JP2011028079A - Image pickup device and control method of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image pickup device which controls a plurality of lens barrels simultaneously while suppressing a current amount of a power source circuit, upon driving lenses of the plurality of lens barrels, and to provide a control method of the image pickup device. <P>SOLUTION: The image pickup device has the plurality of lens barrels, and each lens barrel includes a movable lens such as a zoom lens. The movable lens of each lens barrel can be driven independently, and a controlling section starts driving the movable lens of a second lens barrel after starting driving the movable lens of a first lens barrel. After the lapse of a period of an inrush current that flows when the movable lens of the first lens barrel that operates first is driven, driving of the movable lens of the second lens barrel that operates next is started. The controlling section stops driving the movable lens of the second lens barrel after stopping driving the movable lens of the first lens barrel. By this means, it is possible to prevent the inrush current upon start of lens driving relating to the first lens barrel from being superimposed on the inrush current upon start of lens driving relating to the second lens barrel. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus and a control method therefor, and more particularly to a barrel control of a compound eye imaging apparatus having a plurality of barrels.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a compound eye imaging apparatus that can simultaneously capture a plurality of images with a plurality of lens barrels is known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an imaging apparatus configured to obtain a set of images having parallax by a plurality of imaging optical systems and to recognize a stereoscopic video by a dedicated stereoscopic video display apparatus. In addition, when a plurality of lens barrels are driven simultaneously, the amount of current in the power supply circuit increases and the circuit scale increases. In Patent Document 2, the current flows through the power supply circuit by alternately driving and stopping the two lens barrels. A control method for reducing current is disclosed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 62-21396 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-327041

However, in the prior art, it has been difficult to achieve both rapid driving of a plurality of lens barrels and suppression of current flowing in the power supply circuit. For example, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 described above, since the driving and stopping of the two lens barrels are alternately repeated in order to suppress the current amount of the power supply circuit, it takes time to operate the lens barrel. There is.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus capable of simultaneously controlling a plurality of lens barrels while suppressing the amount of current in a power supply circuit in the imaging apparatus having a plurality of lens barrels, and a control method therefor.

  In order to solve the above problems, an apparatus according to the present invention is an imaging apparatus including a plurality of lens barrels each including a movable lens, and a driving unit that independently drives the movable lenses of the plurality of lens barrels; Control is performed so that driving of the movable lens of the second lens barrel starts after a period of inrush current that flows when the movable lens of the first lens barrel is driven by the driving means among the plurality of lens barrels. And a control means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to simultaneously control a plurality of lens barrels while suppressing the amount of current in the power supply circuit.

It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of an imaging device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining the time change of the drive current of a zoom lens. It is the flowchart which illustrated the zoom lens initialization sequence at the time of starting. It is a graph explaining the zoom magnification at the time of driving from the Wide position to the Tele position for each lens barrel. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of zoom driving related to FIG. 4 in the second embodiment of the present invention. It is a graph explaining the change of the zoom magnification at the time of driving from the Tele position to the Wide position for each lens barrel. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of zoom driving related to FIG. 6. It is a graph explaining another example about the change of the zoom magnification at the time of the drive from the Wide position which concerns on each lens-barrel to a Tele position. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of zoom driving related to FIG. 8. FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration example of an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This imaging apparatus includes two lens barrels, that is, a first lens barrel 101 and a second lens barrel 151, and can simultaneously capture a plurality of images. The first lens barrel 101 and the second lens barrel 151 are attached to the imaging device while being shifted by the amount of parallax in order to obtain a stereoscopic image. The constituent elements of the lens barrels 101 and 151 basically have the same function, and can be controlled independently by the control unit 111.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the first lens barrel 101 will be described. The first lens barrel 101 is configured using driving means such as a movable lens and a motor described below. The lens 130a is a lens constituting a zoom that changes the magnification of the subject image (hereinafter referred to as a zoom lens), and is driven by the zoom drive motor 102a. For the zoom drive motor 102a, a DC (direct current) motor, a step motor, an ultrasonic motor, or the like can be used as long as the drive specifications are satisfied.

The encoder 103a is used to detect the position of the zoom lens 130a. In addition to the encoder, a linear sensor or other detection means can be used for detecting the position of the zoom lens 130a. The reset sensor 104a is used for initialization related to the position of the zoom lens 130a, and a photo interrupter or a switch can be used.
The aperture unit 105a limits the amount of incident light that is irradiated onto the image sensor 108a in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 111. Thereby, it is possible to maintain an appropriate exposure state with respect to the amount of light related to the captured image.

The lens 131a is a lens for focusing, that is, focusing to focus the subject image on the imaging surface (hereinafter referred to as a focus lens), and is driven by the focus drive motor 106a. Since the focus control is performed by a motor independent of the zoom lens 130a, the focus lens 131a can be driven to any position within a range that does not interfere with the zoom lens 130a. The reset sensor 107a of the focus lens 131a is used for initialization related to the position of the focus lens 131a, and a photo interrupter or a switch can be used.
The subject image that has passed through the zoom lens 130a is focused on the image sensor 108a by the focus lens 131a. The image sensor 108a performs photoelectric conversion, and the image signal subjected to photoelectric conversion is subjected to predetermined processing such as color conversion and gamma correction processing by the image processing circuit 109, and then image data is stored in the memory 110 such as a card-type medium. Is recorded.

The movable lens constituting the second lens barrel 151, its driving means, position detecting means, and the like are the same as in the case of the first lens barrel 101. Therefore, as for the reference numerals for the components of the second lens barrel 151, the characters “a” added to the end of the reference numerals used for the components of the first lens barrel 101 are replaced with “b”. Those explanations are omitted.
The control unit 111 is configured using a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and controls the entire imaging apparatus. The control unit 111 monitors the outputs of the encoders 103a and 103b, reset sensors 104a and 104b, etc. in each lens barrel, and controls the zoom drive motors 102a and 102b, the focus drive motors 106a and 106b, and the aperture units 105a and 105b. The control unit 111 also controls the image processing circuit 109 and the memory 110. The nonvolatile memory 114 is an electrically erasable and recordable memory. For example, an EEPROM or the like is used. This memory can store a program of the control unit 111, parameters for controlling the imaging apparatus, and the like.

  The zoom switch 115 is used by a user who is a photographer for switching operation between Wide (wide angle) and Tele (telephoto). In addition, the user can use the mode dial switch 113 to switch and set each function mode such as power-off, shooting mode, and playback mode. Furthermore, there are normal modes and stereoscopic shooting modes as shooting modes.

  The display unit 119 displays an image, and an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like can be used. By displaying a live image captured by the image sensors 108a and 108b in the shooting mode, the display unit 119 becomes a viewfinder of the imaging apparatus. The image displayed on the display unit 119 in the finder is displayed differently in the stereoscopic shooting mode and the normal mode. In the stereoscopic shooting mode, the image data photoelectrically converted by the image sensors 108a and 108b is processed by the image processing circuit 109 and then displayed by a known stereoscopic image display method. For example, if the image of the first lens barrel 101 is viewed with the right eye and the image of the second lens tube 151 is viewed with the left eye, the user will see a stereoscopic image. Further, in the normal mode, there is a method of combining and displaying the image of the first lens barrel 101 and the image of the second lens barrel 151 so as to eliminate parallax in the image processing circuit 109, or a method of displaying one of the images. . The display unit 119 displays an image according to the image data recorded in the memory 110 in the playback mode.

The release switch 112 for still image shooting is a switch for instructing start of still image shooting. The release switch 112 is a two-stage switch. When the release switch 112 is half-pressed, the first-stage switch (SW1) is turned on. At this time, the control unit 111 drives the focus lenses 131a and 131b by the focus drive motors 106a and 106b, respectively, and controls the image pickup elements 108a and 108b to focus the subject image. Thereafter, when the user fully presses the release switch 112, the second-stage switch (SW2) is turned on. At this time, the control unit 111 performs control so that the image data photoelectrically converted by the image sensors 108 a and 108 b is processed by the image processing circuit 109 and the shooting data is recorded in the memory 110.
The power supply circuit 116 supplies necessary power to each block of the imaging apparatus. A battery 117 or an AC adapter 118 is connected to the power circuit 116 as a power source. When the battery 117 is connected to the power supply circuit 116, the control unit 111 detects the remaining amount of the battery 117, and when the remaining amount is less than a value necessary for the imaging device, the control unit 111 shuts down the imaging device and supplies power. Cut off.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, activation of the zoom lens of the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
First, the driving current waveform of the lens barrel will be described with reference to FIGS. It is assumed that DC motors are used for the zoom drive motors 102a and 102b.

FIG. 2A shows a drive current when the zoom lens is driven for one lens barrel. The vertical axis represents the drive current, and the horizontal axis represents the drive time. A graph curve 1001 represents a change in current. The drive current rises greatly due to an inrush current immediately after the start of driving, and then decreases when the speed stabilizes after the zoom lens starts moving, and settles to a constant value.
FIG. 2B shows a drive current waveform when the zoom lenses are simultaneously driven with respect to two lens barrels. The vertical axis represents the drive current, and the horizontal axis represents the drive time. A graph curve 1001 shows a change in current when the zoom lens of one lens barrel described in FIG. 2A is driven for comparison. A graph curve 1101 represents a change in driving current when the zoom lenses are simultaneously driven for two lens barrels. The drive current increases due to the inrush current immediately after the start of driving, and decreases when the speed stabilizes after the zoom lens starts moving. As can be seen from the comparison between the graph curves 1001 and 1101, when two zoom lenses are driven at the same time, a current twice as large as that at the start of driving of one zoom lens flows in a current change immediately after the start of driving. . In other words, an increase in the current when the lens starts moving imposes a heavy burden on the power supply circuit 116, and it is necessary to increase the circuit scale.

Next, an initialization sequence for driving the zoom lens when the imaging apparatus according to the present invention is activated will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2C shows a change in drive current at the time of startup, the vertical axis represents the drive current, and the horizontal axis represents the drive time. A graph curve 1201 represents a change in current when each lens is driven by shifting the driving time of the zoom lenses 130a and 130b related to the two lens barrels in time. The meanings of the time points indicated by reference numerals 1202 to 1206 are as follows.
Reference numeral 1202 indicates the start timing of the movement of the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101 (see the current value I2).
Reference numeral 1203 indicates the inrush current end timing of the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101 (see the current value I3).
Reference numeral 1204 indicates the start timing of movement of the zoom lens 130b of the second lens barrel 151 (see the current value I4).
Reference numeral 1205 indicates the stop timing of the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101.
Reference numeral 1206 indicates the stop timing of the zoom lens 130 b of the second lens barrel 151.
In addition, the current value I1 in the figure shows a value almost twice the current value I3, and “I1 <I2 <I4”.

  At the time indicated by reference numeral 1202, the driving of the first zoom lens 130a related to one of the lens barrels is started. After the drive current temporarily increases from zero ampere to the current value indicated by I2 due to the inrush current, the current decreases to the current value indicated by I3 as time passes as indicated by reference numeral 1203. After that, at the time indicated by reference numeral 1204, the second zoom lens 130b related to another lens barrel starts to be driven, and the drive current increases to the current value indicated by I4 due to the inrush current. Thereafter, the drive current decreases with time, reaches a constant value indicated by I1, and the drive of the first zoom lens 130a stops at the time indicated by reference numeral 1205. As a result, the drive current decreases to the current value indicated by I3 and shows a constant value, and then when the driving of the second zoom lens 130b is stopped at the time indicated by reference numeral 1206, the current value becomes zero amperes. Note that the graph curve 1101 in FIG. 2B is also shown for comparison with the graph curve 1201.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an initialization sequence for driving the zoom lens at startup. When the image pickup apparatus is turned on, the zoom lens needs to be initialized in preparation for shooting. If the zoom lenses of the two lens barrels are driven at the same time, as described with reference to FIG. 2B, the current at the start of movement becomes large, which is a heavy burden on the power supply circuit. On the other hand, when the zoom lens 130b of the second lens barrel 151 is initialized after the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101 is initialized, the time required for the initialization is doubled compared to the case where there is one lens barrel. It will take. Therefore, it is desirable to perform control so that the period for starting a movement requiring a large current does not overlap between the first lens barrel 101 and the second lens barrel 151.

A sequence for initializing each zoom lens by simultaneous driving while reducing the load on the power supply circuit will be described below.
After powering on the imaging apparatus, the control unit 111 performs an initialization operation of the zoom lens using a zoom drive motor. First, the drive of the zoom drive motor 102a is started to initialize the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101 (S1501). The initialization operation of the zoom lens 130a is an operation for determining the mechanical position of the zoom lens 130a using the reset sensor 104a. In a state where the image pickup apparatus is powered on, there is a deviation between the count value of the zoom lens position recognized by the encoder 103a and the actual mechanical position of the zoom lens 130a. In the initialization operation, the count value of the zoom lens position recognized by the encoder 103a at the position where the reset sensor 104a detects the zoom lens 130a is set to a predetermined count value. As a result, the subsequent position of the zoom lens 130a is accurately grasped.

  In S1501, in the initialization operation related to the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101, the zoom lens 130a is driven toward the reset sensor 104a. When the zoom lens 130a is driven, a large current flows at the beginning of movement as described with reference to FIG. As shown in the initialization sequence of FIG. 2C, the total amount of drive current increases to I2 at the start of activation indicated by reference numeral 1202, and then decreases to I3 at the time indicated by reference numeral 1203. This period is a period during which an inrush current flows (hereinafter referred to as an inrush current period), and its length is a time from several tens of milliseconds (milliseconds) to several hundreds of milliseconds, depending on the mechanical load of the zoom lens. . Since this time (hereinafter referred to as inrush current time) can be measured at the time of manufacture of the imaging device, if it is measured at the time of manufacture and stored in the nonvolatile memory 114, the control unit 111 refers to it when necessary. it can.

  Proceeding to the next Step S1502, the control unit 111 determines whether or not the inrush current time has elapsed. As a result, when the inrush current time has elapsed (YES in S1502), the process proceeds to S1506. Here, the lens is driven in order to initialize the zoom lens 130b of the second lens barrel 151 according to an instruction to the control unit 111. As for the current at this time, the driving current related to the second lens barrel 151 is added to the driving current related to the first lens barrel 101 at the time indicated by reference numeral 1204 in FIG. However, since the inrush current related to the first lens barrel 101 has already decreased, the burden on the power supply circuit 116 does not increase significantly.

  After the processing in S1506 or when the inrush current time has not elapsed in S1502 (NO in S1502), the process proceeds to S1503. Here, the control unit 111 determines whether or not the initialization of the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101 has been completed. As a result, when the initialization is completed (YES in S1503), the process proceeds to S1507, and the driving of the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101 is stopped according to the instruction of the control unit 111. When the zoom lens 130a stops, the current decreases from I1 to I3 at the time indicated by reference numeral 1205 in FIG.

After the processing in S1507, or when the initialization of the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101 is not completed in S1503 (NO in S1503), the process proceeds to S1504. Here, the control unit 111 determines whether or not the initialization of the zoom lens 130b of the second lens barrel 151 has been completed. As a result, when the initialization is not completed (NO in S1504), the process returns to S1502 and the above process is repeated. On the other hand, if the initialization is completed in S1504 (YES in S1504), the process proceeds to S1505, and the driving of the zoom lens 130b of the second lens barrel 151 is stopped according to the instruction of the control unit 111. At this time, as indicated by reference numeral 1206 in FIG. 2C, the current drops from I3 to zero. Thus, the process proceeds to S1508, and the above-described series of processing ends.
With the above sequence, there is no period in which the inrush current of the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101 and the inrush current of the zoom lens 130b of the second lens barrel 151 overlap, and the burden on the power supply circuit 116 is reduced. Further, the zoom lens can be driven simultaneously except during the inrush current period.

  In the above description, an example in which the load on the power supply circuit 116 is reduced by shifting the driving time of the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101 and the zoom lens 130b of the second lens barrel 151 has been described. The same effect can be obtained by shifting the driving of other actuators related to the lens barrel, not limited to the zoom lens. For example, the driving time points of the focus lens 131a of the first lens barrel 101 and the focus lens 131b of the second lens barrel 151 may be shifted. Further, when the battery 117 is used as the power source of the power supply circuit 116, the simultaneous driving of the first lens barrel 101 and the second lens barrel 151 and the execution of the above-described processing may be switched according to the degree of consumption of the battery 117. Good. When driving both lens barrels at the same time, the waiting time for starting the zoom lens 130b of the second lens barrel 151 is eliminated in the above processing, so that initialization is quickened, but the burden on the power supply circuit 116 increases. The battery 117 is consumed quickly. Therefore, when the battery 117 is sufficiently charged or when the AC adapter 118 is used, driving of the first lens barrel 101 and the second lens barrel 151 may be started simultaneously with priority given to shortening the initialization time. .

[Second Embodiment]
Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9, a zoom operation (magnification operation) of the imaging apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
First, the operation at the time of zoom driving from the Wide (wide angle) end to the Tele (telephoto) end will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 4A is a graph showing a temporal change in zoom magnification when the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101 is driven from the Wide position to the Tele position. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents zoom magnification. A graph line 2001 represents a change in zoom magnification during driving. The zoom magnification is a magnification value at the Wide position at time t1, and the zoom magnification linearly increases with time. At time t3 and thereafter, Tele The magnification value at the position.

  FIG. 4B is a graph showing a temporal change in zoom magnification when the zoom lens 130b of the second lens barrel 151 is driven from the Wide position to the Tele position. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents zoom magnification. A graph line 2101 represents a change in zoom magnification during driving, and is a magnification value at the Wide position from the time t1 until the waiting period 2104 elapses. A waiting period 2104 from the time point t1 to a time point t2 is a waiting period related to the inrush current when the first lens barrel 101 is activated, and during this period, the driving of the zoom lens 130b of the second lens barrel 151 is in a standby state. Is done. Thereafter, the zoom magnification increases linearly as time elapses, and becomes a magnification value at the Tele position at time t3 and thereafter. The zoom magnification of the lens barrel is an optical one that changes by changing the position of the zoom lens. Therefore, hereinafter, the zoom of the lens barrel is referred to as optical zoom, and the zoom magnification of the lens barrel is referred to as optical zoom magnification. On the other hand, a trapezoidal graph line 2102 represents a change in the electronic zoom magnification obtained by image processing. In the waiting period 2104 from t1 to t2, the zoom magnification linearly increases with time and becomes a constant value. After the time point t3, the line descends linearly and returns. A graph line 2103 indicates a magnification obtained by combining the optical zoom magnification indicated by the graph line 2101 and the electronic zoom magnification indicated by the graph line 2102.

  The change of the zoom magnification shown in FIG. 4 shows a case where the speeds of the zoom drive motor 102a of the first lens barrel 101 and the zoom drive motor 102b of the second lens barrel 151 are made constant. When each zoom lens is driven from the Wide position to the Tele position, if the magnifications obtained by the first lens barrel 101 and the second lens barrel 151 are different, the display on the display unit 119 created from the images of the two lens barrels Since there is a difference in the images, an unbalanced image is displayed. Accordingly, a method for reducing the burden on the power supply circuit 116 without displaying an unbalanced image on the display unit 119 when each zoom lens is driven from the Wide position to the Tele position will be described below. In order to reduce the burden on the power supply circuit 116, the movement of the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 and the second lens barrel 151 may be shifted by the inrush current period as described above. However, as a result of shifting the movement of the optical zoom between the first lens barrel 101 and the second lens barrel 151 (see the graph line 2001 and the graph line 2101), a difference appears in the display image on the display unit 119. A balanced image is displayed. Therefore, a method for correcting the optical zoom magnification by electronic zoom (see graph line 2102) and solving the above problem will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for driving the zoom lens from the Wide position to the Tele position. It is assumed that the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 and the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151 are in the Wide position, and the user operates the zoom switch 115 to drive the zoom lens from the Wide position to the Tele position. (See FIG. 4).

  First, in S2501, the optical zoom driving of the first lens barrel 101 is started. Here, in order to reduce the burden on the power supply circuit 116, the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151 is not yet driven. In step S2502, the control unit 111 acquires the position of the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101, that is, the optical zoom position of the first lens barrel 101, from the encoder 103a. In step S2503, the control unit 111 acquires the position of the zoom lens 130b of the second lens barrel 151, that is, the optical zoom position of the second lens barrel 151, from the encoder 103b. When acquiring the optical zoom position of each lens barrel, the control unit 111 proceeds to S2504, and calculates the difference in optical zoom magnification based on each position. Since the relationship between the optical zoom position and the optical zoom magnification can be obtained in optical design, the control unit 111 can calculate the magnification difference using a calculation formula or conversion table prepared in advance. As a means for calculating the difference in optical zoom magnification, the optical zoom magnification difference is calculated based on the angle of view of the image captured by each lens barrel or the size of the subject image without using the optical zoom position. Therefore, a method using such image processing may be adopted.

  In step S <b> 2505, the control unit 111 performs electronic zoom processing corresponding to the difference obtained in step S <b> 2504 on the image data acquired from the second lens barrel 151. This electronic zoom process enlarges the acquired image information by image processing. A known method such as pixel extraction may be used for image enlargement. However, since only the image can be enlarged in the case of the electronic zoom, the image by the second lens barrel 151 having the lower magnification is enlarged here by the electronic zoom. When the magnification change (enlargement) processing by the electronic zoom is completed, the process proceeds to S2506, and the update processing of the image displayed on the display unit 119 is performed. At this time, the image by the second lens barrel 151 has the same magnification as that of the image by the first lens barrel 101 as a result of the electronic zoom process, so that an unbalanced image is not displayed.

  In step S2507, the control unit 111 determines whether the inrush current time corresponding to the length of the waiting period (see 2104 in FIG. 4B) related to the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 has elapsed. . As a result, if it is determined that the inrush current time has elapsed (YES in S2507), the process proceeds to S2512, where the control unit 111 starts driving the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151, and proceeds to S2508. On the other hand, if it is determined that the inrush current time has not elapsed (NO in S2507), the process proceeds to S2508, where the control unit 111 determines whether the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 has reached the Tele position. As a result, if it is determined that the tele position has been reached (YES in step S2508), the process advances to step S2513, and the control unit 111 stops driving the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101, and then advances to step S2509. On the other hand, if it is determined that the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 has not reached the Tele position (NO in S2508), the process proceeds to S2509, where the control unit 111 reaches the Tele position of the second lens barrel 151. Determine whether or not. As a result, when it is determined that the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151 has not reached the Tele position (NO in S2509), the process returns to S2502, and the above process is repeated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151 has reached the Tele position (YES in S2509), the process advances to S2510, and the control unit 111 stops driving the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151. In step S 2511, the control unit 111 stops the electronic zoom process of the second lens barrel 151, and ends the series of zoom drive processes described above in step S 2514.

  By executing the above processing, the temporal changes in the zoom magnifications of both lens barrels coincide. That is, the optical zoom magnification of the first lens barrel 101 changes as indicated by the graph line 2001 in FIG. Further, the magnification of the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151 changes as indicated by a graph line 2101 in FIG. 4B, and the electronic zoom magnification changes as indicated by a graph line 2102. The change in the magnification obtained by combining the optical zoom and the electronic zoom is as indicated by a graph line 2103, which is the same as the change in the optical zoom magnification of the first lens barrel 101 (see the graph line 2001).

Next, the operation when the zoom lens is driven from the tele (telephoto) end to the wide (wide angle) end will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.
FIG. 6A is a graph showing a temporal change in zoom magnification when the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101 is driven from the Tele position to the Wide position. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents zoom magnification. A graph line 2201 represents a change in the optical zoom magnification during driving, and is a magnification value at the Tele position at time t4. The zoom magnification linearly decreases with time, and the Wide position at time t6. After reaching the magnification value at, the magnification value is maintained until time t7. A trapezoidal graph line 2202 represents a change in the electronic zoom magnification obtained by image processing. During the waiting period from t4 to t5, the zoom magnification linearly increases with time. Then, the electronic zoom magnification becomes a constant value during the period from t5 to t6, and after linearly decreasing from the time t6, the magnification value returns to the original at the time t7. A graph line 2203 indicates a magnification obtained by combining the optical zoom magnification indicated by the graph line 2201 and the electronic zoom magnification indicated by the graph line 2202.

  FIG. 6B is a graph showing a temporal change in zoom magnification when the zoom lens 130b of the second lens barrel 151 is driven from the Tele position to the Wide position. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents zoom magnification. A graph line 2301 represents a change in the optical zoom magnification. In the period 2302 from t4 to t5, that is, in the waiting period for the inrush current when the first lens barrel 101 is activated, the zoom magnification is a magnification value at the Tele position. Thereafter, the zoom magnification decreases linearly with time, and reaches the magnification value at the Wide position at time t7.

  The change in zoom magnification shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B shows the case where the speeds of the zoom drive motor 102a of the first lens barrel 101 and the zoom drive motor 102b of the second lens barrel 151 are made constant. Yes. When the zoom lens is driven from the Tele position to the Wide position, if the magnifications obtained by the first lens barrel 101 and the second lens barrel 151 are different from each other, the display image of the display unit 119 created from the images of the two lens barrels The difference will come out and an unbalanced image will be displayed. Therefore, in the following, as a method of reducing the burden on the power supply circuit 116 without displaying an unbalanced image on the display unit 119 when the zoom lens is driven from the Tele position to the Wide position, the zoom magnification by electronic zoom processing is adjusted. A correction method will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart when the zoom lens is driven from the Tele position to the Wide position. Note that the basic processing flow shown in S2601 to S2614 is the same as that in FIG. Therefore, the following description will focus on the differences (S2605, S2608, S2609, S2611), and the same processing as the step in FIG. 5 will be omitted by using a number obtained by adding 100 to the number of the step.

  After the zoom magnification difference is calculated in S2604, the process proceeds to S2605, and the control unit 111 performs electronic zoom processing on the image data acquired using the first lens barrel 101 according to the difference obtained in S2604. Since only the enlargement can be performed with respect to the electronic zoom process, after the process of enlarging the image of the first lens barrel 101 having a low magnification with the electronic zoom, the process proceeds to S2606, and the display image is updated. Since the magnification of the image by the first lens barrel 101 is the same as that of the image by the second lens barrel 151 as a result of the electronic zoom process, an unbalanced image is not displayed.

  When it is determined in S2607 that the waiting time for the inrush current related to driving of the first lens barrel 101 (see period 2302 in FIG. 6B) has not elapsed (NO in S2607), or the second mirror in S2612 If the driving of the optical zoom of the cylinder 151 is started, the process proceeds to S2608. Here, the control unit 111 determines whether or not the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 has reached the Wide position. As a result, if it is determined that the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 has reached the Wide position (YES in S2608), the process proceeds to S2613, and the control unit 111 stops driving the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101.

  If the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 has not reached the Wide position (NO in S2608), or if the optical zoom drive of the first lens barrel 101 is stopped in S2613, the process proceeds to S2609. Here, the control unit 111 determines whether or not the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151 has reached the Wide position. As a result, when the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151 has not reached the Wide position (NO in S2609), the process returns to S2602, and the processes of S2602 to 2606 are repeated. On the other hand, when the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151 has reached the Wide position (YES in S2609), the process proceeds to S2610, and the driving of the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151 is stopped. In step S2611, the electronic zoom processing of the first lens barrel 101 is stopped, and in step S2614, a series of zoom drive processing ends.

  When the above processing is executed, the optical zoom magnification of the second lens barrel 151 changes as shown by a graph line 2301 in FIG. The optical zoom magnification of the first lens barrel 101 changes as indicated by a graph line 2201 in FIG. 6A, and the electronic zoom magnification changes as indicated by a graph line 2202. The change in the magnification obtained by combining the optical zoom and the electronic zoom is as indicated by the graph line 2203 and is the same as the change in the optical zoom magnification of the second lens barrel 151 (see the graph line 2301).

  In the above description, regarding the driving between the Wide position and the Tele position related to the zoom lens, the driving time points of the zoom lens (optical zoom) of the first lens barrel 101 and the zoom lens (optical zoom) of the second lens barrel 151 are described. An example in which the burden on the power supply circuit 116 is reduced by shifting is shown. In the practice of the present invention, not only a zoom lens (optical zoom) but also a similar effect can be obtained by shifting the driving time of other actuators related to the lens barrel. For example, an embodiment is possible in which the aperture driving time is shifted between the first lens barrel 101 and the second lens barrel 151, and a luminance difference caused by shifting the driving time is corrected by image processing.

Further, when the battery 117 is used as the power source of the power supply circuit 116, the simultaneous driving of the first lens barrel 101 and the second lens barrel 151 and the execution of the above process may be switched according to the degree of consumption of the battery 117. In the case of simultaneous driving, there is no waiting time at the start of driving of the zoom lens of the second lens barrel 151, so that the zoom operation is accelerated, but the battery 117 is consumed quickly. Therefore, when the battery 117 is sufficiently charged or when the AC adapter 118 is used, it is preferable to prioritize the zoom operation speed and start driving the first lens barrel 101 and the second lens barrel 151 at the same time.
The drive control has been described above by taking as an example the case where the zoom drive motor 102a of the first lens barrel 101 and the zoom drive motor 102b of the second lens barrel 151 have the same speed. When the speed of each zoom drive motor is constant, the difference in waiting time of the inrush current flowing at the start of driving continues until the end of driving. Therefore, control for reducing the difference in inrush current waiting time will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 8A is a graph showing a temporal change in zoom magnification when the zoom lens 130a of the first lens barrel 101 is driven from the Wide position to the Tele position. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents zoom magnification. A graph line 3001 represents a change in zoom magnification during driving. The graph line 3001 shows the magnification value at the Wide position at time t8, and then the zoom magnification linearly increases with time, and at time t9. The magnification value at the Tele position is reached. That is, the zoom drive motor 102a of the first lens barrel 101 is moving at a constant speed.

  FIG. 8B is a graph showing a temporal change in zoom magnification when the zoom lens 130b of the second lens barrel 151 is driven from the Wide position to the Tele position. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents zoom magnification. A graph line 3101 represents a change in zoom magnification during driving, and the zoom magnification of the lens barrel is an optical zoom magnification that changes by changing the position of the zoom lens. A period 3104 from the time point t8 to a time point indicated by reference numeral 3105 is a waiting period for an inrush current that flows when the first lens barrel 101 is activated, and the optical zoom magnification during this period is a magnification value at the Wide position. Thereafter, the optical zoom magnification changes as time passes, and the rate of change decreases at the time indicated by reference numeral 3106. Therefore, the magnification changes according to a line graph. A graph line 3102 represents a change in magnification of the electronic zoom obtained by image processing. In the waiting period 3104, after the electronic zoom magnification increases linearly as time elapses, the electronic zoom magnification starts decreasing at the time indicated by reference numeral 3105, and changes linearly as time elapses until the time indicated by reference numeral 3106. A time point 3105 indicates a timing at which the zoom drive motor 102b of the second lens barrel 151 starts to move. A time point 3106 indicates the timing at which the zoom lenses reach the same position (equivalent position) with respect to the zoom drive motor 102a of the first lens barrel 101 and the zoom drive motor 102b of the second lens barrel 151. The electronic zoom magnification remains constant from the time indicated by reference numeral 3106 to the time t9. A graph line 3103 indicates a magnification obtained by combining the optical zoom magnification indicated by the graph line 3101 and the electronic zoom magnification indicated by the graph line 3102.

  When the zoom lens is driven from the Wide position to the Tele position, if the magnifications obtained by the first lens barrel 101 and the second lens barrel 151 are different from each other, the display image of the display unit 119 created from the images of the two lens barrels The difference will come out and an unbalanced image will be displayed. Therefore, in the following, when each zoom lens is driven from the Wide position to the Tele position, the display unit 119 does not display an unbalanced image, and the burden on the power supply circuit 116 is reduced, so that the difference in waiting time of the inrush current is reduced. A method of shrinking will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart when the zoom lens is driven from the Wide position to the Tele position. Note that the basic processing flow shown in S3501 to S3516 is the same as that in FIG. Therefore, the difference (S3512, S3514, S3515) will be mainly described below, and the processing similar to the step in FIG. 5 will be omitted by using a number obtained by adding 1000 to the step number.

  If it is determined in S3507 that the inrush current waiting time (see period 3104 in FIG. 8B) has elapsed (YES in S3507), the process proceeds to S3512 and the optical zoom driving of the second lens barrel 151 is started. (See reference numeral 3105 in FIG. 8B). Here, the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151 is driven at a higher speed than the driving speed of the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101. As for the speed setting, the control unit 111 sets the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151 so as to catch up with the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 before the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 reaches the Tele position. Set.

  If it is determined in S3507 that the inrush current waiting time for the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 has not elapsed (NO in S3507), or the optical zoom driving of the second lens barrel 151 is started in S3512. In the case, the process proceeds to S3514. Here, the control unit 111 determines whether or not the zoom lenses related to the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 and the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151 are at the same position, that is, an equivalent position in each lens barrel. . As a result, if it is determined that the positions of both optical zooms are the same (YES in S3514), the process proceeds to S3515. In accordance with an instruction from the control unit 111, control for adjusting the speed is performed so that the driving speed of the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 and the driving speed of the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151 are the same. The timing indicated by reference numeral 3106 in FIG. 8B indicates this timing. The inclination (change rate) of magnification is the same between the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 and the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151, and the magnification of the electronic zoom of the second lens barrel 151 is substantially zero (that is, in the image data). On the other hand, the electronic zoom does not work).

  If the zoom lenses for both optical zooms are not at the same position (NO in S3514), or after processing for matching the drive speeds of both optical zooms to the same speed in S3515, the process proceeds to S3508. Here, the control unit 111 determines whether or not the optical zoom of the first lens barrel 101 has reached the Tele position. The subsequent processing is executed in the same manner as in FIG. 5, and a series of processing ends in S3516.

When the above processing is executed, the optical zoom magnification of the first lens barrel 101 changes as indicated by the graph line 3001 in FIG. Further, the magnification of the optical zoom of the second lens barrel 151 changes as indicated by the graph line 3101 in FIG. 8B, and the electronic zoom magnification changes as indicated by the graph line 3102. The change in the magnification obtained by combining the optical zoom and the electronic zoom is as shown by the graph line 3103, which is the same as the change in the optical zoom magnification of the first lens barrel 101 (see the graph line 3001).
According to this embodiment, the difference between the optical zoom magnifications due to the waiting time of the inrush current can be reduced as time elapses.
As mentioned above, although preferable embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these embodiment, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible within the range of the summary.

101 first lens barrel 102a first lens barrel zoom drive motor 106a first lens barrel focus drive motor 130a first lens barrel zoom lens 131a first lens barrel focus lens 151 second lens barrel 102b second lens barrel Zoom drive motor 106b Focus drive motor for second lens barrel 130b Zoom lens for second lens barrel 131b Focus lens for second lens barrel 111 Control unit

Claims (8)

An imaging apparatus including a plurality of lens barrels each including a movable lens,
Driving means for independently driving the movable lenses of the plurality of lens barrels;
Control is performed so that driving of the movable lens of the second lens barrel starts after a period of inrush current that flows when the movable lens of the first lens barrel is driven by the driving means among the plurality of lens barrels. An image pickup apparatus comprising:   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit stops driving the movable lens of the second lens barrel after stopping the driving of the movable lens of the first lens barrel. The plurality of lens barrels include, as the movable lens, a zoom lens that changes the magnification of the subject image and a focus lens that focuses the subject image on the imaging surface,
The control means controls to shift a time point at which driving of the zoom lens or focus lens of the first lens barrel is started from a time point at which driving of the zoom lens or focus lens of the second lens barrel is started. The imaging device according to claim 1 or 2.   The control unit corrects a magnification difference between a zoom magnification during driving of the zoom lens according to the first lens barrel and a zoom magnification during driving of the zoom lens according to the second lens barrel by electronic zoom processing. The imaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein:   The control means starts driving the optical zoom related to the first lens barrel by driving the zoom lens related to the first lens barrel by the driving means until the inrush current period elapses. 5. The imaging apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the magnification difference is corrected by the electronic zoom process while the driving of the zoom lens according to the second lens barrel is stopped during the period.   The control means starts driving the optical zoom related to the first lens barrel by driving the zoom lens related to the first lens barrel at a constant speed by the driving means, and the period of the inrush current is Until the lapse of time, the driving of the zoom lens according to the second lens barrel is stopped, and after the period has elapsed, the zoom lens according to the second lens barrel is driven at a constant speed by the driving means, The imaging apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the magnification difference is corrected by electronic zoom processing.   The control means starts driving the optical zoom related to the first lens barrel by driving the zoom lens related to the first lens barrel at a constant speed by the driving means, and the period of the inrush current is Until the time elapses, driving of the zoom lens according to the second lens barrel is stopped, and after the period has elapsed, the zoom lens according to the second lens barrel is related to the first lens barrel by the driving means. 6. The imaging apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image pickup apparatus is controlled to be driven at a driving speed larger than a driving speed of the zoom lens. A method for controlling an imaging apparatus including a plurality of barrels each including a movable lens,
Driving the movable lens of the first barrel among the plurality of barrels;
And a step of starting driving the movable lens of the second barrel after a period of inrush current flowing when the movable lens of the first barrel is driven has elapsed. Method.

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