JP2004064386A - Digital camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera for saving a time and effort for performing setting according to photographic conditions. <P>SOLUTION: The digital camera is provided with image pickup means 20, 30 and 40 for creating image data representing an object A on the basis of an output of an image sensor; a photographic condition recognizing means 10 for recognizing a photographic condition of "no flash photography" for the object A on the basis of the image data created by the image pickup means for representing the photographic condition of "no flash photography" of the object A; and a control means 10 for controlling the image pickup means on the basis of the photographic condition of "no flash photography" of the object A which is recognized by the photographic condition recognizing means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a digital camera.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a digital camera that creates image data representing a subject has been known. Generally, in a digital camera, the user can set the aperture, shutter speed, flash emission, and the like. In addition, a digital camera having an auto mode in which a specific shooting condition is determined and the digital camera itself is set, such as determining whether or not to emit a flash according to the brightness of a subject, is generally known. .
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the auto mode, the setting is performed by determining optical information such as brightness and sharpness, so that the setting cannot be appropriately performed when photographing conditions are guided by a notice or the like. In such a case, the user must operate the operation buttons, switches, and the like in accordance with the shooting conditions, and there is a problem that the operation varies depending on the shooting conditions and is cumbersome.
[0004]
For example, if the shooting condition is indicated in a museum as "flash shooting prohibited", the flash will be fired in the auto mode, so the user operates a button or switch to disable the flash. To change the settings. Conversely, if the subject is dark in a place where flash photography is possible, the user must operate to emit the flash. In addition, when the subject moves, the shutter speed is not changed according to the speed of the subject, or the image is blurred. Therefore, the user performs an operation for appropriately setting the shutter speed according to the speed of the subject. There must be. For example, when shooting a running car or horse as a subject, the user must perform an operation of setting a shutter speed according to the speed. As described above, the user has to perform the setting operation of the photographing condition every time the photographing condition that cannot be automatically determined in the auto mode changes, which is troublesome.
[0005]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera that can reduce the trouble of setting according to shooting conditions.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the imaging unit creates image data representing the subject based on an output of the image sensor, and the image data created by the imaging unit is based on image data representing shooting conditions of the subject. And a control unit that controls the imaging unit based on the imaging condition of the subject recognized by the imaging condition recognition unit. According to this digital camera, if graphic characters, bar codes, and the like representing the shooting conditions of the subject are prepared in advance for the subject, by shooting them before shooting the subject, the shooting conditions are prepared in advance. Image data representing a subject can be created. Therefore, according to this digital camera, it is possible to reduce the trouble of setting according to the shooting conditions.
[0007]
In the digital camera according to the present invention, when the shutter button is half-pressed, the photographing condition recognizing unit recognizes the photographing condition of the subject based on the image data created by the image capturing unit at that time, and the shutter button is fully pressed. Then, the control means controls the imaging means based on the imaging conditions of the subject. According to this digital camera, recognition of the shooting conditions of the subject and creation of image data representing the subject can be instructed by operating the shutter button, thereby further reducing the trouble of setting according to the shooting conditions.
[0008]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the digital camera, the control unit controls the flash based on photographing conditions of the subject. According to this digital camera, the trouble of setting the flash emission can be reduced.
[0009]
Each function of a plurality of means provided in the digital camera according to the present invention is realized by an arbitrary combination of hardware resources whose functions are specified by the configuration itself and hardware resources whose functions are specified by a program. The functions of the plurality of means are not limited to those realized by hardware resources which are physically independent of each other.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on examples.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between a digital still camera 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, a photographing condition recording sheet B recording photographing conditions of a subject A, and a subject A. In the illustrated example, the character string "flash photography prohibited" recorded on the photography condition recording paper B corresponds to the photography condition. In the present embodiment, the photographing condition recording sheet B will be described as an example of a medium for recording the photographing conditions. However, the medium for recording the photographing conditions may be any medium as long as the photographing conditions can be visually recognized. The administrator managing the shooting conditions of the subject A records the shooting conditions on the shooting condition recording sheet B according to a predetermined rule, and the digital still camera 1 recognizes and recognizes the shooting conditions recorded according to the predetermined rule. The control is performed according to the set photographing conditions.
[0011]
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the digital still camera 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, a control unit 10, an imaging unit 20, a driving unit 30, a processing unit 40, an operation unit 50, and a detection unit 60 are provided in the camera body.
[0012]
The control unit 10 includes a CPU 11, a ROM 12, and a RAM 13. The CPU 11 executes a computer program stored in the ROM 12 to perform a process of recognizing a shooting condition of a subject based on image data, a process of controlling each unit based on the recognized shooting condition, and a process of generating image data. The ROM 12 is a memory that stores a computer program for the CPU 11 to execute various processes, a character recognition program for character recognition, various data, and the like. The RAM 13 is a memory for temporarily storing control information S, various programs, data, and the like. Note that control information as initial settings is stored in the ROM 12, and is loaded as control information S into the RAM 13 when the power of the digital still camera 1 is turned on.
[0013]
The imaging unit 20 includes an optical system, an area image sensor (hereinafter, referred to as an “image sensor”) 23 as an image sensor, and a flash 24 that irradiates a subject. The optical system includes a zoom lens 21, an optical stop 22, an optical low-pass filter (LPF), and the like. The zoom lens 21 forms a subject image on a light receiving unit of the image sensor 23 at a preset magnification, and Numeral 22 adjusts the amount of light incident on the image sensor 23. The image sensor 23 accumulates a charge obtained by photoelectrically converting the light received by each photoelectric conversion element for a certain period of time, and outputs an analog electric signal corresponding to the amount of received light to the processing unit 40. As the image sensor 23, a CCD image sensor or a MOS image sensor may be used.
[0014]
The drive unit 30 includes a lens drive unit 31, an aperture drive unit 32, and an image sensor drive unit 33, and controls input and output of the image sensor 23. The lens driving unit 31 drives the zoom lens 21 to realize a zoom function or a focus adjustment function. The aperture driving unit 32 drives the optical aperture 22 to adjust the amount of light incident on the image sensor 23. The image sensor driving unit 33 is an electronic circuit that generates a driving pulse necessary for driving the image sensor 23 and inputs the driving pulse to the image sensor 23. The image sensor 23 has an electronic shutter function, and the image sensor drive unit 33 controls the shutter speed by controlling this function.
[0015]
The processing unit 40 includes an analog front end unit 41, a digital image processing unit 45, and a data storage processing unit 46.
[0016]
The analog front end (AFE) unit 41 includes a correlated double sampling (CDS) circuit 42, an auto gain control (AGC) circuit 43, and an A / D converter 44. The CDS circuit 42 performs a process of reducing noise included in the analog electric signal. The AGC circuit 43 adjusts the level of the analog electric signal by adjusting the gain. The A / D converter 44 quantizes the analog electric signal subjected to each of the above processes into a digital image signal having a predetermined gradation and outputs the image signal. The output image signal is output to the digital image processing unit 45.
[0017]
The digital image processing unit 45 includes a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and performs gamma correction of the image signal output from the AFE unit 41, interpolation of defective pixels by a pixel interpolation method, correction of white balance, sharpening and compression of the image signal. / Decompression processing, pixel number conversion processing, etc., to create image data representing the subject. Note that the above various processes performed by the digital image processing unit 45 may be replaced by processes by a computer program executed by the control unit 10.
[0018]
The data storage processing unit 46 includes a nonvolatile memory. The created image data is stored in the nonvolatile memory. As the nonvolatile memory, for example, a recording medium such as a flash memory, a magnetic disk, and a magneto-optical disk can be used. This non-volatile memory may be detachably connected to the digital still camera 1 body, or may be irremovably connected.
[0019]
The operation unit 50 includes a power switch for turning on / off the power, a shutter button for instructing execution of imaging, a zoom button for setting a magnification of a zoom lens, and the like.
[0020]
The detection unit 60 detects a switch operation on the operation unit 50 and outputs a detection signal to the control unit 10. For example, in the case of a shutter button, the detection unit 60 detects the state of the shutter button at predetermined intervals, and outputs a detection signal indicating the detected state to the control unit 10.
[0021]
The configuration of the digital still camera 1 has been described above. Next, the photographing condition table T and the control information S will be described.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a photographing condition table T representing photographing conditions. One or more photographing conditions shown in the photographing condition table T are recorded on the photographing condition recording paper B. For example, when three conditions of flash photography, setting the aperture to F2.0, and setting the shutter speed to aperture priority AUTO are recorded as the photography conditions, “flash photography is possible”, “aperture F2.0”, “aperture priority” The photographing condition “AUTO” is recorded on the photographing condition recording sheet B. When the digital still camera 1 identifies a photographing condition, the digital still camera 1 sets the photographing condition in a corresponding control item of control information S described later.
[0022]
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the control information S. The control information S is information for the control unit 10 to control the imaging unit 20 and the driving unit 30. The control information S in the illustrated example has three control items of “flash”, “aperture”, and “shutter speed”, and each of the control information “flash”, “aperture F2.0”, and “aperture priority AUTO”. Conditions have been set. When shooting a subject, the control unit 10 is configured to perform control in accordance with shooting conditions set in the control information S. For example, in the above example, when photographing a subject, the control unit 10 controls the flash 24 to emit light at the same time as forming the image data on the image sensor 23. At this time, the aperture driving unit 32 is controlled so that the aperture is set to “F2.0”, and the image sensor driving unit 33 is controlled by setting the shutter speed so as to obtain the optimum exposure under the conditions. When only flash photography prohibition is instructed, “flash photography prohibition”, “aperture AE”, and “shutter speed AE” are recorded on recording condition recording paper B. Then, only flash photography is prohibited, and the aperture and shutter speed are automatically determined by the digital still camera 1 and controlled so as to obtain the optimum exposure.
[0023]
The predetermined rule in the present embodiment is a rule that the administrator who manages the shooting conditions of the subject A records the shooting conditions on the shooting condition recording paper B as a character string shown in the shooting condition table T. .
[0024]
Next, the operation of the digital still camera 1 will be described. In the following description, a case where the user presses the shutter button halfway with the shooting condition recording paper B shown in FIG. 1 as a subject, and then fully presses the shutter button with the subject A as a subject will be described as an example.
[0025]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process of creating image data representing the subject A. First, the user presses the shutter button halfway with the photographing condition recording paper B as a subject. The control unit 10 determines whether the shutter button has been half-pressed based on the detection signal output from the detection unit 60 at predetermined intervals (S105). If it is determined that the shutter button has been half-pressed, the control unit 10 controls the drive unit 30 to convert the optical image of the recording condition recording paper B, that is, the optical image of the character string “flash photography prohibited” into the image sensor 23 of the imaging unit 20. Then, an analog electric signal correlated with the density of the optical image is output to the processing unit 40 (S110). The processing unit 40 performs predetermined processing on the analog electric signal output from the image sensor 23 by the AFE unit 41 and the digital image processing unit 45, and creates image data representing a character string “flash photography prohibited”. The processing unit 40 stores the created image data in the RAM 13 (S115). The CPU 11 executes a character recognition program stored in the ROM 12 to perform character recognition based on the image data stored in the RAM 13. Thereby, the control unit 10 recognizes the photographing condition (S120). When recognizing the shooting conditions, the control unit 10 sets the control information S based on the recognized shooting conditions (S125). Next, the user sets the subject A as the subject and fully presses the shutter button. The control unit 10 determines whether or not the shutter button has been fully pressed, based on the detection signals output from the detection unit 60 at predetermined intervals (S130). If it is determined that the shutter button has been fully pressed, the control unit 10 controls the imaging unit 20 and the drive unit 32 based on the control information S to cause the image sensor 23 to accumulate charges, and the analog electric signal correlated with the density of the optical image. The signal is output to the processing unit 40 (S135). The processing unit 40 performs predetermined processing on the analog electric signal output from the image sensor 23 by the AFE unit 41 and the digital image processing unit 45 to create image data representing the subject A. The processing unit 40 stores the created image data in the data storage processing unit 46 (S140).
[0026]
As above, the flow of the process of specifying the shooting conditions and creating the image data representing the subject has been described. In the embodiment of the present invention described above, the “imaging unit” described in the claims includes the imaging unit 20, the driving unit 30, the processing unit 40, and the like, and the functions thereof are steps S 110, S 115, and S 135. And the processing of step S140. The “photographing condition recognizing unit” described in the claims is configured by the control unit 10 and the like, and its function is realized by the processing of step S120. The "control means" described in the claims is constituted by the control unit 10 and the like, and its function is realized by the processing of steps S135 and S140.
[0027]
According to the digital still camera 1 of the present embodiment, when the photographing condition recording paper B is set as a subject and the shutter button is half-pressed, the photographing condition “flash prohibition” of the subject A is recognized as a character and the control item “flash” of the control information is set. The value is set. The same applies to shooting conditions for aperture and shutter speed. That is, the user can perform the setting according to the shooting condition by the same operation of half-pressing the shutter button. For example, the same operation can be performed to set the flash to emit light, to set it not to emit light, and to set the shutter speed when shooting a running car or horse as a subject. Therefore, according to the digital still camera 1, it is possible to reduce the trouble of setting according to the shooting conditions.
[0028]
Furthermore, according to the digital still camera 1 of the present embodiment, recognition of shooting conditions of a subject and creation of image data representing the subject can be performed with a single button operation. Therefore, the operation is simplified, and the trouble of setting according to the shooting conditions can be further reduced.
[0029]
In this embodiment, the case where the photographing condition of the subject is recorded as a character string on the photographing condition recording sheet B has been described as an example. However, the photographing condition may be a barcode, and the photographing condition is recognized from the identified barcode. May be. Alternatively, a figure having an arbitrary shape and a shooting condition may be stored in the ROM 12 in association with each other, and the shooting condition may be recognized by recognizing the figure.
[0030]
In addition, although the photographing condition for the processing unit 40 is not included in the photographing condition table T of the present embodiment, the photographing condition for the processing unit 40 may be included. For example, the process of correcting the white balance of an image differs depending on whether the light source that irradiates the subject is sunlight or a fluorescent light. In this case, information necessary for the white balance correction processing may be recorded as the photographing conditions on the photographing condition recording sheet B, and the control unit 10 may control the processing unit 40 based on the photographing conditions.
In the present embodiment, a digital still camera has been described as an example, but the present invention may be applied to a digital video camera.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a relationship between a digital camera, a subject, and shooting conditions of the subject according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a photographing condition table included in the digital camera according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating control information of an imaging unit provided in the digital camera according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process in which a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention creates image data.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Digital Still Camera 10 Control Unit (Shooting Condition Recognition Unit, Control Unit)
20 imaging unit (imaging means)
21 zoom lens 23 image sensor 24 flash 30 drive unit (imaging means)
31 lens drive unit 32 aperture drive unit 33 image sensor drive unit 40 processing unit (imaging unit)
50 operation unit 60 detection unit

Claims (3)

Imaging means for creating image data representing a subject based on the output of the image sensor;
A photographing condition recognizing unit that recognizes a photographing condition of the subject based on image data that is image data created by the photographing unit and represents a photographing condition of the subject;
Control means for controlling the imaging means based on the imaging conditions of the subject recognized by the imaging condition recognition means,
A digital camera comprising: When the shutter button is half-pressed, the photographing condition recognizing unit recognizes the photographing condition of the subject based on the image data created by the imaging unit at that time,
2. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein when the shutter button is fully pressed, the control unit controls the imaging unit based on a shooting condition of the subject. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls a flash based on a photographing condition of the subject.

Images