JP2008072288A - Photographing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a photographing device which obtains a desired face picture or a picture of a desired part by having a mirror which enables a user himself or herself to see his or her entire face in the manner of looking in a hand mirror and to see a part of his or her face in details when necessary. <P>SOLUTION: The photographing device which the user holds in his or her hand to photograph his or her face includes a plane mirror having such size that the entire face is reflected in the mirror, in a surface facing the face. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a photographing apparatus in which a photographer records his / her face.

  There is known a camera that allows a photographer to take a picture of himself / herself while holding the camera by hand, commonly called a self-portrait camera.

  Many of these cameras include liquid crystal display means for confirming an image to be photographed before photographing.

  The image display surface of the liquid crystal display means is positioned on the back of the camera during normal shooting, but when taking a self-portrait, the liquid crystal display means is rotated so that the image display surface can also be seen from the front of the camera. In many cases, the image display is horizontally reversed at the same time (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, on the display screen of the liquid crystal display means of the self-portrait camera as described above, the photographer is required to arrange the face before photographing because of the size of the display screen, and the number of dots and the dot density of the liquid crystal constituting the display screen. You can only check the degree of expression.

In the case of a camera that does not use display means such as a liquid crystal display means, there is also a proposal that a plane mirror or a convex mirror is provided on a part of the surface facing the subject, which is the surface on which the photographing lens is located (see, for example, Patent Document 2). .)
However, it is difficult for such a mirror to meet the demand to look carefully at the face because of its size or shape.

Therefore, in the conventional self-taking camera as described above, it is necessary to view the entire face and to take a picture by looking at a part of the face in detail as necessary, for example, a change in facial expression or a specific part of the face. It is difficult to meet a demand from the medical field for recording regularly for a long period of time, or a request from the beauty field for photographing the entire face or a part of the face by confirming the performance of makeup and hairstyle.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-11085 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-20553

  The present invention has been made in view of the situation as described above, and its purpose is to allow the photographer to look at the entire face as if using a hand mirror and to view part of the face in detail as necessary. It is an object of the present invention to provide an imaging device that has a mirror capable of obtaining a desired face image or an image of a desired part.

The above-mentioned subject is achieved by realizing the following invention.
1. A photographic device in which a photographer holds a hand and photographs his / her face,
An imaging apparatus comprising a plane mirror of a size that reflects the entire face on a surface facing the face.
2. 2. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a photographing lens is disposed on a back side of a position above the center line in the vertical direction of the plane mirror and above the center line in the horizontal direction.
3. 3. The photographing apparatus according to item 1 or 2, which has a close-up function.
4). The upper side surface between the surface facing the face of the photographing apparatus and the back surface is an inclined surface that descends in the back direction, and a shutter button is provided on the inclined surface. Shooting device.
5. 5. The photographing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising display means for displaying a photographed image.
6). 6. The photographing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the display unit also serves as an illumination unit.

  According to the present invention, the photographer himself / herself has a mirror that allows the user to view the entire face as if using a hand mirror and to view a part of the face in detail as necessary. An imaging device for obtaining the above is provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an embodiment of a photographing apparatus according to the present invention.

  The photographing apparatus 1 includes a photographing unit 2 and a display unit 3, and the photographing unit 2 and the display unit 3 are connected so as to be rotatable about an axis 4.

A plane mirror 22 is provided on a surface 21 (front surface) that faces the face of the person who is the subject. A circular area indicated by a dotted line 23 of the plane mirror 22 is a half mirror having a predetermined transmittance, and a photographing lens 24 is disposed on the back of the area.
A liquid crystal display surface 32, which is a known display means, is provided on the surface 31 of the display unit 3 facing the person's face in the open state.

  Reflected light from the subject on the front is guided to the CCD 26 which is an image pickup device via the half mirror, the photographing lens 24 and the mirror 25, and forms an image of the subject on the light receiving surface of the CCD 26.

  The photographing lens has a close-up function for taking close-up images of a part of the face or its periphery, and is controlled together with an automatic focusing mechanism that automatically focuses on the subject. In addition, these are comprised from a well-known imaging technique.

  As shown in the figure, the optical axis of the photographing lens 24 is on the back side of the plane mirror 22 on the center line y in the vertical direction of the plane mirror 22 and at a distance y1 above the center line x in the horizontal direction. Has been placed. This distance y1 is determined in order to match the height of the line of sight of the person who is the subject and the position of the optical axis of the photographic lens 24 as much as possible, and is obtained by an experiment based on a plurality of subjects.

  Note that the coincidence between the line of sight of the subject and the position of the optical axis of the taking lens 24 is a well-known matter known as the most important requirement for accurately capturing facial expressions.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing shapes of hands and arms when the photographer holds the photographing apparatus 1 with one hand and points the plane mirror 22 toward his / her face.

  The size of the plane mirror 22 is preferably 150 mm in length and 100 mm in width in general because the entire face needs to be reflected in the mirror when the photographing apparatus 1 is held by the palm and the arm is extended. Decreases.

  Regarding the size of the face, 34,000 men and women aged 7 to 90 years old are measured, and 90% of people are in the range of head height 202 to 279 mm and head width 137 to 170 mm. There is also a report from the Human Life Engineering Center.

  The range of the face seen by the photographer is determined by the size of the plane mirror and the distance between the face and the plane mirror, but considering the report and the length of the arm, an image in the range of 300 mm in length and 200 mm in width including the face image is seen. A plane mirror size as described above that can be desirable.

  FIG. 3 is a view showing the back surface of the photographing apparatus 1.

  As shown in the drawing, the upper side surface 27 of the photographing apparatus 1 is an inclined surface that descends in the rear direction, and a shutter button 28 is provided on the inclined surface. The photographer presses the shutter button 28 with the index finger of the hand holding the photographing apparatus 1.

  A normal camera has a flat box shape in which each surface is perpendicular to each other, and a shutter button is provided on the upper side surface thereof. However, in a photographing apparatus that takes a holding form as shown in FIG. In such a position of the shutter button, the position and shape of the finger pressing the shutter button become unnatural, and as a result, problems such as shutter shake may occur.

  The position of the shutter button 28 shown in FIG. 3 is to achieve both the operability of the shutter button and the retainability of the photographing apparatus in the photographing apparatus 1 according to the present invention.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the control relationship of the imaging apparatus 1.

  The control means C of the photographing apparatus 1 is a computer system including a CPU, a memory M, an input / output I / O, a communication interface, a drive circuit, and the like. Control of each means to be controlled is stored in the memory M. This is done by running a program that is running.

  The control means C can also exchange information with an information processing device such as a personal computer via the communication means T.

  In the drawing, the description of blocks that are not directly related to the description of the present invention is omitted.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of shooting using the shooting apparatus 1.

  When the photographing apparatus 1 is not used, the display unit 3 is closed (dotted line position in FIG. 1).

  When the display means 3 in the closed state is opened (step S1), the liquid crystal display surface 32 of the display means 3 is set to the illumination mode by the control means C (step S2).

  The illumination mode here means a mode in which the liquid crystal display surface 32 is brightest by maximizing the amount of light of the liquid crystal backlight, and is a mode in which the liquid crystal display surface 32 is used as illumination means.

  Since the photographing apparatus 1 of the present invention is intended to photograph the entire face, a part of the face, or the periphery of the face, the illumination by the liquid crystal display surface 32 prevents the generation of shadows on the face, It works effectively for imaging shadowed areas such as under the chin and behind the ear.

  In addition, since the front face 21 of the photographing unit facing the face is a mirror, the photographing apparatus 1 according to the present invention reflects reflected light from the subject toward the subject again by the mirror. Lighting is realized.

  The imaging device 1 checks the entire face or a part of the face by moving the holding hand and looking at the mirror (step S3).

  When the inspection confirmation is finished and the photographing range is determined (step S4: Y), the photographing apparatus is held at a position where a target image is obtained, and photographing is performed by pressing the shutter button 28 (step S5).

  When shooting is completed, the shot image is displayed on the liquid crystal display surface 32 (step S6). When the photographer presses a confirmation button 29 (shown in FIG. 4), the photographed image is stored in a predetermined file in the memory M (step S7).

  When further photographing is performed (step S8: Y), the process returns to step 3. When photographing is ended (step S8: N), the display unit 3 is closed (step S9), thereby terminating the photographing.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of the photographing apparatus 1.

  A handle 5 is rotatably attached to the lower part of the photographing unit 2, and is stored in a dotted line position in the figure when the photographing apparatus 1 is not used, and is fixed to a solid line position when in use.

  The position of the shutter button 28 is also changed to the position of the handle 5 because the holding form of the photographing apparatus by hand is different from the above-described form of FIG. Normally, the shutter button 28 is pressed with the thumb of the hand holding the handle 5.

  By providing the imaging apparatus as described above, the photographer can take an image of the entire face or the desired part after confirming in detail the entire face or the desired part with a mirror. it can.

  The image thus captured is stored in a file provided in the memory M of the control means C or a file of an information processing device such as a personal computer connected via the communication means T.

  The stored image is read out as necessary, and processing corresponding to the purpose is performed.

  As described above, the photographing apparatus of the present invention has a feature that the photographer can easily photograph from the entire face to the part including his / her facial expression.

  The imaging apparatus having such a feature, in particular, periodically shoots for a certain period, reads the taken images in time series, and confirms the changes thereof, for example, treatment progress and facial expression on the medical surface. It is suitable as a photographing apparatus used when confirming and recording the change of the image, or confirming and recording the result of the cosmetic treatment.

It is a conceptual diagram of the Example of the imaging device of this invention. It is a figure which shows the shape of the hand at the time of directing the plane mirror 22 to one's face. It is a figure which shows the back surface of an imaging device. It is a block diagram which shows the control relationship of an imaging device. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of imaging | photography using an imaging device. It is a figure which shows other embodiment of an imaging device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging device 2 Imaging | photography part 3 Display part 22 Plane mirror 32 Liquid crystal display surface (display means, illumination means)
24 photographing lens 28 shutter button 31 display means C control means

Claims (6)

A photographic device in which a photographer holds a hand and photographs his / her face,
An imaging apparatus comprising a plane mirror of a size that reflects the entire face on a surface facing the face. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a photographing lens is disposed on a back side of a position on the longitudinal center line of the plane mirror and above the lateral center line. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a close-up function. The upper surface between the surface facing the face of the photographing apparatus and the back surface is formed as a slope that descends in the back direction, and a shutter button is provided on the slope. Shooting device. 5. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying a photographed image. The photographing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the display unit also serves as an illumination unit.

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