JP2003008959A - Image pickup device and its mode selecting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image pickup device that provides support forms respectively suitable for a moving picture and a still picture and can photograph both the moving picture and the still picture with high quality in a natural video image without a sense of incongruity. SOLUTION: In the image pickup device with a flat main body outer shape in a 1st support form being a device main body support form in a moving picture photographing mode where the size in the vertical direction is greater than the size in the lateral direction with respect to an optical axis, in the case of a 2nd support form supporting the device main body where the length direction of the flat shape is turned laterally by a prescribed angle with respect to the optical axis as the outer shape of the device main body in a still picture photographing mode, operation buttons are placed at positions at which the photographing in the 2nd support form is available. An image pickup means has an image pickup element that applies photoelectric conversion to an object light and a lens to focus the object light to an image pickup area of the image pickup element, the lens is placed above the front side of the flat shape and a strobe lighting section is placed under the front side.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup device such as an integrated video camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An integrated digital video camera (hereinafter referred to as D
In the case of an image pickup device that shoots a moving image such as VC),
Since it is necessary to hold the camera body stably at the position of the photographer's eyes for a long time, place your palm on the side of the camera body,
Generally, the camera is held in the front-back direction or the up-down direction.

On the other hand, due to recent technological advances, miniaturization of image pickup elements, lenses, recording media such as cassette tapes, electric elements such as ICs, and devices constituting the DVC are progressing, and ultra-compact DVCs are produced. It is becoming possible.

In order to achieve both such a holding mode at the time of photographing and miniaturization for improving portability, a DV for home use is provided.
In C, a thin flat shape having a small dimension in the lateral direction with respect to the optical axis and a dimension that allows a finger to be gripped in the longitudinal direction with respect to the optical axis or in the optical axis direction is generally used. It is becoming.

There is also a need to record still images as well as moving images with high image quality with one DVC, and a DVC equipped with a strobe has also been proposed.

FIG. 7 is an external view showing a form of a conventional small DVC.

In the figure, reference numeral 301 denotes a lens, and an image picked up at the rear end of the lens 301 photoelectrically converts an image captured by the lens 301 into an electric signal. This electric signal is processed by a signal processing circuit (not shown) and recorded on the tape.

Further, since the electric signal photoelectrically converted by the image pickup device is displayed as an image by the viewfinder 302, the photographer can confirm the photographing range.

Further, the photographer can open the LCD panel unit 303 90 degrees forward from the state shown in FIG. 7 and confirm the photographing range on the screen displayed on the panel unit 303 inside the camera body.

A strobe 305, which is an illuminating means at the time of recording a still image, is arranged near the lens 301 on the upper front surface of the outer cover 304. A belt fitting 306 is attached to the lower end of the front surface of the outer cover 304, and the grip belt 307 is attached to the outer cover 304 by the belt fitting 306.

A grip projection 308 is formed on the front surface of the outer cover 304 so as to be hooked on the finger of the photographer, and the photographer can grip the grip belt 307 and the outer cover 30.
Put the palm from the lower side between the right side of 4 (as seen by the photographer), and grip the three fingers of the middle finger, ring finger and little finger 3
It can be hung on 08 and held like a grip.

[0012]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, when a still image is taken, it is not necessary to continue holding it at the same position for a long time, but the grip belt 307 is passed through each time. ,
It was necessary to take a holding form when shooting a moving image.

Further, even when a strobe, which is an illuminating means at the time of photographing a still image, is used, since it is arranged near the optical axis of the lens, the probability of so-called "red eye" photographing is increased. However, when an optical accessory such as a wide converter is attached to the front surface of the lens for use, so-called "vignetting" occurs in which the attached optical accessory blocks the light beam of the strobe.

In order to solve this problem, in the conventional example shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to arrange the strobe 305 at the lower end of the front face and shoot a still image in the holding state at the time of shooting a moving image.
However, in this case, although the above-mentioned problems of “red eye” and “vignetting” are solved, the subject is illuminated from the lower side, which causes a new problem that a shadow is formed on the upper side of the subject. . This is a big problem when the subject is a person, which makes the image look strange.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides a moving image,
An object of the present invention is to provide an image pickup apparatus that provides a holding mode suitable for each still image and that can capture both a moving image and a still image as a high-quality and natural image that is natural.

[0016]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, an image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject, and a setting means for setting the image pickup operation of the image pickup means to a moving image shooting mode or a still image shooting mode. An image pickup apparatus having a flat shape in which a main body outer shape in a first holding mode, which is a mode of holding the main body of the apparatus in the moving image shooting mode, has a vertical dimension larger than a lateral dimension with respect to an optical axis In the second embodiment, the external shape of the apparatus main body in the still image shooting mode is a second holding mode in which the apparatus main body is held in a shape in which the longitudinal direction of the flat shape is rotated at a predetermined angle in the lateral direction with respect to the optical axis. In this case, the operation button is arranged at a position that enables the photographing operation in the second holding mode.

According to the present invention, in an image pickup apparatus having image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject and setting means for setting the image pickup operation of the image pickup means to the moving image shooting mode or the still image shooting mode, the dimension in the lateral direction with respect to the optical axis. With respect to the first holding mode in which the posture of the apparatus main body is maintained so as to have a flat outer shape with a large vertical dimension, the longitudinal direction of the flat shape is rotated at a predetermined angle in the lateral direction with respect to the optical axis. It is configured to enable the second holding mode for holding the posture of the apparatus main body in a curved shape, and the operation button is arranged at a position that enables shooting operation in the first and second holding modes. The first holding mode is used in the moving image shooting mode, and the second holding mode is used in the still image shooting mode.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Camera main body holding posture when shooting a moving image> FIG. 1
[FIG. 3] is an external view showing a DVC that is an image pickup apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and shows a camera body holding posture when shooting a moving image.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a lens, and an image pickup device such as a CCD (not shown) is attached to the rear end of the lens 1, and an image captured by the lens 1 is photoelectrically converted into an electric signal. . This electric signal is processed by a signal processing circuit (not shown) and recorded on a tape on the recorder by a recorder (not shown).

The electric signal photoelectrically converted by the image pickup device is displayed as an image by the viewfinder 2 arranged behind the lens 1 on the optical axis 1a of the lens 1, and the photographer views the viewfinder 2. You can check the shooting range by looking in.

Further, the photographer can confirm the photographing range on the screen displayed inside by opening the LCD panel unit 3 from the state shown in FIG. 1 forward by 90 degrees about the rotary shaft 3a.

The circuit board on which these parts and the signal processing circuit are mounted is held by the exterior cover 4.
A strobe 5, which is an illuminating means at the time of recording a still image, is arranged near the lens 1 on the upper front surface of the outer cover 4. A belt fitting 6 is attached to the lower end of the front surface of the outer cover 4, and the grip belt 7 is attached to the outer cover 4 by the belt fitting 6.

A circuit board on which the lens 1, the viewfinder 2 and a signal processing circuit (not shown), a recorder and the like are mounted is held by an outer cover 4.

Reference numeral 9 is a first zoom switch, 10 is a moving image trigger button, 11 is a second zoom switch, and 12 is a still image trigger button. These operating means are arranged near the rounded lens side 4a of the exterior cover 4.

A grip projection 8 is formed on the front surface of the outer cover 4 so as to be hooked on the finger of the photographer. The photographer can see the grip belt 7 and the right side surface of the outer cover 4 (as seen by the photographer). The palm of the hand can be inserted between the lower side, and the three fingers of the middle finger, the ring finger, and the little finger can be hooked on the grip protrusion 8 and held.

When shooting a moving image,
It is possible to operate the start / stop of shooting of a desired scene by selecting a preferable angle of view while operating the zoom switch 9 of FIG. 1 with the index finger and pressing the moving image trigger button 10 with the thumb.

Although such a holding mode at the time of shooting a moving image is a general holding mode, it can be held stably for a long time, and it is difficult to shake even if the first zoom switch 9 is operated during shooting. There are merits.

<Camera main body holding posture during still image shooting> Next, a holding method during still image shooting will be described.

FIG. 2 is an external view showing the camera body holding posture at the time of shooting a still image in the DVC shown in FIG. 1. The same elements as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. .

When shooting a still image, the DVC body should be rotated 90 degrees from the posture at the time of shooting a moving image, and the long side of the DVC should be laid sideways, and the side 4a on the rounded lens side should be held with the right hand. To do.

In this case, the grip belt 7 is not provided because it does not require stable holding for a long time, unlike when shooting a moving image. Therefore, the photographer uses the side 4a on the lens side.
You can take a shooting position by quickly grasping with your right hand.

At this time, the photographer selects the second zoom switch 1
By operating 1 with the index finger and the middle finger and pressing the still image trigger button 12 with the index finger, the still image of the subject can be recorded at the setting of the optimum angle of view and the intended occasion.

When a still image is taken, a strobe is often used as an illuminating means for a subject.
The strobe 5 built in the front of the DVC main unit has an optical axis 1a.
Since they are arranged at positions farther apart, there is a sufficient effect to prevent the occurrence of so-called "red eye", which is more disadvantageous in DVC with a high zoom magnification.

Further, even when an optical accessory such as a wide converter is attached to the lens ring 1b for use, so-called "vignetting" that the strobe light beam is blocked by the attached optical accessory does not occur.

Even when a still image is taken, the photographer can check the shooting range by looking into the viewfinder 2 as in the case of shooting a moving image.

Further, the photographer can confirm the photographing range on the screen displayed inside by opening the LCD panel unit 3 forward from the state shown in FIG. 2 by 90 degrees about the rotation axis 3a.

<Another Mode for Still Image Shooting> FIG. 3 is an external view showing another mode for still image shooting. The LCD panel unit 3 is centered around the rotary shaft 3a from the state shown in FIG. It shows a state in which it is opened 90 degrees.

At the time of shooting the still image shown in FIG. 3, the LCD panel unit 3 is also rotated by 90 degrees as the posture of the entire DVC is rotated by 90 degrees, so that the screen displayed at the time of shooting the moving image is displayed. The vertical and horizontal relationships are reversed.

The state of the screen 3b displayed inside the LCD panel unit 3 at this time is shown in FIG.

In the case of a moving image, the aspect ratio of the screen is generally 3:
Since it is 4, the aspect ratio of the entire screen rotated by 90 degrees is 4: 3.

The aspect ratio of the screen of a still image is not fixed, such as 2: 3 or 3: 4, but it is usually long horizontally and vertically, so it is not displayed on the shooting screen. Margins remain above and below.

In the upper and lower margins, information for recording such as the number of photographable images determined by the remaining amount of the recording medium, the recording mode, the remaining battery level, or the zoom position,
Shooting conditions such as focus status, shutter speed, and exposure correction level are displayed.

By displaying the information of the photographing condition and the recording condition outside the photographing screen, it becomes easy to confirm the state of the subject, the photographing angle of view, the focus, and the exposure condition, and the optimum photographer's intention is obtained. Images can be taken.

<Electrical Circuit Configuration> FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the electrical circuit configuration of the DVC according to this embodiment.

In the figure, a light beam from a subject passes through the lens 1 and is imaged on the image pickup element 101. The image on the image sensor 101 is photoelectrically converted into an electric signal and sent to the analog processing circuit 103.

The lens 1 is controlled by the system control circuit 114. For example, the zoom information set by the operation switch 115, AF / manual focus switching information, and exposure correction information are stored in the system control circuit 11
4 is given to the lens 1 as an appropriate value.

The image pickup element 101 is an ordinary NTSC or PA.
It is composed of CCDs and CMOSs each having several million to three million pixels, which is several times the number of pixels required to obtain a moving image signal such as L.

The image sensor driver 102 is used for the image sensor 10.
1 supplies the drive pulses necessary for 1 to operate,
By operating the moving image / still image switch on the operation switch 115 or the still image trigger button 12, on / off control of the electronic shutter of the image sensor 101 is performed according to a control signal supplied from the system control circuit 114. There is.

In the analog processing circuit 103, the image sensor 1
The signal from 01 is subjected to gain adjustment and color balance adjustment, and is converted from an analog signal to a digital signal by the A / D converter 104.

In the case of a moving image, the video signal converted into a digital signal is a signal composed of more pixels than the number of pixels required for the moving image. Therefore, by the thinning filter 105, for example, 4 to 3 pixels in the horizontal direction are used. And a conversion that reduces the number of pixels in both vertical and horizontal directions, such as creating two lines from three lines, which is an array of pixels in the horizontal and vertical directions, causes the memory 108 to temporarily record a video signal. While done.

In the case of a still image, the image processing circuit 107 performs the process of rotating the image by 90 degrees while temporarily recording the video signal in the memory 108.

The still image or moving image signal is selected by the switch means 106 in correspondence with the still image / moving image and sent to the compression circuit 109. In the compression circuit 109, MPEG for moving images and S defined as digital video are used.
It is compressed and converted into a D format format and a JPEG format for a still image while temporarily recording a signal in the memory 108.

The compressed and converted video signal is recorded on the recording medium 110 such as a magnetic tape, an optical disk, or a semiconductor memory. At this time, the recording medium 110 may be plural or plural kinds.

The compressed video signal recorded on the recording medium 110 is read from the recording medium 110 by the control of the system control circuit 114 according to a command from the operation switch 115 operated by the photographer, and is expanded by the expansion circuit 111. The signal is expanded while temporarily recording the signal in 108.

At this time, if the compressed video signal recorded on the recording medium 110 is a still image JPEG signal, JPEG expansion is automatically performed. If the compressed SD video signal is a moving image SD format signal, SD expansion is automatically performed according to the recording signal. To be done.

The decompressed video signal is sent to the display circuit 112, subjected to processing necessary for display, and displayed on the LCD 113. It can also be taken out as an external output.

<Reading Method of Signal from Image Pickup Element 101> Next, a method of reading a signal from the image pickup element 101 described in FIG. 5 will be specifically described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a structural diagram showing a configuration example of the image pickup device 101 shown in FIG. 5. The image pickup device 101 is an interline transfer system of 100,000,000 pixels corresponding to a high-definition still image. Of the CCD image pickup device, and is illustrated in the orientation corresponding to the camera posture held when shooting a moving image.

The image pickup area is generally set to be horizontally long, but in the present embodiment, the entire image pickup area, which is the same as the still image pickup area 204a, is placed vertically long so that it becomes horizontally long when shooting a still image. To shoot a movie.

The still image pickup area 204a (entire image pickup area) includes a sensor section 201 and a read gate section 202.
And a vertical CCD 203. Sensor unit 20
In 1, the light flux from the subject is converted and accumulated as a charge amount according to the amount. The sensor units 201 are arranged vertically (vertically) and horizontally (horizontally) in a matrix.

A read gate unit 202 is provided in each sensor unit 201. In the vertical CCD 203, the charges read by the read gate unit 202 are vertically transferred. The vertical CCD 203 has a plurality of sensor units 20.
It is provided for each vertical column.

The sensor section 201 is composed of, for example, a PN junction photodiode. The charge accumulated in the sensor unit 201 is read out to the vertical CCD 203 by applying a read pulse to the read gate unit 202. The vertical CCD 203 is transfer-driven by, for example, four-phase vertical transfer clocks Vφ1, Vφ2, Vφ3, and Vφ4, and the read charges correspond to one scanning line (one line) during a part of the horizontal blanking period. Each part is transferred vertically in order.

A horizontal CCD 205 is arranged below the still image pickup area 204a (entire image pickup area).
The horizontal CCD 205 includes a plurality of vertical CCDs 203.
From this, the electric charge for each portion corresponding to one scanning line (one line) is sequentially transferred. The horizontal CCD 205 is transfer-driven by, for example, two-phase horizontal transfer clocks Hφ1 and Hφ2, and sequentially transfers the charges for one line transferred from the plurality of vertical CCDs 203 in the horizontal scanning period after the horizontal blanking period. To do.

The horizontal scanning period and the horizontal blanking period referred to here indicate a period for reading out one scanning line (one line) given to this CCD and a period between them, respectively.

At the end of the horizontal CCD 205, a charge-voltage converter 206 having, for example, a floating diffusion amplifier structure is provided. This charge-voltage converter 2
Reference numeral 06 sequentially converts the charges horizontally transferred by the horizontal CCD 205 into voltage signals and outputs the voltage signals. This voltage signal is derived as a CCD output signal according to the amount of light flux from the subject.

As described above, the entire image pickup area includes the sensor section 201, the read gate section 202, and the vertical CCD 2.
However, each pair of the sensor unit 201 and the readout gate unit 202 can be considered as one pixel.

Here, the vertical direction (horizontal direction when shooting a still image)
When the number nv1 of arranged pixels is set to, for example, 1280 in consideration of obtaining a sufficiently high-definition screen at the time of still image shooting, the aspect ratio of the screen is set to 4: 3 and the horizontal direction (vertical at the time of still image shooting is set. The number nH of pixels arranged in the (direction) is 960. Then, the number nv2 of pixels arranged in the vertical direction as the moving image capturing area 204b is 720 because the aspect ratio of the screen is 4: 3.

Therefore, when shooting a moving image, the vertical 128
A video signal will be created using 720 lines out of 0 lines. Although the center 720 line is used in FIG. 6, it is advantageous in that the optical performance of the lens can be maximized. However, when producing a special effect, it is possible to shift the setting up or down.

The operation at the time of reading the 720 lines to be used is as described above, but the charges in the upper and lower portions that are not used are read at once (without reading one line at a time).
It is transferred from the vertical CCD 203 to the horizontal CCD 205 and output to the charge-voltage converter 206.

When making a video signal of a moving image, the time for forming one screen is fixed (in the case of NTSC, 1/30).
Therefore, the electric charges of the pixels of the unused portion are output during the vertical blanking period which is not displayed on the screen.

When the video signal of the still picture is taken out, 1 is set for all 1280 lines in the vertical direction as described above.
The charges of each line are sent to the charge-voltage conversion unit 206, and CC
D output signal. However, since there is no time restriction when handling a video signal of a still image, it takes more time than when reading 720 lines at the time of shooting a moving image, but there is no problem.

Looking at the video signal taken out as a moving image, it is constituted by 720 vertical lines × 960 horizontal pixels. If the signal to be recorded on the recording medium is in the SD format, for example, it is composed of many pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions.
A conversion for forming 3 pixels from 4 pixels in the horizontal direction and a conversion for forming 2 lines from 3 lines in the vertical direction are performed by the thinning filter 105 in FIG.

In the case of a still image, the CCD having the structure shown in FIG.
In a state of being rotated by 90 degrees,
Since the image formed on the upper side is read out, if the output from the CCD is recorded as it is, it is recorded as a vertically long image in which the orientation of the subject is rotated by 90 degrees. Therefore, the processing of rotating the image 90 degrees back is performed in the image processing 107 of FIG.

According to the present embodiment, the moving image,
It is possible to provide a holding mode suitable for each still image, and it is possible to shoot both moving images and still images as high-quality, natural images without discomfort.

It should be noted that, as a moving image is photographed by using a CCD image pickup device of hundreds of thousands of pixels corresponding to a high-definition still image, a horizontally long state without changing the direction between the still image and the moving image has been conventionally used. It has been proposed to read only the number of lines that can be read within the time allowed for producing a video signal of a moving image in the center.

However, in the case of this method, since it is necessary to match the aspect ratio of the screen (for example, to 4: 3), the signals of the pixels at the left and right ends other than the central portion of the screen (vertical direction in the read one line signal). (Corresponding to the ratio of the number of read lines to the total number of lines) is discarded without using it.

Also, the number of lines that can be read out when shooting a moving image is determined by how fast the CCD can be operated. In this case, it is necessary to read out the pixels to be discarded at both the left and right ends. As compared with the case of the present invention shown in FIG. 6, a high speed clock is required, which is disadvantageous. In other words, CCD operating at the same clock speed
CCD with higher pixel count and higher definition
Can be made by using the present invention.

[0079]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the outer shape of the main body in the first holding mode, which is the mode of holding the apparatus main body in the moving image shooting mode, is lateral to the optical axis. It has a flat shape whose vertical dimension is larger than the vertical dimension, and the external shape of the device main body in the still image shooting mode is a shape in which the longitudinal direction of the flat shape is rotated at a predetermined angle in the lateral direction with respect to the optical axis. When the second holding mode for holding the main body of the apparatus is adopted, the operation button is arranged at a position that enables the photographing operation in the second holding mode, so that the holding mode suitable for moving images and still images respectively. It is possible to provide both high-quality video and still images as natural images without any discomfort. That is, it is possible to hold the camera stably for a long time when shooting a moving image, and to take a quick shooting posture when shooting a still image, and to realize a holding mode that satisfies the conditions required for moving image shooting and still image shooting. It is possible to realize the provided imaging device.

According to the invention of claim 2,
The image pickup means has an image pickup device for photoelectrically converting the subject light and a lens for focusing the subject light on the image pickup area of the image pickup device. The lens is arranged above the front surface of the flat shape and the strobe light emitting section is arranged below the front surface. Since it is arranged so that the so-called "red eye" is prevented from occurring and even when the optical accessory is attached and used, the so-called "vignetting" that the strobe light beam is blocked by the attached optical accessory. Enables shooting of natural images that do not occur and that do not occur.

According to the invention of claim 3,
A display means for displaying the shot image is provided, and the screen shape of the display means is set to be substantially the same as the shooting range of one of the first and second holding modes, and the other holding mode is set. In the case of the form, since the entire shooting range is displayed and the predetermined information is displayed in the margin of the remaining screen, the display screen can be effectively used and the information required by the photographer can be displayed in an easy-to-see manner. You can

According to the invention of claim 4,
The shape of the image pickup area of the image pickup device is set so as to have a horizontally long shooting range in the case of the second holding mode in the still image shooting mode, and in the case of the first holding mode in the moving image shooting mode. Since the moving image is generated by cutting out a part of the entire vertically long imaging area so as to be horizontally long, it is possible to shoot both a high-definition still image and a moving image.

According to the invention of claim 5,
In the first holding mode, the horizontal cutout position is set to the center of the entire vertically long imaging area, so both high-definition still images and moving images can be taken with higher image quality. Will be possible.

According to the invention of claim 6,
The same effect as that of the invention of claim 1 can be obtained.

According to the invention of claim 7,
The same effect as the invention of claim 2 is obtained.

According to the invention of claim 8,
The same effect as the invention of claim 3 is obtained.

According to the invention of claim 9,
The same effect as the invention of claim 4 is obtained.

According to the invention of claim 10, the same effect as that of the invention of claim 5 can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a DVC which is an image pickup apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an external view showing (the camera body holding posture at the time of shooting a moving image).

FIG. 2 is an external view showing a camera body holding posture during still image shooting in the DVC shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an external view showing another form at the time of shooting a still image.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state of a screen displayed inside the LCD panel unit 3.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electric circuit configuration of the DVC according to the embodiment.

6 is a structural diagram showing a configuration example of the image sensor 101 shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an external view showing a form of a conventional small DVC.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 lens 2 viewfinder 3 LCD panel unit 4 Exterior cover 5 Strobe 6 Belt fittings 7 Grip belt 8 Grip protrusion 9 First zoom switch 10 Video trigger button 11 Second zoom switch 12 Trigger button for still images 101 image sensor 102 Image sensor driver 103 analog processing circuit 104 A / D converter 105 Thinning filter 106 switch means 107 image processing 108 memory 109 compression circuit 110 recording media 111 Expansion circuit 112 display circuit 113 LCD 114 system control circuit 115 Operation switch 201 sensor 202 Read gate unit 203 Vertical CCD 204a still image capturing area 204b Video imaging area 205 horizontal CCD 206 Charge-voltage converter

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G03B 19/02 G03B 19/02 F term (reference) 2H053 CA41 DA09 2H054 AA01 2H100 AA14 CC07 2H104 AA12 5C022 AA13 AB15 AC31 AC54 AC77 AC78 AC80

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A form of holding an apparatus main body in the moving image shooting mode, comprising: an image pickup unit for picking up an image of a subject; and a setting unit for setting an image pickup operation of the image pickup unit to a moving image shooting mode or a still image shooting mode. In the imaging device having a flat shape in which the main body outer shape in the first holding mode has a large vertical dimension with respect to the lateral dimension with respect to the optical axis, as the outer shape of the apparatus main body in the still image shooting mode,
When the second holding mode for holding the apparatus main body in a shape in which the longitudinal direction of the flat shape is rotated at a predetermined angle in the lateral direction with respect to the optical axis, the photographing operation in the second holding mode is possible. An imaging device having an operation button arranged at a position to be turned on. 2. The image pickup means includes an image pickup device for photoelectrically converting subject light, and a lens for focusing the subject light on an image pickup area of the image pickup device, and the lens is arranged above a flat front surface. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the stroboscopic light emitting section is also disposed on the lower front side. 3. A display means for displaying a photographed image, wherein the screen shape of the display means is substantially the same as the photographing range of one of the first and second holding modes. 3. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, in the case of one of the other holding modes set, predetermined information is displayed in a margin in a screen where the entire shooting range is displayed. 4. The shape of the image pickup area of the image pickup device is set so as to be a horizontally long shooting range in the case of the second holding mode in the still image shooting mode, and the shape of the first area in the moving image shooting mode is set. 4. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 2, wherein in the case of one holding mode, a moving image is generated by cutting out a part of the entire vertically long imaging area so as to be horizontally long. 5. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 4, wherein in the first holding mode, a position to be cut out so as to be horizontally long is the center of the entire vertically long image pickup area. 6. An image pickup device comprising image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject, and setting means for setting the image pickup operation of the image pickup means to a moving image shooting mode or a still image shooting mode, with respect to a lateral dimension with respect to an optical axis. And a shape in which the longitudinal direction of the flat shape is rotated at a predetermined angle in the lateral direction with respect to the optical axis. The second holding mode for holding the posture of the apparatus main body is made possible, and the operation button is arranged at a position which enables the photographing operation in the first and second holding modes. , In the moving image shooting mode, the first holding mode is adopted,
A mode selection method for an image pickup apparatus, wherein a second holding mode is adopted in the still image shooting mode. 7. The image pickup means includes an image pickup device for photoelectrically converting subject light, and a lens for focusing the subject light on an image pickup area of the image pickup device, and the lens is arranged above a front surface of a flat shape. 7. A mode selection method for an image pickup apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a stroboscopic light emitting section is arranged on a lower front side, and stroboscopic light emission by the stroboscopic light emitting section is enabled when the still image shooting mode is selected. 8. A display means for displaying a photographed image is provided, and a screen shape of the display means is substantially the same shape as a photographing range of one of the first and second holding modes. 8. The imaging apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that, in the case of one of the holding modes that is set, the entire shooting range is displayed and predetermined information is displayed in a margin in the remaining screen. Mode selection method. 9. The shape of the image pickup area of the image pickup device is set so as to be a horizontally long shooting range in the case of the second holding mode in the still image shooting mode, and the shape of the first shooting mode in the moving image shooting mode is set. 9. In the case of one holding mode, the mode selection method of the image pickup apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a part of the entire vertically long imaging area is cut out so as to be horizontally long to generate a moving image. 10. The mode selection method for an image pickup apparatus according to claim 9, wherein in the first holding mode, a position to be cut out so as to be horizontally long is the center of the entire vertically long imaging area.