JP2010278758A - Imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging device that allows a user to use video recoding or sound recording without complicated operations for GUI. <P>SOLUTION: If an operator presses a video recording button 17b, a recording intention determining section 20b refers to a result of a lens detection section 20a that detects whether a lens barrel 30 has been mounted or not. If the lens barrel 30 is not mounted yet on a camera body 10, a recording processing section 20d starts operation in a sound recording mode, and records only sound data. If the lens barrel 30 is already mounted on the camera body 10, the recording intention determining section 20b further compares the amount of light passing through an imaging lens 32, measured by a TTL exposure meter 26, with a predetermined threshold value. If the amount of light is smaller than the predetermined value, the recording processing section 20d starts operation in a sound recording mode, and records only sound data. If not, the recording processing section 20d starts operation in a video recording mode, and records video data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus.

  A camera capable of recording a moving image in addition to a still image is known. Some cameras include a recording member such as a microphone and can record sound in association with a moving image. For example, Patent Document 1 describes an electronic camera that has a function of recording not only audio but also recording audio in association with a moving image and can be used as a so-called voice recorder.

JP 2002-223403 A

  In the electronic camera described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to preliminarily select a moving image mode for recording a moving image with sound and a voice recorder mode for recording only sound by GUI operation. Met.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imaging unit that images a subject via a photographing lens and outputs moving image data, a conversion unit that converts sound generated by an external sound source into audio data, and at least the recording medium. Recording means having a first operation mode for recording moving image data and a second operation mode for recording the audio data without recording the moving image data on a recording medium; and a recording instruction by an operator An input means for input, a determination means for determining whether or not the operator intends to record moving image data, and the determination means determines that the recording intention is present in response to a recording instruction input to the input means. If the recording means starts recording in the first operation mode, and the determination means determines that the recording intention is not intended, the recording means starts the second operation mode. And control means for starting the recording by de, an imaging apparatus comprising: a.

  According to the present invention, recording of moving images and recording of audio can be used properly without performing complicated operations.

It is the perspective view which showed the single-lens reflex type camera 1 to which this invention is applied. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a camera 1. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a moving image and audio recording process by the camera 1. It is a flowchart which shows the switching process of a moving image and an audio | voice. It is the perspective view which showed the compact type camera 100 to which this invention is applied. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a camera 100. FIG. It is a figure explaining the example of the procedure which detects that to-be-photographed object light is a state which does not inject into a taking lens.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a single-lens reflex type camera 1 to which the present invention is applied. The camera 1 includes a camera body 10 and a lens barrel 30 that can be attached to and detached from the camera body 10. A lens cap 50 can be attached to the lens barrel 30.

  The camera body 10 is provided with a lens mount 11 for mounting the lens barrel 30. When the lens barrel 30 is attached, the electrical connection portion 12 provided on the lens mount 11 is connected to the electrical connection portion 31 of the lens barrel 30. The electrical connection units 12 and 31 are used for power supply from the camera body 10 to the lens barrel 30, transmission of control signals from the camera body 10 to the lens barrel 30, and the like.

  An imaging element 13 is provided behind the lens mount 11 in the camera body 10, and a quick return mirror 14 is provided between the lens mount 11 and the imaging element 13 to guide subject light to the viewfinder of the camera body 10. It has been. A recording medium mounting portion 15 exists on the side surface of the camera body 10, and a recording medium 16 is inserted and attached to the recording medium mounting portion 15. Above the camera body 10, a release button 17a and a recording button 17b are provided.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the camera 1. The camera 1 includes a photographing lens 32, a TTL (through-the-lens) exposure meter 26, a focus adjustment device 33, an input device 17, a microphone 27, a control circuit 20, a DRAM 21, and a flash memory in addition to the components shown in FIG. 22, an LCD drive circuit 23, a liquid crystal monitor 24, and a memory card I / F (interface) 25.

  The control circuit 20 is, for example, a circuit configured by RISC or the like, and controls each unit shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 by reading and executing a predetermined control program from the flash memory 22. The TTL exposure meter 26 is an exposure meter provided in the camera body 10. The TTL exposure meter 26 measures the amount of subject light that has passed through the photographing lens 32 and outputs a light amount signal to the control circuit 20.

  The image sensor 13 is configured by a CCD or CMOS image sensor including a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements corresponding to pixels. The image sensor 13 captures a subject image formed on the imaging surface and outputs a photoelectric conversion signal (image signal) corresponding to the brightness of the subject image to the control circuit 20. R (red), G (green), and B (blue) color filters are provided on the imaging surface of the imaging device 13 so as to correspond to the pixel positions, respectively. Since the image pickup device 13 picks up a subject image through the color filter, the image signal output from each image pickup device has RGB color system color information.

  The focus adjustment device 33 moves the photographic lens 32 to a position where the focus evaluation value is maximized based on the focus evaluation value output from the control circuit 20. The focus evaluation value is a calculation result of a known focus evaluation value calculation performed by the control circuit 20 based on the imaging signal output from the imaging device 13.

  The input device 17 includes various operation buttons such as a release button 17a and a recording button 17b, and outputs an operation signal of each operation button by the user to the control circuit 20. When the user presses the release button 17 a, the image pickup by the image pickup device 13 is performed and an image signal is output to the control circuit 20. The control circuit 20 performs various image processing on the image signal to generate image data. Then, the control circuit 20 performs compression processing on the generated image data by a predetermined method such as JPEG, and records the image data in the storage medium 16 as an image file in a format such as EXIF.

  The microphone 26 converts sound generated by an external sound source into a sound signal and outputs the sound signal to the control circuit 20. The control circuit 20 performs various arithmetic processes on the audio signal to generate audio data. The generated audio data is recorded on the recording medium 16 by the control circuit 20.

  The DRAM 21 is used to temporarily store data during or after image processing, image compression processing, and display image data creation processing. The display image data is generated by the control circuit 20 based on the image data generated by the control circuit 20 based on the output from the image sensor 13 or the image data recorded in the storage medium 16. The generated display image data is stored in the DRAM 21 by the control circuit 20. The flash memory 22 is a nonvolatile memory in which a control program executed by the control circuit 20 described above is recorded.

  The LCD drive circuit 23 drives the liquid crystal monitor 24 based on a command from the control circuit 20, and the liquid crystal monitor 24 displays an image based on display image data stored in the DRAM 21. The liquid crystal monitor 24 displays various setting menu screens of the digital camera. The memory card I / F 25 is an interface circuit for reading and writing the recording medium 16. When the recording medium 16 is inserted and attached to the recording medium mounting unit 15, the memory card I / F 25 and the recording medium 16 are connected, and the control circuit 20 can read and write the recording medium 16.

  The control circuit 20 includes a lens detection unit 20a, a recording intention determination unit 20b, a recording control unit 20c, and a recording processing unit 20d in software form. These units are realized in software by the control circuit 20 executing a predetermined control program recorded in the flash memory 22.

  The lens detection unit 20 a detects whether or not the lens barrel 30 is attached to the lens mount 11 by trying to communicate with the lens barrel 30 from the electrical connection unit 12. The recording intention determination unit 20b determines whether the operator of the camera 1 intends to record a moving image based on the detection result of the lens detection unit 20a and the output of the TTL exposure meter 26. The recording control unit 20c operates the recording processing unit 20d in an operation mode based on the determination result of the recording intention determination unit 20b. The recording processing unit 20 d records at least one of moving image data and audio data on the recording medium 16.

  Next, the operation mode of the recording processing unit 20d will be described. The recording processing unit 20d has two operation modes: a moving image recording mode and an audio recording mode. Hereinafter, these operation modes will be described in order.

  When the operation in the moving image recording mode is started, the recording processing unit 20d first reads out the moving image recording setting stored in the flash memory 22. When the moving image recording setting is “moving image only”, the recording processing unit 20 d creates moving image data based on the image signal output from the image sensor 13. The created moving image data is recorded on the recording medium 16. When the moving image recording setting is “moving image + audio”, the recording processing unit 20 d creates audio data based on the audio signal output from the microphone 27 together with the moving image data. The audio data is recorded on the recording medium 16 together with the moving image data. The operator of the camera 1 can change the moving image recording setting stored in the flash memory 22 using the input device 17 when the recording processing unit 20d is not operating.

  When the operation in the audio recording mode is started, the recording processing unit 20d creates audio data based on the audio signal output from the microphone 27. The created audio data is recorded on the recording medium 16. During operation in the audio recording mode, unlike the above-described moving image recording mode, moving image data is not recorded together with audio data.

  Which of the above-described two operation modes the recording processing unit 20d operates is controlled by the recording control unit 20c. When the operator of the camera 1 presses the recording button 17b, the recording intention determination unit 20b operates accordingly. The recording intention determination unit 20b first refers to the detection result of whether or not the lens barrel 30 is attached by the lens detection unit 20a. If the lens barrel 30 is not attached to the camera body 10, the recording intention determination unit 20b determines that the operator does not intend to record a video. Thereby, the recording control unit 20c causes the recording processing unit 20d to start an operation in the audio recording mode.

  On the other hand, when the lens barrel 30 is attached to the camera body 10, the recording intention determination unit 20b further measures the amount of light passing through the photographing lens 32 using the TTL exposure meter 26, and the measurement result is set to a predetermined threshold value. Compare with For example, when the photographic lens 32 is covered with a light shielding object, such as when the lens cap 50 is attached, the subject light does not pass through the photographic lens 32. Therefore, the amount of light measured by the TTL exposure meter 26 is a predetermined threshold value. Smaller. At this time, the recording intention determination unit 20b determines that the operator does not intend to record the video, and the recording control unit 20c causes the recording processing unit 20d to start an operation in the audio recording mode.

  When the lens barrel 30 is attached to the camera body 10 and the light amount measured by the TTL exposure meter 26 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the recording intention determination unit 20b has an intention to record an image to the operator. judge. Thereby, the recording control unit 20c causes the recording processing unit 20d to start an operation in the moving image recording mode. If the operator presses the recording button 17b while the recording processing unit 20d is operating in any one of the operation modes, the recording control unit 20c ends the operation of the recording processing unit 20d.

  When the moving image recording setting is “moving image + sound”, when the light amount measured by the TTL exposure meter 26 becomes less than a predetermined threshold value while the recording processing unit 20d is operating in the moving image recording mode, The recording control unit 20c switches the operation mode of the recording processing unit 20d to the audio recording mode. This is because, for example, even if recording of moving image data is continued with the lens cap 50 attached, the moving image data recorded on the recording medium 16 is a dark image. Thereafter, when the lens cap 50 is removed, the recording control unit 20c switches the operation mode of the recording processing unit 20d to the moving image recording mode again.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a moving image and audio recording process by the camera 1. First, in step S11, the control circuit 20 determines whether or not the recording button 17b has been pressed. The processing in step S11 is repeated until the recording button 17b is pressed. If the recording button 17b is pressed, the process proceeds to step S12. In step S <b> 12, the lens detection unit 20 a executes a process for detecting attachment of the lens barrel 30. In step S13, the recording intention determination unit 20b determines whether or not the lens detection unit 20a detects that the lens barrel 30 is being attached. If it is not detected that the lens barrel 30 is attached, the process proceeds to step S21, and the recording control unit 20c starts the operation of the recording processing unit 20d in the audio recording mode. Thereby, the recording processing unit 20d starts recording audio data in step S22. On the other hand, if it is detected that the lens barrel 30 is being mounted, the process proceeds to step S14.

  In step S <b> 14, the TTL exposure meter 26 measures the light amount and outputs a light amount signal to the control circuit 20. In step S15, the recording intention determination unit 20b determines whether or not the light amount measured by the TTL exposure meter 26 is equal to or less than a predetermined amount. If the amount of light is less than or equal to the predetermined amount, the process proceeds to step S21 as in the determination in step S13. On the other hand, if the amount of light exceeds the predetermined amount, the process proceeds to step S16.

  In step S16, the recording control unit 20c starts the operation in the moving image recording mode of the recording processing unit 20d. The recording processing unit 20d that started the operation reads the moving image recording setting from the flash memory 22 in step S17, and determines whether or not the content of the moving image recording setting is “moving image + audio”. If the moving image recording setting is “moving image + audio”, the process proceeds to step S19, and the recording processing unit 20d starts recording processing of moving image data and audio data on the recording medium 16. Thereafter, in step S20, in order to cope with a situation where the lens cap 50 is attached during recording, a moving image / sound switching process described later is executed. On the other hand, when the moving image recording setting is “moving image only”, the process proceeds to step S18, and the recording processing unit 20d starts recording processing of moving image data on the recording medium 16.

  In step S23, the control circuit 20 determines whether or not the recording button 17b has been pressed. The process of step S22 is repeated until the recording button 17b is pressed. If the recording button 17b is pressed, the process proceeds to step S23. In step S23, the recording control unit 20c ends the operation of the recording processing unit 20d.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a moving image / sound switching process. When the execution of the processing shown in this flowchart is started, the recording processing unit 20 d operates in the moving image recording mode, and moving image data and audio data are recorded on the recording medium 16. First, in step S <b> 31, the TTL exposure meter 26 measures the light amount and outputs a light amount signal to the control circuit 20.

  In step S32, the recording intention determination unit 20b determines whether the magnitude relationship between the light amount measured by the TTL exposure meter 26 and the predetermined amount has changed. For example, in the previous comparison, the amount of light measured by the TTL exposure meter 26 was less than or equal to a predetermined amount, but in this comparison, an affirmative determination is made when the amount of light exceeds the predetermined amount or vice versa, step S33. Proceed to In step S33, the recording control unit 20c switches the operation mode of the recording processing unit 20d to an operation mode different from the current operation mode. For example, if the current operation mode is the audio recording mode, the mode is switched to the moving image recording mode, and if the current operation mode is the moving image recording mode, the mode is switched to the audio recording mode. On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step S32, the process proceeds to step S34.

  In step S34, as in step S23 (FIG. 3), the control circuit 20 determines whether or not the recording button 17b has been pressed. If the recording button 17b has not been pressed, the process returns to step S31 and the above-described processing is repeated. On the other hand, if the recording button 17b has been pressed, the processing shown in FIG. 4 ends.

According to the camera according to the first embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) The recording control unit 20c is in the moving image recording mode when the recording intention determination unit 20b determines that there is an intention to record moving image data, and in the audio recording mode when it is determined that there is no recording intention. The operation of the recording processing unit 20d is started. Thereby, recording of moving image data and recording of only audio data can be used properly by the same operation.

(2) The recording processing unit 20d starts the operation in the moving image recording mode or the audio recording mode in response to pressing of the single recording button 17b. Thereby, an additional button and operation for switching between these two operation modes are not required, and the two operation modes can be selectively used by a simple operation.

(3) When the TTL exposure meter 26 detects that the photographic lens 32 is covered with a light shielding object such as a lens cap, the recording intention determination unit 20b or the lens detection unit 20a detects the lens barrel. When it is detected that 30 is not attached, it is determined that there is no intention to record moving image data. Thus, the recording capacity of the recording medium 16 is not consumed by moving image data that does not include any meaningful video.

(4) When the determination result by the recording intention determination unit 20b changes while the recording processing unit 20d is recording both moving image data and audio data, the recording control unit 20c changes the operation mode of the recording processing unit 20d to audio recording. Switch to mode. Thereby, even when the recording state changes during the recording operation, it is possible to prevent a problem that moving image data that does not include any meaningful video is recorded.

  The present invention can also be applied to cameras other than the single-lens reflex type. In the second embodiment described in detail below, the present invention is applied to a so-called compact type camera.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a compact type camera 100 to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 5A shows a view of the camera 100 viewed from the front, and FIG. 5B shows a view of the camera 100 viewed from the back. Note that in the camera 100 according to the present embodiment, the same devices and circuits as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, a photographing lens 32 is provided in front of the camera 100. A release button 117a and a power button 117b are provided on the upper surface of the camera 100. As shown in FIG. 5B, various buttons 117 c to 117 h and a liquid crystal monitor 24 are provided on the back surface of the camera 100. In the present embodiment, among the buttons 117c to 117h, the button 117e is used as a recording start button.

  When the camera 100 is in a power-off state, the photographing lens 32 is covered with a lens barrier (not shown). When the camera 100 is switched from the power-off state to the power-on state, the lens barrier that covers the photographic lens 32 is driven under the control of a control circuit to be described later, and the camera 100 becomes ready for imaging using the photographic lens 32.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the camera 100. The camera 100 includes a focus adjustment device 33, an input device 117, a microphone 27, a control circuit 120, a DRAM 21, a flash memory 122, an LCD drive circuit 23, a liquid crystal monitor 24, a memory card I / F, in addition to the components shown in FIG. (Interface) 25 and a recording medium 16.

  The control circuit 120 is a circuit configured by RISC, for example, and controls each unit shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 by reading a predetermined control program from the flash memory 122 and executing it. The input device 117 includes various operation buttons such as a release button 117a, a power button 117b, and a recording button 117e, and outputs an operation signal of each operation button by the user to the control circuit 120.

  The control circuit 120 includes a light amount detection unit 120e, a recording intention determination unit 120b, a recording control unit 120c, and a recording processing unit 120d in software form. Each of these units is realized by software when the control circuit 120 executes a predetermined control program recorded in the flash memory 122.

  The light amount detection unit 120 e detects the amount of light that has passed through the photographing lens 32 based on the image signal output from the image sensor 13. Specifically, an integrated value of luminance values of all the pixels is calculated, and this integrated value is output as a light amount. The recording intention determination unit 120b determines whether or not the operator of the camera 100 intends to record a moving image based on the detection result by the light amount detection unit 120e. This determination is performed by comparing the integrated value output by the light amount detection unit 120e with a predetermined threshold value. The recording control unit 120c operates the recording processing unit 120d in an operation mode based on the determination result of the recording intention determination unit 120b. The recording processing unit 120 d records at least one of moving image data and audio data on the recording medium 16.

  When the operator of the camera 100 presses the recording button 117e, the recording intention determination unit 120b operates accordingly. The recording intention determination unit 120b checks whether the photographing lens 32 is covered with a light shielding object. Specifically, the amount of light passing through the photographing lens 32 is measured by the light amount detector 120e. For example, when the operator covers the photographing lens 32 with a palm, the subject light does not pass through the photographing lens 32, so the recording intention determination unit 120b determines that the operator does not intend to record a video. Accordingly, the recording control unit 120c causes the recording processing unit 120d to start an operation in the audio recording mode. On the other hand, when the photographing lens 32 is not covered with the light shielding object, the recording intention determination unit 120b determines that the operator intends to record the video. Thereby, the recording control unit 120c causes the recording processing unit 120d to start an operation in the moving image recording mode.

According to the camera according to the second embodiment described above, the following functions and effects can be obtained in addition to the functions and effects obtained by the camera according to the first embodiment.
(1) The light quantity detection unit 120e calculates an integrated value of luminance values of all pixels included in the image signal output from the image sensor 13, and outputs the integrated value as a light quantity. Thereby, even if there is no exposure meter, it is possible to prevent a problem that moving image data that does not include any meaningful video is recorded.

  The following modifications are also within the scope of the present invention, and one or a plurality of modifications can be combined with the above-described embodiment.

(Modification 1)
It may be detected by a procedure other than the above-described embodiment that the subject light is not incident on the photographing lens. For example, the contrast may be calculated based on the image signal output from the image sensor, and it may be determined that the operator does not intend to record a moving image when the contrast is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. . Moreover, you may take the procedure demonstrated below.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a procedure for detecting that the subject light is not incident on the photographing lens. As shown in FIG. 7, after the image 70 output from the image sensor is divided into a plurality of areas 71, 72, 73,... And the luminance values of the areas are integrated, the maximum value and the minimum integrated value of each area Calculate the difference from the value. When the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value is equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the subject light is not incident on the photographing lens.

(Modification 2)
In an imaging apparatus that shifts to a so-called power saving mode when a certain time elapses without being operated in the power-on state, the recording intention determination unit may be operated by an operation different from the normal time in the power saving mode. For example, in the power saving mode, recording of moving image data and audio data may not be started unless the recording button is pressed for a predetermined time. If the recording button is pressed for a long time when the imaging apparatus is in the power-off state, the power-on state is entered even when the power button is not pressed, and recording of moving image data and audio data is started. It may be. As a result, recording of moving image data and audio data can be started quickly regardless of the power supply state of the imaging apparatus.

  As long as the characteristics of the present invention are not impaired, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and other forms conceivable within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention are also included in the scope of the present invention. .

1,100 Camera 10 Camera body 17b, 117e Recording button 20, 120 Control circuit 30 Lens barrel 50 Lens cap

Claims (6)

Imaging means for imaging a subject through a taking lens and outputting moving image data;
Conversion means for converting sound emitted by an external sound source into audio data;
Recording means having at least a first operation mode for recording the moving image data on a recording medium, and a second operation mode for recording the audio data without recording the moving image data on the recording medium;
An input means for inputting a recording instruction by an operator;
Determining means for determining whether or not the operator intends to record moving image data;
In response to a recording instruction input to the input means, if the determination means determines that the recording intention is intended, the recording means starts recording in the first operation mode, and the determination means Control means for causing the recording means to start recording in the second operation mode when it is determined that there is no recording intention;
An imaging apparatus comprising: The imaging device according to claim 1,
The image pickup apparatus, wherein the input unit includes a single operation member operated from the outside. The imaging device according to claim 1 or 2,
A detection unit for detecting a state in which subject light is not incident on the photographing lens;
The determination unit determines that the recording intention is not present when the detection unit detects that the subject light is not incident on the photographing lens, and determines that the recording intention exists in other cases. An imaging apparatus characterized by that. The imaging device according to claim 3.
The image pickup apparatus, wherein the detection unit detects a state in which the photographing lens is covered with a light shielding object. The imaging device according to claim 3.
The photographing lens is a detachable interchangeable lens,
The image pickup apparatus, wherein the detection unit detects a state in which the photographing lens is detached. The imaging device according to claim 1 or 2,
The recording means records the audio data on a recording medium in addition to the moving image data in the first operation mode,
The control unit switches the recording unit to the second operation mode when the determination unit determines that the recording intention is not intended when the recording unit is operating in the first operation mode. An imaging apparatus characterized by the above.

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