JP2003023555A - Image photographing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a dynamic image having a proper frame rate and a high fine static image, in an image photographing apparatus. SOLUTION: A photographing unit 20 has a photographing optical portion 21, having two independent photographing optical systems 21a, 21b of each other; a photographing device portion 30 having two CCD 30a, 30b where they photograph respectively the images of objects by receiving respectively the lights emitted from the two photographing optical systems so as to output respectively their photographic signals; and a selecting portion 31 for switching the photographic signals to each other. While the first CCD 30a is a dynamic- image photographing CCD of a low resolution whose pixel size is large, the second CCD 30b is a high-resolution CCD whose pixel size is small. The selecting portion 31 is operated, based on a user command so that its output is switched to the photographic signal sent from the first CCD 30a, when aiming at the photographing of a dynamic image and to the photographic signal sent from the second CCD 30b, when aiming at the photographing of a static image.

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 for picking up an image of a subject.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of an image capturing apparatus for capturing (capturing) an image of a subject, a video movie in which the captured image is stored in a magnetic storage medium such as a video tape, or the captured image is converted into digital data. For example, a digital camera or the like that stores in a storage medium such as a semiconductor memory is known.

[0003]

However, in the conventional image pickup apparatus, the range of use in which an image can be picked up is limited by the performance of the image pickup system including the image pickup optical system and the image pickup device. Then, it is difficult to meet various shooting applications.

For example, there is an apparatus capable of switching between moving image capturing and still image capturing. However, in a device whose main purpose is to capture high-resolution still images, the frame rate when capturing moving images is lower than the video frequency (for example, 50 to 60 frames / second), and smooth moving images cannot be captured. On the other hand, in a device whose main purpose is moving image capturing, the image resolution when capturing a still image is the same as when capturing a moving image or is about double in the sub-scanning direction. Can't get the resolution of.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image pickup device which can solve the above problems.
This object is achieved by a combination of features described in independent claims of the invention. The dependent claims define further advantageous specific examples of the present invention.

[0006]

That is, the first aspect of the present invention
The image pickup device according to the embodiment of the present invention is an image pickup device that picks up an image of a subject, and includes a plurality of independent image pickup optical systems,
An image pickup unit for individually receiving light from a plurality of image pickup optical systems, for individually picking up an image of a subject and outputting an image pickup signal, and the image pickup unit at least picks up a still image. And a moving image capturing section for capturing a moving image.

In the image pickup apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the image pickup resolution of the still image pickup unit is higher than that of the moving image pickup unit.

In the image pickup apparatus of the present invention, each of the still image pickup section and the moving image pickup section individually receives light from the image pickup optical system, picks up an image of the subject separately, and outputs an image pickup signal. A solid-state imaging device for outputting is provided. In this case, the still image capturing unit has a still image solid-state imaging device suitable for capturing a still image, and the moving image capturing unit has a moving image solid-state imaging device suitable for capturing a moving image. Good. That is, it is preferable that the image pickup section has dedicated solid-state image pickup devices for moving images and still images, respectively.

In the image pickup apparatus of the present invention, the solid-state image pickup device for still images and the solid-state image pickup device for moving images are
The arrangement of the light receiving elements that form each solid-state imaging device may be different. In this case, the shape of the light receiving region of each light receiving element, the arrangement pitch of the light receiving elements, or the total number of pixels of the light receiving elements may be different.

In the image pickup device of the present invention, it is preferable that the number of image pickup pixels of the still image pickup unit is higher than that of the moving image pickup unit.

In the image pickup apparatus of the present invention, the light receiving sensitivity of the light receiving element forming the solid-state image pickup device for still images is
It may be lower than the light receiving sensitivity of the light receiving element that constitutes the solid-state imaging device for moving images.

In the image pickup apparatus of the present invention, the solid-state image pickup devices of the still image pickup unit and the moving image pickup unit read the accumulated charges by different types of reading methods or by different reading speeds. Good.

The image pickup apparatus of the present invention may further include a selection unit for selecting one of the image pickup signals obtained by the still image pickup unit and the moving image pickup unit.

The image pickup device of the present invention is an image pickup signal processing unit which performs predetermined image processing on the image pickup signal selected by the selection unit and outputs the image pickup signal, or each image pickup signal obtained by each image pickup unit. On the other hand, an image pickup signal processing unit that performs predetermined different image processing and outputs the image processing to the selection unit may be further provided.

The image pickup device of the present invention is one of the image pickup signals obtained by the still image pickup unit and the moving image pickup unit, and is a processed image pickup signal which has been subjected to image processing by the image pickup signal processing unit. It may further include a storage controller that stores the data in a predetermined storage medium.

The above summary of the invention does not enumerate all the necessary features of the present invention, and sub-combinations of these feature groups can also be the invention.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the claimed invention, and the features described in the embodiments Not all combinations are essential to the solution of the invention.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a digital camera 10 as an example of the image pickup apparatus of the present invention. The digital camera 10 includes two photographing lenses 22a on the imaging surface side of the housing,
22b (collectively referred to as the taking lens 22), a finder unit 34, and a strobe 36. The digital camera 10 also has a release switch 114 on the top surface of the housing.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the digital camera 10. The digital camera 10 mainly includes the image pickup unit 2
0, an imaging control unit 40, a processing unit 60, a display unit 100 which is an example of an image display unit, and an operation unit 110.

The image pickup unit 20 includes a mechanical member and an electric member for photographing and imaging. Imaging unit 20
First, an image pickup optical unit 21 including a plurality of independent image pickup optical systems that captures a subject image, and a plurality of solid-state image pickup devices that individually receive light from each of the image pickup optical systems and separately photograph the subject image The device unit 30 and the imaging control unit 310 that drives the solid-state imaging device in the imaging device unit 30 and controls reading of an imaging signal from the device are provided. The imaging device unit 30 is an example of the imaging unit of the present invention. The solid-state imaging device is, for example, a CCD (charge transfer type device) or an XY address type device. In the present embodiment, the imaging optical unit 21 has two imaging optical systems, and the imaging device unit 30 has two solid-state imaging devices corresponding to the imaging optical unit 21. Imaging control unit 310
Is, for example, a horizontal driver or a vertical driver that inputs a pulse for charge transfer to the device when the solid-state imaging device is a charge transfer type device, and when the solid-state imaging device is an XY address type device. Is
The horizontal scanning shift register and the vertical scanning shift register generate a selection pulse for determining a pixel point.

Further, the image pickup unit 20 performs a predetermined image processing on the image pickup signal selected by the selecting section 31 and one of the image pickup signals obtained by the respective solid-state image pickup devices. An image pickup signal processing unit 32 that outputs the processed image pickup signal to the processing unit 60.
And a finder section 34 and a strobe 36.

The image pickup control unit 40 includes a zoom driving unit 4
2, a focus drive unit 44, an aperture drive unit 46, a shutter drive unit 48, an image pickup system CPU 50 for controlling them, a distance measuring sensor 52, and a photometric sensor 54. The drive unit such as the zoom drive unit 42 has a drive unit such as a stepping motor. When the release switch (shutter switch) 114 described later is pressed, the distance measuring sensor 52
Measures the distance to the subject, and the photometric sensor 54 measures the subject brightness. The measured distance data (hereinafter referred to as distance measurement data) and subject brightness data (hereinafter referred to as photometry data) are sent to the image pickup system CPU 50. Imaging system CP
The U50 controls the zoom drive unit 42 by the control signal C1 based on the photographing information such as the zoom magnification instructed by the user (operator) to control the zoom lenses 220a and 220 described later.
In addition to adjusting the zoom magnification of b, the focus drive unit 44 is controlled by the control signal C2 to adjust the focus by the focus lenses 222a and 222b described later. The imaging system CPU 50 may control the zoom drive unit 42 to move the position of each lens in order to capture a parallax image and the like.

The image pickup system CPU 50 uses the R of one image frame.
The aperture value and the shutter speed are determined based on the integrated digital signal value of GB, that is, the AE information. According to the determined value, the diaphragm driving unit 46 controls the diaphragm mechanism by the control signal C3 to adjust the diaphragm amount, and the shutter driving unit 4
A control signal C4 is used to open and close the shutter.

The image pickup system CPU 50 also controls the light emission of the strobe 36 based on the photometric data, and at the same time adjusts the aperture amount. When the user gives an instruction to capture an image, the solid-state image pickup device starts charge accumulation, and after the shutter time calculated from the photometric data has elapsed, the accumulated charge is output to the image pickup signal processing unit 32.

The processing unit 60 includes the digital camera 10
The main CPU 62 that controls the whole, especially the processing unit 60 itself, and also functions as a storage controller of the present invention.
And a memory control unit 64, a YC processing unit 70, an optional device control unit 74, a compression / expansion processing unit 78, a communication I / F unit 80, and a clock generator 88 which are controlled thereby. In the present embodiment, a memory card 77, which is an example of a storage medium (image memory) that stores images, is attached as a type of the optional device 76.

The main CPU 62 exchanges necessary information with the image pickup system CPU 50 by serial communication or the like. The operation clock of the main CPU 62 is given from the clock generator 88. The clock generator 88 supplies clocks of different frequencies to the image pickup system CPU 50 and the display unit 100.

The main CPU 62 is provided with a character generator 84 and a timer 86. The timer 86 is backed up by a battery and always counts the date and time. Based on this count value, information relating to the shooting date and other time information is given to the main CPU 62. The character generation unit 84 generates character information such as a shooting date and time, a title, and the like, and this character information is appropriately combined with the captured image.

The memory control unit 64 includes a non-volatile memory 66.
And the main memory 68. Non-volatile memory 66
Is composed of an EEPROM (electrically erasable and programmable ROM), a FLASH memory, and the like. The digital camera 1 stores user setting information and factory adjustment values.
Data that should be held even while the power supply of 0 is off is stored. In the non-volatile memory 66, the main CPU
The boot program, system program, etc. of 62 may be stored. On the other hand, the main memory 68 is generally DR
It is composed of a relatively inexpensive memory having a large capacity like AM. The main memory 68 functions as a frame memory that stores the data output from the imaging unit 20,
Functions as a system memory for loading various programs and other work areas. The nonvolatile memory 66 and the main memory 68 exchange data with each unit inside and outside the processing unit 60 via the main bus 82.

The YC processing section 70 performs YC conversion on the digital image data, and the luminance signal Y and the color difference (chroma) signal B-
Y, RY are generated. The luminance signal and the color difference signal are temporarily stored in the main memory 68 by the memory control unit 64.
The compression / expansion processing unit 78 sequentially reads the luminance signal and the color difference signal from the main memory 68 and compresses them. The data of the subject image compressed in this way (hereinafter referred to as compressed data) is stored (written) in a predetermined storage area of a memory card 77 mounted as a type of option device 76 via the option device controller 74.

The processing unit 60 further includes an encoder 72.
With. The encoder 72 inputs the luminance signal and the color difference signal, converts them into a video signal (NTSC or PAL signal), and outputs the video signal from the video output terminal 90. When a video signal is generated from the data recorded in the option device 76, the data is first given to the compression / expansion processor 78 via the option device controller 74. Subsequently, the data subjected to the necessary expansion processing by the compression / expansion processing unit 78 is converted into a video signal by the encoder 72.

The optional device control section 74 follows the signal specifications accepted by the optional device 76 and the bus specifications of the main bus 82 to generate a necessary signal between the main bus 82 and the optional device 76, perform logical conversion or voltage conversion. And so on. The digital camera 10 may support, as the optional device 76, a standard I / O card compliant with PCMCIA, for example, in addition to the memory card 77 described above. In that case, the option device controller 74
It may be configured by a PCMCIA bus control LSI or the like.

The communication I / F unit 80 is used for the digital camera 10
Supported communication specifications, such as USB, RS-23
2C, Ethernet (registered trademark), Bluetooth (Bl
uetooth), IrDA, etc., and control such as protocol conversion according to specifications. The communication I / F unit 80 includes a driver IC as necessary, and communicates with an external device including a network via the connector 92. In addition to such standard specifications, data may be exchanged with an external device such as a printer, a karaoke machine, or a game machine by its own I / F.

The display unit 100 has an LCD monitor 102, which is an example of a display device, and an LCD panel 104. These are controlled by a monitor driver 106 and a panel driver 108, which are LCD drivers, respectively. The LCD monitor 102 is provided on the back of the camera, for example, with a size of about 2 inches, and is used for the current shooting / playback mode, zoom magnification for shooting / playback, battery level, date / time, screen for mode setting, subject image, etc. Is displayed. L
The CD panel 104 is, for example, a small black-and-white LCD provided on the upper surface of the camera, and has an image quality (FINE / NORMAL / BA
Information such as SIC), strobe light emission / prohibition, standard number of possible shots, number of pixels, battery capacity, etc. is displayed simply.

The operation unit 110 includes a mechanism and electric members necessary for the user to set or instruct the operation of the digital camera 10 and its mode. The power switch 112 determines on / off of the main power supply of the digital camera 10.

The changeover switch 113 is used for the image pickup unit 20.
The user receives a command for causing the selection unit 31 to select one of the image pickup signals obtained by the solid-state image pickup devices. The command received by the changeover switch 113 is input to the imaging system CPU 50.

The release switch 114 has a two-step pushing structure of half-pressing and full-pressing. Main CPU6
2 determines, for example, that the operator touches the release switch 114 or presses it halfway (half-pressing the shutter) as an operation for pre-processing of shooting, while pressing the full-press (full-pressing the shutter) by the operator to shoot. It is determined that the operation is an execution process. As an example, half-pressing locks AF and AE, full-pressing captures the captured image, and after necessary signal processing, data compression, etc., it is recorded in the main memory 68, optional device 76, and the like. Operation unit 11
In addition to these switches, 0 may accept settings by a rotary mode dial, a cross key, or the like, which are collectively referred to as a function setting unit 116 in FIG. Examples of operations or functions that can be specified by the operation unit 110 include "file format", "special effect", "print", "determine / save", and "display switching". The zoom switch 118 determines the zoom magnification.

FIG. 3 shows the image pickup device section 30 with 2
An example of a combination of types of imaging characteristics of two solid-state imaging devices is shown. The image pickup device unit 30 exhibits different types of image pickup characteristics due to the difference in the arrangement form (for example, the combination of the shape and arrangement of the light receiving elements) of the light receiving elements that form each solid-state image pickup device.

For example, the image pickup device section 30 may have a combination of devices (aspect 1) in which the shape of the light receiving region of each light receiving element is different. For example, in the light receiving element of the first image pickup device, the light receiving areas are substantially quadrangular and arranged in a grid or checkered pattern, and in the light receiving element of the second image pickup device, the light receiving area is substantially hexagonal or substantially octagonal. Therefore, it is preferable that they are arranged in a honeycomb shape. For example, if the cells are arranged in a substantially octagonal shape and are arranged in a honeycomb shape, the light receiving sensitivity is increased and the apparent resolution in the horizontal and vertical directions is also increased.

The image pickup device section 30 may have a combination of devices (aspect 2) in which the pixel size (light receiving area) of each light receiving element is different. For example, the pixel size of the first imaging device may be large (the light receiving area is wide) and the pixel size of the second imaging device may be small (the light receiving area is narrow). In this case, the first imaging device is a device having low resolution and is suitable for imaging with relatively low illuminance, while the second imaging device is a device having high resolution and suitable for imaging with relatively high illuminance.

When each image pickup device is for color image pickup, a combination of devices having different arrangements of color separation filters may be used (aspect 3). The array of color separation filters is a primary color filter array that is a color tone priority type that uses only three primary color filters of G (green), R (red), and B (blue), and Cy (cyan) and Mg (magenta). ,
It is roughly classified into a complementary color filter array which is a resolution priority type using a complementary color filter such as Ye (yellow). The primary color filter array includes a stripe array and a checkerboard array, and the complementary color filter array includes a color difference sequential system and an interleave system. For example, the color separation filters of the first imaging device are arranged in stripes, and the color separation filters of the second imaging device are checkered (including mosaic).
May be arranged in. G for a striped array
Is arranged every other pixel in the horizontal direction, and the R stripe and the B stripe are arranged in a checkered pattern in the remaining portion, a G stripe method in which RGB are sequentially arranged in the horizontal direction, or G and two complementary colors Cy and Ye are arranged. There is a CYG stripe method in which the elements are sequentially arranged. The direction of the stripe is not limited to the vertical direction and may be the diagonal direction. On the other hand, in a checkerboard pattern, a Bayer system in which colors for luminance signals that require high resolution (for example, G) are arrayed in a checkerboard pattern and two types of colors that do not require relatively high resolution are arrayed in the remaining part, There is an interline method.

The image pickup device section 30 is a combination of devices in which the array pitch of the respective light receiving elements is different (aspect 4), and the total number of effective pixels contributing to the image pickup of the light receiving elements (the number of effective image pickup pixels).
May have a combination of devices different from each other (aspect 5) or a combination of devices having different effective imaging areas of the entire device (aspect 6). For example, in the first image pickup device, the total light receiving area of the light receiving element is wide, and the total number of pixels arranged at a wide pitch is 400,000 pixels and a quarter inch (diagonal size;
The same applies hereinafter), and the second imaging device may be a device in which the light receiving area of the light receiving element is narrow and the total number of pixels arranged at a narrow pitch is 2 million pixels and 2/3 inch.

Further, the image pickup device section 30 may exhibit different kinds of image pickup characteristics depending on the devices whose accumulated charges are read out by different kinds of reading methods (scanning methods) (aspect 7). For example, the first imaging device is an XY address type device, and the second imaging device is a CCD.
If Alternatively, both imaging devices may use the same reading method. The XY address type includes a MOS type (including C-MOS type) device and a CMD (Charge Modulation Device) which is an example of an amplification type imaging device. On the other hand, in the CCD, for example, FT (Frame Tran
sfer (frame transfer) method, FFT (Full Frame Trans)
fer; Full frame transfer) method, FIT (frame Interl)
ine Transfer; frame interline transfer) system, IT
There is an (Interline Transfer) method, an all-pixel reading IT method, or the like.

Further, the image pickup device section 30 may have a combination of devices in which accumulated charges are read at different read speeds (scanning speeds) (aspect 8). For example, the first imaging device may be relatively fast (eg, 50-6).
While it is a device suitable for reading out at 0 image / 1 second, the second imaging device has a relatively low speed (for example, 5 image / 1).
It is recommended that the device be suitable for reading in less than a second).

FIG. 4 shows details of the image pickup unit 20 of the digital camera 10 according to the first embodiment. Imaging optical unit 2
1 has a first imaging optical system 21a and a second imaging optical system 21b. The imaging device unit 30 includes the first imaging optical system 21.
a moving image pickup unit 302 including the first CCD 30a for receiving L1a from a and L1b from the second image pickup optical system 21b.
Still image capturing section 30 including second CCD 30b for receiving light
4 and.

In this embodiment, the first CCD 30a, which is a solid-state image pickup device for moving images, and the second CCD 30b, which is a solid-state image pickup device for still images, are respectively selected according to whether they are for moving image pickup or still image pickup. It exhibits different types of imaging characteristics. For example, the first CCD 30a and the second CCD 30b are common in that they are color image pickup CCDs (charge transfer type image pickup devices) having color separation filters, but they exhibit different types of light receiving characteristics (light receiving sensitivity characteristics). Specifically, the first CCD 30a is
The CCD having a large pixel size (light receiving area of the light receiving element) and low resolution and suitable for moving image pickup has high light receiving sensitivity, while the second CCD 30b has a small pixel size and has high resolution and low light receiving sensitivity. Suitable for
Therefore, the CCDs 30a and 30b differ in at least part of the allowable range of the light intensity input (the dynamic range is different). Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the CCDs 30a and 30b each have a shape and arrangement (aspect 1 of FIG. 3) of a light receiving region of a light receiving element which constitutes each CCD, and a color separation filter, as shown in FIG. The array (aspect 3 in FIG. 3), the array pitch of the light receiving elements (aspect 4 in FIG. 3), and the effective total number of pixels (aspect 5 in FIG. 3) are different from each other.

On the other hand, each of the image pickup optical systems 21a and 21b is composed of different types of zoom lenses. The zoom lens can change the focal length and the magnification of the image substantially continuously without changing the focus position.

For example, the first image pickup optical system 21a includes a taking lens 22a having a zoom lens 220a and a focus lens 222a, a diaphragm 24a, and a shutter 26a.
And a half mirror 27a and an optical LPF (low pass filter) 28a. The optical LPF 28a is a CCD
Arrangement pitch (pixel pitch) of light receiving elements constituting 30a
Alternatively, it is for preventing the generation of a false signal (or a false color signal) which may be caused by a spatial frequency component higher than the spatial frequency of the pitch interval of the color separation filter. Although not shown, the first imaging optical system 21a includes the optical L on the optical path.
In the vicinity of the PF 28a, an IR cut filter that has a high wavelength transmittance in the visible light region and a low wavelength transmittance in the infrared light region, which is an example of the invisible light region, and cuts infrared light is provided. With this configuration, the subject image captured by the first imaging optical system 21a is formed on the light receiving surface of the first CCD 30a. According to the light quantity of the formed subject image, the first CCD 30a
An electric charge is accumulated in each sensor element (light receiving element) (not shown) (this electric charge is an accumulated electric charge). The accumulated charge is read to a shift register (not shown) by a read gate pulse from the image pickup control unit 310, and further sequentially read as an analog voltage signal by a register transfer pulse from the image pickup control unit 310. The reading speed at this time is relatively high (for example, about 50 to 60 sheets / 1 second), and the read imaging signal represents a moving image. The analog voltage signal output from the first CCD 30a is input to the selection unit 31.

Since the digital camera 10 generally has an electronic shutter function, a mechanical shutter such as the shutter 26a is not essential. In order to realize the electronic shutter function, a shutter drain is provided in the first CCD 30a via a shutter gate. When the shutter gate is driven, the accumulated charge is swept out to the shutter drain. By controlling the shutter gate, the time for accumulating charges in each sensor element, that is, the shutter speed can be controlled.

Similarly to the first image pickup optical system 21a, the second image pickup optical system 21b also has a taking lens 22b having a zoom lens 220b and a focus lens 222b, an aperture 24b, a shutter 26b, and a half mirror 27b.
And an optical LPF 28b. Although not shown,
The second imaging optical system 21b has an IR cut filter in the vicinity of the optical LPF 28b on the optical path, like the first imaging optical system 21a. With this configuration, the second imaging optical system 21b
The subject image taken in is formed on the light receiving surface of the second CCD 30b, and the analog voltage signal output from the second CCD 30b is input to the selection unit 31. The reading speed at this time is relatively low (for example, 5 sheets / second or less),
The read imaging signal represents a still image.

The image pickup optical systems 21a and 21b composed of zoom lenses may have substantially the same range of focal lengths, or may share only a part of them, or may have a common focal length. It may be different. In addition, each C
It is preferable to calibrate two voltage signals output from the CD.

The selecting section 31 is controlled by the image pickup system CPU 50 based on the user command received by the changeover switch 113, thereby selecting one of the image pickup signals obtained by the CCDs 30a and 30b, and selecting the selected image pickup signal. Is input to the imaging signal processing unit 32.

The input image pickup signal is sent to the image pickup signal processing section 3
In step 2, color separation is performed into R, G, and B components, and the white balance is adjusted first. Subsequently, the imaging signal processing unit 32
Gamma correction is performed, each signal of R, G, and B is sequentially A / D converted at a required timing, and the resulting digital image data (digital image data) is processed by a processing unit 6
0 to the main bus 82.

The image pickup unit 20 further includes a finder 3
It has a finder section 34 having a 4a and a strobe 36. The finder unit 34 has an optical switching unit 350 and a mirror 352 for inputting the light that has passed through the optical switching unit 350 to the finder 34a. The optical switching unit 350 includes the reference light L2a that serves as a part of the subject image reflected by the half mirror 27a of the first imaging optical system 21a and the second imaging optical system 2.
Either one of the reference lights L2b that is a part of the subject image reflected by the half mirror 27b of 1b is selectively passed. This selection is performed in conjunction with the selection of the image pickup signal in the selection unit 31, based on a command from the image pickup system CPU 50. For example, if the selection unit 31 is the first CCD 30
When selecting the image pickup signal of a, the optical switching unit 350
Passes the reference light L2a reflected by the half mirror 27a of the first imaging optical system 21a.

The viewfinder section 34 has an L (not shown).
A CD may be installed, in which case the main CPU described later
Various information from 62 and the like can be displayed in the finder 34. The strobe 36 functions by emitting light when the energy stored in a capacitor (not shown) is supplied to the discharge tube 36a.

An example of the main operation of the digital camera 10 having the above configuration is as follows. First, when the power switch 112 of the digital camera 10 is turned on, the main power supply is turned on and power is supplied to each part of the camera.

Next, the main CPU 62 has the function setting section 11
By reading the state of 6, it is determined whether the digital camera 10 is in the shooting mode or the reproduction mode. When the digital camera 10 is in the shooting mode, the main CPU 6
2 monitors the half-pressed state of the release switch 114. When the main CPU 62 obtains the half-press operation command, it determines that the user has issued a pre-processing command of the image capturing command, and first, from the photometric sensor 54 and the distance measuring sensor 52, the photometric data and the photometric data are measured, respectively. Get distance data. The image pickup control unit 40 operates based on the obtained data, and the focus, aperture, etc. of the taking lens 22 are adjusted. When the adjustment is completed, the main CPU 62 causes the LCD monitor 102 to display a subject image on which characters such as “standby” are superimposed, and informs the user that the digital camera 10 is in the “standby” state. As a result, the user can check the subject image as a moving image as well as being in the “standby” state. At this time, when the selection unit 31 selects the first CCD 30a side, a smooth moving image that follows the movement is displayed, but when the selection unit 31 selects the second CCD 30b side, the moving image having poor followability to the movement is displayed. The image is displayed.

Subsequently, the main CPU 62 monitors the fully pressed state of the release switch 114. Main CPU6
When the operation command for fully pressing the release switch 114 is acquired, it is determined that the user has issued a command to execute the image capturing command. Then, the shutter is closed after a predetermined shutter time, and the charge accumulated in the CCD is swept out to the selection unit 31.

The selection unit 31 is controlled by the image pickup system CPU 50 to select one of the image pickup signals obtained by the CCDs 30a and 30b and input the selected image pickup signal to the image pickup signal processing unit 32. Imaging signal processing unit 32
The digital image data generated as a result of the image processing by is output to the main bus 82. Digital image data is
Once stored in the main memory 68, the YC processing unit 7 is then stored.
0 and the compression / expansion processing unit 78 receives the processing. The main CPU 62 functioning as a storage control unit of the present invention stores (records) the image data subjected to these processes in a predetermined storage area of the memory card 77 via the optional device control unit 74. The main CPU 62, for example, freezes the recorded image for a while while the LCD monitor 10
Display on 2. In this case, the user can confirm the photographed subject image. This completes a series of shooting operations.

On the other hand, when the digital camera 10 is in the reproduction mode, the main CPU 62 reads out the last photographed image from the main memory 68 via the memory control section 64 and displays it on the LCD monitor 102 of the display unit 100. In this state, when the user instructs “forward feed” and “reverse feed” on the function setting unit 116, the main CPU 62
Images captured before and after the currently displayed image are read from the memory card 77 via the option device control unit 74 and displayed on the LCD monitor 102.

Here, the first CCD 30a is a CCD for capturing a moving image, which has a large pixel size and low resolution and is suitable for imaging with relatively low illuminance, while the second CCD 30b.
Is a CCD for still image capturing, which has a small pixel size, high resolution, and is suitable for capturing relatively high illuminance. Based on a command from the user, the selection unit 31 switches to the image pickup signal from the first CCD 30a for the purpose of capturing a moving image, and switches to the image pickup signal from the second CCD 30b for the purpose of capturing a still image. As a result, when a moving image with a good S / N is required, by switching to the image pickup signal from the first CCD 30a, an appropriate moving image with a frame rate of the video frequency (for example, 50 to 60 frames / second) is obtained. On the other hand, when a high-definition still image is required, it can be switched to the image pickup signal from the second CCD 30b, and the range of applications in which an image can be picked up is expanded.

Even for the purpose of taking a still image,
The selection unit 31 selects the image pickup signal from the first CCD 30a for moving image capture until the release switch 114 is fully pressed, and the image pickup from the second CCD 30b for still image capture after the release switch 114 is fully pressed. The signal may be selected. In this case, the release switch 114
This is convenient because a smooth moving image that follows the movement is displayed on the LCD monitor 102 during the adjustment stage of shooting until is fully pressed.

Further, depending on the difference in the imaging resolution of each CCD to be used, the light receiving characteristics such as spectral sensitivity characteristics,
This is convenient because the image pickup device unit can be configured by appropriately selecting the shape and arrangement of the light receiving regions of the light receiving elements that configure the above, the arrangement of color separation filters, or the arrangement pitch of the light receiving elements and the total number of pixels.

Further, since the image pickup signal processing unit 32 and the storage medium can be shared, the number of parts is reduced as compared with the case where two systems of image pickup signal processing units having different types of optical systems are independently prepared. Also, the cost is reduced accordingly. Further, calibration of image data of two systems is much easier than that of two separate digital cameras.

Further, the user is not required to carry two image pickup devices having different image pickup purposes such as a moving image or a still image, which is convenient.

FIG. 5 shows details of the image pickup unit 20 of the digital camera 10 according to the second embodiment. The difference from the first embodiment is that the arrangement order of the imaging signal processing unit 32 and the selection unit 31 is reversed. Imaging signal processing unit 32
Is a first image pickup signal processing unit 32a that performs a predetermined image process on the image pickup signal from the first CCD 30a, and a second image pickup signal process that performs a predetermined image process on the image pickup signal from the second CCD 30b. And a portion 32b.
First imaging signal processing unit 32a and second imaging signal processing unit 32b
Means that different image processing is performed on the image pickup signals output from the CCDs according to the types of the image pickup optical systems 21a and 21b and the solid-state image pickup devices 30a and 30b.
The processed image pickup signals output from the image pickup signal processing units 32a and 32b are input to the selection unit 31 arranged in the subsequent stage of the image pickup signal processing unit 32.

The selection section 31 is controlled by the image pickup system CPU 50 based on the user command received by the changeover switch 113, so that one of the processed image pickup signals output from the respective image pickup signal processing sections 32a and 32b. Select
The selected image pickup signal is sent to the main bus 82 of the processing unit 60.
Output to.

Although the arrangement order of the image pickup signal processing section 32 and the selecting section 31 is reversed, in this configuration also, the first
The same effect as the embodiment can be obtained. Further, since the image pickup signal processing unit 32 has an independent image pickup signal processing unit,
The most preferable processing unit can be configured in accordance with the combination of the type of each image pickup optical system and the image pickup characteristic of each solid-state image pickup device, which increases the degree of freedom in design. That is,
The first image pickup signal processing unit 32a may include a dedicated circuit for moving image pickup, and the second image pickup signal processing unit 32b may include a dedicated circuit for still image pickup.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. Various changes or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such modifications or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

For example, the number of image pickup optical systems and the number of solid-state image pickup devices are not limited to two, but may be three or more. The solid-state imaging device is not limited to capturing a color image, but may be capturing a monochrome image, or capturing invisible light such as infrared light. In this case, the type of device,
The correspondence for still images and moving images may be freely combined.

Further, the solid-state image pickup device is not limited to the CCD (charge transfer type device) as shown in the aspect 7 of FIG. 3, but may be an XY address type device such as a C-MOS type. For example, if the first CCD 30a is a C-MO
Although the S-type device is disadvantageous in terms of resolution and S / N, it is possible to realize an imaging unit suitable for capturing moving images with low cost and low power consumption.

Further, although the solid-state image pickup device of each of the above embodiments is a dedicated device suitable for still image pickup and moving image pickup, an image pickup device having substantially the same image pickup resolution characteristics, preferably still image pickup. It may be a high resolution type device suitable for use. In this case, the image pickup control unit sets the still image so that the number of pixels of the image picked up by the still image pickup unit is higher than the number of pixels of the image picked up by the moving image pickup unit (imaging resolution is higher). It is preferable to control the reading of the image pickup signal from each image pickup device in the video image pickup unit and the moving image pickup unit.

For example, the image pickup control section may read out the moving image pickup signal by thinning out the light receiving elements constituting the image pickup device of the moving image pickup section to read out the accumulated charges. Alternatively, the image pickup control unit may read the moving image pickup signal by binning reading for collectively reading the accumulated charges of a plurality of adjacent light receiving elements forming the image pickup device of the moving image pickup unit. In either case, the imaging control unit causes the light-receiving element that constitutes the imaging device of the still image capturing unit to perform normal reading.

For example, when a CCD for picking up a still image of 2 million pixels is used, the image pickup control section causes the thinning readout to be performed every other pixel in each direction of the main scanning and the sub scanning.
Alternatively, if binning reading is performed by grouping two pixels in each of the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction (4 pixels in total), 2
It is possible to obtain a moving image corresponding to 500,000 pixels, which is ¼ of the, 000,000 pixels.

Further, without providing a half mirror for reflecting a part of the subject image captured by each image pickup optical system, a finder may be provided corresponding to each image pickup optical system to independently confirm the reference image. Good. Since the structure of the finder alone is simple, the structure of the device is simplified because there is no structure for switching the reference light input to the finder in conjunction with the switching of the imaging optical system.

Further, the image pickup device may not have a storage control section for storing the picked-up image. In this case, the captured image is output to the external device from, for example, the video output terminal.

Further, although the two image pickup optical systems of the above-mentioned embodiments are constituted by the zoom lens whose focal length and image magnification can be changed, a combination of fixed focus lenses each having a different single focal length, It may be a combination of a zoom lens and a fixed focus lens. In the latter case, the correspondence between the zoom lens and the fixed focus lens and the still image capturing device and the moving image capturing device may be freely combined.

Further, the focus lenses of the two image pickup optical systems of the above-described embodiments may exhibit different focusing characteristics due to different depths of focus and focusing methods. Also, for example, using a variable bokeh lens,
By controlling the blurring of the foreground and the foreground when the focus lens is set to the optimum focus position, or by using the soft focus lens to set the degree of blurring at the optimum focus position itself, different focusing characteristics are exhibited. You may In this case, since an image with a different out-of-focus effect is obtained in the out-of-focus portion, there are a wide variety of uses corresponding to the intention of drawing, and the range of use that can be imaged is expanded.

[0078]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a moving image with an appropriate frame rate, and it is also possible to obtain a high-definition still image.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a digital camera as an example of an image capturing device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a digital camera

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a combination of types of image pickup characteristics of two image pickup devices in an image pickup device unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing details of an image pickup unit of the digital camera according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing details of an image pickup unit of a digital camera according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 digital camera 20 Imaging unit 21 Imaging Optics 30 Imaging device section 31 Selector 32 Imaging signal processing unit 34 Finder section 36 Strobe 40 Imaging control unit 50 Imaging system CPU 60 processing units 62 Main CPU 70 YC processing unit 100 display unit 102 LCD monitor 110 Operation unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) // H04N 101: 00 H04N 101: 00 F term (reference) 2H054 BB05 BB07 5C022 AA13 AB23 AB61 AB66 AC42 AC54 AC69 5C024 AX01 BX01 CY11 EX17 EX52 GY01 HX57 5C065 AA01 AA03 BB48 DD02 DD18 EE04 EE05 EE12 GG27

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup apparatus for picking up an image of a subject, comprising: a plurality of independent image pickup optical systems; and light individually received from the plurality of image pickup optical systems to pick up the image of the subject separately. And an image pickup unit for outputting an image pickup signal, and the image pickup unit includes at least a still image pickup unit for picking up a still image and a moving image pickup unit for picking up a moving image. apparatus. 2. The image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup resolution of the still image pickup unit is higher than the image pickup resolution of the moving image pickup unit. 3. The solid-state image pickup unit and the moving image pickup unit each receive light from the image pickup optical system and pick up an image of the subject separately and output an image pickup signal. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image pickup device. 4. The still image capturing section has a still image solid-state imaging device for capturing the still image, and the moving image capturing section has a moving image solid-state imaging device for capturing the moving image. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein
The image pickup device according to any one of claims. 5. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the solid-state image pickup device for still images and the solid-state image pickup device for moving images are different in arrangement form of light receiving elements constituting each solid-state image pickup device. . 6. The image pickup device according to claim 5, wherein the arrangement of the light receiving elements is such that the shape of the light receiving region of each light receiving element is different. 7. The image pickup device according to claim 5, wherein an arrangement pitch of the light receiving elements is different as an arrangement form of the light receiving elements. 8. The total number of pixels of the light receiving elements is different as a form of arrangement of the light receiving elements.
7. The image pickup device according to any one of 1 to 7. 9. The image pickup device according to claim 8, wherein the number of image pickup pixels of the still image pickup unit is higher than the number of image pickup pixels of the moving image pickup unit. 10. The light receiving sensitivity of a light receiving element forming the still image solid-state imaging device is lower than the light receiving sensitivity of a light receiving element forming the moving image solid state imaging device. The image pickup device according to item 1. 11. The accumulated charge is read out by the different solid-state image pickup devices of the still image pickup unit and the moving image pickup unit, respectively, by different reading methods. The image pickup device described. 12. The accumulated charge is read at different read speeds from the solid-state image pickup devices of the still image pickup unit and the moving image pickup unit, respectively. Image capturing device. 13. The selection unit according to claim 1, further comprising a selection unit that selects one of the image pickup signals obtained by the still image pickup unit and the moving image pickup unit. Image capturing device. 14. The image pickup signal processing section for performing predetermined image processing on the image pickup signal selected by the selecting section and outputting the image pickup signal processing section.
3. The image pickup device according to item 3. 15. An image pickup signal processing section which performs predetermined different image processing on respective image pickup signals obtained by the still image pickup section and the moving image pickup section and outputs the image pickup signals to the selection section. The image pickup device according to claim 13, wherein 16. The image pickup signal obtained by the image pickup section for still images and the image pickup section for moving images, wherein the image pickup signal processed by the image pickup signal processing section is processed in advance. The storage control unit for storing in a defined storage medium is further provided.
4. The image pickup device according to 4 or 15.