JP2014013273A - Imaging apparatus, and control method and program of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To certainly prevent malfunction of a remote operation of an imaging apparatus.SOLUTION: The imaging apparatus, when detecting that it is fixed by a hand (S303), restricts an operation by the imaging apparatus based on a signal for a remote operation (S305). The imaging apparatus detects the direction of the hand when the imaging apparatus is fixed. When the fixed state is detected based on a first direction of the hand, the operation by the imaging apparatus based on the signal is restricted. When the fixed state is detected based on a second direction of the hand, the operation by the imaging apparatus based on the signal is not restricted.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for preventing malfunction of remote operation of an imaging apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method for preventing malfunction of remote operation of an imaging apparatus, a technique for invalidating a remote controller when an eyepiece of a finder is detected is known (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 3870166

  However, many imaging devices without a finder are now in widespread use. For such an imaging apparatus, the conventional technology cannot prevent malfunction of remote operation of the imaging apparatus.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to more reliably prevent malfunction of remote operation of the imaging apparatus.

  The imaging device of the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives a signal for remotely operating the imaging device, a detection unit that detects that the imaging device is fixed by hand, and the imaging device that is fixed by hand. Control means for restricting the operation of the image pickup apparatus based on the signal received by the receiving means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to more reliably prevent a malfunction in remote operation of the imaging apparatus.

1 is a diagram illustrating an external configuration of an imaging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the imaging device which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the imaging device which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the external appearance structure of the imaging device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the imaging device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the remote control receiver in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the imaging device which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments to which the invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an external configuration of an imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes an imaging device. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the imaging device 100 includes a side grip belt 101 and a touch sensor 102. The user can fix the imaging device 100 by hand by passing the hand through the side grip belt 101. The touch sensor 102 is installed at a position where the hand touches when the user passes the hand through the side grip belt 101. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the touch sensor 102 is attached to the main body of the imaging device 100, but may be installed inside the side grip belt 101.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the imaging apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the imaging apparatus 100 includes a microcomputer 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, an imaging unit 204, an image processing unit 205, a recording medium 206, a display unit 207, an operation unit 208, a remote control reception unit 209, and a touch sensor 102. . Note that the touch sensor 102 shown in FIG. 1 and the touch sensor 102 shown in FIG. 2 are the same.

  The microcomputer 201 is a microcomputer that performs system control of the imaging apparatus 100. The ROM 202 is a nonvolatile memory. The RAM 203 is a volatile memory. The ROM 202 holds programs and data for operating the microcomputer 201. The RAM 203 is used as a work area when system control of the imaging apparatus 100 is performed by the microcomputer 201. Further, the RAM 203 holds main body information indicating what setting the imaging apparatus 100 is currently in and how it is currently operating. That is, the main body information includes mode information indicating the current operation mode (recording mode, playback mode, shooting mode, and the like) of the imaging apparatus 100, and a remote control indicating whether recommon is set to be valid or invalid. Valid / invalid setting information is included.

  The imaging unit 204 images a subject in response to an instruction from the microcomputer 201. Image data generated by the imaging process of the imaging unit 204 is output to the image processing unit 205. The image processing unit 205 performs resizing, luminance correction, compression processing, and the like on the image data generated by the imaging unit 204 and outputs the result to the recording medium 206. The recording medium 206 records image data that has been subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 205. Examples of the recording medium 206 include an SD card, a flash memory, and a hard disk. The display unit 207 is configured with a liquid crystal display or the like. The display unit 207 displays image data generated by the imaging process of the imaging unit 204 and subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 205.

  The operation unit 208 is an operation member for instructing imaging processing of the imaging unit 204, switching power ON / OFF, state transition, and the like. The state transition instruction is, for example, an instruction for changing from a reproduction state in which image data is read from the recording medium 206 to a photographing state in which image data is written to the recording medium 206. The recommon receiving unit 209 receives a signal for remotely operating the imaging apparatus 100 from an external remote controller, and notifies the microcomputer 201 of the signal. The microcomputer 201 decodes the signal from the re-common and converts it into a control signal, and controls the imaging device 100 according to the control signal.

  The touch sensor 102 generates touch information indicating whether or not the user is touched (contacted), and outputs the touch information to the microcomputer 201. The microcomputer 201 detects whether or not the imaging device 100 is fixed by hand based on touch information output from the touch sensor 102. The microcomputer 201 determines whether to enable or disable the signal from the remote controller based on touch information input from the touch sensor 102 or main body information stored in the RAM 203. When invalidating the signal from the remote controller, the microcomputer 201 does nothing even if the signal from the remote controller is input (that is, restricts the operation based on the signal). On the other hand, when the signal from the remote controller is validated, the microcomputer 201 decodes the signal from the re-common and converts it into a control signal, and controls the imaging apparatus 100 according to the control signal.

  Next, processing of the imaging apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Here, a process for determining whether to set the recommon valid state or the remote control invalid state depending on whether the imaging apparatus 100 is in the shooting mode while being fixed by hand will be described. 3 is a process realized by the microcomputer 201 loading a necessary program and data from the ROM 202 into the RAM 203 and executing the program.

  In step S301, the microcomputer 201 reads the remote controller valid / invalid setting information stored in the RAM 203, and determines whether or not the remote controller is valid based on the remote controller valid / invalid setting information. If the remote control is set to be valid, the process proceeds to step S302. On the other hand, if the remote control is set to invalid, the process proceeds to step S305.

  In step S302, the microcomputer 201 reads the mode information stored in the RAM 203, and determines whether or not the shooting mode is set based on the mode information. If the shooting mode is set, the process proceeds to step S303. On the other hand, if an operation mode other than the shooting mode is set, the process proceeds to step S304.

  In step S <b> 303, the microcomputer 201 determines whether or not a touch of a certain area or more is detected by the touch sensor 102 based on the touch information input from the touch sensor 102. If a touch larger than a certain area is detected, the process proceeds to step S305. On the other hand, when a touch exceeding a certain area is not detected, the process proceeds to step S304.

  In step S304, the microcomputer 201 shifts to the remote control enabled state. That is, when the microcomputer 201 receives a signal from the recommon, the microcomputer 201 decodes the signal and converts it into a control signal, and controls the imaging apparatus 100 according to the control signal. In step S305, the microcomputer 201 shifts to the remote control invalid state. That is, even if the microcomputer 201 receives a signal from the remote controller, it does nothing.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, when the imaging apparatus 100 is in the shooting mode with the hand fixed, the remote control is disabled. Thus, when the imaging apparatus 100 is in the shooting mode with the hand fixed, it is assumed that the operation unit 208 of the imaging apparatus 100 is operated by hand. Therefore, by shifting to the remote control disabled state, even an imaging apparatus not accompanied by a finder is surely prevented from malfunctioning due to a signal from the recommon.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment described above, when the imaging apparatus is in the shooting mode with the hand fixed, the remote control is disabled. However, even when the imaging apparatus is in the shooting mode with the hand fixed, it may be desirable to have the remote control enabled. For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, in order to fix the imaging device 400, the hand 401 may be passed from above with respect to the side grip belt 101. Usually, as shown in FIG.4 (b), the operation part is installed on the assumption that the hand is passed through the side grip belt 101 from below. Therefore, when the imaging apparatus 400 is fixed in a manner as shown in FIG. 4A, it is difficult to operate the operation unit of the imaging apparatus 400 main body. Therefore, the user may control the imaging device 400 with a remote controller. Note that the hand orientation illustrated in FIG. 4A is an example of the second hand orientation, and the hand orientation illustrated in FIG. 4B is an example of the first hand orientation.

  Therefore, in the imaging apparatus 400 according to the second embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 4C, the first touch sensor 102 ′-1 is disposed in the vicinity of the side grip belt 101 and the second touch sensor 102. '-2 is arranged at the upper part of the main body of the imaging apparatus 400. The first touch sensor 102′-1 detects a touch for each of the holding methods shown in FIG. 4A and the holding method shown in FIG. On the other hand, the second touch sensor 102'-2 detects a touch when held as shown in FIG. 4A, but does not detect a touch when held as shown in FIG. 4B. Therefore, the microcomputer 201 uses the side grip belt as shown in FIG. 4A based on the touch information output from each of the first touch sensor 102′-1 and the second touch sensor 102′-2. It can be determined whether the hand 401 is passed from above with respect to 101 or whether the hand 401 is passed from below with respect to the side grip belt 101 as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 4B, the microcomputer 201 shifts to the remote control disabled state when the hand 401 is passed from the bottom to the side grip belt 101.

  Next, processing of the imaging apparatus 400 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Here, as shown in FIG. 4B, the remote control is enabled according to whether or not the imaging device 400 is in the shooting mode with the hand 401 being passed through the side grip belt 101 from below. A process for determining whether or not to disable the remote control will be described. The configuration of the imaging apparatus 400 according to the second embodiment is the same as the configuration of the imaging apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment except for the configuration of the touch sensor. The reference numerals shown in FIG. 2 are used for other configurations. Further, the processing shown in FIG. 5 is realized by the microcomputer 201 loading necessary programs and data from the ROM 202 to the RAM 203 and executing them.

  In step S501, the microcomputer 201 reads the remote controller valid / invalid setting information stored in the RAM 203, and determines whether or not the remote controller is valid based on the remote controller valid / invalid setting information. If the remote control is set to be valid, the process proceeds to step S502. On the other hand, if the remote control is set to invalid, the process proceeds to step S506.

  In step S502, the microcomputer 201 reads the mode information stored in the RAM 203, and determines whether or not the shooting mode is set based on the mode information. If the shooting mode is set, the process proceeds to step S503. On the other hand, if a mode other than the shooting mode is set, the process proceeds to step S505.

  In step S503, the microcomputer 201 determines whether or not a touch of a certain area or more is detected by the first touch sensor 102′-1 based on the touch information input from the first touch sensor 102′-1. To do. When a touch of a certain area or more is detected by the first touch sensor 102′-1, the process proceeds to step S504. On the other hand, when a touch of a certain area or more is not detected by the first touch sensor 102'-1, the process proceeds to step S505.

  In step S504, the microcomputer 201 determines whether a touch of a certain area or more is detected by the second touch sensor 102′-2 based on the touch information input from the second touch sensor 102′-2. To do. When a touch of a certain area or more is detected by the second touch sensor 102′-2, the process proceeds to step S505. If a touch of a certain area or more is not detected by the second touch sensor 102′-2, the process proceeds to step S506.

  In step S505, the microcomputer 201 shifts to the remote control enabled state. In step S506, the microcomputer 201 shifts to the remote control invalid state.

  In the second embodiment, the second touch sensor 102′-2 is arranged on the upper part of the main body of the imaging device 400 to detect whether the hand 401 is passed from below to the side grip belt 101. doing. In addition to this, when the imaging apparatus 400 is fixed in the state shown in FIG. 4B, a touch is detected, and the imaging apparatus 400 is fixed in the state shown in FIG. In this case, a touch sensor may be arranged at a position where no touch is detected. Even with this configuration, it is possible to detect that the imaging device 400 is fixed in a state where the hand 401 is passed from below to the side grip belt 101.

  In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4C, a plurality of touch sensors (first touch sensor 102′-1 and second touch sensor 102′-2) are installed. Based on these outputs, the microcomputer 201 determines whether the imaging device 400 is fixed in the state shown in FIG. 4A or whether the imaging device 400 is fixed in the state shown in FIG. Yes. In addition, a first touch sensor 102′-1 (for example, a capacitive touch sensor) that can recognize the shape of the touch may be provided. Based on the output from the first touch sensor 102'-1, the microcomputer 201 determines whether the hand is passed from above to the side grip belt 101 as shown in FIG. It can be determined whether or not the hand is passed from the bottom to the side grip belt 101 as shown in FIG. In this case, the second touch sensor 102′-2 is not necessary.

  In the second embodiment, it is difficult to operate the operation unit 208 of the main body of the imaging apparatus 400 when the imaging process is being executed with the hand 401 being passed from the top to the side grip belt 101. Considering this, the remote control is shifted to the effective state. On the other hand, when the photographing process is being executed with the hand 401 being passed from below to the side grip belt 101, the remote control is disabled. Thereby, even if it is an imaging device which does not impair a user's operativity and is not accompanied by a finder, it becomes possible to prevent reliably the malfunction by the signal from recommon.

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first and second embodiments described above, when the imaging apparatus is in the shooting mode while being fixed by hand, the remote control is disabled. However, in recent years, as represented by the Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication method and the wireless LAN communication method, a technique of performing remote control communication after a pairing operation has appeared. In such a remote control communication method, since the imaging device and the remote control are paired, the imaging device does not accept signals from other remote controls. Therefore, in this case, there is no need to shift to the remote control disabled state. On the other hand, in a remote control communication method that does not perform a pairing operation, such as an IrDA communication method (infrared communication method), the imaging apparatus accepts a signal from another remote control, so it is desirable to shift to a remote control invalid state. The imaging device according to the third embodiment takes the above points into consideration.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the remote control reception unit 209 ′ according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the remote control receiving unit 209 ′ in the third embodiment includes an IrDA remote control receiving unit 209′-1 and a Bluetooth recommon receiving unit 209′-2. Is selected. When the user operates the operation unit 208 to select either the Bluetooth communication method or the IrDA communication method as the remote control communication method, the setting information of the recommon communication method selected by the user is held in the RAM 203. At the same time, the switch 209′-3 connects the microcomputer 201 and the receiving unit corresponding to the remote control communication method selected by the user. In addition to this, both of the IrDA recommon receiving unit 209′-1 and the Bluetooth recommon receiving unit 209′-2 may be always connected to the microcomputer 201. In this case, the microcomputer 201 selects one of a signal input from the IrDA recommon receiving unit 209′-1 and a signal input from the Bluetooth recommon receiving unit 209′-2 according to the remote control communication method selected by the user. Decide which signal to use. In the present embodiment, when the IrDA communication method is selected by the user and the imaging apparatus is in the shooting mode with the hand fixed, the remote control is disabled.

  Next, processing of the imaging apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the third embodiment, a process of determining whether to set the remote control valid state or the remote control invalid state according to the remote control communication method selected by the user will be described. The configuration of the imaging apparatus according to the third embodiment is the same as the configuration of the imaging apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment except for the configuration of the remote control reception unit 209 ′. The configuration shown in FIG. 2 is used for the configuration other than the reception unit 209 ′. The processing shown in FIG. 7 is realized by the microcomputer 201 loading necessary programs and data from the ROM 202 to the RAM 203 and executing them.

  In step S701, the microcomputer 201 reads the remote controller valid / invalid setting information stored in the RAM 203, and determines whether the remote controller is set to be valid based on the remote controller valid / invalid setting information. If it is set that the remote control is valid, the process proceeds to step S702. On the other hand, if the remote control is set to be invalid, the process proceeds to step S706.

  In step S702, the microcomputer 201 reads out mode information stored in the RAM 203, and determines whether or not a shooting mode is set based on the mode information. If the shooting mode is set, the process proceeds to step S703. On the other hand, if a mode other than the shooting mode is set, the process proceeds to step S705.

  In step S <b> 703, the microcomputer 201 determines whether a touch of a certain area or more is detected by the touch sensor 102 based on touch information input from the touch sensor. If a touch of a certain area or more is detected, the process proceeds to step S704. On the other hand, if a touch larger than a certain area has not been detected, the process proceeds to step S705.

  In step S704, the microcomputer 201 reads the setting information of the recommon communication method from the RAM 203, and determines whether the IrDA communication method is set or the Bluetooth communication method is set based on the setting information of the remote control communication method. If the IrDA communication method is set, the process proceeds to step S706. On the other hand, when the Bluetooth communication method is set, the process proceeds to step S705.

  In step S705, the microcomputer 201 shifts to the remote control enabled state. That is, when the re-common receiving unit 209 ′ receives a signal from the remote controller, the microcomputer 201 decodes the signal and converts it into a control signal, and controls the imaging apparatus according to the control signal. In step S706, the microcomputer 201 shifts to the remote control invalid state. That is, the microcomputer 201 does nothing even when the re-common receiving unit 209 ′ receives a signal from the remote control.

  In the third embodiment, when the imaging device is in the shooting mode with the hand fixed and the remote control communication method is the Bluetooth communication method, the imaging device is shifted to the remote control enabled state. On the other hand, when the imaging apparatus is in the shooting mode with the hand fixed and the remote control communication system is the IrDA communication system, the imaging apparatus is shifted to the remote control disabled state. As described above, in the third embodiment, when the remote control communication method that needs to be in the remote control disabled state is selected, the remote control disabled state is shifted to. Therefore, according to the third embodiment, it is possible to reliably prevent a malfunction due to a signal from the re-common even in an imaging device not accompanied by a finder, and to appropriately control the transition to the remote control disabled state. It can be carried out. The IrDA communication method is an example of the first communication method, and the Bluetooth communication method or the wireless LAN communication method is an example of the second communication method.

  Although the present invention has been described in detail based on preferred embodiments thereof, the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and various forms within the scope of the present invention are also included in the present invention. included. A part of the above-described embodiments may be appropriately combined.

  The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

  100, 400: imaging device, 101: side grip belt, 102: touch sensor, 102'-1: first touch sensor, 102'-2: second touch sensor, 201: microcomputer, 202: ROM, 203: RAM, 204: imaging unit, 205: image processing unit, 206: recording medium, 207: display unit, 208: operation unit, 209: remote control receiving unit

Claims (12)

Receiving means for receiving a signal for remotely operating the imaging device;
Detection means for detecting that the imaging device is fixed by hand;
Control means for restricting the operation of the imaging apparatus based on the signal received by the receiving means when the detecting means detects that the imaging apparatus is fixed by hand. Imaging device.   The control unit does not limit the operation of the imaging device based on the signal received by the receiving unit when the detecting unit does not detect that the imaging device is fixed by hand. Item 2. The imaging device according to Item 1.   The detection means detects the orientation of the hand when the imaging device is fixed by hand, and the control means detects that the imaging device is fixed in the orientation of the first hand. 2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation of the imaging apparatus based on the signal received by the receiving unit is limited when detected by the receiving unit.   The control means does not restrict the operation of the imaging apparatus based on the signal received by the receiving means when the detecting means detects that the imaging apparatus is fixed in the direction of the second hand The imaging apparatus according to claim 3.   5. The imaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the detection unit detects an orientation of the hand when the imaging apparatus is fixed by a hand based on outputs from a plurality of touch sensors. .   6. The imaging according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of touch sensors include a touch sensor installed at a position where the hand touches when the imaging device is fixed in the direction of the first hand. apparatus.   The detection means detects the orientation of the hand when the imaging device is fixed by a hand, based on an output from a touch sensor that recognizes the shape of the hand in contact with the imaging device. The imaging apparatus according to claim 3 or 4. A determination unit for determining a communication method in the reception unit;
The control means, when the detection means detects that the imaging device is fixed by hand, and the determination means determines that the communication method in the reception means is the first communication method, The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an operation of the imaging apparatus based on the signal received by the receiving unit is limited.   The control means, when the detection means detects that the imaging device is fixed by hand, and the determination means determines that the communication method in the reception means is a second communication method, The imaging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein an operation of the imaging apparatus based on the signal received by the receiving unit is not limited.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the first communication method is an infrared communication method, and the second communication method is a Bluetooth communication method or a wireless LAN communication method. A method for controlling an imaging apparatus having a receiving means for receiving a signal for remotely operating the imaging apparatus,
A detection step for detecting that the imaging device is fixed by hand;
A control step for restricting the operation of the imaging device based on the signal received by the receiving means when the detection step detects that the imaging device is fixed by hand. Control method of imaging apparatus. A program for causing a computer to execute a control method of an imaging apparatus having a receiving unit for receiving a signal for remotely operating the imaging apparatus,
A detection step for detecting that the imaging device is fixed by hand;
And causing the computer to execute a control step for restricting the operation of the imaging device based on the signal received by the receiving unit when the detection step detects that the imaging device is fixed by hand. program.

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