JP2006003441A - Photographing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a photographing apparatus capable of lengthening a reach distance of AF auxiliary light and of achieving further power saving. <P>SOLUTION: When a brightness value of an object becomes a prescribed value or less, a CPU 64 emits the AF auxiliary light from an LED 25 via an LED control circuit 81. An image signal converted into a digital signal by an A/D converter 58 is input to an evaluation value calculating part 88. The evaluation value calculating part 88 samples data of an R component corresponding to the emission color of the LED 25, extracts a high frequency component in the focus area, calculates the evaluation value and inputs the same to the CPU 64. The CPU 64 allows a focus lens 48 to move in the direction from proximity to infinity within a focus control region, at the same time, detects the contrast of image central part at a plurality of search points, lights the LED 25 at every search points and calculates the evaluation value. By summarizing the evaluation values calculated at the respective points, the lens position where the evaluation value becomes maximum is determined as a focusing position and the focus lens 48 is moved to the determined focusing position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus that performs focus adjustment by emitting auxiliary light for autofocus (AF).

  Imaging devices such as digital cameras and camera-equipped mobile phones that have an autofocus function that automatically adjusts the focus are in widespread use. In such an imaging device, an evaluation value representing the degree of focus of an image is calculated based on an imaging signal obtained from an imaging element based on the principle that an image becomes sharp (high contrast) when focused. Then, focus adjustment is performed by moving the photographing lens so that the evaluation value reaches a peak (for example, Patent Document 1). As the evaluation value, for example, an integrated value of a high frequency component of the imaging signal is used.

  Further, in Patent Document 1, an LED strobe that emits white light by turning on R, G, and B LEDs all at once is provided, and this is also used as an AF auxiliary light emitter. When the AF auxiliary light is emitted from the LED strobe, the AF auxiliary light is emitted for each search point instead of reducing the required minimum light amount (about 30% of the strobe light) and not always emitting light. In this way, power saving is achieved.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-140027

  In Patent Document 1, although the above-described power saving is performed, it is still insufficient, and further power saving is demanded. In addition, there is also a problem that the reach distance of the AF auxiliary light is shortened because of the reduction of the light amount.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus that extends the reach of AF auxiliary light and achieves further power saving.

  An image pickup apparatus of the present invention includes three color micro-color filters, an image pickup device that converts a subject image formed by a shooting lens into an image signal for each color, and outputs the image signal. An evaluation value calculation unit that sequentially calculates an evaluation value indicating the degree, and a change in the evaluation value is monitored while moving the photographing lens or the focus lens in the photographing lens, and photographing is performed at a focus position where the evaluation value reaches a peak. An AF auxiliary light emitter that emits AF auxiliary light of any one of the three colors is provided in a photographing apparatus including a focus control unit that performs focus adjustment by moving a lens or a focus lens in the photographing lens. When the AF auxiliary light emitter is in operation, the evaluation value calculation unit sequentially calculates evaluation values by sampling an image signal corresponding to the color of the AF auxiliary light. The features.

  In addition, an image sensor that includes three-color micro color filters, converts an object image formed by the photographing lens into an image signal for each color, and outputs the image signal, and an evaluation value that indicates the degree of focusing based on the image signal An evaluation value calculation unit that sequentially calculates the change of the evaluation value while moving the photographic lens or the focus lens in the photographic lens, and in the photographic lens or the photographic lens at a focus position where the evaluation value reaches a peak A focus control unit that adjusts the focus by moving the focus lens, and is composed of three types of light emitting elements that emit light of each of the three colors, and these light emitting elements are turned on all at once. A light emitting device strobe that emits white light, and when performing the focus adjustment, any one of the three types of light emitting devices Together emit light as AF auxiliary light, the evaluation value calculation unit may be sequentially calculate the evaluation value by sampling an image signal corresponding to the color of the AF auxiliary light.

  In addition, a color component determination unit that determines which of the three colors is the most of the colors constituting the subject is provided, and AF auxiliary light of the color determined by the color component determination unit is emitted. It is characterized by doing. Further, the AF auxiliary light is emitted only when the luminance value of the subject is lower than a predetermined threshold value.

  According to the photographing apparatus of the present invention, since only one of the three colors of the micro color filter emits AF auxiliary light, the power consumption can be reduced as compared with an apparatus using three colors of AF auxiliary light. Further, by sampling the image signal corresponding to the color of the AF auxiliary light and calculating the evaluation value, a signal having a poor S / N is not used for calculating the evaluation value, so that the reach distance of the AF auxiliary light can be extended.

  Further, since any one of the three color light emitting elements constituting the light emitting element strobe emits light as AF auxiliary light, the power consumption is smaller than when all three color light emitting elements are used as AF auxiliary light. it can. Further, by sampling the image signal corresponding to the color of the AF auxiliary light and calculating the evaluation value, a signal having a poor S / N is not used for calculating the evaluation value, so that the reach distance of the AF auxiliary light can be extended.

  In addition, by using AF auxiliary light of a color corresponding to the color of the subject, a signal with a poor S / N is not used for calculating the evaluation value, so that the reach distance of the AF auxiliary light can be extended. Further, since the AF auxiliary light is emitted only when the luminance value of the subject is lower than a predetermined threshold value, it can contribute to further power saving.

  In FIG. 1 showing a digital camera as a photographing apparatus to which the present invention is applied, a photographing lens 12, a finder window 14, a strobe light emitting unit 15, an autofocus (AF) auxiliary light emitting unit 16, The light control sensor 17 is provided, and a shutter button 18 and a power switch 20 are disposed on the upper surface of the camera. A card slot 23 for mounting a memory card 22 is provided on the side of the camera on the left hand side. The card slot 23 is closed by a dust-proof lid 24 so as to be freely opened and closed. Note that the strobe light emitting unit 15 of the present embodiment uses a xenon tube as a widely used strobe discharge tube.

  Behind the AF auxiliary light emitting unit 16 is provided an LED 25 (see FIG. 3) as a monochromatic light emitting element that emits auxiliary light when performing contrast detection AF. For example, a red (R) LED is used as the LED 25.

  A zoom lens is applied to the photographing lens 12, and a CCD image sensor (hereinafter referred to as CCD) 27 (see FIG. 3) is disposed behind the photographing lens 12. The shutter button 18 is configured in a two-stage manner, and AF and automatic exposure control (AE) are activated in a “half-pressed” state in which the shutter button 18 is lightly pressed and stopped to lock AF and AE. Shooting is performed in the state of “full press”.

  The power switch 20 is also used as a mode switch, and is an “OFF position” where the power is turned off, a “shooting ON position” where the power is turned on in the still image shooting mode, and a “reproduction ON position” where the power is turned on in the playback mode. 3 positions can be switched.

  In FIG. 2 showing the appearance of the back side of the digital camera 10, on the back side of the digital camera 10, there are a finder 28, a liquid crystal monitor 30, a zoom switch 32, a multi-function cross button 34, an AE lock button 36, a menu key 38, and execution. A key 40 and a cancel key 42 are provided. The liquid crystal monitor 30 is a display unit that can be used as an electronic viewfinder for checking the angle of view at the time of shooting, and can display a preview image of the shot image, a reproduced image read from the memory card 22, and the like. Further, menu selection using the cross button 34 and setting of various items in each menu are also performed using the display screen of the liquid crystal monitor 30.

  The zoom switch 32 is composed of a lever switch that can be operated in the up / down direction. By operating the lever switch in the upward direction, zooming is performed in the telephoto (TELE) direction, and by operating in the downward direction, zooming is performed in the wide angle (WIDE) direction. I do. The cross button 34 can input instructions in the corresponding four directions (up, down, left, right) by pressing one of the top, bottom, left, and right edges. It is used as an operation button for instructing selection and change of setting contents, and as a means for instructing electronic zoom magnification adjustment and playback frame return / return.

  The menu key 38 is used when transitioning from the normal screen to the menu screen in each mode. The execution key 40 is used for confirming the selection contents and instructing execution (confirmation) of processing. The cancel key 42 is used when canceling (cancelling) an item selected from the menu or returning to the previous operation state.

  The photographer operates the zoom switch 32 to determine the angle of view while confirming the real-time image (through image) displayed on the finder 28 or the liquid crystal monitor 30, and performs shooting by depressing the shutter button 18.

  In FIG. 3 showing the electrical configuration of the digital camera 10, the photographing lens 12 is composed of a four-group inner focus zoom lens including a fixed lens 44, a variable power lens 46 a, a correction lens 46 b, and a focus lens 48.

  The variable magnification lens 46a and the correction lens 46b move along the optical axis while the positional relationship between them is regulated by a cam mechanism (not shown) to change the focal length. For convenience of explanation, the variable power optical system including the variable power lens 46a and the correction lens 46b is referred to as a “zoom lens 46”.

  The light that has passed through the photographing lens 12 is incident on the CCD 27 after the amount of light is adjusted by the diaphragm 50. In the CCD 27, micro red color filters of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are arranged in a matrix on the photocathode, and MOS diodes (also referred to as MOS capacitors) are respectively arranged behind them. Has been.

  The signal charge accumulated in each MOS diode is sequentially read out as a voltage signal (image signal) having luminance information of each RGB color corresponding to the signal charge based on a pulse given from the CCD driver 54. The CCD 27 has a so-called electronic shutter function that controls the charge accumulation time (shutter speed) of each MOS diode by the timing of the shutter gate pulse.

  The image signal output from the CCD 27 is sent to the analog processing unit 56. The analog processing unit 56 includes signal processing circuits such as a sampling hold circuit, a color separation circuit, and a gain adjustment circuit. The analog processing unit 56 performs correlated double sampling (CDS) processing and R, G, B color signals. Color separation processing is performed, and signal level adjustment (pre-white balance processing) of each color signal is performed.

  The signal output from the analog processing unit 56 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 58 and then stored in the memory 60. The timing generator (TG) 62 gives timing signals to the CCD driver 54, the analog processing unit 56, and the A / D converter 58 in accordance with instructions from the CPU 64, and the circuits are synchronized by this timing signal. .

  The data stored in the memory 60 is sent to the signal processing unit 68 via the bus 66. The signal processing unit 68 is an image processing unit composed of a digital signal processor (DSP) including a luminance / color difference signal generation circuit, a gamma correction circuit, a sharpness correction circuit, a contrast correction circuit, a white balance correction circuit, and the like. The image signal is processed according to the command.

  The image data input to the signal processing unit 68 is converted into a luminance signal (Y signal) and a color difference signal (Cr, Cb signal) and is subjected to predetermined processing such as gamma correction and then stored in the memory 60. Is done. When the captured image is displayed and output, the image data is read from the memory 60 and transferred to the display memory 70. The data stored in the display memory 70 is converted into a predetermined display signal (for example, an NTSC color composite video signal), and then the liquid crystal monitor (LCD) 30 via the D / A converter 72. Is output. Thus, the image content of the image data is displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal monitor 30.

  The image data in the memory 60 is periodically rewritten by the image signal output from the CCD 27, and the video signal generated from the image data is supplied to the liquid crystal monitor 30, so that the image input through the CCD 27 is real-time. Is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 30. The photographer can check the angle of view by using the image (through image) displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 30 or the optical viewfinder 28.

  When the photographer operates the zoom switch 32, the instruction signal is input to the CPU 64, and the CPU 64 controls the zoom drive unit 74 based on the signal from the zoom switch 32 to move the zoom lens 46 in the tele (TELE) direction or wide ( Move in the (WIDE) direction. The zoom driving unit 74 includes a motor (not shown), and the zoom lens 46 is driven by the driving force of this motor. The position (zoom position) of the zoom lens 46 is detected by the zoom position sensor 76, and this detection signal is input to the CPU 64.

  Similarly, the focus driving unit 78 includes a motor (not shown), and the focus lens 48 moves back and forth along the optical axis by the driving force of the motor. The position (focus position) of the focus lens 48 is detected by a focus position sensor 80, and a detection signal from the sensor 80 is input to the CPU 64.

  When the still image shooting mode is set by the power switch 20 and the shutter button 18 is depressed, a shooting start instruction (release ON) signal is issued. The CPU 64 detects the release ON signal and executes a recording imaging operation. That is, the CPU 64 sends a command to the LED control circuit 81 as necessary to control the light emission of the AF auxiliary light LED 25, and controls the focus driving unit 78 based on the result of evaluation value calculation to be described later to focus lens. 48 is moved to the in-focus position, and exposure control is performed by controlling the aperture diameter of the diaphragm 50 and the electronic shutter of the CCD 27. Further, the CPU 64 sends a command to the strobe device 82 as necessary, and emits strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 15.

  In this way, in response to the pressing operation of the shutter button 18, the capturing of the image data for recording is started. When the mode for compressing and recording image data is selected, the CPU 64 sends a command to the compression / decompression circuit 84. The compression / decompression circuit 84 compresses the image data taken into the memory 60 in accordance with JPEG or another predetermined format.

  The compressed image data is recorded on the memory card 22 via the card interface 86. When the mode for recording uncompressed image data (non-compression mode) is selected, the compression processing by the compression / decompression circuit 84 is omitted, and the image data is recorded in the memory card 22 without being compressed.

  When the playback mode is set by the power switch 20, the image file is read from the memory card 22. The read image data is decompressed by the compression / decompression circuit 84 as necessary, and is output to the liquid crystal monitor 30 via the display memory 70.

  The CPU 64 is a control unit that performs overall control of each circuit of the camera system. The CPU 64 controls the operation of the corresponding circuit based on an input signal received from the operation unit 87 including the power switch 20, the shutter button 18, the zoom switch 32, and the like, and controls the strobe, the display control on the liquid crystal monitor 30, AF control and automatic exposure (AE) control are performed.

  Here, the autofocus control will be described. If the subject has sufficient contrast, such as when shooting outdoors in fine weather, the AF assist light LED 25 does not emit light when the natural light can be used to adjust the focus. Also, in the evening or indoors, since the contrast of the subject is reduced, it becomes difficult to focus with natural light. Therefore, when the luminance value of the subject is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, the CPU 64 sends a command to the LED control circuit 81 and the LED 25 To emit AF auxiliary light.

  The LED control circuit 81 is provided with a voltage up-converter that boosts the voltage of the power supply battery, a capacitor that is charged with the boosted voltage, and the like. As time passes, the LED 25 emits light. As this LED 25, a high luminance type is used.

  The image signal converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 58 is input to the evaluation value calculation unit 88. The evaluation value calculation unit 88 includes a high-frequency component extraction circuit 90 and an integration circuit 92. When the LED 25 does not emit light among the input image signals, the G component data is sampled, and the LED 25 emits light. In this case, the R component data having the same emission color as that of the LED 25 is sampled, the high frequency component in the AF detection target area (hereinafter referred to as the focus area) is extracted, and the absolute value thereof is taken. A value obtained by integrating the absolute value data (hereinafter referred to as an evaluation value) is provided to the CPU 64.

  During the AF operation, the CPU 64 moves the focus lens 48 in the focus adjustment area from the nearest to infinity (or from infinity to the nearest) direction as shown in FIG. Then, the contrast of the center portion of the image is detected, and an evaluation value (indicated by a black circle) is calculated for each search point as shown in FIG. Then, by combining the evaluation values calculated at each point, the lens position where the evaluation value is maximum is determined as the in-focus position, and the focus driving unit 78 is moved so as to move the focus lens 48 to the obtained in-focus position. Control.

  When AF auxiliary light is emitted from the LED 25, data of the R component having the same emission color as that of the LED 25 is sampled, so that a good evaluation value with good S / N can be obtained. For this reason, the in-focus position can be determined with high accuracy, and the reach distance of the AF auxiliary light can be extended without increasing the power consumption.

  In order to use the digital camera 10 configured in this way, first, the power switch 20 is operated to turn on the power of the digital camera 10 and set the still image shooting mode. When the power is turned on, charging of the capacitor built in the LED control circuit 81 is started. When the shutter button 18 is half-pressed, the CPU 64 performs AE control and AF control, and locks AF and AE while the shutter button 18 is half-pressed.

  In the AE control, R, G, and B signals are taken, subject luminance (shooting EV value) is obtained based on an integrated value obtained by integrating these R, G, and B signals, and an aperture at the time of shooting is obtained based on the obtained EV value. Determine the value and shutter speed. The aperture 50 is controlled so that the determined aperture value is obtained when the shutter button 18 is fully pressed, and the charge accumulation time is controlled by the electronic shutter so that the determined shutter speed is achieved.

  Further, in the AF control, the focus lens 48 is moved to the in-focus position by the contrast AF described with reference to FIG. 4, but the CPU 64 causes the LED control circuit 81 when the brightness of the subject (shooting EV value) becomes a predetermined value or less. A command is sent to and the AF auxiliary light is emitted from the LED 25. This light emission period is within a light reception period in which the CCD 27 receives object light to obtain an image signal, and is several milliseconds, for example.

  Subsequently, an image signal for obtaining an evaluation value is fetched from the focus area of the CCD 27, and then, as shown in FIG. 4B, focus is performed to move the focus lens 48 by a predetermined amount (move to the next search point). Drive the motor.

  When the focus lens 48 moves to the next search point, AF auxiliary light is emitted again, and an image signal is captured from the CCD 27. As shown in FIG. 4B, the AF auxiliary light is emitted for each search point while moving the focus lens in the focus adjustment region from close to infinity (or from infinity to close). Capture.

  When the evaluation value based on the image signal at each search point is calculated, the calculated evaluation values are combined to calculate the lens position where the evaluation value is maximum as the in-focus position, and the calculated in-focus position is obtained. The focus lens 48 is moved to end the AF operation.

  Thereafter, when the shutter button 18 is fully pressed, strobe light is emitted from the strobe light emitting unit 15 as necessary. When the light control sensor 17 detects the reflected light from the subject and reaches a predetermined light amount, the strobe device 82 stops emitting the strobe light. The image signal output from the CCD 27 passes through the analog signal processing unit 56 and the A / D converter 58, is taken into the memory 60 as image data, and is compressed into a predetermined format by the compression / decompression circuit 84. Through the memory card 22.

  Next, another embodiment will be described. The strobe light emitting unit 15 is a general one using a xenon tube as a strobe discharge tube, but in this embodiment, a strobe light source unit 96 in which a large number of LEDs are arranged in a matrix as shown in FIG. A dedicated AF auxiliary light emitting unit for emitting AF auxiliary light is omitted, and the strobe light source unit 96 is also used as a light source for AF auxiliary light emission.

  The strobe light source unit 96 includes a reflector 98, LED groups 100 (R, G, and B LEDs 100R, 100G, and 100B), and a diffusion plate 102. A large number of R, G, and B LEDs 100R, 100G, and 100B are arranged in a matrix as shown in FIG. Further, the diffusion plate 102 diffuses light with high directivity emitted from the LED group 100 so as to be uniform. The number of LEDs 100R, 100G, and 100B does not have to be the same. For example, it is preferable that the LEDs 100R, 100G, and 100B are arranged in such a ratio that white light is emitted when the LEDs 100R, 100G, and 100B are fully lit.

  When the strobe light source unit 96 is used as a strobe light source that emits auxiliary light (strobe light) at the time of shooting, the LEDs 100R, 100G, and 100B are simultaneously emitted, but when used as AF auxiliary light, Any one of the LEDs 100R, 100G, and 100B is caused to emit light according to the color of the subject. Thereby, consumption of a power supply battery can be suppressed.

  First, based on R, G, and B signals obtained during photometry of the subject, the CPU 64 determines what color is the most among the color components of the subject. For example, when it is recognized that red (R) is the most, only the LED 100R in the LED group 100 is selected and emitted as AF auxiliary light. Then, the evaluation value calculator 88 samples the R component data to calculate an evaluation value. Therefore, since the signal having a poor S / N is not used for the evaluation value calculation, the reach distance of the AF auxiliary light can be extended.

  In the embodiment described above, the AF auxiliary light is red (R), but may be green (G) or blue (B). Moreover, in the said embodiment, although LED25 which light-emits AF auxiliary light was 1 LED, the LED group comprised from several LED may be sufficient. Moreover, as a light emitting element, organic electroluminescence, a plasma light emitting element, etc. other than said LED are applicable. In the above embodiment, the photographing apparatus is a digital camera. However, the present invention is not limited to this and may be a camera-equipped mobile phone, a camera-equipped PDA, or the like.

It is a perspective view which shows the front side external appearance of the digital camera to which this invention is applied. It is a perspective view which shows the back side external appearance of a digital camera. It is a block diagram which shows the electrical structure of a digital camera. It is explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of contrast AF. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of the flash light source part used for another embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 Digital Camera 16 AF Auxiliary Light Emitting Unit 25, 100R, 100G, 100B LED
81 LED control circuit 88 Evaluation value calculation unit 96 Strobe light source unit 100 LED group

Claims (4)

An image sensor that includes three-color micro color filters, converts an object image formed by the photographing lens into an image signal for each color, and outputs an evaluation value indicating the degree of focusing based on the image signal. The evaluation value calculation unit to be calculated and a change in the evaluation value are monitored while moving the photographic lens or the focus lens in the photographic lens, and the focus in the photographic lens or the photographic lens is at a focus position where the evaluation value reaches a peak. In a photographing apparatus including a focus control unit that performs focus adjustment by moving a lens,
An AF auxiliary light emitter that emits AF auxiliary light of any one of the three colors is provided, and when the AF auxiliary light emitter is activated, the evaluation value calculation unit displays an image corresponding to the color of the AF auxiliary light. An imaging apparatus characterized by sampling a signal and sequentially calculating an evaluation value. An image sensor that includes three-color micro color filters, converts the subject image formed by the photographic lens into an image signal for each color, and outputs an evaluation value indicating the degree of focusing based on the image signal. The evaluation value calculation unit to be calculated and a change in the evaluation value are monitored while moving the photographic lens or the focus lens in the photographic lens, and the focus in the photographic lens or the photographic lens is at a focus position where the evaluation value reaches a peak. In a photographing apparatus including a focus control unit that performs focus adjustment by moving a lens,
When the focus adjustment is performed by providing a light-emitting element strobe that emits white light by simultaneously lighting these light-emitting elements, the light-emitting element strobe is composed of three types of light-emitting elements that emit each single color of the three colors. One of the three types of light emitting elements emits light as AF auxiliary light, and the evaluation value calculation unit sequentially samples the evaluation values by sampling an image signal corresponding to the color of the AF auxiliary light. An imaging apparatus characterized by calculating.   Color component determining means for determining which of the three colors is the most common color constituting the subject is provided, and AF auxiliary light of the color determined by the color component determining means is emitted. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2. 4. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the AF auxiliary light is emitted only when the luminance value of the subject is lower than a predetermined threshold value.

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