JP2003114466A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image pickup device having a stroboscope efficiently emitting light. SOLUTION: This image pickup device for picking up the image of a subject is equipped with 1st and 2nd light emitting bodies emitting light to the subject, an image pickup unit picking up the image of the subject by receiving the reflected light of emitted light from at least either the 1st or the 2nd light emitting body, and a light emission control unit controlling at least either the 1st or the 2nd light emitting body. The light emission control unit controls the light emitting body in compliance with an image pickup condition required when the image pickup unit picks up the image of the subject.

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. In particular, the present invention relates to an image pickup device having a strobe function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electroluminescence devices have been developed and are already in practical use. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-265237 discloses a flash device having an electroluminescence element as a backlight of a liquid crystal display section.

[0003]

As the development of electroluminescent elements progresses, it is desired to develop methods of using the electroluminescent elements in various fields.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image pickup apparatus 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.

[0005]

That is, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup device for picking up an image of a subject, the first and second light emitters emitting light to the subject, and the first and second light emitters. An image pickup unit that receives reflected light from the light emitted from at least one of the first and second light emitters and images the subject; and at least one of the first and second light emitters. And a light emission control unit for controlling.

The light emission control unit may control the light emitter according to an image pickup condition when the image pickup unit picks up an image of the subject.

The light emission control unit may control the light emitter according to a distance between the subject and the image pickup device when the image pickup unit picks up an image of the subject.

The light emission control unit may control the light emitter according to an exposure amount when the image pickup unit picks up an image of the subject.

The light emission control unit may control the light emitter according to the sensitivity of the film set in the image pickup apparatus.

The light emission control unit may control at least one of the timings at which the first and second light emitters emit light.

The light emission control unit further includes a light receiving section for causing the first light emitter to emit light and receiving reflected light with respect to the light emission of the first light emitter when the image pickup unit images the subject. May be. The light emission control unit may cause the second light emitter to emit light after the light receiving unit receives the reflected light.

The light receiving unit may determine the distance between the subject and the image pickup device from the reflected light, and the light emission control unit may control the second light emitter according to the distance.

At least one of the first and second luminous bodies may be capable of emitting light in a plurality of colors. The light emitter control unit may include a light emission color determination unit that determines at least one of the light emission colors of the first and second light emitters.

The light emission control unit may include a light emission amount determination unit for determining the light emission amount of at least one of the first and second light emitters.

The first luminous body and the second luminous body may be luminous bodies having different light emitting characteristics.

The first light emitter may emit a first color of light and the second light emitter may emit a second color of light.
The first color may be blue and the second color may be red.

The first light emitter may emit a first amount of light, and the second light emitter may emit a second amount of light.

Each of the first and second luminous bodies may have a discharge tube. A color filter may be further provided on the front surface of at least one of the first and second light emitters.

The gas pressure in the first discharge tube, which is the first luminous body, may be different from the gas pressure in the second discharge tube, which is the second luminous body.

A power supply unit may be further provided for supplying current to the first light emitter for a first time and supplying current to the second light emitter for a second time.

The first and second luminous bodies are both E
You may have an L element.

The first light emitter may have a discharge tube, and the second light emitter may have an EL element. The EL element may be arranged on the front surface of the discharge tube. The EL element may be arranged on the front surface of the discharge tube and around the discharge tube.

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.

[0024]

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 shows the appearance of the silver halide camera 10. The silver halide camera 10 according to the present embodiment includes the first strobe 3
6a and the second strobe 36b. First strobe 3
6a is a discharge tube such as a xenon tube, which emits white light. The second strobe 36b is the first strobe 36.
a around the lens side of a, and the first strobe 36a
Is a plurality of EL elements arranged on a plane substantially parallel to the front surface, that is, the camera front surface. Second strobe 36b
May have, for example, a configuration in which EL elements that emit light of RGB colors are arranged, and can emit light of a plurality of colors. The EL element may be an organic EL element,
It may be an inorganic EL element.

The first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36
b emits light to the subject when the image capturing unit captures the subject. That is, the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b emit light in substantially the same direction.
The first strobe 36a emits light when the image pickup unit 20 takes an image, that is, at the timing when the shutter is released. The second strobe 36b emits light together with the first strobe 36a when the shutter is released.
That is, it supplements external light together with the first strobe 36a.
The second strobe light 36b further emits light before the image pickup unit 20 picks up an image of a subject to prevent so-called red eye. (Hereinafter, the light emission when the shutter is released is called the main light emission, and the light emission before shooting is called the pre-light emission.) That is, the second
The strobe 36b emits light twice, that is, main emission and pre-emission.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional arrangement of the silver halide camera 10. The digital camera 10 mainly includes the image pickup unit 20, the image pickup control unit 40, and the processing unit 6.
0, a display unit 100, 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, the shooting lens 22 that captures and processes images
It has a diaphragm 24 and a shutter 26. Shooting lens 22
Includes a focus lens, a zoom lens, and the like. With this configuration, the taking lens 22 forms a subject image on the film 28 when the shutter 26 is opened. The imaging unit 20 further includes a finder 34 and a first strobe 36a.
And a second strobe 36b. First strobe 36
The a and the second strobe light 36b emit light to the subject when the imaging unit images the subject.

The image pickup control unit 40 includes a zoom drive unit 4
2, a focus drive unit 44, an aperture drive unit 46, a shutter drive unit 48, an imaging system control unit 50 for controlling them, a distance measurement sensor 52, a photometric sensor 54, and a light emission control unit 200 characteristic of the present invention.

The drive units such as the zoom drive unit 42 each have a drive means such as a stepping motor. When the release switch 114, which will be 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 distance measuring sensor 52 and the photometric sensor 54 may be formed by C-MOS, for example. Measured distance data (hereinafter simply referred to as "distance measurement data")
The subject brightness data (hereinafter simply referred to as “photometric data”) is sent to the imaging system control unit 50. Imaging system control unit 5
0 controls the zoom driving unit 42 and the focus driving unit 44 based on the photographing information such as the zoom magnification instructed by the user to adjust the zoom magnification and the focus of the photographing lens 22.

The light emission control unit 200 controls the light emission of the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b. The configuration and function of the light emission control unit 200 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The image pickup system control unit 50 determines the aperture value and the shutter speed based on the AE information. According to the determined value, the diaphragm driving unit 46 and the shutter driving unit 48 respectively adjust the diaphragm amount and open and close the shutter 26.

The image pickup system controller 50 also controls the light emission of the strobe 36 based on the photometric data, and at the same time adjusts the diaphragm amount of the diaphragm 26.

As described above, the image pickup system control unit 50 determines the image pickup conditions such as the aperture value and the shutter speed when the image pickup unit 20 picks up an image of a subject.

The display unit 100 includes the LCD monitor 10
2 and LCD panel 104. These are a monitor driver 106 and a panel driver 10 which are LCD drivers.
8 respectively. LCD monitor 102
Is provided on the back of the camera, for example, with a size of about 2 inches, and displays the current shooting or playback mode, zoom magnification for shooting or playback, battery level, date and time, screen for mode setting, subject image, etc. . The LCD 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 / BASIC etc.), strobe light emission / emission prohibition, standard number of recordable pictures, number of pixels, battery capacity, etc. are simply displayed.

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 whether to turn on / off the power of the digital camera 10. The release switch 114 has a two-step pushing structure of half-pressing and full-pressing. As an example, half-pressing locks AF and AE, and full-pressing captures a captured image. In addition to these switches, the operation unit 110 may accept settings using a rotary mode dial, a cross key, or the like, which are collectively referred to as a function setting unit 116 in FIG. The zoom switch 118 is
Determine the zoom magnification.

The power supply unit 120 has a power supply battery 122 for supplying electric power to each unit of the silver halide camera 10 and a battery remaining amount detecting section 124 for detecting the remaining battery amount of the power supply battery 122. Battery level detector 124
Detects the battery voltage.

The main operation of the above configuration is as follows. First, the power switch 11 of the digital camera 10
2 is turned on, and power is supplied to each part of the camera. The main CPU 62 determines whether the digital camera 10 is in the shooting mode or the reproduction mode by reading the state of the function setting unit 116.

When the camera is in the shooting mode, the main C
The PU 62 monitors the half-pressed state of the release switch 114. When the half-pressed state is detected, the imaging system control unit 50
Obtains photometric data and distance measuring data from the photometric sensor 54 and the distance measuring sensor 52, respectively. The imaging control unit 40 operates based on the obtained data, and the focus, the diaphragm, and the like of the taking lens 22 are adjusted.

When the adjustment is completed, characters such as "standby" are displayed on the LCD monitor 102 to inform the user of the fact, and then the fully pressed state of the release switch 114 is monitored. When the release switch 114 is fully pressed,
The shutter 26 is closed after a predetermined shutter time, and the electric charge accumulated in the CCD 30 is swept out to the imaging signal processing unit 32. The digital image data generated as a result of the processing by the imaging signal processing unit 32 is output to the main bus 82. The digital image data is temporarily stored in the main memory 68, then processed by the YC processing unit 70 and the compression / expansion processing unit 78, and recorded in the option device 76 via the option device control unit 74. The recorded image is displayed on the LCD monitor 102 for a while in a frozen state, and the user can know the captured 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 unit 64,
This is displayed on the LCD monitor 102 of the display unit 100.

In this state, when the user instructs "forward feed" and "reverse feed" in the function setting section 116, the images taken before and after the currently displayed image are read out and displayed on the LCD monitor 102. It

FIG. 3 shows a circuit configuration of the strobe 36 including the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b. The circuit of the strobe 36 includes a strobe power supply 300, a booster circuit 310 that boosts a voltage applied to the strobe power supply 300, and a first
A main strobe circuit 320 including a strobe 36a and a main strobe control circuit 33 for controlling light emission of the first strobe 36a.
0 and the sub-strobe circuit 3 for controlling the second strobe 36b
40, and a switch control unit 400 that controls the operation of each circuit
With.

The booster circuit 310 has a transformer T1 and a transistor Q1. The booster circuit 310 is a transformer T1.
Supplies the current generated by the main strobe circuit 320 and the sub strobe circuit 340.

It should be noted that, for example, the voltage sent to the main strobe circuit 320 and the voltage sent to the auxiliary strobe circuit 340 may be, for example, 600V and 30V, respectively. Electric power is supplied to the auxiliary strobe circuit 340 from the middle of the coil of the transformer T1 so as to realize this voltage.

The main strobe circuit 320 includes a diode D1.
, Resistor R1, capacitor C1, and first strobe 36
a and an electrolytic capacitor C2. Capacitor C1
Through the diode D1 and the resistor R1 to the transformer T1
Connected to. The capacitor C1 is charged by the voltage generated by the transformer T1. The electric field capacitor C2 is charged via the diode D1 based on the voltage generated by the transformer T1. The trigger coil T2 applies a high voltage to the first strobe 36a by using the electric power from the capacitor C1. A high voltage is applied to the first strobe 36a from the trigger coil T2, and the first strobe 36a emits light by the current supplied from the electric field capacitor C2.

The main strobe control circuit 330 is an IGBT.
(Insulated Gate Bipolar T
resistor) 332, a resistor R2, and a resistor R5
A resistor R6, a capacitor C3, and a main strobe switch circuit 334. The switching circuit 334 is
It has a transistor Q2, a resistor R3, a resistor R4, and a transistor Q3.

The capacitor C3 is connected to the diode D1 and the resistor R2. The capacitor C3 is the transformer T1.
Is charged by the generated voltage. Capacitor C3
Is connected to the IGBT 332 via the main strobe switch circuit 334 and the resistor R5. The main strobe switch circuit 334 is connected to the base of the IGBT 332 via the resistor R5 and controls on / off of supply of current to the IGBT 332. The resistor R5 is also connected to the resistor R6. The IGBT 332 is connected to the trigger coil T2 and the first strobe 36a and controls the light emission of the first strobe 36a.

The auxiliary strobe circuit 340 is used for the second strobe 3
6b, an auxiliary strobe switch circuit 342, and a diode D2. The sub-strobe switch circuit 342 supplies the current supplied from the transformer T1 via the diode D2 to the second strobe 36b. The sub-strobe switch circuit 342 controls the supply of current to the second strobe 36b. That is, the auxiliary strobe switch circuit 342
Controls the light emission of the second strobe 36b based on the control of the switch control unit 400. The other configuration and operation of the sub-strobe switch circuit 342 are the same as the configuration and operation of the main strobe switching circuit 334, and a description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the strobe power source 300 according to the present embodiment includes the first strobe 36 of the strobe circuit 36.
It is possible to supply power to a and the second strobe 36b.

The switch control section 400 has a switch 1, a switch 2 and a switch 3. Switch control unit 4
00 has a switch 1, a switch 2, and a switch 3.

The switch 1 is connected to the base of the transistor Q1 of the booster circuit 310 and controls the on / off of the transistor Q1. The switch 2 is connected to the base of the transistor Q2 via the resistor R4 of the main strobe switch circuit 334 and also connected to the base of the transistor Q3 to control ON / OFF of the transistor Q2 and the transistor Q3. That is, the on / off of the IGBT 332 is controlled,
The light emission of the first strobe 36a is controlled. Switch 3
Sub-strobe switch circuit 342 of sub-strobe circuit 340
To the second strobe 36b of the auxiliary strobe circuit 340.
Control the emission of light. All of the switch 1, the switch 2, and the switch 3 of the switch control unit 400 are turned on / off according to an instruction from the light emission control unit 200.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic functional block of the light emission control unit 200. The imaging unit 200 is the main CP
It can be realized by linking U with a program stored or loaded in the main memory or the non-volatile memory. When the main CPU has a built-in memory, necessary functions may be stored in the memory to realize various functions as firmware. FIG. 2 shows a light emission control unit 2
I described each function of 00 as a unitary structure,
These are not, and need not be, physically physically cohesive.

The light-emission control unit 200 includes an image-capturing condition acquisition unit 202 for acquiring image-capturing conditions when the image-capturing unit 20 captures an image of a subject, a film sensitivity acquisition unit 204, a battery remaining amount acquisition unit 206, and strobe light-emission conditions. , A light emission condition holding unit 210 that holds the light emission color, a light emission color determination unit 220 that determines the light emission color of the strobe 36, a power amount determination unit 222 that determines the amount of power supplied to the strobe 36, and parameters for supplying power The power supply condition determining unit 224 and the instruction receiving unit 230.

The image capturing condition acquisition unit 202 includes an image capturing system control unit 5
The imaging condition that 0 is determined is acquired. The film sensitivity acquisition unit 204 acquires the film information regarding the film sensitivity of the film 28. The film sensitivity acquisition unit 204 may receive the film information of the film 28 from the film mounting unit 30. The battery remaining amount acquisition unit 206 acquires the battery information regarding the battery remaining amount from the battery amount detection unit 122 of the power supply unit 200.

The light-emission condition holding section 210 includes the second strobe 3
The light emission conditions when 6b emits light are retained. The light emission conditions are power amount information indicating the amount of power to be supplied to the second strobe 36b when the second strobe 36b performs main light emission, and emission color information indicating the emission color when the second strobe 36b performs main light emission. Etc.

The emission color determining section 220 is the imaging condition acquiring section 2
The image pickup condition is received from 02. The emission color determination unit 220
Further, the film information is received from the film sensitivity acquisition unit 204. The emission color determination unit 220 also receives the battery information from the battery remaining amount acquisition unit 206. The emission color determination unit 220 determines the emission color in the main emission of the second strobe 36b by using the imaging condition, the film information, and the battery information. The emission color determination unit 220 further uses the information stored in the emission condition storage unit 210 to make a second
The emission color in the main emission of the strobe 36b is determined.

The power amount determining unit 212 is a light emission color determining unit 22.
Similar to 0, the image capturing condition, the film information, and the battery information received from the image capturing condition acquiring unit 202, the film sensitivity acquiring unit 204, and the battery remaining amount acquiring unit 206 respectively, and the light emitting condition held in the light emitting condition holding unit 210. Is used to determine the amount of electric power to be supplied to the second strobe 36b during main light emission. Power supply condition determination unit 214
Determines the current value to be supplied to the second strobe 36b and the supply time for supplying power to the second strobe 36b according to the amount of power determined by the power amount determination unit 212.

The instruction accepting section 230 is the operation unit 110.
An instruction from the user is accepted via. Instruction reception part 2
30 sends the received instruction to one of the emission color determination unit 220, the power amount determination unit 222, and the power supply condition determination unit 224. For example, when the user gives an instruction to emit light with a red light emission color, the light emission color determination unit 220 determines the light emission color of the second strobe 36b to be red regardless of the imaging conditions and the like. In this way, when there is an instruction from the user,
The light emission control unit 200 can cause the second strobe 36b to emit light under light emission conditions according to an instruction from the user.

FIG. 5 schematically shows the light emitting conditions held by the light emitting condition holding unit 220. The light-emission condition holding unit 220 holds, as image-pickup conditions, the distance to and from the subject, the intensity of external light, the shutter speed is fast and slow, and the aperture, that is, the F value is large or small. For example, when the distance is equal to or greater than α, it may be determined that the distance to the subject is long, and thus the value that becomes the boundary between these two values may be set in advance. The light emission condition holding unit 220
For example, the emission color red and the small emission amount are held in association with the imaging condition that the distance to the subject is short. In this way, the light emission condition holding unit 220 holds the light emission color and the light emission amount in the main light emission of the second strobe 36b in association with each imaging condition.

Therefore, the light emission color determination unit 230 and the power amount determination unit 232 select the light emission conditions associated with the imaging conditions acquired from the light emission condition acquisition unit 210 in the light emission condition holding unit 220, respectively. It is possible to determine the emission color and the amount of power in the main emission of the second strobe 36b.

Further, as described above, the light emission control unit 20
With 0, it is possible to determine the emission color and the emission amount, that is, the amount of electric power in the main emission of the second strobe 36b according to the shutter speed and the aperture, that is, according to the exposure amount.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operation when the silver halide camera 10 photographs a subject. When the release switch 114 is pressed by the user (S10
0), the distance measuring sensor 52 measures the distance to the subject (S
102), the photometric sensor 54 measures the intensity of external light (S104). Next, the light emission control unit 200 turns on the switch 1 and the switch 3 of the switch control unit 400. That is, the second strobe 36b pre-emits light (S105). The second strobe 36b emits a yellow color, that is, an emission color having a wavelength that easily reaches the retina during pre-emission. As a result, red eye can be effectively prevented.

Next, the light emission control unit 200 determines the light emission condition of the second strobe 36b based on the image pickup condition determined by the image pickup system control unit 50 based on the distance measurement data and the photometric data (S106). . Next, the light emission control unit 200 turns on the switch 1, the switch 2, and the switch 3 of the switch control unit 400. That is, the first
The strobe light 36a and the second strobe light 36b emit main light (S108). At this time, the second strobe 36b emits light under the light emission condition determined by the light emission control unit 200. At this time, the first strobe 36a emits light under a predetermined condition. For example, the switch control circuit 400 is the first
The time for turning on the switch 2 of the strobe 36a may be predetermined, and the amount of electric power supplied to the first strobe 36a may be predetermined. Next, the imaging unit 2
0 images a subject (S110).

As described above, the light emission control unit 200 is
It is possible to determine the emission color and the emission amount of the second strobe 36b in the main emission according to the imaging conditions. Therefore,
The image pickup unit 20 can emit strobe light suitable for an image pickup environment. In addition, the second strobe 36
b is capable of emitting light in a plurality of colors, the light emission control unit 2
00 can control the emission color in the main emission.

FIG. 7 shows the emission control step (S) described with reference to FIG.
It is a flowchart which shows the detailed operation | movement of the light emission control unit 200 in 106). When the instruction receiving unit 230 receives an instruction about the emission color and the emission amount from the user (S200), the emission color determination unit 220 and the power amount determination unit 222 respectively determine the emission color and the power amount instructed by the user. It is determined as the light emission condition (S220).

In S200, the instruction receiving section 230
When the instruction is not received from the user, the imaging condition acquisition unit 202 acquires the imaging condition (S202). next,
The film sensitivity acquisition unit 204 acquires film information (S204). Next, the battery information acquisition unit 206
Battery information is acquired (S206).

Next, the light emission color determining unit 220 receives the image capturing condition from the image capturing condition acquiring unit 202, and determines the light emitting color by using the image capturing condition and the light emitting condition held in the light emitting condition holding unit 210 (S208). ).

Next, the power amount determining unit 222 receives the image capturing condition received from the image capturing condition acquiring unit 202, the film information received from the film sensitivity acquiring unit 204, the battery information received from the battery remaining amount acquiring unit 206, and the light emitting condition. The light emission amount, that is, the amount of power is determined by using the light emission condition held by the holding unit 210 (S210). next,
The power supply condition determination unit 224 determines the current value to be supplied and the time to be supplied by using the power amount and the light emission condition determined by the power amount determination unit 222 (S212). With the above, the light emission conditions for the main light emission of the second strobe 36b are determined.

As described above, since the light emission control section 200 determines the light emission condition according to the image pickup condition, the film sensitivity, and the remaining battery level, the strobe 36 can emit light under a better light emission condition.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the strobe 36 of the silver halide camera 10 according to the second embodiment. The first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b of the silver halide camera 10 according to the present embodiment are both xenon tubes. In this respect, the silver salt camera 10 in the present embodiment is different from the silver salt camera 10 in the first embodiment.

The first strobe 36a in this embodiment has a higher gas pressure in the discharge tube than the second strobe 36b. That is, the first strobe 36a emits light with a yellow color and a larger amount of light emission than the second strobe 36b.

The strobe 36 in the present embodiment includes a booster circuit 410, a first strobe circuit 420 including a first strobe 36a, a first strobe control circuit 430 for controlling light emission of the first strobe 36a, and a second strobe. It has a second strobe circuit 440 including 36b and a second strobe control circuit 450 for controlling the light emission of the second strobe 36b.

Boosting circuit 410 and switch control section 400
The configuration and operation of the first embodiment are the same as those described with reference to FIG.
Booster circuit 310 and switch control unit 4 in the embodiment
00 has the same configuration and operation. First strobe circuit 4
20 and the second strobe circuit 440 are similar in configuration and operation to the first strobe circuit 320 in the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. The configurations and operations of the first strobe control circuit 430 and the second strobe control circuit 450 are the same as the configurations and operations of the first strobe control circuit 320 in the first embodiment described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the functional arrangement of the light emission control unit 200 of the silver halide camera 10 according to the second embodiment. Light emission control unit 2 in the present embodiment
00 is the light emission control unit 200 in the first embodiment.
In place of the emission color determination unit 220, the power amount determination unit 222, the power supply condition determination unit 224, and the emission condition holding unit 210, the flash selection unit 250 and the selection condition holding unit 260 are included. The selection condition holding unit 260 holds an imaging condition and a strobe to be used at the time of imaging in association with each other.

The strobe selection unit 250 receives the imaging conditions from the imaging condition acquisition unit 202, and the film sensitivity acquisition unit 2
The film information is received from 04 and the battery information is received from the battery remaining amount acquisition unit 206. The strobe selection unit 250 determines which of the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b is to be fired by using the imaging condition, the film information, the battery information, and the selection condition.

In this respect, the light emission control unit 200 in the second embodiment is different from the light emission control unit 200 in the first embodiment that determines the light emission condition of the second strobe 36b. Other than this, the configuration and operation of the light emission control unit 200 in the second embodiment are the same as the configuration and operation of the light emission control unit 200 in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the light emission control unit 200 according to the second embodiment can select which of the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b is caused to emit light at the time of photographing, according to the image pickup conditions and the like. Further, the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b emit light of different emission colors. That is, the light emission control unit 200 can cause the strobe 36 to emit light in different emission colors depending on the imaging conditions and the like.

FIG. 10 schematically shows selection conditions held in the selection condition holding unit 260. In this way, the selection condition holding unit 260 holds information indicating the strobe to be emitted under each of the image pickup conditions in association with the image pickup condition. Therefore, the strobe selection unit 250 includes the selection condition holding unit 260.
Using the information stored in the first flash 3 at the time of shooting
6a or the second strobe 36b can be selected to emit light.

Other than this, the configuration and operation of the silver salt camera 10 are the same as the configuration and operation of the silver salt camera 10 in the first embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 7.

Although the present invention has been described using 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 changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

As a first modified example, the photometric sensor 54 may further measure the type of external light, that is, the spectral balance. In this case, the light emission control unit 200 further utilizes the spectrum balance,
The emission color and emission amount of the strobe 36 may be determined. For example, the emission color determination unit 220 may determine the color to be added to the spectrum balance as the emission color of the strobe 36.

As a second modification, the photometric sensor 54
May further detect the frequency at the peak of reflected light with respect to external light. In this case, the light emission control unit 200
May further use the frequency to determine the emission color and the emission amount of the strobe 36. For example, the emission color determination unit 22
0 may be recognized as a fluorescent lamp from the frequency of light, and the color to be added in the case of the fluorescent lamp may be determined as the emission color of the strobe 36.

As a third modification, the image pickup device in the present embodiment is a silver halide camera, but instead of this, a digital camera may be used.

As a fourth modification, both the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b in the present embodiment may be EL elements. Further, in this case, the light emission control unit 200 may control at least one of the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b.
The light emission control unit 200 may further perform control according to imaging conditions.

As a fifth modification, the light emission control unit 200 may further control the timing at which the strobe 36 emits light. The light emission control unit 200 may control the timing of light emission of the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b in the main light emission in the first embodiment. The light emission control unit 200 is, for example, the second strobe 3
6b may be made to emit light first, and the light emission condition of the first strobe 36a may be controlled based on the photometric data at this time.
The light emission control unit 200 also includes, for example, the second strobe 3
6b may be made to emit light first, and the light emission condition of the first strobe 36a may be controlled based on the distance measurement data at this time.

Further, the light emission control unit 200 includes the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 3 in the second embodiment.
The timing of light emission of 6b may be controlled.

As a sixth modification, the light emission control unit 200 in the first embodiment did not control the light emission color or the like in the pre-light emission, but the light emission control unit 200
The emission color in pre-emission may be further controlled.

As a seventh modification, the light emission control unit 200 in the first embodiment controls the light emission in the main light emission of the second strobe 36b.
Does not have to be controlled. For example, the second strobe 36b is configured such that the switch control unit 400 causes the second strobe 36b to emit yellow light during pre-flash and white light during main flash.
The strobe 36b may be controlled. In this case, the light emission control unit 200 uses the second strobe 36b in the pre-light emission.
May be emitted, and in the main emission, both the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b may be emitted.

As an eighth modification, the strobe 36 in the second embodiment does not perform pre-emission, but as another example, the strobe 36 may perform pre-emission and main emission. In this case, the strobe 36 may further include a strobe for preventing red eye.

As a ninth modification, the switch control section 400 in the second embodiment has the first switch circuit 410.
The second switch circuit 430 and the second switch circuit 430 may be controlled to be supplied with different power times. As a result, the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b can emit light of different intensities. Further, as another example, the light emission control unit 200 may include the first strobe 36.
It is also possible to control the amount of electric power to be supplied to a and the second strobe 36b. The light emission control unit 200 uses the first strobe 3
6a and the second strobe 36b, the configuration and operation when controlling the amount of power to be supplied to at least one of
The configuration and operation of the power amount determination unit 222 of the light emission control unit 200 described in the embodiment are the same.

As a tenth modification, the light emission control unit 200 according to the second embodiment has the first strobe 36a.
Although either the second strobe 36b or the second strobe 36b is caused to emit light, the light emission control unit 200 may further cause both the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b to emit light according to the imaging conditions. This causes the strobe 36 to
It can emit intense light.

As an eleventh modification, the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b in the second embodiment are
Although the gas pressure in the discharge tube was different, a color filter may be provided on the front surface of the first strobe 36a instead. This allows the first strobe 36a to emit more yellow light. A red color filter may be provided on the front surface of the first strobe 36a. By this, the first
Even if the strobe 36a is made to emit light for a short time, it is possible to take a photograph with good color balance.

As a twelfth modified example, the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b in the second embodiment are:
Both are xenon tubes, but instead, at least one of the first strobe 36a and the second strobe 36b may be an EL element capable of emitting light in a plurality of colors.

[0095]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the image pickup device can emit strobe light according to the image pickup condition.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an appearance of a silver halide camera 10.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the silver halide camera 10.

3 is a diagram showing schematic functional blocks of a light emission control unit 200. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a strobe 36.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a light emitting condition held by a light emitting condition holding unit 220.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of the silver halide camera 10.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of the light emission control unit 200 in the light emission control step (S106) described in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a strobe 36 of a silver halide camera 10 according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a light emission control unit 200 according to the second embodiment.
3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a selection condition holding unit 260 according to the second embodiment.
It is a figure which shows typically the selection conditions hold | maintained at.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 digital camera 20 Imaging unit 22 Shooting lens 24 aperture 26 shutters 28 Optical LPF 36a Main strobe 36b Deputy strobe 40 Imaging control unit 52 Distance sensor 54 Photometric sensor 60 processing units 62 Main CPU 64 memory controller 66 non-volatile memory 68 Main memory 100 display unit 110 Operation unit 120 power supply unit 310 Booster circuit 320 Main strobe circuit 330 Main strobe control circuit 340 Secondary strobe circuit 400 switch control unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G03B 15/02 G03B 15/03 F 15/03 HK WH H04N 5/238 Z H04N 5/238 G02B 7 / 11 ZF Term (reference) 2H002 CD00 CD11 CD13 GA31 GA32 GA33 HA14 JA07 ZA01 2H051 AA00 AA01 CC03 CC10 CC11 EB07 2H053 AA05 AA06 AB01 AD00 AD01 AD03 AD06 AD21 BA31 BA32 BA33 BA34 CA02 CA06 CA12 CA15 CA16 CA15 CA17 DA08 CA08 AC69 AC73

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup device for picking up an image of a subject, wherein first and second light emitters that emit light to the subject, and light emission of at least one of the first and second light emitters. An image pickup apparatus comprising: an image pickup unit that receives reflected light for the subject to pick up an image of the subject; and a light emission control unit that controls at least one of the first and second light emitters. 2. The light emission control unit, according to an image pickup condition when the image pickup unit picks up an image of the subject,
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light emitter is controlled. 3. The light emission control unit controls the light emitting body according to a distance between the subject and the image pickup device when the image pickup unit picks up an image of the subject. The imaging device described. 4. The light emission control unit is configured such that the imaging unit, in accordance with an exposure amount when the imaging unit images the subject,
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the light emitter is controlled. 5. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the light emission control unit controls the light emitter according to a sensitivity of a film set in the image pickup apparatus. 6. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light emission control unit controls at least one of timings at which the first and second light emitters emit light. 7. The light-emission control unit includes a light-receiving unit that causes the first light-emitting body to emit light when the imaging unit captures an image of the subject and receives reflected light with respect to the emission of the first light-emitting body. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: the light emission control unit, which causes the second light emitter to emit light after the light receiving unit receives the reflected light. 8. The light receiving unit determines a distance between the subject and the imaging device from the reflected light, and the light emission control unit determines the second distance according to the distance.
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the illuminator is controlled. 9. At least one of the first and second light emitters is capable of emitting light in a plurality of colors, and the light emitter control unit comprises: The imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising a light emission color determination unit that determines at least one of the light emission colors. 10. The light emission control unit includes a light emission amount determination unit for determining a light emission amount of at least one of the first and second light emitters. The imaging device according to 1. 11. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the first light emitter and the second light emitter are light emitters having different light emission characteristics. 12. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the first light emitter emits light of a first emission color, and the second light emitter emits light of a second color. . 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first color is blue and the second color is red.
The imaging device according to. 14. The imaging according to claim 11, wherein the first light emitter emits light with a first light emission amount, and the second light emitter emits light with a second light emission amount. apparatus. 15. The image pickup device according to claim 11, wherein each of the first and second light emitters has a discharge tube. 16. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a color filter on a front surface of at least one of the first and second light emitters. 17. The gas pressure in the first discharge tube, which is the first luminous body, and the gas pressure in the second discharge tube, which is the second luminous body, are different from each other. The imaging device according to. 18. A power supply unit configured to supply a current to the first light emitter for a first time and a current to the second light emitter for a second time. Item 16. The imaging device according to Item 15. 19. The image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein each of the first and second light emitters has an EL element. 20. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first light emitter has a discharge tube, and the second light emitter has an EL element. 21. The image pickup device according to claim 20, wherein the EL element is arranged on a front surface of the discharge tube. 22. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the EL element is arranged on the front surface of the discharge tube and around the discharge tube.