JP2008278248A - Imaging device, and control method and program thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging device preventing luminance unevenness from being generated during drawing processing wherein drawing is performed with bright points included in a subject image. <P>SOLUTION: When set into a locus drawing mode, the imaging device 1 acquires a reference drawing time and a figure size for a figure selected by a user in the AE processing, computes a drawing time for the figure based upon the acquired reference drawing time and a figure size, and determines an exposure time which is an integral multiple of the computed drawing time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus such as a digital camera, a control method thereof, and a program that acquire an image having a special effect by capturing a subject image while moving it relative to an imaging surface during exposure.

  In recent years, the spread of digital cameras has progressed, and many users have taken various pictures in various scenes. Many cameras have been commercialized in which a large number of shooting programs suitable for a scene are prepared in advance so that the user can select a shooting mode so that appropriate shooting can be performed even in such various scenes.

  At the same time, many digital cameras equipped with a camera shake correction mechanism have been commercialized. A camera equipped with this camera shake correction mechanism is controlled so as not to move the subject image relative to the image sensor so as to reduce camera shake during user shooting. A camera having such a camera shake correction mechanism plays a role of further expanding a user's shooting scene.

As the above-described shooting mode, a camera that has a special effect using a camera shake correction mechanism is introduced. For example, according to Patent Document 1, a soft filter effect and a cross filter effect are obtained by performing exposure while moving a camera shake correction mechanism.
JP-A-2-58034

  As an example of the special effect, when the subject image includes a bright spot, if the subject image is moved relative to the imaging surface while being exposed, a bright line appears in the output image. That is, by controlling a moving mechanism for moving the subject image during exposure, a bright line can be drawn on the captured image.

  For example, a scene is assumed in which a point light source is present in the background and a person is present within the flash irradiation range, and the person receives almost no irradiation light except during the strobe light emission. At this time, if the strobe is instantaneously emitted after drawing the bright line or in the middle of the drawing, the person can be clearly captured by the strobe light while drawing the desired bright line.

  However, when drawing the bright line of the decided figure during the exposure time, if the exposure is completed in the middle of the figure, there is a possibility that uneven brightness occurs in the bright line.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides an imaging apparatus capable of preventing the occurrence of uneven brightness in a drawing process of a bright spot included in a subject image, a control method therefor, and a program The purpose is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, an imaging apparatus according to claim 1 is an imaging apparatus including an imaging element that photoelectrically converts a subject image formed by an imaging optical system. Moving means for relatively moving, selecting means for selecting one figure from a plurality of figures, and driving means for moving the moving means in accordance with trajectory data corresponding to the figure selected by the selecting means; , A light metering means for metering a subject based on image data of a subject image obtained by photoelectrically converting the subject image by the image sensor, and determining an exposure time of the image sensor based on a photometric result of the light metering means Determining means for determining the exposure time of the image sensor so as to be an integral multiple of the moving time required for the movement of the moving means by the driving means. Characterized in that it constant.

  An imaging apparatus according to a second aspect is the imaging apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the driving unit repeats the movement of the moving unit during the determined exposure time.

  The imaging device according to claim 3 is the imaging device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the detection unit detects the fixation of the imaging device, the detection unit detects the fixation of the imaging device. And a first permission unit that permits the exposure time determined by the determination unit to be longer than a predetermined exposure allowable time.

  The imaging device according to claim 4 is the imaging device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the detection unit that detects the fixation of the imaging device, and the detection unit detects the fixation of the imaging device, Second permission means for permitting selection of the long-second drawing figure by the selection means when there is a long-second drawing figure whose moving time is longer than a predetermined exposure allowable time among a plurality of figures; It is characterized by having.

  The predetermined exposure allowable time is an exposure time that can prevent image blurring of the subject image even when handheld.

  In order to achieve the above object, a method for controlling an imaging apparatus according to claim 5 includes an imaging device that photoelectrically converts a subject image formed by an imaging optical system, and the subject image relative to the imaging device. A method of controlling an imaging apparatus comprising a moving means for moving the image according to a selection step of accepting a single figure selected from a plurality of figures, and the trajectory data corresponding to the figure received by the selection step A driving step for moving the moving means, a photometric step for measuring the subject based on image data of the subject image obtained by the image sensor photoelectrically converting the subject image, and a photometric result of the photometric step A determination step of determining an exposure time of the image pickup device based on the time, and the determination step is an integral multiple of the time required for movement of the moving means in the driving step. And determining the exposure time of the imaging element.

  In order to achieve the above object, a program according to a sixth aspect causes a computer to execute the control method for an imaging apparatus according to the fifth aspect.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent luminance unevenness from being generated in the process of drawing a bright spot included in a subject image using a moving mechanism that moves the subject image relative to the imaging surface.

  Further, according to the present invention, by using a detection mechanism that detects fixation of the imaging apparatus, a process for rendering a bright spot included in the subject image using a moving mechanism that moves the subject image relative to the imaging surface. Thus, occurrence of image blur can be prevented.

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

  First, an imaging device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes an optical system of the image pickup apparatus 1, which includes a zoom lens 11a, a focus adjustment lens 11b, a shutter 12, a correction lens unit 11c, a diaphragm unit 13, and the like. Reference numeral 14 denotes an optical axis of the optical system 10. An image sensor 21 photoelectrically converts an optical image into an electrical signal, and an A / D converter 22 converts an analog signal output from the image sensor 21 into a digital signal. A timing generator 24 supplies a clock signal and a control signal to the image sensor 21, A / D converter 22, and D / A converter 27, and is controlled by the memory control unit 25 and the system control unit 50.

  An image processing unit 23 performs predetermined pixel interpolation processing, color conversion processing, and gamma processing on the data from the A / D converter 22 or the data from the memory control unit 25. Further, the image processing unit 23 performs predetermined processing using the captured image data, and the system control unit 50 controls the exposure control unit 41 and the focus control unit 42 based on the obtained result. That is, contrast AF (autofocus) processing, AE (automatic exposure) processing, and the like are performed. Further, the image processing unit 23 can perform a predetermined calculation process using the captured image data, and can also perform an AWB (auto white balance) process based on the obtained calculation result. The specific calculation processing of the exposure control unit will be described in detail later.

  A memory control unit 25 controls the A / D converter 22, the image processing unit 23, the timing generation unit 24, the image display memory 26, the D / A converter 27, the compression / decompression unit 28, and the internal memory 29. The data of the A / D converter 22 is sent to the image display memory 26 or the internal memory 29 via the image processing unit 23 and the memory control unit 25, or the data of the A / D converter 22 is directly sent to the memory control unit 25. Written. 26 is an image display memory, and 27 is a D / A converter. Reference numeral 7 denotes an image display unit including a TFT, an LCD, and the like. Display image data written in the image display memory 26 is displayed on the image display unit 7 via a D / A converter 27. If image data captured using the image display unit 7 is sequentially displayed, an electronic finder function can be realized. The image display unit 7 not only displays an image, but also displays various menu items related to various settings of the imaging apparatus 1 together with or without displaying the image. The user can change the setting of the designated item by appropriately selecting the menu item displayed on the image display unit 7 while operating the operation switch 5.

  A compression / decompression unit 28 compresses and decompresses image data by adaptive discrete cosine transform (ADCT) or the like, reads an image stored in the internal memory 29, performs compression processing or decompression processing, and stores the processed data in the internal memory. Write to 29. Reference numeral 29 denotes an internal memory for storing captured still images and moving images, and has a sufficient storage capacity for storing a predetermined number of still images and a predetermined time of moving images. As a result, even in the case of continuous shooting or panoramic shooting in which a plurality of still images are continuously shot, it is possible to write a large amount of images to the internal memory 29 at high speed. The internal memory 29 can also be used as a work area for the system control unit 50.

  Reference numeral 30 denotes a correction lens unit control unit. During normal photographing, the shake detector 33 detects the camera shake amount, and the drive control unit 31 and the position detection sensor 32 set the correction lens unit 11c according to the shake amount. Control image blur due to camera shake. The shake detector 33 is configured using, for example, a gyro sensor, and the position detection sensor 32 is configured using, for example, a Hall element. When drawing a figure using the bright spots present in the subject image, the correction lens unit 11c is controlled after further processing the locus data recorded in the nonvolatile memory 46. Specific processing will be described in detail later.

  Reference numeral 41 denotes an exposure control unit that controls the shutter 12 and the aperture unit 13, and supports flash photography by cooperating with the strobe 9 controlled via the strobe control unit 8. Reference numeral 42 denotes a focus control unit that controls the focus adjustment lens 11b, 43 denotes a zoom control unit that controls zooming by the zoom lens 11a, and 44 controls the operation of the barrier 2 that is a protective member disposed in front of the lens. A barrier control unit.

  Reference numeral 9 denotes a strobe, which is controlled by the strobe control unit 8 and corresponds to the AF auxiliary light projection function and the strobe dimming function. Reference numeral 50 denotes a system control unit that controls the entire imaging apparatus 1, and reference numeral 45 denotes a volatile memory that temporarily stores constants, variables, programs, and the like for operation of the system control unit 50.

  Reference numeral 46 denotes an electrically erasable / recordable nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM. Constants, variables, programs, and the like necessary for the operation of the imaging apparatus 1 are recorded so that they are not lost even when the imaging apparatus 1 is not operating. During operation of the imaging apparatus 1, constants, variables, programs, and the like that are recorded in response to a call instruction from the system control unit 50 are sent to the system control unit 50. The system control unit expands the called constants, variables, programs, and the like in the memory 45 so that they can be used as needed. Further, the trajectory data is also recorded in the nonvolatile memory 46 as described above. Specific recording modes and usage will be described in detail later.

  Reference numeral 47 denotes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display device that displays an operation state, a message, and the like using characters, images, sounds, and the like in accordance with execution of a program in the system control unit 50. The display unit 47 is installed in a single or a plurality of positions near the operation unit of the image pickup apparatus 1 so as to be easily visible, and is configured by a combination of an LCD and an LED, for example. In addition, the display unit 47 may have a part of the function installed in the optical viewfinder 6. The display unit 47 displays, for example, shutter speed, aperture value, exposure correction, strobe light emission setting, and the like.

  Reference numerals 3, 4 and 5 are operation units for inputting various operation instructions of the system control unit 50, and are configured by a single or a combination of a switch, a dial, a touch panel, a voice recognition device, and the like.

  A release switch 3 is specifically configured to be pushed in two stages. The user gives a shooting preparation instruction by a half-press operation (SW1 on) that is a push operation up to the first stage, and gives a shooting instruction by a full press (SW2 on) operation that is a push operation up to the second stage. Can do. When the photographing preparation instruction SW1 is turned on, the system control unit 50 performs control so as to perform photographing preparation operations such as AF (autofocus) processing and AE (automatic exposure) processing. When the image capturing instruction SW2 is turned on, the system control unit 50 drives the shutter 12 and the aperture unit 13 via the exposure control unit 41 to perform control for capturing the subject image by the image sensor 21. Specifically, the subject image is exposed by driving the shutter 12 to open and close while the image sensor 21 is in the accumulation state. The period between the opening and closing of the shutter 12 is the exposure time, that is, the shutter speed. After the shutter 12 returns to the closed state and the charge accumulation of the image sensor 21 is completed, the accumulated charge is read out as a signal. The system control unit 50 and the memory control unit 25 use the A / D converter 22, the image processing unit 23, the compression / decompression unit 28, and the internal memory 29 to perform a series of development processing and image processing on the signal read from the image sensor 21. To generate image data. The generated image data is stored as an image file in the recording unit 63 of the recording medium 60 via the interface 51 and the connector 52 on the imaging device 1 side, and the connector 61 and the interface 62 on the recording medium 60 side that is detachable. To be recorded. As the recording unit 63, a recording unit having a sufficient capacity for recording a plurality of pieces of image data, such as a hard disk or a flash memory, is suitable. Reference numeral 53 denotes a recording medium attachment / detachment detection unit that detects whether or not the recording medium 60 is attached to the imaging apparatus 1.

  When the camera shake correction is set to ON, the correction lens unit control unit 30 operates the correction lens unit 11c in accordance with the switch SW1 being turned on, and the camera shake of the subject image formed on the image sensor 21 is reduced. Reduces the shake caused by it.

  Further, when the locus drawing mode is set, the correction lens unit control unit 30 drives the correction lens unit 11c so as to draw a figure designated at the exposure time after turning on SW2.

  Reference numeral 4 denotes a mode dial switch, which can be set by switching each function mode such as power-off, shooting mode (normal shooting mode, locus drawing mode, etc.), playback mode, and PC connection mode. Reference numeral 5 denotes an operation switch including various buttons, a touch panel, and the like, and a menu button, a set button, a strobe setting button, and the like are provided.

  In order to turn on or off camera shake correction, an operation switch 5 including a slide switch, for example, provided for camera shake correction setting is operated.

  When the locus drawing function is turned on, after the mode dial 4 is switched to the locus drawing mode, the drawing menu displayed on the image display unit 7 is selected and set by the operation switch 5 including, for example, a cross key. To do. Specific display and the like will be described later.

  Reference numeral 6 denotes an optical viewfinder, which can directly check the subject. In this case, shooting can be performed using only the optical viewfinder 6 without using the electronic viewfinder function of the image display unit 7. In addition, a part of the display unit 47 may be provided in the optical viewfinder 6 so that, for example, the shutter speed and the aperture value can be confirmed.

  A power control unit 48 includes a battery detection circuit, a DC / DC converter, a switch circuit that switches a block to be energized, and the like. Then, the presence / absence of a battery, the type of battery, and the remaining battery level are detected, and the detection result is sent to the system control unit 50. Further, necessary power is appropriately supplied to each unit of the imaging apparatus 1 based on an instruction from the system control unit 50.

  A power supply 70 supplies power from the power supply unit 72 to the imaging device 1 side via the connector 71 and the connector 49 on the imaging device 1 side. The power supply unit 72 is configured by either a primary battery such as an alkaline battery or a lithium battery, a secondary battery such as a NiCd battery, a NiMH battery, or a Li battery, an AC adapter, or the like, or a combination thereof.

  A communication control unit 54 supports various communication functions such as USB, IEEE 1394, LAN, and wireless communication. Reference numeral 55 denotes a connector for connecting the imaging device 1 to another device by the communication unit 54 or an antenna for wireless communication.

  Next, the locus drawing mode and the locus drawing function will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In the locus drawing mode, when a point light source (bright spot) such as a distant street lamp exists in a scene with a dark background such as dusk or at night, the correction lens unit 11c is driven during the exposure time of the image sensor 21. In this mode, a locus (bright line) planned with the point light source is drawn.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram comparing images obtained when the normal shooting mode is set (trajectory drawing function off) and when the trajectory drawing mode is set (trajectory drawing function on).

  FIG. 2A shows an example of an image obtained when shooting is performed with normal shooting mode settings. A person who is a main subject is located relatively close to the imaging device 1, the background is a night view, and there are several point light sources such as street lamps. In this example of the image, a person is irradiated by causing the strobe 9 to emit light at a certain timing during exposure while performing camera shake correction at least during exposure. When photographing in this way, a person who is within the illumination range of the strobe 9 reflects the strobe light and appears bright, and a distant view outside the illumination range of the strobe 9 is captured only by a point light source that emits light (here, a streetlight). The light reaches the element 21 and appears. However, since the streetlight in the distant view has a small illuminance with respect to the image pickup apparatus 1, it is not captured as a subject image unless it is a so-called slow shutter. Therefore, here, camera shake correction is turned on so that the point light source appears as a point.

  FIG. 2B shows an example of an image obtained with the same composition as that in FIG. Here, it is assumed that the user has previously selected a star shape as a drawing figure. When the correction lens unit 11c is driven by superimposing a target value for drawing a star shape on a target value for camera shake correction during a period in which the image sensor is in an exposure state, that is, during exposure, the background point light source becomes the image sensor 21. A star is drawn on the top. On the other hand, the person is illuminated by the strobe 9. The light emission time of the strobe 9 is sufficiently shorter than the exposure time of the image sensor 21, and the person is present under low illuminance that does not receive any irradiation light except during the strobe light emission. Only the reflected image reaches the image sensor 21 and appears as if it were stationary. Then, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), a star-shaped image of a streetlight that is a point light source is shown in a single image, and a person is shown still.

  FIG. 2B shows an example of a star shape, but an arbitrary figure or size can be selected by a user's selection from a plurality of predetermined figures and sizes.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining selection of a locus graphic and a size by the user. Specifically, this is a menu screen of the image display unit 7 displayed when the operation switch 5 for calling the menu is operated when the locus drawing mode is selected with the mode dial 4.

  Reference numeral 301 denotes an icon tab for indicating that the currently displayed menu item is an item related to shooting. In addition to this, there are a tab 302 for indicating an item relating to playback and a tab 303 for indicating a setting item other than shooting / playback, and these are the cross keys of a part of the operation switch 5. Of these, movement and selection are possible by operating the left and right keys.

  The selection of the trajectory graphic and size is an item related to the trajectory drawing mode, which is one of the shooting modes, and is therefore displayed as a menu item when the icon tab 301 related to shooting is selected.

  304 to 307 are menu items related to the locus drawing mode. Each menu item can be moved and selected by operating the up and down keys of the cross key that is a part of the operation switch 5. In addition to these, there are many menu items related to shooting. Similarly, by operating the up and down keys, the menu items are scrolled to display new items. In order to indicate how much the currently displayed menu item is in relation to the entire menu item, a bar 308a for indicating the whole and a bar 308b for indicating the position superimposed on the bar 308a are displayed. Is displayed.

  Reference numeral 304 denotes a “camera shake correction” menu item for selecting whether to perform camera shake correction at the same time in the locus drawing mode. Even if camera shake correction is turned off with the slide switch (operation switch 5) provided separately for camera shake correction setting, it is prepared for when you want to turn it on automatically when the locus drawing mode is selected. Has been. This is because, in principle, in the trajectory drawing mode, shooting is often performed with a slow shutter, so that hand shake is likely to occur in hand-held shooting, and a more beautiful figure can be drawn by performing hand shake correction together with the drawing of the trajectory. On the other hand, even if the camera shake correction is turned on in the slide switch, the camera shake correction function may be an obstacle when the imaging apparatus 1 is fixed on a tripod and the locus is drawn. In such a case, it is only necessary to select “OFF” for camera shake correction in advance using this menu item. The figure shows a state where “ON” is selected.

  Reference numeral 305 denotes a “graphic selection” menu item for selecting a graphic to be drawn using a point light source in the locus drawing mode. FIG. 3 shows that this item is selected by the up and down keys, is displayed in a thick frame, and is active. Further, when the set button (operation switch 5) is operated with the menu item highlighted, each figure can be selected with the left and right keys. FIG. 3 shows this selectable state. Each figure is displayed as an icon. The icon of the currently selected graphic is displayed in a shaded state, and FIG. 3 shows that a star shape is selected. In addition to the star shape, heart shape, and circle shape displayed here, selectable figures are also prepared. The left triangle icon indicates that there is a selectable figure hidden behind the left side. Similarly, the right triangle icon indicates that there is a selectable figure hidden behind the right side. Examples of the hidden and selectable figure may include a spiral shape, a diamond, and a spade described later. The user can select a desired figure by moving the shaded portion by operating the left and right keys.

  Reference numeral 306 denotes a “graphic size” menu item for selecting a size of a graphic selected by graphic selection to be drawn in the captured image. In the example of FIG. 3, “small”, “medium”, and “large” can be selected. Here, “medium” is selected.

  Reference numeral 307 denotes a “drawing start point” menu item for selecting which point of the graphic selected by the graphic selection is the drawing start point. For example, when the circular shape is selected in “Figure selection”, the correction lens unit 11c is made to go around “down” → “up” → “down”, or “up” → “down” → “up”. The relative positional relationship between the circle to be drawn and the subject that is irradiated with the flash varies depending on whether or not it makes one round. Therefore, the drawing start point can be selected according to the user's intention. Here, “upper”, “lower”, “right”, and “left” are prepared so that they can be selected. In the figure, “lower” is selected. In addition, since the output image and the subject image formed on the image sensor 21 are in an upside down relationship, “up”, “down”, “right”, and “left” in the menu are The starting positions of the correction lens unit 11c correspond to “down”, “up”, “left”, and “right”. Also, depending on the shape selected, "upper", "lower", "right", the position corresponding to the "left" is sometimes not clear, but this in advance which position in the locus data to be described later " Whether it corresponds to “upper”, “lower”, “right”, or “left” is defined.

  In FIG. 3, the menu screen called when the mode drawing mode is selected with the mode dial 4 has been described. However, when any other mode is selected, the menu items 304 to 307 are grayed out and the selection is made. It will be impossible.

  Next, the setting of the drawing start point will be further described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining what kind of difference occurs as a captured image due to a difference in drawing start point.

  In FIG. 4A, a central point 401 indicates a bright spot in the background. Then, a case will be described in which a hand is held near the imaging apparatus 1 and the composition is determined so that the positional relationship with the bright spot in the background becomes the relationship shown in FIG. A hand held under low illuminance is within the irradiation range of the strobe 9. Here, it is assumed that “heart shape” is selected in the “figure selection” menu as a figure to be drawn.

  FIG. 4B shows an image obtained when “lower” is selected as the drawing start point. When the drawing start point is set to “below”, drawing starts from the heart-shaped lowest point, so that a bright line is drawn above the position of the bright point in FIG. Therefore, the drawn heart is copied as if it were on a hand held up.

  On the other hand, when “upper” is selected as the drawing start point, a captured image as shown in FIG. 4C is obtained. When the drawing start point is set to “above”, drawing starts from one point at the top of the heart shape, so that the heart shape draws a bright line below the position of the bright point in FIG. . Therefore, an image in which the hand held over the heart shape overlaps.

  Next, an internal configuration of the drive control unit 31 and a configuration related thereto will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing these configurations.

  First, a case where the mode dial 4 is set to a shooting mode other than the locus drawing mode and the camera shake correction is turned on by the slide switch (operation switch 5) will be described.

  From the signal detected by the shake detector 33, only necessary signals are extracted by the filter 31a and the amplifier 31b, and are converted from analog values to digital values by the A / D converter 31c. Then, the integration process is performed by the calculator 31d, whereby the first movement target amount for driving the correction lens unit 11c corresponding to the amount of camera shake of the user is calculated and input as it is to the drive target position calculation unit 31i. The

  The signal detected by the position detection sensor 32 of the correction lens unit 11c is amplified by the amplifier 31e, and input to the drive target position calculation unit 31i as the position signal of the correction lens unit 11c via the A / D converter 31f. .

  The drive target position calculation unit 31i performs feedback control using these input signals. The drive target position calculation unit 31i calculates the movement target position of the correction lens unit 11c in consideration of sensitivity and the like calculated using the position information of the zoom lens 11a input from the system control unit 50. Then, according to the calculated movement target position, the drive driver 31j energizes the coil of the correction lens unit 11c, and moves the correction lens (correction lens 800 described later) in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis so as to reach the target position. To drive.

  By repeating these series of operations at high speed and periodically, even if the imaging apparatus 1 is shaken by a user's camera shake, the subject image formed on the image sensor 21 can be kept almost stationary, and the influence of camera shake. It is possible to obtain a photographic image with reduced image quality.

  Next, the case where the mode dial 4 is set to the locus drawing mode and the camera shake correction is set to “ON” in the “camera shake correction” menu item 304 will be described.

  The processing is the same as that in the normal camera shake correction signal processing until the signal detected by the shake detector 33 is input and the first moving target amount is calculated by the calculator 31d.

  When drawing a figure in the locus drawing mode, the locus data described above is input from the system controller 50 to the locus controller 31g. At the same time, the drawing size and drawing start point information set by the user are input from the system control unit, and the trajectory control unit 31g sets the drawing start point address as described above, and performs enlargement / reduction according to the drawing size. Perform the operation. Then, a second movement target amount as a movement target amount for drawing is calculated / generated in a cycle in which the correction lens unit 11c is driven.

  The timing to start driving for drawing is synchronized with the timing at which the shutter is opened. Specifically, the synchronization is realized by the timing signal from the exposure control unit 41 being input to the trajectory control unit 31g via the system control unit 50.

  A first movement target amount that is a movement amount according to the amount of user shake output from the computing unit 31d and a second movement target amount that is a movement amount for drawing output from the trajectory control unit 31g are: After being added by the adder 31h, it is input to the drive target position calculation unit 31i. In the drive target position calculation unit 31i, the correction lens is calculated from the sum of the input first movement target amount and the second movement target amount and the current position of the correction lens unit 11c input from the A / D converter 31f. The movement target position of the unit 11c is calculated. Then, according to the calculated movement target position, the drive driver 31j energizes the coil of the correction lens unit 11c, and moves the correction lens (correction lens 800 described later) in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis so as to reach the target position. To drive.

  By performing these series of operations during the exposure time of the image sensor 21, it is possible to draw the selected figure according to the setting while reducing the influence of the user's hand shake.

  Next, the case where the mode dial 4 is set to the locus drawing mode and the camera shake correction is set to “OFF” in the “camera shake correction” menu item 304 will be described.

  In this case, the output of the computing unit 31d is set to 0 by the instruction of the system control unit 50, and the influence from the shake detector is removed. Therefore, the input to the drive target position calculation unit 31i is only the second movement target amount. The drive target position calculation unit 31i calculates the movement target position of the correction lens unit 11c from the input second movement target amount and the current position of the correction lens unit 11c input from the A / D converter 31f. Then, according to the calculated movement target position, the drive driver 31j energizes the coil of the correction lens unit 11c, and moves the correction lens (correction lens 800 described later) in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis so as to reach the target position. To drive.

  By performing these series of operations during the exposure time of the image sensor 21, it becomes possible to draw the selected figure according to the setting. Such control is effective in the case where a complicated figure or a large-size figure is drawn and the exposure time is long, and the imaging device 1 is fixed with a tripod and is photographed. It is.

  In the above description, driving of the correction lens unit 11c that moves in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis 14 for two axes in the plane is collectively described. It is assumed that each element is provided in each axial direction.

  FIG. 6 illustrates the correction lens unit 11c described with reference to FIG. 5 when the mode dial 4 is set to the locus drawing mode and the camera shake correction is set to “ON” in the “camera shake correction” menu item 304. It is a figure for demonstrating roughly operation | movement. The horizontal axis represents the passage of time from the start of exposure of the image sensor 21, and the vertical axis represents the amount of movement from the center of the optical axis. The correction lens unit 11c moves in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis 14, and thus has a biaxial direction. Here, for the sake of simplicity, the operation in the uniaxial direction will be described.

  FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating a case where the correction lens unit 11c is driven in response to a user's camera shake so that the subject image is imaged around the optical axis 14 without shaking on the image sensor 21. It is. That is, the driving is based on the normal camera shake correction control, and the state when the drive driver 31j is controlled based only on the first movement target amount is shown.

  FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating a state when the drive driver 31j is controlled based only on the second movement target amount output from the trajectory control unit 31g. That is, the correction lens unit 11c draws a locus output from the locus control unit 31g based on the locus data.

For the sake of explanation here, the trajectory data is
x = αsin (ωt) in the x-axis direction (1)
In the y-axis direction orthogonal to the x-axis,
y = αcos (ωt) −α (2)
So that it is quantized and converted into coordinate values,
Exposure time is
0 ≦ t ≦ 2π / ω (3)
Is given to be That is, during the exposure time, the correction lens unit 11c is given the locus data and the exposure time so as to draw one round of the circular locus with the radius α centered at (0, −α), starting from (0, 0). It shall be. Accordingly, FIG. 6B is a diagram showing the amount of movement in the x-axis direction when the correction lens unit 11c is driven in accordance with the x-axis trajectory data.

  FIG. 6C shows a driving driver based on the movement target amount obtained by adding the first movement target amount shown in FIG. 6A and the second movement target amount shown in FIG. It is the figure which showed the case where 31j was controlled.

  By moving the correction lens unit 11c shown in FIG. 6C, the camera shake is corrected by the effect of the first movement target amount, and the figure set on the image sensor 21 according to the second movement target amount Can be drawn.

  Next, the drive mechanism of the correction lens unit 11c will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing a mechanism for moving the correction lens 800 of the correction lens unit 11c.

  In FIG. 7A, reference numeral 801 denotes a movable frame that holds the lens, 800 denotes a correction lens, 803 denotes a fixed portion attached to the lens barrel, 804 denotes a support / guide portion on the movable frame, and 805 denotes a support / guide portion. Shows a spring mounted coaxially. Reference numerals 806a and 806b denote coils attached to the fixed portion, and reference numerals 807a and 807b denote magnets attached to the movable frame. FIG. 7B is a right side view of the camera shake correction mechanism shown in FIG. In FIG. 7B, reference numerals 810 and 812 denote yokes not shown in FIG. 7A. Reference numeral 811 denotes a sensor for detecting the position of a movable portion (not shown) in FIG. Specifically, it is an element constituting the position detection sensor 32, and a Hall element is used as the sensor. FIG.7 (c) is a 802 arrow directional view of Fig.7 (a). The movable frame 801 is guided and supported by the support / guide unit 804 so as to be capable of planar movement with respect to the fixed unit 803. In FIG. 7C, a circular support / guide portion 804 is inserted into an oval guide groove 813. By using the same structure at all three locations, the camera shake correction mechanism is restrained in the direction of the optical axis 14 of the imaging optical system 10 and can be moved on a plane perpendicular to the optical axis 14. On the movable frame 801, a camera shake correction lens 800 and driving magnets 807a and 807b are attached. Further, the movable frame 801 is elastically supported by a spring 805 attached coaxially to the support / guide unit 804 so that the center of the camera shake correction lens 800 substantially coincides with the optical axis 14 when no driving force is generated. Is arranged. As shown in FIG. 7B, the drive portion has a configuration in which both sides of a magnet 807a are sandwiched between yokes and a coil 806a is provided on one side. The principle of the driving part will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIGS. 8A and 8B are arrow views extracted from the drive circuit portion with the dotted line 808 shown in FIG. The drive magnet 807a is magnetized in the thickness direction with two poles. Furthermore, yokes 810 and 812 are provided on both sides of the magnet 807a in the magnetizing direction, so that a large amount of magnetic flux does not leak to the outside and generates a magnetic field in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. 8A. I am letting. When the coil 806a is energized in this state, currents in opposite directions flow in the regions 901 and 902 on the coil 806a. On the other hand, since the direction of the magnetic field is also opposite, a force in the same direction is generated according to the Fleming left-hand rule. At this time, since the coil is fixed, the magnet 807a attached to the movable part is driven by receiving a force according to the law of action and reaction. The driving force is proportional to the current of the coil 806a, and the driving force received by the magnet 807a can be reversed by changing the direction of the current flowing through the coil 806a to the opposite direction. When the driving force is generated, the movable portion is elastically supported by the spring 805, and therefore, it is displaced to a point that balances with the spring force. That is, the position of the movable part can be controlled by appropriately controlling the current of the coil 806a.

  Further, a hall element 811 is mounted on the yoke 810. As shown in FIG. 8B, when the magnet 807a is displaced by the driving force generated by applying a current to the coil 806a, the hall element 811 is moved. The magnetic balance also changes. Therefore, the position of the magnet 807a can be detected by obtaining a signal from the Hall element 811.

  7 and 8 exemplify an embodiment using a moving magnet system in which a magnet is arranged in the movable part and a coil is arranged in the fixed part. However, this embodiment can also be applied to a moving coil in which a coil is arranged in the movable part and a magnet is arranged in the fixed part.

  Next, the selectable figure determination / long-second shooting setting process executed by the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart of selectable graphic determination / long-second shooting setting processing executed by the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 9, first, one figure is selected from a plurality of figures in the figure selection menu item 305, and the reference drawing time of the selected figure is acquired (step S901). The reference drawing time is a movement time required for the movement of the subject image with respect to the image sensor 21 by the correction lens unit 11c according to the trajectory data corresponding to the figure of the reference figure size. In the present embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, the reference drawing times for spiral, star, heart, and circular figures are 1 second, 1/2 second, 1/4 second, and 1/8 second. And

  Next, the figure size in the figure size menu item 306 is acquired (step S902).

  Next, a graphic drawing time is calculated based on the reference drawing time acquired in step S901 and the graphic size acquired in step S902 (step S903). In the present embodiment, for example, the reference figure size is set to a small size, the drawing time of a medium-sized figure is set to 1.5 times the reference drawing time, and the drawing time of a large-size figure is set to twice the reference drawing time. . Therefore, in the present embodiment, the drawing time of a medium-sized spiral figure is 1.5 seconds, and the drawing time of a large-size star figure is 1 second.

  In subsequent step S904, it is determined whether or not the drawing time calculated in step S903 is longer than the long second shooting time as the predetermined exposure allowable time. If the drawing time is shorter than the long second shooting time (step S904). NO), this process is terminated. The predetermined exposure allowable time is the exposure time of the image sensor 21 that can prevent image blur of the subject image even when handheld.

  As a result of the determination in step S904, if the drawing time is longer than the long second shooting time (YES in step S904), it is determined whether or not the imaging device 1 is fixed (step S905) (detecting means). In step S905, it is determined whether or not the imaging apparatus 1 is fixed based on the frequency of the signal detected by the shake detector 33 and integrated by the calculator 31d. Specifically, when the frequency of the signal is low, it is determined that the imaging device 1 is fixed.

  If the result of determination in step S905 is that the imaging apparatus 1 is fixed (YES in step S905), a long-second shooting function that permits the exposure time to be longer than the long-second shooting time (first permission means) Is turned on (step S906), and when the long-second shooting function is on (YES in step S906), the process is terminated.

  If the result of determination in step S905 is that the imaging device 1 is not fixed (NO in step S905), the selection of the selected figure (long-second drawing figure) in the figure selection menu item 305 is prohibited. (Second permitting means, step S907), the process is terminated.

  If the result of determination in step S906 is that the long-second shooting function is not on (NO in step S906), the long-second shooting function is turned on, that is, the exposure time is allowed to be longer than the long-second shooting time ( Step S908), the process is terminated.

  This process is executed for all of the plurality of figures in the figure selection menu item 305.

  According to the process of FIG. 9, when the imaging device 1 is fixed (YES in step S905), the long-second shooting function is turned on, that is, the exposure time is allowed to be longer than the long-second shooting time. Since (Step S908), even when the user selects a figure whose drawing time is longer than the long second shooting time, it is possible to prevent image blurring and to prevent luminance unevenness. Furthermore, when the imaging apparatus 1 is not fixed (NO in step S905), the selection of a figure whose drawing time is longer than the long-second shooting time is prohibited (step S907). Since it is not possible to select a possible figure, it is possible to prevent image blurring.

  Next, the imaging operation of the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described.

  10 to 11 are flowcharts of the imaging operation of the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment. It should be noted that execution / non-execution of various operations is determined in advance by user settings on the menu screen described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 10, in step S <b> 1001, it is confirmed whether or not the locus drawing mode is set with the mode dial 4. When it is not the locus drawing mode, it is assumed that the normal photographing mode is set (the locus drawing function is off), and the process proceeds to step S1002. Here, a case where the normal shooting mode is set will be described first.

  Step S1002 is an input standby state of SW1 of the release switch 3. When SW1 is turned on in step S1002, in step S1003, the system control unit 50 confirms whether camera shake correction is set to ON by the slide switch (operation switch 5). If camera shake correction is set to ON, driving of the correction lens unit 11c for correcting camera shake is started in step S1004. That is, the driving by the normal camera shake correction control described with reference to FIG.

  After driving the correction lens unit 11c for correcting camera shake in step S1004 or when it is determined in step S1003 that camera shake correction is set to OFF, the correction lens unit 11c is not driven. The process proceeds to step S1005.

  In step S1005, the system control unit 50 and the focus control unit 42 control the focus adjustment lens 11b to execute AF (autofocus). Specifically, a known contrast method is used in which the system controller 50 detects the contrast of the subject image continuously captured while the focus adjustment lens 11b is driven by a minute amount, and the position where the contrast is highest is the in-focus position. Use.

  Next, in step S1006, the system control unit 50 performs AE (automatic exposure) processing. Specifically, using the subject image obtained when autofocus is performed, the shutter speed, the aperture value, and the output of the image sensor 21 are adjusted so that the subject that is assumed to be the main subject, for example, the subject near the center of the screen, has proper exposure. The ISO sensitivity as a gain is calculated and determined.

  This AE process consists of two steps: subject photometry and exposure calculation. Metering of a subject is performed by dividing one subject image obtained at the time of execution of autofocus into a plurality of areas, and performing processing such as weighting on each luminance value to calculate an average luminance value. In the exposure calculation, the difference between the average luminance value, which is a photometric result, and the target luminance value is calculated, and the shutter speed, aperture value, and ISO sensitivity are determined based on the calculation result.

  As shooting modes, a fully automatic mode, an aperture priority mode, and a shutter speed priority mode are prepared. In the fully automatic mode, the system control unit 50 arbitrarily determines the shutter speed, aperture value, and ISO sensitivity. Specifically, it is determined according to a program diagram prepared in advance in the nonvolatile memory 46. In this program diagram, for example, when the subject brightness is small (dark), the shutter speed that does not cause camera shake as much as possible, the aperture value close to full open, and the high ISO sensitivity are considered. In the aperture priority mode, the shutter speed and ISO sensitivity are adjusted according to the program diagram so as to maintain the aperture value designated by the user. In the shutter speed priority mode, the aperture value and ISO sensitivity are adjusted according to the subject brightness according to the program diagram so as to maintain the shutter speed designated by the user.

  After performing the AE process in step S1006, in step S1007, the input of SW2 of the release switch 3 is waited. If SW2 is not turned on within a predetermined time after SW1 is turned on in step S1002, the process returns to step S1002 again to enter the SW1 on input standby state.

  When SW2 is turned on in step S1007, the system control unit 50 performs dimming light emission of the strobe 9 via the strobe control unit 8 in step S1008. If it is determined in step S1006 that the subject brightness is sufficiently large (bright), the strobe light does not need to be emitted. However, here, for explanation, a case where the subject brightness is low and the strobe light needs to be emitted will be described. To do.

  In step S1009, in response to the result of the dimming light emission in step S1008, the system control unit 50 calculates the main light emission amount from the reflection amount. Specifically, adjustment is performed so that saturated pixels are not generated in the image sensor 21 when main light emission is performed (so as not to cause whiteout).

  In step S1010, the exposure control unit 41 receives an instruction from the system control unit 50, opens the shutter 12 so that the image sensor 21 is in an exposure state, and narrows down the aperture unit 13 according to a predetermined aperture value. To start.

  In step S1011, the strobe control unit 8 emits the strobe 9 at a predetermined timing according to the main light emission amount calculated in step S1009.

  Next, when the exposure time corresponding to the shutter speed determined in step S1006 has elapsed, in step S1012, the exposure control unit 41 closes the shutter 12 and returns the aperture to the open state. When the exposure of the image sensor 21 is completed, in step S1013, image processing is performed as described with reference to FIG. 1, and in step S1014, the processed image file is recorded on the recording medium 60 and the image display unit 7 is processed. Display the processed image data.

  Thus, a series of shooting operations in the normal shooting mode is completed.

  Next, a case where it is determined in step S1001 that the locus drawing mode is set with the mode dial 4 will be described. If it is in the locus drawing mode (the locus drawing function is on), the process proceeds to step S1015.

  In FIG. 11, step S1015 is in the input standby state of SW1 of the release switch 3 as in step S1002. When SW1 is turned on in step S1015, in step S1016, the system control unit 50 confirms whether or not the camera shake correction menu item 304 is set to perform camera shake correction. Here, unlike step S1003, as described with reference to FIG. 3, the setting by the menu item 304 is followed regardless of the setting of the camera shake correction by the slide switch (operation switch 5).

  If camera shake correction is set to ON, driving of the correction lens unit 11c for correcting camera shake is started in step S1017. That is, the driving by the normal camera shake correction control described with reference to FIG.

  After driving the correction lens unit 11c for correcting camera shake in step S1017 or when it is determined in step S1016 that camera shake correction is set to OFF, the correction lens unit 11c is not driven. The process proceeds to step S1018.

  In step S1018, as in step S1005, the system control unit 50 and the focus control unit 42 control the focus adjustment lens 11b to execute AF (autofocus).

  If AF is executed in step S1018, AE processing is next performed. Here, in the trajectory drawing mode, the features of the present embodiment appear in this AE process, so that the two steps of subject photometry and exposure calculation will be described separately.

  In step S1019, subject photometry is performed (photometry means). Similar to the photometry described in step S1006, the subject photometry is performed by dividing one subject image obtained at the time of execution of autofocus into a plurality of areas and performing processing such as weighting on each luminance value to obtain an average luminance value. This is done by calculating. Next, the exposure calculation is performed. The principle of calculating the difference between the average luminance value, which is a photometric result, and the target luminance value, and determining the shutter speed, aperture value, and ISO sensitivity based on the calculation result is the AE in step S1006. It is the same as the processing.

  If subject photometry is performed in step S1019, then in step S1020, the system control unit 50 uses the menu item of the reference drawing time and the figure size corresponding to the figure selected in the figure selection menu item 305. The size selected in a certain 306 is acquired.

  When the reference drawing time and the figure size are acquired, first in step S1021, the shutter speed is determined (decision unit). Specifically, first, a graphic drawing time is calculated based on the reference drawing time and graphic size acquired in step S1020, and the shutter speed is determined to be an integral multiple of the calculated drawing time. For example, in the case where a circle is selected in the graphic selection menu item 305 and a large size is selected in the graphic size menu item 306, the shutter speed is 1/8 (reference drawing time) × 2 ( It is converted into the drawing time of a large-sized figure) × n (integer value) = (1/4) × n seconds.

  When the shutter speed is determined in this way, the figure selected by the user can be drawn without being interrupted and without causing blurring or unevenness.

  When the shutter speed is determined, based on the shutter speed and the photometric calculation result obtained in step S1019, the aperture value is set so that the subject that is assumed to be the main, for example, the subject near the center of the screen has a proper exposure. ISO sensitivity is determined.

  Here, in step S1021, the appropriate exposure serving as the reference as the trajectory drawing mode is set to, for example, about one step under the appropriate exposure serving as the reference as the normal photographing mode in step S1006. This is due to the following reason.

  As shown in FIG. 2 as one of the scenes assumed in the locus drawing mode, when a point light source exists in the background and a person exists within the irradiation range of the strobe 9, the person emits light except during strobe emission. Hardly receive. However, in reality, there are few situations in which a person does not receive irradiation light completely, and in fact, the person often exists under some kind of illumination. In the locus drawing mode, the shutter speed is often long (during a long second), so if even a slight amount of light is shining on the person, the correction lens unit 11c is driven and the person who is the subject shakes. The part becomes an image with blurring and blurring as a whole. Here, for example, this blurring and blurring can be relatively darkened by narrowing down one step or lowering the ISO sensitivity. On the other hand, the light emission amount of the strobe is set appropriately by dimming light emission, and the irradiation time is extremely short, so the image during the period irradiated by the strobe light has appropriate brightness, and blurring and blurring are observed. It can be expected to be an image that does not occur.

  Specifically, the system control unit 50 determines that the normal exposure mode is 1/8 second, F2.0, and ISO 400 is appropriate exposure. If the same scene is in the trajectory drawing mode, 1/8. Second, F4.0, ISO400, or 1/8 second, F2.0, ISO200 are determined as appropriate exposure. In addition, the number of stages to be under is not limited to one, but may be a number of stages such as 1/2 or 1/3. Further, at the time of subject metering in step S1019, the brightness of a subject (subject near the center of the angle of view) that appears to be a person is measured, and the system controller changes the number of steps to be under depending on this brightness. May be.

  When the shutter speed, aperture value, and ISO sensitivity are determined through step S1021, input of SW2 of the release switch 3 is awaited in step S1022. If SW2 is not turned on within a predetermined time after SW1 is turned on in step S1015, the process returns to step S1015 again to enter the SW1 on input standby state.

  When SW2 is turned on in step S1022, the system control unit 50 performs dimming light emission of the strobe 9 via the strobe control unit 8 in step S1023.

  In step S1024, in response to the result of the dimming light emission in step S1023, the system control unit 50 calculates the main light emission amount from the reflection amount. Specifically, adjustment is performed so that saturated pixels are not generated in the image sensor 21 when main light emission is performed (so as not to cause whiteout).

  In step S1025, the exposure control unit 41 receives an instruction from the system control unit 50, opens the shutter 12 so that the image sensor 21 is in an exposure state, and narrows down the aperture unit 13 according to a predetermined aperture value, thereby exposing. To start.

  Simultaneously with exposure of the image sensor 21, in step S1026, the strobe controller 8 emits the strobe 9 in accordance with the main light emission amount calculated in step S1024. At the same time, in step S1027, the imaging apparatus 1 executes a trajectory driving process described later.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart of trajectory driving processing executed by the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 12, first, in step S1201, the drive control unit 31 receives necessary information from the system control unit 50, operates the correction lens unit 11c, and starts forward trajectory driving. Specifically, the drive control unit 31 receives a graphic selected by the user from the system control unit 50, for example, circular trajectory data (FIG. 14), and a drawing start point address (not shown) from the received trajectory data. The coordinate number is set so that drawing is started from the coordinate value corresponding to the drawing start point selected by the user.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram for conceptually explaining the recording format of the trajectory data. The locus data is data for driving the correction lens unit 11c in accordance with the setting selected by the user on the menu screen. The system control unit 50 reads the locus data of the graphic selected by the user from the nonvolatile memory 46 and sends it to the drive control unit 31 together with other setting items such as the graphic size and drawing start point, exposure information, and the like. The trajectory control unit 31g (described later) constituting the drive control unit receives these pieces of information, and calculates the movement amount of the correction lens unit 11c necessary for drawing. In the trajectory data shown in FIG. 14, as many coordinate values as necessary are stored. The coordinate values are coordinate number 0, coordinate number 1, coordinate number 2,..., And the correction lens unit 11c is sequentially driven to positions corresponding to these to trace the selected figure. The arrows conceptually indicate the coordinate numbers corresponding to the movement start position of the correction lens unit 11c. At the start of drawing, an arrow is set according to the drawing start point address. Thereafter, the coordinate values are read out by sequentially incrementing (an arrow is set to the next coordinate address).

  Then, when the camera shake correction drive is started in step S1017, the drive control unit 31 has already operated the correction lens unit 11c (operation corresponding to FIG. 6A). In this case, in step S1201, with the start of exposure in step S1025, the second movement target amount corresponding to the coordinate value set as the drawing start point is added to the first movement target amount corresponding to the amount of camera shake of the user. Thus, the movement target amount of the correction lens unit 11c is set. The drive control unit 31 drives the correction lens unit 11c according to the movement target amount. By sequentially incrementing the coordinate number in accordance with the trajectory data and updating the movement target amount in synchronization with the sampling period, the selected figure is moved in the positive direction with the selected size while correcting the user's camera shake. Can be drawn (operation corresponding to FIG. 6C).

  Next, after the drive control unit 31 drives the correction lens unit 11c to the coordinate value of the drawing end point (YES in step S1202), before the exposure time elapses (NO in step S1203), the coordinate value of the drawing end point is When the coordinate value is different from the coordinate value of the drawing start point (NO in step S1204), the trajectory drive in the reverse direction is started (step S1205), and the processes in and after step S1202 are repeated. On the other hand, when the coordinate value of the drawing end point is the same as the coordinate value of the drawing start point (YES in step S1204), the trajectory driving in the positive direction is started again (step S1201), and the processing after step S1202 is repeated.

  In the processing of step S1205, the coordinate number corresponding to the coordinate value of the drawing end point is set as the drawing start point, the coordinate number is sequentially decremented according to the trajectory data, and the movement target amount is updated in synchronization with the sampling period. Thus, trajectory driving in the reverse direction is started.

  As a result of the determination in step S1203, when the exposure time has elapsed (YES in step S1203), the drive control unit 31 ends the locus driving for drawing (step S1206).

  According to the locus driving process of FIG. 12, until the exposure time elapses (NO in step S1203), the start of the locus driving in the forward direction (step S1201) or the start of the locus driving in the reverse direction (step S1205) is repeatedly controlled. That is, since the locus driving for drawing by the drive control unit 31 is repeated, it is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of uneven brightness.

  Returning to FIG. 11, in step S1028, the exposure control unit 41 closes the shutter 12 and returns the aperture to the open state.

  When the exposure of the image sensor 21 is completed, in step S1029, image processing is performed as described with reference to FIG. However, the γ curve that defines the output luminance value with respect to the input luminance value applied here is different from the γ curve applied in the normal shooting mode in step S1013.

  The γ correction in the locus drawing mode will be described. As described above, as shown in FIG. 2 as one of the scenes assumed by the trajectory drawing mode, when a point light source exists in the background and a person is present within the irradiation range of the strobe 9, the person emits strobe light. Except for times, it receives little irradiation light. However, in reality, there are few situations in which a person does not receive irradiation light completely, and in fact, the person often exists under some kind of illumination. In the locus drawing mode, the shutter speed is often long (during a long second), so if even a slight amount of light is shining on the person, the correction lens unit 11c is driven and the person who is the subject shakes. The part becomes an image with blurring and blurring as a whole. Then, the bright line drawn by the point light source may be superimposed on this blur or blur and may not be clear. Therefore, in the locus drawing mode, a γ correction different from the γ correction in the normal photographing mode is performed in order to clarify the contrast between the bright line with high luminance and the blurring and blurring that appear dimly. Specifically, γ correction is performed using a γ curve that makes a low-luminance subject relatively inconspicuous and emphasizes a high-luminance subject.

  FIG. 15A is a diagram illustrating an example of the γ curve applied in the normal photographing mode, and FIG. 15B is a diagram illustrating an example of the γ curve applied in the locus drawing mode. Compared to the normal shooting mode, in the locus drawing mode, in order to make the bright line clear, the output signal for the low luminance side input signal is sufficiently lowered and the output signal for the high luminance side input signal is relatively increased. By changing in this way, the high-luminance subject is emphasized with respect to the low-luminance subject, and the contrast of the entire image is increased.

  Returning to FIG. 11, when the image processing is completed in step S1029, the process proceeds to step S1014.

  Returning to FIG. 10, in step S <b> 1014, the processed image file is recorded on the recording medium 60, and the processed image data is displayed on the image display unit 7. This completes the series of shooting operations in the locus drawing mode.

  10 and 11, the reference drawing time and the figure size corresponding to the selected figure are acquired (step S1020), and the figure is drawn based on the acquired reference drawing time and the figure size. Since the time is calculated and the shutter speed is determined to be an integral multiple of the calculated drawing time (step S1021), the occurrence of uneven brightness can be prevented.

  In the above embodiment, the strobe controller 8 causes the strobe 9 to emit light simultaneously with the exposure of the image sensor 21. However, the light emission timing of the strobe 9 by the strobe controller 8 is not limited to this, and the image sensor 21 is being exposed. Any timing is acceptable.

  In the above-described embodiment, the correction lens unit 11c is arranged in the optical system 10 and is driven so that the subject image formed on the image sensor 21 is caused by the hand shake of the user. Control was performed to reduce the shake and to draw the figure specified for the exposure time.

  However, the configuration for reducing the shake caused by the hand shake of the user and drawing the figure designated for the exposure time is not limited to this. For example, even if the image pickup device 21 is configured to shift two-dimensionally in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis 14, the same effect can be obtained. Specifically, two guide bars are provided so that the image sensor 21 slides in two axial directions, a coil is disposed on the image sensor side, and a magnet is disposed on the fixed side, and position control is performed using the repulsive force. Just do it.

  The object of the present invention is achieved by executing the following processing. That is, a storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus is stored in the storage medium. This is a process of reading the program code. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code and the storage medium storing the program code constitute the present invention.

  Moreover, the following can be used as a storage medium for supplying the program code. For example, floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD + RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM or the like. Alternatively, the program code may be downloaded via a network.

  Further, the present invention includes a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by executing the program code read by the computer. In addition, an OS (operating system) running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instruction of the program code, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing. Cases are also included.

  Furthermore, the present invention includes a case where the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by the following processing. That is, the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, based on the instruction of the program code, the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing.

1 is a system configuration diagram of an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic which compares the image obtained by the time of normal imaging | photography mode setting, and the time of locus | trajectory drawing mode setting. It is a figure for demonstrating selection of the locus | trajectory figure, size, etc. by a user. It is a figure explaining what kind of difference arises as a picked-up image by the difference in a drawing start point. It is a block diagram explaining the internal structure of the drive control part 31, and the structure relevant to this. It is a figure for demonstrating schematically operation | movement of the correction | amendment lens unit 11c. It is a figure which shows schematically the mechanism to which the correction | amendment lens 800 is moved. It is the arrow view which extracted the drive circuit part among the mechanisms which move the correction lens 800. It is a flowchart of a selectable figure determination / long-second shooting setting process executed by the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment. It is a flowchart of the imaging operation of the imaging device which concerns on this Embodiment (the 1). It is a flowchart of the imaging operation of the imaging device which concerns on this Embodiment (the 2). It is a flowchart of the locus | trajectory drive process which the imaging device which concerns on this Embodiment performs. It is a figure for demonstrating whether the reference | standard drawing time of a locus | trajectory figure and a drawing start point and a drawing end point are the same. It is a figure which shows an example of locus data. It is a figure which shows an example of (gamma) curve applied by normal imaging | photography mode and locus | trajectory drawing mode.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging device 11c Correction lens unit 21 Imaging element 31 Drive control part 33 Shake detector 41 Exposure control part 50 System control part

Claims (6)

In an imaging apparatus including an imaging element that photoelectrically converts a subject image formed by an imaging optical system,
Moving means for moving the subject image relative to the image sensor;
A selection means for selecting one figure from a plurality of figures;
Driving means for moving the moving means in accordance with trajectory data corresponding to the graphic selected by the selecting means;
Photometric means for measuring the subject based on image data of a subject image obtained by photoelectrically converting the subject image by the imaging device;
Determining means for determining an exposure time of the image sensor based on a photometric result of the photometric means;
The determination unit determines an exposure time of the image sensor so as to be an integral multiple of a movement time required for the movement of the moving unit by the driving unit.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driving unit repeats the movement of the moving unit during the determined exposure time. Detecting means for detecting fixation of the imaging device;
And a first permission unit that permits the exposure time determined by the determination unit to be longer than a predetermined exposure allowable time when the detection unit detects that the imaging device is fixed. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. Detecting means for detecting fixation of the imaging device;
When the detection unit detects that the imaging apparatus is fixed, when the long-second drawing figure whose movement time is longer than a predetermined exposure allowable time exists in the plurality of figures, the length by the selection unit The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second permission unit that permits selection of a second drawing figure. An imaging apparatus control method comprising: an imaging element that photoelectrically converts a subject image formed by an imaging optical system; and a moving unit that moves the subject image relative to the imaging element.
A selection process for accepting one figure selected from a plurality of figures;
A driving step for moving the moving means in accordance with trajectory data corresponding to the figure received by the selection step;
A photometric step of measuring the subject based on image data of a subject image obtained by photoelectrically converting the subject image by the imaging element;
A determination step of determining an exposure time of the imaging device based on a photometric result of the photometry step,
In the determining step, the exposure time of the imaging device is determined so as to be an integral multiple of the time required for the movement of the moving means in the driving step.   A program for causing a computer to execute the control method according to claim 5.

Images