JP2014219602A - Imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable facilitation of reduction in unnaturalness of an image by illumination light for photographing in an imaging device.SOLUTION: A camera 1 comprises: a photographing lens part 3 that photographs a subject; an image pickup element; a discharge light source part 4 that has a xenon tube 4a, and forms illumination light L; an LED light source part 5A and the like that has an LED, and forms illumination light and the like different in a color temperature from the illumination light L; a subject information acquisition part that acquires at least one of kind information on the subject, position information thereon and color information thereon as subject information; and a light emission control parameter generation part that generates a light emission control parameter of the discharge light source part 4, the LED light source part 5A and the like on the basis of the subject information acquired by the subject information acquisition part.

Description

  The present invention relates to a photographing apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a camera or a video shooting device is a shooting device such as a strobe or an auxiliary light when the subject is not sufficiently illuminated due to shooting conditions such as cloudy weather, nighttime, and backlight, and a proper exposure cannot be obtained. Illuminating a subject using Such a photographing apparatus is often built into the photographing apparatus or attached integrally.
However, the light source of such a conventional photographing apparatus has limited types of color temperature because the color temperature has been set so that the optimum white balance can be obtained according to the film sensitivity. For example, a strobe light source using a xenon tube is most popular for taking a photograph, and its color temperature is about 5400 K, which is close to natural daylight. However, since the relative intensity of the red region is lower than that of natural daylight, the wavelength intensity distribution results in illumination that lacks the warmth of natural daylight. In particular, in photographing with a digital camera or the like using an image sensor, the influence of a reduction in the amount of light in the red region appears more prominently when the image is faithfully captured in the wavelength intensity distribution.
As a light source capable of illuminating with a color temperature different from that of a xenon tube, a photographing apparatus using a white LED has been proposed.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that a camera has a plurality of light emitting means to reduce a black shadow caused by light emitted from the light emitting means and obtain a natural image. In a camera with a light-emitting device that shoots a subject by emitting auxiliary light, the light quality of auxiliary light emitted by the first light-emitting means including the light-emitting diode and the second light-emitting means including the light-emitting diode is adjusted. There is described a “camera with a light emitting device”, characterized by comprising a light emission control means, wherein the first light emission means and the second light emission means are provided at different locations.

JP 2003-215673 A

However, the conventional techniques as described above have the following problems.
In the technique described in Patent Document 1, shadows generated around a subject are provided by including two light emitting means including LEDs having irradiation optical axes that are parallel to each other and are provided symmetrically with respect to the photographing optical axis. However, since the amount of emitted light per unit time is lower than that of a xenon tube, there is a problem that the amount of light tends to be insufficient depending on the shooting scene.
Further, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to set various emission colors by adjusting the light emission balance of the LED. Therefore, “the shadow caused by the light emitted by the light emitting means is colored to create a unique atmosphere. Although it is possible to “create an image having” and “flavor the image by the user”, there is a problem that it is difficult for a user with little knowledge about auxiliary light photography to master it.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a photographing apparatus that can easily reduce unnaturalness of an image due to illumination light for photographing.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the imaging apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a discharge light source unit that emits light by discharge and forms first illumination light, and an LED, and the first illumination light. An LED light source unit that forms second illumination light having a color temperature different from that of the subject, a subject information acquisition unit that acquires at least one of the subject type information, position information, and color information as subject information, and the subject information A light emission control parameter generation unit that generates light emission control parameters of the discharge light source unit and the LED light source unit based on the subject information acquired by the acquisition unit.
In this specification, “LED” is an abbreviation for “Light Emitting Diode” and means a light emitting diode.

  The photographing apparatus may include a light emission control unit that performs light emission operation control of the discharge light source unit and the LED light source unit based on the light emission control parameter generated by the light emission control parameter generation unit.

  The photographing apparatus may include a light emission setting display unit that displays a light emission setting based on the light emission control parameter generated by the light emission control parameter generation unit.

  In the imaging apparatus, the subject information acquisition unit can acquire information about the presence or absence of a person by performing detection from the image acquired by the imaging unit as the type information of the subject.

  In the photographing apparatus, the subject information acquisition unit can acquire a photographing distance, which is a distance to a focused subject, as the position information of the subject.

  In the photographing apparatus, the subject information acquisition unit can acquire the color information of the subject at the in-focus position from the image acquired by the photographing unit as the color information of the subject.

  In the imaging apparatus, the subject information acquisition unit can acquire color information of the entire imaging range from the image acquired by the imaging unit as the color information of the subject.

  In the photographing apparatus, a plurality of the LED light source units may be provided, and the plurality of LED light source units may be provided at positions separated from each other with the optical axis of the photographing unit interposed therebetween.

  In the photographing apparatus, the discharge light source unit and the LED light source unit can be configured such that the directions of the respective irradiation optical axes can be relatively changed.

  In the photographing apparatus, the LED light source unit includes a plurality of types of LEDs having different color temperatures, and the plurality of LEDs can be controlled to emit light independently of each other.

  In the photographing apparatus, the LED light source unit can be configured to be detachably provided on a photographing apparatus main body having the photographing unit.

  According to the photographing apparatus of the present invention, the first illumination light from the discharge light source unit and the second illumination light from the LED light source unit can be selected and used according to the subject information acquired by the subject information acquisition unit. Therefore, it is possible to easily reduce the unnaturalness of the image due to the illumination light for photographing.

1A is a schematic perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a photographing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is C view in FIG. It is BB sectional drawing in FIG. It is a typical front view which shows an example of the arrangement configuration of LED used for the imaging device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and another example. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function structure of the control part of the imaging device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows an example of the relative intensity distribution of the discharge light source part used for the imaging device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the to-be-photographed object of the example of photography explaining the effect | action of the imaging device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the imaging | photography operation | movement of the imaging device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an AF operation of the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing explaining the face detection operation | movement of the imaging device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the image of the imaging example by the imaging device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and the image of a comparative example. It is a typical top view which shows the relationship between the illumination light and shadow of the imaging | photography example by the imaging device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and a comparative example. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a subject of another photographing example by the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and an operation explanatory diagram illustrating a subject color detection operation. It is. It is a typical front view which shows an example of the arrangement configuration of LED used for the imaging device of the 1st modification of the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and another example. It is DD sectional drawing in FIG. It is a typical perspective view which shows schematic structure of the imaging device of the 2nd modification of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a typical perspective view which shows schematic structure of the imaging device of the 3rd modification of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a typical perspective view which shows schematic structure of the imaging device of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 19 is an E view in FIG. 18. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function structure of the control part of the imaging device of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In all the drawings, even if the embodiments are different, the same or corresponding members are denoted by the same reference numerals, and common description is omitted.

[First Embodiment]
A photographing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1A is a schematic perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG.1 (b) is a front view of the A view in Fig.1 (a). FIG. 2 is a C view in FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic front views showing an example of an arrangement configuration of LEDs used in the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention and another example. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the control unit of the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a graph showing an example of the relative intensity distribution of the discharge light source unit used in the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The horizontal axis represents wavelength (nm) and the vertical axis represents relative intensity (%).

As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2, a camera 1 that is a photographing apparatus of the present embodiment is a compact digital camera that captures a still image or a moving image of a subject according to various photographing scenes. is there.
The camera 1 includes a photographic lens unit 3 (photographing unit) that is a photographic optical system that acquires an image of a subject, and a main body that incorporates the photographic lens unit 3 and captures an image of the subject by the photographic lens unit 3 with an imaging element (not shown). Case 2 (imaging device main body) and an illumination unit that forms illumination light used for photographing are abbreviated as discharge light source unit 4, LED light source units 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, and 5F ("5A to 5F") Is provided).
In the following description, the LED light source units 5A to 5F may be simply referred to as “LED light source unit 5” when it is not necessary to distinguish between them.

The main body 2 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape including a rectangular front surface 2F, an upper surface 2U adjacent to one of the long sides of the front surface 2F, and a back surface 2B facing the front surface 2F across the upper surface 2U. Covered by the housing 2a.
The substantially central portion of the front surface 2F, as shown in FIG. 1 (a), the photographing optical axis O ₃ along the normal direction of the front face portion 2F, the photographing lens unit 3 is provided. The photographing lens unit 3 is composed of a plurality of lenses or lens groups, and the focal position can be adjusted by at least one lens or lens group (hereinafter referred to as a focal position adjusting lens) that is movably supported. The photographing lens unit 3 may be a single-focus photographing optical system or a multi-focus photographing optical system such as a zoom optical system.
A shutter button 6 is disposed on the upper surface portion 2U on the right side when viewed from the back surface portion 2B when the upper surface portion 2U is directed upward. When the shutter button 6 is half-pressed, an AE (automatic exposure) operation is controlled by an AE control unit 21 described later, and an AF (automatic focusing) operation is controlled by a control unit 13 described later. When the shutter button 6 is fully pressed, shutter release is performed based on the exposure determined by the AE control unit 21.

In standard photographing using the camera 1, the photographing lens unit 3 is directed toward the subject, the camera 1 is held so that the upper surface unit 2U faces upward, and the shutter release is performed by pressing the shutter button 6 downward. .
In the following description, in order to simplify the explanation of the relative positions of the respective parts of the camera 1, it is assumed that the camera 1 is placed in the posture for performing such standard shooting unless otherwise specified. Use terms such as “down” direction, upper (lower) side, upper (lower) edge.

As shown in FIG. 2, a liquid crystal monitor 7 for displaying captured images and videos, an operation screen including a GUI (graphical user interface) necessary for operation, and input information are displayed on the back surface 2B. On the operation screen displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 7, a cross button 8b for performing an operation input such as cursor movement and determination, a plurality of selection buttons 8a for performing an operation input of various operation modes of the camera 1, and a still image shooting mode And an operation button 8c for switching a moving image shooting mode, a reproduction mode, and the like.
When an operation mode for performing an operation input is selected by the selection button 8a, a GUI operation screen having a tree structure is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 7, and operation menu selection, operation input, and setting are performed using the cross button 8b. Can be done.
The selection button 8a, the cross button 8b, and the operation button 8c constitute the operation unit 8 of the camera 1.
The operation unit 8 of the camera 1 is not limited to the buttons provided on the back surface part 2B, and may include an operation unit including buttons, levers, dials, switches, and the like provided at other places as appropriate. Good. Further, a touch panel may be provided on the liquid crystal monitor 7 and a touch panel operation unit combined with a GUI may be provided.

The discharge light source unit 4 forms a radial illumination light L ₄ (first illumination light) that is directed to the front of the camera 1. When the upper surface portion 2U is directed upward, the discharge light source unit 4 is on the left side toward the front surface portion 2F, and It is built in the housing 2a at a position close to the upper surface portion 2U.
The configuration of the discharge light source unit 4 is not particularly limited as long as it emits white light by a discharge action, and any well-known configuration used for a built-in strobe for a camera can be employed.
In the present embodiment, the discharge light source unit 4 is disposed in a light projecting window 4b made of a transparent material disposed substantially in alignment with the front surface part 2F, and a housing 2a on the back surface side of the light projecting window 4b. A xenon tube 4a that is surrounded by a reflection plate (not shown) and emits illumination light by high-pressure discharge is provided.
The color temperature of the xenon tube 4a used in this embodiment is 5400K.
Further, in the present embodiment, discharge light source unit 4, the irradiation optical axis O ₄ is, are arranged to extend in parallel to the photographing optical axis O _3, an irradiation optical axis O ₄ to the imaging optical axis O ₃ is They are spaced apart in the vertical and horizontal directions.

LED light source unit 5A~5F, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), in the front portion 2F, the circumference on which the center of the photographing optical axis O ₃ becomes the outer peripheral side of the imaging lens unit 3, spaced between each other Has been placed.
In this embodiment, LED light source unit 5A~5F is arranged circumferentially in this order shown clockwise to six equal parts, directly above the LED light source part 5A is the photographing optical axis _{O 3,} LED light source unit 5D There has been located immediately below the photographing optical axis O _3. For this reason, the LED light source units 5B and 5C and the LED light source units 5F and 5E are arranged symmetrically with respect to an axis passing through the LED light source unit 5A, the photographing optical axis O ₃ , and the LED light source unit 5C. Moreover, the LED light source unit 5A and the LED light source unit 5C, the LED light source unit 5B and the LED light source unit 5E, each pair of LED light source portion 5C and the LED light source unit 5F are both equidistant across the photographic optical axis _{O 3} Open and separated.
Since the configuration of each LED light source unit 5 is the same as each other, an example of the LED light source unit 5A shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the LED light source unit 5A includes a light emitting element unit 5a that forms illumination light L _5A (second illumination light) inside the housing 2a, and a circuit board 9 on which the light emitting element unit 5a is mounted. A reflecting plate 5d that surrounds the side of the light emitting element portion 5a and extends in front of the light emitting element portion 5a in order to reflect the illumination light _L5A emitted from the light emitting element portion 5a, and the illumination light _L5A . And a light projection window 5c that covers the opening of the reflection plate 5d at a portion facing the light emitting element portion 5a.
The light projection window 5c may be a transmission window having a constant plate thickness that does not have refractive power. For example, the light projection window 5c may have a refractive power such as a Fresnel lens to collect emitted illumination light within an appropriate range. It may be possible to diverge.
Illumination light L _5A emitted from the light projecting window 5c, in this embodiment, about a parallel illumination optical axis O _5A the photographing optical axis O _3, is radiated in front of the front portion 2F.
Although not particularly shown, illumination light L _5B , L _5C , L _5D , L _5E , and L _5F (second illumination light) are emitted from the LED light source units 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, and 5F in the same manner. The Hereinafter, when the emission sources of the illumination light are not particularly distinguished, they may be simply referred to as “illumination light L ₅ ”.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the light emitting element portion 5a includes a red LED 10r (LED) that emits red light, a green LED 10g (LED) that emits green light, and a blue LED 10b that emits blue light. LED) is composed of a rectangular area element group arranged in a two-dimensional grid pattern in the illuminating light _{L 5A,} these red LED 10R, green LED 10G, is configured by superimposing the light beam respectively emitted from the blue LED10b The The directions of the central axes of the emitted light beams of the red LED 10r, the green LED 10g, and the blue LED 10b are all aligned in a direction orthogonal to the circuit board 9.
For this reason, the light emitting element portion 5a is a pseudo surface emitting light source having a rectangular region in which the red LED 10r, the green LED 10g, and the blue LED 10b are arranged as a light emitting region.
The number of each of the red LED 10r, the green LED 10g, and the blue LED 10b is not particularly limited, and may be the same or different. Moreover, in this embodiment, although it arrange | positions so that mutually different types may adjoin, you may arrange so that the same kind may adjoin.
The light emission amounts of the red LED 10r, the green LED 10g, and the blue LED 10b can be set independently, and various light emission amounts corresponding to various color temperatures can be set by combining these light emission amounts. Illumination light _L5A can be formed.
In this embodiment, as an example, the color temperature of the illumination light L _5A can be changed stepwise from, for example, 2000K to 10,000K.
Thus, the light emitting element portion 5a is a color temperature variable light source that can change the color temperature of the illumination light.

  Instead of the light emitting element portion 5a of the present embodiment, it is also possible to employ a light emitting element portion 25a in which one red LED 10r, one green LED 10g, and one blue LED 10b are arranged as shown in FIG. 4B. is there.

  According to such light emitting element portions 5a and 25a, since both use LEDs, for example, compared to a strobe using a xenon tube, the configuration is simple, the number of parts including peripheral circuit configurations is reduced, and the weight is reduced. And miniaturization can be achieved.

Here, the configuration of the electrical component of the camera 1 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 5, the electrical component of the camera 1 includes an imaging element 11 (photographing) that photoelectrically converts an image photographed by the photographing lens unit 3 in addition to the electrical components such as the LED light source units 5A to 5F described above. ), A lens driving unit 12 including a motor for moving a focal position adjusting lens of the photographing lens unit 3 in order to adjust the focal position of the photographing lens unit 3, and LED light source units 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, and 5E. LED drivers 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D, 19E, and 19F (which may be abbreviated as “19A to 19F”), a light emitting circuit 20 that causes the discharge light source unit 4 to emit light, and a control unit 13 An AE control unit 21 that performs photometry and determines the exposure based on the program diagram. For simplification of illustration, the LED light source units 5B, 5C, 5D, and 5E and the corresponding LED drivers 19B, 19C, 19D, and 19E are not shown in FIG.

The LED drivers 19 </ b> A to 19 </ b> F are circuits that switch the red LED 10 r, the green LED 10 g, and the blue LED 10 b disposed on each circuit board 9 individually or in appropriate groups, and the light emitting element unit 5 a based on a control signal from the control unit 13. And a drive circuit for controlling the light emission amount and the light emission time by controlling the current supplied to each of the red LED 10r, the green LED 10g, and the blue LED 10b.
The LED drivers 19A to 19F are electrically connected to the red LED 10r, the green LED 10g, the blue LED 10b, and the control unit 13, respectively.
Thereby, LED driver 19A-19F can change each light emitting element part 5a of LED light source part 5A-5F to which each was connected independently from 2000K to 10,000K, for example. For this reason, it is possible to irradiate the illumination light with the color temperature changed according to the color of the subject, the color tone of the shooting scene, and the shooting intention.
Each light emitting element unit 5a can perform “strobe light emission” and “continuous light emission”.

Here, “strobe light emission” means light emission for a short time while the shutter of the main body 2 is opened, and it does not matter whether light is emitted continuously or in pulses.
On the other hand, “continuous light emission” means that light emission is started by a light emission start signal and is continuously emitted until a light emission end signal is received. This is used for pre-light emission described later in image shooting.

The control unit 13 sets operation conditions of each unit of the camera 1 in accordance with an operation input from the operation unit 8, and performs an AF operation in accordance with an operation by the operation unit 8 or a half-press or full-press operation of the shutter button 6. It controls the overall photographing operation including the light emission control of the discharge light source unit 4 and the LED light source units 5A to 5F, the imaging operation, and the like.
The operation modes that can be set from the operation unit 8 include the light emission modes of the discharge light source unit 4 and the LED light source units 5A to 5F.
The configuration of the main part of the control unit 13 includes an image acquisition unit 14, an image processing unit 15 (subject information acquisition unit), a storage unit 18, an AF control unit 16 (subject information acquisition unit), and a light emission control unit 17 (light emission control parameters). Generator).

  The image acquisition unit 14 acquires image data photoelectrically converted by the image sensor 11.

The image processing unit 15 performs various image processing and arithmetic processing on the image data acquired by the image acquisition unit 14, and communicates with the image acquisition unit 14, the AF control unit 16, the storage unit 18, and the liquid crystal monitor 7, respectively. Connected as possible.
Examples of image processing performed by the image processing unit 15 include image processing for adjusting image quality, such as well-known gain correction, white balance adjustment, gamma correction, noise reduction processing, contour correction, and compression processing. .
The white balance adjustment is image processing for adjusting the white balance based on the mode setting of the white balance control, similarly to a known digital camera.
For example, when the “auto” mode of white balance control is set, the color temperature of the illumination light is estimated from a part or the whole of the image data, and a predetermined correction is performed according to the color temperature.
Also, depending on the user settings, the white balance control mode may be set assuming specific illumination light such as “cloudy” mode, “clear sky” mode, “fluorescent lamp” mode, “bulb” mode, etc. When the setting is made in the “manual setting” mode for setting the color temperature of the light, a predetermined white balance adjustment process is performed according to the color temperature of the illumination light assumed by each mode.
The processed image data is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 7 and is stored in the storage unit 18 as necessary.
Further, the arithmetic processing performed by the image processing unit 15 can include arithmetic processing for obtaining subject information from image data.

The subject information is not particularly limited as long as it is information that can be acquired from image data. In the present embodiment, it is possible to acquire subject type information, position information, and color information.
In the image processing unit 15, the subject type information is, for example, information on the presence or absence of a person in the subject, and is acquired by performing face detection processing on the image data. However, other types of information can also be acquired by providing a detector according to the type of subject in addition to the face detection.
As the face detection means, for example, a well-known configuration in which a Haar-like detector that efficiently detects a characteristic light-dark difference appearing around the eyes and nose muscles and a multistage filter (cascade) process may be employed. it can.
The position information of the subject acquired by the image processing unit 15 can include the position of the face detected by the face detection in the shooting screen.
As subject color information, average color data of a specific area, for example, RGB data, is calculated from an average value of image data in an appropriate area of the image data. As the color information acquisition area for acquiring the color information, for example, a predetermined partial area such as a focused part of the subject and an image area in the vicinity thereof, a central part of the image, or the entire image can be selected. Is possible.
When the subject information is calculated, it is stored in the storage unit 18.
Thus, the image processing unit 15 constitutes a subject information acquisition unit that acquires at least one of subject type information, position information, and color information as subject information.

The AF control unit 16 controls the AF operation that is started by half-pressing the shutter button 6. That is, in the present embodiment, the focal position of the photographic lens unit 3 is moved to infinity via the lens driving unit 12, and the focal position is moved toward the closest side. At each moving position, the image processing unit 15 is moved. The image contrast of the image data sent from is calculated, and the in-focus position is calculated by the hill-climbing method.
In the present embodiment, a plurality of AF targets are set within the photographing range, and a focus calculation area is set around the AF target position. Then, the image contrast is calculated for each focus calculation area, the focus position is calculated by the hill-climbing method, and the calculated focus position is stored in the storage unit 18 together with the AF target position information as shooting distance information. Is done.
For example, the focus position for shooting is set to the closest focus position.

  On the other hand, the focus position of each AF target represents information on the distance from the camera 1 to the subject in each AF target in the shooting range, and can be used for light emission control by the light emission control unit 17 described later. For this reason, the AF control unit 16 configures a subject information acquisition unit that acquires subject position information as subject information.

The light emission control unit 17 performs light emission control of the discharge light source unit 4 and each LED light source unit 5 based on a plurality of illumination modes previously selected via the operation unit 8. The light emitting circuit 20 and the LED drivers 19A to 19F are communicably connected.
For example, when the still image shooting mode is selected by the operation button 8c, a known illumination mode can be selected.

Well-known lighting modes have different names depending on the manufacturer, but for example, “auto flash” mode that automatically fires when underexposure occurs, “red-eye reduction” mode that pre-flashes before main flash to reduce red-eye, forced "Forced flash" mode for flashing, "Red-eye / Forced flash" mode for forced flash after preliminary flash, "Flash off" mode for prohibiting flash, "Slow sync" mode for flashing at low shutter speed, Examples include an “AF illuminator” mode in which pre-light emission is performed continuously during the AF operation so that the AF operation can be performed even in the dark.
In this embodiment, since the discharge light source unit 4 and the LED light source units 5A to 5F are provided as the illumination unit, the light emission control unit 17 controls the combined light emission of the discharge light source unit 4 and the LED light source units 5A to 5F. Done.
This combination control is automatically performed by the light emission control unit 17 selecting a preset light emission mode based on the subject information stored in the storage unit 18.
The preset emission modes are, for example, a shooting distance detection emission mode, a face detection emission mode, and a color detection emission mode. These light emission modes are effective in the “automatic light emission” mode, the “forced light emission” mode, and the forced light emission in the “red-eye / forced light emission” mode. However, even if both are illumination modes, each light emission mode can be individually invalidated by manual setting.

The shooting distance detection light emission mode is a light emission mode in which combined control of light emission of the discharge light source unit 4 and each LED light source unit 5 is performed according to the shooting distance corresponding to the in-focus position determined by the AF control unit 16.
In the main flash mode, when shooting in a close range where the shooting distance is short, the discharge light source unit 4 is prohibited from emitting light, and only the LED light source unit 5 is set to emit light. This shooting mode is a light emission mode in which one or more LED light source units 5 emit light in order to eliminate the shortage of the red component in the illumination light of the discharge light source unit 4 together with the discharge light source unit 4.

In photographing in the close-up area, if the discharge light source unit 4 that emits a large amount of light is caused to emit light within a short time, the light control of the discharge light source unit 4 is not in time. For this reason, the illumination light applied to the subject becomes excessive, resulting in a dim light or a whiteout image.
In order to avoid such a failure, there is a case where the flash emission is conventionally prohibited in macro photography in the close range. In this case, the amount of light is insufficient, and the shutter speed becomes slow, so camera shake is likely to occur.
On the other hand, the LED light source unit 5 can make the light emission time longer than that of the discharge light source unit 4, so that light control is possible even in a close subject, and appropriate exposure can be obtained. In addition, when the shooting distance is short, the amount of light is small, and therefore the amount of light is sufficient even with each LED light source unit 5 alone.
In the present embodiment, when the shooting distance is less than 30 cm, the discharge light source unit 4 is prohibited from emitting light and only the LED light source unit 5 is caused to emit light.
At this time, the color temperature of each LED light source unit 5 is set to 5400K which is the same as the color temperature of the discharge light source unit 4 by default. For this reason, the illumination light which substitutes the discharge light source part 4 in imaging | photography of a near field can be formed.
However, since each LED light source part 5 can change color temperature, it can also be set to appropriate color temperature by manual operation. In this case, since the illumination light having the color temperature of the discharge light source unit 4 is not mixed, it is possible to change the color temperature in a wider range than in the case where the discharge light source unit 4 emits light.
Further, when a face detection light emission mode and a color detection light emission mode, which will be described later, are valid, the color temperature of each light emission mode is set.

The wavelength characteristic of the xenon tube 4a used in the discharge light source unit 4 is as shown by a curve 100 in FIG. A curve 101 is a relative intensity distribution of natural daylight described for comparison.
As can be seen from FIG. 6, the xenon tube 4a shows a distribution in which the red component is relatively depressed. Therefore, the red component on the long wavelength side is insufficient as compared with natural daylight, so that the “hard” lacks warmth. Illuminated.
In particular, it is preferable to add redness to the illumination light of the xenon tube 4a in portrait photography in which it is preferable to photograph skin color beautifully.
Therefore, in the main light emission mode, the LED light source unit 5 is always caused to emit light to supplement the red light component in addition to the discharge light source unit 4 in close-up shooting in which a close-up of a person is increased. As an example, the short distance range is set to a shooting distance of 30 cm or more and less than 2 m.
In the main light emission mode, when the white balance control is in the “auto” mode, the light emission amount of the red LED 10r of each LED light source unit 5 is increased and the color temperature of the illumination light as a whole is set to 3500K.

In the face detection light emission mode, when subject information indicating that the subject type is a person is obtained by detecting a human face within the shooting range, the light emission amount of the red LED 10r is increased and the color of the illumination light as a whole is increased. This is a light emission mode in which the LED light source unit 5 set to have a low temperature emits light.
In the case of the main light emission mode, the color temperature of each LED light source unit 5 is set to a color temperature lower than the color temperature of the illumination light detected by the white balance control by a preset value.

In the color detection light emission mode, the color information of the entire or partial area in the shooting range is acquired as subject information, and the light emission balance of the red LED 10r, green LED 10g, and blue LED 10b of each light emitting element unit 5a is changed based on this color information. This is a light emission mode for forming the illumination light.
In the present embodiment, as an example, based on the color information of the image area including the focused AF target, the color of the main subject can be faithfully reproduced or expressed more impressively, Set the RGB balance of the illumination light.

The illumination light of the discharge light source unit 4 has less red component than natural daylight. For this reason, the LED light source unit 5 can be considered as a means for compensating for the shortage of the red component of the discharge light source unit 4.
Therefore, basically, if the color temperature of the LED light source unit 5 is set to a color temperature lower by a predetermined amount than the color temperature of illumination light detected by white balance control, faithful color reproduction is possible.
However, considering the specific visibility and the difference in spectral intensity distribution between the xenon tube and the LED, the color temperature of the LED light source unit 5 is considered to have an optimum value depending on the color of the subject. On the other hand, it is more preferable to decide by performing experiments or simulations.
For example, when the subject is meat or the like, the color information detected as the subject information is bright red. In this case, it is preferable to further lower the color temperature than when the skin color is detected because better color reproduction is obtained when the red component is greater than the skin color of the person.
In some cases, such as when blue is detected, it is preferable that the red component is small.
Such a preferable color temperature is obtained by comparing a plurality of color patch charts with only natural light and only the discharge light source unit 4 and measuring the difference in RGB balance of each captured image, and insufficient color components depending on the color of the subject. The color temperature of the LED light source unit 5 that is optimal for correcting the amount of light is calculated. And the difference amount of this color temperature and the color temperature of the illumination light used for experiment is stored in the memory | storage part 18 as a table or numerical formula, for example.
At the time of photographing, the color temperature may be set by subtracting the difference amount from the color temperature of the illumination light detected by the white balance control.
The difference amount may not be simply drawn, but may be set to increase or decrease the difference amount according to the illumination light detected by the white balance control. For example, it is possible to incorporate a correction coefficient for the difference amount as a function of illumination light detected by white balance control.

Further, by performing the same experiment together with the sensory evaluation of the subject, it is possible to set the RGB balance value of the LED light source unit 5 necessary for photographing the subject color more preferably.
That is, as the color detection light emission mode, the “normal mode” that faithfully reproduces the color and the “correction mode” that corrects the appearance may be selected by the operation unit 8. As the “correction mode”, for example, a “bright mode” that performs correction with emphasis on primary colors is possible.
In the present embodiment, as an example, settings of “normal mode” and “bright mode” are stored in the storage unit 18 according to the color information.

  The above is the setting when the discharge light source unit 4 and the LED light source unit 5 emit light. However, in the shooting distance detection light emission mode, when the light emission of the discharge light source unit 4 is prohibited, the LED light source is similarly used. A setting for obtaining a preferable color temperature of the section 5 is provided.

  In this embodiment, a computer including a CPU, a memory, an input / output interface, and the like is employed as the device configuration of the control unit 13.

The AE control unit 21 is communicably connected to a photometric sensor, a shutter, an aperture, a light emission control unit 17, and the operation unit 8 (not shown).
The AE control unit 21 starts operation when the shutter button 6 of the operation unit 8 is pressed halfway, acquires photometric values at one or more photometric targets from the photometric sensor, and determines the exposure based on the program diagram. .
However, in the camera 1 according to the present embodiment, when the photometric value is too low, the “AF illuminator” mode is performed. A pre-flash operation for continuously emitting light is executed. That is, the AE control unit 21 determines the exposure under the pre-light emission and continues the pre-light emission until the AF operation is completed.

  Note that photometry for AE is not limited to photometry using a photometric sensor. For example, the image data acquired by the image acquisition unit 14 may be transferred to the AE control unit 21, and the AE control unit 21 may calculate the light amount of an appropriate part within the imaging range to perform photometry.

Next, the operation of the camera 1 will be described focusing on an example of shooting when each LED light source unit 5 emits light.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a subject in a photographing example for explaining the operation of the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the photographing operation of the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the AF operation of the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory diagram illustrating the face detection operation of the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 11A and 11B are schematic diagrams illustrating an image of a photographing example by the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention and an image of a comparative example. FIGS. 12A and 12B are schematic plan views showing the relationship between illumination light and shadows in the photographing example and the comparative example by the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

First, the subject of the photographing example used for the following description will be described.
This photographing example is a photographing example in which a person is photographed as a still image. As shown in FIG. 7, a subject sitting on a white chair placed in front of the background wall 22 in a room having an ocher background wall 22. The upper body of S is placed in the approximate center of the shooting frame for shooting.
When the focal length of the photographing lens unit 3 is 50 mm, the photographing distance in this case is about 2 m.
Subject S is wearing a gray clothes, face portion S _f, neck S _n, is the skin in the hand unit S _h are exposed.
On the right side of the face portion S _f, for experimentation, calibrated red chart portion 23R, the green chart portion 23G, the color chart 23 is the blue chart portion 23B are provided in parallel is disposed.

Below, the illumination mode of the discharge light source part 4 and each LED light source part 5 is demonstrated in the example in the case of "auto light emission" mode. In the default setting of the “auto flash” mode of the present embodiment, the shooting distance detection flash mode, face detection flash mode, and color detection flash mode are all valid. However, when the color temperature of each LED light source unit 5 is set manually, the face detection light emission mode is enabled, but the color detection light emission mode is disabled.
In this case, there is a possibility that the setting of the combination of light emission of the discharge light source unit 4 and each LED light source unit 5 and the color temperature of each LED light source unit 5 may be different for each light emission mode. Therefore, in the “auto light emission” mode, whether or not the discharge light source unit 4 emits light depends on the setting of the shooting distance detection light emission mode. Further, the color temperature of each LED light source unit 5 follows the setting of the face detection light emission mode when a face is detected, and follows the setting of the color detection light emission mode when no face is detected.
That is, in the following description of the operation, when a human face is included in the shooting scene, the setting is such that illumination light that automatically produces color on the face is automatically formed.
If you want to manually set the color temperature in shooting including a person's face, set the color temperature manually before disabling the shooting distance detection flash mode and face detection flash mode. This is possible by using the “red-eye / forced flash” mode.

In order to perform photographing with the camera 1, steps S1 to S12 are executed according to the flow shown in FIG.
In step S1, the photographer holds the camera 1 and frames the subject S, and presses the shutter button 6 halfway. Thereby, photometry is started by the AE control unit 21.

Next, in step S2, the AE control unit 21 determines whether it is necessary to perform pre-flash based on the photometric result.
If it is determined that pre-emission is necessary because the photometric value is equal to or less than a predetermined allowable value, the process proceeds to step S3.
If it is determined that pre-emission is unnecessary because the photometric value is larger than a predetermined allowable value, the process proceeds to step S4.
However, this step and step S3 are omitted when the setting for prohibiting the “AF illuminator” mode is made.

In step S3, the AE control unit 21 sends a control signal for causing each LED light source unit 5 to emit light continuously with a predetermined light amount to the LED drivers 19A to 19F.
Thereby, each LED light source part 5 light-emits continuously, and the to-be-photographed object S is illuminated.
At this time, the color temperature of the illumination light is emitted at a color temperature predetermined according to the wavelength sensitivity of the photometric sensor so as not to affect the photometric sensitivity of the photometric sensor. For example, it is set to 5400K. This setting of the color temperature is canceled when the pre-flash is finished.

Next, in step S4, an AF operation is performed.
The camera 1 obtains the in-focus position by the contrast method. At this time, exposure and white balance are set to appropriate default values. In the present embodiment, an AF area that is a plurality of distance measurement areas for obtaining the in-focus position is set within the shooting range.
The AF control unit 16 evaluates the contrast of the image data in each AF area, and uses this as the focus evaluation value.
This step is performed by executing steps S21 to S24 according to the flow shown in FIG.

Step S21 is a step of setting the focal position to infinity.
The AF control unit 16 sends a control signal to the lens driving unit 12 and moves the focal position adjustment lens of the photographing lens unit 3 by the lens driving unit 12 so that the focal position of the photographing lens unit 3 becomes infinity.
Above, step S21 is complete | finished.

Next, step S22 is performed. This step is a step of starting the focal position movement toward the closest position.
That is, the AF control unit 16 sends a control signal for starting the movement of the photographing lens unit 3 toward the closest position to the lens driving unit 12.
The amount of movement of the focal position adjustment lens is measured by, for example, an encoder output of the lens driving unit 12 and sent to the AF control unit 16. When the AF control unit 16 receives the movement amount, the AF control unit 16 sequentially converts the focal position into an imaging distance.

When the focus position adjustment lens starts to move, step S23 is performed. This step is a step of searching for the in-focus position by the contrast method.
That is, the AF control unit 16 acquires image data captured by the image sensor 11 from the image processing unit 15, and calculates the contrast of the image for each AF area.
This contrast shows a mountain-shaped change in which the contrast increases from a low state as it goes from the infinity side to the close side, and then decreases after reaching the peak value corresponding to the position of the subject.
At this time, the image data is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 7 each time.

The AF control unit 16 checks the contrast change for each AF area, and when a peak is detected, stores the position of the AF area and the shooting distance at the peak position in the storage unit 18.
When it is detected that the contrast peak has been exceeded in all the AF areas, or the focus position adjustment lens has moved to the closest movement limit, the AF control unit 16 stops the operation of the lens driving unit 12. A control signal is sent.
Above, step S23 is complete | finished.

Next, step S24 is performed. This step is a step of determining a focus position for photographing and a focus area corresponding to the focus position.
In the present embodiment, the contrast peak positions of the acquired AF areas are compared, and the position of the closest peak is determined as the in-focus position, and the AF area in which the peak position is detected is determined as the in-focus area. . This is because the main subject is often photographed with being placed on the close side.
For example, in the case of a photographic scene shown in Fig. 10, depending on the arrangement of the AF area, for example, if the AF area is provided densely arranging a larger number, the hand portion S _h of the subject S which is closest to the object AF area including the position P ₂ of the upper is focusing area.
The AF control unit 16 sends a control signal to the lens driving unit 12 so that the focus position adjustment lens moves to the determined in-focus position. Accordingly, the photographing lens unit 3 is focused on the hand unit S _h.
Further, the shooting distance d is determined from the in-focus position and stored in the storage unit 18.
However, in step S23, when there is a subject to be focused in an AF area other than the focus area, the position of the AF area and the shooting distance when the subject is focused are stored. This information can be used as the position information of the subject.
Thus, step S24 is completed, and step S4 shown in FIG. 8 is completed.

Step S <b> 5 is a step in which exposure is determined by the AE control unit 21. The AE control unit 21 refers to the program diagram based on the photometric value, determines the aperture and shutter speed, drives the aperture (not shown), and sets the shutter speed in the shutter release mechanism.
When the exposure is determined in this way, the image processing unit 15 performs white balance adjustment.

Next, step S6 shown in FIG. 8 is performed. This step is a step for performing face detection.
Face detection is performed by performing image processing on image data in a state where the focus position adjustment lens is moved to the in-focus position and focused.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10, when the image processing unit 15 acquires the focused image data from the image acquisition unit 14, the image processing unit 15 sets a face detection window W _f having a certain size, and a Haar-like detector , based on the multi-stage filter (cascaded) process and algorithms of the combined face detection, and performs face detection in the face detection window W _f. When a face is detected, the size of the face area and the center position are calculated and stored in the storage unit 18. When the face detection ends in one of the face detection window W _f, moving the position of the face detection window W _f, repeating this throughout the shooting range.
Further, by changing the size of the face detection window W _f, by repeating the same process, it continues to detect faces of different sizes.
Thus, for example, when the photographic scene in FIG. 10, the face region R covering the face portion S _f is detected at the position P _1.
This is the end of step S6.

Next, step S7 is performed. This step is a step of determining whether or not a face is detected in the image data.
If a face is detected, the process proceeds to step S10.
If no face is detected, the process proceeds to step S8.

Step S8 is a step of determining whether or not the color detection light emission mode is valid.
If the color detection emission mode is valid, the process proceeds to step S9.
If the color detection emission mode is not valid, the process proceeds to step S10.

Step S9 is a step of performing color detection on the image.
The image processing unit 15 calculates the average value of the color of the image data in the color information acquisition area and stores it in the storage unit 18.
Step S9 is complete | finished above.

Step S10 is a step of setting the light emission parameters of the discharge light source unit 4 and each LED light source unit 5 based on the subject information of the shooting scene.
Here, the light emission parameters are numerical values and signals that need to be set in order to emit light or prohibit light emission of the discharge light source unit 4 and each LED light source unit 5. For example, a signal for selecting the presence or absence of light emission, a control value or control signal for setting a color temperature, and a control value for the light emission amount are included.
These light emission parameters are set in the light emission control unit 17, and when the shutter button 6 is fully pressed, the light emission control unit 17 sends the light emission circuit 20 and the LED drivers 19A to 19F as control signals corresponding to these light emission parameters. Sent out.
For this reason, the light emission control part 17 comprises the light emission control parameter production | generation part which produces | generates the light emission control parameter of a discharge light source part and a LED light source part based on the subject information acquired by the subject information acquisition part.

For example, in the shooting scene of FIG. 10, whether or not the discharge light source unit 4 emits light is set according to the shooting distance d. In the case of the shooting scene of FIG. 10, since the shooting distance d is 30 cm or more, the discharge light source unit 4 is set to emit light.
Each LED light source unit 5 is allowed to emit light unless it is prohibited by manual setting.
The color temperature of each LED light source unit 5 is set in the face detection light emission mode because the face portion _Sf is detected by face detection. In the present embodiment, when a face is detected, color detection is not performed, so that the calculation time is shortened and rapid shooting is possible.
The light emission amount of the discharge light source unit 4 and each LED light source unit 5 is set so that the light emission amount corresponding to the guide number that realizes appropriate exposure determined by AE is divided between the discharge light source unit 4 and the LED light source unit 5. . This division ratio is set to a division ratio that provides an appropriate color temperature for the entire illumination light. For example, when the color temperature of the discharge light source unit 4 is 5400K and the color temperature of the LED light source unit 5 is 3500K, the ratio of the light emission amount of the illumination light L _{4 and} the light emission amount of the illumination light L ₅ is 4 as an example. : It can be determined to be 6.
However, when the color temperature of the illumination light is manually set, the ratio of the light emission amount of the illumination light L ₄ and the light emission amount of the illumination light L ₅ also kept to be set freely. By changing this ratio, it is possible to shoot an image with a photographer's favorite color. For example, increasing the ratio of the light emission amount of the illumination light L ₄ increases the bluish color, and increasing the light emission amount of the illumination light L ₅ increases the red color.
Above, step S10 is complete | finished.

Next, in step S11, the control unit 13 enters a loop for monitoring whether or not the shutter button 6 has been fully pressed.
If the shutter button 6 is fully pressed, the process exits the monitoring loop and proceeds to step S12.

Next, in step S12, shutter release is started by fully pressing the shutter button 6, and the light emission control unit 17 sends a control signal corresponding to the light emission parameter set in step S10 to the light emission circuit 20, the LED driver. Send to 19A-19F. Thereby, while the shutter is opened, the discharge light source unit 4 and each LED light source unit 5 emit strobe light based on the light emission parameter.
Thereby, for example, an image as shown in FIG.
Above, step S12 is complete | finished.

Thus, in the present embodiment, by the color temperature is high color temperature in addition to the illumination light L ₄ of the discharge light source unit 4 is illumination light L ₅ from lower the LED light source unit 5 are mixed, the entire illumination light As the color temperature is an intermediate color temperature between the color temperature of the illumination light L _{4 and} the color temperature of the illumination light L ₅ , the insufficient red component of the illumination light L ₄ is compensated for, and the skin color reproducibility is improved. To do. For this reason, face section S _f, neck S _n, the skin color of the hand portion S _h in good color, can photograph the image of the natural impression. It also adds warmth to the image.

Here, the results of experiments on the relationship between the color temperature of illumination light and the color of the subject S will be described.
In the present experimental example, in the configuration of the above-described embodiment, the current values passed through the red LED 10r, the green LED 10g, and the blue LED 10b of each LED light source unit 5 are changed to generate illumination light having different color temperatures, and the discharge light source unit 4 Test shooting was performed in the shooting scene shown in FIG.
Table 1 below shows the current limiting resistance (Ω) used for driving the LED of the LED light source unit 5 used in the experiment and the current value (mA) corresponding thereto. R, G, and B in the table represent a red LED 10r, a green LED 10g, and a blue LED 10b, respectively.

The color temperatures of “LED1” and “LED2” are 2800K and 2000K, respectively, and both are light sources having a lower color temperature than the color temperature 5400K of the discharge light source unit 4. In order to configure such a light source, the current values of the green LED 10g and the blue LED 10b are substantially the same, but the current value of the red LED 10r is relatively low in “LED1” and relatively high in “LED2”. Yes. As a result, “LED1” is a light source with a weaker red component than “LED2”.
In the present embodiment, “LED1” is an example of setting the color temperature of the light-emitting element unit 5a in the face-detection light-emission mode and in the face-detection light-emission mode during light emission outside the close range in the shooting distance detection light-emission mode.
Test photography was performed under the conditions of “test photography 1” to “test photography 6” shown in Table 2 below.

The “xenon tube” column in the table indicates whether or not the discharge light source unit 4 emits light.
As shown in Table 2, in “Test shooting 1”, the discharge light source unit 4 and each LED light source unit 5 are not caused to emit light, and the ISO sensitivity is increased and shooting is performed only with room light. “Test photographing 2” is photographing in which only the discharge light source unit 4 emits light. “Test shooting 3” (“test shooting 5”) is shooting in which only “LED1” (“LED2”) emits light. “Test photographing 4” (“test photographing 6”) is photographing in which “LED1” (“LED2”) is caused to emit light in addition to the discharge light source unit 4.
In each shooting, exposure is aligned by the program AE.

  Table 3 below averages the image data of the red chart portion 23R, the green chart portion 23G, and the blue chart portion 23B on the color chart 23 among the photographed images, and the RGB component data values (“R data”, “G data”). , “B data”). Each data value is 8-bit gradation data of each color component, and takes a value of 0 to 255.

In Table 3 above, when comparing the measurement results of “Test shooting 1” and “Test shooting 2”,
The difference between the data values of the green chart portion 23G and the blue chart portion 23B is as small as 0 to 16, and even between the green component and the blue component of the red chart portion 23R is as small as 3 to 6. However, in the red component of the red chart portion 23R, the “test shooting 2” is 30 lower, and the illumination of only the “xenon tube” is a reproduction of the red chart portion 23R compared to the shooting of only the room light. It can be seen that the sex has decreased.
In terms of actual appearance, the skin color of the subject S was particularly dull and dark.

When the measurement results of “Test shooting 1”, “Test shooting 3”, and “Test shooting 5” are compared, the data value of each color component increases, but in particular, the blue component in the blue chart portion 23B increases. It can be seen that the red component is remarkably increased in each color chart portion. The red component of the red chart portion 23R is 255. However, referring to the result of “Test shooting 6”, it is highly possible that the saturation light amount has been reached, and the red component of the actual illumination light is considered to be stronger.
In the comparison between “Test shooting 3” and “Test shooting 5”, the data value of “Test shooting 3” is the data value of “Test shooting 3” in each red component corresponding to the difference in the current value of the red LED 10g. It has exceeded.
As for the actual appearance of the image, “Test shooting 3” and “Test shooting 5” were bright as a whole, but the color tone was clearly reddish. In particular, the image of “Test shooting 5” was an image using a red filter.
Regarding the blue color, the difference is such that the blue chart portion can be seen more clearly than 23B, and the color tone of the entire image was not significantly affected.

Comparing the measurement results of “Test Shooting 4” and “Test Shooting 3”, the data values of the green component and the blue component do not change much in each color chart part, but the illumination light of “xenon tube” is mixed. As a result, the data value of the red component is reduced from 248 to 202 in the red chart portion 23R, which is larger than 180 in the case of “test photographing 1”. Therefore, it can be seen that the shortage of the red component is compensated for compared to “test shooting 2”, and the redness is improved compared to “test shooting 1”.
As for how the actual image looks, “Test shooting 4” has a natural impression that the redness of the entire screen disappears like “Test shooting 3”, and the data value is larger than “Test shooting 1”. As much as that, it was bright and the color of the red line was vivid and warm.
In particular, the skin color portion of the subject S is well colored, and the image is more attractive than “test shooting 1”.

  Comparing the measurement results of “Test Shooting 6” and “Test Shooting 5”, the data values are generally decreased in each color chart portion, which is close to the measurement result of “Test Shooting 3”. As an actual image, the overall redness of “Test Shooting 5” was reduced, and the image was very similar to the image of “Test Shooting 3”.

  In this way, by adding the illumination light of the LED light source unit 5 that increases the red component and reduces the color temperature to the illumination light of the discharge light source unit 4, it is natural and warm using the color tone of the shooting scene and subject. It can be seen that an image can be taken.

Further, in the present photographing example, each LED light source unit 5 is arranged on a circumference centered on the photographing optical axis O ₃ , so that the subject S is irradiated with illumination light L ₅ from different directions. Therefore, shadows, specular reflections and whiteout are suppressed.
For example, as in the comparative example shown in FIG. 12 (b), the use of illumination light L ₄ to illuminate only discharge light source unit 4 to emit light, the illumination light L _4, the left side with respect to the face portion S _f shadow K ₄ is formed to extend in the rearward. In this case, as shown in FIG. 11 (b), the image that has not been shot appears as a shadow image D ₃ on the left side with respect to the subject S due to the shadow K ₄ projected on the background wall 22. Shadow image D ₃ is strong contrast, as a dark image, to be formed so as to border the perimeter of the object S, which is an unnatural image.

On the other hand, in imaging of the present embodiment, illumination light from the plurality of LED light source part 5 having an illumination optical axis spaced from the irradiation optical axis O ₄ of the discharge light source unit 4 is overlap in the region of the shadow K _4. For example, as shown in FIG. 12A, the illumination light L _5B from the LED light source unit 5B having the irradiation optical axis O _5B on the side opposite to the irradiation optical axis O ₄ across the photographing optical axis O _{3 4} intersect in, for around to the back side of the face portion S _f, incident on the part of the shadow K _4, the shadow K _5B range illuminating light L _5B overlap, the darkness is mitigated than shadow K ₄ . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11 (a), on the left side with respect to the face portion S _f, lower contrast than the shadow image D _4, a brighter shade image D ₃ are formed.
Further, as shown in FIG. 12 (a), the illumination light L _5B is a right side with respect to the face portion S _f forms a shadow extending right obliquely rearward of the face portion S _f, in its scope, Illumination lights L ₄ and L _5F are irradiated. Therefore, shadow K _5F to darkness in comparison with the shadow formed only by the illumination light L _5B is relaxed is formed. Thus, as shown in FIG. 11 (a), on the right side of the face portion S _f, lower contrast than the shadow image D _4, a brighter shade image D ₂ is formed.

Similarly, around each other LED light source part 5 is also subject S, lower contrast than the shadow image D _3, to form a brighter shade image, unnaturalness of surrounding the object S is significantly reduced The In particular, in this embodiment, since each LED light source unit 5 is arranged on a circumference centered on the photographing optical axis O ₃ , a pseudo ring light source is configured, so that the shadow image is isotropic. Alleviated. Thereby, illumination close to a shadowless state is possible.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, by causing the LED light source unit 5 to emit light, an unnatural shadow image around the subject S can be reduced, and the illumination light can be prevented from becoming a “hard” impression. You can shoot a good image.

Next, the operation of the camera 1 in another shooting example will be described.
FIGS. 13A and 13B are a schematic diagram illustrating a subject in another photographing example by the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and an operation explanatory diagram illustrating a subject color detection operation.

This imaging embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13 (a), as a subject, and apples S _a and banana S _b is, for close-up photographing a still life placed on the white dish S _d on the table S _t brown photographing Example It is.
In this imaging embodiment, it is preferable that malic S _a and banana S _b captures an image as appetizing. However, when only the discharge light source unit 4 is photographed as in the prior art, the reproducibility of the red color of the apple Sa is deteriorated and close-up is taken, and there is a possibility of overexposure.
The camera 1 can shoot an image that does not cause such a problem in the “auto light emission” mode similar to the above in which the color detection light emission mode is enabled.
In the photographing operation, steps S1 to S12 are executed according to the flow shown in FIG. Below, it demonstrates centering on a different point from said description.

Steps S1 to S7 in this photographing example are exactly the same steps as steps S1 to S7 described above.
However, in step S4, as shown in FIG. 13 (b), to focus on apple Sa at position _{P 3.} At this time, the shooting distance d is, for example, d = 25 (cm).
Further, in the shooting scene shown in FIG. 13A, since there is no subject having a face, the process proceeds to step S9 after step S7.

In step S9, the image data in the color information calculation area W _C (see FIG. 13B) preset by the image processing unit 15 is averaged, and the RGB data is obtained.
Above, step S9 is complete | finished.

In step S10, the light emission control unit 17 sets the light emission parameters.
The light emission control unit 17 refers to the storage unit 18 and prohibits the light emission of the discharge light source unit 4 because the shooting distance d is less than 30 cm.
The light emission control unit 17 refers to the RGB data acquired in step S9 and the table used for the color detection light emission mode stored in the storage unit 18, and sets the color temperature of each LED light source unit 5. Do.
Further, the light emission amount of the LED light source unit 5 is determined from the exposure stored in the storage unit 18.
Above, step S10 is complete | finished.

Next, a monitoring loop for fully pressing the shutter button 6 is entered. If the shutter button 6 is fully pressed, step S12 is performed, and shooting is performed.
Captured image is not particularly illustrated, LED light source unit 5, based on the color information of the apple S _a, for emitting light in a set color temperature, for example, when the "normal mode" is selected, apples an image that S _a is faithful color reproduction is shot, "bright mode" if it is selected, the image of red, which accounts for most of the apple S _a has been emphasized is taken.
Furthermore, when focusing on banana S _b, based on the color information of the banana S _b, yellow is faithfully color reproduction, or yellow is the enhanced image is captured.

Shooting using such a color detection light-emitting mode can automatically set illumination that is particularly effective when a subject with a certain color is taken close-up.
In the light emission parameter of the present photographing example, since the discharge light source unit 4 does not emit light, whiteout due to poor light control does not occur even in close-up photography.
Further, since the LED light source unit 5 is a pseudo ring light source, the shadow of the subject is reduced as in the above-described photographing example.

As described above, according to the camera 1 of the present embodiment, the illumination light L _{4 from the} discharge light source unit 4 according to the subject information acquired by the image processing unit 15 and the AF control unit 16 that are subject information acquisition units. and it is possible to select and use the illumination light L ₅ by the LED light source unit 5, it is possible to easily reduce the unnaturalness of the image by the illumination light for photographing.

[First Modification]
Next, a photographing apparatus according to a first modification of the present embodiment will be described.
FIGS. 14A and 14B are schematic front views illustrating an example of an arrangement configuration of LEDs used in the imaging apparatus according to the first modification of the first embodiment of the present invention and other examples. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the camera 31 (imaging device) of the present modification includes LED light source units 35 instead of the LED light source units 5 of the camera 1 of the first embodiment.
Each LED light source unit 35 includes a light emitting element unit 35a shown in FIG. 14A in place of the light emitting element unit 5a of the first embodiment.
Hereinafter, a description will be given centering on differences from the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 14A, the light-emitting element portion 35a is replaced with white LEDs 30a, 30b, and 30c (LED) instead of the red LED 10r, the green LED 10g, and the blue LED 10b of the light-emitting element portion 5a of the first embodiment. Prepare.
The arrangement of the white LEDs 30a, 30b, and 30c is not particularly limited as long as the white LEDs 30a, 30b, and 30c are arranged in a two-dimensional lattice pattern in the rectangular region. In FIG. 14A, different types are arranged adjacent to each other, but they may be arranged so that the same types are adjacent to each other.
The difference between the white LEDs 30a, 30b, and 30c is the difference in color temperature. In the present embodiment, as an example, the respective color temperatures are set to 2000K, 5400K, and 7000K.
For this reason, in the light emitting element unit 5a, the light emission amount of the white LEDs 30a, 30b, and 30c is changed to an appropriate value between 0 and the maximum value, and the number of light emission is controlled to be emitted from the LED light source unit 35. It is possible to change the color temperature and light emission amount of the illumination light.
For example, the color temperature of the illumination light can be changed stepwise from 2000K to 10,000K.
Thus, the light emitting element portion 35a is a color temperature variable light source that can change the color temperature of the illumination light.

An example of the configuration of the white LEDs 30a, 30b, and 30c will be described with reference to the example of the white LEDs 30a and 30b illustrated in FIG.
In the white LED 30a, a plurality of blue LED chips 32 that emit blue light are fixed via a die bonding material 33 inside a rectangular region surrounded by the bank portion 34 on the circuit board 9 so as to cover the chip surface. The fluorescent material 37A is laminated on the substrate.
In addition, the blue LED chips 32 are connected to each other by bonding wires 36 and are also connected to the metal wiring 38 wired in the bank portion 34 through the bonding wires 36 to supply current.
The fluorescent material 37A employs a material having a characteristic that yellow light is induced when irradiated with blue light.
For this reason, when current is supplied to the blue LED chip 32 and blue light is generated, a part of the blue light is transmitted through the fluorescent material 37A and the other blue light strikes the fluorescent material 37A to induce yellow light. As a result, white light is emitted.
Here, the color temperature of the white LED30a because determined by generating the ratio of blue light and yellow light, changes depending on the thickness t ₁ of the fluorescent materials 37A laminated on the blue LED chip 32.
In the present embodiment, the thickness t _1, the color temperature is previously adjusted to 2000 K.

The white LED 30b differs from the white LED 30a only in that the white LED 30b includes a fluorescent material 37B whose thickness on the blue LED chip 32 is t ₂ thinner than t ₁ instead of the fluorescent material 37A of the white LED 30a. In the present embodiment, the thickness t _2, the color temperature is previously adjusted to 5400K.
Further, although not particularly illustrated, similarly, the white LED 30c is formed by laminating a fluorescent material having a thickness adjusted in advance so that the color temperature becomes 7000K on the blue LED chip 32.

The white LEDs 30a, 30b, and 30c can change their light emission amounts by changing the number of blue LED chips 32 in each bank unit 34. For this reason, it is also possible to form three white LEDs 30a, 30b, and 30c having a light emission amount equivalent to that of the light emitting element portion 5a by increasing the number of blue LED chips 32 per one.
Therefore, instead of the light emitting element part 35a of this embodiment, it is also possible to employ a light emitting element part 35b in which one white LED 30a, 30b, 30c as shown in FIG.
Although not shown, each white LED 30a, 30b, 30c of the light emitting element portion 35a may be configured to have one blue LED chip 32.

  According to the camera 31 of this modification, the color temperature of the illumination light can be changed by individually controlling the light emission amounts of the white LEDs 30a, 30b, and 30c by the light emission control unit 17 of the control unit 13. For this reason, similarly to the camera 1 of the first embodiment, it is possible to easily reduce the unnaturalness of the image due to the illumination light for photographing.

[Second Modification]
Next, an imaging apparatus according to a second modification of the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 16 is a schematic perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an imaging apparatus according to a second modification of the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 16, the camera 41 (photographing device) of the present modified example is replaced with the LED light source units 45A to 45F of the camera 41 of the second modified example, the discharge light source unit 44, the LED light source units 45A and 45B, 45C, 45D (may be abbreviated as “45A to 45F”).
Hereinafter, a description will be given centering on differences from the first embodiment.

The discharge light source unit 44 has the same configuration as that of the discharge light source unit 4 of the first embodiment, and only the arrangement position on the front surface part 2F is different.
The discharge light source unit 44 is built in the housing 2a between the upper surface unit 2U and the photographing lens unit 3 in the main body unit 2, and the irradiation optical axis _O44 is the photographing optical axis of the photographing lens unit 3. above the O ₃ are arranged to extend in parallel to the photographing optical axis O _3.

LED light source parts 45A-45D have the completely same structure as the LED light source part 5 of the said 1st Embodiment, respectively, and differ only in the arrangement position in the front part 2F.
The arrangement positions of the LED light source units 45A to 45D are the positions of the vertices of a rectangle that surrounds the photographing lens unit 3 on the front surface unit 2F and whose sides are parallel to the outer shape of the main body unit 2.
The LED light source parts 45A and 45B are respectively arranged on the upper side and the lower side on the left side with respect to the main body part 2, and the LED light source parts 45C and 45D are respectively arranged on the upper side and the lower side on the right side with respect to the main body part 2. Yes.
In the present modification, the irradiation optical axes O _45A , O _45B , O _45C , and O _45D of the LED light source units _{45A to 45D} are all parallel to the photographing optical axis O ₃ and are separated by an equal distance.
Therefore, LED light source unit 45A~45D are arranged on a circle centered on the imaging optical axis _{O 3.} Further, LED light source unit 45A~45D the vertical passing through the photographing optical axis _{O 3,} are arranged in line symmetrical positions with respect to a symmetry axis extending in the left-right.

According to the camera 41 of the present modification, only the arrangement position and the number of the LED light source units 45A to 45D and the arrangement position of the discharge light source unit 44 are different, as in the camera 1 of the first embodiment. The unnaturalness of the image due to the illumination light can be easily reduced.
In particular, in this modification, the irradiation optical axis O ₄₄ of the discharge light source unit 44 is provided immediately above the photographing optical axis O _3, at symmetrical positions with respect to a plane passing through the irradiation optical axis O ₄₄ and the photographing optical axis O _3, LED light source units 45A and 45B and LED light source units 45C and 45D are arranged.
For this reason, with respect to the main subject that is often located at the center of the photographing frame, shadows are generated substantially evenly on the left and right by the discharge light source unit 44, and the LEDs that are spaced apart in the left and right direction of the discharge light source unit 44 are arranged. Such shadows can be efficiently reduced by causing the light source units 45A and 45B and the LED light source units 45C and 45D to emit light.

[Third Modification]
Next, a photographing apparatus according to a third modification of the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 17 is a schematic perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an imaging apparatus according to a third modified example of the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 17, the camera 51 (imaging device) of the present modification includes LED light source units 55R and 55L instead of the LED light source units 45A to 45D of the camera 41 of the second modification.
Hereinafter, differences from the first embodiment and the second modification will be mainly described.

As shown in FIG. 17A, the LED light source portions 55R and 55L are arranged on the upper surface portion 2U at positions on the right side and the left side as viewed from the front surface portion 2F. .
In the present embodiment, the LED light source portions 55R and 55L have the same configuration, and include the light emitting element portion 5a similar to that of the first embodiment inside the cylindrical housing 55a. The illumination light from the part 5a can be radiated from the side surface of the cylindrical casing 55a.
Although not particularly illustrated, each light emitting element portion 5a includes a reflector 5d and a light projection window 5c similar to those in the first embodiment, so that irradiation light is emitted in a direction perpendicular to the central axis of the cylindrical housing 55a. Axes O _55R and O _55L are formed.

Each cylindrical casing 55a is held by a holding structure in the main body 2 (not shown) so as to be able to advance and retreat on the upper surface 2U and to be rotatable about the central axis of each cylindrical casing 55a.
As an example of a holding structure that holds the cylindrical housing 55a on the upper surface portion 2U so as to be able to advance and retreat, an elastic member such as a spring member that urges the cylindrical housing 55a from below and a pop-up protruding on the upper surface portion 2U. A configuration having a lock mechanism that switches between a state (see FIG. 17A) and a storage state (see FIG. 17B) stored inside the main body 2 can be given.
In this case, the lock mechanism can be locked and unlocked by repeatedly pushing the cylindrical housing 55a using a cam or the like.
As an example of a holding structure that can rotate the cylindrical housing 55a when the cylindrical housing 55a is in a pop-up state, a configuration in which the rotation latch is manually moved, or the cylindrical housing 55a is rotatably supported by a motor. An example of a configuration in which the rotational position is set by the operation unit 8 of the main body unit 2 can be given.

According to such a configuration, the direction of the irradiation optical axes O _55R and O _55L can be changed by appropriately rotating the LED light source portions 55R and 55L after setting the LED light source portions 55R and 55L in a pop-up state. For this reason, it is possible to change the angle formed between the irradiation optical axes O _55R and O _55L or the angle formed between the irradiation optical axis O _55R (O _55L ) and the photographing optical axis O ₃ .
Therefore, the photographer changes the direction of the irradiation optical axis O _55R (O _55L ) according to the position of the subject in the shooting scene, so that the subject is arranged at a position off the center of the shooting frame. The shadow caused by the discharge light source unit 44 can be efficiently reduced.
In addition, bounce photography can be performed by directing the direction of the irradiation optical axis O _55R (O _55L ) toward, for example, a wall surrounding the subject.
In this case, illumination light from the LED light source unit 55R (55L) is not directly irradiated onto the subject, so that more natural illumination light can be obtained.
In addition, by adjusting the direction of the bounce light, it becomes easier to suppress shadows generated on the subject. Furthermore, it is possible to perform shooting with intentional shadows formed by bounce light.

  The illumination light from the LED light source 55R (55L) can also be used for spotlights that illuminate a subject at a specific position in a shooting scene with a specific color temperature.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a photographing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIGS. 18A and 18B are schematic perspective views showing a schematic configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 19 is an E view in FIG. FIG. 20 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a control unit of the imaging apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 18A, the camera 60 (photographing device) of the present embodiment is a still image or moving image of a subject, whereas the camera 1 of the first embodiment is a compact digital camera. The difference is that it is a single-lens reflex digital camera that captures images.
Below, it demonstrates centering on a different point from the said 1st Embodiment.

  The camera 60 is a photographic lens unit 63 (photographing unit) that is a photographic optical system for acquiring a subject image, and the photographic lens unit 63 is mounted on the imaging element 11 (photographing unit, FIG. 20). The camera main body 61 (imaging apparatus main body) that performs imaging in (see FIG. 6) and a strobe unit 62 that is detachably provided on the camera main body 61 are provided.

The camera body 61 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape having a rectangular front surface portion 61F, a top surface portion 61U adjacent to one of the long sides of the front surface portion 61F, and a back surface portion 61B facing the front surface portion 2F across the top surface portion 61U. The housing 61a is covered.
The substantially central portion of the front part 61F, the photographing optical axis O ₆₃ so as to extend forwardly of the front portion 61F, the taking lens unit 63. The taking lens unit 63 is an interchangeable lens composed of a plurality of lenses or lens groups, and the focus position can be adjusted by at least one lens or lens group (hereinafter referred to as a focus position adjustment lens) that is movably supported. It is.
The focal position adjustment lens is movably held by a lens driving unit 62 (see FIG. 19) including a motor incorporated in the photographing lens unit 63 or the camera body 61.

  The upper surface portion 61U is provided with a pentaprism at the approximate center of the upper surface portion 61U in order to hold the shutter button 6 similar to that in the first embodiment and the discharge light source portion 4 having the same configuration as in the first embodiment. A built-in strobe holding portion 61b disposed on the built-in protruding portion 61d and a hot shoe 61c are provided.

The built-in strobe holding portion 61b has a rotation support portion, a biasing member, and a lock mechanism (not shown) so that the standing state shown in FIG. 18 (a) and the storage state shown in FIG. 18 (b) can be switched. It is being fixed to the housing | casing 61a via.
Built-in flash holding portion 61b, in the erected state, the discharge illumination optical axis O ₄ of the light source unit 4 is locked in a position to be parallel to the photographing optical axis O _63, in the retracted state, it is brought down forward from the standing state discharge light source The light projecting window 4b of the part 4 is locked in a position where it faces downward and fits into a recess formed in the upper surface part 61U.
Further, on the upper surface portion 61U, behind the projecting portion 61d, there are a hot shoe 61c for connecting the strobe unit 62 so as to be communicable with a control means (not shown) in the camera body 61, and a mode dial 68a for setting a shooting mode and the like. Is provided.
As shown in FIG. 19, the back surface 61B is provided with a liquid crystal monitor 7, a selection button 8a, a cross button 8b, and an operation button 8c similar to those in the first embodiment.
The mode dial 68a, the selection button 8a, the cross button 8b, and the operation button 8c constitute the operation unit 8 of the camera 60.

  As shown in FIG. 18B, the strobe unit 62 is attached to the camera body 61 and a rectangular parallelepiped housing 62 a that extends along the longitudinal direction (left and right direction) of the upper surface portion 61 </ b> U when attached to the camera body 61. LED light source portions 62R, 62M and 62L (sometimes abbreviated as “62R to 62L”) disposed on the side facing forward, and a connection portion 62b protruding from the lower surface of the housing 62a.

The LED light source units 62R, 62M, and 62L all have the same configuration as the LED light source unit 5 of the first embodiment, and are spaced apart in this order along the longitudinal direction of the housing 62a. .
When the flash unit 62 is attached to the camera body 61, the irradiation optical axis O _62M of the LED light source unit 62M is above the built-in flash holding portion 61b of the upright, at a position where the directly above the photographing optical axis O ₃ It is extended in parallel to the photographing optical axis O _3. The irradiation optical axis O _62M , the photographing optical axis O ₃ , and the irradiation optical axis O ₄ of the standing discharge light source unit 4 are aligned on the same plane.
Further, the LED light source parts 62R and 62L are respectively provided at positions on the right side and the left side with respect to the front face part 61F, and the respective irradiation optical axes O _62R and O _62L are equidistant and parallel to the irradiation optical axis O62M. It is located to become.

Here, the configuration of the electrical component of the camera 60 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 20, the electrical component of the camera 60 performs the photoelectric conversion of the image photographed by the photographing lens unit 63 in addition to the electrical components such as the LED light source units 62R to 62L described above. The image pickup device 11 similar to the embodiment, the LED drivers 19R, 19M, and 19L (which may be abbreviated as “19R to 19L”) that drive the LED light source units 62R, 62M, and 62L, respectively, and the first embodiment A similar light emitting circuit 20, a control unit 65, an AF sensor 67 (subject information acquisition unit), and an AE control unit 68 that performs photometry and determines exposure based on a program diagram. For simplification of illustration, the LED light source unit 62M and the corresponding LED driver 19C are not shown in FIG.

  Each of the LED drivers 19R to 19L has the same configuration as that of the LED driver 19A of the first embodiment and is built in the housing 62a of the strobe unit 62.

The control unit 65 sets operating conditions of each unit of the camera 60 according to an operation input from the operation unit 8, and performs AF operation and discharge light source according to half-press or full-press operation of the operation unit 8 or the shutter button 6. This unit controls the overall photographing operation including the light emission control and the imaging operation of the unit 4 and the LED light source units 62R to 62L.
The operation modes that can be set from the operation unit 8 include the light emission modes of the discharge light source unit 4 and the LED light source units 62R to 62L.
The control unit 65 includes an AF control unit 66 (subject information acquisition unit) instead of the AF control unit 16 of the control unit 13 of the first embodiment.
The AF control unit 66 controls the AF operation that is started by half-pressing the shutter button 6. However, while the AF control unit 16 of the first embodiment calculates the image contrast and calculates the in-focus position by the hill-climbing method, a plurality of AFs that are built in the camera body and constitute a plurality of AF targets. The difference is that AF control is performed using the sensor 67.
That is, when the shutter button 6 is half-pressed, the AF control unit 66 determines the focus state of each AF target from the output of each AF sensor 67, and determines the focus position based on the combination of the focus states. The amount of movement of the focal position adjustment lens of the photographic lens unit 63 is calculated. Then, focusing is performed by driving the lens driving unit 62 based on the movement amount.
As the AF sensor 67, a line sensor or a cross sensor for detecting a phase difference can be employed.
Since the in-focus position represents information on the distance from the camera 60 to the subject in the photographing range, it can be used for light emission control by the light emission control unit 17 described later. Thus, the AF control unit 66 and the AF sensor 67 constitute a subject information acquisition unit that acquires subject position information as subject information.

  In this embodiment, a computer including a CPU, a memory, an input / output interface, and the like is employed as the device configuration of the control unit 65.

As described above, the camera 60 includes the LED light source units 62R to 62L including the light emitting element unit 5a similar to the first embodiment by mounting the strobe unit 62 on the camera body 61, and the first embodiment. The discharge light source unit 4 similar to the above, the light emission control unit 17 similar to the first embodiment, the subject information acquisition unit as the AF control unit 66, the AF sensor 67, and the image similar to the first embodiment. A processing unit 15 is provided.
For this reason, the imaging device is the same as that of the first embodiment except that it is a single lens reflex, the number of LED light source units and the arrangement position are different, and it is removable.
Therefore, in the same manner as described above, it is possible to perform photographing using illumination in which the photographing distance detection light emission mode, the face detection light emission mode, and the color detection light emission mode are enabled.

As a result, according to the camera 60 of the present embodiment, the illumination light and LED emitted by the discharge light source unit 4 according to the subject information acquired by the image processing unit 15, the AF control unit 66, and the AF sensor 67 that are subject information acquisition units. Since it is possible to select and use the illumination light from the light sources 62R to 62L, it is possible to easily reduce the unnaturalness of the image due to the illumination light for photographing.
In addition, by emitting light from the LED light source units 62R to 62L, it is possible to reduce unnatural shadow images around the subject and suppress the illumination light from becoming a “hard” impression, so that a more natural image is taken. be able to.

  In the above description of each embodiment and each modification, an example in which the number of LED light source units of the imaging device is 6, 4, or 3 has been described. It may be one or one.

In the description of each of the embodiments and the modifications described above, the light emission control unit 17 determines the subject information acquired by the subject information acquisition unit, generates a light emission control parameter, and performs operation control using the generated light emission control parameter. The example in the case of performing is described.
However, the light emission control unit 17 displays the light emission setting based on the generated light emission control parameter on the liquid crystal monitor 7 so that the photographer can recognize the light emission setting, and only when the photographer selects this setting through the operation unit 8 You may make it image | photograph by. If the photographer does not adopt this light emission setting, the light emission setting by manual setting is possible.
In this case, the light emission setting displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 7 can represent the light emission control parameter with a numerical value or a word, for example. Further, it is more preferable that the light emission operation based on the light emission control parameter is information that can be easily understood by the photographer. For example, a message such as “A face has been detected in the subject. Do you want to fire a flash for portraits?” Or “The main subject is red. An icon or the like determined for each setting can be displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 7.
In the case of such a configuration, the liquid crystal monitor 7 constitutes a light emission setting display unit that displays the light emission setting based on the light emission control parameter generated by the light emission control parameter generation unit.

In the description of each of the above-described embodiments and the first and second modified examples, an example in which the irradiation optical axes of the plurality of LED light source units are fixed so as to be parallel to the imaging optical axis has been described. However, the direction of the irradiation optical axis of the LED light source unit is not necessarily parallel to the photographing optical axis. For example, you may arrange | position the direction of the irradiation optical axis of each LED light source part radially centering on an imaging | photography optical axis.
In this case, it is not essential that the illumination range of each LED light source unit covers the entire imaging frame, and the illumination areas of a plurality of LED light source units that illuminate a part of the imaging frame are overlapped to form an imaging frame. May be illuminated.

In the description of the third modification, the irradiation light axis of the LED light source unit is rotated to change the relative direction along the irradiation light axis with respect to the discharge light source unit. Relative direction is changed by changing the direction of the irradiation light axis of the discharge light source unit by fixing the irradiation light axis of the LED light source unit to the apparatus main body and holding the discharge light source unit movably. May be.
For example, the irradiation optical axis of the discharge light source unit 4 may be changed by making the standing posture of the built-in strobe holding unit 61b of the second embodiment variable.

In the description of the third modification, the irradiation optical axis is changed by rotating the irradiation optical axis around the rotation axis extending in the vertical direction (in the horizontal plane) as in the third modification. (Rotation) is not limited. For example, a form (rotation in a vertical plane) in which the irradiation optical axis is inclined and changed with respect to an axis extending in the vertical direction is also possible.
It is also possible to change the direction of the irradiation optical axis by combining rotation in a horizontal plane and a vertical plane. According to such a configuration, since the degree of freedom to change the direction of the irradiation optical axis increases, bounce shooting in various shooting scenes becomes easier.

Further, in the description of the third modification example, when changing the direction of the irradiation optical axis of the LED light source unit, the example of changing the direction of the LED by rotational movement has been described, but the state in which the LED direction is fixed The direction of the irradiation optical axis may be changed.
For example, by moving the reflecting plate 5d, the irradiation optical axis is changed, or when the light projection window 5c is configured by a lens, the direction of the light axis of the light projection window 5c is changed to irradiate the light. The direction of the optical axis may be changed.

  In the above description of each embodiment and each modification, an example in which the photographing apparatus is a compact digital camera or a single-lens reflex digital camera has been described. However, as the photographing apparatus, any apparatus that photographs a subject can be used. For example, a mirrorless single-lens camera or a video camera may be used. Furthermore, the image capturing apparatus is not limited to an apparatus that captures an image with an image sensor, and may be an analog camera or the like.

  In the second embodiment, the example in which the discharge light source unit 4 is provided in the camera main body 61 and the LED light source units 62R to 62F are provided in the detachable strobe unit 62 has been described. As a configuration moved to the strobe unit 62, a configuration in which the illumination unit is not provided in the camera body 61 may be employed. The strobe unit 62 may be provided with a discharge light source unit separate from the discharge light source unit 4 and the camera 60 may have a plurality of discharge light source units.

Moreover, all the components described in the above embodiments and modifications can be implemented by appropriately combining or deleting them within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.
For example, in a case where the direction of the irradiation optical axis of the LED light source unit can be changed, a configuration in which only a part of the plurality of LED light source units can change the direction of the irradiation optical axis is also possible.

1, 31, 41, 51, 60 Camera (photographing device)
2 Body (Shooting device body)
3, 63 Shooting lens section (shooting section)
4, 44 Discharge light source unit 4a Xenon tube 5, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, 5F, 45A, 45B, 45C, 45D, 55R, 55L, 62R, 62M, 62L LED light source unit 5a, 25a, 35a Light emitting element Section 7 LCD monitor (flash setting display section)
8 Operation unit 10b Blue LED (LED)
10g Green LED (LED)
10r Red LED (LED)
11 Image sensor (shooting unit)
12, 62 Lens drive unit 13, 65 Control unit 14 Image acquisition unit 15 Image processing unit (subject information acquisition unit)
16, 66 AF control unit (subject information acquisition unit)
17 Light emission control unit (light emission control parameter generation unit)
19A, 19B, 19C, 19D, 19E, 19F, 19R, 19M, 19L LED driver 21 AE control unit 30a, 30b, 30c White LED (LED)
32 Blue LED chips 37A, 37B Fluorescent material 61 Camera body (imaging device body)
61c Hot shoe 62 Strobe unit 62b Connection unit 67 AF sensor (Subject information acquisition unit)
d Shooting distance L ₄ Illumination light (first illumination light)
L ₅ , L _5R , L _5L illumination light (second illumination light)
O ₃ , O ₆₃ photographing optical axis O ₄ , O _5R , O _5L , O ₄₄ , O _45A , O _45B , O _45C , O _45D , O _55R , O _55L , O _62M , O _62R , O _62L irradiation optical axis S subject

Claims (11)

A shooting section for shooting the subject;
A discharge light source unit that emits light by discharge to form first illumination light;
An LED light source unit having an LED and forming second illumination light having a color temperature different from that of the first illumination light;
A subject information acquisition unit that acquires at least one of the subject type information, position information, and color information as subject information;
A light emission control parameter generating unit that generates light emission control parameters of the discharge light source unit and the LED light source unit based on the subject information acquired by the subject information acquisition unit;
An imaging device comprising: The light emission control part which performs light emission operation control of the said discharge light source part and the said LED light source part based on the said light emission control parameter produced | generated by the said light emission control parameter production | generation part, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. Shooting device. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a light emission setting display unit that displays a light emission setting based on the light emission control parameter generated by the light emission control parameter generation unit. The subject information acquisition unit
The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information relating to the presence or absence of a person is obtained by performing detection from the image obtained by the photographing unit as the type information of the subject. The subject information acquisition unit
5. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a photographing distance that is a distance to a focused subject is acquired as the position information of the subject. The subject information acquisition unit
6. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein color information of a subject at an in-focus position is acquired from an image acquired by the photographing unit as the color information of the subject. The subject information acquisition unit
The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color information of the entire photographing range is acquired from the image acquired by the photographing unit as the color information of the subject. A plurality of the LED light source units are provided,
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of LED light source units are provided at positions separated from each other with the optical axis of the imaging unit interposed therebetween. The discharge light source unit and the LED light source unit are:
The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein directions of the irradiation optical axes of each other can be relatively changed. The LED light source unit is
Equipped with multiple types of LEDs with different color temperatures,
The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of LEDs can be controlled to emit light independently of each other. The LED light source unit is
The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photographing apparatus is detachably provided on a photographing apparatus main body having the photographing unit.

Images