JP2019191439A - Imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

To improve visibility of a focus position upon manual focus photographing, and to express tips for a focus position adjustment.SOLUTION: A photographing area is divided to a tile shape to prepare a focus frame area, and the focus frame is made overlapped with a display device that displays a through-image upon photographing. Then, upon the photographing, when a focus area is included in a focus frame display area, the corresponding focus frame is displayed overlappedly with the through-image. In this instance, a gradation (a transmissivity degree) of a rim color of the focus frame is changed by a focus degree in an area (high/low in contrast evaluation value), which in turn the focus degree is displayed so as to be visually understandable.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging control device, a control method therefor, a program, and a recording medium.

  In an existing camera, peaking is displayed during manual focus, and a color is superimposed on the edge portion (in-focus position) of the in-focus position on the live image to indicate the focus position. Also, the color to be superimposed on the edge portion of the in-focus location can be selected from several colors in the menu. However, when the in-focus color and the peaking display color are the same color, the visibility of the focus position confirmation is not good (see FIG. 7).

  Patent Document 1 is an invention in which a focus lens is moved to determine an in-focus region having the same depth of field, and when there are a plurality of in-focus regions, a frame of the same color is displayed. However, since the focus lens is normally moved manually during manual focus, application to the peaking display of the previous example is difficult.

  Patent Document 2 is an invention in which a contrast evaluation value of a captured image is calculated at the time of manual focus shooting, and an edge-enhanced image is superimposed on an optical viewfinder based on the numerical value. Although it is effective for realizing peaking display in the optical viewfinder, it seems that the visibility is the same as the peaking display in the electronic viewfinder due to the superimposition by edge enhancement.

JP 2007-214845 A Patent No.5546692

  This is an imaging device that displays peaking display for manual focus shooting with a focusing frame and improves the visibility of the in-focus position. When the in-focus color and the peaking display color are the same color, the visibility of the focus position is not good. Also, even if they are not similar colors, I feel that it is necessary to get used to peaking display during manual focus shooting compared to the focus frame display during autofocus shooting.

  In addition, when there are a plurality of identification areas in autofocus shooting, a plurality of identification frames can be displayed. However, it only displays the focused area with a frame. During autofocus shooting, the camera can be easily refocused simply by operating the shutter button and leaving it to the camera. On the other hand, manual operation is required to change the focus position during manual focus shooting. When manually changing the in-focus position during manual focus shooting, a hint display indicating that the in-focus position is in front of or behind the current focus will help the user adjust the in-focus position. I think.

  From the above, it is an object to improve the visibility of the in-focus position at the time of manual focus shooting and at the same time to express a hint for adjusting the in-focus position.

  The peaking display during manual focus shooting is displayed in the focus frame. Further, the transparency of the focusing frame is changed according to the height of the contrast evaluation value.

  For this purpose, the shooting area is divided into tiles to prepare a focusing frame area so that the focusing frame can be superimposed on a display device that displays a through image at the time of shooting. When the focus range is included in the focus frame display area at the time of shooting, the corresponding focus frame is displayed superimposed on the through image. At this time, the density (transparency) of the border color of the focusing frame is changed according to the degree of focusing in the region (contrast evaluation value level), and the degree of focusing is displayed so as to be visually understood (see FIG. 3).

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the visibility of the focus position during manual focus shooting and to visually grasp the near focus position.

1 is an external view of a digital camera 100 as an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a digital camera 100 as one embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the solution of this invention. It is a figure which shows embodiment GUI of this invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows the operation | movement which concerns on the solution embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the solution of this invention. It is a figure which shows the subject of this invention.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1A and 1B are external views of a digital camera 100 as an example of an apparatus to which the present invention can be applied. FIG. 1A is a front perspective view of the digital camera 100, and FIG. 1B is a rear perspective view of the digital camera 100. In FIG. 1, a display unit 28 is a display unit provided on the back of the camera for displaying images and various types of information. The display unit 43 outside the viewfinder is a display unit provided on the upper surface of the camera, and displays various setting values of the camera such as a shutter speed and an aperture.

  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 terminal cover 40 is a cover that protects a connector (not shown) such as a connection cable for connecting a connection cable with an external device and the digital camera 100. The main electronic dial 71 is a rotary operation member included in the operation unit 70. By turning the main electronic dial 71, it is possible to change setting values such as a shutter speed and an aperture. The power switch 72 is an operation member that switches the power of the digital camera 100 on and off.

  The sub electronic dial 73 is included in the operation unit 70 and is a rotation operation member included in the operation unit 70, and can move a selection frame, feed an image, and the like. The cross key 74 is included in the operation unit 70, and is a cross key (four-way key) that can push in the upper, lower, left, and right portions. An operation corresponding to the pressed portion of the cross key 74 is possible. 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 LV button 76 is included in the operation unit 70 and is a button for switching ON / OFF of a live view (hereinafter referred to as LV) in the still image shooting mode.

  In the moving image shooting mode, it is used to start and stop moving image shooting (recording). The enlargement button 77 is included in the operation unit 70, and is an operation button for turning on and off the enlargement mode and changing the enlargement ratio during the enlargement mode in the live view display in the photographing mode. In the reproduction mode, it functions as an enlargement button for enlarging the reproduction image and increasing the enlargement ratio. The reduction button 78 is included in the operation unit 70 and is a button for reducing the enlargement ratio of the enlarged reproduction image and reducing the displayed image. A playback button 79 is included in the operation unit 70 and is an operation button for switching between a shooting mode and a playback mode.

  When the playback button 79 is pressed during the shooting mode, the mode is switched to the playback mode, and the latest image among the images recorded on the recording medium 200 can be displayed on the display unit 28. The quick return mirror 12 is instructed by the system control unit 50 and is raised and lowered by an actuator (not shown). The communication terminal 10 is a communication terminal for the digital camera 100 to communicate with the lens side (detachable). The eyepiece finder 16 is a peeping type finder for observing the focusing screen 13 to confirm the focus and composition of the optical image of the subject obtained through the lens unit 150.

  A lid 202 is a slot lid in which the recording medium 200 is stored. The grip portion 90 is a holding portion that is shaped to be easily gripped with the right hand when the user holds the digital camera 100.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the digital camera 100 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, a lens unit 150 is a lens unit on which a replaceable photographic lens is mounted.

  The lens 103 is usually composed of a plurality of lenses, but here, only a single lens is shown for simplicity. The communication terminal 6 is a communication terminal for the lens unit 150 to communicate with the digital camera 100 side, and the communication terminal 10 is a communication terminal for the digital camera 100 to communicate with the lens unit 150 side. The lens unit 150 communicates with the system control unit 50 through the communication terminals 6 and 10, controls the diaphragm 1 through the diaphragm driving circuit 2 by the internal lens system control circuit 4, and passes through the AF driving circuit 3. The focus is adjusted by displacing the position of the lens 103.

  The AE sensor 17 measures the luminance of the subject that has passed through the lens unit 150. The focus detection unit 11 outputs defocus amount information to the system control unit 50. Based on this, the system control unit 50 controls the lens unit 150 to perform phase difference AF.

  The quick return mirror 12 (hereinafter, mirror 12) is instructed by the system control unit 50 during exposure, live view shooting, and moving image shooting, and is moved up and down by an actuator (not shown). The mirror 12 is a mirror for switching the light beam incident from the lens 103 between the viewfinder 16 side and the imaging unit 22 side. The mirror 12 is normally arranged so as to reflect the light beam to the viewfinder 16, but in the case of shooting or live view display, the mirror 12 is directed upward to guide the light beam to the imaging unit 22. Retreat from the bounced light flux (mirror up). Further, the mirror 12 is a half mirror so that the central part can transmit part of the light, and part of the light beam is transmitted so as to enter the focus detection part 11 for performing focus detection.

  The photographer can check the focus and composition of the optical image of the subject obtained through the lens unit 150 by observing the focusing screen 13 via the pentaprism 14 and the finder 16.

The shutter 101 is a focal plane shutter that can freely control the exposure time of the imaging unit 22 under the control of the system control unit 50.
The imaging unit 22 is an imaging device configured with a CCD, a CMOS device, or the like that converts an optical image into an electrical signal. The A / D converter 23 converts an analog signal into a digital signal. The A / D converter 23 is used to convert an analog signal output from the imaging unit 22 into a digital signal.

  The image processing unit 24 performs resizing processing such as predetermined pixel interpolation and reduction and color conversion processing on the data from the A / D converter 23 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 (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 calculation processing using the captured image data, and also performs TTL AWB (auto white balance) processing based on the obtained calculation result.

  Output data from the A / D converter 23 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 22 and converted into digital data by the A / D converter 23 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 D / A converter 19 converts the image display data stored in the memory 32 into an analog signal and supplies the analog signal to the display unit 28. Thus, the display image data written in the memory 32 is displayed on the display unit 28 via the D / A converter 19. The display unit 28 performs display according to the analog signal from the D / A converter 19 on a display such as an LCD. The digital signal once A / D converted by the A / D converter 23 and stored in the memory 32 is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 19 and sequentially transferred to the display unit 28 for display, thereby providing an electronic viewfinder. It functions and can perform live view display (live view display).

On the in-finder liquid crystal display unit 41, a frame (AF frame) indicating a focus point currently being auto-focused, an icon indicating a camera setting state, and the like are displayed via the in-finder display unit driving circuit 42. Is done.
Various setting values of the camera such as a shutter speed and an aperture are displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 43 outside the viewfinder via the display unit driving circuit 44 outside the viewfinder.

  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 control unit having at least one processor and controls the entire digital camera 100. 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 also performs display control by controlling the memory 32, the D / A converter 19, the display unit 28, 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 switch 60 switches the operation mode of the system control unit 50 to any one of a still image recording mode, a moving image shooting mode, a reproduction mode, and the like. Modes included in the still image recording mode include an auto shooting mode, an auto scene discrimination mode, a manual mode, an aperture priority mode (Av mode), and a shutter speed priority mode (Tv mode). In addition, there are various scene modes, program AE modes, custom modes, and the like which are shooting settings for each shooting scene. The mode changeover switch 60 can be directly switched to one of these modes.

  Alternatively, the mode changeover switch 60 may be used to temporarily switch to the shooting mode list screen, and then select one of the displayed modes and use another operation member for switching. Similarly, the moving image shooting mode may include a plurality of modes.

  The first shutter switch 62 is turned on when the shutter button 61 provided in the digital camera 100 is being operated, so-called half-press (shooting preparation instruction), 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 the menu button 70 e 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 buttons 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 at least the following operation units. Shutter button 61, main electronic dial 71, power switch 72, sub electronic dial 73, cross key 74, SET button 75, LV button 76, enlarge button 77, reduce button 78, and play button 79.
The cross key 74 is a direction button that can press the upper, lower, right, and left portions of the cross key 74. Although this embodiment has been described as an integrated operation unit, the upper button, the lower button, the right button, and the left button may be independent buttons. Hereinafter, the upper or lower part is referred to as an up / down key, and the left or right part is referred to as a left / right key. The operation unit 70 also includes the following operation units.

  The AF-ON button 70b is a push button switch included in the operation unit 70, and can be instructed to execute AF by being pressed. The pressing direction of the AF-PN button 70b is parallel to the direction (optical axis) of the subject light incident on the imaging unit 22 from the lens 103.

  The quick setting button 70c (hereinafter, Q button 70c) is a push button switch included in the operation unit 70, and when pressed, a quick setting menu that is a list of setting items that can be set in each operation mode is displayed. . For example, when pressed during shooting standby in Live View shooting, a list of setting items such as electronic front curtain shutter, monitor brightness, LV screen WB, two-point magnification, and silent shooting is superimposed on LV in one row. Is displayed. The user can change any setting related to the selected setting item or shift to the operation mode by selecting an arbitrary option in the displayed quick setting menu with the up and down keys and pressing the set button.

  The active frame switching button 70d is a push button switch included in the operation unit 70, and switches an active enlargement position (frame) among the two enlarging positions when pressed in a two-point enlargement process described later. Can do. Also, different functions are assigned depending on the operation mode, and when pressed in the playback mode, a protection attribute can be assigned to the displayed image.

  The menu button 70 e is a push button switch included in the operation unit 70, and a menu screen on which various settings can be made is displayed on the display unit 28. The function buttons 70f are three push button switches included in the operation unit 70, and are assigned functions. Each of the function buttons 70f is arranged at a position where it can be operated by a right finger (middle finger, ring finger, or little finger) holding the grip unit 90, and the pressing direction is the direction of subject light incident on the imaging unit 22 from the lens 103. Parallel to (optical axis).

  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 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.

  The communication unit 54 is connected by wireless or wired cable, and transmits and receives video signals and audio signals. The communication unit 54 can be connected to a wireless local area network (LAN) or the Internet. The communication unit 54 can transmit an image captured by the imaging unit 22 (including a through image) and an image recorded on the recording medium 200, and can receive image data and other various types of information from an external device. it can.

  The posture detection unit 55 detects the posture of the digital camera 100 with respect to the direction of gravity. Based on the attitude detected by the attitude detection unit 55, it is determined whether the image shot by the imaging unit 22 is an image shot with the digital camera 100 held horizontally or an image shot with the image held vertically. It can be determined. The system control unit 50 can add orientation information corresponding to the orientation detected by the orientation detection unit 55 to the image file of the image captured by the imaging unit 22, or rotate and record the image. As the attitude detection unit 55, an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, or the like can be used.

  The operation of each embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

[Example]
Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 5, 4, and 6. When manual focus shooting is started, the process proceeds from 500 to 510, and the live image being shot is displayed on the display unit 28.

  When the manual focus is changed in 511, the process proceeds to 520 and it is determined whether the setting is set to perform peaking display (whether other than “NO” is set in 402 in FIG. 4). If the setting is such that no peaking display is made, the process proceeds to 540, and if there is no focus change, the process proceeds to 550 to perform photographing. If the photographing is not finished in 551, the process returns to 510.

  On the other hand, if it is set to perform peaking display at 520, the process proceeds to 521 to acquire edge information of the in-focus area. That is, information on the degree of focus is prepared from the contrast evaluation value. At 522, the focused area is displayed in a superimposed manner on the shooting through image displayed on the display unit 28.

  In step 530, it is determined whether or not the focus frame display is set (whether or not “+ focus frame” in FIG. 4402 is selected). If it is selected, in 531 the focus frame area includes the focus. The frame that is displayed is displayed. At this time, the higher the contrast evaluation value, the more opaque the frame of the in-focus frame including that point is displayed, and the lower the contrast evaluation value, the higher the frame transparency of the in-focus frame and the superimposed display on the photographed live view image (see FIG. 6 602). If the focus frame display is not set at 530, the process proceeds to 540. If there is no focus change, the process proceeds to 550 to perform shooting. If the shooting is not completed at 551, the process returns to 510. The process ends at 560. An example of the in-focus frame display at 531 is as shown in FIG.

(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.

100 Digital camera 43 Display unit outside viewfinder 61 Shutter button

Claims (4)

Means to shoot with manual focus;
Means for displaying live images taken;
Means for displaying a focusing frame;
Means for changing the transparency of the in-focus frame and displaying it superimposed on the live image,
Means for calculating a contrast evaluation value for in-focus determination;
An imaging apparatus comprising means for changing a transparency according to a height of a contrast evaluation value and superimposing a focusing frame on a focusing area. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of focusing frames can be displayed for a focused area. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a maximum number of display of a focusing frame having a high contrast evaluation value can be set. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the size and shape of the focus frame display can be set.