JP2003274267A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To raise quick shooting property after power on by shortening the time from start to shot and besides to enable the shot intended by the user. <P>SOLUTION: A power source is turned on (S11), and a shot screen is indicated in a liquid crystal monitor (S12). Here, the user depresses a two-stage constitution of release button at two stages at a time (YES in S13), whereupon a quick shot mode is set, and since a photographing lens is shifted already to a fixed focus position at power off in the last use, there is no necessity of shifting action of the photographing lens, and exposure control is performed as it is (S14), and image data are fetched (S15). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation from the activation of a conventional general digital camera to the acquisition of image data. When activated, the photographing lens is first moved to the wide-angle photographing position or the telephoto photographing position. Moved (S
1), the power of the CCD (image pickup device) is turned on (S2), and the photographing screen is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor (S3). Here, the user presses the release button having the two-stage structure by one stage (Y in S4).
S), pre-focusing is performed (S5), then the release button is pressed in two steps (YES in S6), main focusing is performed (S7), and exposure control is performed (S7).
8) Then, the image data is taken in (S
9).

As described above, in the conventional digital camera, when the subject to be photographed is found and then the power is turned on to photograph, the subject intended by the user is missed due to the length of the camera start time or the release time lag. There was a problem.

In particular, in a camera having many functions or a camera having an autofocus function, it takes time to set the function or to perform the autofocus, and the image pickup apparatus is activated to set the desired mode by the user. It takes time to shoot from.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems of the conventional camera, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-56213 discloses a digital camera having an autofocus function and a fixed focus function. However, in this conventional example, one of the focus modes is automatically set, and the shooting intended by the user is not always performed.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, shortens the time from startup to photographing, and enhances the quick-shooting property after the power is turned on, and moreover, the photographing device intended by the user is performed. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 can be set in an auto-focus photographing mode and a fixed-focus photographing mode, and the release button is configured to be pushed in two steps. In the imaging device equipped with, when setting the quick-shooting mode that shortens the time from startup to the shooting mode, when the release button is pressed step by step, the auto-focus shooting mode is set,
When the release button is pushed in two steps at a time, a control means for mode control is set so as to set the fixed focus shooting mode. With this configuration, in the quick shooting mode, a user operation or setting is performed. ,
It is possible to select whether or not to reduce the release time lag without using the auto-focus shooting mode, and it is possible to reduce the release time lag and improve the quick shooting property.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image pickup apparatus according to the first aspect, the power is turned off, the mode is changed to a mode other than the recording mode, or a mode other than the recording mode is set. In this case, the photographic lens is moved to a fixed focus position, and with this configuration, even if the autofocus is not selected, the image can be taken without moving the lens.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image pickup apparatus according to the first aspect, the automatic bracket photographing is performed in the quick photographing mode, or the photographing operation is continuously performed a plurality of times by shifting parameters during exposure. Characteristically, this configuration makes it possible to quickly perform suitable shooting without setting parameters for shooting, in addition to exposure compensation.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image pickup apparatus according to the first aspect, at least one parameter of contrast, brightness, white balance, and saturation is set from the image data for one image in the quick-shooting mode. It is characterized in that a plurality of image data are changed and created and recorded. With this configuration, it is possible to quickly perform suitable shooting without changing the image processing parameters after shooting.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image pickup apparatus according to the first aspect, when the exposure time at the time of shooting is longer than a predetermined time in the quick shooting mode, the shooting of the image pickup device exposed at the time of shooting is performed. The feature is that the sensitivity is increased, and with this configuration, it is possible to prevent shooting of an image with camera shake or subject shake without setting sensitivity.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image pickup apparatus according to the first aspect, the photographing operation is automatically performed when the photographing mode is set after the power is turned on or after the recording mode is changed in the quick photographing mode. With this configuration, by performing a shooting operation immediately when the camera is ready for shooting, it is possible to further improve the quick shooting performance as compared with the operation by the user.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image pickup apparatus according to the first aspect, the quick shooting mode is set or ON / OFF is set.
It is characterized in that it is provided with an operating means for selecting off, and with this configuration, the user can select the setting of the quick-shooting mode.

The invention according to claim 8 is characterized in that, in the image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, the photographing operation is performed only once in the quick-shooting mode, or the quick-shooting mode is automatically released after a predetermined time has elapsed. With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the need for quick shooting when a time has elapsed since the start-up, and it is possible to increase the quick shooting only immediately after the power is turned on, which requires quick shooting, or when the recording mode is changed.

[0015]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital camera for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a photographing lens driven by a CPU (central processing unit) 2 via a zoom driver 3 and a focus driver 4, and 5 is a CPU.
(Central processing unit) A driver for setting diaphragm and shutter under the control of 2, a CCD (imaging element) 6 for receiving a photographed image through a photographing lens 1, an aperture of the diaphragm, and 7 a CC
CD that receives image data from D6 and performs data processing
A data processing unit composed of S, AGC, A / D, etc., 8 is a timing adjusting unit for controlling the processing timing of data, and 9 is R for receiving image data from the data processing unit 7.
An image processing unit that processes digital color video signals such as GB and white balance, 10 is a data compression processing unit that performs data processing such as JPEG, and 11 is a memory that stores the video data processed as described above. It's a card.

Further, 12 is a DRAM which is a memory for temporarily storing video data, and 13 is a liquid crystal monitor (LC).
D), 14 is a sub-LCD, 15 is an operation unit for inputting / setting various data and modes, 16 is a power supply battery, 17 is an AC adapter for connecting to a commercial power supply, 18 is a power supply battery 16, and an AC adapter 17 It is a DC / DC converter that electrically connects the respective parts to each other.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the digital camera of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a rear view of the digital camera of FIG.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 is a camera outer case body, 22 is a release button having a two-stage release structure, and 23 is a shooting / playback switching dial provided with a power-on button 24 in the center.

In FIG. 3, 13 is a liquid crystal monitor (LC
D), 25 is a viewfinder, and 26 is a wide-angle shooting setting W
A button, 27 is a T button for telephoto shooting setting, 28 is a button for setting various modes, 29 is a button for confirming the setting, and 30 is a button for canceling the setting.

In the digital camera of the present embodiment having the above-mentioned structure, the T button 27 is normally a button for moving the zoom operation of the taking lens 1 to the telephoto side, but when the recording mode is set, the T button 27 is used. When the power-on button 24 and the power-on button 24 are pressed at the same time, the quick-shooting mode is set and the power is immediately turned on. In addition, when the T button 27 and the power-on button 24 are simultaneously pressed to shift to the recording mode, the quick shooting mode is set.

In addition to the above, as a method for setting the quick-shooting mode, for example, a dedicated button for starting the quick-shooting mode is provided independently, or a method for setting the quick-shooting mode by operating various mode setting buttons 28 and the like. It may be provided. Further, as will be described later, it is conceivable to set the quick-shooting mode by pressing the release button 22.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation from the start-up to the image data loading in the quick-shooting mode in this embodiment. First, the CCD 6 is turned on (S11), and the photographing screen is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 13. It is displayed (S12), where the user releases the release button 22 having a two-stage structure.
When two steps are pressed at once (YES in S13), the quick-shooting mode is set, and in this example, since the taking lens 1 has already been moved to the fixed focus position when the power was turned off the last time it was used, the taking lens 1 The exposure control is performed as it is (S14), the image data is captured (S15), and then the quick shooting mode is released (S16).

However, when the user wants to take a picture after performing the autofocus, the release button 22 is pushed down by one step (S17) to perform the autofocus (S18), and then the release button 22 is pressed to the 2 button. By pushing down to the step (YES in S19), exposure control is performed (S14), and image data is captured (S1).
5) After that, the quick shooting mode is canceled (S16).

As the release button 22 having the two-stage structure, it is possible to use a publicly known button that has been used in many cameras and electronic cameras in the past. In addition, when the user pushes the release button 22 having the two-stage structure all at once, the photographing lens 1 is moved to the fixed focus position when the power is turned off.

Further, in the present embodiment, it is possible to automatically perform auto bracket shooting or shooting by changing the aperture or shutter speed in the quick shooting mode. As a result, it is possible to save the time for the user to make settings such as exposure correction, and thus it is possible to improve the quick-shooting property even when the user wants to perform exposure correction.

Further, in the present embodiment, even for the correction which is usually performed after the image data is taken in, the parameters are changed in advance and a plurality of sheets are recorded so that the user can select the most suitable image later. Therefore, it is possible to capture an image desired by the user even if the rapidity is high.

By the way, when the subject or the ambient light is dark at the time of photographing, the exposure time becomes long. In such a case, it is common to fix the digital camera on a tripod and shoot. However, fixing to a tripod takes time because the screw part of the tripod is inserted into the tripod hole on the bottom of the camera, and the subject to be photographed may be missed.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when the exposure time (shutter speed) becomes long, the CCD
Increase the sensitivity of 6 so that the exposure time is within a certain second. For example, FIG. 5 is an example of a program diagram at the time of exposure according to the present embodiment. The exposure amount (EV) is determined from the exposure time (shutter speed), the F value of the aperture, and the photographing sensitivity. For a dark subject or under ambient light, the exposure amount increases for proper exposure. For normal shooting, exposure shall be done with ISO100, and the aperture F value is F
Assume four. When exposure is performed using the program diagram in the case of FIG. 5, the exposure time (shutter speed) in the solid line portion is sufficiently short, so that it is possible to shoot without fixing to a tripod.
However, the portion indicated by the dotted line has a high possibility of causing camera shake due to a long exposure time. Therefore, the photographic sensitivity in the part indicated by the dotted line is increased, and the photographic sensitivity is increased so that the exposure time (shutter speed) becomes 1/30.

From FIG. 5, when the aperture value is EV7, the aperture value is F4, and when it is ISO100, the shutter speed is 1/8. ISO40 if the aperture cannot be opened any more
When set to 0, the shutter speed becomes 1/30.

If there is a subject to be photographed before the image pickup apparatus is started up, it is desirable that the time from start-up to image pickup be short. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the shooting operation is started immediately after the camera is ready for shooting, so that shooting can be performed earlier than when the user confirms that the shooting operation has been performed and then presses the release button. It is possible.

The quick shooting mode shortens the time from the start of the image pickup device to the shooting. For this reason, the necessity of the quick-shooting mode decreases as time elapses after the start. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the shooting operation is performed once in the quick-shooting mode, or the quick-shooting mode is automatically canceled when a predetermined time has elapsed in the quick-shooting mode.

At this time, during the quick-shooting mode, a display indicating that the quick-shooting mode is set is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 13 of FIG. 3 and, for example, when auto-bracketing is performed in the quick-shooting mode, the auto-bracketing mode is set. It is preferable to notify the user of the quick-shooting mode as well as the shooting content in the quick-shooting mode by displaying a display indicating that on the liquid crystal monitor 13.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide an image pickup apparatus such as a digital camera capable of obtaining a high-quality image without setting the time from startup to shooting. Become.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In the quick shooting mode, it is possible to select whether or not to reduce the release time lag without operating the auto-focus shooting mode by the user's operation or setting, and an imaging device capable of shortening the release time lag and improving the quick shooting property. To be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital camera for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the digital camera of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the digital camera of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation from startup to image data import in the quick shooting mode according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of program lines at the time of exposure according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation from the startup of a conventional general digital camera to image data import.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 Shooting lens 2 CPU (central processing unit) 3 Zoom driver 4 focus driver 6 CCD (imaging device) 22 Release button with 2-stage release 24 Power on button

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup apparatus having a release button which can be set to an auto-focus photographing mode and a fixed-focus photographing mode and is configured to be pushed in two steps, wherein a time from starting to a photographing mode is shortened. When setting the quick-shooting mode, the auto focus shooting mode is set when the release button is pushed step by step, and the fixed focus shooting mode is set when the release button is pushed two steps at a time. An image pickup apparatus comprising control means for performing mode control so that 2. The photographing lens is moved to a fixed focus position either when the power is turned off, when the mode is changed to a mode other than the recording mode, or when a mode other than the recording mode is set. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the auto bracket shooting is performed in the quick shooting mode, or the shooting operation is performed a plurality of times continuously by changing the parameters during exposure. 4. A plurality of image data are created and recorded by changing at least one parameter among contrast, brightness, white balance, and saturation from one image data in the quick-shooting mode. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1. 5. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in the fast-shooting mode, when the exposure time at the time of shooting is longer than a predetermined time, the shooting sensitivity of the image pickup device exposed at the time of shooting is increased. 6. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup operation is automatically performed when the image pickup is enabled after the power is turned on or the recording mode is changed in the quick shooting mode. 7. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising operation means for setting a quick shooting mode or selecting ON / OFF. 8. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photographing operation is performed only once in the quick-shooting mode, or the quick-shooting mode is automatically canceled after a predetermined time has elapsed.