JP2020034852A - Operation device, optical device, and imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an operation device advantageous for fine adjustment of the optical characteristics of a lens device.SOLUTION: An operation device (10) for controlling a movable optical element for adjusting optical characteristics of a lens device, includes: an operation member (101); a detection part (102) that detects the operation amount of the operation member; and a processing part (106) that generates a command on the basis of the relationship between operation amount and command, in which the operation sensitivity as the ratio of change of command for controlling the operation amount is not constant. The processing part changes, with respect to the current operation amount of the operation member, the operation sensitivity from a first sensitivity to a second sensitivity lower than the first sensitivity on the basis of the relationship.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an operation device, an optical device, and an imaging device.

  Control of focus adjustment (focusing) of a lens device in an imaging device such as a television camera is performed by a control system including a drive unit such as a motor. An operation device (also referred to as a focus demand or a focus controller) including an operation member 101 as shown in FIG. 9 is used to give a command to the control system. Since the operating member 101 of the operating device is rotatably supported within a predetermined rotation angle range, the relationship between the rotation angle and the command can be intuitively grasped. 2. Description of the Related Art There is known an operation device that performs fine adjustment of focus by setting an operation sensitivity (operation characteristic) in a specific object distance range and generating a command within the object distance range (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-157210). ).

JP 2018-084667 A

  The operation device disclosed in the above-mentioned patent document does not consider a case where the operation sensitivity before the setting is variable. Therefore, if the operation sensitivity after the setting is unchanged, the manner of change of the operation sensitivity before and after the setting changes according to the operation sensitivity before the setting. Then, the operator may feel uncomfortable with the operation. An object of the present invention is to provide, for example, an operation device that is advantageous for fine adjustment of optical characteristics of a lens device.

One aspect of the present invention is an operating device for controlling a movable optical element to adjust optical characteristics of a lens device,
An operating member;
A detection unit that detects an operation amount of the operation member;
The command is generated based on the relationship between the operation amount and the command, and the operation amount, wherein the operation sensitivity as a ratio of the change of the command for the control to the change in the operation amount is not constant. A processing unit to perform
Has,
The processing unit changes the operation sensitivity from the first sensitivity to a second sensitivity lower than the first sensitivity with respect to a current operation amount of the operation member based on the relationship.
An operating device characterized in that:

  According to the present invention, for example, it is possible to provide an operation device that is advantageous for fine adjustment of the optical characteristics of the lens device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an operation device according to the first embodiment. A diagram illustrating a plurality of operation modes having different operation characteristics from each other. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a flow of processing relating to a change in operation characteristics. Diagram illustrating the flow of processing related to generation of a command Diagram illustrating operation characteristics FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an operation device according to a second embodiment. Diagram illustrating the flow of processing related to display Figure showing a display example Diagram illustrating operation members FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration example of an imaging device.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that, throughout the drawings for describing the embodiments, in principle (unless otherwise specified), the same members and the like are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated description thereof will be omitted.

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an operation device according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes an operation device (also referred to herein as a focus controller or a focus demand). Reference numeral 20 denotes a lens device. The operating device 10 is for controlling a movable optical element (here, a lens) to adjust the optical characteristics of the lens device 20. The operation device 10 and the lens device 20 can constitute a larger-scale optical device or optical system. The optical device or the optical system may further constitute, for example, an imaging device described later. Reference numeral 101 denotes an operation member (also referred to as a knob) operated by a user (for example, a cameraman) to generate a command (command value) for the control. Here, the optical element is for adjusting an object distance as an optical characteristic of the lens device 20. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an operation member. The operation member 101 may be as shown in FIG. Here, the operation member 101 is to be rotated. A detection unit 102 detects an operation amount of the operation member 101, and can be configured to include, for example, a potentiometer or a rotary encoder.

  An operation mode switching unit 103 can include a user interface (UI) including switches and the like. Here, the operation mode switching unit 103 switches between a plurality of operation modes having different operation characteristics for adjusting the object distance. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a plurality of operation modes having different operation characteristics from each other. In the drawing, the plurality of operation modes include a standard mode, a near mode, and a far mode. In the graph of FIG. 7, the horizontal axis indicates the operation amount (for example, 0 ° to 100 °), and the vertical axis indicates the command (for example, 0 to 10000). Here, the command is normalized such that 0 corresponds to the closest distance (MOD) and 10000 corresponds to infinity (INF.). The standard mode is an operation mode in which the command is directly proportional to the operation amount (for example, the rotation angle) of the operation member or a linear function. The Near mode is an operation mode in which the command is a non-linear function (for example, a higher-order function) with respect to the operation amount so that the object distance can be finely adjusted at the minimum object distance (closest distance) and an object distance close thereto. is there. The Far mode is an operation mode in which the command is a non-linear function (for example, a higher-order function) with respect to the operation amount so that the object distance can be finely adjusted at or near infinity. Each mode can be switched according to the use of the lens device 20.

  Reference numeral 104 denotes a parameter setting unit, which can be configured to include a user interface (UI) including switches and the like. The parameter setting unit 104 sets a parameter for determining a change amount of a command with respect to an operation amount of the operation member 101 (that is, an operation sensitivity of the operation member 101) based on an input via the UI. Reference numeral 105 denotes an operation sensitivity changing unit, which can be configured to include a user interface (UI) including switches and the like. The operation sensitivity changing unit 105 validates the parameters set by the parameter setting unit 104 based on the input via the UI, and reduces the operation sensitivity in the current operation mode based on the parameters. By reducing the operation sensitivity, fine adjustment of the optical characteristics becomes possible.

  Reference numeral 106 denotes a command generation unit that generates a command for an optical element 204 (described later) based on the operation amount detected by the detection unit 102 and the operation mode switched by the operation mode switching unit 103. When the operation sensitivity is reduced by the operation sensitivity changing unit 105 as described above, the command generation unit 106 issues a command based on the reduced operation sensitivity and the operation amount detected by the detection unit 102. Generate. Details of the processing for generating the command will be described later. A communication unit 107 converts (encodes) the command generated by the command generation unit 106 into data (information) in a communication command format, and transmits the data to the communication unit of the lens device 20. Note that at least the command generation unit 106 can be configured to include a processor such as a CPU, and is also referred to as a processing unit.

  In the lens device 20, reference numeral 201 denotes a communication unit of the above-described lens device 20, which communicates with the communication unit 107 of the operation device 10. When receiving the command data in the communication command format, the communication unit 201 decodes the data and sends the decoded data to 202. A target generation unit 202 generates a target (target value) for controlling the optical element based on the received command information. Reference numeral 204 denotes the optical element, which is used to adjust the object distance of the lens device 20 here. A control unit 203 receives the target. The control unit 203 controls the optical element 204 as a control target. Reference numeral 205 denotes a position detection unit that detects the position of the optical element 204. The control unit 203 includes a position detection unit 205. The control unit 203 gives an operation amount to an actuator (drive unit) included in the control unit based on the target generated by the target generation unit 202 and the position of the optical element 204 detected by the position detection unit 205. The position of the element 204 is controlled. The operation amount here is an operation amount as a control engineering term. Here, the control unit 203 performs so-called feedback control based on the target and the control amount (the position of the optical element 204).

  Here, FIG. 3 is a diagram exemplifying a flow of processing relating to the change of the operation characteristic. This processing is executed by at least the command generation unit 106 (processing unit) when the above-described parameters are validated by the operation sensitivity changing unit 105. In the figure, first, in step S101, the operation amount of the operation member 101 is acquired from the detection unit 102. In the following step S102, the current operation mode is acquired from the operation mode switching unit 103. In step S103, a command is generated based on the operation amount and the operation mode. In the following step S104, the operation sensitivity (first sensitivity) at the current operation amount is obtained. The operation sensitivity can be obtained from the combination of the current operation amount and the command and the combination of the past operation amount and the command, but is not limited thereto. For example, the acquisition may be based on the ratio of the change amount of the command to the change amount of the operation amount, and the time when the operation amount and the operation sensitivity are obtained is not limited to the above.

  In step S105, it is determined whether the operation sensitivity acquired in step S104 is equal to or greater than a threshold. The threshold value may be a value stored in advance in (the processing unit of) the operation device 10 or a value obtained from the lens device 20 via the communication unit 107. The threshold value may be based on the depth of field of the lens device. If the operation sensitivity is lower than the threshold, the process proceeds to step S106. If the operation sensitivity is higher than the threshold, the process proceeds to step S107. In step S106, the threshold is overwritten on the operation sensitivity. When the change of the operation sensitivity in step S106 is completed, the process proceeds to step S107. In the next step S107, the operation sensitivity is reduced by multiplying the operation sensitivity by a parameter (a real number coefficient or magnification less than 1) set by the parameter setting unit 104. In step S108, an operation characteristic (input) that generates a command (output) that matches the command generated in step S103 based on the reduced operation sensitivity (second sensitivity) with the current operation amount (input). Output characteristics). After the generation of the operation characteristics, the flow of the present process ends. Through the above processing, the operation sensitivity can be reduced from that in the immediately preceding operation mode.

  Here, FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of processing related to generation of a command. This process is a process executed by the command generation unit 106 (processing unit) when the operation sensitivity is reduced by the process described with reference to FIG. First, in step S201, the operation amount of the operation member 101 is acquired from the detection unit 102. In the following step S202, a command is generated based on the operation amount and the operation characteristics generated in step S108. In this way, the optical element 204 can be controlled with reduced operation sensitivity.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating operation characteristics. In the graph of FIG. 7, similarly to the graph of FIG. 2, the horizontal axis indicates the operation amount (rotation angle), and the vertical axis indicates the command. Here, a case where the operation characteristics are changed from the operation characteristics in the Far mode so as to reduce the operation sensitivity is illustrated. At this time, the operation amount of the operation member is A, and the command is B. The intercept on the vertical axis of the straight line (broken line) representing the operation sensitivity before the change (current time) is C, and the intercept on the vertical axis of the straight line (thick line) representing the operational characteristic after the change is D. The operation sensitivity before the change (current time) is obtained from the operation characteristics of the Far mode, and the reduced operation sensitivity after the change is obtained based on the operation sensitivity and the above-mentioned parameter (a real number coefficient or magnification less than 1). Then, an operation characteristic after change (thick line) having the reduced operation sensitivity and generating a command B when the operation amount of the operation member 101 is A is generated. By doing so, it is possible to fine-tune the optical characteristics of the optical device by changing the operation amount from the current operation amount without changing the command (B) corresponding to the current operation amount (A).

  Here, the operation characteristic before the change is expressed by the following equation (1).

  The operation characteristics after the conversion are represented by the following equation (2).

  The relationship between the intercept C and the intercept D depends on the parameters set by the parameter setting unit 104. The relationship is expressed by the following equation (3), for example, where the parameter is 1 / N (N is a positive real number greater than 1).

  In this manner, fine adjustment of the optical characteristics of the optical device can be performed according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit 104.

  After the operation sensitivity changing unit 105 reduces the operation sensitivity in the current operation mode based on the input via the UI, the operation sensitivity change unit 105 similarly performs the operation before the reduction based on the input via the UI. A return to the mode may be performed. At the time of the return, a command change depending on the operation amount of the operation member 101 at the time of the return may occur. When the operation amount is A or about A, the change of the command is zero or about zero. Becomes

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the fine adjustment of the optical characteristics of the lens device is performed by reducing the operation sensitivity from the current operation sensitivity of the operation device in which the operation sensitivity is made variable based on the operation mode and the operation amount. It can be carried out. Thus, according to the present embodiment, for example, it is possible to provide an operating device that is advantageous for fine adjustment of the optical characteristics of the lens device.

[Embodiment 2]
The second embodiment will now be described. In the present embodiment, since the lens device 20 is the same as that in the first embodiment, the description is omitted. Here, FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the operation device according to the second embodiment. This figure has a configuration in which 108 and 109 are added to the configuration of the operation device in FIG. 108 is an information generation unit. The information generation unit 108 generates information on a range of a command that can be generated by the operation member 101 in a state where the operation sensitivity is reduced. The information generation unit 108 can constitute the processing unit described in the first embodiment. Reference numeral 109 denotes a display unit. The display unit 109 may include a device such as a liquid crystal display, and may be any device that presents information to a user. The display unit 109 displays the information generated by the information generation unit 108. Note that the information generated by the information generation unit 108 may be configured to be transmitted to an external device (for example, a camera device 30 described later). The information transmitted to the external device can be displayed on a display unit of the external device.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of processing related to display. This processing is executed by the information generation unit 108 (processing unit) when the operation sensitivity change unit 105 changes (reduces) the operation sensitivity. In FIG. 7, first, in step S301, a range of a command that can be generated by operating the operation member 101 is acquired based on the above equation (2). The range can be obtained by sequentially substituting the operation amount = 0 and the operation amount = 100 into Expression (2). Then, information related to the range (for example, information for displaying the range on the display unit 109) is generated. In the next step S302, the information generated in step S302 is displayed on the display unit 109. With this processing, the user can be notified of the range of commands that can be generated by operating the operation member 101.

  Here, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example. FIG. 9 shows a display example on the display unit 109 in step S302. In FIG. O. D to INF. The band extending to represents the entire range (first range) of the command corresponding to the entire range of the optical characteristics (here, the object distance) adjustable by the optical device. On the other hand, a band extending from B to A represents a range of a command (second range) that can be generated by operating the operation member 101 in a state where the operation sensitivity is reduced. Here, the second range is displayed in a different form (for example, at least one of luminance, color, and pattern) from the range in the other first range. Further, it is preferable that an index (for example, a mark like an arrow shown in the drawing) indicating a command based on the current operation amount is displayed on the second range so that the user can view it. Also, in (b) of the figure, the correspondence between the entire range of the operation amount (here, 0 to 100) and the second range (here, B to A) is displayed in a graph format. Further, the correspondence between the current operation amount and the command based on the operation amount is indicated by a dashed line.

  As described above, the operating device according to the present embodiment has a function for displaying the range of commands that can be generated by operating the operating member 101 in a state in which the operating sensitivity is reduced, thereby improving operability from the viewpoint of visibility. It is advantageous in terms of. Thus, according to the present embodiment, for example, it is possible to provide an operating device that is advantageous for fine adjustment of the optical characteristics of the lens device.

[Embodiment according to imaging apparatus]
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an imaging device. The imaging device includes the operation device 10 described above, the lens device 20, and a camera device (imaging unit) 30 having an imaging element 30a arranged on the image plane of the lens device 20. According to the imaging device according to the present embodiment, for example, an imaging device that is advantageous for fine adjustment of the optical characteristics of the lens device can be provided. Here, the operating device 10 and the lens device 20 or the optical element 204 in the lens device 20 constitute an optical device. Therefore, the image surface of the lens device 20 or the image surface of the optical element 204 is also referred to as the image surface of the optical device.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the gist. For example, the movable optical element (lens) for adjusting the object distance has been exemplified as the movable optical element for adjusting the optical characteristics of the lens device. However, the optical element is not limited thereto. That is, the optical element is, for example, a movable optical element (lens) for adjusting the focal length (magnification) of the lens device, or a diaphragm for adjusting the F value (F number) or the aperture ratio of the lens device. The blade may be a movable diaphragm member (aperture diaphragm) or the like. The display unit 109 may be provided in the lens device 20 or the camera device 30 instead of in the operation device 10. When the display unit is in the camera device 30, it may be, for example, in a finder of the camera device. In the above description, the processing unit generates a command based on one of a plurality of operation modes different from each other in the relationship between the control command and the operation amount and the operation amount. Then, regarding the current operation amount of the operation member in one of the plurality of operation modes, the operation sensitivity is changed from the first sensitivity to the second sensitivity lower than the first sensitivity. However, it is not so limited. That is, the processing unit generates the command based on the relationship between the operation amount and the command and the operation amount, in which the operation sensitivity as a ratio of the change of the command for the control to the change of the operation amount is not constant. Can be done. In that case, the processing unit may change the operation sensitivity from the first sensitivity to the second sensitivity lower than the first sensitivity for the current operation amount of the operation member based on the relationship.

Reference Signs List 10 operating device 101 operating member 102 detecting unit 106 command generating unit (processing unit)

Claims (17)

An operating device for controlling a movable optical element to adjust optical characteristics of the lens device,
An operating member;
A detection unit that detects an operation amount of the operation member;
The command is generated based on the relationship between the operation amount and the command, and the operation amount, wherein the operation sensitivity as a ratio of the change of the command for the control to the change in the operation amount is not constant. A processing unit to perform
Has,
The processing unit changes the operation sensitivity from the first sensitivity to a second sensitivity lower than the first sensitivity with respect to a current operation amount of the operation member based on the relationship.
An operating device, characterized in that:   The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the relationship is variable. The processing unit includes:
Generating the command based on one of a plurality of operation modes different from each other in the relationship and the operation amount;
Changing the operation sensitivity from the first sensitivity to the second sensitivity with respect to a current operation amount of the operation member in one of the plurality of operation modes;
The operating device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:   The operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a user interface for changing the operation sensitivity from the first sensitivity to the second sensitivity.   The operation device according to claim 3, wherein the processing unit acquires the first sensitivity based on one of the plurality of operation modes.   The operation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the processing unit changes the first sensitivity to the threshold when the first sensitivity is lower than a threshold.   The operation according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the processing unit obtains information regarding a range of the command obtained when the operation sensitivity is changed to the second sensitivity. apparatus.   The operating device according to claim 7, wherein the processing unit transmits the information to an external device.   The operating device according to claim 7, wherein the processing unit causes the display unit to display the information.   The operating device according to claim 9, further comprising the display unit.   The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit obtains the second sensitivity by multiplying the first sensitivity by a coefficient.   The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the optical characteristic includes an object distance. The optical properties include object distance,
The processing unit changes the threshold based on a depth of field,
The operating device according to claim 6, wherein:   The operating device according to claim 1, further comprising a communication unit that communicates with the lens device. An operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 14,
A lens device including a movable optical element controlled by the operating device;
An optical device comprising: A movable optical element,
An operating member for controlling the optical element,
A detection unit that detects an operation amount of the operation member;
The command is generated based on the relationship between the operation amount and the command, and the operation amount, wherein the operation sensitivity as a ratio of the change of the command for the control to the change in the operation amount is not constant. A processing unit to perform
Has,
The processing unit changes the operation sensitivity from the first sensitivity to a second sensitivity lower than the first sensitivity with respect to a current operation amount of the operation member based on the relationship.
An optical device, characterized in that: An optical device according to claim 15 or 16,
An image sensor arranged on an image plane of the optical device;
An imaging device comprising:

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