JP2017076062A - Imaging apparatus, control method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging apparatus, a control method and a program capable of shooting with a proper angle with a simple operation.SOLUTION: The imaging apparatus includes: detection means constituted of an acceleration sensor 301 that detects an inclination of the optical axis of imaging means; setting means 60 which is a mode selection switch 60 that selects any one of a plurality of imaging modes including a self-imaging mode; and notification means which is a display lamp 83 or a speaker 82 for notification when the self-imaging mode is selected as the imaging mode and when the inclination of the optical axis detected by the detection means is an appropriate angle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus, a control method, and a program.

  2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of compact digital cameras and the incorporation of digital camera functions on smartphones, the number of people who perform so-called “self-portraits” for photographing their own faces has increased. Determining the framing (so-called angle of view and angle) at the time of shooting is one of the important factors in taking a picture of yourself. In general, it is said that one of the important points for taking a picture of yourself cleanly is to hold a digital camera above your line of sight and shoot with a depression angle of about 10 degrees downward.

  Regarding the attitude of a digital camera, Patent Document 1 discloses an electronic digital camera that displays the attitude of a digital camera using an attitude detection device. This electronic digital camera has a horizontal reference line indicating a horizontal line of the digital camera itself on a liquid crystal monitor provided in the digital camera, and a horizontal photographing auxiliary line whose inclination angle with respect to the horizontal reference line varies according to angle data obtained from the attitude detection device. Is displayed. The photographer can confirm the tilt of the digital camera by looking at the difference between the horizontal reference line and the horizontal photographing auxiliary line.

JP 2002-271654 A

  However, framing is difficult to shoot alone, and there is a problem that the user cannot shoot at an appropriate angle with a simple operation.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to enable photographing at an appropriate angle with a simple operation.

  Therefore, the present invention provides an imaging apparatus, a detection unit that detects the inclination of the optical axis of the imaging unit, a setting unit that sets one of a plurality of shooting modes including a self-shooting mode, and shooting And a notifying unit for notifying when the mode is set to the self-portrait mode and the inclination of the optical axis detected by the detecting unit is an appropriate angle downward from the horizontal.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to perform photographing at an appropriate angle with a simple operation.

It is an external view of a digital camera. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of a digital camera. It is explanatory drawing of the position of a display part. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a spirit level. It is a flowchart which shows notification control processing. It is explanatory drawing of the process of S505. It is the figure which looked at the digital camera from the side. It is a flowchart which shows the notification control process which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows a smart phone. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of a smart phone. It is a flowchart which shows the notification control process which concerns on 3rd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is an external view of a digital camera 100 as an example of an imaging apparatus. FIG. 1A is a rear perspective view of the digital camera 100, and FIG. 1B is a front perspective view of the digital camera 100. The display unit 28 is a display unit that displays images and various types of information. The display unit 28 is provided on the front side of the digital camera 100. The lens 103 is provided on the back side of the digital camera 100. The display unit 28 is provided so as to be movable. The position of the display unit 28 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

  The shutter button 61 is an operation unit for issuing a shooting instruction. The mode switch 60 is an operation unit for switching various modes. The power switch 72 is an operation member that switches ON / OFF of the power. The cross key 74 is included in the operation unit 70 and is a cross key that can be pressed in the upper, lower, left, and right portions. An operation corresponding to the pressed portion of the cross key 74 is possible. The MENU button 76 is a push button included in the operation unit 70, and is mainly used for displaying function setting items or switching items. The SET button 75 is included in the operation unit 70, is a push button, and is mainly used for determining a selection item.

  The recording medium 200 is a memory that records captured images, and is electrically connected by being inserted into the main body from the bottom. The flash 81 is a light projecting unit that emits auxiliary light used during photographing. The speaker 82 is a sound output unit that notifies the operator by outputting sound when shooting or operating an operation button. The display lamp 83 is a display unit that notifies the photographer of the operation of the digital camera 100 by blinking light or the like during the self-timer operation.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the digital camera 100. The lens 103 is usually composed of a plurality of lenses, but here, only a single lens is shown for simplicity. The imaging unit 21 is an imaging device configured by a CCD, a CMOS device, or the like that converts an optical image into an electrical signal. The shutter 101 is a shutter mechanism that controls the amount of exposure during shooting. The image processing unit 24 performs resize processing such as predetermined pixel interpolation, reduction, and inversion on the data from the imaging unit 21 or the data from the memory control unit 15 and color conversion processing. The image processing unit 24 performs predetermined calculation processing using the captured image data, and the system control unit 50 performs exposure control and distance measurement control based on the obtained calculation result. Thereby, AF (autofocus) processing, AE (automatic exposure) processing, and EF (flash pre-emission) processing of the TTL (through-the-lens) method are performed. The image processing unit 24 further performs predetermined arithmetic processing using the captured image data, and also performs TTL AWB (auto white balance) processing based on the obtained arithmetic result.

  Output data from the imaging unit 21 is directly written into the memory 32 via the image processing unit 24 and the memory control unit 15 or via the memory control unit 15. The memory 32 stores image data obtained by the imaging unit 21 and image data to be displayed on the display unit 28. The memory 32 has a storage capacity sufficient to store a predetermined number of still images, a moving image and sound for a predetermined time. The memory 32 also serves as an image display memory (video memory). The image display data stored in the memory 32 is supplied to the display unit 28. Therefore, the display image data written in the memory 32 can be displayed by the display unit 28. The display unit 28 performs display on a display device such as an LCD. By displaying the image signal obtained from the imaging unit 21 in the memory 32 and sequentially transferring it to the display unit 28, it functions as an electronic viewfinder and can perform live view display (live view display).

  The display signal generation unit 311 includes character data images such as icons used for display in advance. By writing the display character data image provided in the display signal generation unit 311 to the memory 32, the character data image can be displayed on the display unit. The nonvolatile memory 56 is an electrically erasable / recordable memory, and for example, an EEPROM or the like is used. The nonvolatile memory 56 stores constants, programs, and the like for operating the system control unit 50. Here, the program is a program for executing various flowcharts described later in the present embodiment.

  The system control unit 50 is a CPU, for example, and controls the whole. A system memory 52 is a RAM. In the system memory 52, constants and variables for operation of the system control unit 50, programs read from the nonvolatile memory 56, and the like are expanded. Note that the functions and processes of the digital camera 100 described later are realized by the system control unit 50 reading a program stored in the nonvolatile memory 56 and executing the program. The system control unit 50 also performs display control by controlling the memory 32, the display unit 28, the display signal generation unit 311, and the like. The system timer 53 is a time measuring unit that measures the time used for various controls and the time of a built-in clock.

  The mode switch 60, the first shutter switch 62, the second shutter switch 64, and the operation unit 70 are operation means for inputting various operation instructions to the system control unit 50. The mode changeover switch 60 switches and sets the operation mode of the system control unit 50 to any one of a still image recording mode, a moving image recording mode, a reproduction mode, and the like (setting process). Modes included in the still image recording mode include an auto shooting mode, a manual mode, an aperture priority mode (Av mode), a shutter speed priority mode (Tv mode), a program AE mode, and a self-portrait mode. Other modes included in the still image recording mode include various scene modes in which shooting settings are set for each shooting scene.

  The mode changeover switch 60 can directly switch to one of these modes included in the still image shooting mode. In addition, after switching to the still image shooting mode once with the mode switch 60, the mode may be switched to any of these modes included in the still image shooting mode using another operation member. Similarly, the moving image shooting mode may include a plurality of modes.

  The shutter button 61 is turned on when the shutter button 61 is half-pressed (shooting preparation instruction) during operation, and generates a first shutter switch signal SW1. In response to the first shutter switch signal SW1, operations such as AF (autofocus) processing, AE (automatic exposure) processing, AWB (auto white balance) processing, and EF (flash pre-emission) processing are started. The second shutter switch 64 is turned ON when the operation of the shutter button 61 is completed, that is, when it is fully pressed (shooting instruction), and generates a second shutter switch signal SW2. In response to the second shutter switch signal SW2, the system control unit 50 starts a series of shooting processing operations from reading a signal from the imaging unit 22 to writing image data on the recording medium 200.

  Each operation member of the operation unit 70 is appropriately assigned a function for each scene by selecting and operating various function icons displayed on the display unit 28, and functions as various function buttons. Examples of the function buttons include an end button, a return button, an image advance button, a jump button, a narrowing button, and an attribute change button. For example, when a MENU button is pressed, various setting menu screens are displayed on the display unit 28. The user can make various settings intuitively using the menu screen displayed on the display unit 28, and the four-way button and the SET button. The operation unit 70 is various operation members as an input unit that receives an operation from a user. The operation unit 70 includes a shutter button 61, a power switch 72, a cross key 74, a SET button 75, a MENU button 76, and a mode switch 60.

  The flash 81 is photographing auxiliary light emitted during photographing. Light emission control of the flash 81 is performed by the system control unit 50. For example, when shooting is performed by an AE operation, light is emitted at the time of image shooting according to the brightness of the subject. A display lamp 83 notifies the photographer by blinking of the lamp or the like during the self-timer shooting.

  When shooting is performed by operating the shutter button 61, the speaker 82 outputs a shooting sound for notifying the user that shooting has been performed. In addition, when the operation unit 70 is operated, a notification that the button operation has been accepted is given by voice. Even during self-timer shooting, notification is made with intermittent beeps. The voice generation unit 302 includes voice data to be notified, and drives the speaker 82 using the notification voice selected by the control from the system control unit 50.

  The power control unit 80 includes a battery detection circuit, a DC-DC converter, a switch circuit that switches a block to be energized, and the like, and detects whether or not a battery is installed, the type of battery, and the remaining battery level. Further, the power control unit 80 controls the DC-DC converter based on the detection result and an instruction from the system control unit 50, and supplies a necessary voltage to each unit including the recording medium 200 for a necessary period. The power supply unit 30 includes a primary battery such as an alkaline battery or a lithium battery, a secondary battery such as a NiCd battery, a NiMH battery, or a Li battery, an AC adapter, or the like.

  The acceleration sensor 301 is an acceleration detection unit that detects acceleration applied to the digital camera 100. By detecting the gravitational acceleration applied to the acceleration sensor 301, vertical shooting and horizontal shooting of the digital camera 100 are detected, added to the captured image as vertical / horizontal detection value metadata, and recorded on the recording medium 200. By using the recorded vertical / horizontal detection value metadata at the time of reproduction, for example, by rotating and displaying 90 degrees so that the vertically shot image is in the normal position, the captured image can be easily viewed. The acceleration sensor 301 can detect the inclination of the digital camera 100 in the optical axis direction by detecting the gravitational acceleration. Therefore, the level of the digital camera 100 can be detected and displayed on the display unit 28. .

  The recording medium I / F 18 is an interface with the recording medium 200 such as a memory card or a hard disk. The recording medium 200 is a recording medium such as a memory card for recording a captured image, and includes a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, or the like.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the position of the display unit 28 of the digital camera 100. 3 is a diagram of the digital camera 100 as viewed from the side. In the state shown in FIG. 1, the display unit 28 is in contact with the back surface of the digital camera 100. FIG. 3A shows the display unit 28 in this state. FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a state where the lower portion of the display unit 28 is tilted and tilted. The exterior casing 1 of the digital camera 100 and the display unit 28 are mechanically and electrically connected by an arm 111. The arm 111 has a movable part in the bending direction, and the connecting part between the display unit 28 and the exterior housing 1 is also movable. When shooting with the digital camera 110 held at a position lower than the photographer's line of sight, the user can easily view the display unit 28 by tilting the display unit 28 upward as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 3C is a diagram illustrating a state in which the display unit 28 is rotated by 180 degrees or more. When the person as the subject confirms the captured image, the display unit 28 may be directed toward the person as the subject as shown in FIG. For example, this is effective when the photographer photographs himself / herself in the selfie mode. Here, the self-photographing mode is a photographing mode in which the photographer photographs the photographer himself. When the user selects the self-shooting mode as the shooting mode by operating the mode switch 60, the self-shooting mode is set. Further, in the self-portrait mode, the digital camera 100 vertically inverts the captured image displayed on the display unit 28 and the character such as an icon, and further horizontally inverts the character such as the icon (mirror display processing). Thereby, the framing at the time of imaging | photography can be made easy.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a level for assisting photographing. As shown in FIG. 4A, the display unit 28 displays a live video (live view) of the subject 400 captured by the digital camera 100. Further, a level reference line 411 and level reference line scales 412 to 415 for indicating the elevation angle and depression angle of the digital camera 100 are displayed on the live video. In addition, a level indicating line 420 for displaying the current elevation angle and depression angle of the digital camera 100 is displayed at a position corresponding to the inclination of the digital camera 100.

  The vertical tilt of the digital camera 100 is detected by the acceleration sensor 301, and the detection signal is sent to the system control unit 50. The system control unit 50 determines the display position of the level instruction line 420 with respect to the level reference line 411 according to the detected amount of tilt of the digital camera 100 from the vertical direction. The display position information of the level indicating line 420 determined by the system control unit 50 is input to the display signal generating unit 311, and is generated together with the level reference line 411 and the level reference line scales 412 to 415, and is displayed on the display unit 28. Is displayed. The level indication line 420, the level reference line 411, and the level reference line scales 412 to 415 are superimposed on the captured image only on the signal to be displayed on the display unit 28, and are superimposed on the captured image recorded on the recording medium 200. Not.

  The acceleration sensor 301 is fixed inside the exterior casing 1 of the digital camera 100, and detects a change in the direction of gravity when the detection axis serving as the acceleration detection direction is rotated with the horizontal pixel array direction of the imaging unit 21 as the rotation center. Fixed in possible orientation. Further, the detected elevation angle / depression angle of the acceleration sensor 301 is assumed to be 0 degrees when the digital camera 100 is held horizontally so that the lens 103 is perpendicular to the vertical direction. The tilt of the posture of the digital camera 100 in the tilt direction is referred to as the tilt of the digital camera 100. In the present embodiment, the tilt of the digital camera 100 is assumed to be equal to the tilt of the optical axis of the lens 103 as the imaging unit. That is, the tilt of the digital camera 100 is an example of the tilt of the optical axis of the imaging unit.

  FIG. 4B shows a display example of the display unit 28 in a state where the tilt of the digital camera 100 is adjusted so that the optical axis of the digital camera 100 has an elevation angle of 0 degrees, that is, the output of the acceleration sensor 301 becomes 0 degrees. . When the tilt of the digital camera 100 is adjusted to an elevation angle of 0 degree, the level indicating line 420 is positioned so as to overlap the level reference line 411.

  When the elevation angle is generated in the digital camera 100, the level indicating line 420 moves to the upper side of the level reference line 411 that is the direction of the arrow 421 according to the angle. On the other hand, when the depression angle is generated in the digital camera 100, the level instruction line 420 moves to the lower side of the level reference line 411 that is the direction of the arrow 422 according to the angle. The level reference line scales 412 to 415 are angle scales provided for reading the angular deviation from the level reference line 411, and are provided in increments of 5 degrees, for example. When the depression angle of the digital camera 100 is generated, the level indicating line 420 is displayed below the level reference line 411 as shown in FIG. When the elevation angle is generated in the digital camera 100, the level indicating line 420 is displayed above the level reference line 411 as shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, the level indicator line 420, the level reference line 411, and the level reference line scales 412 to 415 are displayed as the level, but the display form of the level is limited to the embodiment. It is not a thing.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing notification control processing by the system control unit 50. Each process in the flowchart is realized by the system control unit 50 expanding and executing a program stored in the nonvolatile memory 56 in the system memory 52. The notification control process is repeatedly performed according to the operation cycle generated by the system timer 53. The operation cycle is a cycle in which, for example, a captured image is read from the imaging unit 21 and the captured image displayed on the display unit 28 is updated.

  In step S <b> 501, the system control unit 50 determines whether or not the shooting mode has been switched by the mode switch 60 from the time when the previous main processing was performed. When the user switches the mode switch 60 to the self-portrait mode, a switching signal for the mode switch 60 is input to the system control unit 50. The system control unit 50 determines whether or not the shooting mode is switched based on the switching signal. If the shooting mode has been switched (Yes in S501), the system control unit 50 advances the process to S502. If the shooting mode has not been switched (No in S501), the system control unit 50 advances the process to S511.

  In S502, the system control unit 50 determines whether or not the shooting mode is set to the self-shooting mode. If the self-portrait mode is set (Yes in S502), the system control unit 50 advances the process to S503. If the self-portrait mode is not set (No in S502), the system control unit 50 advances the processing to S506. In step S <b> 503, the system control unit 50 controls image writing and reading of the memory control unit 15 in order to vertically and horizontally invert the display when the captured image is displayed on the display unit 28. The inversion of the image can be realized by converting the coordinates of the pixels constituting the image, and can be realized by switching the write or read address in the memory 32.

  In step S504, the system control unit 50 adds an offset to the display position of the level reference line 411 displayed on the display unit 28, and changes the horizontal reference in the display of the level. Specifically, the system control unit 50 adds an offset so as to display an elevation angle of 10 degrees when an elevation angle of 0 degrees is detected. As a result, when the optical axis of the digital camera 100 reaches an depression angle of 10 degrees, the level indicating line 420 and the level reference line 411 overlap. As described above, in the self-portrait mode, the system control unit 50 sets the offset so that the level indication line 420 and the level reference line 411 overlap when the inclination of the digital camera 100 becomes a predetermined angle downward from the horizontal. Add. Here, the depression angle of 10 degrees is an angle suitable for self-portrait and is referred to as a reference angle.

  In step S <b> 505, the system control unit 50 controls to display the level on the display unit 28. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the processing of S505. FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams showing a display example of the level when both the self-portrait modes are set. The system control unit 50 controls the memory control unit 15 to invert the captured image used for display and displays a display icon 600 indicating the self-portrait mode from the display signal generation unit 311. In the self-portrait mode, an offset is added to the display position of the level reference line 411. For this reason, when the inclination of the digital camera 100 becomes a depression angle of 10 degrees, the level indicating line 420 and the level reference line 411 overlap. The OK icon 601 and the NG icon 602 will be described later.

  Next, in S506, the system control unit 50 starts notification processing. Here, the notification process is a process of performing a notification indicating that the posture is suitable for self-portrait when the angle of the digital camera 100 is an appropriate angle. Here, the appropriate angle is an angle within a predetermined angle range including the reference angle. In the present embodiment, the appropriate angle is an angle within an angular range of a depression angle of 10 degrees ± 1 degree with a reference angle (a depression angle of 10 degrees) as a central value.

  The reference angle and the appropriate angle are set in advance in the nonvolatile memory 56 as comparison data. Furthermore, the system control unit 50 receives a setting instruction and a change instruction for the reference angle and the appropriate angle from the user (acceptance process), and can set and change the reference angle and the appropriate angle according to each instruction. . In the present embodiment, the appropriate angle is not a single angle but a value within a predetermined angle range, but the appropriate angle may be a single angle. For example, the appropriate angle may be a reference angle. The system control unit 50 advances the process to S510 after the process of S506.

  In step S <b> 507, the system control unit 50 controls image writing and reading of the memory control unit 15 so that a normal display direction in which reverse display is not performed is displayed when the captured image is displayed on the display unit 28. In step S <b> 508, the system control unit 50 sets the offset added to the display position of the level reference line 411 displayed on the display unit 28 to zero. Accordingly, the level indicating line 420 and the level reference line 411 overlap with each other when the optical axis of the digital camera 100 takes a horizontal position. Next, in S509, the system control unit 50 controls to display the level on the display unit 28. The level displayed in S509 is as shown in FIG. As another example, the level indicator need not be displayed in any shooting mode other than the self-shooting mode. Next, in S510, the system control unit 50 ends the notification process, and then advances the process to S511.

  In step S511, the system control unit 50 acquires tilt information indicating the tilt of the digital camera 100 with respect to the vertical direction from the acceleration sensor 301 (acquisition processing). Next, in S512, the system control unit 50 updates the amount of inclination displayed on the display unit 28 to the value indicated by the inclination information acquired in S511. Next, in S513, the system control unit 50 determines whether the notification process is started. When the notification process is started, that is, when the notification process is being performed (Yes in S513), the system control unit 50 advances the process to S514. If the notification process is not in progress (No in S513), the system control unit 50 ends the notification control process.

  In S514, the system control unit 50 determines whether the tilt of the digital camera 100 is an appropriate angle (determination process). If the tilt of the digital camera 100 is an appropriate angle (Yes in S514), the system control unit 50 advances the process to S515. If the tilt of the digital camera 100 is not an appropriate angle (No in S514), the system control unit 50 advances the process to S516. In step S515, the system control unit 50 notifies the user that the inclination of the digital camera 100 is an appropriate angle. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6A, the system control unit 50 controls the display unit 28 to display an OK icon 601 indicating an appropriate angle. The OK icon 601 is displayed when the inclination of the digital camera 100 is a predetermined angle downward from the horizontal (in this embodiment, a depression angle of 10 degrees, that is, 10 degrees downward from the horizontal). It is a notification indicating that the posture is suitable for. That is, the OK icon 601 is an example of specific display information.

  In S516, the system control unit 50 notifies the user that the inclination of the digital camera 100 is not an appropriate angle. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6B, the system control unit 50 controls to display an NG icon 602 indicating that the angle is not appropriate on the display unit 28. Note that the system control unit 50 performs control so that the OK icon 601 in S515 and the NG icon 602 in S516 are not displayed when a shooting mode other than the self-portrait mode is set. Here, the processing of S515 and S516 is an example of notification processing.

  Note that the notification method that the tilt of the digital camera 100 is an appropriate angle is not limited to the display of the OK icon 601. For example, the system control unit 50 may perform notification by changing the color or luminance of the entire display unit 28 or a part of the display unit 28. In addition, the system control unit 50 may perform notification by audio output using the speaker 82. For example, the system control unit 50 may notify that the inclination is an appropriate angle by outputting a specific sound. As another example, the system control unit 50 may perform notification by causing the display lamp 83 to emit light.

  If it is determined in S513 that the notification process is not in progress, the system control unit 50 controls to display the level, and further, when the inclination of the digital camera 100 matches the horizontal direction. , It may be notified that it is level. For example, the system control unit 50 may control so that the level indication line 420 and the level reference line 411 overlap with each other and display in a different color from the case where they do not overlap when they are horizontal.

  Even during the notification control process shown in FIG. 5, the user can issue a shooting instruction by pressing the shutter button 61 at an arbitrary timing. In the self-portrait mode, when the OK icon 601 is displayed, the shutter button 61 is fully pressed to shoot, so that shooting at an angle suitable for self-portrait can be performed. That is, in the case of photographing a face, since the digital camera 100 is photographed such that the tilt of the digital camera 100 is about 10 degrees downward and the face is included in the live view displayed on the display unit 28, the digital camera 100 (= Photographer) Hold from slightly above to below. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a preferable image as a self-portrait picture by taking a pose with the line of sight slightly upward. Needless to say, the shooting instruction in the self-portrait shooting may be performed not only by pressing the shutter button 61 but also by a shooting instruction by a remote control (remote operation device). The present invention is also applicable when the digital camera 100 is mounted on a selfie stick or the like and shooting is performed in accordance with a shooting instruction by pressing a remote control switch provided on the selfie stick or a switch provided on another remote control device. Is preferred. Alternatively, the photographing may be automatically performed in accordance with the detection of the wink or the detection of waving.

  If the system control unit 50 determines in S514 that the tilt of the digital camera 100 is within an allowable tilt when taking a picture in the self-shooting mode, the system control unit 50 automatically takes a picture even if there is no shooting instruction from the user. You may control so that (photographing control processing). In this case, in the self-shooting mode, if the tilt of the digital camera 100 is not an appropriate angle, shooting is not started even when the shutter button is pressed. Therefore, erroneous shooting can be avoided. On the other hand, if the shutter button is kept pressed, shooting is performed when the inclination of the digital camera 100 becomes an appropriate angle. Thus, the shooting operation can be facilitated.

  Further, in the self-portrait mode, the digital camera 100 can record still images and moving images obtained by performing specific image processing on captured images as image files. For example, the digital camera 100 may perform image processing such as skin beautification processing, background blurring processing, brightness processing that brightens more than usual, and processing that enlarges eyes on the main face detected from the captured image.

  The skin beautification process is a process for smoothening the skin on the face of the photographer (subject) itself according to the set strength of the skin to make the skin look more beautiful. In the skin beautification process, when a face is detected, a range including eyes, nose, and mouth is detected, and a YUV value in the detected range is acquired. By deactivating the calculated Y, the skin region is smoothed, and wrinkles and the like can be made inconspicuous (unevenness such as wrinkles can be blurred). Further, the skin color unevenness is reduced by averaging the UV values and applying the skin portion with the averaged color. The brightness process is a process for adjusting the brightness in order to obtain an image brighter than the normal setting. The background blurring process is a process of blurring the background so that a person's face stands out. The process for enlarging the eyes is a process for enlarging the eyes of the detected main face. These image processes are performed by the image processing unit 24, but may be performed by the system control unit 50 as another example.

  As described above, the digital camera 100 according to the present embodiment performs notification when the self-portrait mode is set and the tilt of the digital camera 100 is a predetermined depression angle. Therefore, the user can take a picture at an appropriate angle with a simple operation, relying on this notification.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a digital camera 110 according to the second embodiment will be described. As described with reference to FIG. 3 in the first embodiment, by rotating the display unit 28 to the lens 103 side, it can be used for the purpose of self-taking to confirm a captured image with respect to a person to be photographed. . FIG. 7 is a side view of the digital camera 110. The display unit 28 shown in FIG. 7 is rotated to a position where self-portrait is possible. Note that the position of the display unit 28 where self-portrait is possible is referred to as a self-portrait position. The digital camera 110 includes a magnet 121 and a magnetic switch 122 in addition to the configuration of the digital camera 100 according to the first embodiment. The magnet 121 is a position detection magnet provided adjacent to the display unit 28. The magnetic switch 122 is a position detection magnetic detection switch fixed to the exterior housing 1 of the digital camera 110. The magnet 121 and the magnetic switch 122 are arranged so as to be closest to each other when the display unit 28 is located at the self-portrait position.

  The magnetic switch 122 inverts the electrical output logic when detecting a magnetic flux of a predetermined amount or more, and can detect that the magnet 121 is closest. That is, the digital camera 110 can detect that the display unit 28 is located at the self-portrait position by detecting that the magnetic switch 122 and the magnet 121 are closest to each other.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating notification control processing by the system control unit 50 according to the second embodiment. In step S <b> 801, the system control unit 50 determines whether the position of the display unit 28 is a self-portrait position. If it is the self-portrait position (Yes in S801), the system control unit 50 advances the process to S802. If it is not the self-portrait position (No in S801), the system control unit 50 advances the process to S507. In step S802, the system control unit 50 sets the shooting mode to the self-shooting mode. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S502. Other configurations and processes of the digital camera 110 are the same as those of the digital camera 100 described in the first embodiment.

  As described above, the digital camera 110 according to the present embodiment can automatically set the photographing mode to the self-taking mode by moving the display unit 28 without the user performing an operation for switching the photographing mode. .

  In the present embodiment, the positional relationship between the imaging unit 21 and the display unit 28 is described using a magnet 121 and a magnetic switch 122, but the detection mechanism may be a position detection element of another position switch or the like.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, a portable device such as a PDA or a smartphone including an imaging unit will be described. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a smartphone 900 as an example of an imaging apparatus according to the third embodiment. FIG. 9A is a front view of the smartphone 900, and FIG. 9B is a rear view of the smartphone 900. The display unit 28 displays images and various information. The operation unit 70 is a touch panel and is an input device for receiving a user operation. The touch panel is an input device that is configured to overlap with the display unit 28 and is configured to output coordinate information according to a position touched by a user operation.

  The shutter button 61 is an operation unit for issuing a shooting instruction. The mode switch 60 is an operation unit for switching various modes. The camera selection switch 69 is an operation unit that switches which one of the captured images of a plurality of cameras is selected as a shooting camera image. The shutter button 61, the mode change switch 60, and the camera selection switch 69 are included in the operation unit 70.

  The power switch 72 is an operation member that switches ON / OFF of the power supply of the smartphone 900. The speaker 82 outputs sound during a call. The voice output unit notifies the operator by outputting an operation voice in response to an operation on the touch panel. The microphone 84 inputs voice during a call. The facing camera 12 is a photographing camera provided on the back surface of the same surface as the display unit 28 of the smartphone 900. The front camera 13 is a shooting camera provided on a different side from the facing camera 12. There is no difference in the configuration of the facing camera 12 and the front camera 13, and the different parts are the focal length of the lens, the number of pixels of the imaging unit, and the like.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the smartphone 900. The lenses 103 and 104 are usually composed of a plurality of lenses, but here, only a single lens is shown for simplicity. The shutters 101 and 102 are shutter mechanisms that control the exposure amount during shooting. The imaging units 21 and 22 are imaging elements configured by a CCD or a CMOS element that converts an optical image into an electrical signal. The image processing unit 24 performs resize processing and color conversion processing such as predetermined pixel interpolation, reduction, and inversion on the data from the imaging units 21 and 22 or the data from the memory control unit 15. The image processing unit 24 performs predetermined calculation processing using the captured image data, and the system control unit 50 performs exposure control and distance measurement control based on the obtained calculation result. Thereby, AF processing and AE processing are performed. The image processing unit 24 further performs predetermined calculation processing using the captured image data, and also performs AWB processing based on the obtained calculation result.

  Output data from the imaging units 21 and 22 is directly written into the memory 32 via the image processing unit 24 and the memory control unit 15 or via the memory control unit 15. The memory 32 stores image data obtained by the imaging units 21 and 22 and image data to be displayed on the display unit 28. The memory 32 has a storage capacity sufficient to store a predetermined number of still images, a moving image and sound for a predetermined time. The memory 32 also serves as an image display memory (video memory).

  The image display data stored in the memory 32 is supplied to the display unit 28. Therefore, the display image data written in the memory 32 can be displayed by the display unit 28. The display unit 28 performs display on a display device such as an LCD. By storing the image signals obtained from the imaging units 21 and 22 in the memory 32 and sequentially transferring them to the display unit 28, the image signals can function as an electronic viewfinder and display through images (live view display). The image processing unit 24 performs image processing so that the captured image obtained from the facing camera 12 is always left-right inverted (mirror image display) when displayed on the display unit 28. Thereby, operability is improved.

  The display signal generation unit 311 includes character data images such as icons used for display in advance. By writing the display character data image provided in the display signal generation unit 311 to the memory 32, the character data image can be displayed on the display unit. The nonvolatile memory 56 is an electrically erasable / recordable memory, and for example, an EEPROM or the like is used. The nonvolatile memory 56 stores constants, programs, and the like for operating the system control unit 50. Here, the program is a program for executing various flowcharts described later in the present embodiment. The system control unit 50 controls the entire smartphone 900. By executing the program recorded in the non-volatile memory 56 described above, each process of the present embodiment to be described later is realized.

  A system memory 52 is a RAM. In the system memory 52, constants and variables for operation of the system control unit 50, programs read from the nonvolatile memory 56, and the like are expanded. The system control unit 50 controls the transmission / reception unit 999 as part of the call function. Since the transmission / reception unit 999 is not directly related to the present invention, the description thereof is omitted. The system control unit 50 also performs display control by controlling the memory 32, the display unit 28, the display signal generation unit 311, and the like. The system timer 53 is a time measuring unit that measures the time used for various controls and the time of a built-in clock.

  The operation unit 70 is an operation unit for inputting various operation instructions to the system control unit 50. The operation unit 70 is an input device using a touch panel, and includes a mode switch 60, a shutter button 61, and a camera selection switch 69. The mode switch 60 switches the operation mode of the system control unit 50 to any one of a still image recording mode, a moving image recording mode, a reproduction mode, and the like. Each operation member of the operation unit 70 is appropriately assigned a function for each scene by selecting and operating various function icons displayed on the display unit 28, and functions as various function buttons. Examples of the function buttons include an end button, a return button, an image advance button, a jump button, a narrowing button, and an attribute change button.

  Whether the camera selection switch 69 selects a captured image of the front camera 13 provided in front of the smartphone 900 as a photographic camera image, or selects a captured image of the facing camera 12 provided on the back as a photographic camera image. Is an operation unit for switching between. When the shutter button 61 is pressed, the system control unit 50 performs a series of operations from reading a signal to writing image data on the recording medium 200 from the image pickup units 21 and 22 selected by the camera selection switch 69. The shooting process starts.

  The speaker 82 outputs a shooting sound for notifying the user that shooting has been performed when shooting is performed by operating the shutter button 61 in addition to voice output during a call using the telephone function. In addition, when the operation unit 70 is operated, a notification that the button operation has been accepted is given by voice. The voice generation unit 302 includes voice data to be notified, and drives the speaker 82 using the notification voice selected by the control from the system control unit 50. An adder 303 is an addition circuit that adds the respective audio signals that drive the speaker 82 output from the audio generation unit 302 and the transmission / reception unit 999.

  The power control unit 80 includes a battery detection circuit, a DC-DC converter, a switch circuit that switches a block to be energized, and the like, and detects whether or not a battery is installed, the type of battery, and the remaining battery level. Further, the power control unit 80 controls the DC-DC converter based on the detection result and an instruction from the system control unit 50, and supplies a necessary voltage to each unit including the recording medium 200 for a necessary period. The acceleration sensor 301 is fixed inside the smartphone 900, and the detection axis serving as the acceleration detection direction is in a direction in which a change in the direction of gravity can be detected when the smartphone 900 is rotated with the horizontal pixel arrangement direction of the imaging unit 21 as the rotation center. It is fixed. Since the acceleration sensor 301 can determine the inclination of the digital camera 100 in the optical axis direction by detecting the gravitational acceleration, the level of the digital camera 100 can be detected and displayed on the display unit 28.

  The power supply unit 30 includes a primary battery such as an alkaline battery or a lithium battery, a secondary battery such as a NiCd battery, a NiMH battery, or a Li battery, an AC adapter, or the like. The recording medium I / F 18 is an interface with a recording medium 200 such as a built-in memory or a memory card. The recording medium 200 is a recording medium such as a built-in memory or a memory card for recording captured images, and is configured by a semiconductor memory.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating notification control processing by the system control unit 50 of the smartphone 900. Each process in the flowchart is realized by the system control unit 50 expanding and executing a program stored in the nonvolatile memory 56 in the system memory 52. The notification control process is repeatedly performed according to an operation cycle generated by the system timer 53.

  In step S <b> 1101, the system control unit 50 acquires selected camera information indicating a camera selected by operating the camera selection switch 69. Each time the user presses the camera selection switch 69, the camera to be selected is toggled and controlled alternately between the facing camera 12 and the front camera 13. In step S1102, the system control unit 50 determines which camera is the camera indicated in the selected camera information acquired in step S1101. In the case of the facing camera 12 (facing camera in S1102), the system control unit 50 advances the process to S1104. In the case of the front camera 13 (the front camera in S1102), the system control unit 50 advances the processing to 1103. In step S <b> 1103, the system control unit 50 sets the camera used for shooting as the front camera 13, selects a captured image obtained from the front camera 13, that is, a main front camera image, and sends this to the image processing unit 24.

  In step S <b> 1104, the system control unit 50 sets the camera used for shooting as the facing camera 12, selects a captured image obtained from the facing camera 12, that is, a facing camera image, and sends this to the image processing unit 24. In step S <b> 1105, the system control unit 50 detects a face image from the captured image obtained from the facing camera 12. Next, in S1106, the system control unit 50 determines whether or not self-shooting is about to be performed based on the detection result of the face image in S1105. For example, the system control unit 50 determines that self-shooting is about to be performed when the number of faces included in the captured image is only one from the face detection result.

  As another example, the system control unit 50 may determine that self-shooting is about to be performed when the size of the face occupied in the captured image is within a predetermined range. The face size in this case may be close to the face size captured when the photographer holds the smartphone 900 and extends his arm and points the facing camera 12 toward the photographer himself. Note that the condition for determining that self-taking is about to be performed is not limited to the embodiment. Further, it is assumed that this condition is set in the nonvolatile memory 56 in advance.

  If the system control unit 50 determines that it is self-portrait (Yes in S1106), it advances the process to S1107. If the system control unit 50 determines that it is not a self-portrait (No in S1106), it ends the notification control process. In step S <b> 1107, the system control unit 50 acquires tilt information of the smartphone 900 from the acceleration sensor 301. Next, in S1108, the system control unit 50 determines whether the inclination of the smartphone 900 is an appropriate angle. When the inclination of the smartphone 900 is an appropriate angle (Yes in S1108), the system control unit 50 advances the process to S1109. When the inclination of the smartphone 900 is not an appropriate angle (No in S1108), the system control unit 50 advances the process to S1110.

  In S1109, the system control unit 50 notifies the user that the inclination of the smartphone 900 is an appropriate angle, and then advances the processing to S111. In step S1110, the system control unit 50 notifies the user that the inclination of the smartphone 900 is not an appropriate angle, and ends the notification control process. Note that the processing in S1109 and S1110 is the same as the processing in S515 and S516 described with reference to FIG.

  In step S1111, the system control unit 50 determines whether the shutter button is pressed. If the shutter button is pressed (Yes in S1111), the system control unit 50 advances the process to S1112. If the shutter button is not pressed (No in S1111), the system control unit 50 ends the notification control process. In S1112, the system control unit 50 records a still image. Thus, the notification control process ends. Other configurations and processes of the smartphone 900 according to the third embodiment are the same as the configurations and processes of the digital cameras 100 and 110 according to other embodiments.

  As described above, the smartphone 900 according to the third embodiment can automatically shift to the self-portrait mode when the face-to-face camera 12 is selected by the user and the self-portrait is determined from the face detection result. .

  Note that the control of the control unit of the digital camera 100 according to the present embodiment may be performed by a single piece of hardware, or the entire apparatus may be controlled by a plurality of pieces of hardware sharing the processing.

  Although the present invention has been described in detail based on the preferred embodiments thereof, the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention are also included in the present invention. included. Furthermore, each embodiment mentioned above shows only one embodiment of this invention, and it is also possible to combine each embodiment suitably.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a camera as an imaging apparatus has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and may be an imaging apparatus having an imaging unit and a display unit. If applicable. That is, the present invention can be applied to a personal computer, a PDA, a mobile phone terminal, a portable image viewer, a printer device including a display, a digital photo frame, a music player, a game machine, an electronic book reader, and the like.

(Other examples)
The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program This process can be realized. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

  As described above, according to each embodiment described above, it is possible to perform photographing at an appropriate angle with a simple operation.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, but the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.・ Change is possible.

28 Display Unit 50 System Control Unit 100 Digital Camera

Claims (19)

Detecting means for detecting the inclination of the optical axis of the imaging means;
Setting means for setting any one of a plurality of shooting modes including a self-shooting mode;
And a notifying means for notifying when the photographing mode is set to the self-taking mode and the inclination of the optical axis detected by the detecting means is an appropriate angle downward from the horizontal. Imaging device.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the appropriate angle is an angle within a predetermined angle range.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit does not perform the notification when the shooting mode is not set to the self-shooting mode.   The notification means notifies that the photographing mode is set to the self-portrait mode, and when the inclination of the optical axis becomes the proper angle, the notification means is set to the proper angle, and the photographing mode is set to the self-portrait mode. 4. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the inclination of the optical axis is not the proper angle, notification that the angle is not the proper angle is performed. 5.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit performs the notification by displaying specific display information.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit performs the notification by causing a light emitting unit to emit light.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit performs the notification by audio output.   3. The imaging according to claim 2, further comprising display control means for controlling to display a reference angle within the angle range as the appropriate angle as a horizontal reference when the self-portrait mode is set. apparatus.   9. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the display control unit controls to display the horizontal direction as a horizontal reference when a shooting mode other than the self-portrait mode is set.   When the self-portrait mode is set, the image processing unit further includes an image processing unit that performs at least one of a skin beautifying process, a background blurring process, a process of brightening more than usual, and a process of enlarging the eyes. The imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display control means for controlling to display a live view as a mirror image when the self-portrait mode is set.   12. The photographing control unit according to claim 1, further comprising photographing control means for controlling photographing when the self-portrait mode is set and the inclination of the optical axis reaches the appropriate angle. The imaging device described in 1.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a calling unit.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit sets the photographing mode to the self-portrait mode when the self-portrait mode is selected by a user.   The setting unit sets the shooting mode to the self-portrait mode when the user selects the self-portrait mode and a face is detected in a captured image obtained by the imaging unit. The imaging device according to claim 13.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a reception unit configured to receive an input of the appropriate angle from a user. A control method executed by the imaging apparatus,
A detection step for detecting the inclination of the optical axis of the imaging means;
A setting step for setting any one of a plurality of shooting modes including a self-shooting mode;
A notification step of notifying when the photographing mode is set to the self-portrait mode and the inclination of the optical axis detected in the detection step is an appropriate angle downward from horizontal. Control method.   A program for causing a computer to function as each unit of the imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 16.   A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to function as each unit of the imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

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