JP2009260413A - Image pickup apparatus and method for controlling image pickup apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image pickup apparatus capable of picking up a subject by a smooth lens operation intended by a photographer. <P>SOLUTION: The image pickup apparatus is provided with: detecting means 112, 113 enabling a photographer to detect the positions of lenses 102, 105; an operation information storage device 115 for storing the positions of the lenses 102, 105 detected by the detecting means 112, 113 as operation information; and a camera control section 114 for smoothing the operation information stored in the operation information storage device 115 and controlling the drive sources 110, 111 of the lenses 102, 105 based on the smoothed operation information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus such as a digital video camera having a function of performing shooting with smooth operation by storing, optimizing, and reproducing an operation state, and a method for controlling the imaging apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an imaging apparatus having a preset function that stores a zoom position, a focus position, and the like of a lens by a photographer operating a preset switch, and reads and reproduces the stored position.

  In this imaging apparatus, a photographer sets an arbitrary panning angle and tilting angle, and operates a preset switch to store a zoom position, a focus position, and the like of the lens.

  To reproduce the angle of view intended by the photographer, point the imaging device at the subject with the set panning angle and tilting angle, and operate the preset switch to zoom the lens corresponding to the panning angle and tilting angle. Position, focus position, etc. can be reproduced.

Further, there has been proposed an imaging apparatus that stores and reproduces a zoom position and a focus position of a lens corresponding to a panning angle and a tilting angle without using a preset switch or the like (Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-326982

  However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, only the zoom position and focus position of the lens are stored and reproduced, and the operation and time during the movement of the lens to the preset zoom position and focus position are taken into consideration and stored. It is not something to reproduce.

  Therefore, when the preset position is called, the image during the lens operation from the zoom position or focus position to the preset zoom position or focus position is zoomed too fast or out of focus. Often different from the intended one.

  Also, if the preset zoom position or focus position of the lens is not what the photographer intended, the preset position will need to be changed many times, and the captured video will be uncomfortable for the viewer. End up.

  The same applies to the panning operation and tilting operation. When the image pickup apparatus is swung greatly or the image pickup apparatus is repeatedly moved, the captured image becomes unpleasant for the viewer.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an imaging apparatus and a method for controlling the imaging apparatus that can shoot a subject with a smooth operation intended by a photographer.

  In order to achieve the above object, an imaging apparatus according to the present invention includes a detection unit that detects an operation state of an operation target by a photographer, and an operation that stores the operation state of the operation target detected by the detection unit as operation information. An information storage unit; a smoothing unit that smoothes the operation information stored in the operation information storage unit; and a control unit that controls the operation target based on the operation information smoothed by the smoothing unit. It is characterized by that.

  An imaging apparatus control method according to the present invention includes a detection step of detecting an operation state of an operation target by a photographer, an operation information storage step of storing the operation state of the operation target detected in the detection step as operation information, A smoothing step for smoothing the operation information stored in the operation information storing step; and a control step for controlling the operation target based on the operation information smoothed in the smoothing step. .

  According to the present invention, the operation information of the operation target intended by the photographer can be stored in advance, and the stored operation information can be smoothed and reproduced at the time of photographing. You can shoot.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a digital video camera which is a first embodiment of an imaging apparatus of the present invention. In this embodiment, the zoom lens position and the time change information of the focus lens position by the zoom operation and the accompanying focus adjustment (movement of the focus lens) are stored and optimized, and the zoom and focus control of the lens is performed as an example. take.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the digital video camera of this embodiment (hereinafter referred to as a camera) includes a first fixed lens group 101, a zoom lens (operation target) 102, an aperture 103, a second fixed lens group 104, a focus lens ( (Operation object) 105, an image sensor 106, and the like. The focus lens 105 has both a focus adjustment function and a so-called competition function that corrects movement of the focal plane due to zooming.

  The zoom drive source 110 drives the zoom lens 102, and the focus drive source 111 drives the focus lens 105. The zoom drive source 110 and the focus drive source 111 each have a motor and a driver.

  The camera signal processing circuit 107 converts the output signal of the image sensor 106 into a signal corresponding to the monitor device 108 or the recording device 109 having a display function. The recording device 109 records a moving image or a still image on a recording medium such as a magnetic tape or a semiconductor memory.

  The camera control unit 114 controls the drive sources 110 and 111 and also controls the zoom switch 117 that is an operation unit of the zoom lens 102 and the output signal of the camera signal processing circuit 107.

  Further, the camera control unit 114 causes the operation information storage device 115 to start / end the storage processing of the operation information of the zoom lens 102 and the focus lens 105 under the control of the rehearsal switch 116, and reads the operation information from the operation information storage device 115. Process to optimize.

  Further, the camera control unit 114 calculates target positions of the zoom lens 102 and the focus lens 105 from the smoothed operation information. Then, the camera control unit 114 compares the calculated value with the positions of the lenses 102 and 103 detected by the lens position detection means 112 and 113, and controls the drive sources 110 and 111 based on the comparison result to thereby determine the lens. 102 and 103 are moved.

  Each of the lens position detection means 112 and 113 has a photo sensor and a light shielding plate (not shown). The photo sensor includes a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit, and the light shielding plates are fixed to the zoom lens 102 and the focus lens 105, respectively.

  When the zoom lens 102 and the focus lens 105 move in parallel with the optical axis, the light shielding plate moves integrally, and when the light path between the light emitting part and the light receiving part of the photosensor is blocked, the output signal of the light receiving part is It becomes Low level, and when it does not block, it becomes High level.

  Therefore, it is possible to detect whether or not the zoom lens 102 and the focus lens 105 are present at the reference position with the position where the output signal of the light receiving unit changes as the reference position. The camera control unit 114 can recognize the positions of the lenses 102 and 103 based on the reference position, the lens moving speed, the lens moving direction, and the like.

  A zoom switch 117 for moving the zoom lens 102 in the wide direction and the tele direction is connected to the camera control unit 114. The zoom switch 117 has a circuit configuration in which the voltage changes according to the pressing operation. The camera control unit 114 detects the change in voltage when the zoom switch 117 is pressed, and determines at what zoom speed the variable speed zoom is driven according to the detected value. .

  The camera control unit 114 is connected to a rehearsal switch 116 for detecting the timing for starting and ending the storage of operation information of the zoom lens 102 and the focus lens 105.

  When the rehearsal switch 116 is pressed, the camera control unit 114 stores the positions of the zoom lens 102 and the focus lens 105 in the operation information storage device 115 as operation information. When the rehearsal switch 116 is pressed again, the camera control unit 114 stops the operation information storing process for the zoom lens 102 and the focus lens 105.

  After storing the operation information of the zoom lens 102 and the focus lens 105, the camera control unit 114 optimizes the stored operation information and stores it in the operation information storage device 115. At this time, the optimization is performed by smoothing the operation information by time average or by approximation calculation. In this case, a condition of ignoring inversion of the zoom position in a short time may be provided.

  When the recording switch 118 that is a means for detecting the timing of starting recording on the recording device 109 is pressed, the camera control unit 114 reads the operation information of the smoothed lenses 102 and 105 from the operation information storage device 115. The camera control unit 114 controls the zoom drive source 110 and the focus drive source 111 based on the read operation information to drive the zoom lens 102 and the focus lens 105, and records the video signal of the camera signal processing circuit 107. Record in device 109.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 2, processing from the start to the end of storage of lens operation information when the rehearsal switch 116 is pressed in the camera of the present embodiment will be described. 2 is executed by the CPU of the camera control unit 114 after a control program stored in a ROM, a hard disk, or the like is loaded into the RAM. Further, in the following description, the operation information from the start to the end when the rehearsal switch 116 is pressed is referred to as a rehearsal mode.

  First, in step S201, the camera control unit 114 determines whether the rehearsal switch 116 is pressed, and if it is pressed, the process proceeds to step S202.

  In step S202, the camera control unit 114 determines whether or not the rehearsal mode is set. As a result, if in the rehearsal mode, the camera control unit 114 proceeds to step S203 and step S204, and stores the current position of the zoom lens 102 and the current position of the focus lens 105 in the operation information storage device 115 as operation information. To do.

  Next, in step S205, the camera control unit 114 determines the operation state of the zoom switch 117, and determines whether or not zooming is in progress. As a result, if zooming is in progress, the camera control unit 114 controls the zoom drive source 110 and the focus drive source 111 to move the zoom lens 102 and the focus lens 105 in steps S206 and S207. These steps are repeated until the rehearsal switch 116 is pressed again and the rehearsal mode ends.

  FIG. 3 is a graph schematically showing the result of smoothing (optimizing) the time change information of the position of the zoom lens 102 stored in the operation information storage device 115 in the rehearsal mode by the approximate calculation in the camera control unit 114. is there.

  In FIG. 3, the broken line is the time change information of the position of the zoom lens 102 in the rehearsal mode, and the solid line is the time change information after smoothing. Note that the optimization of the operation information stored in the operation information storage device 115 may be performed by smoothing by time averaging.

  The camera control unit 114 performs lens control based on the smoothed operation information as a function of confirming the smoothed operation information so that the recorded video at the time of photographing can be imaged before photographing, and sends a camera signal to the monitor device 108. The video signal of the processing circuit 107 is output. Note that a graph or the like representing a temporal change in the lens position as shown in FIG.

  Next, lens control at the time of recording in the camera of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Each process in FIG. 4 is executed by the CPU of the camera control unit 114 after a control program stored in a ROM, a hard disk, or the like is loaded into the RAM. FIG. 4 shows a process related to recording after the rehearsal mode has been executed at least once.

  First, in step S301, the camera control unit 114 determines whether or not the recording switch 118 is pressed, and if it is pressed, the process proceeds to step S302.

  In step S302, the camera control unit 114 determines whether the recording mode is set. If the recording mode is set, the process proceeds to step S303.

  In step S303, the camera control unit 114 reads the initial position of the time change information of the positions of the zoom lens 102 and the focus lens 105 that have been smoothed (optimized) from the operation information storage device 115, and proceeds to step S304.

  In step S304, the camera control unit 114 controls the zoom drive source 110 and the focus drive source 111 to move the zoom lens 102 and the focus lens 105 to the initial positions, respectively, and proceeds to step S305.

  In step S305, the camera control unit 114 reads the next drive target position of the zoom lens 102 from the operation information storage device 115, and proceeds to step S306.

  In step S306, the camera control unit 114 reads the next drive target position of the focus lens 105 from the operation information storage device 115, and proceeds to step S307.

  In step S307, the camera control unit 114 determines whether or not the zoom lens 102 and the focus lens 105 have reached the final drive target position of the smoothed operation information. If each of the lenses 102 and 103 has not reached the final drive target position, the camera control unit 114 proceeds to step S308 and step S309.

  In step S308 and step S309, the camera control unit 114 controls the zoom drive source 110 to move the zoom lens 102 to the final drive target position, and also controls the focus drive source 111 to move the focus lens 105. Let

  On the other hand, in step S307, when each of the lenses 102 and 103 has reached the final drive target position, the camera control unit 114 stops the lens control and recording of the video signal to the recording device 109.

  Note that the lens control start timing based on the smoothed operation information is not necessarily linked to the recording switch 118 that detects the recording start timing of the video signal to the recording device 109. For example, the lens control may be started 3 seconds after the recording is started, or the lens control may be started when the zoom switch 117 is pressed.

  As described above, in this embodiment, lens operation information intended by the photographer is stored in advance, and the stored operation information is optimized and reproduced at the time of shooting. The subject can be photographed with a simple lens operation. Therefore, it is possible to reduce taking pictures that make viewers uncomfortable, such as repetition of zooming or zooming too fast.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a digital video camera which is a second embodiment of the imaging apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram for explaining a digital video camera which is a second embodiment of the imaging apparatus of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the digital video camera 119 of the present embodiment has an acceleration sensor 120 that detects angular acceleration within the panning angle on the top surface and an acceleration sensor 121 that detects angular acceleration within the tilting angle on the side surface. Is attached. Information detected by the acceleration sensors 120 and 121 is output to the camera control unit 114, respectively.

  The camera control unit 114 is connected to a pan head (operation target) 123 installed on a tripod 122. The pan head 123 has a panning / tilting mechanism (not shown), and the camera control unit 114 controls the driving source of the panning / tilting mechanism to place the pan head 123 at a predetermined posture position. .

  Here, in the present embodiment, the camera control unit 114 stores the angular acceleration detected by the acceleration sensors 120 and 121 in the operation information storage device 115 as operation information of the panning / tilting mechanism, and the stored operation information is described above. Smoothing is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

  Next, the camera control unit 114 calculates the target position of the panning / tilting mechanism from the smoothed operation information. Then, the camera control unit 114 compares the calculated value with the angular velocity information of the panning / tilting mechanism detected by the acceleration sensors 120 and 121, and controls the drive source of the panning / tilting mechanism based on the comparison result. The pan head 123 is moved. Since the other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, description will be made using the reference numerals.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 6, processing from the start to the end of storing operation information when the rehearsal switch 116 is pressed in the camera of the present embodiment will be described. 6 is executed by the CPU of the camera control unit 114 after a control program stored in a ROM, a hard disk, or the like is loaded into the RAM. Further, in the following description, the operation information from the start to the end when the rehearsal switch 116 is pressed is referred to as a rehearsal mode.

  First, in step S401, the camera control unit 114 determines whether the rehearsal switch 116 is pressed, and if it is pressed, the process proceeds to step S402.

  In step S402, the camera control unit 114 determines whether or not the rehearsal mode is set. As a result, if in the rehearsal mode, the camera control unit 114 proceeds to step S403 and step S404, and stores the operation information using the angular acceleration information within the current panning angle and the angular acceleration information within the tilting angle as operation information. Store in device 115. These steps are repeated until the rehearsal switch 116 is pressed again to end the rehearsal mode. The operation information stored in the operation information storage device 115 in step S403 and step S404 is smoothed by the camera control unit 114 by a method such as time average or approximate calculation, as in the first embodiment.

  Next, the pan head control at the time of recording in the camera of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 7 is executed by the CPU of the camera control unit 114 after a control program stored in a ROM, a hard disk, or the like is loaded into the RAM. FIG. 7 shows processing related to recording after the rehearsal mode has been executed at least once.

  First, in step S501, the camera control unit 114 determines whether or not the recording switch 118 is pressed, and if it is pressed, the process proceeds to step S502.

  In step S502, the camera control unit 114 determines whether the recording mode is set. If the recording mode is set, the process proceeds to step S503.

  In step S503, the camera control unit 114 reads the smoothed panning mechanism operation information and the tilting mechanism operation information from the operation information storage device 115, and proceeds to step S504.

  In step S504, the camera control unit 114 controls the driving source of the panning / tilting mechanism so that the camera platform 123 is at the initial position, and the process proceeds to step S505.

  In step S505, the camera control unit 114 reads the next drive target position of the panning mechanism from the operation information storage device 115, and proceeds to step S506.

  In step S506, the camera control unit 114 reads the next drive target position of the tilting mechanism from the operation information storage device 115, and proceeds to step S507.

  In step S507, the camera control unit 114 determines whether or not the pan head 123 has reached the final drive target position. If not, in step S508 and step S509, the driving source of the panning mechanism / tilting mechanism is determined. And the pan head 123 is moved.

  On the other hand, if the camera platform 123 has reached the final drive target position in step S507, the camera control unit 114 stops the camera platform control and recording of the video signal to the recording device 109.

  Note that the start timing of the pan head control based on the smoothed operation information is not necessarily linked to the recording switch 118 that detects the recording start timing of the video signal to the recording device 109. The detection of the operation information of the panning mechanism and the operation information of the tilting mechanism is not limited to the acceleration sensor, and may be performed by a gyro sensor or image processing (vector detection).

  As described above, in this embodiment, the operation information of the camera platform 123 intended by the photographer is stored in advance, and the stored operation information is optimized and reproduced at the time of shooting. The subject can be photographed with a smooth pan head operation. Therefore, it is possible to reduce an unpleasant picture being taken by swinging the camera greatly or moving the camera repeatedly.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to what was illustrated by said each embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention, it can change suitably.

It is a block diagram for demonstrating the digital video camera which is 1st Embodiment of the imaging device of this invention. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining processing from the start to the end of storage of lens operation information by pressing a rehearsal switch. It is a graph which shows typically the result of smoothing (optimizing) the time change information of the position of the zoom lens stored in the operation information storage device in the rehearsal mode by the approximation calculation in the camera control unit. It is a flowchart figure for demonstrating the lens control at the time of video recording. It is a schematic block diagram for demonstrating the digital video camera which is 2nd Embodiment of the imaging device of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process from the memory | storage start of the operation information of a pan head by the press of a rehearsal switch to completion | finish. It is a flowchart for demonstrating pan head control at the time of video recording.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 1st fixed lens group 102 Zoom lens 103 Diaphragm 104 2nd fixed lens group 105 Focus lens 106 Image pick-up element 107 Camera signal processing circuit 108 Monitor apparatus 109 Recording apparatus 110 Zoom drive source 111 Focus drive source 112,113 Lens position detection means 114 Camera control unit 115 Operation information storage device 116 Rehearsal switch 117 Zoom switch 118 Recording switch 119 Digital video camera 120, 121 Acceleration sensor 122 Tripod 123 Head

Claims (9)

Detection means for detecting an operation state of an operation target by a photographer;
Operation information storage means for storing the operation state of the operation target detected by the detection means as operation information;
Smoothing means for smoothing the operation information stored in the operation information storage means;
An imaging apparatus comprising: control means for controlling the operation target based on the operation information smoothed by the smoothing means.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation information is time change information of an operation state of the operation target.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation target is a zoom lens and a focus lens.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation target is a pan head including a panning mechanism and a tilting mechanism.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the smoothing unit smoothes the operation information stored in the operation information storage unit by an approximation calculation.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the smoothing unit smoothes the operation information stored in the operation information storage unit by time averaging.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying the operation information smoothed by the smoothing means.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control of the operation target by the control unit is executed in conjunction with a recording start timing of a video signal. A detection step for detecting an operation state of an operation target by a photographer;
An operation information storage step for storing the operation state of the operation target detected in the detection step as operation information;
A smoothing step for smoothing the operation information stored in the operation information storage step;
And a control step of controlling the operation target based on the operation information smoothed in the smoothing step.

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