JP2002169082A - Imaging unit, ranging method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the accuracy of automatic focusing adjustment of a camera by performing automatic focusing adjustment on the basis of the average value of a plurality of ranging data obtained until then while allowing a user to recognize whether the camera is in the state of repeating a ranging operation, even when a focus lock is performed. SOLUTION: In response to a first release signal generated by the half push of a release button, a ranging means to detect a distance to an object repeats a detection operation the number of prescribed times, and then ranging data obtained by the repeatedly performed detection operation are averaged. In such a control action, first display to indicate that the detection operation by the ranging means is repeatedly performed is performed (S2), and second display to indicate that the repeatedly performed detection operation is completed is performed (S8) on a display means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus, a distance measuring method, and a storage medium, and more particularly to an image pickup apparatus having an automatic focusing function, a distance measuring method applied to the image pickup apparatus, and the distance measuring method. The present invention relates to a storage medium storing a program for executing the method.

In the above-described image pickup apparatus, a distance to a subject is measured at the time of photographing, and focus adjustment according to the measured distance is automatically performed.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are roughly two types of distance measuring devices for measuring the distance from a camera to a subject. That is,
There are a passive method in which distance measurement (distance measurement) is performed based on luminance distribution information of a subject, and an active method in which a beam of infrared light, ultrasonic waves, or the like is projected on the subject, and a reflected signal is detected to measure the distance. . In any of these systems, the signals to be handled are very weak, so that there is always a problem of ranging accuracy.

[0004] This will be described by taking an active triangulation device as an example. The photocurrent obtained based on the amount of reflected signal from the subject is a very weak current of about several tens pA when the subject is at a long distance. Value. For this reason, the photocurrent is uncertain due to the shot noise of the photocurrent detection circuit and the photocurrent itself, the noise of the sensor itself, and the like, and the distance measurement accuracy is reduced.

In addition, when the light emitted from a lighting device using an AC power supply, for example, a lighting device such as a fluorescent lamp or a neon sign, is the background light, the uncertainty is also affected by the influence of such light. May increase.

Therefore, as one of the powerful methods for reducing the uncertainty and improving the distance measurement accuracy, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 1-224618, 1-244310, 1-287411, etc. As disclosed in the gazette, there is a method of performing distance measurement a plurality of times (n times), and integrating and averaging the distance measurement data. According to this method, it is possible to reduce the uncertainty to 1 / (n ^1/2 ) by performing distance measurement n times.

In such a method of averaging the distance measurement data by performing the distance measurement a plurality of times, there is a possibility that a photo opportunity is missed because the distance measurement operation takes a plurality of times. Therefore, in the invention disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-277711, the distance measurement operation is started by half-pressing the release button, and the distance measurement operation is performed a predetermined number of times unless the release button is fully pressed. When the button is fully pressed, the distance measuring operation is stopped, and the photographing operation is immediately started.

The technique of averaging distance measurement data by performing distance measurement a plurality of times may not be compatible with a focus lock function, which is one of important specifications in AF (automatic focus adjustment) of a camera. . That is, in the focus lock function, usually, the distance measurement operation is performed only once by pressing the release button of the camera halfway, and the obtained distance measurement data is stored. Thereafter, when the release button is fully pressed, the taking lens is driven according to the stored distance measurement data, and the operation shifts to an exposure operation. However, when the method of averaging distance measurement data by performing distance measurement multiple times is adopted, if the direction of the camera may change between half-pressing the release button and multiple distance measurement operations, The distance measurement data of a subject other than the subject at the start is also taken in. In other words, since the stored distance measurement data is not accurate distance measurement data up to the subject when the release button is half-pressed, adopting a method of performing distance measurement multiple times and averaging the distance measurement data, Focus lock will not be performed accurately.

Therefore, in the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-273456, for example, if the release button is fully pressed before the predetermined number of distance measurement operations is completed, the first distance measurement data is used. On the other hand, when the release button is fully pressed after the predetermined number of distance measurement operations is completed, the average value of the predetermined number of distance measurement data including the second and subsequent times is used. Thus, if the release button is fully pressed before the predetermined number of distance measurement operations is completed, the focus lock function will operate accurately.

[0010]

According to the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-273456, when the release button is half-pressed and the distance measurement operation is completed a predetermined number of times, a distance measurement operation completion display is displayed. It is performed, but there is no particular display until the end. Therefore, the user does not know whether or not the camera has received the half-press of the release button, and whether or not a predetermined number of distance measurement operations are being performed.
Therefore, there is a problem that the timing is not known when the half-pressing of the release button is stopped to change to a new composition or when the focus lock is to be performed before the predetermined number of distance measurement operations is completed.

In the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-273456, a distance measurement operation is performed a predetermined number of times while pressing the release button halfway, an average value is obtained from the obtained distance measurement data, and the average value is calculated. By driving the photographing lens based on this, the accuracy of the automatic focus adjustment is improved, but if the focus lock operation of fully pressing the release button before the end of the predetermined number of distance measurement operations, only the first distance measurement data is Since the automatic focus adjustment is performed based on the above, the problem of the uncertainty of the photocurrent described above is not solved, and there is a problem that the accuracy of the automatic focus adjustment is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and enables a user to recognize whether or not a camera is in a state of repeatedly performing a distance measuring operation, and to perform a focus operation. Provided are an image pickup apparatus, a distance measuring method, and a storage medium that perform automatic focus adjustment based on an average value of a plurality of distance measurement data obtained up to that time even when locked, thereby improving the accuracy of the automatic focus adjustment. The purpose is to:

[0013]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup apparatus having an automatic focusing function, wherein a distance measuring means for detecting a distance to a subject, A first release means for outputting a first release signal by half-pressing a release button; and receiving the first release signal, causing the distance measuring means to repeatedly perform a detection operation a predetermined number of times. Control means for averaging the obtained distance measurement data, a first display indicating that the detection operation by the distance measurement means has been repeatedly performed, and a second display indicating that the detection operation having been repeatedly performed has been completed. And display means for performing the display of item 2.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in an image pickup apparatus having an automatic focus adjusting function, a distance measuring means for detecting a distance to a subject and a first release signal for outputting a first release signal by half-pressing a release button. Control means for receiving the first release signal, causing the distance measuring means to repeat the detection operation a predetermined number of times, and averaging distance measurement data obtained by the repeated detection operation; Detecting means for detecting execution of a focus lock operation; and detecting operation of the focus lock operation by the distance measuring means before the predetermined number of detection operations by the distance measuring means are completed. And stopping means for stopping the operation.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the distance measuring means for detecting the distance to the subject, the first release means for outputting the first release signal by half-pressing the release button, and the display means A distance measuring method applied to an image pickup apparatus comprising: receiving the first release signal, causing the distance measuring means to repeatedly perform a detection operation a predetermined number of times, and obtaining distance measurement data obtained by the repeatedly performed detection operation. A first display indicating that the detection operation by the distance measuring means is being repeatedly performed, and a second display indicating that the detection operation having been repeatedly performed has been completed.
And a display step of causing the display means to perform the display of (i).

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imaging apparatus comprising: a distance measuring means for detecting a distance to a subject; and a first release means for outputting a first release signal by half-pressing a release button. A control step of receiving the first release signal, causing the distance measuring means to repeat the detection operation a predetermined number of times, and averaging the distance measurement data obtained by the repeated detection operation. A detecting step of detecting execution of the focus lock operation; and executing the control step when the execution of the focus lock operation is detected by the detecting step before the predetermined number of detection operations by the distance measuring means are completed. In particular, the method further comprises a stopping step of causing the distance measuring means to stop the detecting operation.

Further, according to the sixteenth aspect of the present invention,
A distance measuring method applied to an image pickup apparatus including a distance measuring means for detecting a distance to a subject, a first release means for outputting a first release signal by half-pressing a release button, and a display means is used as a program. In the stored storage medium readable by a computer, the distance measuring method is obtained by causing the distance measuring means to repeatedly perform a detection operation a predetermined number of times in response to the first release signal, and performing the detection operation repeatedly. A control step of averaging the measured distance data, a first display indicating that the detection operation by the distance measurement means is being repeatedly performed, and a second display indicating that the repeated detection operation has been completed. And a display step of causing the display means to perform display.

According to the eighteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup apparatus comprising: a distance measuring means for detecting a distance to a subject; and a first release means for outputting a first release signal by half-pressing a release button. In a computer-readable storage medium storing a distance measuring method to be applied as a program, the distance measuring method receives the first release signal and causes the distance measuring means to repeatedly perform a detection operation a predetermined number of times. A control step of averaging the distance measurement data obtained by the repeatedly performed detection operation, a detection step of detecting the execution of the focus lock operation, and a step of detecting a predetermined number of times by the distance measurement means. When the execution of the focus lock operation is detected in the detection step, the detection operation is performed by the distance measuring unit even during the execution of the control step. And having a stop step of stopping.

[0019]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the automatic focusing camera according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a distance measuring unit for detecting a distance to a subject, 2 denotes a control unit including a microcomputer or the like, and 3 denotes a first release signal in response to a half-press of a release button of a camera. A first release unit 4 for outputting a second release signal in response to a full-press of a release button of the camera, and a second release unit 5 for outputting a second release signal. This is a display unit for allowing the user to recognize that the process has been completed, and includes an LED installed in a finder unit of the camera as a part of the configuration.

The control unit 2 controls the first release unit 3 to
When the release signal is sent, it instructs the display unit 5 to perform a display indicating that the distance measurement is being performed (LED blinking) and instructs the distance measurement unit 1 to start the distance measurement operation. As a result, the distance measurement data is sent from the distance measurement unit 1 to the control unit 2. This distance measurement operation is repeated a predetermined number of times.
When the second release signal is sent from the second release unit 4 during this time, the control unit 2 stops the display indicating that the distance measurement is being performed on the display unit 2 (the LED is turned off), and performs photographing. Perform the action. When the focus lock is performed or when the distance measurement operation of a predetermined number of times is completed, the control unit 2
Instructs the display unit 5 to perform a display (LED lighting) indicating that the distance measurement operation has been completed, and waits for the second release signal from the second release unit 4 to be sent.

The operation of the control unit 2 described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a shooting operation subroutine executed in the control unit 2.
This subroutine is called and started from the main routine when the first release signal is sent from the first release unit 3 to the control unit 2.

[0025] is initialized to zero distance measurement data storage variable S ₁ and ranging number N in step S1.

In step S2, the control unit 2 instructs the display unit 5 to display a message indicating that the distance measurement is being performed.
The display unit 5 blinks the LED in the finder. This L
The blinking display of the ED indicates that the distance measurement is being performed, and the user can easily recognize that the distance measurement is being performed while looking through the finder.

Step S3 is a routine for performing distance measurement for measuring the distance from the camera to the subject. As a result of executing this routine, distance measurement data _SD is obtained.

In step S4, a distance measurement data storage variable S
₁ is added to the distance measurement data _SD obtained in step S3, the number of times of distance measurement N is incremented, and a distance measurement data storage variable S ₁
Is divided by the number of times of distance measurement N to calculate an average distance measurement value S ₀ .

In step S5, it is determined whether or not the second release unit 4 (described as "SW2") is ON. If the second release unit 4 is ON, the process proceeds to step S9. If not ON, step S6
Proceed to.

In step S6, it is determined whether or not focus lock has been performed. That is, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the focus lock operation by the user is performed, for example, by pressing a specific button other than the first release unit 3. Since the camera is shaken by this focus lock operation, the composition of the image incident on the camera changes. By detecting the change in the composition, it is determined whether or not the focus lock has been performed. When the camera is shaken by the focus lock operation, an angular velocity is generated in the camera, so that a change in the angular velocity is detected by a camera shake detecting means using a vibrating gyroscope to determine whether the focus lock has been performed. You may.

When it is determined that the focus lock has been performed, the process proceeds to step S8, and when it is determined that the focus lock has not been performed, the process proceeds to step S7.

[0032] In step S7, the distance measuring the number N is equal to or a predetermined number N ₀ or more. The predetermined number N ₀ is set according to a desired distance measurement accuracy. Number of times of distance measurement N is N
_If it is less than ₀ , the process returns to step S3 and repeats the distance measuring operation. When distance measurement times N reaches the predetermined number N ₀ the process proceeds to step S8.

[0033] That is, and if the focus lock is performed during performs a repeat distance measurement operation, when the distance measurement times N reaches the predetermined number N _0, the process proceeds to step S8.

In step S8, the LED installed in the finder section of the camera is illuminated and displayed on the display section 5,
This notifies the user that the focus lock has been performed during the repeated distance measurement operation or that the distance measurement operation has been completed a predetermined number of times N ₀ . Thereafter, the distance measurement operation is stopped, and the control waits until the second release unit 4 (described as SW2) is turned on.

If it is determined in step S5 that the second release unit 4 has been turned on, the display unit 5 turns off the blinking or lit LED in step S9, and proceeds to step S10.

[0036] In step S10, executes the shooting process on the basis of the average distance value S ₀ obtained in step S4, after its completion, returns to the main routine.

In the present embodiment, by performing the above-described processing, the LED blinks when the distance measuring operation is repeatedly performed, and the focus lock is executed or the distance measuring operation is completed a predetermined number of times. The LED lights up. Thus, there is a display indicating that the release button has been half-pressed, and the timing for performing focus lock can be easily understood. In order to prevent the user from missing a photo opportunity, when the release button is fully pressed before the predetermined number of distance measurement operations is completed, shooting is performed based on the average value of the distance measurement data completed up to that time. Further, when the button is fully pressed after the end of the predetermined number of distance measurement operations, shooting is performed based on a distance measurement value that is 1 / (N ₀ ^1/2 ) better in distance measurement accuracy than a single distance measurement value. .

In the above embodiment, the fact that the focus lock has been performed is detected by a change in the composition or a change in the angular velocity of the camera.
If _{the D} is away from the average distance value S ₀ obtained up to current above a predetermined limit value, it may be determined that the focus lock is performed.

In addition, a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or the apparatus is provided.
It is needless to say that the present invention can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also an OS or the like running on the computer operates based on the instructions of the program code. It goes without saying that the present invention includes a case where some or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It is needless to say that the present invention includes a case where the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments. .

[0044]

As described in detail above, claims 1 and 9
According to the present invention, upon receiving the first release signal generated by half-pressing the release button, the distance measuring means for detecting the distance to the subject repeatedly performs the detecting operation a predetermined number of times. The ranging data obtained by the performed detecting operation is averaged. On the other hand, the display means is caused to perform a first display indicating that the detection operation by the distance measuring means is repeatedly performed and a second display indicating that the repeated detection operation is completed.

Thus, the user can recognize whether or not the imaging device is in the state of repeating the distance measuring operation.

According to the second, tenth, or seventeenth aspect of the present invention, before the predetermined number of detection operations by the distance measuring means are completed, the second signal generated by fully pressing the release button is generated. When a release signal is received, the distance measuring means stops the detecting operation.

Thus, it is possible to take a picture at a photo opportunity even when the image pickup apparatus is displaying a state where the distance measuring operation is repeated.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the display means includes a single display element capable of indicating at least two states, and displays the first display and the second display. Represented by the at least two states.

As a result, it is possible to easily notify the user of the ranging operation state without increasing the size of the imaging device or increasing the cost.

According to the fourth, eleventh, or eighteenth aspect of the present invention, a distance measuring means for detecting a distance to a subject upon receiving a first release signal generated by half-pressing a release button. And repeats the detection operation a predetermined number of times, and averages the distance measurement data obtained by the repeated detection operation. On the other hand, if the execution of the focus lock operation is detected by the detection unit that detects the execution of the focus lock operation before the detection operation of the predetermined number of times by the distance measurement unit ends, the detection operation is stopped by the distance measurement unit. .

This makes it possible to detect that the focus lock operation has been performed and to stop the detection operation by the distance measuring means, and to obtain a plurality of distance measurement data obtained up to that point even when the focus is locked. The automatic focus adjustment is performed on the basis of the average value of, and the accuracy of the automatic focus adjustment can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of an automatic focus adjustment imaging apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a shooting operation subroutine executed in a control unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Distance measuring part (distance measuring means) 2 Control part (control means, stopping means, detecting means) 3 First release part (first release means) 4 Second release part (second release means) 5 Display Section (display means)

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. An imaging apparatus having an automatic focusing function, wherein: a distance measuring means for detecting a distance to a subject; a first release means for outputting a first release signal by half-pressing a release button; A control means for receiving the one release signal, causing the distance measuring means to repeat the detection operation a predetermined number of times, averaging the distance measurement data obtained by the repeated detection operation, and a detecting operation by the distance measuring means. An imaging apparatus comprising: display means for performing a first display indicating that repetition has been performed and a second display indicating that the repetition of the detection operation has been completed. 2. A second release means for outputting a second release signal by fully pressing the release button, and receiving the second release signal before a predetermined number of detection operations by the distance measuring means are completed. 2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a stop unit for stopping the detection operation by the distance measuring unit. 3. The display means includes a single display element capable of indicating at least two states, and the first display and the second display are represented by the at least two states. The imaging device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 4. An image pickup apparatus having an automatic focusing function, wherein: a distance measuring means for detecting a distance to a subject; a first release means for outputting a first release signal by half-pressing a release button; A control means for receiving the one release signal and causing the distance measuring means to repeat the detecting operation a predetermined number of times, averaging distance measuring data obtained by the repeated detecting operation, and detecting execution of a focus lock operation Detecting means; and stopping means for causing the distance measuring means to stop the detecting operation when the focus lock operation is detected by the detecting means before the predetermined number of detecting operations by the distance measuring means are completed. An imaging device characterized by the above-mentioned. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the detection unit detects whether or not the focus lock operation has been performed based on whether or not a composition of an image incident on the imaging device has changed. Imaging device. 6. The imaging apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the detection unit detects whether the focus lock operation has been performed based on whether an angular velocity of the main body of the imaging apparatus itself has changed. apparatus. 7. The focus lock operation is performed based on whether or not the distance measurement data detected by the distance measurement means at this time differs from the distance measurement data detected up to the previous time by a predetermined value or more. The imaging device according to claim 4, wherein it is detected whether or not the image has been detected. 8. A display means for performing a first display indicating that the detection operation by the distance measuring means is being repeatedly performed and a second display indicating that the detection operation having been repeatedly performed is completed. The imaging device according to claim 4, further comprising: 9. A measuring apparatus applied to an image pickup apparatus comprising: a distance measuring means for detecting a distance to a subject; a first release means for outputting a first release signal by half-pressing a release button; and a display means. In the distance measuring method, a control step of receiving the first release signal, causing the distance measuring means to repeat a detection operation a predetermined number of times, and averaging distance measurement data obtained by the repeated detection operation; A display step for causing the display means to perform a first display indicating that the detection operation by the distance means is being repeatedly performed and a second display indicating that the repeated detection operation has been completed. A distance measuring method characterized by the above-mentioned. 10. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: second release means for outputting a second release signal when the release button is fully depressed. 10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising a stopping step of causing the distance measuring means to stop the detecting operation even when the control step is being executed when the release signal is received.
The distance measurement method described. 11. A distance measuring method applied to an image pickup apparatus comprising: a distance measuring means for detecting a distance to a subject; and a first release means for outputting a first release signal by half-pressing a release button. Receiving the first release signal, causing the distance measuring means to repeatedly perform a detection operation a predetermined number of times, averaging distance measurement data obtained by the repeated detection operation, and executing a focus lock operation. A detection step of detecting, before the detection operation of the predetermined number of times by the distance measuring means is completed, if the execution of the focus lock operation is detected by the detection step, even during the execution of the control step,
Stopping the detecting operation by the distance measuring means. 12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein in the detecting step, whether or not the focus lock operation has been performed is detected based on whether or not a composition of an image incident on the imaging device has changed. Distance measurement method. 13. The measurement method according to claim 11, wherein in the detecting step, whether or not the focus lock operation has been performed is detected based on whether or not the angular velocity of the main body of the imaging apparatus itself has changed. Distance method. 14. In the detecting step, the execution of the focus lock operation is performed based on whether or not the distance measurement data detected by the distance measurement means at this time differs from the distance measurement data detected up to the previous time by a predetermined value or more. 12. The distance measuring method according to claim 11, wherein it is detected whether or not the distance has been detected. 15. The image pickup apparatus includes a display unit, a first display indicating that the detection operation by the distance measuring unit is being repeatedly performed, and a second display indicating that the detection operation that has been repeatedly performed is completed. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, further comprising a display step of causing the display means to perform the display of (2). 16. A measuring device applied to an image pickup apparatus comprising: a distance measuring means for detecting a distance to a subject; a first release means for outputting a first release signal by half-pressing a release button; and a display means. In a computer-readable storage medium storing a distance method as a program, the distance measuring method includes: receiving the first release signal, causing the distance measuring unit to repeatedly perform a detection operation a predetermined number of times; A control step of averaging the distance measurement data obtained by the detection operation; a first display indicating that the detection operation by the distance measurement means is being repeatedly performed; and the end of the repeatedly performed detection operation. A display step of causing the display means to perform a second display indicating the following. 17. The image pickup apparatus further includes a second release unit that outputs a second release signal when the release button is fully pressed, and the distance measuring method terminates a predetermined number of detection operations by the distance measuring unit. 17. The storage medium according to claim 16, further comprising a stop step of causing the distance measuring means to stop the detection operation even when the control step is performed, when the second release signal is received before the second release signal is received. 18. A distance measuring method applied to an image pickup apparatus comprising a distance measuring means for detecting a distance to a subject and a first release means for outputting a first release signal by half-pressing a release button. Wherein the distance measuring method includes: receiving the first release signal, causing the distance measuring means to repeatedly perform a detection operation a predetermined number of times, and obtaining the information by the repeatedly performed detection operation. A control step of averaging the obtained distance measurement data, a detection step of detecting execution of a focus lock operation, and an execution of the focus lock operation by the detection step before a predetermined number of detection operations by the distance measurement means are completed. Is detected, even during the execution of the control step,
A stopping step of causing the distance measuring means to stop the detecting operation. 19. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein in the detecting step, whether or not the focus lock operation has been performed is detected based on whether or not a composition of an image incident on the imaging device has changed. Storage medium. 20. The storage according to claim 18, wherein in the detecting step, it is detected whether or not the focus lock operation has been executed based on whether or not the angular velocity of the main body of the imaging apparatus itself has changed. Medium. 21. In the detecting step, the execution of the focus lock operation is performed based on whether or not the distance measurement data detected this time by the distance measurement means differs from the distance measurement data detected up to the last time by a predetermined value or more. 19. The storage medium according to claim 18, wherein it is detected whether or not there is a storage medium. 22. The imaging apparatus further includes a display unit, wherein the distance measuring method includes a first display indicating that the detecting operation by the distance measuring unit is repeatedly performed, and a detecting operation performed by the repeated detecting operation. The storage medium according to any one of claims 18 to 21, further comprising a display step of causing the display means to perform a second display indicating completion of the display.