JP2015219463A - Imaging device, control method of imaging device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce occurrence of failed photograph due to an exposure setting not depending upon a subject or scene even when a picture is taken at a setting in which a camera takes panning pictures in an imaging device, control method of the imaging device and program.SOLUTION: When a panning photograph determination unit determines that an imaging device is in panning photography in a state where a photograph mode setting unit is selected to an exposure setting mode automatically setting an exposure time and an amount of exposure aperture from picture data, and exposure determination means determines that a correct exposure can be obtained, an exposure control unit (AE control unit 84) is configured to perform an exposure control by second exposure control means 84b performing an exposure control on the basis of an exposure time to be determined based on angular velocity information and focal length information, and is configured to perform the exposure control by first exposure control means that performs an exposure control for taking pictures so as to not cause an image tremor on the basis of luminance information on the picture data when the panning photograph determination unit determines that the imaging device is not in the panning photograph.

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus suitable for performing panning, a control method therefor, and a program.

  One of the photography techniques is a panning method. The panning shooting technique is a technique of shooting at a low shutter speed while following a moving subject with a camera. A photographic image taken by this technique flows in the background as shown in FIG. 1, and the main subjects (horses and jockeys in FIG. 1) are taken without flowing. For this reason, in the photographed photographic image, the main subject is photographed conspicuously with respect to the subject that is the background, and thereby it is possible to express a sense of speed and movement.

  In panning shooting, it is necessary to reduce the shutter speed in order to give a sense of speed by flowing the background. However, if the shutter speed is too low, camera shake tends to occur, and the possibility of unsuccessful shooting increases.

  As for the effect of panning, the panning effect starts to be seen when the background flow amount of the subject image to be photographed is about 3% of the photographing angle of view (background image blur locus width). Furthermore, increasing the amount of background flow increases the feeling of speed with respect to the movement of the main subject, but the shutter speed becomes slower, so the difficulty of shooting increases.

  Therefore, as a guideline of a conventionally known technique, by selecting a shutter speed at which the background flow amount is about 5% of the shooting angle of view, an appropriate panning effect can be obtained and the success rate of shooting can be increased. Are known.

  On the other hand, the amount of background flow varies depending on the camera shake speed and the focal length of the lens, so the shutter speed during panning is often determined from the results of several trial shots in the field. To do it required experience and skill.

  Conventionally, cameras used for panning have been proposed. As such a camera, for example, the background flow velocity on the surface is calculated from the angular velocity around the rotation axis in the flowing direction detected by the gyro sensor mounted on the camera and the focal length of the photographing lens, and the background is calculated from the value. There is one that obtains the flow speed and sets the shutter speed for panning (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-5-232562

  However, in a camera that sets the shutter speed for panning as described above, the shutter speed for panning is determined based on the angular speed and the focal length of the taking lens, so depending on the shooting conditions, the calculated shutter speed may result in overexposure. , There is a possibility of under. This viewpoint has not been taken into consideration at all in the above-described camera for setting the shutter speed for panning.

In the case of panning, the exposure state of the captured image may be greatly affected by the subject.
For example, when shooting a moving train as a subject in a panning shot, when the moving subject is a white bullet train, etc., if photometry is performed with emphasis on the subject, the exposure of the photographed image may be underexposed, or the moving subject may In the case of black SL or the like, if photometry is performed with emphasis on the subject, an overall overexposure may be taken.

  Also, when shooting a subject that has a large proportion of the background image area with respect to a moving subject and a large luminance difference between the moving subject and the background image, such as car racing, the background of the subject of the car race is measured by measuring the entire screen. The subject may be overexposed due to the influence of the brightness of the black road image.

  An object of the present invention is to reduce the occurrence of failure shooting due to exposure setting regardless of the subject or scene even when the camera is shot with a setting for performing panning.

In one aspect, the imaging device
A taking optical system for forming a subject image;
An imaging unit that acquires video data from a subject image formed by the imaging optical system;
A shooting mode setting section that is set by selecting an exposure condition during shooting from a plurality of exposure setting modes;
An angular velocity sensor for obtaining angular velocity information associated with a change in posture of the imaging device;
Based on angular velocity information acquired by the angular velocity sensor, a panning determination unit that determines whether the imaging device is in a panning state;
An exposure control unit that controls exposure conditions when acquiring the video data for the imaging unit;
The exposure control unit
First exposure control means for performing exposure control for performing shooting so as not to cause image blur based on luminance information of the video data;
Second exposure control means for performing exposure control at the time of photographing based on an exposure time determined based on angular velocity information acquired by the angular velocity sensor and focal length information of the photographing optical system;
Exposure determination means for determining whether or not the video data can obtain proper exposure in the exposure control of the second exposure control means;
The exposure control unit
In the state where the shooting mode setting unit is selected in the exposure setting mode for automatically determining an exposure time and an exposure opening amount from the video data,
When the panning determination unit determines that the imaging device is in the panning state and when the exposure determination unit determines that proper exposure is obtained, the exposure control is performed by the second exposure control unit. And
When the panning determination unit determines that the imaging apparatus is not in the panning state, the exposure control is performed by the first exposure control unit.

In another aspect, a method for controlling an imaging apparatus includes:
An imaging apparatus control method for controlling an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit that acquires video data from a subject image formed by an imaging optical system,
Obtaining angular velocity information associated with a change in posture of the imaging device;
Determining whether or not the imaging device is in a panning state based on the acquired angular velocity information;
A step of controlling an exposure condition when acquiring the video data for the imaging unit,
In the step of controlling the exposure condition,
In the state where the exposure setting mode for automatically determining the exposure time and the exposure opening amount from the video data is selected,
When it is determined that the imaging apparatus is in the panning state and when it is determined that appropriate exposure can be obtained, it is determined based on the angular velocity information and the focal length information of the imaging optical system. Based on the exposure time, perform exposure control during shooting,
When it is determined that the imaging apparatus is not in the panning state, exposure control is performed to perform shooting so as not to cause image blur.

In yet another aspect, the program is:
A program executed by an arithmetic processing unit of an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit that acquires video data from a subject image formed by an imaging optical system,
A function of acquiring angular velocity information accompanying a change in posture of the imaging device;
A function of determining whether the imaging device is in a panning state based on the acquired angular velocity information;
A function of controlling exposure conditions when acquiring the video data for the imaging unit,
In the function of controlling the exposure condition,
In the state where the exposure setting mode for automatically determining the exposure time and the exposure opening amount from the video data is selected,
When it is determined that the imaging apparatus is in the panning state and when it is determined that appropriate exposure can be obtained, it is determined based on the angular velocity information and the focal length information of the imaging optical system. Based on the exposure time, perform exposure control during shooting,
When it is determined that the imaging apparatus is not in the panning state, exposure control is performed to perform shooting so as not to cause image blur.

  According to the above aspect, even when the camera is shot with the setting to perform panning, the occurrence of failed shooting due to the exposure setting is reduced regardless of the subject or the scene.

It is the example of a picked-up image of panning shot shooting. It is a block diagram which shows the main functions of a digital camera (imaging device). It is a perspective view of the digital camera showing a pitch direction, a yaw direction, and a roll direction. It is a block diagram which shows the internal function of the blurring correction | amendment microcomputer 7. FIG. It is a graph which shows the time change of the detection result of the angular velocity sensor when a panning is performed. It is a graph which shows the change of the angular velocity of a yaw direction ((omega) yaw) at the time of a panning shot, a pitch direction ((omega) pitch), and an absolute value ((omega) pan). This is a coordinate indicating the directional relationship of ωyaw, ωpitch, and ωpan. It is a functional block diagram of a system controller. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of control of a system controller and a blurring correction microcomputer. It is a flowchart which shows the panning Tv value calculation process in 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the AE control process in 1st Embodiment. It is a program diagram (the 1) used for AE control processing. It is a program diagram (the 2) used for AE control processing. It is a program diagram (the 3) used for AE control processing. It is a functional block diagram of the system controller in 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the AE control process in 2nd Embodiment. It is an example of the picked-up image for demonstrating the to-be-photographed object detection part in 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the AE control process in 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the AE control process in 4th Embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of the system controller in a 5th embodiment. It is a live view display example (No. 1) during a panning shot in the fifth embodiment. It is a live view display example (No. 2) during a panning shot in the fifth embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the AE control process in 5th Embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, an example of the basic operation of the panning mode mounted on the imaging apparatus will be described.
If the panning mode is selected in advance from the menu or the like before shooting, the panning mode is activated. When a still image is shot while panning (including tilting) is performed on the imaging device, the shutter speed at which the background flow amount is a predetermined value is automatically selected, and panning shot shooting is performed. Done.

  Here, as an example, the shutter speed is adjusted such that the background flow amount is 5% of the shooting field angle. The background flow amount indicates the width of the image blur locus with respect to the background portion of the captured image when the imaging device is imaged by the panning operation with respect to the moving main subject.

  In the case of panning, the amount of background flow is about 3% of the shooting angle of view as a guide for the shooting technique, and a person sees the shot image and feels the flow effect. Further, it has been experimentally confirmed that when the background flow amount is about 5% of the shooting angle of view, the shot image can feel the panning effect regardless of the subject and the background.

  Therefore, in the imaging device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the shutter speed that is automatically selected is shot at the fastest shutter speed at which any subject can feel the panning effect. It is possible to obtain an effective panning effect for a shot image while suppressing failure shooting due to blurring.

In the embodiment, an example in which an imaging device is applied to a digital camera is shown.
FIG. 2A is a block diagram showing main functions of the digital camera 1 (hereinafter referred to as camera 1).

FIG. 2B is a perspective view of the camera 1 showing the pitch direction, the yaw direction, and the roll direction.
2A and 2B includes a photographing optical system 2, an encoder 3, a focal plane shutter 4, an image sensor 5, a drive unit 6, a shake correction microcomputer 7, a system controller 8, and an angular velocity sensor. 9, a zoom operation unit 10, a release SW (switch) 11, an EVF (Electronic View Finder) 12, a memory card 13, and a setting dial 14.

  The photographing optical system 2 forms a subject image on the image sensor 5 when a light image enters from the subject. The photographing optical system 2 includes a plurality of lenses such as a focus lens and a zoom lens having the same optical axis La.

The encoder 3 detects position information such as a lens included in the photographing optical system 2.
The focal plane shutter 4 is an example of a shutter, and an AE control unit (to be described later) adjusts an exposure time (shutter speed) due to subject light incident from a photographing optical system 2 disposed in front of a light receiving surface of an image sensor 5 (to be described later). Used for The focal plane shutter 4 includes a light-shielding curtain that shields an opening through which subject light enters and an actuator that moves the light-shielding curtain. The focal-plane shutter 4 is opened and closed during shooting, and is kept open during live view.

  The image sensor 5 photoelectrically converts the subject image formed by the photographing optical system 2 into an image signal, and acquires video data. The image sensor 5 is, for example, a CCD or a CMOS. The imaging element 5 functions as a part of the imaging unit together with the focal plane shutter 4.

  The drive unit 6 is an actuator (for example, a voice coil motor or an ultrasonic motor) that moves the image sensor 5 in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis La of the photographing optical system 2 (X-axis direction and Y-axis direction shown in FIG. 2B). ).

The shake correction microcomputer 7 and the system controller 8 are an example of an arithmetic processing device that executes a program to be described later.
The blur correction microcomputer 7 moves the drive unit 6 based on angular velocity information detected by an angular velocity sensor 9 described later. As described above, the shake correction microcomputer 7 functions as a shake correction control unit that controls camera shake correction.

  The system controller 8 performs overall control of the camera 1. Further, the system controller 8 has a storage unit that stores a control program and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that reads the control program and executes processing, and performs control by software processing by the CPU. The system controller 8 functions as a control unit having an AE control unit (exposure control unit) described later.

  The angular velocity sensor 9 acquires angular velocity information associated with the posture change of the camera 1. Moreover, the angular velocity sensor 9 detects the angular velocity of the camera 1 in the yaw (Yaw) direction and the pitch (Pitch) direction, for example. As shown in FIG. 2B, the rotational movement in the yaw direction is a rotational movement with the vertical direction (Y-axis direction) of the camera 1 as an axis. The rotational movement in the pitch direction is a rotational movement about the horizontal direction (X-axis direction) of the camera 1, that is, an inclination of the camera 1 in the front-rear direction. The angular velocity sensor 9 may further detect an angular velocity in a roll direction, which is a rotation direction about the front-rear direction (Z-axis direction) of the camera 1.

  The zooming operation unit 10 is an operation unit for performing an operation of changing the focal length (or imaging magnification) in the imaging optical system 2. For example, the zoom operation unit 10 is a ring-shaped operation member provided on the lens frame of the camera 1. The cam frame connected to the zoom operation unit 10 is rotated by the rotation operation of the zoom operation unit 10, and the zoom lens is moved to a predetermined position by the rotation of the cam frame. As a result, the focal length (magnification) is changed. Note that the zooming operation unit 10 does not directly rotate the cam frame, but may be an instruction unit that notifies the system controller 8 of a control amount to the motor that drives the zoom lens.

  The release SW 11 is, for example, a two-stage button for the user to input a shooting start instruction to the camera 1. The release SW 11 is arranged on the upper surface of the camera 1 and is instructed to start shooting preparation by the first release of the first stage that is half-pressed, and starts exposure (exposure) by the second release of the second stage that is fully pressed. I am instructed.

  The EVF 12 is a display device that displays captured images and operation setting information as images. The display body of the EVF 12 is, for example, a TFT or an organic EL. In addition, as a display apparatus, you may provide a large sized liquid crystal display apparatus etc. in the back surface of the camera 1 with EVF12 instead of EVF12.

  The memory card 13 is an example of a recording medium that records and reproduces image data of a photographed image, and is detachably disposed on the camera 1. The memory card 13 is a non-volatile recording medium.

  The setting dial 14 is an operation input means from a user in the camera body 1, and according to a menu screen displayed on the EVF 12 by the user, various settings relating to functions included in the camera body 1 (for example, camera mode and aperture) Value). The setting dial 14 functions as an example of a shooting mode setting unit that selects and sets an exposure condition during shooting from a plurality of exposure setting modes. Note that the photographing mode setting unit is not limited to receiving an operation instruction by a dial operation, and may be, for example, an EVF 12 provided with a touch panel, a button pressed at the time of an operation instruction, or the like.

Next, the flow of operation of each part will be described.
The light flux from the subject is formed as a subject image on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 5 by the photographing optical system 2. The video data output from the image sensor 5 is displayed on the EVF 12 as a live view image under the control of the system controller 8.

Based on an instruction from the system controller 8, the focal plane shutter 4 opens and closes the shutter curtain to switch between the exposure state and the light shielding state of the image sensor 5.
Specifically, when the release SW 11 is pressed (fully pressed) by the user, the system controller 8 controls the opening / closing operation of the focal plane shutter 4 based on the set shutter speed, and a predetermined value based on the shutter speed. During the period, the image sensor 5 is exposed.

  The image sensor 5 photoelectrically converts a subject image formed with the light receiving surface exposed. The system controller 8 reads out the charge amount corresponding to each pixel photoelectrically converted from the image sensor 5 as video data. Further, the system controller 8 outputs to the image sensor 5 the start and end of charge accumulation by photoelectric conversion and a control signal for reading the accumulated charge as video data.

  The system controller 8 receives the video data read by the image sensor 5 and further performs various signal processing on the video data. The video data after various signal processing is sequentially displayed on the EVF 12 as a live view video at the time of shooting, or as image data generated after shooting on the memory card 13 or the camera 1. Or recorded in a built-in storage unit.

  The angular velocity sensor 9 detects the angular velocity of the rotational motion around a predetermined rotational axis accompanying the change in the posture of the camera 1 and notifies the blur correction microcomputer 7 of the angular velocity information. Here, the angular velocity sensor 9 includes a pitch direction that is a rotational motion with the horizontal direction (X-axis direction) of the camera 1 as a rotation axis with respect to a plane orthogonal to the optical axis La of the photographing optical system 2, and the photographing optical system 2. The angular velocity with respect to the yaw direction, which is a rotational motion with the direction perpendicular to the plane (Y-axis direction) as the rotation axis, with respect to the plane perpendicular to the optical axis La of the lens is detected.

  The shake correction microcomputer 7 calculates an angle change accompanying a change in the posture of the camera 1 based on the angular velocities acquired with respect to the yaw direction and the pitch direction, respectively. The blur correction microcomputer 7 then performs image blurring on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 5 with respect to the horizontal direction and the vertical direction based on the respective angle change amounts with respect to the yaw direction and the pitch direction and the focal length information of the photographing optical system 2. The amount (image plane movement amount) is calculated. Further, the blur correction microcomputer 7 controls the drive unit 6 so as to move the light receiving surface of the image sensor 5 in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction in a direction to cancel out these image blur amounts. Thereby, an image without blurring can be taken.

  The variable magnification operation unit 10 changes the variable magnification (zoom magnification, focal length) of the photographing optical system 2 based on a user operation. At this time, the position of the lens or the like included in the photographing optical system 2 in the optical axis direction changes in accordance with the magnification of the photographing optical system 2. Furthermore, the position in the optical axis direction with respect to the lens or the like included in the photographing optical system 2 is detected by the encoder 3, and the system controller 8 converts the information into focal length information or the like based on the detected position information.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal functions of the blur correction microcomputer 7.
The blur correction microcomputer 7 includes a CPU 70, an ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) 71, a SIO (Serial Input and Output interface unit) 72, a driver 73, a reference calculation unit 74, a calculation unit 75, and a panning detection unit. 76, a blur correction unit 77, and a communication unit 78.

  The CPU 70 is arithmetic processing means that reads a control program and executes predetermined processing. The processing executed by the CPU 70 is represented as a reference calculation unit 74, a subtraction unit 75, a panning detection unit 76, a shake correction unit 77, and a communication unit 78. In this manner, each process executed by the CPU 70 is implemented as a program that operates on the shake correction microcomputer 7, and for example, a calculation function is generated by firmware. Each function of the arithmetic processing is not limited to a method configured by a program operating in the CPU 70, and may be a method configured by, for example, a plurality of electronic circuits. The same applies to a CPU included in the system controller 8 described later.

  The ADC 71 receives an analog signal that is a detected value of the angular velocity from the angular velocity sensor 9, performs AD conversion, and converts it into a digital value that can be handled by the CPU 70. The ADC 71 also performs processing for averaging the angular velocities from the angular velocity sensor 9.

The SIO 72 is a serial interface that transmits and receives data to and from the system controller 8.
The driver 73 outputs an operation signal from the CPU 70 to the drive unit 6. The driver 73 corresponds to both a PWM driver system that outputs an operation amount by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) modulation by switching control and a linear driver system that outputs the operation amount as an analog amount.

Next, the detailed operation of the function in the blur correction microcomputer 7 will be described.
First, when an analog signal that is a detected value of angular velocity is input from the angular velocity sensor 9, the ADC 71 performs AD conversion for each predetermined time period and converts it into a digital value that can be calculated by the CPU 70.

The reference calculation unit 74 calculates the value of the angular velocity when the camera 1 is in a stationary state as a reference value.
The subtractor 75 sequentially subtracts the reference value of the angular velocity calculated by the reference calculator 74 from the value AD-converted by the ADC 71 with respect to the detected value of the angular velocity detected by the angular velocity sensor 9. The calculation output by the subtracting unit 75 is a signed value corresponding to the sign of the rotation direction with respect to the yaw and pitch directions. The sign at this time indicates the positive / negative information of the rotation direction with respect to the yaw and pitch directions.

  The above calculation processing by the reference calculation 74 and the subtraction unit 75 can be replaced by high-pass filtering operation (HPF: High-Pass Filtering operation) for removing a direct current component from the angular velocity detection value of the ADC 71. However, the present invention is not limited to this method.

  Next, the angular velocity converted into a signed value by the subtracting unit 75 is input to the panning detection unit 76. Then, the panning detection unit 76 determines whether the camera 1 is in the panning state based on the angular velocity information. The determination process of the panning detection unit 76 functions as a panning determination unit.

  The panning detection unit 76 drives the driving unit 6 to notify the blur correction unit 77 of the angular velocity to be corrected according to the determination result of whether the panning is being performed. Further, the panning detection unit 76 also functions as an angular velocity calculation unit that calculates an angular velocity related to the panning operation, and notifies the system controller 8 of information obtained as a result of the calculation via the SIO 72 via the communication unit 78.

  Here, the angular velocity to be corrected when it is determined to be the above-described panning shot is related to the detected angular velocity, and the angular velocity relating to the panning operation (a diagram to be described later) from the signed angular velocity output subtracted by the subtracting unit 75. 4 is a value obtained by subtracting the angular velocity ω) that is calculated in the period of time t1 to t2 and that is a reference during panning. Note that the angular velocity to be corrected in the case of non-panning is the detected angular velocity. In other words, when the panning is not panning, the panning detection unit 76 calculates and outputs the angular velocity to be corrected when it is determined to be panning.

  The blur correction unit 77 first calculates an angle change due to a change in the posture of the camera 1 by time-integrating the input angular velocity. This angle change is a difference in angle between the posture of the camera 1 at the start of photographing and the posture when the posture is changed after a certain time.

  Next, the blur correction unit 77 generates an image blur amount generated on the light receiving surface (imaging surface) of the image sensor 5 from the angle change calculated by time integration of the input angular velocity and the focal length of the imaging optical system 2. (Image plane movement amount) is calculated. Then, the blur correction unit 77 calculates a correction amount for driving the drive unit 6 so as to cancel the calculated image blur amount.

  Further, the calculated correction amount is transmitted as an operation amount (operation signal) to the drive unit 6 via the driver 73. The drive unit 6 moves (drives) the image sensor 5 based on the calculated operation amount, thereby performing the shake correction operation.

  Next, FIGS. 4 to 6 show changes in angular velocity detected by the angular velocity sensor 9 during panning of the camera 1 in relation to the operation of the calculation functions of the panning detection unit 76 and the shake correction unit 77 shown in FIG. Based on the explanation.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing temporal changes in the detection result of the angular velocity sensor 9 when panning is performed.
During the time of panning, the following characteristic tendency occurs in the detected angular velocity.
(1) Deviation occurs in one direction with respect to a reference value (angular velocity at rest). Furthermore,
(2) As for the magnitude of the angular velocity, an angular velocity larger than the angular velocity usually generated when the camera 1 is held is generated.

  From the characteristic tendency described above, the panning detection unit 76 detects the panning by the following method. First, a panning detection threshold TH higher than the angular velocity generated when the normal camera 1 is held is set based on the characteristic tendency of (2) above.

  Next, from the characteristic tendency of (1) above, when the angular velocity detected sequentially exceeds the panning detection threshold TH for a predetermined period (time t1 to t2 in FIG. 4), panning starts. It is determined that When the reference value and the angular velocity at which the posture change does not occur in the camera 1 crosses (time t3 in FIG. 4), the panning detection unit 76 determines that the panning has been completed.

  Accordingly, the panning detection period for detecting that the camera 1 is in the panning state is a period of time t2 to t3. The determination of the start of panning is not only based on the magnitude of the angular velocity, but also by determining that the angular velocity of a certain magnitude or more has continued for a predetermined time, which is a set period, so that the camera 1 can be moved greatly. It is possible to prevent erroneous determination as panning. The angular velocity detection result shown in FIG. 4 is an example in which the angular velocity value at the time of panning shows a positive value. For this reason, the value of the angular velocity immediately after crossing the reference value is a negative value.

  FIG. 5 shows a case where the camera 1 is tilted with respect to the horizontal or vertical direction with respect to the direction in which the panning is performed, or when the panning is performed in an oblique direction with respect to the camera 1. 4 shows changes in the yaw direction (ωyaw) and pitch direction (ωpitch) input to the panning detection unit 76 and the angular velocity that is an absolute value (ωpan: broken line) including components in the yaw direction and the pitch direction. It is a graph.

In this case, the angular velocity deviation occurs in both the yaw direction and the pitch direction as shown in FIG.
The angular velocity based on the actual panning is ωpan obtained by squaring the angular velocity in the yaw direction and the pitch direction. The relational expression is shown below.

Here, ωpan shown in Expression 1 is an absolute value of the angular velocity obtained by combining the angular velocity components in the yaw direction and the pitch direction.
FIG. 6 shows coordinates indicating the directional relationship between ωyaw, ωpitch, and ωpan. In FIG. 6, ωyaw is the X axis and ωpitch is the Y axis.

  The inclination angle in the panning direction has a relationship as shown in FIG. 6, and the inclination angle (θpitch or θyaw) with respect to each axis can be calculated from the ratio of the angular velocities between the yaw direction (ωyaw) and the pitch direction (ωpitch). .

The above is the panning determination operation performed by the blur correction microcomputer 7, and the detection operation of the panning direction (inclination) and the magnitude of the angular velocity when the panning determination is performed.
FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of the system controller 8. FIG. 7 shows the feature points of this embodiment as a functional block diagram.

The system controller 8 shown in FIG. 7 controls the entire camera 1 as described above.
The shutter speed in the panning mode is calculated by a program process inside the system controller 8. The system controller 8 includes an inclination detection unit 81, a panning angular velocity calculation unit 82, a panning Tv value calculation unit 83, an AE control unit 84, and an SIO 85. The tilt detection unit 81, the panning angular velocity calculation unit 82, the panning Tv value calculation unit 83, and the AE control unit 84 are functions executed by software processing of the CPU of the system controller 8.

  As information input to the inclination detection unit 81, there is angular velocity information which is a reference at the time of panning in the yaw and pitch directions output from the shake correction microcomputer 7. The focal length information is calculated based on the position information of the lens included in the photographing optical system 2 detected by the encoder 3.

The inclination detection unit 81 and the panning angular velocity calculation unit 82 are calculation units that calculate an angular velocity (ωpan) at the time of panning including information on the panning direction.
The panning Tv value calculation unit 83 calculates the shutter speed during panning from the angular velocity during panning and the focal length information of the photographing optical system 2.

Information output from the panning Tv value calculation unit 83 to the AE control unit 84 that is an exposure control unit includes a shutter opening / closing operation amount with respect to the focal plane shutter 4.
The tilt detection unit 81 includes an axis at which the camera 1 is shaken from the angular velocity in the yaw direction and the angular velocity in the pitch direction acquired from the blur correction microcomputer 7 via the SIO 72 shown in FIG. 3 and the SIO 85 shown in FIG. The inclination amount θpitch or θyaw of the detection axis is detected.

  The panning angular velocity calculation unit 82 calculates the actual angular velocity ωpan by correcting the angular velocity when the inclination based on the amount of inclination detected by the inclination detecting unit 81 is tilted to a predetermined amount or more. The calculation of these actual angular velocities ωpan can be obtained by the above-described equation 1.

The panning shot Tv value calculation unit 83 calculates the panning shutter speed based on the angular velocity and the focal length calculated by the panning angular velocity calculation unit 82 and converts them into a panning Tv value.
The AE control unit 84 controls the exposure condition when acquiring video data for the focal plane shutter 4 (imaging unit). The AE control unit 84 includes a first exposure control unit 84a, a second exposure control unit 84b, an exposure determination unit 84c, and a lower limit value defining unit 84d.

  The first exposure control unit 84a performs exposure control (P-mode exposure control) for performing shooting so as not to cause image blur based on luminance information of video data acquired by the imaging device 5 (imaging unit). .

  The second exposure control unit 84b is configured to perform exposure control during shooting based on the exposure time determined based on the angular velocity information acquired by the angular velocity sensor 9 and the focal length information of the photographing optical system 2. )I do.

The exposure determination unit 84c determines whether or not the video data can be properly exposed in the exposure control of the second exposure control unit 84b.
The lower limit value defining means 84d defines the lower limit value of the exposure time when exposure control is performed by the second exposure control means 84b. When the exposure time is less than the lower limit value, P-mode exposure control is performed by the first exposure control unit 84a, not by panning exposure control by the second exposure control unit 84b.
The lower limit value is, for example, four times lower than the camera shake limit second (1/35 mm equivalent focal length), which is the shutter speed at which the influence of camera shake starts to appear based on the focal length of the photographic optical system 2, for example. A method such as a shutter speed may be used.

Next, the control flow of the system controller 8 and the shake correction microcomputer 7 when the panning mode is selected will be described with reference to FIG.
The processing on the left side of FIG. 8 shows the control flow of the system controller 8, and the processing on the right side of FIG. 8 shows the main flow of control of the shake correction microcomputer 7. The flow of signals across the left side (system controller 8) and the right side (blur correction microcomputer 7) in FIG. 8 indicates communication between the system controller 8 and the blur correction microcomputer 7.

  First, when the panning mode is selected, the system controller 8 issues a camera state acquisition command (command-1) to the shake correction microcomputer 7 and acquires the state of the camera 1 (step SC1).

  Here, the state of the camera 1 includes a determination state result (whether there is a panning determination flag) whether or not the panning is being performed, and a panning angular velocity value. The panning angular velocity is an average value of angular velocities in a predetermined period (detection period t1 to t2) shown in FIG.

  Further, when the panning shot determination flag is during detection of the panning shot (for example, time t2 to t3 shown in FIG. 4), the panning angular velocity is used as an effective value, and when the panning shot detection is not being performed, the panning angular velocity is Invalid value.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the condition for detecting the panning shot is that the threshold value TH is exceeded even if the angular velocity exceeds the threshold value TH (time t1) and exceeds a predetermined detection period (time period t2 to t1). An example is the state of

On the other hand, when the camera shake correction microcomputer 7 first receives a camera state acquisition command (command-1), it responds with a panning determination flag and a panning angular velocity (step BC1).
Next, the system controller 8 determines whether the camera 1 is performing the panning based on the acquired panning determination flag (step SC2).

  When it is determined that the camera 1 is in the state of panning based on the panning determination flag (step SC2 is YES), the panning Tv value calculation unit 83 is a panning that is an average angular velocity value transmitted from the blur microcomputer 7. According to the angular velocity, the panning shutter speed is calculated (step SC3). The panning shutter speed calculation process (step SC3) will be described later.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the camera 1 is not in the state of panning based on the panning determination flag (step SC2 is NO), the panning shutter speed calculation processing (step SC3) is not performed and the AE control processing (step SC4). Is done.

  As will be described in detail later, in the AE control process (step SC4), the setting dial 14 (shooting mode setting unit) is selected in the exposure setting mode for automatically determining the exposure time and the exposure opening amount from the video data. The second exposure control is performed when the panning detection unit 76 (the panning determination unit) determines that the camera 1 is in the panning state and when the exposure determination unit 84c determines that proper exposure is obtained. By means 84b, panning exposure control based on the exposure time determined from the angular velocity information and the focal length information is performed.

  In addition, when the setting dial 14 (shooting mode setting unit) is selected in the exposure setting mode in which the exposure time and the exposure opening amount are automatically determined from the video data, the camera 1 is not in the panning shooting state. When the shooting detection unit 76 determines, P-mode exposure control based on luminance information is performed by the first exposure control unit 84a.

  Note that the above-described luminance value acquisition includes, for example, a method using a photometric sensor (not shown) and a method in which the luminance value of a subject is sequentially acquired from video data acquired from the image sensor 5 during live view shooting.

  After the AE control process (step SC4), as the next process step, an AF process (step SC5) which is an operation for focusing the photographing optical system 2 on the subject is performed. After the AF process (step SC5), it is determined as a next step whether or not an imaging start instruction (exposure start) has been issued, that is, whether or not the release SW11 has been fully pressed (step SC6).

If there is no shooting start instruction (exposure start) (NO in step SC6), the process proceeds to step SC1 again, and the processes in steps SC1 to SC6 are repeated.
Here, the AE process (step SC4) and the AF process (step SC5) do not need to be performed every cycle, and may be performed as necessary.

  On the other hand, when there is a photographing start instruction (exposure start) (YES at step SC6), the system controller 8 determines whether camera shake correction is effective (step SC7), and when it is effective (YES at step SC7). A start instruction (command-2) is notified to the blur correction microcomputer 7 (step SC8). Thereafter, the exposure process (step SC9) is started as the next step. However, when the camera shake correction is invalid, the correction start instruction (command-2) is not notified to the camera shake correction microcomputer 7, and the exposure starts as it is. To do.

  At this time, when the shake correction microcomputer 7 receives a correction start instruction (command-2) from the system controller 8, it starts shake correction as a processing step (step BC2). The blur correction microcomputer 7 continues the blur correction while the processing of the system controller 8 is during exposure (step SC9) (step BC3).

  In the case of the panning detection state, the blur correction microcomputer 7 performs the blur correction control based on the deviation of the angular velocity with respect to the angular velocity used as a reference at the time of panning. That is, unevenness in angular velocity during panning is corrected. On the other hand, the blur correction microcomputer 7 corrects the blur based on the angular velocity accompanying the posture change of the camera 1 when the panning state is not detected. In other words, a state in which the posture of the camera 1 is not changed is set as a reference angular velocity (zero), and shake correction is performed according to the sequentially detected angular velocity (normal camera shake correction).

  Returning to the description of the control steps of the system controller 8 again, when the exposure (step SC9) is completed, the system controller 8 determines whether camera shake correction is effective (step SC10), and if it is effective (YES at step SC10). In step SC11, a correction end instruction is sent to notify the shake correction microcomputer 7 of a correction end command (command-3). On the other hand, when the camera shake correction is invalid (NO in step SC10), the photographing is finished as it is.

  On the other hand, in the process of the blur correction microcomputer 7, when the correction end command (command-3) is received from the system controller 8, the blur correction microcomputer 7 ends the correction (step BC4).

  Note that the system controller 8 returns to the camera state acquisition process (step SC1) and returns to the camera state acquisition process (step SC1) after the exposure (step SC9) is completed and the correction end instruction (step SC11) is issued. Repeat the process.

Next, a method for calculating the panning Tv value will be described in detail.
From the panning angular velocity, the flow amount when exposed for 1 second can be obtained by the following equations 2 and 3.

Fps = f × tan ωpan≈f × ωpan × π / 180 (Formula 2)

However,
f: Focal length Fps: Flow rate per second ωpan: Panning angular velocity

In addition, what is shown by the right side of Formula 2 shows a calculation example when the value of the panning angular velocity ωpan is small and can be approximated.
Assuming that the flow rate is L and the shutter speed for generating the L flow amount is the panning shutter speed Tpan, the panning shutter speed is as follows.

Tpan = L / Fps (Formula 3)

However,
Tpan: Panning shutter speed L: Target flow rate

Here, the target flow amount L is, for example, when the size of the image sensor 5 is 35 mm and the target flow amount is 5% of the long side, L is 1.8 mm.
The panning shutter speed calculated by the above method can be converted as a panning Tv value based on an APEX (Additive system of Fhotographic EXposure) formula.

Tvpan = -log2 Tpan (Formula 4)

<First Embodiment>
In the configuration of the present embodiment, the configuration and control of the panning mode shown in the blur microcomputer 7 are substantially the same. On the other hand, there is an additional function to the control in the AE control process (step SC4) and the panning shutter speed calculation process (step SC3) shown in FIG.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the detailed description of the above-described additional function is mainly performed, and the description of the other functions described above is omitted because it is redundant.
First, detailed steps of the panning Tv value calculation process (step SC3) of the system controller 8 shown in FIG. 8 will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.

  First, as described above, the inclination detection unit 81 and the panning angular velocity calculation unit 82 shown in FIG. 7 calculate the inclination with respect to the detection axis from the average value ωyaw of the angular velocity in the yaw direction and the average value ωpitch of the angular velocity in the pitch direction. (Step SC301).

  Here, from the detected values of the angular velocities in the two rotational directions of the yaw direction and the pitch direction, detection of the main rotating shaft on which the panning is performed, and the detected angular velocity average value of the main rotating shaft, The ratio of the other average angular velocity is obtained.

The main rotation axis on which panning is performed is the main rotation axis on which panning is performed on the larger comparison between ωyaw and ωpitch.
On the other hand, when calculating the inclination angle and the inclination correction value, first, a tangent value with respect to the angular velocity axis serving as the larger rotation axis is obtained.

For example, when ωyaw is large, a tangent value with respect to ωyaw is calculated based on Equation 5 below.

Tanθyaw = ωpitch / ωyaw (Formula 5)

  Next, the panning panning speed ωpan is calculated by multiplying the angular velocity correction value determined by the tilt detection process (step SC301) by the angular velocity of the axis where the panning is detected (step SC302).

  After calculating the panning panning speed ωpan (step SC302), the panning shutter speed is calculated from the panning panning speed ωpan by the panning Tv value calculation unit 82 shown in FIG. Calculated (step SC303).

  Further, as the next processing step, the panning shutter speed is converted into the panning Tv value by the panning Tv value calculation unit 82 according to the exposure value based on the APEX formula based on Formula 4 (step SC304).

Next, detailed steps of the AE control process (step SC4) of the system controller 8 shown in FIG. 8 will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.
Note that the processing in FIG. 10 is performed in a state where the setting dial 14 (shooting mode setting unit) is selected in the exposure setting mode in which the exposure time and the exposure opening amount are automatically determined from the video data.

First, the AE control unit 84 calculates a Bv value that is subject brightness by performing photometry (step SC401).
Next, the AE control unit 84 confirms whether or not the panning shot Tv value is calculated in the panning shutter speed calculation process (step SC3) shown in FIG. 8 (step SC402), and the effective Tv value is calculated. In step S402, it is determined whether the exposure condition is within the exposure interlocking range (step SC403). This determination is made by the exposure determination means 84c based on the program diagram shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 shows the relationship between the panning Tv value and the Bv value obtained by photometry. In FIG. 12, the Bv value is indicated by an oblique broken line, and the Tv value is on the horizontal axis. (That is, the value determined by the right vertical axis) is the calculation result of Tv−Bv, which is the difference between the above values.

  The thick frame shown in FIG. 12 indicates the effective panning Tv value range (horizontal axis) and the interlockable range (vertical axis right side). This is within an interlocking range in which exposure control is possible by varying the aperture value (Av) and the sensitivity (Sv) of the image sensor 5 if the exposure control in the panning state is within the range of the thick frame. Then, it can be seen that 12 stages of linkage are possible with respect to one set shutter speed as shown as a range that Tv-Bv can take on the right side of the vertical axis.

  Moreover, the lower limit value defining means 84d defines 1/15 as the lower limit for the panning Tv value as shown in FIG. The reason why the lower limit value defining means 84d defines the lower limit value in this way is that, when the shutter speed is less than the lower limit value, it becomes a region in which panning is hardly successful due to camera shake at the time of photographing.

  When the exposure time (Tv value) falls below the lower limit value defined by the lower limit value defining means 84d during panning, the AE control unit 84 replaces the exposure time with the lower limit value, and the panning exposure control process (step SC404). May be performed.

  By doing this, when the panning shot is started, if the shutter speed is calculated with a low angular velocity, the shutter speed setting is not lower than the lower limit shutter speed. The shutter speed can be selected to prevent failure shooting.

The determination process (step SC403) for determining whether or not within the interlocking range is within the interlocking range if the intersection obtained based on the Bv value and the panning Tv value is within the range of the thick frame.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the brightness of the subject is in a range where Bv values from −3 to +13 can be handled as shown in FIG.

Thereafter, the AE control unit 84 calculates the Sv value (sensitivity of the image sensor 5) and the Av value (aperture value), and performs panning exposure control (step SC404).
Here, although the program diagram of FIG. 13 is followed, the Sv value and the Av value determined by the oblique broken line intersecting with the bold line of the diagram based on the result of Tv-Bv calculated in the above determination are calculated. To do. In FIG. 13, Sv-Av is an oblique broken line, but Sv-Av is equal to Tv-Bv.

Then, the second exposure control unit 84b performs the panning exposure control at the time of shooting based on the Tv value, the Sv value, and the Av value (step SC404).
If the determination in step SC402 or step SC403 is NO, it is assumed that proper exposure cannot be obtained, and proper exposure is obtained from the luminance value acquired from the incident light beam in the P-mode exposure control process (step SC405). Thus, the Sv value, Av value, and Tv value are calculated by the program diagram shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram in which the Sv value is 5 and the ISO sensitivity is fixed at 100. However, when the Sv value is linked, it can be handled by shifting the program diagram according to the shift amount of Sv.

  Then, the first exposure control unit 84a performs P-mode exposure control during shooting based on the Tv value, the Sv value, and the Av value. That is, the first exposure control unit 84a performs exposure control for performing shooting so as not to cause image blur based on the luminance information of the video data.

  In the embodiment including the first embodiment described above, the panning determination unit (the panning detection unit 76) determines whether the camera 1 is in the panning state based on the angular velocity information acquired by the angular velocity sensor 9. Determine whether or not. In addition, the AE control unit 84 that controls the exposure condition when acquiring video data to the imaging unit (focal plane shutter 4 and imaging device 5) does not cause image blur based on the luminance information of the video data. Thus, based on the exposure time determined based on the first exposure control means 84a for performing exposure control for performing shooting, the angular velocity information acquired by the angular velocity sensor 9 and the focal length information of the photographing optical system 2, Second exposure control means 84b that performs exposure control during shooting, and exposure determination means that determines whether or not video data can be properly exposed in the exposure control of the second exposure control means 84b. The AE control unit 84 performs the following processing in a state where the shooting mode setting unit (setting dial 14) is selected to the exposure setting mode in which the exposure time and the exposure opening amount are automatically determined from the video data. That is, the AE control unit 84 performs the second exposure control when the panning determination unit determines that the camera 1 is in the panning state and when the exposure determination unit 84c determines that appropriate exposure is obtained. Exposure control (pan shot exposure control) is performed by means 84b. The AE control unit 84 performs exposure control (P-mode exposure control) by the first exposure control unit 84a when the panning determination unit determines that the camera 1 is not in the panning state.

  Therefore, by performing exposure control according to the exposure time determined at the time of panning when appropriate exposure is obtained, it is possible to avoid overexposure or underexposure at the shutter speed at the time of panning setting. Therefore, according to the embodiment, even when the camera 1 is shot with the setting for performing panning, the occurrence of failed shooting due to the exposure setting is reduced regardless of the subject or the scene.

  In the embodiment, the lower limit value defining means 84d defines the lower limit value of the exposure time (in other words, the Tv value) when exposure control is performed by the second exposure control means 84b. Further, the AE control unit 84 performs exposure control by the first exposure control unit 84a when the exposure time is less than the lower limit value defined by the lower limit value defining unit 84d. Further, exposure control by the second exposure control means 84b may be performed by replacing the exposure time with the lower limit value. Therefore, it is possible to prevent unsuccessful shooting by defining the lower limit value so as to exclude the exposure time during which panning is difficult to succeed.

<Second Embodiment>
In the present embodiment, only differences from the first embodiment will be described in order to avoid duplication of explanation.
FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram of the system controller 8 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the AE control process in the second embodiment.
The system controller 8 shown in FIG. 14 is different from the system controller 8 shown in FIG. 7 in that it includes a photometric area determining unit 84e and a subject image information extracting unit 84f instead of the lower limit value defining unit 84d. Also in this embodiment, the system controller 8 may include the lower limit value defining means 84d.

  The flowchart shown in FIG. 15 of the present embodiment is that the subject detection process (step S400-1) and the photometry area determination process (step S400-2) are performed before the photometry process (SC401) is started. This is different from the flowchart shown in FIG. 10 of the first embodiment.

The photometric area determining unit 84e determines a photometric area for performing photometric processing (step SC401).
The subject image information extraction unit 84f functions as a color information extraction unit that extracts color information of the subject image based on the video data acquired by the imaging device 5. The subject image information extracting unit 84f also functions as a luminance information extracting unit that extracts luminance information of the subject image based on the video data acquired by the imaging device 5.

  In the flowchart shown in FIG. 15, first, as shown in FIG. 16, in the video data, there are a first area A1 in which a main subject (that is, a moving subject) being panned exists, and the first area A1. A subject detection process (step SC400-1) for detecting a second region not included is performed. In panning, the background flows and blurs, so that the main subject can be detected by detecting an area that does not flow between frames.

  Next, photometric area determination processing (step S400-2) is performed. In the photometric area determination process (step S401-2), the photometric area determining unit 84e determines whether the first area A1 and the second area A2 are white or white based on the color information detected by the subject image information extracting unit 84f. When the black ratio satisfies a predetermined standard, the photometric area is determined, and when the black ratio does not satisfy the predetermined standard, it is excluded from the photometric area. When the photometry area is determined in this way, the second exposure control unit 84b performs the panning exposure control, and the luminance information of the photometry area is included as in the angular velocity information and the focal length information. I can say that.

  As a predetermined reference | standard in determining to the photometry area shown above, it is mentioned that an area ratio becomes more than fixed amount about each of white and black, for example. When it is determined that both the first area A1 and the second area A2 are not photometric objects, the entire screen may be the photometric object.

  As a modification, the photometry area determining unit 84e is configured to detect the luminance information for the first region A1 and the second region A2 based on the luminance information detected by the subject image information extracting unit 84f. If the photometric area is determined and the predetermined standard is not satisfied, the photometric area may be excluded. In this case, for example, an example in which a predetermined criterion is determined not to be satisfied when the video data is converted to gray and then becomes brighter than a certain amount or darker than a certain amount.

Since the processing of steps SC401 to SC405 is the same as the flowchart shown in FIG. 10 of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.
Even in the second embodiment described above, similarly to the first embodiment, even when the camera 1 is shot with a setting for performing panning, the failure shooting due to the exposure setting occurs regardless of the subject or the scene. Is reduced.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the AE control unit 84 includes a photometric area determining unit 84e that determines the photometric area, and the second exposure control unit 84b includes the luminance information of the photometric area, each speed information, Exposure control is performed based on the focal length information. For this reason, by excluding an area where there is a possibility of exposure failure in the photometric area, failure shooting in panning is further reduced.

  In the present embodiment, the photometry area determining means 84e includes the first area A1 that includes the main subject being panned in the video data and the second area that is not included in the first area A1 in the video data. When the ratio of white or black satisfies a predetermined standard based on the color information of the subject image extracted by the color information extraction means (subject image information extraction means 84f) with respect to the area A2, the photometry area If the predetermined standard is not satisfied, it is excluded from the photometry area. For this reason, areas where there is a possibility of exposure failure in the photometric area are excluded, and failure shooting in panning is further reduced.

  In the present embodiment, the photometry area determining means 84e includes the first area A1 that includes the main subject being panned in the video data and the second area that is not included in the first area A1 in the video data. For the area A2, the luminance information extraction unit (subject image information extraction unit 84f) determines the photometric area based on the luminance information of the subject image extracted based on the video data when the luminance information satisfies a predetermined standard. If the predetermined standard is not satisfied, it is excluded from the photometry area. For this reason, areas where there is a possibility of exposure failure in the photometric area are excluded, and failure shooting in panning is further reduced.

<Third Embodiment>
In the present embodiment, only differences from the first embodiment will be described in order to avoid duplication of explanation.

In this embodiment, a part of the control of the first embodiment is changed to deal with a problem specific to continuous shooting.
When panning is performed with continuous shooting setting, in the first embodiment, when the exposure condition is near the boundary between the exposure interlocking range and the exposure interlocking range, panning exposure control and P-mode exposure are performed with one continuous shooting. There is a possibility that the control is frequently switched, and there is a possibility that the user feels uncomfortable.

In order to deal with such a problem, an AE control process is performed as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
The flowchart shown in FIG. 17 is the same as the flowchart shown in FIG. 10 of the first embodiment except that a process (step SC406) for determining whether continuous shooting exposure control was performed during continuous shooting is added. Since they are similar, only the differences will be described.

  In the process of determining whether the exposure condition is within the exposure interlocking range (step SC403) based on the panning Tv value and Bv value (step SC403 is NO), during continuous shooting and the previous panning exposure Processing for determining whether control has been performed (step SC406) is performed. That is, in this process (step SC406), the second exposure control is once performed when continuous imaging control is performed a plurality of times for the imaging unit (focal plane shutter 4 and imaging element 5). It is determined whether the exposure control is performed by the means 84b.

  Then, during continuous shooting and during panning detection, if the previous panning control has been performed (YES in step SC406), the process proceeds to panning exposure control processing (step SC404), and otherwise (step SC406). When SC406 is NO, a P-mode exposure control process (step SC405) is performed.

  Even in the third embodiment described above, similarly to the first embodiment, even when the camera 1 is shot with a setting for performing panning, the failure shooting due to the exposure setting occurs regardless of the subject or the scene. Is reduced.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the AE control unit 84 is a case where a plurality of continuous shooting controls are performed on the imaging unit (focal plane shutter 4 and imaging element 5), and once during continuous shooting. When exposure control is performed by the second exposure control unit 84b, exposure control is performed by the second exposure control unit 84b until the panning detection state becomes a non-detection state. Therefore, once the panning exposure control is performed during continuous shooting, the panning exposure control is continued until the panning detection state becomes the non-detection state, so that the panning exposure control and the P-mode exposure shooting are switched. It is possible to prevent an uncomfortable feeling as in the case.

<Fourth embodiment>
In the present embodiment, only differences from the first embodiment will be described in order to avoid duplication of explanation.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the AE control process in the fourth embodiment.
First, the AE control unit 84 calculates a Bv value that is subject brightness by performing photometry (step SC501).

  Next, the AE control unit 84 determines whether or not the panning is being performed by the panning detection unit 76 shown in FIG. 3 or by detecting whether the panning Tv value has been calculated (step SC502). When the panning is not being performed (NO in step SC502), each value of Sv, Tv, and Av is calculated, and P mode exposure control processing (step SC506) is performed.

  When the panning is being performed (YES in step SC502), the exposure determining unit 84c determines whether the exposure condition is outside the exposure interlocking range (step SC503). The process for determining whether or not the exposure interlocking range is outside is the same as the process for determining whether or not the exposure interlocking range is within the exposure interlocking range shown in FIG. 10 of the first embodiment (step SC403). However, in this embodiment, it is determined whether or not the exposure interlocking range is “outside”, not whether or not the exposure interlocking range is “inside”.

If the exposure condition is outside the exposure interlocking range (YES at step SC503), the Tv value is corrected within the exposure interlocking range by the Tv value correction process (step SC504).
As an example of the Tv value correction process, when the calculated panning Tv value is 5, the shutter speed is 1/30, and the Bv value of the subject is 11, it is out of the interlocking range as shown in FIG. However, the Bv value 11 is corrected to a Tv value 7 that falls within the interlocking range within the thick frame. As a result, the panning effect (flow amount) is reduced to ¼ compared to the calculated panning Tv value, but it is possible to perform photographing with appropriate exposure.

  That is, when it is determined that the camera 1 is in the panning state and when it is determined that the proper exposure cannot be obtained, the exposure time to be determined satisfies the condition for obtaining the proper exposure of the exposure determining unit 84c. The exposure time is changed so as to satisfy the exposure time, and the exposure time is changed to minimize the change in the exposure time.

  Next, after the Tv value correction process (step SC504) is performed or when it is not out of the interlocking range (step SC503 is NO), the AE control unit 84 uses the calculated Tv value or the corrected Tv value as a basis. Then, the Sv value and the Av value are calculated, and the panning exposure control is performed (step SC505).

In the above example, Tv-Bv is −4, and as shown in FIG. 13, the Sv value is 5, ISO 100, the Av value is 9, and F22.
Even in the fourth embodiment described above, similarly to the first embodiment, even when the camera 1 is shot with the setting to perform panning, the failure shooting due to the exposure setting occurs regardless of the subject or the scene. Is reduced.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the second exposure control means 84b is the case where the panning determination unit (the panning detection unit 76) determines that the camera 1 is in the panning state, and the proper exposure is obtained. If the exposure determining unit 84c determines that the exposure is not performed, the exposure time to be determined is changed so as to satisfy the condition for obtaining the appropriate exposure of the exposure determining unit 84c, and the change in the exposure time due to the change is minimized. Change to exposure time. Therefore, appropriate exposure can be obtained. As a result, although the panning effect is weakened, the occurrence of failed shooting is further reduced.

<Fifth embodiment>
In the present embodiment, only differences from the first embodiment will be described in order to avoid duplication of explanation.

FIG. 19 is a functional block diagram of the system controller 8 according to the fifth embodiment.
20A and 20B show an example of a live view display during panning. FIG. 20A detects a car, FIG. 20B detects a person as a subject, and displays a subject area frame.

  The system controller 8 shown in FIG. 19 is different from the system controller 8 shown in FIG. 7 in that it has motion information detecting means 84g instead of the lower limit value defining means 84d. Also in this embodiment, the system controller 8 may include the lower limit value defining means 84d.

As will be described in detail later, the movement information detection unit 84g detects movement in a direction different from the moving direction of the subject when the camera 1 is in the panning state.
The system controller 8 detects a subject by image processing, determines a subject region based on the detection result, and displays it as a subject frame superimposed on the subject video in the EVF 12 shown in FIG. 2A.

  When detecting a main subject (that is, a moving subject), since the background flows during panning, the flow of the image in the peripheral portion flows in a certain direction, but the main subject has a different flow. For this reason, an area where the flow direction of the image does not coincide with the periphery is set as a main subject area. The above detection method is merely an example of a main subject detection method, and is not limited to the above detection method.

Next, the control flow of the present embodiment will be described based on the flowchart of the AE control process shown in FIG.
First, the AE control unit 84 calculates a Bv value that is subject brightness by performing photometry (step SC601).

  Next, the AE control unit 84 determines whether or not the panning is being performed by the panning detection unit 76 shown in FIG. 3 or by detecting whether the panning Tv value has been calculated (step SC602). When the panning is not being performed (NO in step SC602), values of Sv, Tv, and Av are calculated, and P-mode exposure control is performed (step SC609).

  When the panning is being performed (YES in step SC602), the motion information detecting unit 84g detects a movement in a direction different from the moving direction of the subject (main subject) (step SC603). For example, in the case of the car shown in FIG. 20A, movement in a direction different from the moving direction is unlikely to occur, but in the case of the person shown in FIG. 20B, movement in a direction different from the moving direction occurs in the limbs. Note that this movement is detected when the user is not following the subject correctly even in the case of the car shown in FIG. 20A.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the motion information detecting means 84g has a predetermined amount or more (step SC605). Here, since the above-mentioned movement may be so small as to be negligible, it is determined for a case where the movement is a predetermined amount or more. However, it may be determined that there is a minimum amount of motion that can be detected as a motion of a predetermined amount or more.

  If there is movement (YES in step SC605), the process proceeds to the exposure interlocking range determination process (step SC607) via the Tv value correction process (step SC606). The process proceeds to SC607).

  The Tv value correction process (step SC606) may be correction such as simply adding 1 to the Tv value, for example. Thereby, correction to a shutter speed faster than the panning Tv value, that is, correction to shorten the exposure time is performed.

  Next, when it is determined that the exposure condition is within the exposure interlocking range (YES in SC607), the Sv value and the Av value are calculated and the panning exposure control is performed as in the process shown in FIG. 10 of the first embodiment. Is performed (step SC608). On the other hand, when it is determined that the exposure condition is not within the exposure interlocking range (NO in SC607), recalculation is performed from the Tv value, Sv value and Av value are calculated, and P-mode exposure control (step SC609) is performed. .

  Even in the fifth embodiment described above, similarly to the first embodiment, even when the camera 1 is shot with the setting to perform panning, the failure shooting due to the exposure setting occurs regardless of the subject or the scene. Is reduced.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the motion information detection unit 84g detects a movement in a direction different from the moving direction of the subject when the camera 1 is in the panning state. The AE control unit 84 corrects the exposure time in the exposure control by the second exposure control unit 84b to be short when the motion information detection unit 84g detects a motion of a predetermined amount or more. Therefore, although the panning effect is reduced, the failure shooting due to subject blurring can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a user unfamiliar with panning shot from failing shooting even when the subject moves and moves in a direction different from the moving direction, or when shooting cannot be performed while following the subject correctly.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, you may delete some components of all the components shown by embodiment. Furthermore, you may combine the component of different embodiment suitably.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Camera 2 Imaging optical system 3 Encoder 4 Focal plane shutter 5 Image sensor 6 Drive part 7 Shake correction microcomputer 8 System controller 9 Angular velocity sensor 10 Scaling operation part 11 Release SW
12 EVF
13 Memory card 14 Setting dial 70 CPU
71 ADC
72 SIO
73 Driver 74 Reference Calculation Unit 75 Subtraction Unit 76 Panning Detection Unit 77 Shake Correction Unit 78 Communication Unit 81 Tilt Detection Unit 82 Panning Angular Velocity Calculation Unit 83 Panning Tv Value Calculation Unit 84 AE Control Unit 84a First Exposure Control Unit 84b Second exposure control means 84c Exposure determination means 84d Lower limit value definition means 84e Photometric area determination means 84f Subject image information extraction means 84g Motion information detection means 85 SIO

Claims (11)

An imaging device,
A taking optical system for forming a subject image;
An imaging unit that acquires video data from a subject image formed by the imaging optical system;
A shooting mode setting section that is set by selecting an exposure condition during shooting from a plurality of exposure setting modes;
An angular velocity sensor for obtaining angular velocity information associated with a change in posture of the imaging device;
Based on angular velocity information acquired by the angular velocity sensor, a panning determination unit that determines whether the imaging device is in a panning state;
An exposure control unit that controls exposure conditions when acquiring the video data for the imaging unit;
The exposure control unit
First exposure control means for performing exposure control for performing shooting so as not to cause image blur based on luminance information of the video data;
Second exposure control means for performing exposure control at the time of photographing based on an exposure time determined based on angular velocity information acquired by the angular velocity sensor and focal length information of the photographing optical system;
Exposure determination means for determining whether or not the video data can obtain proper exposure in the exposure control of the second exposure control means;
The exposure control unit
In the state where the shooting mode setting unit is selected in the exposure setting mode for automatically determining an exposure time and an exposure opening amount from the video data,
When the panning determination unit determines that the imaging device is in the panning state and when the exposure determination unit determines that proper exposure is obtained, the exposure control is performed by the second exposure control unit. And
When the panning determination unit determines that the imaging device is not in the panning state, the exposure control is performed by the first exposure control unit.
An imaging apparatus characterized by that.   The second exposure control means is the case where the panning determination unit determines that the imaging device is in a panning state, and the exposure determination unit determines that proper exposure cannot be obtained. The exposure time to be determined is changed so as to satisfy a condition for obtaining an appropriate exposure of the exposure determination means, and is changed to an exposure time at which a change in exposure time accompanying the change is minimized. The imaging apparatus according to 1. The exposure control unit further includes a photometric area determining means for determining a photometric area,
The second exposure control means performs the exposure control based on the luminance information of the photometric area, the angular velocity information, and the focal length information.
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The exposure control unit further includes color information extraction means for extracting color information of the subject image based on the video data,
The photometric area determining means is configured to apply the color to a first area that includes a main subject being panned in the video data and a second area that is not included in the first area of the video data. Based on the color information extracted by the information extraction means, when the ratio of white or black meets a predetermined standard, it is determined as the photometric area, and when it does not meet the predetermined standard, it is excluded from the photometric area.
The imaging apparatus according to claim 3. The exposure control unit further includes luminance information extraction means for extracting luminance information of the subject image based on the video data,
The photometric area determining means is configured to calculate the luminance for a first area including a main subject being panned in the video data and a second area not included in the first area of the video data. Based on the luminance information extracted by the information extracting means, if the luminance information satisfies a predetermined standard, it is determined as the photometric area, and if it does not meet the predetermined standard, it is excluded from the photometric area.
The imaging apparatus according to claim 3. The exposure control unit further includes motion information detection means for detecting movement in a direction different from the moving direction of the subject when the imaging apparatus is in a panning state,
The exposure control unit corrects the exposure time in the exposure control by the second exposure control unit to be short when the motion information detection unit detects the motion of a predetermined amount or more.
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup apparatus is an image pickup apparatus.   The exposure control unit is configured to control the continuous shooting when a plurality of continuous shooting controls are performed on the imaging unit and when the second exposure control unit temporarily performs exposure control during the continuous shooting. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein exposure control is performed by the second exposure control unit until photographing is finished. The exposure control unit further includes lower limit value defining means for defining a lower limit value of an exposure time when performing exposure control by the second exposure control means,
The exposure control unit performs the exposure control by the first exposure control unit when the exposure time is below the lower limit value defined by the lower limit value defining unit.
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup apparatus is an image pickup apparatus. The exposure control unit further includes lower limit value defining means for defining a lower limit value of an exposure time when performing exposure control by the second exposure control means,
The exposure control unit, when the panning determination unit determines that the imaging device is in a panning state, and when the exposure time is below the lower limit defined by the lower limit defining unit, the exposure control unit The time is replaced with the lower limit value, and the exposure control is performed by the second exposure control means.
The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup apparatus is an image pickup apparatus. An imaging apparatus control method for controlling an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit that acquires video data from a subject image formed by an imaging optical system,
Obtaining angular velocity information associated with a change in posture of the imaging device;
Determining whether or not the imaging device is in a panning state based on the acquired angular velocity information;
A step of controlling an exposure condition when acquiring the video data for the imaging unit,
In the step of controlling the exposure condition,
In the state where the exposure setting mode for automatically determining the exposure time and the exposure opening amount from the video data is selected,
When it is determined that the imaging apparatus is in the panning state and when it is determined that appropriate exposure can be obtained, it is determined based on the angular velocity information and the focal length information of the imaging optical system. Based on the exposure time, perform exposure control during shooting,
When it is determined that the imaging device is not in the panning state, exposure control is performed to perform shooting so as not to cause image blurring.
And a method of controlling the imaging apparatus. A program executed by an arithmetic processing unit of an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit that acquires video data from a subject image formed by an imaging optical system,
A function of acquiring angular velocity information accompanying a change in posture of the imaging device;
A function of determining whether the imaging device is in a panning state based on the acquired angular velocity information;
A function of controlling exposure conditions when acquiring the video data for the imaging unit,
In the function of controlling the exposure condition,
In the state where the exposure setting mode for automatically determining the exposure time and the exposure opening amount from the video data is selected,
When it is determined that the imaging apparatus is in the panning state and when it is determined that appropriate exposure can be obtained, it is determined based on the angular velocity information and the focal length information of the imaging optical system. Based on the exposure time, perform exposure control during shooting,
When it is determined that the imaging device is not in the panning state, exposure control is performed to perform shooting so as not to cause image blurring.
A program characterized by that.