JP2014220620A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging apparatus which can easily set display luminance as intended by a user in a case when visibility of a display section drops due to a change of environment light.SOLUTION: An imaging apparatus includes: an imaging section for imaging a subject image; a display section which displays the subject image imaged by the imaging section; a determination section for determining whether a change of a light volume radiated on the display section exceeds a prescribed threshold or not; a mode setting section for setting a luminance change mode which can change the display luminance of the display section when the determination section determines that the change of the light volume exceeds the threshold; and a luminance change section for changing the display luminance of the display section in accordance with a prescribed luminance change operation when the luminance change mode is set.

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for detecting the amount of ambient light using an illuminance sensor and changing the display brightness of a display unit according to the detected amount of light is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2000-111182 A

  In the prior art, since the display brightness is automatically set according to the ambient light, the display brightness may be changed against the user's will.

  The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an imaging unit that captures a subject image, a display unit that displays the subject image captured by the imaging unit, and a change in light amount applied to the display unit have a predetermined threshold. A determination unit that determines whether or not the value exceeds a value, and a luminance change mode in which the display luminance of the display unit can be changed when the determination unit determines that the change in the light amount exceeds the threshold value A mode setting unit, and a luminance changing unit that changes the display luminance of the display unit according to a predetermined luminance changing operation when the luminance changing mode is set.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily set the display brightness as intended by the user when the visibility of the display unit is reduced due to a change in ambient light.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the change procedure of a display brightness | luminance. It is a flowchart of the brightness | luminance change process which the control apparatus 22 performs. It is a flowchart of the light quantity change determination process called by step S100 of FIG. It is a figure which shows typically luminance change operation. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the imaging device 2 which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the brightness | luminance change process which the control apparatus 22 performs. It is a flowchart of the light quantity change determination process called by step S300 of FIG.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an imaging apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The imaging device 1 is an interchangeable lens digital camera, and includes an interchangeable lens 10 and a camera body 20 to which the interchangeable lens 10 can be attached and detached. The control device 22 in the camera body 20 captures the subject image formed by the photographing optical system 11 in the interchangeable lens 10 with an image sensor 21 such as a CCD or a CMOS, and creates digital image data. The control device 22 displays the created digital image data on the rear monitor 23 or stores it in a storage medium (not shown).

  The control device 22 is a device that includes a microcomputer (not shown) and its peripheral circuits, and controls the entire imaging device 1 by reading and executing a control program stored in advance in a ROM 29 that is a nonvolatile storage medium. To do. This control program uses the RAM 30, which is a volatile storage medium, as a temporary work area.

  In addition to the control program described above, the ROM 29 stores a sunshine position database for calculating the position of the sun for each date and time. The control device 22 can acquire the current position of the sun by comparing the sunshine position database with the current date and time. Note that the sunshine position database may have any format.

  The rear monitor 23 is a display device having a liquid crystal panel, and is provided on the rear surface of the housing of the camera body 20. A high-brightness LED 31 is provided in the vicinity of the rear monitor 23. A touch panel 24 is mounted on the display screen of the rear monitor 23. The touch panel 24 detects a touch operation performed with a finger or the like on the display screen and outputs an operation signal corresponding to the touch operation to the control device 22. The operation unit 25 has operation members such as buttons (not shown) provided on the housing of the camera body 20, and outputs operation signals corresponding to operations of these operation members to the control device 22.

  The camera body 20 further includes a GPS unit 26, an acceleration sensor 27, and a geomagnetic sensor 28. The GPS unit 26 is a device that acquires the current position (longitude and latitude) of the imaging device 1 on the earth using a so-called global positioning system. The GPS unit 26 receives wireless signals transmitted from a plurality of GPS satellites and acquires the current position of the imaging device 1. As is well known, this radio signal includes time information. The GPS unit 26 has a built-in clock, and can calibrate the clock based on time information included in the received radio signal to obtain a highly accurate current time with high accuracy. That is, the control device 22 can acquire the current position of the imaging device 1 and the current time from the GPS unit 26.

  The acceleration sensor 27 is a device that detects triaxial acceleration, and outputs the acceleration of the camera body 20 in the X direction, the Y direction, and the Z direction to the control device 22. The geomagnetic sensor 28 is a device that detects triaxial geomagnetism, and outputs the three-dimensional orientation of the camera body 20 to the control device 22. The control device 22 detects the display direction of the rear monitor 23 from the acceleration output from the acceleration sensor 27 and the azimuth output from the geomagnetic sensor 28.

  Next, the display brightness of the rear monitor 23 will be described. The control device 22 is configured to be able to change the display brightness of the rear monitor 23. In the present embodiment, the display brightness of the rear monitor 23 indicates the brightness of the backlight of the liquid crystal panel. That is, the control device 22 increases the display brightness of the back monitor 23 by increasing the amount of light of the backlight, and decreases the display brightness of the back monitor 23 by reducing the amount of light of the backlight.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a procedure for changing the display brightness. When the imaging device 1 is in the power-on state, the control device 22 switches the display content of the rear monitor 23 to the setting menu screen 40 shown in FIG. 2A in accordance with the operation of an operation member such as a button (not shown). The setting menu screen 40 includes a menu 41. The menu 41 includes menu items 42, 43, and 44 corresponding to various setting items that the imaging apparatus 1 has. In FIG. 2A, only three menu items 42, 43, and 44 are illustrated, but the menu 41 actually includes a larger number of menu items.

  When the user selects the menu item 43 “brightness of the monitor” from the menu 41 by using an operation member such as a button, the control device 22 displays the setting menu screen 40 displayed on the rear monitor 23 as shown in FIG. Switch to the display brightness change screen 50. The display brightness change screen 50 has a track bar 52 having a slider 51 (knob) that can move in the left-right direction.

  The position of the slider 51 in the entire track bar 52 corresponds to the current display brightness of the rear monitor 23. For example, when the display brightness of the rear monitor 23 is minimum, the slider 51 is located at the left end of the track bar 52. When the display brightness of the rear monitor 23 is maximum, the slider 51 is positioned at the right end of the track bar 52. When the user inputs a predetermined operation signal to the control device 22 using an operation member such as a button, the control device 22 changes the display brightness of the rear monitor 23 in accordance with the operation signal and the slider 51 corresponds to the display brightness after the change. Move to the position to be. After the display brightness is set to a desired state, when the user performs a predetermined operation with a button or the like, the control device 22 displays the display content on the rear monitor 23 on the content displayed before the setting menu screen 40 (for example, through Screen).

  As described above, in order to change the display brightness of the rear monitor 23, the setting menu screen 40 is first called, the menu item 43 is selected from the menu 41 to display the display brightness change screen 50, and then the slider is moved. A complicated procedure of operating 51 is required. For example, even if the imaging apparatus 1 is held to capture a subject and sunlight is inserted into the display screen of the rear monitor 23 while trying to determine the angle of view, the display screen of the rear monitor 23 becomes difficult to see each time. In addition, it is not practical to perform the complicated operations as described above. Therefore, in the imaging apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, when it is considered that the luminance of the rear monitor 23 needs to be changed, a luminance change mode in which the display luminance can be easily changed without displaying the display luminance change screen 50 is set. It has a configuration. Hereinafter, the brightness change mode will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the brightness changing process executed by the control device 22. The brightness change process is a process included in a control program stored in the ROM 29 in advance. While performing so-called live view display on the rear monitor 23, the control device 22 repeatedly executes the brightness changing process shown in FIG. 3 at regular intervals (for example, 1 second).

  First, in step S100, the control device 22 executes a light amount change determination process to be described later, and checks whether or not the light amount around the rear monitor 23 has greatly changed from the light amount assumed in the normal photographing environment. In the description of the present embodiment, “the light amount has changed significantly” means that the current light amount has deviated from a predetermined range of light amount that is “a light amount assumed in a normal photographing environment”.

  In step S110, the control device 22 determines whether or not the brightness change mode is currently set. Since the brightness change mode is not set at the first execution of the brightness change process, the control device 22 advances the process to step S170.

  In step S170, the control device 22 determines whether or not the amount of light around the rear monitor 23 has changed significantly from the result of the light amount change determination process in step S100. If the light amount has not changed significantly, the control device 22 ends the light amount change process. When the luminance change mode is not set, the control device 22 repeatedly executes steps S100, S110, and S170 unless the light amount changes greatly.

  On the other hand, if the amount of light has changed significantly in step S170, the control device 22 advances the process to step S175. In step S175, the control device 22 stores the current display brightness of the rear monitor 23 in the RAM 30. In step S180, the control device 22 sets a luminance change mode. In step S185, the control device 22 informs the user that the luminance change mode is set by blinking the LED 31.

  Note that it is not always necessary to store the current display luminance in the RAM 30, and step S175 can be omitted. Further, it is not always necessary to make the LED 31 blink. For example, the user may be notified that the luminance change mode is set by displaying characters or the like on a part of the display screen of the rear monitor 23.

  In the luminance change process to be executed next, since the luminance change mode is set, the control device 22 advances the process to step S120 in step S110. In step S120, the control device 22 determines whether or not the state in which the light amount around the rear monitor 23 has greatly changed continues from the result of the light amount change determination process in step S100. If the state in which the amount of light has greatly changed continues, the control device 22 advances the process to step S130. In step S130, the control device 22 determines whether or not a predetermined brightness changing operation performed by the user has been detected. The brightness changing operation will be described in detail later.

  When the brightness changing operation is not performed and the control device 22 does not detect the brightness changing operation, the control device 22 ends the brightness changing process. On the other hand, when the brightness changing operation is detected, the control device 22 advances the processing to step 140 and changes the display brightness of the rear monitor 23 according to the brightness changing operation. When the brightness change mode is set, as long as the state in which the amount of light has greatly changed continues, the control device 22 repeatedly executes the processes of steps S100, S110, S120, and S130, and step S140 is performed according to the brightness change operation. Change the display brightness with.

  On the other hand, when the state in which the light amount has greatly changed is not continued in step S120, that is, for example, when the light amount has returned to the amount before the light amount has changed significantly, the control device 22 advances the processing to step S150. In step S150, the control device 22 returns the display brightness of the rear monitor 23 changed in step S140 to the previous display brightness stored in the RAM 30 in step S175. In step S160, the control device 22 cancels the luminance change mode. Thereby, in the luminance change process to be executed next, the process branches again from step S110 to step S170. In step S165, the control device 22 turns off the LED 31 and notifies the user that the luminance change mode has been canceled. In addition, although the control apparatus 22 of this embodiment demonstrated that the brightness | luminance change mode was cancelled | released when the state in which the light quantity changed greatly is not continuing in step S120, the control apparatus 22 is a brightness | luminance change mode in step S180. When the timer is set, a timer for measuring the elapse of a predetermined time may be started, and the brightness change mode may be canceled when the timer times out.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the light amount change determination process called in step S100 of FIG. First, in step S200, the control device 22 causes the GPS unit 26 to perform positioning using a radio signal from a satellite. In step S210, it is determined whether the GPS unit 26 has succeeded in positioning. For example, when the imaging device 1 is inside a building, the radio signal from the satellite is blocked by the building, so the GPS unit 26 fails in positioning. In such a case, the sunlight is also blocked by the building, and the imaging device 1 is considered to be indoors with a stable light quantity. If the GPS unit 26 has failed in positioning, the control device 22 advances the process to step S260 and determines that the amount of light has not changed significantly.

  On the other hand, if the imaging device 1 is outdoors in step S210, the GPS unit 26 has succeeded in positioning, and the control device 22 acquires the current position and current date and time of the imaging device 1 from the GPS unit 26, and performs processing in step S220. Proceed to In step S220, the control device 22 calculates the current position of the sun by comparing the sunshine position database stored in the ROM 29 with the current date and time acquired from the GPS unit 26.

  In step S230, the control device 22 acquires the orientation of the rear monitor 23 (screen display direction) based on the outputs of the acceleration sensor 27 and the geomagnetic sensor 28. In step S240, the control device 22 determines whether or not sunlight is incident on the rear monitor 23 by a predetermined amount or more from the current position of the sun calculated in step S220 and the orientation of the rear monitor 23 acquired in step S230. For example, when the rear monitor 23 faces the sun and it is estimated that a large amount of sunlight is incident on the rear monitor 23, the control device 22 proceeds to step S250 and determines that the amount of light has changed significantly. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S240 that sunlight does not enter the rear monitor 23 by a predetermined amount or more, the control device 22 proceeds to step S260 and determines that the light amount has not changed significantly. The light amount change determination process may be performed using a light amount sensor (illuminance sensor). Specifically, it is determined whether or not the absolute value of the difference between the previous detected light amount and the current detected light amount exceeds a predetermined threshold value. If the absolute value exceeds the threshold value, the light amount changes greatly. Is determined.

  FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams schematically illustrating the luminance changing operation. FIG. 5A illustrates an operation for increasing the luminance, and FIG. 5B illustrates an operation for decreasing the luminance. The operation shown in FIG. 5A is a touch operation of tracing the display screen of the rear monitor 23 in the right direction. More specifically, this is an operation in which the user touches the display screen (that is, the touch panel 24) of the rear monitor 23 with the finger 60 and moves the finger 60 in the right direction of the screen while maintaining the contact state. When the user performs this operation, an operation signal including the movement distance of the finger 60 is input from the touch panel 24 to the control device 22. In response to this operation signal, the control device 22 increases the display brightness of the rear monitor 23 by an amount corresponding to the movement distance of the finger 60. For example, the amount of increase in display luminance is increased as the moving distance is increased.

  The operation shown in FIG. 5B is a touch operation of tracing the display screen of the rear monitor 23 leftward. More specifically, this is an operation in which the user brings the finger 61 into contact with the display screen (that is, the touch panel 24) of the rear monitor 23 and moves the finger 61 in the left direction of the screen while maintaining the contact state. When the user performs this operation, an operation signal including the moving distance of the finger 61 is input from the touch panel 24 to the control device 22. In response to this operation signal, the control device 22 decreases the display brightness of the rear monitor 23 by an amount corresponding to the movement distance of the finger 61. For example, the amount of decrease in display luminance is increased as the moving distance is increased.

  The luminance changing operation described above may be performed at any position on the display screen of the rear monitor 23. Further, when the brightness change operation is detected, the display brightness change screen 50 described above is not displayed on the display screen of the rear monitor 23, and so-called live view display is performed. That is, the subject image picked up by the image pickup device 21 is displayed.

According to the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) The control device 22 changes the display brightness of the back monitor 23 according to the brightness change operation detected by the touch panel 24 when the brightness change mode in which the display brightness of the back monitor 23 can be changed is set. The control device 22 determines whether or not the change in the amount of light applied to the rear monitor 23 exceeds a predetermined threshold value, and when it is determined that the change in the amount of light exceeds the threshold value, the brightness change mode is set. Set. With such a configuration, when the visibility of the display unit decreases due to a change in ambient light, it is possible to easily set the display brightness as intended by the user.

(2) The control device 22 sets the brightness change mode without displaying the display brightness change screen 50 on the rear monitor 23 when it is determined that the change in the light amount exceeds the threshold value. With such a configuration, the display luminance can be changed while the angle of view can be confirmed by live view display, and an imaging device with good operability can be provided.

(3) The control device 22 cancels the setting of the brightness change mode when the light quantity irradiated on the rear monitor 23 returns to the light quantity before the setting of the brightness change mode after setting the brightness change mode. Since it did in this way, operativity improves.

(4) The control device 22 changes the display brightness of the rear monitor 23 after setting the brightness change mode, and if the light quantity irradiated to the rear monitor 23 returns to the light quantity before setting the brightness change mode, the rear monitor 23 23 cancels the change of the display brightness. Since it did in this way, the consumption of a battery is suppressed and power saving property improves.

(5) The control device 22 notifies that the luminance change mode is set by blinking the LED 31. Since it did in this way, it turns out that the brightness | luminance change mode is set, without confirming the back monitor 23 which becomes difficult to see by irradiating with sunlight, and operativity improves.

(6) The GPS unit 26 detects the position of the imaging device 1 and acquires the current date and time. The control device 22 detects the display direction of the rear monitor 23 based on the outputs of the acceleration sensor 27 and the geomagnetic sensor 28. The control device 22 retrieves the current date and time acquired by the GPS unit 26 from the position of the sun stored for each date and time stored in the ROM 29 to acquire the current position of the sun. Based on the detected position and the detected display direction of the rear monitor 23, it is determined whether or not the change in the amount of sunlight irradiated on the rear monitor 23 exceeds a predetermined threshold value. Since it did in this way, the false detection by covering with a user's hand etc. which can be generated if it is a light quantity sensor (illuminance sensor) which measures light quantity can be controlled.

(7) The touch panel 24 detects a touch operation that traces the display screen of the rear monitor 23 from side to side as a luminance change operation. Since it did in this way, a brightness | luminance can be changed by intuitive operation.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the imaging apparatus 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the imaging apparatus 2 according to the second embodiment will be described focusing on differences from the imaging apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment.

  The imaging device 2 includes an interchangeable lens 10 and a camera body 20. The camera body 20 of the present embodiment does not have the GPS unit 26, the acceleration sensor 27, and the geomagnetic sensor 28. The ROM 29 does not store a sunshine position database. The camera body 20 has a light amount sensor 32 provided in the vicinity of the rear monitor 23. The light amount sensor 32 detects the amount of ambient light incident on the display screen of the rear monitor 23.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the brightness changing process executed by the control device 22 according to the second embodiment. The brightness change process is a process included in a control program stored in the ROM 29 in advance. While performing so-called live view display on the rear monitor 23, the control device 22 repeatedly executes the brightness changing process shown in FIG. 7 at regular intervals (for example, 1 second).

  First, in step S300, the control device 22 executes a light amount change determination process to be described later, and checks whether or not the light amount around the rear monitor 23 has greatly changed from the light amount assumed in the normal photographing environment. In the description of the present embodiment, “the amount of light has changed significantly” means that the current amount of light has changed significantly from the amount of light detected in the previously executed luminance change process. In step S310, the control device 22 determines whether or not the brightness change mode is currently set. Since the brightness change mode is not set when the brightness change process is executed for the first time, the control device 22 advances the process to step S370.

  In step S370, the control device 22 determines whether or not the amount of light around the rear monitor 23 has changed significantly from the result of the light amount change determination process in step S300. If the light amount has not changed significantly, the control device 22 ends the light amount change process. When the brightness change mode is not set, the control device 22 repeatedly executes Steps S300, S310, and S370 unless the light amount changes greatly.

  On the other hand, if the amount of light has changed significantly in step S370, the control device 22 advances the process to step S380. In step S380, the control device 22 sets the brightness change mode. In step S385, the control device 22 informs the user that the luminance change mode is set by blinking the LED 31. In step S <b> 390, the control device 22 starts a timer that times the predetermined time. In the following description, for the sake of convenience, this timer is regarded as counting the passage of 5 seconds, but it is needless to say that a different time may be counted.

  In the luminance change process to be executed next, since the luminance change mode is set, the control device 22 advances the process to step S320 in step S310. In step S320, the control device 22 determines whether or not the timer started in step S390 has timed out, that is, whether or not 5 seconds have elapsed since the previous execution of step S390. If 5 seconds has not elapsed, the control device 22 advances the process to step S350. In step S350, the control device 22 determines whether or not a predetermined brightness changing operation performed by the user has been detected. When the brightness changing operation is not performed and the control device 22 does not detect the brightness changing operation, the control device 22 ends the brightness changing process. On the other hand, when the brightness change operation is detected, the control device 22 advances the process to step S360, and changes the display brightness of the rear monitor 23 according to the brightness change operation. When the brightness change mode is set, the control device 22 repeatedly executes the processes of steps S300, S310, S320, and S350 until 5 seconds elapse after setting the brightness change mode, and performs the brightness change operation. Accordingly, the display brightness is changed in step S360.

  On the other hand, in step S320, when 5 seconds have elapsed since the setting of the luminance change mode, the control device 22 advances the process to step S330. In step S330, the control device 22 cancels the luminance change mode. Thereby, in the luminance change process to be executed next, the process branches again from step S310 to step S370. In step S340, the control device 22 turns off the LED 31 and notifies the user that the luminance change mode has been canceled. In the brightness change process to be executed next, since the brightness change mode is cancelled, the control device 22 advances the process to step S370 in step S310.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the light amount change determination process called in step S300 of FIG. First, in step S400, the control device 22 causes the light amount sensor 32 to detect the amount of ambient light. In step S410, it is determined whether or not the change in the amount of light is large. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the absolute value of the difference between the previous detected light amount and the current detected light amount stored in the RAM 30 exceeds a predetermined threshold value. For example, when the image pickup apparatus 2 is moved from the outdoors in the daytime to the shade, or conversely, when the image pickup apparatus 2 is moved from the shade to the outdoors irradiated with the sunlight, the light amount changes greatly, and the control device 22 performs the process in step S420. Proceed to In step S420, the control device 22 determines that the amount of light has changed significantly. On the other hand, if the light amount has not changed significantly in step S420, the control device 22 advances the process to step S430, and determines that the light amount has not changed significantly.

  Thereafter, the control device 22 advances the process to step S440, and stores the light amount detected by the light amount sensor 32 in step S400 in the RAM 30. In the next light quantity change determination process, in step S410, the light quantity stored here in the RAM 30 is compared with the latest detected light quantity.

  In the imaging device 2 of the present embodiment configured as described above, the luminance change mode is temporarily set (for only 5 seconds) when the amount of ambient light changes greatly, and provides the user with an opportunity for simple luminance change. . The temporary setting of the brightness change mode is performed both in the case of shifting from a bright environment to a dark environment and in the case of shifting from a dark environment to a bright environment. For example, the brightness change mode is set when the sunlight suddenly increases, and the user can increase the brightness by a touch operation. Then, when the sunshine returns to the original value, the luminance change mode is set again, and the user is given an opportunity to return the luminance to the original value (or lower the luminance).

According to the imaging apparatus according to the second embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) The control device 22 determines whether at least one of the amount of decrease in the amount of light applied to the back monitor 23 and the amount of increase in the amount of light applied to the back monitor 23 exceeds a predetermined threshold value. To set the brightness change mode. Since it did in this way, it can respond to both the case where the circumference | surroundings become bright suddenly, and the case where the circumference | surroundings become dark suddenly, and operativity improves.

(2) The control device 22 cancels the setting of the luminance change mode when a predetermined time has elapsed since the luminance change mode was set. Since this is done, there is no need to explicitly cancel the setting of the brightness change mode. In addition, operations other than the brightness change can be assigned to the touch operation.

(3) The control device 22 sets the brightness change mode when the light quantity irradiated on the rear monitor 23 returns to the light quantity before the brightness change mode is set after the brightness change mode is set. For example, when the amount of light temporarily increases and then returns to the original amount of light, the amount of light is naturally reduced. Therefore, the control device 22 sets the luminance change mode as the amount of light decreases. Since it did in this way, compared with the case where a brightness | luminance is automatically returned like 1st Embodiment, a brightness setting will be left to a user's discretion and it can suppress an unintended brightness change. .

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

(Modification 1)
For example, in the first embodiment, if the display brightness of the rear monitor 23 is already sufficiently high and there is no room to increase the display brightness any more, the user can increase the display brightness even if the brightness change mode is set. Can not. Therefore, when the display brightness of the rear monitor 23 is already above a certain level (when exceeding a predetermined threshold value), the control device 22 is configured so that the brightness change mode is not set even if the change in the amount of light is large. Also good.

(Modification 2)
In each of the above-described embodiments, the control device 22 executes the luminance change process while performing a so-called live view display on the rear monitor 23. The brightness change process may be executed when live view display is not performed. For example, brightness change processing may be performed during reproduction of a captured image or during moving image shooting. If the brightness of the rear monitor 23 is changed arbitrarily (without an explicit instruction from the user) during moving image shooting, heat generated by the backlight of the rear monitor 23 increases and the temperature of the image sensor 21 increases. There is a fear. By executing the brightness changing process during moving image shooting, it is possible to suppress such a temperature rise of the image sensor 21. In addition, power saving is improved.

(Modification 3)
The brightness changing operation using the touch panel 24 may be different from that illustrated in FIG. Further, the brightness changing operation is not limited to that using the touch panel 24. For example, the brightness change operation may be performed by a hardware switch provided in the housing of the camera body 20.

(Modification 4)
The back monitor 23 may be a display device other than the liquid crystal display. For example, a display device using organic EL may be used as the rear monitor 23. Further, the rear monitor 23 may be provided at a position other than the rear surface of the camera body 20, or the rear monitor 23 may be movable. When the rear monitor 23 is movable in the first embodiment, a sensor or the like for detecting the orientation of the rear monitor 23 is provided, and sunlight is irradiated in consideration of the orientation of the rear monitor 23 detected by the sensor. What is necessary is just to determine whether it exists.

(Modification 5)
The present invention may be applied to a so-called single-lens reflex camera or a lens-integrated camera.

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

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 ... Image pick-up device, 10 ... Interchangeable lens, 20 ... Camera body, 21 ... Image pick-up element, 22 ... Control apparatus, 23 ... Rear monitor, 24 ... Touch panel, 25 ... Operation part, 26 ... GPS unit, 27 ... Acceleration sensor 28 ... Geomagnetic sensor, 29 ... ROM, 30 ... RAM, 31 ... LED, 32 ... Light quantity sensor

Claims (10)

An imaging unit that captures a subject image;
A display unit for displaying a subject image captured by the imaging unit;
A determination unit for determining whether a change in the amount of light applied to the display unit exceeds a predetermined threshold;
A mode setting unit that sets a luminance change mode in which the display luminance of the display unit can be changed when the determination unit determines that the change in the light amount exceeds the threshold;
A luminance changing unit that changes the display luminance of the display unit according to a predetermined luminance changing operation when the luminance changing mode is set;
An imaging apparatus comprising: The imaging device according to claim 1,
The display unit can display a display brightness change screen for changing the display brightness of the display unit,
The mode setting unit sets the luminance change mode without displaying the display luminance change screen on the display unit when the determination unit determines that the change in the amount of light exceeds the threshold value. An imaging device that is characterized. The imaging device according to claim 1 or 2,
The predetermined brightness changing operation is a touch operation of tracing the display unit left and right. In the imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The determination unit determines whether at least one of a decrease amount of the light amount irradiated to the display unit and an increase amount of the light amount irradiated to the display unit exceeds the threshold value. An imaging device. In the imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mode setting unit cancels the setting of the brightness change mode when a predetermined time has elapsed since the brightness change mode was set. In the imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The mode setting unit cancels the setting of the luminance change mode when the amount of light applied to the display unit after setting the luminance change mode returns to the amount of light before the setting of the luminance change mode. An imaging device. In the imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The luminance changing unit changes a display luminance of the display unit according to the predetermined luminance changing operation when the luminance changing mode is set by the mode setting unit, and then the amount of light applied to the display unit is changed. An imaging apparatus characterized by canceling a change in display luminance of the display unit when the light amount before setting of the luminance change mode is restored. In the imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
An image pickup apparatus comprising: an informing means for informing that the brightness change mode is set. In the imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The determination unit includes a position detection unit that detects a position of the imaging device, a display direction detection unit that detects a display direction of the display unit, a date acquisition unit that acquires a current date and time, and a sun position for each date and time. A storage unit that stores the current date and time acquired by the date and time acquisition unit from the storage unit to acquire the current position of the sun, and the position of the sun and the position detected by the position detection unit It is determined whether or not a change in the amount of sunlight irradiated to the display unit exceeds a predetermined threshold from the display direction of the display unit detected by the display direction detection unit apparatus. In the imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
The mode setting unit, when the display brightness of the display unit exceeds a predetermined second threshold value, even if the determination unit determines that the change in the light amount exceeds the threshold value, An imaging apparatus characterized by not setting the brightness change mode.

Images