. Then, the OK switch 45
A switch that is turned on when the button 8 is pressed,
When the OK switch 45 is turned on, application of the setting is instructed, the setting of the item is held under the control of the system controller 31, and the menu returns to the normal screen.

The electronic camera has at least an auto focus mode for performing the above-mentioned automatic focus adjustment (AF) processing and a manual focus mode for the user to arbitrarily select a shooting distance. , Menu button 6, cross button 744 and O
This is performed by pressing the K button. Further, the selection of the distance in the manual focus mode is performed by pressing the cross button 7, and furthermore, the image blur on the photographing surface of the CCD 18 is corrected based on the movement amount of the camera body 1 obtained by the camera shake detection sensor 30. Switching on / off of the camera shake correction function is also performed by pressing the menu button 6, the cross button 7, and the OK button 8.

In addition to the various controls described above, the system controller 31 performs a so-called camera shake correction function for correcting image shake on the image pickup surface due to shaking of the camera body, and more appropriately, taking power saving measures into consideration. It has a camera shake correction function control unique to the present invention, such as operation at a timing. Hereinafter, the camera shake correction function control will be described in detail.

(First Embodiment) First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

While the camera shake correction function is set to ON, in the camera shake correction function control, this camera shake correction function is basically activated when the first-stage release switch 41 is turned on in order to suppress power consumption even slightly. Let it. And
Only in the manual focus mode, the camera shake correction function is activated exceptionally from the beginning of switching to the manual focus mode.

Thus, the color liquid crystal display (L
By preventing the subject image provided by the CD 9 or the optical viewfinder 3 from moving due to camera shake, and by always operating this camera shake correction function only in the manual focus mode, it is possible to achieve both power saving measures. .

Next, the operation procedure of the camera shake correction function control in the electronic camera of the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The system controller 31 first checks whether or not the camera shake correction function is turned on (step A1), and if it is turned on (step A1).
Then, it is checked whether or not the shooting mode is the manual focus mode (step A2). If the mode is the manual focus mode (Y in step A2)
ES), the camera shake correction function is unconditionally activated (step A4).

If the mode is not the manual focus mode (NO in step A2), the first-stage release switch is turned on, that is, it is checked whether or not the release button is half-pressed (step A3). (YES in step A3), the camera shake correction function is activated (step A4).

As described above, in the electronic camera according to the first embodiment, the so-called camera shake correction function for correcting the image shake on the image pickup surface due to the shaking of the camera main body is provided at a more appropriate timing while taking power saving measures into consideration. To work with

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The difference between the control of the camera shake correction function of the electronic camera of the second embodiment and the control of the camera shake correction function of the electronic camera of the first embodiment described above lies in the operation timing of the camera shake correction function in the manual focus mode.

More specifically, in the camera shake correction function control in the electronic camera according to the second embodiment, even in the manual focus mode, except when the photographing distance is selected, the camera shake correction function is controlled. Suppress the operation of.

As a result, further power saving measures can be taken as compared with the camera shake correction function control in the electronic camera of the first embodiment.

Next, the operation procedure of the camera shake correction function control in the electronic camera of the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the system controller 31 checks whether or not the camera shake correction function is set to ON (step B1), and if it is set to ON (step B1).
Then, it is determined whether or not the shooting mode is the manual focus mode (step B2). If the mode is the manual focus mode (Y in step B2)
ES), it is further checked whether or not the shooting distance is being selected (step B3). If the shooting distance is being selected (YES in step B3), the camera shake correction function is activated (step B4). Note that the operation does not end immediately after the selection operation but ends for a predetermined time (for example, 2 seconds).
Seconds) to end after elapse. The selection operation is often performed intermittently, but during this time, it is easier to check the focus if the camera shake correction function is operated continuously rather than intermittently.

If the mode is not the manual focus mode (NO in step B2) or if the shooting distance is not being selected (NO in step B3), the first-stage release switch is turned on, that is, the release button is half-pressed. It is checked whether or not the release button is half-pressed (step B5: YES), and the camera shake correction function is activated (step B4).

As an application example of the camera shake correction function control of the second embodiment, the camera shake correction function is not always activated when the shooting distance is selected, but the zoom magnification is set to a predetermined value by the shooting distance selection operation. It is also effective to activate the camera shake correction function only when the value is exceeded. In other words, even when the shooting distance is selected in the manual focus mode, the operation of the camera shake correction function is suppressed until a situation in which the influence of the camera shake is conspicuous, so that the usability of the user is not deteriorated. The power consumption can be reduced.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the electronic camera has been described as an example. However, a so-called camera shake correction function for correcting image blur on an image pickup surface due to shaking of the camera body is performed while considering power saving measures. The camera shake correction function control unique to the present invention, such as operating at a more appropriate timing,
The invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to, for example, a silver halide camera.

[0053]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, when the camera shake correction function is set to ON, the camera shake correction function is uniformly performed by half-pressing the release button as in the related art. Rather than operating the camera, the camera shake correction function is activated only when the mode is switched to the manual focus mode, so the camera shake correction function always operates in the manual focus mode. By preventing the subject image provided by the optical viewfinder from moving, and by always operating the camera shake correction function only in the manual focus mode, it is possible to achieve both power saving measures.

In addition, by operating the camera shake correction function at the time of selecting the shooting distance in the manual focus mode, the influence of the camera shake becomes conspicuous even when the shooting distance is selected in the manual focus mode. By suppressing the operation of the camera shake correction function up to, further power saving measures can be taken without deteriorating the usability of the user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exemplary view showing the appearance of an electronic camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view for explaining a detailed configuration inside the electronic camera of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary flowchart for explaining the operation procedure of camera shake correction function control in the electronic camera of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary flowchart for explaining the operation procedure of camera shake correction function control in the electronic camera of the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Camera body 2 ... Lens barrel 3 ... Optical viewfinder 4 ... Strobe 5 ... Release button 6 ... Menu button 7 ... Cross button 8 ... OK button 9 ... Color liquid crystal display (LCD) 11 ... Correction lens 12 ... AF lens 13 ... Aperture 14 ... Anti-vibration actuator 15 ... AF motor 16 ... Mirror (semi-transmission) 17 ... Shutter 18 ... CCD two-dimensional color image sensor (CCD) 19 ... Mirror (total reflection) 20 ... Imaging circuit 21 ... A / D converter 22 ... AE processing unit 23 AF processing unit 24 Image processing unit 25 Buffer memory 26 Liquid crystal control unit 27 Compression / expansion unit 28 Recording medium 29 Strobe control circuit 30 Camera shake detection sensor 31 System controller 40 Operation unit 41 ... First release switch 42 ... Second release switch 43 ... Menu switch Chi 44 ... cross switch 45 ... OK switch

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification FI FI Theme Court II (Reference) // H04N 101: 00 G02B 7/04 A

Claims (9)

[Claims] A first photographing mode in which a camera shake correction function for compensating an image blur on an image pickup surface due to a shake of a camera body is provided, and a first photographing mode in which a user selects an arbitrary photographing distance. An electronic camera capable of switching between the two photographing modes, wherein: a setting unit for setting the validity / invalidity of the camera shake correction function; and wherein the first camera shake correction function is enabled by the setting unit. In a shooting mode, the camera shake correction function is operated at the time of starting shooting preparation based on a predetermined operation, and in the second shooting mode, a camera shake correction function control unit that operates the camera shake correction function from a time point when the mode is switched to the mode. An electronic camera comprising: 2. A first image pickup mode having a camera shake correction function for correcting an image shake on an image pickup surface due to a shake of a camera body, and a first image pickup mode for automatically executing focusing and a second image pickup mode in which a user arbitrarily selects an image pickup distance. An electronic camera capable of switching between the two photographing modes, wherein: a setting unit for setting the validity / invalidity of the camera shake correction function; and wherein the first camera shake correction function is enabled by the setting unit. In the photographing mode, the image stabilization function is activated at the time of starting photographing preparation based on a predetermined operation, and in the second photographing mode, the image stabilization function is activated at the time of selecting a photographing distance and starting photographing preparation based on the predetermined operation. An electronic camera, comprising: a camera shake correction function control unit for causing a camera shake correction function. 3. The camera shake correction function control means, when a zoom magnification exceeds a predetermined value when a shooting distance is selected based on the predetermined operation in the second shooting mode,
The electronic camera according to claim 2, wherein the camera shake correction function is activated. 4. A first image capturing mode for automatically performing focusing and a camera shake correcting function for correcting image blur on an imaging surface due to shaking of an apparatus main body, and a second image capturing mode in which a user arbitrarily selects an image capturing distance. A setting unit for setting whether the camera shake correction function is enabled / disabled, wherein the camera shake correction function is set to be enabled by the setting unit. In the shooting mode, the camera shake correction function is activated at the start of shooting preparation based on a predetermined operation, and in the second shooting mode, the camera shake correction function control means that activates the camera shake correction function from the time when the mode is switched to the mode. An image pickup apparatus comprising: 5. A first photographing mode having a camera shake correction function for correcting an image blur on an image pickup surface due to a shake of an apparatus main body, and a first photographing mode for automatically executing focusing and a photographing distance arbitrarily selected by a user. A setting unit for setting whether the camera shake correction function is enabled / disabled, wherein the camera shake correction function is set to be enabled by the setting unit. In the shooting mode, the camera shake correction function is activated at the time of starting the shooting preparation based on the predetermined operation. In the second shooting mode, the camera shake correction function is operated at the time of selecting the shooting distance based on the predetermined operation and at the time of starting the shooting preparation. An image pickup apparatus comprising: a camera shake correction function control unit to be activated. 6. The camera-shake correction function control means, when a zoom magnification exceeds a predetermined value when a shooting distance is selected based on the predetermined operation in the second shooting mode,
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the camera shake correction function is activated. 7. A first image pickup mode having a camera shake correction function for correcting an image shake on an image pickup surface due to a shake of a camera body, and a first image pickup mode for automatically executing focusing and a user's arbitrarily selecting an image pickup distance. A camera shake correction function control method for an electronic camera capable of switching between two shooting modes, wherein, when the camera shake correction function is enabled, in the first shooting mode, a shooting preparation based on a predetermined operation is performed. A method for controlling a camera shake correction function, comprising: activating the camera shake correction function at a start time; and operating the camera shake correction function in the second photographing mode from a time point when the mode is switched to the mode. 8. A first image pickup mode having a camera shake correction function for correcting an image shake on an image pickup surface due to shaking of a camera body, and a first image pickup mode for automatically executing focusing and a second image pickup mode in which a user arbitrarily selects an object distance. A camera shake correction function control method for an electronic camera capable of switching between two shooting modes, wherein, when the camera shake correction function is enabled, in the first shooting mode, a shooting preparation based on a predetermined operation is performed. A method for controlling a camera shake correction function, comprising: activating the camera shake correction function at the time of start, and operating the camera shake correction function at the time of selecting a shooting distance based on a predetermined operation and at the time of starting shooting preparation in the second shooting mode. . 9. The camera-shake correction function is activated when a zoom magnification exceeds a predetermined value when a shooting distance is selected based on the predetermined operation in the second shooting mode. 8. A method for controlling a camera shake correction function according to claim 8.