JP2021140067A - Imaging device, imaging system, imaging device control method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To set an appropriate bounce when performing a bounce photographing in which a light-emitting device is used.SOLUTION: A camera 100, with a strobe 200 built-in or mounted therein, comprises: a storage unit 106 for preliminarily storing the information of a photographing place; a position detection unit 107 for detecting the position information of the camera 100; a detection unit 108 for detecting the direction information of the camera 100; a distance measurement unit 109 for calculating distance information from the camera 100 to a subject; and a camera control unit 101 for controlling a strobe light emission unit 202 capable of changing the light emission direction of the strobe 200. When performing a bounce photographing that involves reflecting light emitted from the strobe light emission unit 202 at a bounce surface to illuminate the subject and taking a photograph, the camera control unit 101 calculates the light emission direction of the strobe light emission unit 202 on the basis of the information of the photographing place, the position information of the camera 100, the direction information and the distance information from the camera 100 to the subject, and controls the strobe light emission unit 202 on the basis of the calculated light emission direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an imaging device, an imaging system, a control method and a program of the imaging device.

When shooting with a light emitting device such as a strobe device, the strobe light is reflected on the ceiling or the like to reduce the contrast caused by directly shining light on the subject and obtain a natural image. Bounce photography is known in which an image is taken by indirectly irradiating the image. For example, when portrait photography is performed indoors using a strobe device, a natural image can be obtained by bouncing the strobe light on the ceiling above the subject or the wall next to the subject.

In order to properly perform bounce shooting, the bounce angle, which is the angle between the direction of the object that bounces the strobe light (hereinafter, also referred to as the bounce direction), the direction of the subject, and the irradiation direction of the strobe light, is appropriately set. There is a need. However, the bounce direction and the bounce angle are set based on the photographer's experience and skill, which is difficult for a person who is unfamiliar with the strobe device. Patent Document 1 measures the distance between the light emitting means and the subject and the distance between the light emitting means and the bounce surface by preliminarily emitting light at the time of bounce shooting, and based on the measured subject distance and the bounce surface distance, the light emitting means Discloses a technique for determining the bounce angle of irradiating light.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-90806

However, in the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the ceiling has a shape such as a step or an inclination, an appropriate bounce angle with respect to the subject cannot be obtained. FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of the calculation of the bounce angle by the prior art. The shooting location 300 indicates a space with a ceiling, such as a banquet hall or a hall. The ceiling 301 has a ceiling 302a having a first height and a ceiling 302b having a second height higher than the ceiling 302a having a first height. The camera 500 is provided with a strobe 200 having a strobe light emitting unit 202. The camera 500 and the strobe 200 provided on the camera 500 are located below the ceiling 302a at a first height.

First, the bounce surface distance and the subject distance are obtained by distance measurement by preliminarily emitting light from the strobe 200. Here, in the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1, the height H1 from the strobe 200 to the point directly above the strobe 200 on the ceiling 302a at the first height is obtained as the bounce surface distance. Further, as the subject distance, the distance L1 from the strobe 200 to the subject 10 is obtained. Distance measurement by the strobe 200 is performed by preliminary light emission. At this time, at the height H1, the light emitted from the strobe light emitting unit 202 is reflected at the point directly above the strobe 200 on the ceiling 302a at the first height, and the reflected light is received by the photometric unit (not shown). Calculated by time. The distance L1 is calculated by the time until the light emitted from the strobe light emitting unit 202 is reflected by the ceiling 302a and the subject 10 at the first height and the reflected light is received by the photometric unit.

Next, an appropriate bounce angle θ is calculated from the height H1 and the distance L1, and the virtual bounce surface 304 is defined on the virtual ceiling 303 which is the same plane as the ceiling 302a of the first height. Here, the bounce angle θ is defined as a state in which the strobe light emitting unit 202 faces the subject 10 as a bounce angle of 0 degrees. However, since the virtual ceiling 303 does not actually exist, the actual bounce surface 305 becomes the ceiling 302b at the second height. As a result, the strobe light from the strobe light emitting unit 202 irradiates a portion deviated from the subject 10 by a distance L2 minutes. As described above, in Patent Document 1, when a part of the ceiling is deformed, the bounce angle cannot be adjusted based on the original height of the bounce surface, so that the strobe light is not bounced at the calculated bounce point, which is appropriate. I can't get a good bounce shooting result.

An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging device capable of setting an appropriate bounce when performing bounce photography using a light emitting device.

In order to solve the above problems, the image pickup device of the present invention is an image pickup device in which a light emitting device is built in or mounted, and is a storage means for storing information on the shooting location in advance and a position for detecting the position information of the image pickup device. A detection means, a direction detection means for detecting the direction information of the image pickup device, a distance measuring means for calculating the distance information from the image pickup device to the subject, and a light emitting unit having a light emitting device having a variable light irradiation direction. It is provided with a control means for controlling. At the time of bounce shooting in which the light emitted from the light emitting unit is reflected by the bounce surface to illuminate the subject for shooting, the control means includes information on the shooting location, position information on the imaging device, and the imaging device. The light irradiation direction of the light emitting unit is calculated based on the direction information of the light emitting unit and the distance information from the image pickup apparatus to the subject, and the light emitting unit is controlled based on the calculated irradiation direction.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an imaging device capable of setting an appropriate bounce when performing bounce photography using a light emitting device.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of a light emitting device and an image pickup device. It is a figure explaining bounce photography. It is a figure explaining bounce photography. It is a figure explaining bounce photography. It is a flowchart which shows the process of bounce shooting. It is a figure explaining the conventional bounce photography.

The main body configuration of the light emitting device and the imaging device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an imaging system including a light emitting device and an imaging device. Hereinafter, the strobe 200 will be described as an example of the light emitting device, and the camera 100 will be described as an example of the imaging device using the strobe 200.

The camera 100 is an imaging device that uses a strobe 200, such as a digital camera. The camera 100 may be an image pickup device in which the camera body and the strobe 200 are integrated, that is, an image pickup device in which the strobe 200 is built-in, or an image pickup device in which the strobe 200 can be attached to the camera body. Further, in the present embodiment, an example of an image pickup device in which the lens device is detachable from the camera body portion will be described, but the image pickup device in which the camera body portion and the lens device are integrated may be used.

The camera 100 includes a camera control unit 101, an operation unit 102, an image pickup unit 103, an image processing unit 104, an interface 105, a storage unit 106, a position detection unit 107, and an orientation detection unit 108. The camera control unit 101 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), controls the entire camera 100, and executes a shooting sequence or the like. When the strobe 200 is attached to the camera 100, the camera control unit 101 also controls the strobe 200. Specifically, the camera control unit 101 calculates the bounce angle, light emission amount, light emission timing, etc. of the strobe 200, and controls the strobe according to the calculated values.

The operation unit 102 includes a release switch 111, a mode setting switch 112, a touch panel 113, and the like. The release switch 111 is a switch for performing a release operation. The mode setting switch 112 is a switch for performing a switching setting operation of the camera shooting mode. The touch panel 113 has a display device such as an LCD (liquid crystal display), and is a user interface that displays captured images and information related to shooting, and accepts operations for setting the camera body.

When the release switch 111 is half-pressed by the photographer, the first switch signal (hereinafter referred to as SW1) is turned on, and the camera control unit 101 starts distance measurement and light measurement. After that, when the release switch 111 is fully pressed by the photographer, the second switch signal (hereinafter referred to as SW2) is turned on, and the camera control unit 101 starts the exposure operation.

The image pickup unit 103 includes a photographing lens, a mirror, an image pickup element, and the like (all not shown). The photographing lens has a plurality of lenses such as a focus lens and a shift lens, and an aperture for adjusting the amount of light and the like. The photographing lens forms an optical image of the subject on the image sensor. The image sensor has a photoelectric conversion unit and outputs an electric signal (analog signal) according to the optical image.

The image processing unit 104 performs development processing for converting the signal output by the image pickup unit 103 into image data (digital signal). Further, the image processing unit 104 performs various image processing such as noise removal, demosaiking, brightness signal conversion, aberration correction, white balance adjustment, and color correction on the signal output by the image pickup unit 103 or the converted image data. implement.

The interface 105 is connected to the camera connection portion 205 of the strobe 200, which will be described later, and executes communication between the camera 100 and the strobe 200. Between the camera 100 and the strobe 200, for example, a light emission instruction by operating the release switch 111, a notification of the operation mode set by the mode setting switch 112, an instruction of the bounce angle in bounce shooting, and the like are performed.

The storage unit 106 stores the camera shooting mode set by the operation unit 102, the settings of the camera body, and the like via the camera control unit 101. In addition, the storage unit 106 stores information on the shooting location 300, which will be described later. In addition, the storage unit 106 stores the image data converted by the image processing unit 104. The image data may be recorded in a storage unit 106 provided in the camera 100, or may be recorded in a recording medium that can be attached to and detached from the camera 100 by the storage unit 106.

The position detection unit 107 detects the position of the camera 100. The position detection unit 107 can be used indoors, receives a signal for position detection, and detects the position of the camera 100. Examples of the position detection method used by the position detection unit 107 include Wi-Fi (registered trademark) positioning and geomagnetic positioning. The orientation detection unit 108 detects the orientation of the camera 100. Examples of the orientation detection unit 108 include a compass and a gyro sensor.

The distance measuring unit 109 detects the distance information from the camera 100 to the subject 10. The distance measuring unit 109 calculates the distance from the camera 100 to the subject 10 based on, for example, the phase difference detected by the focus detecting means of the phase difference detecting method and the position information after the operation of the photographing lens. The method for detecting the distance information is not limited to this, and any method may be used as long as it can measure the distance from the camera 100 to the subject 10.

The strobe 200 is a light emitting device (illuminating device) that emits light at a variable irradiation angle. The strobe 200 includes a strobe control unit 201, a strobe light emitting unit 202, a bounce drive control unit 203, a bounce mechanism unit 204, and a camera connection unit 205. The strobe control unit 201 controls the entire strobe 200 in response to an instruction from the camera 100, and performs control processing such as a light emission control sequence.

The strobe light emitting unit 202 emits strobe light according to a light emitting signal output from the strobe control unit 201. Further, the strobe light emitting unit 202 includes a discharge tube such as a xenon tube for emitting strobe light, a reflecting umbrella, a Fresnel lens and the like.

The bounce drive control unit controls the drive of the bounce mechanism unit 204 according to the bounce drive angle output from the strobe control unit 201, and controls the light emission direction of the strobe light emitting unit. The bounce mechanism unit 204 changes the light emitting direction of the strobe light emitting unit 202 by being driven by a motor (not shown). The camera connection unit 205 is connected to the interface 105 of the camera 100 and executes communication between the camera 100 and the strobe 200.

The strobe control unit 201 communicates with the camera control unit 101 of the camera 100 via the camera connection unit 205. The camera control unit 101 instructs the strobe control unit 201 of the bounce drive angle via the camera connection unit 205. The strobe control unit 201 transmits the received bounce drive angle to the bounce drive control unit 203. The bounce mechanism unit 204 is driven according to the bounce drive angle to change the light emitting direction of the strobe light emitting unit 202. As described above, in the strobe 200 of the present embodiment, the light emitting direction of the strobe light emitting unit 202 is automatically controlled.

Next, the bounce angle calculation method and the bounce shooting will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5. 2 to 4 are views for explaining an example at the time of bounce shooting. FIG. 2 is a front view of an example during bounce shooting, FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of an example during bounce shooting, and FIG. 4 is a top view of an example during bounce shooting. The coordinate axes shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 are coordinate axes for defining a direction in the description using the following figures. The width direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 2) of the shooting location 300 is the X-axis, the depth direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2) is the Y-axis, and the X-axis and the height direction orthogonal to the Y-axis (vertical direction in FIG. 2). ) Is the Z axis. In the following, an example of bouncing strobe light on the ceiling will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be applied to bounce photography using a surface other than the ceiling such as a wall. ..

The shooting location 300 is a space with a ceiling, such as a banquet hall or a hall. The ceiling 301 has a ceiling 302a having a first height and a ceiling 302b having a second height higher than the ceiling 302a having a first height. The virtual ceiling 303 is the same plane as the ceiling 302a having the first height. The bounce surface 305 is an actual bounce surface, which is above the second height 302b in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a bounce shooting process including bounce angle calculation. In the present embodiment, information on the imaging location 300 is stored in the storage unit 106 before the bounce imaging is started. The information of the shooting location 300 includes the height of the ceiling. Further, the information of the photographing location 300 may include the shape of the step of the ceiling / wall / floor and the like, the color and reflectance of the ceiling / wall / floor and the like, the color of the light and the like.

The information of the shooting location 300 may be set in the camera 100 in advance by the photographer or the rental company of the camera 100, or the shooting location 300 may be acquired by shooting a QR code (registered trademark) before bounce shooting. It may be. Further, the photographer operates the touch panel 113, selects a shooting location 300 from the shooting location candidates displayed on the touch panel 113, and the camera control unit 101 stores information stored in the storage unit 106 according to the selection. May be obtained. As described above, the information of the shooting location 300 may be stored in the camera 100 before the bounce shooting is performed.

In step S501, the camera control unit 101 determines whether or not SW1 is ON. The camera control unit 101 determines that SW1 is ON when the release switch 111 is half-pressed. If it is determined that SW1 is on, the process proceeds to step S502. On the other hand, when it is determined that SW1 is OFF, the camera control unit 101 goes into a standby state.

In step S502, the camera control unit 101 detects the position of the camera 100. The camera control unit 101 detects where the camera 100 is in the shooting location 300 by the position detection unit 107. When the position detection of the camera 100 is completed, the process proceeds to step S503.

In step S503, the camera control unit 101 detects the orientation γ of the camera 100. At this time, the camera 100 is aimed at the subject 10. The camera control unit 101 detects where the camera 100 is facing within the shooting location 300 by the orientation detection unit 108. When the orientation detection of the camera 100 is completed, the process proceeds to step S504.

Note that steps S502 and S503 are not limited to this order, and may be carried out from step S503 or may be carried out at the same time. Further, the position and orientation of the camera 100 may be detected in advance outside the flow shown in FIG. When the position and orientation of the camera 100 are acquired in advance, they are stored in the storage unit 106, and in steps S502 to S503, the camera control unit 101 acquires the position information and orientation information of the camera 100 from the storage unit 106.

In step S504, the camera control unit 101 measures the distance L1, which is the subject distance from the camera 100 to the subject 10, by the distance measuring unit 109. When the distance L1 is measured, the process proceeds to step S505.

In step S505, the camera control unit 101 determines the XY coordinates of the bounce point based on the position detection result of step S502, the orientation detection result of step S503, and the distance measurement result of step S504. When the XY coordinates to be bounced are determined, the process proceeds to step S506.

In step S506, the camera control unit 101 reads out from the information of the shooting location 300 stored in advance in the storage unit 106 as the height corresponding to the XY coordinates as the height of the bounce surface according to the XY coordinates determined in step S505. get. In the present embodiment, the height corresponding to the XY coordinates is the height H1 which is the distance in the Z direction to the bounce surface 305 directly above the XY coordinates. Here, it is assumed that the height of the camera 100 from the floor is very small at the shooting location 300, and the height from the floor can be regarded as the height of the camera 100. When the height H1 is read, the process proceeds to step S507.

In step S506, when the position detection unit 107 can detect the height information of the camera 100, the camera control unit 101 subtracts the height of the camera 100 from the height H1 to obtain the value and the distance L1. It may be used to obtain the bounce surface 305. Further, a predetermined height such as a height generally used by the camera 100 may be input to the camera 100 in advance, and the predetermined height may always be subtracted from the height H1. Further, although only the height information is used in this embodiment, other information about the shooting location 300 such as the shape information of the shooting location 300 may be used together with the height information.

In step S507, the camera control unit 101 calculates an appropriate bounce angle θ based on the distance L1 and the height H1. Here, the bounce angle θ is an angle indicating the light irradiation direction of the strobe light emitting unit 202, and the state in which the strobe light emitting unit 202 faces the subject 10 is defined as a bounce angle of 0 degrees. When the bounce angle θ is calculated, the process proceeds to step S508.

In step S508, the camera control unit 101 controls the strobe 200 so that the bounce shooting can be executed at the bounce angle θ. Specifically, the camera control unit 101 transmits the calculated bounce angle θ to the strobe control unit 201. The strobe control unit 201 transmits the received bounce angle θ to the bounce drive control unit 203. Then, the bounce drive control unit 203 is automatically set so that the bounce mechanism unit 204 is driven according to the bounce angle θ and the light emitting direction of the strobe light emitting unit 202 is the calculated bounce angle θ. When the light emitting direction of the strobe light emitting unit 202 is set, the process proceeds to step S509.

In step S509, the camera control unit 101 determines whether or not SW2 is ON. The camera control unit 101 determines that SW2 is ON when the release switch 111 is fully pressed. If it is determined that SW2 is on, the process proceeds to step S510. On the other hand, if it is determined that SW2 is off, the process proceeds to step S511.

In step S511, the camera control unit 101 determines whether or not SW1 is on. If it is determined that SW1 is on, the camera control unit 101 returns to the process of step S509. On the other hand, if it is determined that SW1 is off, the camera control unit 101 returns to the process of step S501.

In step S510, the camera control unit 101 executes bounce shooting. In the bounce shooting, the strobe 200 emits a main light, the exposure process is performed according to a predetermined exposure value (Av, Tv, ISO, etc.), and the shooting is executed. When the bounce shooting is executed, an electric signal (analog signal) is output from the image sensor of the image pickup unit 103, and the process proceeds to step S512.

In step S512, the camera control unit 101 performs post-processing of shooting. Post-processing of photographing is processing such as development processing of an electric signal (analog signal) via the image processing unit 104, various image processing, and image recording. When step S512 is completed, the shooting is finished.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the bounce shooting is performed, the information of the shooting location 300 acquired in advance, the position information and the orientation information of the camera 100, and the distance measurement result between the camera 100 and the subject 10 are obtained. Based on this, the bounce angle θ is calculated. Therefore, the bounce angle according to the shape of the imaging location 300 can be calculated without measuring the distance of the bounce surface by the preliminary light emission. Therefore, the subject 10 can be appropriately irradiated even when the bounce shooting is performed using the ceiling or the wall having a complicated shape.

(Other Examples)
The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and one or more processors in the computer of the system or device reads and executes the program. It can also be realized by the processing to be performed. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and modifications can be made within the scope of the gist thereof.

100 Camera 101 Camera control unit 105 Interface 106 Storage means 107 Position detection means 108 Direction detection means 109 Distance measurement means 200 Strobe 201 Strobe control unit 202 Strobe light emitting unit 203 Bounce drive control unit 204 Bounce mechanism unit 205 Camera connection unit

Claims (8)

An imaging device with or equipped with a light emitting device.
A storage means that stores information on the shooting location in advance,
A position detecting means for detecting the position information of the image pickup apparatus and
An orientation detecting means for detecting the orientation information of the image pickup apparatus and
A distance measuring means for calculating the distance information from the image pickup device to the subject, and
The light emitting device includes a control means for controlling a light emitting unit having a variable light irradiation direction.
At the time of bounce shooting in which the light emitted from the light emitting unit is reflected by the bounce surface to illuminate the subject and the subject is shot, the control means includes information on the shooting location, position information on the imaging device, and the imaging device. The imaging device is characterized in that the irradiation direction of the light of the light emitting unit is calculated based on the direction information of the light emitting unit and the distance information from the imaging device to the subject, and the light emitting unit is controlled based on the calculated irradiation direction. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the control means calculates the irradiation direction of the light as a bounce angle which is an inclination of the light emitting unit with respect to the subject. The control means calculates the coordinates corresponding to the bounce surface based on the position information of the imaging device, the orientation information of the imaging device, and the distance information from the imaging device to the subject, and the coordinates from the information of the shooting location. The height information according to the above is acquired as the height of the bounce surface, and the irradiation direction of the light is calculated based on the distance information from the image pickup apparatus to the subject and the height of the bounce surface. The imaging device according to 1 or 2. The imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the storage means stores information on the height of the ceiling of the imaging location as information on the imaging location. The imaging device according to claim 4, wherein the storage means includes, as information on the photographing location, any one of the shape or reflectance of a ceiling, a wall, or a floor. An imaging system including a light emitting device having a light emitting unit having a variable light irradiation direction and an imaging device incorporating or mounting the light emitting device.
A storage means that stores information on the shooting location in advance,
A position detecting means for detecting the position information of the image pickup apparatus and
An orientation detecting means for detecting the orientation information of the image pickup apparatus and
A distance measuring means for calculating the distance information from the image pickup device to the subject, and
A control means for controlling the light emitting unit is provided.
At the time of bounce shooting in which the light emitted from the light emitting unit is reflected by the bounce surface to illuminate the subject for shooting, the control means includes information on the shooting location, position information on the imaging device, and the imaging device. An imaging system characterized in that the irradiation direction of light of the light emitting unit is calculated based on the direction information of the light emitting unit and the distance information from the imaging device to the subject, and the light emitting unit is controlled based on the calculated irradiation direction. A control method for an image pickup device that incorporates or mounts a light emitting device that has the light emitting part in bounce shooting in which light emitted from a light emitting unit whose light irradiation direction is variable is reflected by a bounce surface to illuminate the subject. There,
The process of storing information on the shooting location in advance and
The process of detecting the position information of the imaging device and
The process of detecting the orientation information of the imaging device and
The process of calculating the distance information from the image pickup device to the subject, and
A step of calculating the light irradiation direction of the light emitting unit based on the information of the photographing location, the position information of the imaging device, the orientation information of the imaging device, and the distance information from the imaging device to the subject.
A control method comprising a step of controlling a light emitting unit according to the calculated irradiation direction. A program for operating a computer as each means of the imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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