JP2013046343A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image pickup device configured to easily photograph solid vision images (left-eye image and right-eye image) by using one imaging element.SOLUTION: An image pickup device 1 includes: an image display section 4 to display a photographing target image captured by an imaging element 2; and an image processing section 5 to obtain a photographed image according to a shutter operation with respect to the photographing target image displayed on the image display section 4. The image processing section 5 cuts a region of a major subject from a first photographed image, and shifts laterally the cut major subject region by a predetermined amount. The image processing section 5 superimposes, as a reference subject region, the major subject region shifted by the predetermined amount on the imaging target image displayed on the image display section 4. When the shutter operation is performed with the reference subject region superimposed thereon, the image processing section 5 obtains the photographing target image as a second photographed image according to the shutter operation.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus, and more particularly to an image capturing apparatus that captures an image for stereoscopic viewing.

  A stereoscopic image technique has been developed in which a left eye is visually recognized by the left eye, a right eye is visually recognized by the right eye, and a stereoscopic image is recognized based on a shift (parallax) of a subject in both images. . In a display that displays stereoscopic images, in combination with glasses for viewing stereoscopic images, the left and right images are displayed in a time-sharing manner or by changing the polarization direction to separate the left and right images from the viewer. There is something to see.

  On the other hand, in an image capturing apparatus capable of capturing a stereoscopic image (that is, a left-eye image and a right-eye image), a left-eye camera module that captures a left-eye image, and a right-eye image A camera module for the right eye to be photographed has been developed. The camera module is composed of an optical component such as a lens and a sensor that acquires image data by photoelectric conversion. The sensor uses a solid-state image sensor such as a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) or a charge coupled device (CCD). Yes. A stereoscopic image can be viewed by displaying images captured by the left and right camera modules on a display capable of stereoscopic display.

  On the other hand, when two camera modules are provided, a stereoscopic image can be easily taken. In this case, however, the apparatus becomes large, the power consumption increases, and the cost increases. For this reason, there has been proposed a method capable of capturing a stereoscopic image even in an image capturing apparatus having only one camera module. For example, there is a method of acquiring a stereoscopic image by photographing the same subject twice from different positions.

  However, when photographing twice at different positions, it is difficult to make the photographing range the same or to make the parallax within an appropriate range. As a method for solving this problem, for example, a method described in Patent Document 1 can be cited. In Patent Document 1, the accuracy of framing is improved by using the first captured image for the second imaging. Specifically, a part of the first captured image is displayed so as to be superimposed on the second target image displayed in real time on the monitor, and the second target image is displayed on a part of the first captured image. A stereoscopic image is acquired by performing the second shooting when the images overlap.

JP 2001-230955 A

  In the method described in Patent Document 1, the second shooting is performed at a position different from the first shooting position, and the second shooting target image is overlapped with a part of the first shooting image. Shooting. At this time, when the movement to the different position is moved in parallel and the camera is not rotated, the subject of the first image and the subject of the second image do not overlap except for a subject at infinity. For this reason, in the method described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to move the camera in parallel and rotate the camera to take an image.

  That is, in a state where the subject central portion (scale image) cut out from the first captured image is displayed on the monitor, the camera is translated to a different position, and the subject central portion included in the video at the position is Then, the camera is rotated so as to overlap the scale image, and the image is taken when it substantially coincides with the position of the scale image, and a second taken image is obtained. Then, the scale image of Patent Document 1 does not take into account the parallax between two images with different viewpoints, but is simply used for alignment.

  Therefore, since the balance between the movement amount and the rotation amount of the camera is not known, it is difficult to adjust the stereoscopic effect in the stereoscopic image when stereoscopically viewed. That is, when the amount of movement is small and the amount of rotation is small, the parallax is too small to obtain a stereoscopic effect, and when the amount of movement is large and the amount of rotation is large, the parallax is too large to be fused. turn into.

  In addition, when the subject to be superimposed is a foreground, since the distant subject is not taken into consideration, the parallax of the subject in the far view may be too large. When such a stereoscopic image is viewed on a display capable of stereoscopic display, there is a possibility that the subject is not fused or the viewer's fatigue increases. In addition, when the subject to be superimposed is a distant view, the near view subject is not taken into account, and thus the parallax of the close view subject may become too large. When such a stereoscopic image is viewed on a display capable of stereoscopic display, similarly, the subject may not be fused, or viewer fatigue may increase. Furthermore, when the distant view is very far away, parallax does not occur in the distant subject even if the camera is moved, so that it is difficult to capture a stereoscopic image.

  In addition, when the second image is taken by overlaying the entire image instead of a part of the image, the near view and the distant view are displayed on the monitor screen at the same time. There is also a problem that when there are a plurality of subjects, the operator has difficulty in determining which subject to superimpose.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an image imaging apparatus that can easily capture a stereoscopic image (left-eye image, right-eye image) using a single imaging device. It aims to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the first technical means of the present invention is displayed on one image sensor, an image display unit that displays an image to be captured captured by the image sensor, and the image display unit. An image capturing apparatus including an image processing unit that acquires a captured image in response to a shutter operation on a target image, wherein the image processing unit is configured to obtain a main subject from the first captured image acquired by the image processing unit. A main subject region cutout unit that cuts out the region, an image shift unit that shifts the cut out main subject region by a predetermined amount in the left-right direction, and the main subject region that has been shifted by the predetermined amount as a reference subject region in the image display unit. An image compositing unit that superimposes the image on the image to be captured, and when the shutter is operated with the reference subject region superimposed, the image processing unit Is obtained by said obtaining the captured target image as the second photographic image in response to over operation.

  According to a second technical means, in the first technical means, a shift amount by the image shift unit is determined based on a distance from the image imaging device to the main subject.

  According to a third technical means, in the first technical means, a shift amount by the image shift unit is determined based on a focal length of the image pickup device.

  According to a fourth technical means, in any one of the first to third technical means, the image display unit includes a touch panel, and the main subject region is a first captured image displayed on the image display unit. The user is designated by performing a touch operation via the touch panel.

  The fifth technical means automatically performs a shutter operation when it is determined in any one of the first to fourth technical means that a part of the photographing target image substantially coincides with the reference subject area. A control unit is provided.

  A sixth technical means performs a shutter operation on the user when it is determined in any one of the first to fourth technical means that a part of the photographing target image substantially coincides with the reference subject area. It is characterized by including a control unit that performs a notification for prompting to perform.

  A seventh technical means includes an image storage unit that stores the first photographed image and the second photographed image as one stereoscopic image data in any one of the first to sixth technical means. It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, even when only one image sensor is provided, the main subject area of the first captured image is shifted by a predetermined amount in the left-right direction, and the main subject area after the shift is changed to the reference subject area. As a second captured image can be acquired by superimposing on the image to be captured that is displayed in real time on the monitor screen, the stereoscopic image with a small amount of deviation in which the parallax is appropriately adjusted ( Left eye image, right eye image) can be easily taken and acquired.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the image imaging device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the image process part for acquiring the 2nd picked-up image which concerns on this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of an operation | movement by the image imaging device of this invention concretely. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of an operation | movement by the image imaging device of this invention concretely. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of an operation | movement by the image imaging device of this invention concretely. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of an operation | movement by the image imaging device of this invention concretely. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of an operation | movement by the image imaging device of this invention concretely. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of an operation | movement by the image imaging device of this invention concretely.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to an image pickup apparatus of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image capturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 indicates the image capturing apparatus. The image capturing apparatus 1 is configured as, for example, a digital still camera or a camera-equipped mobile phone, and includes an image sensor 2, an image storage unit 3, an image display unit 4, an image processing unit 5, a control unit 6, and a key input unit 7. ing. The image pickup device 2, the image storage unit 3, the image display unit 4, the image processing unit 5, and the key input unit 7 are connected to a control unit 6 including a CPU, a memory, and the like. Operation is controlled.

  The image sensor 2 is composed of, for example, a solid-state image sensor such as a CMOS or a CCD, and converts an optical signal into an electric signal and outputs it. The photoelectric conversion output is appropriately gain-adjusted by an AGC (Automatic Gain Control) amplifier (not shown) in an analog signal state, then sample-held by a sample hold circuit (not shown), and further, an A / D conversion circuit ( (Not shown) is converted into a digital signal and output to the image processing unit 5.

  The image processing unit 5 includes a color process circuit (not shown), a DMA (Direct Memory Access) controller, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), and the like. The color process circuit performs interpolation processing, γ processing, and the like on the input digital signal. The digital image data is output to the DMA controller. The DMA controller DMA-transfers the input image data to the DRAM.

  The control unit 6 performs a process of reading the image data transferred to the DRAM from the DRAM and writing it to a VRAM (Video Random Access Memory) (not shown). The image display unit 4 includes, for example, a color liquid crystal panel with a backlight and a driving circuit thereof, and is disposed on the back side of the image pickup device 1 so that a shooting target image captured by the image pickup device 2 can be displayed on a monitor. it can. That is, the image display unit 4 periodically reads out the image data written in the VRAM, and displays on the monitor an image to be captured based on the read image data in real time.

  Then, the user performs shooting while appropriately adjusting the position of the subject while viewing the shooting target image displayed on the image display unit 4. Specifically, the image processing unit 5 acquires a captured image in response to a shutter operation on the image to be captured that is being displayed on the image display unit 4 in real time. For example, when the user presses the shutter key of the key input unit 7, the control unit 6 detects the pressing of the shutter key and detects a predetermined shooting signal (hereinafter, referred to as an image processing unit 5) to instruct shooting. Simply called a shooting signal).

  When the image processing unit 5 receives a photographic signal from the control unit 6, the image processing unit 5 acquires a photographic image based on the image signal written in the DRAM, and the acquired photographic image is configured by a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory. Stored in the image storage unit 3. The captured image can be stored in the image storage unit 3 after being compressed by a compression method such as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). Then, the captured image stored in the image storage unit 3 can be read out by a user operation and displayed on the image display unit 4. Alternatively, if the image capturing apparatus 1 is connected to a printer, the captured image stored in the image storage unit 3 can be printed out.

  A normal photographing process is executed as described above. Since the image capturing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes only one image sensor, when capturing a stereoscopic image (left-eye image, right-eye image), the image capturing apparatus 1 performs two capturing operations. That is, the first shooting is performed in the same manner as the normal shooting, and the image shot by the image sensor 2 is stored in the image storage unit 3 as the first shot image. The second shooting is performed using the first shot image, and a second shot image adjusted to an appropriate parallax with respect to the first shot image is acquired.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the image processing unit 5 for acquiring the second photographed image according to the present invention. The image processing unit 5 reads the first captured image from the image storage unit 3 and extracts a main subject region extraction unit 51 that extracts the main subject region from the first captured image, and the extracted main subject region in the left-right direction. An image shift unit 52 that shifts a predetermined amount, and an image composition unit 53 that superimposes a main subject region shifted by a predetermined amount as a reference subject region on a shooting target image displayed in real time on the image display unit 4 are provided.

  The main subject region cutout unit 51 cuts out a region where it is estimated that the main subject is shot from the first shot image. The main subject area is estimated by, for example, a face recognition technique that calculates a focused area based on a differential value of the first photographed image, stores a focus area when the first photographed image is photographed, and the like. It can be performed by a method of detecting an area where a person is photographed, or specifying a main subject area by a user specifying it with a touch panel. In the case of the method of designating with the touch panel, the image display unit 4 includes a touch panel, and the main subject area is touched on the first captured image displayed on the image display unit 4 by the user via the touch panel. Can be specified.

  Further, the information such as the differential value and the focus area of the first photographed image can be obtained from the information on the autofocus function provided in the image capturing apparatus 1, for example. That is, the area focused by the autofocus (AF) function is set as the main subject area. In the digital camera, for example, the user can select various AF modes such as center-weighted AF and person-priority (face detection) AF, and the focused area is the main subject selected by the user. It is estimated that the possibility is high. As the main subject area, only the main subject may be cut out by object extraction, but an area where the main subject is photographed (for example, a rectangular area) may be cut out together with the background.

  The image shift unit 52 moves (shifts) the main subject region extracted by the main subject region cutting unit 51 in the left-right direction (lateral direction) by a predetermined amount. That is, the main subject area is moved in the left-right direction by a predetermined amount with reference to the position of the main subject area of the first captured image. When the second shooting is moved to the right with respect to the first shooting position, the moving direction of the main subject area is set to the left, and the second shooting is set to the left with respect to the first shooting position. When the camera is moved to take a picture, the moving direction of the main subject area is the right direction. Note that the amount of movement of the main subject region is determined so that the image parallax is appropriate, but a specific method will be described later.

In general, a parallax amount (also referred to as a parallax value) D (unit: m) of two captured images captured by a stereo camera arranged in parallel is a baseline length B corresponding to the distance between the cameras, and the focal point of the camera. By the distance f and the distance Z from the camera to the subject,
D = B × f / Z (1)
Given in. Accordingly, the disparity is 0 in a distant view where the distance Z is sufficiently large, and the disparity increases as the distant view is reached.

  When a stereoscopic image captured under such conditions is observed on a display capable of stereoscopic display as it is, a subject in a distant view is perceived on the display surface, and other subjects jump out in front of the display and are perceived. However, considering the effective use of the parallax range and reducing the parallax angle, the parallax can be reduced so that it is perceived deeper than the display surface, for example, by shifting the entire captured image horizontally. It is desirable to change in this way. That is, in the distant view, the parallax is generated by the shifted amount, and the subject in which the parallax is generated at the time of shooting as much as the shifted amount is perceived on the display surface. This shift amount is determined by conditions such as that the disparity angle of a distant subject does not become too large, and that a subject at a predetermined distance is perceived on the display surface.

  A stereoscopic image similar to that of a stereo camera can be obtained by moving the image pickup apparatus 1 substantially in parallel from the first shooting to the second shooting. Here, the focal length f and the distance Z to the subject are not different from those of the stereo camera, but the baseline length B corresponds to the camera movement amount. Therefore, increasing the camera movement amount increases the parallax. In other words, if the camera movement amount is too large, the parallax may be too large to be fused, and if the camera movement amount is too small, the parallax may be too small to be recognized as a stereoscopic image. It needs to be set appropriately.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the photographing is performed twice so that the main subject region has a desired parallax value so that a suitable stereoscopic image can be obtained. Specifically, the image composition unit 53 superimposes the main subject region shifted by a predetermined amount by the image shift unit 52 as a reference subject region on the photographing target image displayed in real time on the image display unit 4. Then, the user performs the second shooting while viewing the image displayed on the monitor on the image display unit 4. Note that the image display unit 4 of the present example displays in real time an image at the same shooting position as the shooting position of the first shooting image, that is, the first shooting position. At this time, the photographing target image includes the same subject as the reference subject region.

  Accordingly, when the first shooting is completed and the second shooting is started, only the reference subject region is displayed as a double image on the image display unit 4. The user moves the image capturing apparatus 1 in the horizontal direction so that the double images substantially overlap each other, and the user operates the shutter key of the key input unit 7 to perform the second shooting. Two captured images are obtained. That is, when a shutter operation is performed in a state where a part of the shooting target image displayed in real time is superimposed on the reference subject area, the image processing unit 5 changes the shooting target image to the second shot image in accordance with the shutter operation. Get as. The image processing unit 5 outputs the second captured image acquired in this way to the image storage unit 3, and the image storage unit 3 includes a first captured image and a second captured image arranged side by side, for example, 1 One stereoscopic image data is stored.

  In the above, since only the reference subject area is a double image on the screen of the image display unit 4 and the user can adjust the camera movement amount without being confused by other subjects, a suitable stereoscopic image is captured. can do. In addition, since the reference subject region obtained by shifting the main subject region of the first photographed image in the left-right direction by a predetermined amount is combined with the photographing target image on the screen, the user can perform the predetermined subject only by superimposing the reference subject region. Since the second captured image adjusted to the amount of parallax can be obtained, a suitable stereoscopic image can be captured without having to worry about the amount of parallax (image shift amount).

  Here, a region other than the main subject region cut out by the main subject region cutting unit 51 may be handled as transparent. In this case, the first photographed image including the main subject region shifted by a predetermined amount is superimposed on the subject image on the screen, but only the main subject region (that is, the reference subject region) is regarded as the subject image by the user. It is visually recognized as being superimposed. Therefore, the subjects can be easily overlapped without being confused by other subjects. Note that the method of image transparency is not particularly limited, and can be realized by a known method. Further, from the viewpoint that it is only necessary to present the subject area to be superimposed to the user, the same effect can be obtained even if the area excluding the main subject area is not conspicuous. For example, the transparency of the area excluding the main subject area may be increased, or the brightness and saturation of the area excluding the main subject area may be decreased. That is, since the main subject area only needs to be relatively conspicuous, the transparency of the main subject area may be set to 50%, for example, and the transparency of other areas may be set to 90%, for example.

  Further, it is preferable that the entire image area (entire image) is set as a monochrome image and only the main subject area is displayed as a color image because the main subject area is conspicuous and the user can easily discriminate. Furthermore, when calculating the absolute difference value of the pixel value between the image of the main subject area and the image to be captured, and displaying only the area of the pixel having a small value (that is, an area including a similar image) as a color image, This is preferable because it is easy to determine which areas overlap.

  In addition, if the reference subject area superimposed on the shooting target image displayed in real time is enlarged so that it appears larger on the screen, a part of the shooting target image can be used as the reference subject area without being confused by the state of other subjects. It can be stacked and is more desirable. In this case, the image to be captured is also enlarged at the same magnification. By enlarging the reference subject region and the shooting target image, it is possible to improve the overlay accuracy and obtain a stereoscopic image with a small amount of deviation.

  Here, shooting is performed in a state where a part of the shooting target image displayed in real time substantially matches the reference subject region. Shooting may be performed by the user at an arbitrary timing, but may be automatically performed when a part of the shooting target image matches the reference subject area. In this case, the control unit 6 determines whether or not a part of the image to be captured substantially matches the reference subject area, and automatically performs a shutter operation when it is determined that the images substantially match. For example, SAD (Sum of Absolute Difference), which is the sum of luminance differences, is calculated in a region where the reference subject region and the image to be photographed overlap, and photographing is performed when this SAD falls below a predetermined threshold value. As a result, photographing is executed when the amount of deviation of the reference subject becomes small to some extent, and it is possible to obtain a stereoscopic image that is easy to stereoscopically view with little deviation such as tilt.

  As another imaging method, the imaging timing may be presented to the user when a part of the imaging target image substantially matches the reference subject area. In this case, the control unit 6 determines whether or not a part of the image to be photographed substantially matches the reference subject area, and when it is determined that they substantially match, in order to prompt the user to perform a shutter operation. Notification of. For example, in the same manner as described above, when the SAD is calculated in a region where the reference subject region and the image to be photographed are equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, the boundary of the reference subject region is surrounded by a conspicuous color such as red. Notify shooting timing. As a result, shooting is performed when the amount of deviation of the reference subject becomes small to some extent, and it is possible to obtain a stereoscopic image with little deviation such as tilt and easy to view stereoscopically. Further, when it is determined that a part of the image to be photographed does not match the reference subject area, the user may not perform photographing even if the user performs a shutter operation. As a result, it is possible to prevent a stereoscopic image from being photographed where the subject is displaced and an appropriate parallax is not obtained.

  Hereinafter, an example of the shift amount determination method by the image shift unit 52 will be described. Here, the actual parallax value is quantized by the pixels of the image sensor and the display, and the pixel pitch must be taken into consideration, but for the sake of easy understanding, the description is omitted here.

  The parallax value D of two captured images taken by moving the camera in parallel is calculated by D = B × f / Z from the above equation (1). The minimum value of the parallax at this time is set to 0. The maximum value is Dmax. When the stereoscopic image captured in this way is viewed on the display, all subjects are perceived by popping out of the display surface. In the case of a subject with small parallax, the display surface is perceived in a state where there is no deviation between the subject of the left and right images and does not pop out. On the other hand, in the case of a subject with a large parallax, it is perceived by popping out on the display surface due to the deviation of the subject in the left and right images.

  The two captured images captured by the parallel method do not have negative parallax that is a parallax in the opposite direction to the parallax obtained by capturing. When a stereoscopic image having negative parallax is viewed on a display, a subject with negative parallax is perceived by being retracted from the display surface. Since such display should be used effectively also in terms of stereoscopic effect and parallax angle of the image, generally, when generating a stereoscopic image from two captured images captured by the parallel method, A stereoscopic image is generated so that all pixels are moved in the horizontal direction, for example, by moving the entire captured image in parallel. In this way, negative parallax is generated. Accordingly, when the movement amount (also referred to as a shift amount) is ΔD, the parallax when moving uniformly in the horizontal direction is −ΔD, the maximum value is Dmax−ΔD, and the parallax at the time of shooting is D. The subject in question has a parallax of D−ΔD after moving uniformly. In addition, the subject whose parallax at the time of shooting is ΔD is perceived on the display surface when it is displayed on the display because the parallax becomes ΔD−ΔD = 0 after moving uniformly.

  The shift amount ΔD is appropriately determined based on the base line length B and the focal length f of the image capturing apparatus 1. For example, a subject whose distance Z to the subject is L0 and whose parallax at the time of photographing is D0 is a three-dimensional image. When it is desired to obtain a stereoscopic image that is perceived on the display surface when displayed as, the shift amount ΔD may be set to D0. At this time, the subject in front of the distance L0 pops out and is perceived, and the subject behind the distance L0 is withdrawn and perceived. That is, the shift amount ΔD of the main subject area of the first captured image may be set so as to obtain a stereoscopic image that generates such parallax. Specifically, if the distance Z to the main subject is L0, the shift amount ΔD is set to about D0. In addition, the parallax D0 can be calculated | required by Bxf / L0 from above-mentioned Formula (1). If the distance Z to the main subject is larger than L0, the shift amount ΔD is made smaller than D0, and if the distance Z to the main subject is smaller than L0, the shift amount ΔD is made larger than D0. That is, this shift amount ΔD may be varied according to the distance Z from the image capturing apparatus 1 to the main subject.

  Here, if the shift amount ΔD is set to D0 uniformly, the parallax may become inappropriate as a stereoscopic image. When the distance Z to the subject is larger than L0, the parallax value D of the subject becomes D−D0 <0, and when viewed as a stereoscopic image on the display, all the subjects are retracted. Furthermore, the disparity in the distant view may become too large in the retracting direction. On the other hand, even when the subject distance Z is smaller than L0, the parallax value D of the subject area becomes D−D0> 0, and when viewed as a stereoscopic image on the display, all the subjects are popped out. Furthermore, there is a possibility that the parallax in the foreground will become too large in the pop-out direction. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a stereoscopic image in which the parallax is appropriately adjusted by varying the shift amount according to the distance Z to the main subject.

  It is possible to obtain a stereoscopic image captured with a more preferable parallax. Note that the distance Z to the main subject can be determined, for example, from the setting information of the autofocus function provided in the image pickup apparatus 1. That is, the distance Z to the subject and the focal length f can be obtained from the setting information when the first captured image is captured. In the present invention, the base line length B corresponds to the amount of movement of the image capturing apparatus 1 in the left-right direction, but a standard value such as 65 mm close to the eye width is set. Then, the distance Z to the subject, the focal length f, and the baseline length B when the first captured image is captured are stored in the memory as the shooting setting information of the first captured image, and the second captured image is stored. Is acquired by the main subject region cutout unit 51 and the image shift unit 52.

  Next, based on FIGS. 3-8, the operation example by the imaging device 1 of this invention is demonstrated concretely. For example, a case where the shooting scene is as shown in FIG. 3 is assumed. A subject A is disposed in the near view, a subject C is disposed in the distant view, and a subject B is disposed therebetween. The first shooting is performed in the same way as the normal shooting, and the shot image is stored in the image storage unit 3 as the first shot image 41 in FIG. At this time, when the main subject area is the subject A, the focus is also taken so as to focus on the subject A.

  Next, after the first shooting is completed, the second shooting is started. The main subject area cutout unit 51 identifies that the subject A has been shot with focus from the shooting setting information of the first shot image 41, and recognizes the subject A as the main subject. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, a region 41a including the subject A as the main subject (hereinafter referred to as the main subject region 41a) is cut out from the first captured image 41 of FIG. Next, the image shift unit 52 acquires an approximate distance from the image capturing apparatus 1 to the main subject A from the shooting setting information of the first shot image 41, and is cut out by the main subject region cutout unit 51. As shown in FIG. 5, the main subject area 41a is moved by a predetermined amount d in the horizontal direction (image shift direction in the figure) so that the main subject area 41a has an appropriate parallax.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the main subject area 41a is shifted by a predetermined amount d, and is synthesized as a reference subject area 41a 'with a shooting target image displayed in real time on the screen by the image synthesizing unit 53. A composite screen displayed on the image display unit 4 at this time is shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, the same subject A ′, B ′, C ′ as the first photographed image 41 is displayed in real time on the composite screen 42 as the subject image, and the reference subject region 41a shifted in FIG. 5 is displayed. ′ Is superimposed. The user moves the image pickup apparatus 1 sideways (camera movement direction in the figure) so that the subject A in the reference subject area 41a ′ substantially matches the subject A ′ of the shooting target image, and adjusts the amount of deviation. . When the subjects A and A ′ substantially overlap each other, the shutter is operated to take a picture. As a result, the second captured image is acquired, and one stereoscopic image data is generated from the first captured image and the second captured image. Thus, since the parallax is appropriately adjusted in the subject A, a stereoscopic image with a stereoscopic effect can be obtained.

  Next, the case where the main subject is not subject A but subject C will be described. First, the main subject area cutout unit 51 specifies that the subject C is photographed in focus from the photographing setting information of the first photographed image 41, and recognizes the subject C as the main subject. Then, an area including the subject C, which is the main subject, is cut out from the first captured image 41 of FIG. Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the image shift unit 52 acquires the distance from the image capturing apparatus 1 to the subject C from the shooting setting information of the first captured image 41, and sends it to the main subject region cutting unit 51. The main subject region 41c is moved by a predetermined amount d 'in the horizontal direction (image shift direction in the figure) so that the main subject region 41c cut out in this way has an appropriate parallax. At this time, since the subject C is located farther than the subject A, the shift amount is smaller than when the subject A is the main subject.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the main subject area 41 c is shifted by a predetermined amount d ′, and is synthesized as a reference subject area 41 c ′ with a shooting target image displayed in real time on the screen by the image synthesis unit 53. FIG. 8 shows a composite screen displayed on the image display unit 4 at this time. In FIG. 8, the same subject A ′, B ′, C ′ as the first photographed image 41 is displayed in real time on the composite screen 43 as the subject image, and the reference subject region 41c shifted in FIG. ′ Is superimposed. The user moves the image pickup device 1 sideways (camera movement direction in the figure) so that the subject C in the reference subject region 41c ′ substantially matches the subject C ′ of the image to be photographed, and adjusts the amount of deviation. . When the subjects C and C ′ substantially overlap each other, the shutter is operated to take a picture. As a result, the second captured image is acquired, and one stereoscopic image data is generated from the first captured image and the second captured image. Thus, since the parallax is appropriately adjusted in the subject C, a stereoscopic image with a stereoscopic effect can be obtained.

  As described above, according to the image pickup apparatus of the present embodiment, even when only one image pickup device is provided, the main subject area of the first photographed image is shifted by a predetermined amount in the left-right direction. The second photographed image can be acquired by taking the shifted main subject area as a reference subject area and superimposing it on the subject image displayed in real time on the monitor screen. It is possible to easily shoot and acquire a stereoscopic image (left eye image, right eye image) with a small adjusted shift amount.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image pick-up device, 2 ... Image pick-up element, 3 ... Image memory | storage part, 4 ... Image display part, 5 ... Image processing part, 6 ... Control part, 7 ... Key input part, 51 ... Main subject area extraction part, 52 ... Image shift unit, 53.

Claims (7)

One image sensor, an image display unit that displays a target image captured by the image sensor, and an image processing unit that acquires a captured image in response to a shutter operation on the target image displayed on the image display unit An image pickup apparatus comprising:
The image processing unit includes a main subject region extraction unit that extracts a main subject region from the first captured image acquired by the image processing unit, and an image shift that shifts the extracted main subject region by a predetermined amount in the left-right direction. And an image composition unit that superimposes the main subject region shifted by the predetermined amount as a reference subject region on the target image displayed on the image display unit,
When the shutter operation is performed with the reference subject region superimposed, the image processing unit acquires the image to be captured as a second captured image in response to the shutter operation. .   The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shift amount by the image shift unit is determined based on a distance from the image capturing apparatus to the main subject.   The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shift amount by the image shift unit is determined based on a focal length of the image capturing apparatus.   The image display unit includes a touch panel, and the main subject area is designated by a user touching the first captured image displayed on the image display unit via the touch panel. The image capturing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   5. The control unit according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit that automatically performs a shutter operation when it is determined that a part of the image to be captured substantially matches the reference subject region. The imaging apparatus described.   The control unit for notifying the user to perform a shutter operation when it is determined that a part of the image to be photographed substantially matches the reference subject region. The image imaging device according to any one of 1 to 4.   The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image storage unit that stores the first photographed image and the second photographed image as one stereoscopic image data. apparatus.

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