JP2006279116A - Digital camera device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital camera device that can completely avoid occurrence of a camera-shake by enabling a shutter to be operated without touching with a camera. <P>SOLUTION: The digital camera apparatus includes: a CCD 2 for applying photoelectric conversion to an incident object image through a zoom lens 1a or the like of an optical system element 1; and a CPU core 11 that detects a change in an image output from the CCD 2 under a prescribed condition and gives an instruction for photographing the object image to the CCD 2 when the changed image is restored to an image before the change within a prescribed time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital camera device, and more particularly to a digital camera device that avoids camera shake caused by operation of a shutter button during shooting.

Not only in digital camera devices but also in film cameras, camera shake may occur when the shutter button is pressed during shooting, and countermeasures for avoiding camera shake have been studied for many years.
In a proposal of a camera in a patent document, two touch sensor type release buttons that are turned on when a finger or the like is touched and output a signal are provided at a position recessed by about 1 mm from the top surface. Yes. In a state in which both the release buttons are touched with a finger, the shutter of the camera is driven to take a picture by releasing the finger from only one of the release buttons. (See Patent Document 1)
In addition, in the proposal of an electronic camera shake prevention method of a patent document, the image size changes due to replacement of the taking lens, and the smaller the image size, the higher the camera shake sensitivity. The camera shake limit shutter speed is set. (See Patent Document 2)
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-160776 JP 2003-60976 A

However, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, even with a touch sensor type release button that is turned on when a finger touches, it is not possible to eliminate the possibility that camera shake may occur due to movement when the finger contacts. Further, in the configuration of Patent Document 2, the camera shake limit shutter speed is limited by the image size, which makes it difficult to use.
An object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera device capable of performing a shutter operation without touching the camera.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup means (corresponding to the CCD 2 in FIG. 1 in the embodiment) that outputs an image of a subject incident through a lens by photoelectric conversion, and an image output from the image pickup means. Is detected by a predetermined condition, and when the image returns to the image before the change within a predetermined time (in the embodiment, corresponding to the threshold value THR0 in FIG. 6) from the time of the change of the image, It is configured to include shooting control means (in the embodiment, corresponding to the CPU core 11 in FIG. 1) that gives an instruction for shooting to the imaging means.

  2. The digital camera apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging control means outputs from the imaging means on the condition that at least one of a change in focus, a change in pixel coincidence, and a change in luminance is a predetermined condition. It may be configured to detect a change in the image.

  In the digital camera device according to claim 1, as described in claim 3, mode setting means for setting a normal shutter mode or a palm shutter mode (in the embodiment, it corresponds to a mode button of the operation unit 12 in FIG. 1). ), And the photographing control unit is configured to give an instruction to the subject to take an image of the subject in response to detection of a change in the image when the palm shutter mode is set. Good.

  The digital camera device according to claim 1, further comprising a shutter control operator (in the embodiment, corresponding to the shutter button of the operation unit 12 in FIG. 1). When the imaging means outputs a photoelectrically converted image of the subject, the focus point is acquired by the autofocus function, and when the palm shutter mode is set and the shutter control operator is operated, auto After the focus function is locked and the current focus point is memorized, the lock is unlocked and a new focus point is acquired, and the presence or absence of the focus change is determined by the difference between the new focus point and the memorized focus point. If a focus change is detected, the stored focus point Back, it may be configured so as to provide an instruction to capture an image of the object relative to the imaging means.

  According to the digital camera device of the present invention, it is possible to perform a shutter operation without touching the camera, and an effect that the occurrence of camera shake can be completely avoided can be obtained.

Embodiments of a digital camera device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a digital camera device according to an embodiment. In FIG. 1, a zoom lens 1a, an iris 1b, a focus lens 1c, a plurality of actuators such as a moving cylinder, a fixed cylinder, a cam cylinder, and a drive motor, various sensors, a gear mechanism, and the like (not shown) are provided. The optical system element 1 forms an image of an incident subject at a focus position. The CCD 2 performs photoelectric conversion for converting the formed image from light to electric charge, and outputs it as a moving image (generally referred to as “through image”) of an analog electrical signal. The A / D converter 3 converts the moving image output from the CCD 2 into a digital signal and outputs it. The signal processing unit 4 performs image correction and other signal processing on the moving image of the digital signal output from the A / D converter 3 and outputs it, and also stores it in a memory card, which will be described later, or a personal computer When transmitting to an external device such as, image processing is performed and output. The image buffer 5 has a moving image area and a captured still image area, and temporarily stores an image output from the signal processing unit 4 in a corresponding area. The liquid crystal display controller 6 develops the moving image or still image output from the image buffer 5 on one screen, outputs it to the liquid crystal display unit 7 and displays it.

  The lens control unit 8 controls the optical system element 1 including the zoom lens 1a, the iris 1b, and the focus lens 1c in accordance with the corresponding control signals. The CCD controller 9 generates timing pulses to control the photoelectric conversion processing of the CCD 2. The focus filter unit 10 performs a process of filtering a high frequency component from a moving image signal output from the A / D converter 3, that is, a process of acquiring a moving image focus point. The CPU core 11 includes a ROM 11a that is a memory for a control program and a RAM 11b that is a work area. According to the control program stored in the ROM 11a, the A / D converter 3, the signal processing unit 4, the image buffer 5, the liquid crystal display controller 6, The lens control unit 8, the CCD control unit 9, and the focus filter unit 10 are controlled, and the register variables of the RAM 11b are managed. The CPU core 11 includes an operation unit 12 having a power button, a mode button, a shutter / focus button, a memory card 13 that is a non-volatile memory for storing compressed moving images and still images, and an external device such as a personal computer. An external I / F (interface) unit 14 for communicating with the device is connected. The CPU core 11, the signal processing unit 4, the lens control unit 8, the CCD control unit 9, and the focus filter unit 10 are configured by a single LSI chip 15.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating register variables in the RAM 11 b in the CPU core 11. In this figure, mf is a shooting mode flag, and 0 indicates non-shooting and 1 indicates shooting. hf is a palm shutter use flag for designating whether or not to perform a shutter operation by temporarily shielding the front of the lens with a palm. 0 indicates nonuse and 1 indicates use. fp represents a focus point when the shutter / focus button is released. si is a shutter speed index that represents the shutter speed currently selected by the user among the SSN types of shutter speeds that can be selected by the user, and is distinguished by a number from 0 to (SSN-1). hs is a flag indicating a palm shutter detection state, and 0 indicates non-detection and 1 indicates detection. tm represents a timer that is incremented every certain time that elapses.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a palm shutter use flag table stored in the ROM 11 a in the CPU core 11. In this table, the flag values (0 or 1) of hfm [0] to hfm [SSN-1] are stored in advance corresponding to each of the SSN shutter speed indexes si.

Next, the operation of the digital camera device of FIG. 1 will be described based on the flowcharts shown in FIGS.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the main routine of the CPU core 11. After performing the initial process (step SA1), the loop process from step SA2 to step SA7 is repeatedly executed. In the initial processing, both mf and hf are reset to 0, and si is set to a shutter speed index value corresponding to a standard shutter speed. In the loop processing, it is determined whether or not the mode button is turned on (step SA2). When this button is turned on, the value of mf is inverted (step SA3). After inverting the value of mf or if this button is not on, it is determined whether or not the value of mf is 1 (imaging) (step SA4). When the value of mf is 1, the value hfm [si] (0 or 1) of the palm shutter use flag table corresponding to the shutter speed index si is set to hf (step SA5). Therefore, 1 is initially set corresponding to the standard shutter speed. Next, photographing processing is executed (step SA6). After the photographing process or when the value of mf is 0 (non-photographed) in step SA4, other processes are performed (step SA7) and the above loop process is repeated.
Note that other processing in step SA7 includes, for example, changing the shutter speed in accordance with a user operation. When the shutter speed is changed, the value of the shutter speed index si is also changed accordingly.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the photographing process in step SA6 in the main routine. It is determined whether or not the shutter / focus button has been pressed (step SB1). When this button is pressed, it is determined whether or not the value of hf is 1 (use of a palm shutter) (step SB2). If the value of hf is 1, palm shutter detection processing is executed (step SB3).

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart of palm shutter detection processing. First, the value of the current focus point is set in the register fp, the current image is acquired as reference screen data, stored in the reference area of the image buffer 5, and the timer tm is cleared to 0 (step SC1). Then, a loop process from steps SC2 to SC6 is executed. In the loop processing, it is determined whether or not the value of tm is larger than a threshold value THR0, which is a predetermined time for timeout (step SC2). If the value of tm is less than or equal to this threshold value, it is determined whether or not the focus has changed due to the focus point acquired from the focus filter unit 10 (step SC3). When the focus is changed, it is determined whether or not the pixel matching degree between the image of the reference screen data stored in the reference area of the image buffer 5 and the image after the focus is changed is smaller than the threshold value THR1 (step S1). SC4). If the pixel matching degree is smaller than this threshold value, it is determined whether or not the screen brightness is smaller than the threshold value THR2 (step SC5). If the brightness is smaller than this threshold value, that is, if the focus changes, the pixel matching degree is lower than THR1, and the screen brightness is lower than THR2, the subject that has been focused until then is determined. Is changed to another subject having a different distance and screen, and the luminance is dark, so it is determined that the front of the lens is shielded from light with the palm of the hand.

  If NO in any of step SC3, step SC4, and step SC5, the three conditions are not satisfied. Therefore, the elapsed time is added to tm (step SC6), and the process proceeds to step SC2. It is determined whether or not the value is larger than a threshold value THR0. If the value of tm is less than or equal to this threshold value, it is determined whether or not three conditions are satisfied by step SC3, step SC4, and step SC5. However, in step SC2, if the value of tm is larger than the threshold value THR0, the shutter operation with the palm is not performed even if the predetermined time of the threshold value has elapsed, so it is determined that the time has expired and hs is set to 0 (not detected). After setting (step SC7), the process returns to the photographing process of FIG.

When it is determined that the three conditions of Step SC3, Step SC4, and Step SC5 are satisfied and the front of the lens is shielded with the palm, tm is cleared to 0 again (Step SC8), and the value of tm is set for a predetermined time. It is determined whether or not it is greater than a threshold value THR3 (step SC9). This threshold value determines the time during which the front of the lens is shielded from something. If the value of tm is larger than this threshold value, the shading time is too long. Therefore, it is determined that another object has entered between the subject to be photographed and the lens, and that hs is set to 0. (Step SC7), and the process returns to the photographing process of FIG. On the other hand, if the value of tm is less than or equal to the threshold value THR3 in step SC9, it is further determined whether or not the pixel matching degree is greater than the threshold value THR4 (step SC10). If the pixel matching degree is less than or equal to this threshold value, the elapsed time is added to tm (step SC11), and the process proceeds to step SC9. On the other hand, when the pixel matching degree is larger than this threshold value, the pixel of the reference screen data acquired in step SC1 and stored in the reference area of the image buffer 5 is almost the same as the pixel at the time of step SC10. Therefore, after the front of the lens is shielded from light with the palm, the palm leaves the lens and returns to the moving image of the original subject again, and it is determined that the shutter operation has been performed with the palm, and hs is set to 1 (palm Detection) (step SC12). Then, the process returns to the photographing process in FIG.
In step SC10, instead of determining the pixel coincidence degree, the focus coincidence degree determination, that is, whether or not the current focus point value matches the value of the register fp may be performed. . Alternatively, it may be determined whether or not the screen brightness is restored, that is, whether or not the current screen brightness is greater than a threshold value (THR2). Furthermore, the above-described determination of pixel matching, focus matching, and screen brightness restoration may be appropriately combined.

After the palm shutter detection process is executed and the process returns to the shooting process of FIG. 5, it is determined whether or not the value of hs is 1 (step SB4). If the value of hs is 1, the focus point is moved to fp (step SB5). After moving the focus point, or when hf is 0 (hand shutter is not used) in step SB2, that is, when shooting is performed by operating the normal shutter / focus button, the CCD controller 9 is The release process is instructed, the photoelectric conversion process is performed in response to the light received by the CCD 2, the A / D converter 3 is instructed to perform A / D conversion from analog to digital, and the signal processing unit 4 is The correction / compression process is instructed, the image buffer 5 is instructed to store a still image, and the liquid crystal display controller 6 is instructed to display a still image (step SB6). After these series of image processing, or when the value of hs is 0 (palm non-detection) in step SB4, or when the shutter / focus button is not pressed in step SB1, other processing is performed (step SB7), returning to the main routine of FIG.
As other processing in step SB7, for example, an autofocus process corresponding to the light of the subject from the zoom lens 1a or the like, and an image compressed according to the storage operation are transferred from the image buffer 5 to the memory card 13. There are a process of recording, a process of transmitting an image compressed according to a transmission operation from the external I / F unit 14 to an external device, and the like.

As described above, the digital camera device of this embodiment has a CCD 2 that photoelectrically converts an image of an incident subject through the zoom lens 1a of the optical system element 1 and the like, and a change in the image output from the CCD 2 is predetermined. When the image is detected according to conditions and the image is restored to the image before the change within a predetermined time from the change of the image, an instruction to shoot the image of the subject is given to the CCD 2 to instruct the shoot. I have.
Therefore, the shutter operation can be performed without touching the camera, and the occurrence of camera shake can be completely avoided.

In this case, as shown in Step SC3, Step SC4, and Step SC5 in FIG. 6, the CPU core 11 is output from the CCD 2 with a change in focus, a change in pixel coincidence, and a change in luminance as predetermined conditions. Detect changes in the image.
Therefore, even in a situation where there are many people, cars, etc. in addition to the subject at the shooting location, it is possible to reliably detect the palm crossing the front of the lens without malfunction due to such disturbance.
In this case, the change condition can be set by the user. Depending on the shooting situation, at least one of the focus change, the pixel coincidence change, and the brightness change is output from the CCD 2 as a predetermined condition. It may be configured to detect a change in the image.

Further, as shown in step SA2 in FIG. 4, the CPU core 11 further includes a mode button for setting the normal shutter mode or the palm shutter mode, so that the CPU core 11 can display an image when the palm shutter mode is set. It is also possible to provide an instruction to the CCD 2 to take an image of the subject in response to the detection of the change.
Therefore, when there is a possibility of camera shake, the palm shutter mode is set, and the normal shutter mode can be set when shooting with a tripod or a monopod fixed.

Further, since the shutter / focus button is further provided, the CPU core 11 acquires the focus point by the autofocus function when the CCD 2 outputs the image of the subject by photoelectric conversion, and the palm shutter mode is set to the palm shutter mode. If it is set and the shutter button is operated, as shown in step SC1 of FIG. 6, the autofocus function is locked and the current focus point is stored in the RAM 11b, and then the lock is released. When a new focus point is acquired, the presence or absence of a focus change is detected based on the difference between the new focus point and the stored focus point, and a focus change is detected, as shown in step SB5 in FIG. Return to the memorized focus point and use your finger to shoot the subject image The given to CCD2.
Therefore, when a shutter operation is performed with the palm of the hand, it is possible to quickly shoot at the focus point of the already stored subject without using the autofocus function again.

  In the above embodiment, the shutter / focus button is used to perform shooting after locking the focus. However, as a modification, other parameters before the palm crosses the front of the lens are used. May be configured to shoot. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which a change in focus is detected every predetermined time and the palm crosses the front of the lens in a state where the autofocus function is always operated without locking the focus. Further, in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, it is configured to automatically determine whether or not to perform the shutter operation with the palm according to the shutter speed, but depending on the setting of the user regardless of the shutter speed. It may be configured to determine whether or not to perform a shutter operation with a palm.

1 is a block diagram of a digital camera device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the variable of the register in RAM of CPU core of FIG. The figure which shows the palm shutter use flag table stored in ROM of CPU core of FIG. The flowchart of the main routine of CPU in embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of imaging processing in FIG. 4. 6 is a flowchart of palm shutter detection processing in FIG. 5.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical system element 1a Zoom lens 1b Iris 1c Focus lens 2 CCD
3 A / D converter 4 Signal processing unit 5 Image buffer 6 Liquid crystal display controller 7 Liquid crystal display unit 8 Lens control unit 9 CCD control unit 10 Focus filter unit 11 CPU core 11a ROM
11b RAM
12 Operation unit 13 Memory card 14 External I / F unit 15 LSI chip

Claims (4)

Imaging means for photoelectrically converting and outputting an image of a subject incident through the lens;
When the change of the image output from the image pickup means is detected under a predetermined condition and the image is returned to the image before the change within a predetermined time from the time of the change of the image, an instruction to take an image of the subject is taken. Shooting control means to give to,
A digital camera device comprising:   The imaging control unit detects a change in an image output from the imaging unit using at least one of a change in focus, a change in pixel coincidence, and a change in luminance as the predetermined condition. The digital camera device according to 1.   The apparatus further comprises mode setting means for setting a normal shutter mode or a palm shutter mode, and the photographing control means photographs a subject image in response to detection of a change in the image when the palm shutter mode is set. The digital camera apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an instruction to perform is given to the imaging unit.   The photographing control means further includes a shutter control operator, and the photographing control means obtains a focus point by an autofocus function when the image pickup means photoelectrically converts and outputs an object image, and the palm shutter mode is set. When the shutter control operator is operated, the autofocus function is locked and the current focus point is stored, then the lock is released to obtain a new focus point, and the new focus point is acquired. The presence or absence of a focus change is detected based on the difference between the focus point and the stored focus point, and when the focus change is detected, an instruction to return to the stored focus point and take an image of the subject is issued. The digital camera according to claim 3, wherein Location.

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