JP2011049653A - Image capturing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that a photographer doesn't reach a place the photographer really wants to photograph and recording is over in a certain time when the photographer with an image capturing apparatus slowly moves in photographing for a certain time. <P>SOLUTION: The image capturing apparatus includes a position detection means and an automatic photographing means. The position detection means includes a means for calculating the position of the image capturing apparatus and automatically performs photographing until an operator reaches the position the operator wants to photograph by automatically performing photographing until the position of the image capturing apparatus reaches the target place. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus having a shooting mode in which shooting is started together with an instruction to start shooting and is automatically stopped when a predetermined distance is moved.

  Conventionally, there is a proposal that a captured image is recorded for a predetermined time from an instruction to start shooting, and the recording is automatically terminated after a predetermined time has elapsed (so-called snap moving image shooting mode), and the image is continuously played back. . Although the purposes are various, it is possible to obtain a playback image that can be viewed happily and at a good tempo without making the viewer feel uncomfortable without performing a subsequent editing operation by making the recording time of one captured image as long as possible.

  In Patent Document 1, a shooting time for one cut is set, and the shooting operation is automatically stopped when a preset shooting time has elapsed after the start of shooting. Further, there has been a proposal of displaying the elapsed time or remaining time from the start of shooting on the image display unit so that the photographer can easily understand.

  In the case of the above-mentioned proposal, there is a case where a preset shooting time cannot be extended and a scene to be shot is missed. In Patent Document 2, in order to extend the shooting time that is defined as a certain time to the time desired by the photographer, when the shooting button is pressed at the end of shooting, until the shooting button is released A proposal to continue shooting has been made.

JP-A-6-153028 JP 2000-69428 A

  However, in the case of the snap moving image shooting mode as described above, the photographer needs to keep pressing the shooting button until reaching the desired location, which is a heavy load on the photographer. Also, if the finger is accidentally released from the shooting button, shooting may stop halfway.

  In addition, in the case of shooting for a certain period of time, when the moving speed of the photographer with the image pickup device is slow, there is a case where the recording is not completed without reaching the place where the photographer originally wanted to take.

  The imaging apparatus of the present invention is an imaging apparatus having a position detection unit and an automatic imaging unit, and has a unit for calculating the position of the imaging device, and performs automatic imaging until the position of the imaging device reaches an arbitrary place. It is characterized by doing.

  The imaging apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that when the position of the imaging apparatus can no longer be detected, the imaging apparatus is switched to the normal imaging mode.

  The image pickup apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that, when the position of the image pickup apparatus cannot be detected during shooting, the shooting operation is stopped after an arbitrary time from when the position cannot be detected.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in the snap moving image shooting mode, it is possible to automatically shoot time from the start of shooting to moving to a preset position, so that the photographer is not burdened. It is possible to automatically perform shooting up to a place where the photographer wants to shoot.

  In addition, even when positioning cannot be performed, it is possible to automatically finish shooting.

The block diagram explaining the 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the front (photographer side) left side. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention viewed from the rear (photographer side) right side. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the first embodiment (display unit open state) of the present invention as viewed from the rear (photographer side) left side. The figure explaining the internal structure of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. Detailed view explaining the arrangement of the GPS receiver The flowchart explaining the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart explaining the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart explaining the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Example 1
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view (person to be photographed) with the display unit of the video camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention closed. Side) External perspective view seen from the left side, FIG. 3 is an external perspective view seen from the rear (photographer side) right side with the display unit of the video camera closed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the video camera body 100 includes an optical lens group including an optical control system such as focus and zoom, a lens 101 including a diaphragm, an imaging unit 102 including an imaging element such as a CCD, a camera signal processing unit 103, Compression / decompression processing unit 104, display unit 105, display unit open / close detection switch 124, recording / playback processing unit 106, card control unit 107, large-capacity internal memory control unit 108, microphone 109, audio signal processing unit 110, memory 111, memory control Unit 112, CPU 113, operation unit 114, digital I / F 115, input / output unit 116, and power supply control unit 117. The functional blocks are connected to each other via a data bus 118 so that data communication can be performed.

  In such a video camera main body 100, the memory 111 has a program storage area and a data work area, is used by time sharing in each functional block via the data bus 118, and is controlled and controlled by the memory control unit 112. It is managed.

  The CPU 113 is a central processing circuit that performs overall control of the entire video camera main body 100 by executing a predetermined program.

  The display unit open / close detection switch 124 is an ON / OFF switch, and is OFF when the display unit 105 is open with respect to the imaging apparatus main body 100, and is ON when the display unit 105 is closed. To do. When the display unit 105 is open (when the switch is OFF), an image is displayed on the display unit 105, and when it is closed (when the switch is ON), no image is displayed on the display unit 105.

  The operation unit 114 includes the operation keys 114a, 114b, 114c, 114d, 114e, 114f, 114g, 114h, and 114i of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, and the CPU 113 based on the key operation from the user. Has a function of instructing operation.

  Here, the function of each operation key will be described with reference to FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG.

  114a is a zoom knob for performing a zoom operation to change the angle of view of the lens to the wide side or the tele side, and 114b is a shooting mode switch, which is set in advance from the normal shooting mode and the shooting start proposed in the present invention. When it is detected that the position has been reached, it is possible to switch to a positioning shooting mode in which shooting is automatically stopped, and the mode can be switched by a slide operation.

  A power dial 114c can be switched between power-off, shooting mode, and playback mode by rotating.

  Reference numeral 114d denotes a moving image shooting button, which can start / stop moving image shooting by pressing. By operating the moving image shooting button 114d, shooting in the snap moving image shooting mode can be started.

  114f, 114g, 114h, 114i are arranged on the display unit 105, 114f is a playback operation button, 114g is a rewind button, 114h is a fast forward button, 114i is a play / pause button, and 114e is a menu display ON. A menu button 114j for switching / OFF, etc., and a cross key 114j for selecting / deciding a menu. Using the menu button 114e and the cross key 114j, position information that is a condition for starting and ending shooting in the snap moving image shooting mode in the present invention is input.

  The memory card 119 is a removable flash memory such as an SD card or a compact flash, in which shooting data and audio data are recorded.

  The power control unit 117 includes a battery detection circuit, a DC-DC converter, a switch circuit that switches a block to be energized, and the like, and detects whether or not a battery is installed, the type of battery, and the remaining battery level. The battery 123 is a lithium ion battery or the like, and supplies power to the video camera body 100.

  Next, the shooting operation, recording operation, and playback operation of the video camera in the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  For example, when a shooting operation and a recording operation are instructed by the operation unit 114, light from the subject becomes an optical signal whose predetermined brightness, angle of view, focus, and the like are controlled by the lens 101 to the imaging unit 102. Input. The imaging unit 102 converts the input optical signal into an electrical signal and outputs it to the camera signal processing unit 103. The camera signal processing unit 103 converts this electric signal into a digital image signal. The image signal is subjected to signal processing such as color separation, gradation correction, and white balance adjustment, and then output. The audio signal processing unit 110 outputs the audio signal as audio data by gain-controlling the audio signal input from the microphone 109 to a predetermined level and digitizing it.

  The compression / decompression processing unit 104 compresses and encodes the image data output from the camera signal processing unit 103 and the audio data output from the audio signal processing unit 110 by a predetermined compression encoding method. The display unit 105 includes the display unit 105 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the compression / decompression processing unit 104 displays the shooting data to be compressed and encoded. Further, the display unit 105 displays the operation status of the video camera body 100 as on-screen display information as necessary.

  The recording / playback processing unit 106 performs error correction coding processing, modulation processing, and the like on the data after compression coding obtained by the compression / decompression processing unit 104, and further adds data such as synchronization and ID to record Then, it is recorded on a recording medium such as a large-capacity internal memory 120 or a memory card 119. At this time, the large-capacity internal memory control unit 108 performs recording control of the large-capacity internal memory 120, and the card control unit 107 performs recording control of the memory card 119.

  On the other hand, when a playback operation is instructed by the operation unit 114, the recording / playback processing unit 106 detects original digital data from data read from the large-capacity internal memory 120 or the memory card 119, and performs processing such as error correction and demodulation. Apply. Further, a clock synchronized with the reproduction data is generated by a PLL circuit.

  The compression / decompression processing unit 104 performs decompression processing corresponding to a predetermined compression encoding method on the data output from the recording / playback processing unit 106, and acquires shooting data and audio data before compression encoding. The display unit 105 displays the reproduction data obtained by the compression / decompression processing unit 104.

  When the operation unit 114 instructs to record the input data from the digital I / F 115, the CPU 113 inputs the image data or audio data from the external device 121 in the form of a digital signal by the digital I / F 115 and records it. The data is sent to the reproduction processing unit 106. At this time, it is assumed that the image data and audio data from the external device 121 have already been encoded, and the recording / playback processing unit 106 performs processing necessary for recording on the input data as described above to perform a large-capacity internal processing. Recording is performed on a recording medium such as the memory 120 or the memory card 119.

  When the operation unit 114 instructs to record the input signal from the input / output unit 116, the CPU 113 controls the input / output unit 116 and inputs the image and audio signals output from the external device 122. The input / output unit 116 converts the image and audio signals output from the external device 122 into digital data and outputs the digital data to the memory 111. The CPU 113 outputs the image and audio data stored in the memory 111 to the compression / decompression processing unit 104, compresses and encodes them, and sends them to the recording / reproduction processing unit 106. As described above, the recording / playback processing unit 106 performs processing necessary for recording on the encoded data and records the data on a recording medium such as the large-capacity internal memory 120 or the memory card 119.

  The GPS receiving unit 125 receives a signal including the position of the GPS satellite (not shown), the transmission time of the radio wave, and a correction coefficient from the GPS satellite (not shown), and amplifies the received signal with the amplifier 126, The data is output to the positioning control unit 132. Based on this data, the positioning control unit 132 calculates the distance from at least three GPS satellites (not shown), and calculates the position of the GPS receiving unit 125 and the time at that position. In this imaging apparatus, the calculated position information and time information are recorded on a recording medium together with image data. At the time of reproduction, the position information and time information can be referred to and can be used for organizing data and storage.

  The automatic shooting control unit 133 performs the positioning control when performing automatic shooting in the positioning shooting mode in which shooting is automatically stopped when it is detected that the camera has reached a preset position from the start of shooting proposed in the present invention. Based on the position data calculated by the unit 132, control for stopping shooting or shifting to the normal shooting mode is performed.

  The arrangement of the GPS receiver 125 and the surrounding configuration in the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the internal configuration with the exterior portion of the perspective view shown in FIG. 2 being transparent, and FIG. 6 is a detailed diagram for explaining the arrangement of the GPS receiver 125.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the imaging apparatus of the present invention includes an optical lens group including an optical control system such as focus and zoom and a lens 101 including a diaphragm in the video camera body 100, and the video camera body 100 is rotatable. The display unit 105 is attached.

  The display unit 105 can be opened, closed, and rotated with respect to the video camera body 101 by a rotation mechanism 128.

  A GPS receiver 125 is provided on the upper part of the rotation mechanism 128. The GPS receiver 125 is mounted on a substrate 127, and the radio wave reception direction of the GPS receiver 125 and the opening / closing rotation axis of the rotation mechanism 128 are substantially parallel. It is arranged to become. The substrate 127 is attached to the substrate holding member 129 via screws, and the substrate holding member 129 is attached to the attachment portion of the rotation mechanism 128. The board 127 is electrically connected to the main board 131 by a flexible cable 130.

  Next, the snap moving image shooting mode depending on the position of the image pickup apparatus will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the photographing operation in the embodiment of the present invention.

  First, it is determined whether or not the shooting start has been operated by pressing the moving image shooting button 114d as an operation unit (S201). Next, it is determined whether or not it is a constant distance shooting mode in which shooting is automatically started or ended when it is detected that a preset position has been reached from the start of shooting (S202). If it is the constant distance shooting mode, the GPS receiver 125 receives a GPS signal (S203).

  If it is determined in S202 that the camera is not in the constant distance shooting mode, shooting is started, and recording on a recording medium such as the memory card 119 or the large-capacity internal memory 120 is started (S212). In S213, the display unit 105 displays the content that the normal shooting mode is set, and then determines whether or not the shooting stop is operated by pressing the moving image shooting button 114d (S214), and the shooting stop is operated. Until the shooting is continued, the normal shooting mode is displayed.

  Next, it is determined whether or not a GPS satellite signal (not shown) is received by the GPS receiver 125 (S204). If the GPS receiver 125 receives the GPS satellite signal, the positioning controller 132 Then, the position where the imaging device 100 is located is calculated, and the contents related to the current position are displayed on the display unit 105 (S205). Next, it is determined whether or not the preset shooting start position has been reached by the input operation of the menu button 114e and the cross key 114j (S206), and the automatic shooting control unit 133 determines that the imaging device has reached the set position. If so, shooting is started and recording to a recording medium such as the memory card 119 or the large-capacity internal memory 120 is started (S207).

  If it is determined in S204 that the GPS satellite signal cannot be received, the process proceeds to S213.

  Next, while shooting is continued, it is determined whether the GPS satellite signal (not shown) can be received by the GPS receiver 125 (S208). If the GPS satellite signal is received by the GPS receiver 125, Then, the positioning control unit 132 calculates the position where the imaging device 100 is, and displays the contents related to the current position on the display unit 105 (S209).

  If the GPS satellite signal cannot be received in S208, the process proceeds to S213. Next, it is determined whether or not the shooting stop has been operated by pressing the moving image shooting button 114d (S214). Until the shooting stop is operated, a display indicating that the mode is the normal shooting mode is displayed in S213.

  When the shooting stop is operated, shooting is stopped (S211), and the shooting operation is terminated.

  In S210, it is determined whether or not the preset shooting end position has been reached by the input operation of the menu button 114e and the cross key 114j, and positioning control is performed from the GPS reception signal (not shown) in S207 until the set position is reached. Unit 132 calculates the position. If the automatic shooting control unit 133 determines that the set position has been reached, shooting is stopped (S211), and the shooting operation is terminated.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in the snap video shooting mode, it is possible to automatically shoot the time from the preset shooting start position to the shooting end position. Without giving, it is possible to automatically perform shooting up to a place where the photographer wants to shoot.

(Example 2)
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the shooting operation of the video camera according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Since other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  First, it is determined whether or not the shooting start has been operated by pressing the moving image shooting button 114d as an operation unit (S301). Next, it is determined whether or not it is a constant distance shooting mode in which shooting is automatically started or ended when it is detected that a preset position has been reached from the start of shooting (S302). If it is the constant distance shooting mode, the GPS receiver 125 receives a GPS signal (S303).

  If it is determined in S302 that the mode is not the constant distance shooting mode, shooting is started, and recording on a recording medium such as the memory card 119 or the large-capacity internal memory 120 is started (S311). In S312, the display unit 105 displays the content indicating that the normal shooting mode is set, and then determines whether or not the shooting stop is operated by pressing the moving image shooting button 114d (S313), and the shooting stop is operated. Until the shooting is continued, the normal shooting mode is displayed. Here, when the photographing stop is operated, photographing is stopped (S316), and the photographing operation is finished.

  Next, it is determined whether or not a GPS satellite signal (not shown) can be received by the GPS receiver 125 (S304), and if the GPS satellite signal is received by the GPS receiver 125, the positioning controller 132 Then, the position where the imaging apparatus 100 is located is calculated, and the contents related to the current position are displayed on the display unit 105 (S305). Next, it is determined whether or not the preset shooting start position has been reached by the input operation of the menu button 114e and the cross key 114j (S306), and the automatic shooting control unit 133 determines that the imaging device has reached the set position. If so, shooting is started, and recording is started on a recording medium such as the memory card 119 or the large-capacity internal memory 120 (S307).

  If it is determined in S304 that a GPS satellite signal cannot be received, the process proceeds to S314.

  Next, continue shooting and determine whether the GPS receiver 125 has received a GPS satellite signal (not shown) (S308). If the GPS receiver 125 receives the GPS satellite signal, Then, the positioning control unit 132 calculates the position where the imaging device 100 is, and displays the contents related to the current position on the display unit 105 (S309).

  If the GPS satellite signal cannot be received in S308, the process proceeds to S314.

  In S314, a display indicating that GPS reception is not possible and a remaining shooting time until the time when shooting is finished when a preset GPS cannot be received are displayed. If it is determined that an arbitrary X second, which is a preset shooting time, has elapsed (S315), shooting is stopped (S316) and the imaging operation is terminated.

  In S310, it is determined whether or not the preset shooting end position has been reached by the input operation of the menu button 114e and the cross key 114j, and positioning control is performed from a GPS reception signal (not shown) until the set position is reached in S309. Unit 132 calculates the position. If the automatic shooting control unit 133 determines that the set position has been reached, shooting is stopped (S316) and the shooting operation is terminated.

  As described above, according to the present invention, even when GPS reception is not possible in the snap moving image shooting mode, it is possible to automatically stop shooting without forgetting to stop shooting and continuing recording.

(Example 3)
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the shooting operation of the video camera according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Since other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  First, it is determined whether or not the shooting start has been operated by pressing the movie shooting button 114d as an operation unit (S401). If the shooting start has been operated, the memory card 119 or the large-capacity internal memory 120 or the like. Recording on the recording medium is started (S402). Next, it is determined whether or not it is a moving distance shooting mode in which shooting is automatically ended when it is detected that the moving distance set in advance from the start of shooting is reached (S403). If it is the moving distance shooting mode, the GPS receiver 125 receives a GPS signal (S404).

  If it is determined in step S403 that the camera is not in the moving distance shooting mode, the process proceeds to step S409, and a display indicating that the normal shooting mode is set is displayed on the display unit 105. Next, it is determined whether or not the shooting stop has been operated by pressing the moving image shooting button 114d (S410), and shooting is continued until the shooting stop is operated, and a display indicating that the mode is the normal shooting mode is displayed.

  When the shooting stop is operated, shooting is stopped (S408), and the shooting operation is terminated.

  Next, it is determined whether or not a GPS satellite signal (not shown) can be received by the GPS receiver 125 (S405), and if the GPS satellite signal is received by the GPS receiver 125, the positioning controller 132 Then, the position where the imaging apparatus 100 is located is calculated, and the contents relating to the moving distance from the start of shooting to the current position are displayed on the display unit 105 (S406).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the preset shooting end moving distance has been reached by the input operation of the menu button 114e and the cross key 114j (S407), and the automatic shooting control unit 133 has reached the set moving distance. If it is determined that the image is taken, shooting is stopped (S408) and the shooting operation is terminated.

  If it is determined in S405 that a GPS satellite signal cannot be received, the process proceeds to S409.

  If it is determined in S407 that the preset photographing end moving distance has not been reached, the process returns to S405.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in the snap moving image shooting mode, since it is possible to automatically shoot the time from the shooting start instruction to the movement of the preset distance, there is no load on the photographer. It is possible to automatically perform shooting up to a place where the photographer wants to shoot.

100 camcorder body
101 lens
102 Imaging unit
103 Camera signal processor
104 Compression / decompression processor
105 Display
106 Recording / playback processor
107 Card controller
108 Large internal memory controller
109 microphone
110 Audio signal processor
111 memory
112 Memory controller
113 CPU
114 Control panel
115 Digital I / F
116 I / O section
117 Power control
118 Data bus
119 Memory card
120 Large internal memory
121 External device
122 External device
123 battery
124 Display open / close detection switch
125 GPS receiver
126 amplifiers
127 GPS board
128 Rotating mechanism
129 Holding member
130 Flexible cable
131 Main board
132 Positioning control unit
133 Automatic shooting controller

Claims (4)

  An image pickup apparatus having a position detection unit and an automatic shooting control unit, the image pickup apparatus having a unit for calculating the position of the image pickup apparatus using the position detection unit, wherein the position of the image pickup apparatus is set in advance as a shooting start position When the position of the image pickup device reaches the position, the shooting is started by the shooting start instruction from the automatic shooting control unit, and when the position of the imaging device reaches an arbitrary position set in advance as the shooting end position, a shooting end instruction from the automatic shooting control unit The imaging device is characterized in that photographing is ended by   When the position of the imaging device can no longer be detected, from the automatic shooting mode in which at least one operation of starting or stopping shooting is performed according to an instruction from the automatic shooting control unit, shooting is started and ended according to an instruction from the operator 2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging apparatus is switched to a normal shooting mode.   When the position of the imaging device cannot be detected during shooting, the shooting operation is stopped after an arbitrary time set in advance from the time when the position cannot be detected by an instruction from the automatic shooting control unit. The imaging device according to claim 1.   An image pickup apparatus having a position detection unit and an automatic shooting control unit, including a unit for calculating the position of the image pickup apparatus using the position detection unit, and starts shooting according to a shooting start instruction from an operator, When the moving distance of the imaging device reaches an arbitrary distance set in advance as a shooting end distance, shooting is ended by a shooting end instruction from the automatic shooting control unit.

Images