JP2006138899A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera preventing a subject close to the bottom side of a photographic image plane from being brought into focus by improving the capturing rate of a principal subject near to a top side when the camera is set to a vertical position. <P>SOLUTION: When the camera is set to the vertical position, the bottom side boundary 31A of a focus detection area 31 in the photographic image plane 30 is moved to the top side by a distance L1 and set as a bottom side boundary 61A, and also the top side boundary 31B of the focus detection area 31 is moved to the top side by a distance L2 and set as a top side boundary 61B, whereby the size of the focus detection area 61 after change is made equal to or above the size thereof before change. As a result, the capturing rate of the principal subject near to the top side is improved, and the subject close to the bottom side of the photographic image plane is prevented from being brought into focus. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera that changes a focus detection area according to the posture of the camera.

  In an automatic focus detection type camera in which the focus detection area extends in the longitudinal direction of the shooting screen, focus detection is performed in a focus detection area that is long in the vertical direction in vertical position shooting with the camera posture set to the vertical position. In vertical shooting, there is a problem that the subject on the lower side of the shooting screen that is close to the main subject is in focus. To avoid such inconvenience, the focus in the area other than the lower area of the shooting screen A camera that performs automatic focusing using a detection area has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-255216 A

  However, since the conventional technology described above does not use the focus detection area in the lower area, the size of the entire focus detection area is reduced. As a result, the focus detection area may not be applied to the main subject, and there is a possibility that the focus detection of the main subject cannot be performed.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera according to the first aspect of the present invention, an attitude detection means for detecting the attitude of the camera, a focus detection area that is set in the photographing screen and indicates a field area in which the focus adjustment state is detected, and When the focus detection unit that detects the focus adjustment state with respect to the subject that is positioned and the posture detection unit detect that the camera is in the vertical position, a boundary that defines the ground side range of the focus detection region in the shooting screen is defined on the shooting screen. Move to the celestial side and move the boundary that defines the celestial range of the focus detection area to the celestial side of the shooting screen so that the size of the focus detection area after the change is greater than or equal to the size before the change. And a changing means for changing the range of the focus detection area in the photographing screen.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the camera according to the first aspect, the changing means maintains the size of the focus detection area at the size before the change, and the position of the focus detection area in the shooting screen is set to the shooting screen. It is designed to move a predetermined amount to the top side of the.
The invention of claim 3 is the camera according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the camera has a plurality of focus detection areas.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the camera according to the second or third aspect, a predetermined amount is set according to the size of the focus detection area.

  According to the present invention, when the posture detection means detects that the camera is in the vertical position, the boundary that defines the ground side range of the focus detection area in the shooting screen is moved to the top side of the shooting screen, and the focus detection is performed. Move the boundary that defines the range of the top of the area to the top of the shooting screen so that the size of the focus detection area after the change is greater than or equal to the size before the change. Therefore, it is possible to improve the capture rate of the main subject closer to the top side and avoid focusing on the subject close to the ground side of the shooting screen.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of a camera according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an autofocus (AF) electronic camera. The electronic camera includes a photographing lens 1, an image pickup device 2, an A / D converter 3, a memory 4, and an image processing circuit. 5, a control circuit 8, a CPU 12, a motor 13, a focus control mechanism 14, and an attitude detection circuit 15.

  The photographing lens 1 includes a focus lens, and may be a single focal length (fixed focus) lens, or may be a variable focus such as a zoom lens or a step zoom lens. The focus lens is a lens that adjusts the focal position so that an image of subject light that has passed through the photographing lens 1 is formed on the imaging surface of the imaging device 2. When the motor 13 drives the focus control mechanism 14, the focus control mechanism 14 moves the focus lens back and forth in the optical axis direction. The motor 13 is driven by a lens driving signal output from the CPU 12.

  The image sensor 2 is configured by, for example, a two-dimensional CCD image sensor. The imaging element 2 captures a subject image on the imaging surface and outputs an imaging signal corresponding to each pixel. The image signal output from the image sensor 2 has a different signal level depending on the intensity of light incident on each pixel. In the present embodiment, a CCD image pickup device is used as the image pickup device 2, but a MOS sensor or a CID may be used instead of the CCD. The control circuit 8 generates a timing signal for the image sensor 2 and sends it to the image sensor 2. The imaging device 2 has a so-called electronic shutter function that controls the accumulation time (shutter speed) of charges accumulated in each pixel sensor by a shutter gate pulse.

  The subject image formed on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 2 is converted into a signal charge in an amount corresponding to the amount of incident light by each pixel sensor, and sequentially read out as an image signal. The imaging signal output from the imaging device 2 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 3 and then stored in the memory 4. The image data signal stored in the memory 4 is input to the image processing circuit 5 and processed by a luminance (Y) signal generation circuit, a color difference (C) signal generation circuit, a compression / decompression circuit, and other signal processing circuits to be determined in advance. The image data is converted into image data in a specified format (for example, JPEG). The converted image data is stored in the external storage circuit 6 or the memory 4. The image processing circuit 5 also performs decompression processing when the compressed data recorded in the external storage circuit 6 is read and decompressed. The external storage circuit 6 is configured by a data storage member such as a memory card, for example.

  The CPU 12 includes an AE / AWB circuit 7, a band pass filter 9, an integration circuit 10, and an AF circuit 11. The CPU 12 is connected to the control circuit 8 and the memory 4 and performs various calculations such as focus detection (AF), photometry (AE), and white balance adjustment (AWB) of the electronic camera, and sequence control of camera operation. Various operation signals are input to the CPU 12 from an operation member (not shown). The CPU 12 collectively manages focus detection control, exposure control, and color balance control of the electronic camera in accordance with an operation signal input from the operation member.

  The AE / AWB circuit 7 performs known exposure calculation and white balance adjustment processing. The white balance adjustment process is performed on the image data stored in the memory 4. The band-pass filter 9 is a filter that extracts a high frequency component from image data corresponding to a focus detection area (focus area) among image data before image processing stored in the memory 4. The image data after the filter processing by the band pass filter 9 has a low frequency component, particularly a direct current component, removed from the image data before the filter processing.

  The integration circuit 10 integrates the absolute value of the difference due to the high-frequency component after the filter processing with respect to the image data corresponding to the pixels included in the focus area. The AF circuit 11 obtains a focus evaluation value using the integrated value obtained by the integrating circuit 10. In the present embodiment, the filter processing and integration processing by the bandpass filter 9 and the integration circuit 10 are processed by software by the CPU 12, but these functions may be realized by hardware.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the relationship between the position of the focus lens provided in the photographing lens 1 and the focus evaluation value. In FIG. 2, the horizontal axis represents the position of the focus lens, and the vertical axis represents the focus evaluation value. The lens position D1 that maximizes the focus evaluation value is the focus position of the focus lens with respect to the subject.

  The calculation of the focus evaluation value is performed, for example, while moving the focus lens from the closest end to the ∞ (infinity) end. The calculation rate in the case where the AF circuit 11 repeatedly calculates the focus evaluation value is determined by the imaging time by the image sensor 2, the time required for the filter process and the integrated value calculation. Therefore, as indicated by black circles in FIG. 2, the focus evaluation values are plotted as discrete data for each calculation rate. The interval in the horizontal axis direction of the black circles represents the distance (unit distance) that the focus lens has moved while the focus evaluation value is calculated.

  The AF circuit 11 performs a so-called three-point interpolation operation on the three points P1 to P3 including the maximum point of the focus evaluation value curve to calculate a focusing lens position D1 corresponding to the maximum point of the focus evaluation value curve. The focusing lens position D1 corresponds to the intersection of a straight line having an inclination α passing through the maximum point P2 and the point P3 and a straight line having an inclination −α passing through the point P1. The focus lens position D1 is a position that eliminates blurring of the edge of the subject image captured by the image sensor 2 and maximizes the contrast of the image.

  The posture detection circuit 15 detects whether the posture of the camera is a horizontal position or a vertical position based on an output signal of a posture detection sensor (not shown) provided in the camera, and detects the top side and the ground side at each position. To do. Here, the horizontal position refers to the case where the camera is held upright with the bottom of the camera facing the ground, and the vertical position is rotated 90 degrees from the upright state and the top and bottom surfaces of the camera are directed to the left and right. Refers to the posture when holding.

  FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the shooting screen 30 and the subject (person) 32 when the camera is in the horizontal position. The shooting screen 30 corresponds to the imaging area of the imaging device 2 and the longitudinal direction of the imaging area matches the left-right direction of the camera. Therefore, the longitudinal direction of the shooting screen 30 also matches the left-right direction of the camera. For this reason, the shooting screen 30 is horizontally long, and a horizontally long focus detection region 31 is set at the center of the shooting screen 30. “Setting the focus detection area 31” is to set a range for obtaining a focus evaluation value from the image signal. Here, the image signal in the rectangular area (focus detection area 31) at the center of the photographing screen 30 is set. Is used to calculate the focus evaluation value. In this state, the subject 32 is caught at the center of the shooting screen 30 and a focusing operation is performed so that the portion above the chest of the person in the focus detection area 31 is in focus. If the posture of the camera is a vertical position, the shooting screen 30 is in a vertically long state rotated 90 degrees.

  In FIG. 3, the upper side in the drawing is the top side of the shooting screen 30, and the lower side in the drawing is the ground side of the shooting screen 30. On the other hand, when the orientation of the camera is vertical and the shooting screen is rotated 90 degrees vertically, the top-to-bottom relationship does not change, and the top side in the drawing is the top side and the bottom side in the drawing is the ground side. That is, when the posture of the camera is the horizontal position, the posture detection circuit 15 determines the lower long side of the shooting screen 30 as the ground side and the upper long side as the top side. When the camera is in the vertical position, the posture detection circuit 15 determines that the upper short side of the shooting screen 30 is the top side and the lower short side is the ground side. As will be described later, in the present embodiment, when the posture of the camera is in the vertical position, the range of the focus detection area in the shooting screen is moved or expanded to the top side.

<Description of AF processing>
Next, AF processing performed by the CPU 12 of the camera will be described using the flowchart of FIG. The process shown in FIG. 4 is started, for example, when a half-press operation signal is input to the CPU 12 from a release switch (not shown). In step # 1, the CPU 12 initializes data and flags necessary for the AF process, and proceeds to step # 2.

  In step # 2, the posture state of the camera is determined based on the signal from the posture detection circuit 15. The states determined in this process include the horizontal position / vertical position of the posture, and the top side / ground side of the shooting screen 30 at the horizontal position / vertical position. In step # 3, the focus detection area 31 is set based on the determination result in step # 2. That is, a range for obtaining a focus evaluation value from the image signal is set.

  When the camera posture is the horizontal position, the rectangular focus detection area 31 is set so that the center thereof coincides with the center 300 of the shooting screen 30 as shown in FIG. It should be noted that the center of the focus detection area 31 and the center 300 of the shooting screen 30 cannot be completely matched, and even if there are some deviations in pixel units, they are almost the same in this case as well. Consider. Here, it is assumed that the long side 30A of the shooting screen 30 corresponds to the camera upper surface side, the long side 30C corresponds to the camera bottom surface side, and the short sides 30B and 30D correspond to the left and right side surfaces of the camera. That is, in the case of the horizontal position, the long side 30C corresponding to the camera bottom side is set to the ground side.

  On the other hand, when the camera posture is the vertical position, the focus detection area 31 is set as shown in FIG. Here, the camera posture is such that the bottom surface of the camera faces the left side, and the shooting screen 30 is set so that the short side 30B corresponding to the left side surface of the camera is the top side. Further, the focus detection area 31 is set at a position where the center 310 of the focus detection area 31 has moved by a distance L from the center 300 of the shooting screen toward the top.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the focus detection area 31 and the main subject when the focus detection area 31 is set as shown in FIG. The subject 32 is a person, and when photographing a person, the face 32a is the main subject. Thus, in the case of vertical position shooting, the main subject 32a is often located closer to the top short side 30A of the shooting screen 30. Further, on the ground side of the shooting screen 30, there is often a subject different from the subject 32 at a position closer to the main subject 32a.

  However, in the present embodiment, since the focus detection area 31 is set to the top side (upward in the drawing) by a distance L from the center 300 of the shooting screen 30, the main subject 32a is captured in the focus detection area 31. As a result, an image in which the main subject 32a is in focus can be obtained. In addition, since the focus detection area 31 is moved to the top side and is biased toward the top side, it is possible to prevent focusing on a near subject near the ground side short side 30D.

  The movement amount L of the focus detection area 31 is set to about 1/10 to 1/6 of the length L0 of the long sides 30A and 30C of the imaging screen 300 according to the size of the focus detection area 31. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, L = L0 / 10 is set when the size of the focus detection area 31 is relatively large, and L = L0 / 6 is set when the focus detection area 31 is small. . That is, when the focus detection area 31 is large, there is a high possibility that the main subject 32a can be captured by the focus detection area 31 even when the main subject 32a is closer to the top. On the other hand, when the focus detection area 31 is small, the moving distance L is set to be large so that the main subject 32a near the top can be reliably captured.

  On the other hand, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a case where setting is made to invalidate the ground side area 411 of the focus detection area 41 as in a conventional camera. In this case, the main subject 32a that is biased toward the top cannot be sufficiently captured by the focus detection area 31 whose area size has been reduced. Therefore, there is a possibility that the main subject 32a may not be in focus.

  Returning to FIG. 4, when the setting of the focus detection area in step # 3 is completed, the process proceeds to step # 4. In step # 4, the search start position SSLP and the search end position SELP in the search operation are set. This search operation is an operation for acquiring a history (for example, data indicated by black circles in FIG. 2) when calculating the maximum focus evaluation value. In the present embodiment, the closest end of the focus adjustment range is set as the search start position SSLP, and the ∞ (infinity) end is set as the search end position SELP. The ∞ end may be set as the search start position SSLP, and the closest end may be set as the search end position SELP, or the optimum start position and end position are set according to the lens position of the focus lens, the shooting mode, etc. You may do it.

  In step # 5, a drive signal is output to the motor 13, and the focus lens (not shown) is moved to the search start position SSLP. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the elapsed time (horizontal axis) of the AF process and the focus lens position (vertical axis). In FIG. 9, the motor 13 starts to move from timing t1, and the focus lens reaches the search start position SSLP (here, the closest end) at timing t2.

  In step # 6 of FIG. 4, the lens moving speed is set. The search lens moving time from the search start position to the search end position is determined by the moving speed LMV set here. The focus adjustment time greatly depends on the lens moving speed LMV. If the lens moving speed LMV is fast, the time required for focus adjustment is shortened. If the calculation rate of the focus evaluation value is constant, the number of focus evaluation value history data (number of black circles) in FIG. 9 increases when the lens movement speed LMV is decreased, and the focus evaluation value history increases when the lens movement speed LMV is increased. The number of data decreases. The lens moving speed LMV is preferably set so that the number of data constituting the “mountain” (see FIG. 2) of the focus evaluation value curve is at least three points.

  In step # 7, image data corresponding to the image in the focus detection area 31 is extracted from the image data stored in the memory 4, filtered by the bandpass filter 9, and then integrated by the integrating circuit 10. A focus evaluation value AFval is calculated. The focus evaluation value AFval is stored as the focus evaluation value history data of the focus detection area 31 in association with the focus lens position information.

  Here, the focus evaluation value is calculated with respect to the image data once stored in the memory 4. However, the data converted by the A / D converter 3 is sequentially sent to the bandpass filter 9, and simultaneously with the data transfer, the focus evaluation value is calculated. May be calculated. By adopting a configuration in which data is sequentially transferred to the band pass filter 9 in this way, it is possible to prevent a delay in calculation of the focus evaluation value as compared with a case where data is temporarily stored in the memory 4 and then read.

  In Step # 8, a drive signal is output to the motor 13 and the process proceeds to Step # 9. Thereby, the focus lens starts moving at the lens moving speed LMV. In step # 9, it is determined whether or not the position of the focus lens is the search end end SELP. If it is determined in step # 9 that the focus lens position is the search end position SELP, the process proceeds to step # 10. On the other hand, if it is determined that the focus lens position is not the search end position SELP, the process returns to step # 7.

  The focus evaluation indicated by the black circles in FIG. 2 is performed while the focus lens performs the search movement from the search start position SSLP to the search end position SELP (timing t3 to timing t4 in FIG. 9) by the processing in the above steps # 7 to # 9. A plurality of value history data is acquired. A black circle in FIG. 9 represents a timing at which the focus evaluation value history data is calculated.

  In step # 10 of FIG. 4, it is determined whether or not the maximum value of the focus evaluation value history data is equal to or higher than a predetermined level. If it is determined in step # 10 that the focus evaluation value history data includes a focus evaluation value of a predetermined level or higher, the process proceeds to step # 11, and if the focus evaluation value history data does not include a focus evaluation value of a predetermined level or higher. If it determines, it will progress to step # 13. Here, the process proceeds to step # 11 when the contrast information necessary for the focus detection process is obtained. On the other hand, the process proceeds to step # 13 when the subject is a white wall or black wall and the contrast is low. When the contrast is low, the maximum point of the focus evaluation value is generated by noise or the like, and there is a risk of false focusing.

  When the process proceeds from step # 10 to step # 13, in step # 13, it is regarded that focus adjustment is impossible and so-called low contrast processing is performed. The CPU 12 outputs a lens driving signal to the motor 13, moves the focus lens (not shown) from the search end position SELP to a predetermined lens position (for example, any one of the shooting distances 1m to 3m), and performs the processing shown in FIG. finish.

  On the other hand, when the process proceeds from step # 10 to step # 11, the in-focus position is calculated in step # 11. Here, the focusing lens position D1 corresponding to the maximum point of the focus evaluation value curve is calculated by the three-point interpolation described with reference to FIG. At this time, the calculation is performed using the focus evaluation value history data of three points P1 to P3 including the maximum focus evaluation value history data.

  In step # 12, a lens drive signal is output to the motor 13, the focus lens is moved from the search end position SELP to the focusing lens position D1, and the processing in FIG. 4 is ended. That is, in FIG. 9, the motor 13 starts to move from timing t5, and the focus lens reaches the focusing lens position D1 (timing t6).

[Modification 1]
In the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, one focus detection area 31 is set in the shooting screen 30, but a plurality of focus detection areas 31 may be set as in Modification 1 shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 10, five focus detection areas 51A to 51D are provided, focus detection areas 51B and 51C are arranged above and below the central focus detection area 51A, and focus detection areas are located on the left and right of the focus detection area 51A. 51D and 51E are arranged. Although the number of focus detection areas is five here, the number of focus detection areas is not limited to five, and the present invention can be applied to one having two or more focus detection areas.

  FIG. 10 shows a case where the camera posture is the same vertical position as that in FIG. 6. In this case, the center 510 of the entire five focus detection areas 51 A to 51 D is located at the center 300 of the shooting screen 30. On the other hand, it has moved to the top side by a distance L. When the camera posture is the horizontal position, the right long side 30A corresponding to the upper surface of the camera is the top side. The focus detection areas 51 </ b> A to 51 </ b> D are set so that the center 510 of the entire focus detection areas 51 </ b> A to 51 </ b> D matches the center 300 of the shooting screen 30.

[Modification 2]
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a second modification of the present embodiment, and shows a case where the camera posture is a vertical position as in the case of FIG. In FIG. 11, a region 31 indicated by a two-dot chain line represents a focus detection region when the camera posture is in the horizontal position, and the center of the focus detection region 31 coincides with the center 300 of the shooting screen 30.

  On the other hand, the focus detection area in the vertical position and orientation is an area denoted by reference numeral 61, and the ground side boundary 61A of the focus detection area 61 is obtained by moving the ground side boundary 31A of the focus detection area 31 to the top side by a distance L1. is there. The top boundary 61B of the focus detection area 61 is obtained by moving the top boundary 31B of the focus detection area 31 to the top by a distance L2. Here, the movement distances L1 and L2 are set such that L2> L1, and the size of the focus detection area 61 after the movement is set larger than that of the focus detection area 31.

  Further, the movement distances L1 and L2 may be set according to the size of the focus detection area 31. For example, when the focus detection area 31 is small, the ground-side moving distance L1 is set smaller than when the focus detecting area 31 is large, and conversely, the top-side moving distance L2 is set large. Therefore, even when the focus detection area 31 is relatively small, it is possible to capture the main subject on the heaven side more reliably. Although the case where there is one focus detection area 31 has been described here, the present invention can also be applied to a case where there are a plurality of focus detection areas 31 as in the case of FIG.

  In the above-described embodiment, the lens moving speed LMV may be changed according to the focal depth of the photographing lens. In this case, the lens movement speed increases as the depth of focus increases, and the lens movement speed decreases as the depth of focus decreases. Thereby, the distance (unit distance) that the focus lens moves while the focus evaluation value is calculated becomes longer as the depth of focus is deeper. Generally, when the depth of focus is deep, the half-value width of the “mountain” of the focus evaluation value curve is widened, so that the time required for focus detection processing can be shortened by increasing the lens moving speed.

  Further, the lens moving speed LMV may be changed according to the open F value of the photographing lens. In this case, the larger the open F value, the faster the lens moving speed, and the smaller the open F value, the slower the lens moving speed. Thereby, the distance (unit distance) by which the focus lens moves while the focus evaluation value is calculated becomes longer as the open F value is larger. In general, when the open F value is large, the depth of focus becomes deep, so that the half width of the “mountain” of the focus evaluation value curve becomes wide. Therefore, the time required for the focus detection process can be shortened by increasing the lens moving speed.

  Furthermore, the present invention may be applied not only to an electronic camera but also to a focus detection device for a silver salt camera. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment as long as the characteristics of the present invention are not impaired.

  In the correspondence between the embodiment described above and the elements of the claims, the CPU 12 designates the focus detection means and the change means, and the ground-side boundaries 31A and 61A designate the boundaries defining the ground-side range of the focus detection area. The side boundaries 31B and 61B constitute boundaries that define the top side range of the focus detection area.

It is a block diagram explaining one Embodiment of the camera by this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the position of a focus lens, and a focus evaluation value. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the imaging | photography screen 30 and the to-be-photographed object (person) 32 at the time of setting a camera to a horizontal position. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of AF process performed with CPU12 of a camera. It is a figure which shows the imaging | photography screen 300 and the focus detection area | region 31 in the case of a horizontal position. It is a figure which shows the imaging | photography screen 300 and the focus detection area | region 31 in the case of a vertical position. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the focus detection area 31 in the vertical position, and the main to-be-photographed object 32a. It is a figure which shows the case where the setting which makes 411 invalid the area | region of the ground side of the focus detection area | region 41 like the conventional camera is performed. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the elapsed time (horizontal axis) of AF processing, and a focus lens position (vertical axis). It is a figure which shows the modification 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the modification 2. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Shooting lens 2 Image pick-up element 3 A / D converter 4 Memory 5 Image processing circuit 7 AE / AWB circuit 8 Control circuit 9 Band pass filter 10 Accumulation circuit 11 AF circuit 12 CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 Motor 14 Focus control mechanism 15 Posture detection circuit 30 Shooting screen 31, 41, 51A-51D, 61 Focus detection area 31A, 61A Ground side boundary 31B, 61B Top side boundary 32 Subject 32a Main subject

Claims (4)

Posture detection means for detecting the posture of the camera;
A focus detection area which is set in the shooting screen and indicates a field area where the focus adjustment state is detected;
Focus detection means for detecting a focus adjustment state for a subject located in the focus detection area;
When the posture detection means detects that the camera is in the vertical position, the boundary that defines the ground side range of the focus detection area in the shooting screen is moved to the top side of the shooting screen, and the focus detection area The focus detection in the shooting screen is made such that the boundary defining the range of the top side of the image is moved to the top side of the shooting screen so that the size of the focus detection area after the change is equal to or larger than the size before the change. A camera comprising a changing means for changing a range of an area. The camera of claim 1,
The changing means maintains the size of the focus detection area at a size before the change, and moves the position of the focus detection area in the shooting screen to the top side of the shooting screen by a predetermined amount. Camera. The camera according to claim 1 or 2,
A camera comprising a plurality of the focus detection areas. The camera according to claim 2 or 3,
The predetermined amount is set according to the size of the focus detection area.

Images