JP2012070336A - Photographing device, photographing system, and photographing controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem of conventional techniques in which synchronous photographing using cameras with different performance is not considered.SOLUTION: A photographing device relating to this invention comprises: a receiving part for receiving information on photographing ability from another external photographing device; a photographing condition calculation part which obtains photographing conditions including at least a photographing start time of the mentioned external photographing device according to the information on the photographing ability of the external photographing device received by the receiving part and information on the photographing ability of the photographing device of the invention; and a transmission part which transmits information for causing the external photographing device to execute photographing at the photographing start time obtained by the photographing condition calculation part, to the external photographing device.

Description

  The present invention relates to a photographing control technique for photographing an image by linking a plurality of photographing devices.

  Conventionally, a technique for performing synchronous shooting with a plurality of cameras has been studied (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-297414 A

  However, in the past, synchronous photography with cameras with different performance was not considered.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a photographing apparatus, a photographing system, and a photographing control apparatus that can perform synchronized photographing with high accuracy even with cameras having different performances.

  The imaging device according to the present invention relates to a receiving unit that receives information about imaging capability from another external imaging device, information about imaging capability of the other external imaging device received by the receiving unit, and imaging capability of the own device. A shooting condition calculation unit for obtaining a shooting condition including at least a shooting start time of the other external shooting device according to the information; and information for executing shooting at the shooting start time obtained by the shooting condition calculation unit. And a transmission unit for transmitting to the external photographing apparatus.

  The imaging system according to the present invention is an imaging system including the imaging apparatus and another external imaging apparatus capable of receiving information transmitted from the imaging apparatus, and the other external imaging apparatus is configured as described above. A transmission unit that transmits information related to imaging capability to the imaging device, a reception unit that receives information for executing imaging at the imaging start time, and an imaging at the imaging start time received by the receiving unit And a shooting control unit that controls to start shooting at the shooting start time according to the information for the recording.

  The imaging control device according to the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives information about imaging capability from a plurality of external imaging devices, and the information about the imaging capability of each of the plurality of external imaging devices received by the receiving unit. An imaging condition calculation unit that obtains an imaging condition including at least an imaging start time of a plurality of external imaging devices, and information for causing imaging to be performed at the imaging start time obtained by the imaging condition calculation unit And a transmitter for transmitting to the apparatus.

  The photographing apparatus, photographing system, and photographing control apparatus according to the present invention can perform synchronized photographing with high accuracy even when cameras having different performances are used.

1 is a system configuration example showing an imaging system 100 according to the present embodiment. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a photographing apparatus 101. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a synchronous imaging | photography process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a photography interval of synchronous photography in this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the imaging | photography interval calculation method of the synchronous imaging | photography in an application example. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a photography interval of the synchronous photography in an application example.

  Hereinafter, a photographing apparatus, a photographing system, and a photographing control apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an imaging system 100 according to the present embodiment. The photographing system 100 includes a photographing device 101, a photographing device 102, a photographing device 103, a photographing device 104, and a photographing device 105.

  The imaging system 100 is a system that captures images by synchronizing the imaging apparatuses 101 to 105 having the “synchronous imaging mode”, and the imaging apparatuses 101 to 105 have a communication function.

  The photographing apparatus 101 is a single-lens reflex camera on the master side in the photographing system 100. When the master and slave are defined, the device that controls the plurality of devices collectively is called the master side, and the device that is controlled is called the slave side. In the present embodiment, the photographing apparatus 101 is a camera having a photographing function, but it may be a photographing control apparatus 151 (a portable terminal such as a PDA) having no photographing function as indicated by a dotted line. The photographing devices 102 and 104 are composed of a compact camera, the photographing device 103 is a game machine with a camera, and the photographing device 105 is a mobile phone with a camera. Here, in FIG. 1, the photographing apparatus 101 is the master side, but any of the photographing apparatuses 102 to 105 on the slave side may be the master side. However, on the master side, a high-performance imaging device with high processing capability such as a single-lens reflex camera is preferable. Here, when the processing capability of the CPU built in each device is high, the operating frequency (f) is generally high, and the number of instructions (IPC) that can be processed per second is large. Further, as a value indicating the processing capacity of the CPU, for example, the frequency of the apparatus itself (f) × the number of instructions that can be executed per unit time (IPC) can be converted into a numerical value. It is stored as data, and the imaging device with the highest processing capability is automatically mastered by determining which imaging device has the highest (f × IPC) value in the configured system. You may make it decide.

  Next, the configuration of the photographing apparatus 101 will be described with reference to FIG. Each of the slave-side photographing devices has the same kind of components as the photographing device 101, although it has different capabilities. The operation on the master side / slave side is the same as the photographing mode setting on each photographing device. Can be selected.

  In FIG. 2, an imaging apparatus 101 includes an optical system 201, an imaging unit 202, a buffer 203, a control unit 204, an operation unit 205, a display unit 206, a memory card interface (memory card IF) 207, and a memory. 208, a communication unit 209, and a timer unit 210.

  The optical system 201 includes a focus lens, a zoom lens, a lens driving unit, an aperture, and the like, and the control unit 204 performs focus control, aperture value adjustment, and the like.

  The imaging unit 202 includes a mechanical shutter, a solid-state imaging device as a photoelectric conversion element, etc., performs shutter control by the control unit 204 and outputs image data obtained by photographing the subject via the optical system 201.

  A buffer 203 is a buffer memory that temporarily holds image data output from the imaging unit 202, and image processing such as color correction processing and compression processing is performed by the control unit 204.

  The control unit 204 is configured by a CPU or the like, and executes instructions and various calculations (calculations) necessary for the processing to cause the components of the imaging apparatus 101 to execute processing according to a program stored in advance in the internal memory of the CPU. The overall operation of the imaging apparatus 101 is controlled. In particular, in the present embodiment, processing for synchronous shooting is performed with a plurality of slave-side shooting apparatuses.

  The operation unit 205 includes operation buttons such as a power button 261, a release button 262, a mode switching button 263, a menu button 264, and a cross cursor button 265. In particular, in this embodiment, the “synchronous shooting mode” is selected by the mode switching button 263 or the menu button 264. Note that operation information of the operation unit 205 is output to the control unit 204, and the control unit 204 executes processing according to the operation information. For example, when the operation information indicating that the release button 262 of the operation unit 205 is pressed is input, the control unit 204 starts the photographing process.

  The display unit 206 is configured by a liquid crystal monitor or the like, and displays a reproduced image corresponding to a captured image or image information stored in the memory card 301 by the control unit 204. Alternatively, when the menu button 264 of the operation unit 205 is pressed, the control unit 204 displays a menu screen stored in advance in the memory 208 on the display unit 206.

  The memory card IF 207 is an interface for mounting the memory card 301.

  The memory 208 stores parameters necessary for the operation of the photographing apparatus 101. For example, resolution setting, shooting mode setting such as shutter priority, sensitivity setting, and the like. In particular, in this embodiment, shooting capability information of the shooting apparatus 101 is stored in the memory 208. In this embodiment, the master / slave side setting and “slave operation rejection setting” set in the “master / slave setting menu” are also stored in the memory 208. Here, it is assumed that the photographing apparatus 101 is set on the master side and the photographing apparatuses 102 to 105 are set on the slave side.

  The communication unit 209 includes a transmission circuit and a reception circuit for performing wireless communication with other photographing apparatuses 102 to 105 using, for example, radio waves or infrared rays. The communication unit 209 may be configured with a transmission circuit and a reception circuit for performing wired communication by connecting with a cable of a serial bus standard or the like instead of wireless communication. Here, the communication unit 209 transmits information output from the communication control unit 251 of the control unit 204 to the communication destination, and conversely outputs information received from the communication destination to the communication control unit 251 of the control unit 204. That is, the communication unit 209 is a hardware device for forming a communication path with a communication destination in the same manner as a commonly used wireless LAN device or wired LAN device. The communication control unit 251 of the control unit 204 transmits and receives.

  The timer unit 210 has a clock function, and outputs a time in units of 1/10000 seconds to the control unit 204 like a stopwatch, for example.

  Here, although the image capturing apparatus 101 of FIG. 2 has an image capturing function, the image capturing control apparatus 151 (a portable terminal such as a PDA) without the image capturing function described in FIG. Thus, the photographing system 100 that performs synchronous photographing using a plurality of photographing devices from the photographing devices 102 to 105 as slave devices may be configured. In this case, the configuration of the imaging control device 151 is configured such that there are no blocks related to imaging such as the optical system 201 and the imaging unit 202 in FIG. Or even if it is a portable terminal having a photographing function, photographing is performed by using a plurality of photographing devices 102 to 105 as slave devices as a master device without performing photographing with the own device, and performing synchronous photographing. System 100 may be configured.

  Next, the configuration of the control unit 204 will be described in detail. In FIG. 2, the control unit 204 includes a communication control unit 251, a photographing control unit 252, a timer control unit 253, a recording control unit 254, a display control unit 255, a mode setting unit 256, and a photographing condition calculation unit 257. And have. In this embodiment, the imaging apparatus 101 is described as being set on the master side. However, when the imaging apparatus 101 is set on the slave side, the processing of the shooting condition calculation unit 257 is not performed. Here, the control unit 204 operates in accordance with a program (corresponding to a shooting control program) stored in advance in the inside, and performs a process of “synchronous shooting mode”.

  The communication control unit 251 transmits and receives control information to and from the communication units and communication control units of the other image capturing apparatuses 102 to 105 via the communication unit 209. Part. Here, the control information includes information indicating a synchronous communication preparation request, information indicating a shooting preparation completion response, information indicating a synchronous shooting start request, information indicating a synchronous shooting stop request, and the like. In addition, when transmitting each information to a communication destination, when the transmission control part of the communication control part 251 transmits to a communication destination via the transmission circuit of the communication part 209, conversely, when receiving each information from a communication destination, The reception control unit of the communication control unit 251 receives the signal via the reception circuit of the communication unit 209.

  Here, the transmission unit of the claims corresponds to the transmission circuit of the communication unit 209 and the transmission control unit of the communication control unit 251, and the reception unit of the claims includes reception of the reception circuit of the communication unit 209 and the communication control unit 251. Corresponds to the control unit.

  The imaging control unit 252 captures the image data captured by the optical system 201 and the imaging unit 202 into the buffer 203. When “synchronous shooting mode” is selected, one image (one frame) is shot at each shooting timing instructed by the timer control unit 253.

  The timer control unit 253 controls the timing at which the imaging unit 202 captures an image according to the time adjustment of the timer unit 210 and the time output by the timer unit 210. In the present embodiment, the timer unit 210 has a function of starting timing after being reset to 0 like a stopwatch, and the time adjustment is a process of resetting to 0. In addition, the timer control unit 253 instructs the shooting control unit 252 to take an image at each time interval specified by the communication control unit 251.

  The recording control unit 254 attaches a file name to the image data fetched into the buffer 203 and stores it in the memory card 301 via the memory card IF 207. For example, image data corresponding to one frame and information indicating an image file name are stored in one file.

  The display control unit 255 performs processing for displaying an image or menu screen output from the control unit 204 on the display unit 206.

  The mode setting unit 256 performs processing for storing the contents set by the operation of the mode switching button 263 or the menu button 264 in the memory 208. For example, information on whether or not “synchronous shooting mode” is set, and setting information on the master side / slave side indicating whether the apparatus itself is a master or a slave when “synchronous shooting mode” is set Alternatively, information such as a setting for not performing the operation as the slave side (“slave operation refusal setting”) without returning information indicating a shooting preparation completion response to the master side is stored in the memory 208. Here, the “synchronous shooting mode” is a shooting mode in which the master side shooting device centrally sets the timing at which a plurality of imaging devices take images, and each imaging device takes images at the set shooting timing. It is.

  The shooting condition calculation unit 257 is a process executed when the “synchronous shooting mode” is set on the master side, and obtains the shooting condition of each device according to the shooting capability notified from the slave-side shooting device. Here, the shooting conditions are: shooting start time (start time of a series of continuous shooting at each shooting device), shooting interval (interval of continuous shooting at each shooting device), upper limit number of shooting (number of shots taken by each shooting device) For example). For example, in the case of synchronously shooting a single image, at least the shooting start time and information indicating single shooting are sufficient, but the upper limit number of shooting may be set to 1, for example, instead of single shooting. In addition, in the case of continuously shooting a plurality of images, it is only necessary to have information on at least the shooting start time and the shooting interval. Alternatively, information such as an aperture value and a shutter speed may be included in the shooting conditions.

  In this manner, the control unit 204 processes the “synchronous shooting mode” according to a shooting control program that can be executed by a computer and stored in advance. The photographing control program is stored in advance in the photographing apparatuses 101 to 105 at the time of manufacture. However, the photographing control program may be stored and distributed in a storage medium such as a memory card 301 or a disk and later installed in each apparatus. You can download it from the Internet and install it. In this case, it may be connected to the Internet via the communication unit of each photographing apparatus, and downloaded from the manufacturer's server or the like via the Internet and loaded into the camera.

  Next, processing in the case of performing synchronous shooting processing in the shooting system 100 will be described. The flowchart of FIG. 3 depicts the processing of the master side imaging device 101 and the processing of the slave side imaging devices 102 to 105 in correspondence with each other. First, processing on the master side will be described.

  (Step S101) The communication control unit 251 broadcasts information indicating a synchronous shooting preparation request to all slave devices. Note that the broadcast transmission is to transmit the same information to a plurality of devices all at once. Information indicating a synchronous shooting preparation request is transmitted by broadcast communication of 1: n (broadcast transmission from one master device to n slave devices (n is a natural number)). Alternatively, it may be individually transmitted at 1: 1.

  In addition, the ID number of each device on the slave side may be registered in advance, or a list of photographing devices within a communicable range is created by receiving information indicating a photographing preparation completion response described later. May be. In addition, when the ID number of each slave device is registered in advance in the master photographing device, before executing this processing step, the slave photographing device to be linked is displayed on the display unit of the master photographing device. It may be displayed in 206 and can be selected from the displayed list.

  Note that, at the same time as transmitting information indicating a synchronous shooting preparation request, the communication control unit 251 instructs the timer control unit 253 to reset the timer unit 210. As a result, the timer unit 210 is reset to 0 and newly starts counting time. Note that the timer unit (corresponding to the timer unit 210) built in the photographing devices 102 to 105 on the slave side is also reset at the same time. Here, the communication control unit 251 finely adjusts the time lag of communication from the master side to the slave side and controls so that the time difference between the master side and the slave side is zero as much as possible.

  (Step S102) The communication control unit 251 receives information indicating an imaging preparation completion response from the communication unit of the slave-side imaging device (imaging devices 102 to 105) via the communication unit 209. Here, the information indicating the shooting preparation completion response includes shooting capability information of each slave-side shooting device. Further, the photographing capability of the photographing apparatus 101 itself can be known from the memory 208.

  Note that the shooting capability information includes information on at least the minimum shooting interval that can be shot continuously (information corresponding to so-called continuous shooting speed), and from the number of shots that can be shot continuously and shooting instructions until the actual shooting of images. You may include time lag information. Alternatively, information on the resolution (FINE, NORMAL, etc.) of a shootable image, information on the minimum shooting interval for each resolution, or information on the remaining capacity of the memory card 301 may be included. Further, exposure information of the subject may be included. Alternatively, the model number or serial number of the photographing device on the slave side may be included. Here, the slave-side imaging device that is set to “slave operation rejection setting” returns information indicating a shooting preparation completion response to the communication unit 209 of the master-side imaging device 101 via the communication unit of each imaging device. Absent.

  In addition, the display control unit 255 of the photographing apparatus 101 may display a list of slave photographing apparatuses that have received information indicating a photographing preparation completion response on the display unit 206. Then, the photographer may select the slave operation / slave non-operation by operating the cross cursor button 265.

  (Step S103) The communication control unit 251 transmits information indicating a synchronous shooting start request to each device on the slave side. At the same time, information indicating a synchronous shooting start request is also output to the shooting control unit 252 of the master apparatus (the shooting apparatus 101). Here, the information indicating the synchronous photographing start request includes photographing conditions of the photographing devices on each slave side. The photographing conditions are the photographing conditions for all the photographing devices on the master side and the slave side obtained based on the photographing ability information received in step S102 and the photographing ability information of the own device read from the memory 208. As described above, information such as the shooting start time, the shooting interval, and the upper limit number of shots calculated by the shooting condition calculation unit 257 of each shooting apparatus.

  Here, when the own device is not the photographing device 101 having the photographing function and the photographing control device 151 without the photographing function in FIG. 1 is the master device, the above processing is not performed. do it.

  Note that when the shooting capability information includes release time lag information, the shooting condition calculation unit 257 obtains a shooting start time, a shooting interval, and the like taking this into consideration. Here, the release time lag in the present embodiment is the time from when the information indicating the synchronous shooting start request is received from the master side until the actual shooting is started. Note that the release time lag is preferably a value obtained by subtracting the communication time lag.

  Alternatively, the shooting condition calculation unit 257 obtains the minimum shooting interval at the resolution when the shooting capability information includes information about the resolution of a shootable image. In addition, when the shooting capability information includes information such as the remaining capacity of the memory card 301, the shooting condition calculation unit 257 obtains the upper limit number of shots according to the shooting apparatus having the smallest remaining capacity (the smallest number of shots). . Further, when the shooting capability information includes exposure information of the subject measured before shooting, the shooting condition calculation unit 257 sets all the exposure conditions such as the shutter speed, the aperture value, or the ISO sensitivity to all exposure conditions. The same processing may be performed by the imaging device. As a result, all the photographing devices that perform synchronous photographing can photograph under the same exposure conditions such as the depth of field, and images of the same quality can be obtained.

  (Step S104) The imaging control unit 252 of the master-side imaging apparatus 101 causes the imaging process to be performed based on the imaging condition of the own apparatus obtained by the imaging condition setting unit 257 in step S103. For example, when a single image is captured synchronously, the imaging control unit 252 captures an image with the optical system 201 and the imaging unit 202 at the designated imaging start time, and loads the image into the buffer 203. In the case of continuous shooting, the shooting control unit 252 takes images with the optical system 201 and the imaging unit 202 at each shooting interval specified from the shooting start time, and loads the images into the buffer 203. At this time, if the upper limit number of images is designated, the image capturing control unit 252 performs image capturing up to the upper limit number of images.

  (Step S <b> 105) The communication control unit 251 broadcasts information indicating a synchronous shooting stop request simultaneously to all the slave devices. At the same time, information indicating a synchronous shooting stop request is also output to the shooting control unit 252 of the master device. Here, the information indicating the synchronous shooting stop request is for stopping the shooting at the time of continuous shooting. For example, the information indicating the synchronous shooting stop request is displayed on the slave side when the release button 262 of the shooting device 101 on the master side is released. In addition to transmitting to each device, information indicating a synchronous shooting stop request is also output to the shooting control unit 252 of the own device. Further, the information indicating the synchronous shooting stop request may be notified including information such as the number of shots when shooting is completed and the shooting time for each image. Note that when the upper limit number of shooting is specified and the shooting is performed up to the upper limit of shooting, information indicating a synchronous shooting stop request may not be transmitted.

  (Step S106) The recording control unit 254 stores the captured images (a plurality of images at the time of continuous shooting) captured in the buffer 203 in the memory card 301 via the memory card IF 207.

  Here, if the apparatus itself is not the image capturing apparatus 101 having the image capturing function and the image capturing control apparatus 151 without the image capturing function in FIG. 1 is the master apparatus, the process in step S104 is not performed in the process in FIG.

  Next, processing performed by the slave side imaging devices 102 to 105 will be described. Here, each device on the slave side is also configured in the same manner as the imaging device 101 on the master side in FIG. 2, but in the following description, for easy understanding, the respective units constituting the imaging devices 102 to 105 on the slave side are shown. Suppose that a is added to the end of the code of each block depicted in FIG. For example, the communication control unit 251 is described as a communication control unit 251a.

  (Step S <b> 201) The communication control unit 251 a receives the information indicating the synchronous shooting preparation request from the master imaging device 101 by broadcast. The communication control unit 251a of the image capturing apparatus 102 that has received the information indicating the synchronous shooting preparation request instructs the timer control unit 253a to reset the timer unit 210a.

  (Step S <b> 202) The communication control unit 251 a transmits information indicating an imaging preparation completion response including the imaging capability information of the slave-side imaging device 102 to the master-side imaging device 101. Note that in the case of “slave operation refusal setting”, information indicating a shooting preparation completion response is not returned.

  (Step S203) The communication control unit 251a receives information indicating the synchronous shooting start request including the shooting conditions from the shooting device 101 on the master side, and sets shooting conditions (shooting start time, shooting interval, shooting upper limit) instructed from the master side. The number of images) is output to the imaging control unit 252a.

  (Step S204) The photographing control unit 252 of the photographing device 102 on the slave side executes a photographing process based on the designated photographing condition. Note that the photographing process at this time is the same as that on the master side in step S104.

  (Step S205) The communication control unit 251a receives information indicating a synchronous shooting stop request including information such as the number of shots at the time of shooting completion and the shooting time for each image from the shooting device 101 on the master side, and receives the shooting control unit. Instruct 252a to stop photographing. Receiving this, the shooting control unit 252a acquires information such as the number of shots when shooting of the own apparatus is completed and the shooting time for each image.

  (Step S206) The shooting control unit 252a compares information such as the number of shots received from the master side and the shooting time for each image with the corresponding information of the own device. For example, if the number of shots is larger than the master side, the process proceeds to step S207, and if the number is the same, the process proceeds to step S208.

  (Step S207) If the number of images taken by the slave side photographing device 102 is larger than that on the master side, the photographed image captured in the buffer 203 is deleted and adjusted to the same number as the master side.

  (Step S208) The recording control unit 254a assigns a file name to the captured image (a plurality of images at the time of continuous shooting) captured in the buffer 203a and saves it in the memory card 301. Here, the recording control unit 254a writes information indicating the times of the timer units 210 and 210a (information indicating the time when the recorded image data was acquired) into the header information (for example, EXIF information) of each image file. deep.

  In this way, synchronous shooting processing on the master side and slave side is executed. When the master side does not have a shooting function like the portable terminal 151 in FIG. 2, the shooting process in step S104 and the storage process in step S106 in FIG. 3 are not performed.

  Next, the shooting interval calculated by the shooting condition calculation unit 257 when continuous shooting is performed in the “synchronous shooting mode” will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows an example of a shooting interval in the case of synchronous shooting with the three shooting devices 101 on the master side and the shooting devices 102 and 103 on the slave side. FIG. 4A illustrates the minimum photographing interval (capturing ability) of each apparatus with reference to the start of photographing at the same time. For example, when the minimum photographing intervals of the photographing apparatuses 101 to 103 are 0.5 seconds, 1.25 seconds, and 1.75 seconds, respectively, the first one can be synchronized, but when continuous shooting is performed. Since the performance of each device is different, the shooting timings do not match and it is difficult to perform synchronous shooting.

  Therefore, in the imaging system 100 according to the present embodiment, the imaging condition calculation unit 257 of the master-side imaging device 101 acquires in advance the imaging capabilities of the imaging device of the own device and the slave side (step S102 in FIG. 3). . Then, the shooting condition calculation unit 257 calculates a synchronous shooting condition (a condition including at least a shooting start time and a shooting interval in the case of continuous shooting) according to the capabilities of each device. For example, in the case of the imaging capability of FIG. 4A, the imaging condition calculation unit 257 determines the imaging interval as 1.75 seconds with reference to the minimum imaging interval of the imaging device 103 having the lowest imaging capability. The shooting condition calculation unit 257 also determines the shooting interval of the shooting apparatuses 101 and 102 with high shooting capability to be 1.75 seconds. Thereby, each imaging device constituting the imaging system 100 can perform continuous shooting in synchronization at intervals of 1.75 seconds (FIG. 4B).

  Here, the shooting start time is also set based on, for example, an apparatus having the lowest shooting capability. In the case of FIG. 4B, the time lag from when the timer units 210 and 210a are reset at 0 second (actually after the information indicating the synchronous shooting start request is issued) to when shooting is possible is the longest. The time is determined as the shooting start time in accordance with the apparatus. In the example of FIG. 4B, the photographing start time is 2 seconds after each timer unit is reset. Then, continuous shooting is performed while synchronizing every 1.75 seconds of the shooting interval determined from the shooting start time.

  In this way, highly accurate synchronous shooting can be performed even when cameras with different performances are used. In particular, the synchronization error can be reduced even when the time lag differs for each apparatus that performs synchronous imaging. Further, when the number of shots is different, the extra shot images are automatically deleted, so that only the synchronously shot images can be saved.

  Next, application examples of the imaging apparatus, imaging system, and imaging control apparatus according to the above-described embodiment will be described. In this application example, the configurations of the imaging system 100 and the imaging apparatuses 101 to 105 are the same. The only difference from the previous embodiment is the processing when the shooting condition calculation unit 257 calculates the shooting start time and shooting interval.

  In the previous embodiment, a plurality of photographing devices are synchronized and images are photographed at the same photographing timing. However, in this application example, a plurality of photographing devices are synchronized and images are photographed at different timings, and the header of each image file Information indicating the times of the timer units 210 and 210a (information indicating the time when recorded image data was acquired) is written in the information (for example, EXIF information). Then, by rearranging images taken by a plurality of photographing devices after photographing at different timings (time) based on the time described in the header information, each photographing device is independent. A continuous shot image having a shorter continuous shooting interval than continuous shooting is obtained.

  Further, the file name to be stored may be notified to each photographing apparatus on the slave side by information indicating the synchronous shooting preparation request described above or information indicating the synchronous shooting start request, etc., and may be unified with the same file name. . As a result, the operability when the image file photographed by the master photographing device 101 and the slave photographing devices 102 to 105 is read from each memory card and integrated into a continuous shot image using a personal computer or the like after photographing is obtained. improves. In particular, in the photographing system 100 according to the present embodiment, since images captured by a plurality of photographing devices can be rearranged in order of time, an operation for integrating the images into continuous images is easy.

  In this application example, the shooting condition calculation unit 257 obtains shooting conditions of each shooting apparatus using an algorithm as shown in FIG. It is assumed that each device has the photographing ability shown in FIG.

  (Step S301) The imaging condition calculation unit 257 specifies an imaging device with the shortest imaging interval (high imaging capability) among the imaging capability information notified from each device including its own device.

  For example, in the case of the shooting capability shown in FIG. 4A, the minimum shooting interval of the shooting device 101 is 0.5 seconds, the minimum shooting interval of the shooting device 102 is 1.25 seconds, and the minimum shooting interval of the shooting device 103 is 1. .75 seconds, the photographing apparatus 101 is the photographing apparatus with the shortest photographing interval.

  Here, in the case where the own apparatus is not the photographing apparatus 101 having the photographing function but the photographing control apparatus 151 having no photographing function in FIG. 1 is the master side apparatus, the photographing is notified from each apparatus without including the own apparatus. The imaging device having the shortest imaging interval (high imaging capability) in the capability information is specified.

(Step S302) The photographing condition calculation unit 257 selects the photographing interval with the shortest photographing interval of the other photographing devices among the photographing intervals that are integral multiples of the minimum photographing interval (L seconds) of the photographing device 101 with the shortest photographing interval. Ask. In the case of the photographing apparatus 102, when the obtained photographing interval is M1 seconds, the smallest value that satisfies (Equation 1) and can be realized by the photographing interval of the photographing apparatus 102 is obtained.
M1 = L × A1 (A1: integer ≧ 1) (Formula 1)
For example, in the example of FIG. 4A, M1 = L × A1 and M1 ≧ 1.25, and A1 that minimizes M1 is obtained, and M1 at that A1 is the photographing interval. Specifically, since M1 must be a multiple of (L × A1) = 0.5 and M1 must be a value of 1.25 or more, M1 = 1.5 seconds when A1 = 3.

Similarly, in the case of the photographing apparatus 103, if the photographing interval to be calculated is M2 seconds, the smallest value that satisfies (Equation 2) and is realizable with the photographing interval of the photographing apparatus 103 is obtained.
M2 = L × A2 (A2: integer ≧ 1) (Formula 2)
For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4A, A2 that minimizes M2 is obtained from M2 = L × A2 and M2 ≧ 1.75, and M2 at the time of A2 is the photographing interval. Specifically, since M2 must be a value of 1.75 or more in a multiple of (L × A2) = 0.5, M2 = 2.0 seconds when A2 = 4.

  FIG. 5A shows an example of the shooting interval of the photographing apparatuses 101 to 103 obtained in this step. The shooting interval is drawn at the same start time so that it can be easily understood.

  In this way, the shooting intervals of the other shooting apparatuses are set to an integer multiple of the shooting apparatus 101 with reference to the shooting interval of the shooting apparatus 101 having the minimum shooting interval as a reference. This setting is set by the shooting condition calculation unit 257 of the master-side shooting device 101 as the shooting condition of the own device, and is transmitted from the communication unit 209 to the communication unit 209 of each slave-side shooting device. The shooting condition calculation unit 257 of each shooting apparatus is set. Here, when the own apparatus is not the photographing apparatus 101 having the photographing function and the photographing control apparatus 151 without the photographing function in FIG. 1 is the master side apparatus, the photographing condition calculation unit 257 does not set the own apparatus. Only the setting for each photographing device on the slave side is performed.

(Step S303) The photographing condition calculation unit 257 obtains the photographing start time of the photographing apparatuses 101 to 103. FIG. 5B is an example showing the shooting timing after the determination of the shooting start time, and the shooting interval is the same as in FIG. Further, in FIG. 5B, for easy understanding, an enlarged view of the first L second portion is also shown. The delay time of the photographing device 102 is D1 seconds and the delay time of the photographing device 103 is based on the photographing device 101. Is D2 seconds. Here, 0 seconds <D1 <L seconds, 0 seconds <D2 <L seconds, and D1 and D2 are different values. For example, the delay times D1 and D2 can be determined according to the number of imaging devices to be used. In this case, if the basic unit of the delay time is D seconds, D can be obtained as in (Equation 3).
D = L / (Number of units) (Formula 3)
Here, D is a basic unit of delay time, and the delay time set in each photographing apparatus is an integral multiple of D. On the other hand, D1 and D2 are delay times of the image capturing apparatus 102 and the image capturing apparatus 103, and are values that are integral multiples of the basic unit D.

  In the example of FIG. 5B, since L = 0.5 seconds, three imaging devices (the first imaging device 101, the second imaging device 102, the third imaging device 103) are used. D = 0.5 / 3, and the basic unit D seconds is about 0.17 seconds. Even when four or more photographing apparatuses are used, the photographing timing can be shifted by (Equation 3).

The shooting start time S seconds can be obtained as shown in (Expression 4).
S = D × (n−1) (Formula 4)
In (Expression 4), n is an integer indicating the number of devices, and since the photographing device 101 is the first device (n = 1), S = 0 seconds, and the photographing device 102 is the second device (n = 2), S = D seconds (about 0.17 seconds), and since the third photographing apparatus 103 (n = 3), S = D × 2 seconds (about 0.34 seconds).

  That is, the shooting start time S is an integral multiple of D, and in the example of FIG. 5B, the shooting start time of the shooting device 102 is a time delayed by D1 (1 times D) from the shooting device 101. Similarly, a time delayed by D2 (twice D) from the photographing apparatus 101 is a photographing start time of the photographing apparatus 103.

  As described above, the imaging condition calculation unit 257 can obtain the imaging start time and the imaging interval for performing continuous shooting with the three imaging apparatuses for each apparatus. Thus, for example, in the example of FIG. 5, when continuous shooting is performed with the fastest imaging apparatus 101, only the number of frames at intervals of 0.5 seconds can be obtained. .Sequential images with a frame number of 7 seconds can be taken.

  Note that the above algorithm is merely an example, and other methods may be used so that the timings of shooting with the three shooting apparatuses do not overlap. For example, FIG. 6 shows an example in which the shooting timings of the respective apparatuses are distributed without providing the condition that the delay times D1 and D2 are smaller than the minimum shooting interval L. In FIG. 6, the photographing start time of the photographing apparatus A is 0.500 seconds after the timer is reset, and the photographing interval is 0.500 seconds. Similarly, the photographing start time of the photographing device B is 1.750 seconds later, the photographing interval is 1.000 seconds, the photographing start time of the photographing device C is 1.250 seconds, the photographing interval is 1.000 seconds, and the photographing device D The shooting start time is 1.125 seconds later, and the shooting interval is 2.000 seconds. Here, the difference from FIG. 5 described above is that the photographing start times of the photographing apparatuses C and D are longer than the photographing interval 0.5 seconds of the photographing apparatus 101 having the smallest photographing interval. . In the example of FIG. 6, since the photographing intervals of the photographing apparatuses B and C are the same 1.000 seconds, if they are arranged in the same interval of the photographing intervals of the photographing apparatus 101, the deviation of the total photographing intervals becomes large. It is. As described above, when there are photographing apparatuses having the same photographing interval, processing such as arranging them in different sections may be performed.

  In this way, continuous shooting with a plurality of shooting devices shifted so that shooting timings do not overlap can obtain a continuous shot image with a larger number of shooting frames than when shooting continuously with each shooting device. it can.

  Note that a part of the imaging apparatus according to each embodiment described above, for example, the function of the control unit 204 may be realized by a computer. In this case, a control program for realizing the control function may be recorded on a computer-readable storage medium, and the control program recorded on the recording medium may be read by the computer and executed.

  The “computer system” here includes an OS (Operating System) and hardware of peripheral devices. The “computer-readable storage medium” refers to a portable recording medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, an optical disk, and a memory card, and a storage device such as a hard disk built in the computer system.

  “Computer-readable storage medium” means a program that dynamically holds a program for a short time, such as a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In this case, a volatile memory inside the computer system that serves as a server or a client may be used to hold a program for a certain period of time. Further, the above program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above, or may be realized by a combination with the program already recorded in the computer system. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Shooting system; 101 ... Shooting device; 102 ... Shooting device; 103 ... Shooting device; 104 ... Shooting device; 105 ... Shooting device; 151 ... Shooting control device; 201 ... Optical system; 204 ... Control unit; 205 ... Operation unit; 206 ... Display unit; 207 ... Memory card IF; 208 ... Memory; 209 ... Communication unit; 210 ... Timer unit; 251 ... Communication control unit; 252 ... Shooting control unit; 253 ... Timer Control unit; 254 ... Recording control unit; 255 ... Display control unit; 256 ... Mode setting unit; 257 ... Shooting condition calculation unit; 261 ... Power button; 262 ... Release button; 263 ... Mode switch button; ... Cross cursor button; 301 ... Memory card

Claims (9)

A receiving unit for receiving information on photographing ability from another external photographing device;
An imaging condition calculation unit that obtains an imaging condition including at least the imaging start time of the other external imaging device according to the information about the imaging capability of the other external imaging device and the information about the imaging capability of the own device received by the receiving unit. When,
An imaging apparatus, comprising: a transmission unit that transmits information for executing imaging at the imaging start time obtained by the imaging condition calculation unit to the other external imaging device. The imaging control device according to claim 1,
The shooting condition calculation unit obtains at least a shooting interval among the shooting interval and the upper limit number of continuous shooting of the other external shooting device as the shooting condition, in addition to the shooting start time,
The transmission device transmits information for performing imaging at the imaging interval obtained by the imaging condition calculation unit to the other external imaging device. In the imaging control device according to claim 1 or 2,
The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photographing condition calculation unit obtains the photographing condition on the basis of a photographing ability having the lowest photographing ability among the photographing ability of the other external photographing apparatus and the photographing ability of the own apparatus. In the photography control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The transmission unit transmits information for ending the imaging to the other external imaging device. In the photography control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
When the continuous shooting is performed between the other external photographing apparatus and the own apparatus, the photographing condition calculating unit determines whether the photographing timing of all the apparatuses is timed according to the other external photographing apparatus and the photographing ability of the own apparatus. An imaging apparatus, wherein the imaging start time and the imaging interval between the other external imaging apparatus and the own apparatus are obtained so as to be distributed on the axis on average. In the imaging control device according to claim 5,
The photographing condition calculation unit arranges all photographing timings of the other external photographing device and the own device on a time axis rather than the photographing timing interval of each of the other external photographing device and the own device. The photographing apparatus is characterized in that the photographing interval is determined so that the photographing timing interval is reduced. The imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
Another external photographing device capable of receiving information transmitted from the photographing device;
A shooting system composed of
The other external photographing device is:
A transmission unit for transmitting information on the imaging capability to the imaging device;
A receiving unit for receiving information for executing shooting at the shooting start time;
An imaging system comprising: an imaging control unit that controls to start imaging at the imaging start time according to information for executing imaging at the imaging start time received by the receiving unit. In the imaging system according to claim 7,
A shooting system, wherein time information at the time of shooting is added to an image shot by each of the devices and recorded on a storage medium. A receiving unit for receiving information on photographing ability from a plurality of external photographing devices;
An imaging condition calculation unit for obtaining an imaging condition including at least imaging start times of the plurality of external imaging devices according to information on imaging capabilities of the plurality of external imaging devices received by the reception unit;
An imaging control apparatus, comprising: a transmission unit that transmits information for performing imaging at the imaging start time obtained by the imaging condition calculation unit to the plurality of external imaging devices.

Images