JP2014142553A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an easy-to-use camera.SOLUTION: The camera comprises: a main body that has a bottom surface section mountable to a mount surface; a protrusion section that includes a lens barrel, and protrudes from a front surface section of the main body; a display section that is provided on a rear surface section facing the front surface section; a mount detection section that detects a tip section of the protrusion section and a part of the bottom surface section being mounted on the mount surface so as to abut against the mount surface; and a control section that controls the display section so that a display content of the display section varies in accordance with a detection of the mounting by the mount detection section.

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera.

  Conventionally, a camera with a built-in projector that prevents vignetting of a projected image by bringing a part of a camera body and a part of a lens barrel into contact with a mounting surface and extending the lens barrel to increase a projection angle is known. (For example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-169079 A

  Since the camera described in Patent Document 1 is placed in a posture in which the camera is difficult to operate, there is a problem in that it is not easy to use.

The camera according to claim 1 includes a main body having a bottom surface portion that can be placed on a placement surface, a protruding portion that includes a lens barrel and protrudes from the front surface portion of the main body, and a back surface portion that faces the front surface portion. A placement detection unit configured to detect that the display unit provided, the tip portion of the protrusion and a part of the bottom surface portion are placed in contact with the placement surface; and the placement detection unit And a control unit that controls the display unit so that the display content of the display unit changes in response to the detection of the above-described device.
The camera according to claim 12, a main body having a bottom surface that can be placed on a placement surface, a protrusion that includes a lens barrel and protrudes from a front portion of the main body, an imaging unit that captures a subject image, The placement detection unit detects that the tip portion of the protruding portion and a part of the bottom surface portion are placed in contact with the placement surface, and the placement detection unit detects the placement described above. A control unit that controls the imaging unit so that imaging by the imaging unit is prohibited.

  According to the present invention, an easy-to-use camera is provided.

1 is a plan view of a camera 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a camera 100. FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a feeding range of the lens barrel 102. It is a figure which shows the attitude | position of the camera 100 in reproduction | regeneration mode. It is a flowchart of the mode switching process which the control part 112 performs.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1A to FIG. 1C are plan views of the camera 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention as seen from different viewpoints. FIG. However, FIG. 1B shows the side surface of the camera 100, and FIG. 1C shows the bottom surface of the camera 100.

  From the front portion of the camera 100, a lens barrel enclosing portion 101 that surrounds the retractable lens barrel 102 protrudes. The camera 100 is a waterproof camera, and the lens barrel enclosing portion 101 seals the lens barrel 102 so that water droplets do not enter the inside of the camera (particularly the lens barrel 102). A flash device 103 is installed on the upper part of the lens barrel surrounding portion 101 in the front portion. The flash device 103 is a light source that irradiates a subject with illumination light (imaging auxiliary light). A release switch 104 is installed above the camera 100.

  A display unit 105 having a display screen such as a liquid crystal panel is installed on the back surface of the camera 100 (the surface facing the front surface). On the bottom surface of the camera 100, a pair of speakers 107, a projection unit 108, and an operation detection camera 109 are installed. The pair of speakers 107 are arranged at regular intervals, and are configured to be able to reproduce stereo music such as music. The projection unit 108 includes a light source such as an LED, a reflective display element such as LCOS, a projection lens, and the like, and forms a light image on the reflective display element and projects it from the bottom surface of the camera 100. The operation detection camera 109 is a small camera module, and captures a certain range including the projection range of the optical image by the projection unit 108.

  A taper is provided at a fixed angle at the tip of the lens barrel enclosing portion 101. This is to prevent illumination light (shooting auxiliary light) from the flash device 103 from being kicked by the lens barrel surrounding portion 101 protruding from the front portion of the camera 100 main body. That is, the lens barrel surrounding portion 101 has a shape (conical trapezoidal shape) that does not interfere with illumination light (imaging auxiliary light) from the flash device 103.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the camera 100. The camera 100 includes an image sensor 110, an acceleration sensor 111, a control unit 112, and a storage medium 113 in addition to the above-described units.

  The image sensor 110 is an image sensor such as a CCD or a CMOS, for example, and captures a subject image formed by the lens barrel 102. The acceleration sensor 111 is a triaxial acceleration sensor, and detects the acceleration of the camera 100 with respect to the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis. The control unit 112 includes a CPU (not shown), a memory, and peripheral circuits thereof, and controls each unit of the camera 100 by reading and executing a predetermined control program from a storage medium (not shown) such as a ROM. The storage medium 113 is a portable storage medium such as a memory card. The control unit 112 writes, for example, image data of a subject image captured by the image sensor 110 to the storage medium 113 or reads from the storage medium 113.

(Description of the lens barrel 102)
The lens barrel 102 corresponds to so-called optical zoom, and is configured to have a variable focal length by being driven in the optical axis direction. An actuator (not shown) is connected to the lens barrel 102, and the control unit 112 controls this actuator to control the extension of the lens barrel 102.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the extension range of the lens barrel 102. The lens barrel 102 is positioned near the center of the main body of the camera 100 as shown in FIG. For example, when the user performs an operation to set the zoom position at the telephoto end, the control unit 112 extends the lens barrel 102 to the vicinity of the lens barrel enclosing portion 101 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3B, the shape of the lens barrel surrounding portion 101 is determined based on the extension range of the lens barrel 102. That is, the lens barrel enclosing portion 101 has a sufficient size so that the movement of the lens barrel 102 is not hindered even when the lens barrel 102 is extended the largest.

(Explanation of shooting mode)
When a power switch (not shown) is pressed, the camera 100 is turned on and the camera 100 enters a shooting mode. When the camera 100 is in the shooting mode, the control unit 112 causes the image sensor 110 to capture images at predetermined intervals (for example, 1/60 second), creates a through image, and causes the display unit 105 to display the through image. When the user depresses the release switch 104, the control unit 112 causes the image sensor 110 to capture an image, creates captured image data, and stores the captured image data in the storage medium 113.

(Description of playback mode)
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the posture of the camera 100 in the playback mode. When the camera 100 is in the shooting mode, as shown in FIG. When the camera 100 is placed, the camera 100 transitions from the shooting mode to the playback mode. The control unit 112 detects from the output of the acceleration sensor 111 that the camera 100 is placed in such a posture, and shifts the camera 100 to the reproduction mode.

  When the camera 100 transitions to the playback mode, the control unit 112 displays the captured image data stored in the storage medium 113 on the display unit 105 at a predetermined time in a predetermined order (for example, oldest shooting date and time). A predetermined music is reproduced in stereo by the speaker 107. In the playback mode, the display unit 105 faces obliquely upward (upper right direction in FIG. 4), and is in a state suitable for viewing by a plurality of people. Further, since the lens barrel 102 faces the mounting surface 150 in the reproduction mode, it is not usually necessary to perform shooting, focus adjustment, or the like in this posture. Therefore, the control unit 112 prevents shooting due to an erroneous operation by prohibiting operations related to shooting in the playback mode. For example, shooting is not performed even when the release switch 104 is pressed. In addition, the automatic focus adjustment (AF) function cannot be used.

  The speaker 107 is installed on the bottom surface of the camera 100 main body as shown in FIG. When the camera 100 is mounted in such a posture that the entire bottom surface is in contact with the mounting surface 150, the speaker 107 is blocked by the mounting surface 150. I have it. However, since the camera 100 takes a posture in which the speaker 107 is not in close contact with the placement surface 150 as shown in FIG. 4 in the reproduction mode, the placement surface 150 does not hinder music reproduction by the speaker 107.

  Further, when the camera 100 is in the playback mode, the control unit 112 provides an operation function of the camera 100 using the projection unit 108 and the operation detection camera 109. Hereinafter, this function will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the camera 100 transitions to the reproduction mode, the control unit 112 starts projecting the operation image on the placement surface 150 by the projection unit 108. The operation image is an image including buttons corresponding to each operation that can be executed in the reproduction mode, such as “next image” and “previous image”. In parallel with the projection of the operation image by the projection unit 108, the control unit 112 uses the operation detection camera 109 to capture the periphery including the operation image projection range 140. Then, a pressing operation of each button performed on the operation image with a finger or the like is detected from the photographing result, and processing corresponding to the button is executed. For example, when the user presses the “next image” button projected on the placement surface 150 with a finger or the like, the control unit 112 displays the next photographing on the display unit 105 in response to detecting the pressing operation. Play the image data.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the mode switching process executed by the control unit 112. The control unit 112 repeatedly executes the mode switching process shown in FIG. 5 while the power is on. First, in step S100, the control unit 112 determines whether or not the camera 100 is placed on the placement surface 150 at a predetermined angle (an angle shown in FIG. 4) based on the output of the acceleration sensor 111. At this time, it is desirable not only to confirm the tilt of the camera 100 in the front-rear direction, but also to check the time-series change in the tilt of the camera 100 to confirm that the camera 100 is not held by the user. When the camera 100 is held by hand, it can be considered that minute changes are repeated in each direction when the angles of the camera 100 are viewed in time series. Therefore, when such a minute change is confirmed, the control unit 112 determines that it is not placed on the placement surface 150.

  In step S100, when it is detected that the camera is placed as shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 112 performs the processing of steps S110 to S140 to place the camera 100 in the playback mode. The process for shifting to the reproduction mode will be specifically described. First, in step S110, the control unit 112 prohibits an operation related to shooting (for example, shooting by pressing the release switch 104). In step S120, the oldest photographed image data is displayed on the display unit 105. In step S125, music reproduction by the speaker 107 is started. In step S130, the above-described operation image is projected onto the placement surface 150, and in step S140, operation detection of the user operation by the operation detection camera 109 is started.

  On the other hand, if the placement on the placement surface 150 is not detected in step S100, the processing of steps S150 to S160 is executed to place the camera 100 in the photographing mode. In step S150, an operation related to shooting such as pressing the release switch 104 is permitted. In step S160, display of the through image on the display unit 105 is started. Although omitted in FIG. 5, when the projection unit 108 projects an operation image when the camera 100 is set to the shooting mode, this is stopped. The same applies to operation detection by the operation detection camera 109 and music reproduction by the speaker 107.

According to the camera according to the first embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) The camera 100 includes a main body having a bottom surface portion that can be placed on the placement surface 150, a lens barrel surrounding portion 101 that includes the lens barrel 102 and protrudes from the front surface portion of the main body, and a back surface portion that faces the front surface portion. An acceleration sensor 111 for detecting that the display unit 105 provided on the mounting unit 150, the distal end portion 120 of the lens barrel enclosing portion 101, and the distal end portion 130 of the bottom surface portion are placed in contact with the placement surface 150; And a control unit 112 that controls the display unit 105 so that the display content of the display unit 105 changes in response to detection of placement by the sensor 111. Since this is done, it is possible to provide an easy-to-use camera in which image reproduction by the display unit 105 starts only by placing the camera 100 in a posture suitable for image viewing. The camera 100 further includes an image sensor 110 that captures a subject image, and the control unit 112 prohibits image capturing by the image sensor 110 when placement is detected by the acceleration sensor 111. Since it did in this way, when it is mounted in the state where there is no meaning of imaging, an easy-to-use camera that does not perform imaging due to an erroneous operation can be provided.

(2) The camera 100 includes a lens barrel surrounding portion 101 that surrounds the lens barrel 102 protruding from the camera 100 main body. Since it did in this way, the camera 100 can be mounted so that the display part 105 may become an angle suitable for image appreciation. In addition, an easy-to-use camera having waterproof performance can be provided.

(3) The camera 100 includes a flash device 103 that is provided in a front portion of the camera 100 and irradiates the subject with photographing auxiliary light, and the lens barrel surrounding portion 101 has a shape that does not interfere with the photographing auxiliary light irradiated to the subject. Have. Since it did in this way, the user-friendly camera which can exhibit the performance of the flash device 103 to the maximum can be provided.

(4) The control unit 112 controls the display unit 105 so that the display unit 105 reproduces the captured image in response to the placement detected by the acceleration sensor 111. Since this is done, it is possible to provide an easy-to-use camera in which image reproduction by the display unit 105 starts only by placing the camera 100 in a posture suitable for image viewing.

(5) The camera 100 includes a speaker 107 provided on the bottom surface portion of the camera 100, and the control unit 112 reproduces sound through the speaker 107 when placement is detected by the acceleration sensor 111. Since it did in this way, the speaker 107 can be arrange | positioned also in the bottom part which was not suitable for arrangement | positioning of the speaker 107 conventionally, and the freedom degree of arrangement | positioning of the speaker 107 increases.

(6) The camera 100 includes a projection unit 108 that projects an optical image onto the placement surface 150. Since it did in this way, it becomes possible to use the mounting surface 150 not only for supporting the camera 100 but also for displaying images.

(7) The projection unit 108 projects an operation screen on the placement surface 150. The camera 100 includes an operation detection camera 109 that detects an operation performed on the operation screen projected onto the placement surface 150 by the projection unit 108. As described above, the placement surface 150 can be used not only for supporting the camera 100 but also for operating the camera 100.

(8) Provided with a release switch 104 on which an operation related to photographing is performed by the user, and the control unit 112 prohibits the operation by the release switch 104 when placement is detected by the acceleration sensor 111. Since it did in this way, the erroneous operation at the time of reproduction | regeneration mode can be prevented.

  The following modifications are also within the scope of the present invention, and one or a plurality of modifications can be combined with the above-described embodiment.

(Modification 1)
The light image projected by the projection unit 108 is not limited to the operation image described above. For example, if a software keyboard image is projected, it becomes possible to accept a character input by the user. Further, it is not always necessary to project a screen that can be operated by the user. For example, information on an image being reproduced on the display unit 105 (such as a shooting date / time, a shooting location, a shutter speed at the time of shooting) can be projected by the projection unit 108. In this case, the projection unit 108 is used only as a kind of display device, and the operation detection camera 109 is unnecessary.

(Modification 2)
The method for detecting that the camera 100 is placed as shown in FIG. 4 is not limited to the method using the acceleration sensor 111 described above. For example, a push switch may be provided at the distal end portion 120 of the lens barrel surrounding portion 101, and when this push switch is pressed, it may be determined that the lens is placed as shown in FIG. Further, it is possible to detect that the camera is placed by emitting infrared light below the camera 100 and detecting the infrared light reflected by the placement surface 150.

(Modification 3)
In the first embodiment described above, the lens barrel enclosing portion 101 is protruded from the front portion of the camera 100 main body, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, the lens barrel 102 itself may protrude directly from the front portion of the camera 100 main body. In this case, when the camera 100 is placed such that the tip of the lens barrel 102 and a part of the bottom surface of the camera 100 main body are in contact with the placement surface 150, the camera 100 transitions to the playback mode.

(Modification 4)
When the camera 100 is mounted as shown in FIG. 4, the reproduction of the captured image may not be started immediately, but a menu for selecting the reproduction method of the captured image may be displayed on the display unit 105. For example, a menu for selecting the playback order of captured images, a menu for selecting whether to automatically transition to the next captured image or manual operation, and effects to be applied to captured images during playback (for example, color correction) A menu or the like for selecting can be displayed on the display unit 105.

(Modification 5)
The display unit 105 may be provided with a capacitive touch panel or a pressure sensitive touch panel, for example. In this case, when the camera 100 is in the playback mode, it is desirable that the control unit 112 prohibits the operation using the touch panel, like the release switch 104 described above.

(Modification 6)
As shown in FIG. 4, in the above-described embodiment, the distal end portion of the lens barrel surrounding portion 101 makes point contact with the placement surface 150. It is possible to bring the tapered surface into surface contact with the mounting surface 150 by adjusting the angle of the taper provided at the tip of the lens barrel surrounding portion 101. By doing in this way, the camera 100 can be mounted more stably.

(Modification 7)
The installation positions of the projection unit 108 and the operation detection camera 109 are not limited to the bottom surface of the camera 100 main body. For example, the projection unit 108 and the operation detection camera 109 may be provided on the back surface of the camera 100 main body.

(Modification 8)
In the embodiment described above, an example in which the present invention is applied to a lens-integrated digital camera has been described, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, the present invention can be applied to an interchangeable lens digital camera.

  As long as the characteristics of the present invention are not impaired, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and other forms conceivable within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention are also included in the scope of the present invention. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Camera 101 ... Lens-barrel surrounding part, 102 ... Lens barrel, 103 ... Flash apparatus, 104 ... Release switch, 105 ... Display part, 107 ... Speaker, 108 ... Projection part, 109 ... Camera for operation detection, 110 ... Image sensor 111 ... acceleration sensor 112 ... control unit 113 ... storage medium

Claims (12)

A main body having a bottom surface that can be placed on the placement surface;
A protruding portion that includes a lens barrel and protrudes from the front portion of the main body;
A display unit provided on a back surface facing the front surface;
A placement detector that detects that the tip of the protruding portion and a part of the bottom portion are placed so as to contact the placement surface;
A control unit that controls the display unit so that the display content of the display unit changes in response to the detection of the previous unit by the previous unit detection unit;
A camera comprising: The camera of claim 1,
The camera according to claim 1, wherein the protruding portion is a lens barrel enclosing member that surrounds the lens barrel protruding from the main body. The camera of claim 1,
The camera, wherein the protruding portion is the lens barrel. The camera according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A light-emitting unit that is provided on the front part and irradiates the subject with photographing auxiliary light;
The camera according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion has a truncated cone shape that does not interfere with the photographing auxiliary light irradiated on the subject. In the camera according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The said control part is controlled so that a picked-up image is reproduced | regenerated on the said display part according to the said description detection being detected by the said description detection part. In the camera according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The said control part is controlled so that the menu which selects the reproduction | regeneration method of a picked-up image is displayed on the said display part according to the said position detection part having detected the said position. In the camera according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A speaker provided on the bottom surface;
The said control part reproduces | regenerates an audio | voice with the said speaker, when the said description is detected by the said description detection part. In the camera according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
A camera, comprising: a projection unit that is provided on one of the bottom surface part and the back surface part and that projects a light image on the placement surface. The camera according to claim 8, wherein
The projection unit projects a light image of the operation member on the placement surface,
A camera comprising: an operation detection unit that detects an operation performed on the optical image of the operation member projected onto the placement surface by the projection unit. In the camera according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
It has a shooting operation unit that allows users to perform shooting-related operations.
The said control part prohibits operation regarding the said imaging | photography by the said imaging | photography operation part, when the above-mentioned position is detected by the said position detection part. The camera of claim 10, wherein
The camera, wherein the photographing operation unit is a touch panel that detects a contact position touched on a display screen of the display unit. A main body having a bottom surface that can be placed on the placement surface;
A protruding portion that includes a lens barrel and protrudes from the front portion of the main body;
An imaging unit that captures a subject image;
A placement detector that detects that the tip of the protruding portion and a part of the bottom portion are placed so as to contact the placement surface;
A control unit that controls the imaging unit so that imaging by the imaging unit is prohibited when the previous unit is detected by the previous unit detection unit;
A camera comprising:

Images