JP2952182B2 - Imaging device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus, and more particularly to an image pickup apparatus having a plurality of image pickup sections provided with a zoom function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When recording various images, there is a demand for recording images as both moving images and still images.
At this time, a video camera is required to record a moving image, and a still camera is required to record a still image, and both the video camera and the still camera must be carried, which is bothersome. In response to this dissatisfaction, a still camera-integrated video camera in which a video camera and a still camera are integrated has been considered.

On the other hand, when recording an image, it is desirable to capture the image more effectively by enlarging or reducing the angle of view of the subject, and it is conceivable to attach a zoom lens to a still camera integrated video camera. ing.

[0004]

However, when a zoom lens is mounted on each of a still camera and a video camera of a video camera integrated with a still camera, images are taken at different angles of view for adjusting the zoom magnification. Therefore, there is a problem that the operation of the zoom lens becomes complicated.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an imaging device capable of performing a zoom operation easily and reliably.

[0006]

Claim 1 of the present invention, in order to solve the problems], in an imaging device having a plurality of imaging units which zoom function is provided, a zoom magnification setting means for setting a zoom magnification of the zoom function, a plurality of imaging a plurality of imaging unit's a part of the zoom function's over beam ratio set by the zoom magnification setting means
And zoom magnification control means for controlling in conjunction with over-time magnification, double
Displays images and information of the scene captured by the number of imaging units.
Display means to be shown, and one of the plurality of imaging units.
When the magnification exceeds the control range, the magnification
Display the same screen, and display the screen
And display control means for controlling the display on the display means.
Have .

A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of imaging units are housed in the same housing, and the zoom magnification setting means is shared by the zoom functions of the plurality of imaging units. According to a third aspect of the present invention, when the zoom function used for imaging has a zoom magnification that overlaps in a partial range, the control unit controls the zoom function to one zoom magnification set by the zoom magnification setting unit in the overlapping range. And

[0008] Claim 4 is made so as to display on the display means information that can recognize the zoom magnification of the plurality of imaging units in accordance with the zoom magnification of the plurality of imaging units by the display control unit.

[0009]

According to claim 1 of the present invention, a zoom magnification setting means a plurality of zoom magnification zoom <br/> beam magnification setting of the zoom function of the imaging unit used in the imaging by setting a zoom magnification by Since the zoom magnification is controlled by the means, it is not necessary to adjust the zoom magnification in each of the plurality of imaging units, and one of the plurality of imaging units
When the magnification of the unit exceeds the control range, the magnification of one imaging unit
Is displayed, and the screen of the other imaging unit is displayed on the display screen.
By displaying the range, one display means
You can easily recognize the magnification of multiple imaging units just by looking at
Swell .

According to the second aspect, the plurality of imaging units are housed in the same housing, and the zoom magnification setting means is shared by the plurality of imaging units, so that the zoom operation of the plurality of imaging units can be set to a single zoom magnification setting. The zoom operation can be easily performed. According to the third aspect, the zoom magnification of the plurality of imaging units is controlled to the zoom magnification set by the zoom magnification setting unit in a range where the zoom magnifications of the plurality of imaging units overlap, and the range of the zoom magnification does not overlap. By controlling the zoom magnification of the imaging unit in which the zoom magnification is variable in the range, a zoom operation that makes full use of the zoom function of each imaging unit can be performed.

According to the fourth aspect, a plurality of image pickup units can be recognized simply by looking at the display unit by displaying the information for recognizing the zoom magnification of the plurality of image pickup units on the display unit for displaying the scenes of the plurality of image pickup units. Since the zoom magnification of the unit can be easily known, the zoom operation can be performed easily and reliably.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A still camera-integrated video camera will be described as an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a still camera integrated video camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. Still Camera Integrated Video Camera 1 of Embodiment 1
Is a single housing (not shown) including a still camera unit 4 that captures a still image of the subject 2 and records it on the film 3 and a video camera unit 6 that captures a moving image of the subject 2 and records it on the magnetic tape 5. And a still image and a moving image of substantially the same subject 2 can be recorded.

First, the still camera section 4 will be described. In the still camera unit 4, an image of the subject 2 is incident on a shutter 9 via a zoom lens 7 and a diaphragm 8. At the time of imaging, the shutter 9 is released by operating the shutter button 10, an image of the subject 2 is formed on the film 3, and an image of the subject 2 is recorded on the film 3.

A zoom drive unit 11 and a focus drive unit 12 are connected to the zoom lens 7, and the zoom drive unit 11 controls the zoom magnification.
2 performs focus control. Zoom drive unit 1
1 is connected to the still camera zoom control unit 13,
It is driven according to a drive signal from the still camera zoom control unit 13 to control the zoom magnification. The still camera zoom control unit 13 is connected to the control unit 14 and generates a drive signal to be supplied to the zoom drive unit 11 according to the zoom information supplied from the control unit 14.

A zoom operation unit 15 is connected to the control unit 14, and a zoom control function described later operates according to a zoom magnification setting operation by the zoom operation unit 15 to generate zoom information. Supply. The focus drive unit 12 is connected to the control unit 14 and drives the zoom lens 7 according to a focus control signal supplied from the control unit 14 to perform focus control.

An aperture driving unit 17 is coupled to the aperture 8, and the aperture driving unit 17 drives the aperture 8 according to an aperture control signal supplied from the control unit 14 to control the amount of light incident on the film 3. . Further, a shutter drive unit 18 is coupled to the shutter 9, and controls the release of the shutter 9 according to a shutter control signal supplied from the control unit 14.

The control section 14 is connected to a measurement section 16 for measuring the brightness of the subject 2 and the distance to the subject 2. The measurement section 16 provides information on the brightness of the subject 2 and information on the distance to the subject 2. Is supplied. The control unit 14 generates an aperture control signal and a shutter control signal so as to optimize the amount of light from the subject 2 incident on the film 3 according to the information on the brightness of the subject 2 supplied from the measurement unit 16, and drives the aperture. By supplying them to the section 17 and the shutter drive section 18, the exposure amount and the exposure time of the film 3 are controlled, and so-called exposure control is performed.

The control unit 14 generates a focus control signal so that an image of the subject 2 is formed on the film 3 in accordance with the information on the distance to the subject 2 supplied from the measuring unit 16, and a focus driving unit. When the zoom lens 7 is supplied to the zoom lens 12, the zoom lens 7 is driven to control the position of the zoom lens 7, and so-called focus control is performed. Next, the video camera unit 6 will be described.

The video camera section 6 converts the image of the subject 2 through a zoom lens 19 and an aperture 20 into a CCD (Charge).
e Coupled Device) is supplied to a video signal processing unit 21 or the like, converted into an electric signal, and superimposed on the sound around the subject captured by the microphone 23 by the recording / reproducing processing unit 22, and attached to the rotating drum 24. The recording is performed on the magnetic tape 5 by the magnetic head 25 using, for example, the 8 mm video system or the VHS system.

The zoom lens 19 is connected to a zoom drive unit 26 for moving the lens to control the zoom magnification of the subject 2 and a focus drive unit 27 for moving the lens to control the focus of the subject 2. The zoom drive unit 26 is connected to the video camera zoom control unit 28, and moves the lens according to a zoom drive signal supplied from the video camera zoom control unit 28.

The video camera zoom control unit 28 includes the control unit 1
4 to generate a zoom drive signal in accordance with the zoom information supplied from the control unit 14,
6 Further, the focus driving unit 27 includes the control unit 1
The zoom lens 7 is connected to the zoom lens 4 and performs focus control by moving the lens of the zoom lens 7 according to a focus control signal (AF signal) supplied from the control unit 14.

The control unit 14 generates zoom information according to a set zoom magnification set by a zoom magnification setting operation by a zoom operation unit 15 by a zoom control function described later,
It is supplied to the video camera zoom controller 28. Further, the control unit 14 generates a focus control signal according to the information on the distance to the subject 2 supplied from the measurement unit 16 and supplies the focus control signal to the focus drive unit 27.

An iris drive unit 29 is coupled to the iris 20, and the iris drive unit 29 controls the amount of iris of the iris 20 according to an iris control signal (AE signal) supplied from the control unit 14, and To control the amount of incident light. The control unit 14 generates an aperture control signal according to the information on the brightness of the subject 2 supplied from the measurement unit 16, supplies the generated aperture control signal to the aperture drive unit 29,
The video signal processing unit 21 controls the amount of light supplied to a CCD or the like that converts light into an electric signal, and performs so-called exposure control.

The camera signal converted by the camera signal processing unit 21 is supplied to the video signal processing unit 22 via the character insertion unit 30. The camera signal supplied to the video signal processing unit 22 is superimposed on the recording audio signal converted into an electric signal by the microphone 23 in the video signal processing unit 22 and modulated so as to be easily recorded on a magnetic tape. Supplied to

The magnetic head 25 is mounted on the rotating drum 24 and scans the running magnetic tape 5 to magnetically record signals on the magnetic tape 5. Character insertion unit 30
Is a character generation circuit 30a for generating an insertion character according to information from the control unit 14, and insertion circuits 30b, 30c, 30 for inserting the insertion character generated by the character generation circuit 30a into a signal.
d. The insertion circuit 30b is provided between the camera signal processing unit 21 and the video signal processing unit 22,
Information to be recorded by the VTR such as time is inserted. The insertion circuit 30c is provided between the video signal processing unit 22 and the output terminal T _OUT , and inserts information indicating a VTR mode such as PLAY, REC, or the like. The insertion circuit 30d is the viewfinder 3
1 is provided on the input side, and inserts information such as cautionary information such as no freezing tape, remaining battery power, zoom magnification, and still camera image frame.

The viewfinder 31 is composed of a small liquid crystal display panel or the like, and has a zoom magnification and a field angle of the still camera unit 4 inserted into the image corresponding to the video signal supplied from the camera signal processing unit 22 by the insertion circuit 30d. A frame or the like is superimposed and displayed. During reproduction, the video signal processing section 22 demodulates the video and audio signals read from the magnetic tape 5 by the magnetic head 25 and outputs the signals from the output terminal Tout.
At this time, a playback video signal is supplied from the video signal processing unit 22 to the viewfinder 31, and a playback image is displayed.

Further, a camera operation unit 32 is connected to the control unit 14. The camera operation unit 32 includes a video camera switch for controlling on / off of the video camera unit 6, a still camera switch for controlling on / off of the still camera unit 4, recording / reproduction, stop, fast forward, and winding of the video camera unit 6. Switches for controlling operations such as return are provided. The control unit 14 performs recording / reproduction of the video camera unit 6 and the still camera unit 4 in accordance with an operation of the camera operation unit 32 in addition to a zoom control process described later. It controls operations such as / stop / fast forward / rewind.

Here, the image pickup device used in the video camera section 6 is a CCD (Charge Coupled De).
and the size is currently 1/3 inch
And 1/4 inch are the mainstream. The mainstream of the film 5 used in the still camera unit 4 is 35 mm. This affects the size of the lens. That is, the lens diameter of the video camera lens unit 6 can be smaller than that of the still camera lens unit 4. If the video camera lens unit 6 is designed to have the same shape, the video camera lens unit can be configured to be smaller. If the zoom lens attached to the camera lens unit 4 has a double zoom of 35 to 70 mm, the video camera unit 6 can have a triple zoom of 35 to 105 mm.

For this reason, an area (70-105 mm) different from an area (35-70 mm) where the zoom magnification can be matched between the still camera section 4 and the video camera section 6.
Occurs. Next, the zoom control function of the control unit will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 shows an operation flowchart of the zoom control function of the control unit 14.

The control unit 14 is a zoom operation unit 15 is operated, the zoom magnification is set to activate the zoom control function (step S1 _-1). When the zoom control function is activated, the control unit 14 next determines whether both the video camera unit 6 and the still camera unit 4 are on (step _S1-2 ).
The control unit 14 step S1 _-2 video camera unit 6 and the still camera unit 4 and the zoom magnification is still camera unit 4, which is then set by the zoom operation unit 15 when operating together in
Determines whether the zoom range of the zoom lens 7 (step S1 _-3).

[0031] Within the zoom range of the set zoom magnification zoom operation unit 15 is a zoom function of the still camera unit 4 in step S1 _-3, the zoom lens 7, 19 of the video camera unit 6 and the still camera unit 4 Both zoom operation unit 15
Zoom drive unit 1 so that the zoom magnification set in
Controlling the 1,26 (step S1 _-4). At this time, the control unit 14 controls the character insertion unit 30 to
The viewfinder 3 changes the zoom magnification set by
1 is displayed at a predetermined position (step _S1-5 ).

Further, in step S1 _-3, zoom operation unit 1
The set zoom magnification set by 5 is the still camera unit 4
Is out of the range of the zoom magnification of the zoom lens 7, the control unit 14 controls the zoom lens 19 of the video camera unit 6.
The zoom lens driving unit 26 is controlled so that the zoom magnification of the zoom operation unit 15 becomes the set zoom magnification set by the zoom operation unit 15,
The zoom lens driving unit 11 is controlled so that the zoom magnification of the zoom lens 7 of the still camera unit 4 is fixed to the maximum zoom magnification of the zoom lens 7 of the still camera unit 4 (step _S1-6 ).

At this time, the control unit 14 reduces the angle of view frame displayed on the viewfinder 31 according to the set zoom magnification and sets the maximum zoom magnification of the zoom lens 7 of the still camera unit 4 to a predetermined position on the viewfinder 31. It is displayed (steps _S1-7 , _S1-5 ). Step _S1-2
If both the video camera unit 6 and the still camera unit 4 are not on, the control unit 14 next determines whether or not the still camera unit 4 is off (step _S1-8 ).

If the control unit determines in step _S1-8 that the still camera unit 4 is not turned off,
It is determined that only the camera is operating and the zoom magnification of the zoom lens 7 of the still camera unit 4 is changed to the zoom operation unit 15.
The zoom information is supplied to the zoom lens control unit 13 so that the set zoom magnification set in step (1) is reached (step S).
_1-9 ).

At this time, the zoom magnification set by the zoom operation unit 15 is limited to the range of the zoom magnification of the zoom lens 7 of the still camera unit 4. Control unit 1
If it is determined in step _S1-8 that the still camera unit 4 is off, then it is determined whether the video camera unit 6 is off (step _S1-10 ).

When the control unit 14 determines in step _S1-10 that the video camera unit 6 is not off, it determines that only the video camera unit 6 is operating, and the zoom lens 19 of the video camera unit 6 performs zooming. The video camera zoom control unit 28 is controlled so that the magnification becomes the set zoom magnification set by the zoom operation unit 15 (step S).
1 _{-1 1).}

If it is determined in step _S1-10 that the video camera unit 6 is off, the zoom control process is terminated because both the still camera unit 4 and the video camera unit 6 can be determined to be off. FIG. 3 shows a display example of the viewfinder 31. The viewfinder 31 normally displays an image captured by the video camera unit 6 on the entire screen. When the still camera unit 4 operates, the angle of view indicates the angle of view of the still camera unit 4 as indicated by a broken line in FIG. A frame is displayed, and the imaging range of the still camera unit 4 can be easily grasped.

An area for displaying the zoom magnification of the still camera unit 4 is provided at the lower part of the screen.
The zoom magnification corresponding to the zoom magnification set in is displayed. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the still camera unit 4
When the zoom operation is performed while both the video camera unit 6 and the video camera unit 6 are operating, the zoom lenses 11 and 26 of the still camera unit 4 and the video camera unit 6 are controlled at the same zoom magnification. There is no need to perform this, and operability is improved.

A view angle frame 31a dedicated to the still camera unit 4 is provided on the viewfinder 31 in the direction of arrows A to D according to the ratio between the set zoom magnification and the maximum zoom magnification of the zoom lens 7 of the still camera unit 4. Since the image is reduced and the zoom magnification of the still camera unit 4 is displayed, the imaging state of the still camera unit 4 can be intuitively grasped even when the video camera unit 6 is operated. Therefore, the operability of both the video camera unit 6 and the still camera unit 4 can be improved.

[0040]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the zoom functions of a plurality of imaging units can be unified with the zoom magnification set by the zoom magnification setting means, so that the zoom magnification is adjusted in each imaging unit. It is not necessary to perform the zoom operation easily, and one of the multiple
When the magnification of the unit exceeds the control range, the magnification of one imaging unit
Is displayed, and the screen of the other imaging unit is displayed on the display screen.
By displaying the range, one display means
You can easily recognize the magnification of multiple imaging units just by looking at
It has features such as swelling. According to the second aspect, the plurality of imaging units are housed in the same housing, and the zoom operation of the plurality of imaging units is performed by the single zoom magnification setting unit by sharing the zoom magnification setting unit with the plurality of imaging units. Therefore, it has features such as easy zoom operation.

According to the third aspect, since the control can be performed within the range of the zoom function of each imaging unit even when the range of the zoom function of the plurality of imaging units is different, the zoom function of each imaging unit is sufficiently provided. It has features such as being able to perform the generated zoom operation. According to the fourth aspect, by displaying information for recognizing the zoom magnifications of the plurality of imaging units on the display means for displaying the scenes of the plurality of imaging units, the user can easily set the zoom magnifications of the plurality of imaging units. Therefore, the zoom operation can be performed easily and reliably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of a zoom control function of a control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a viewfinder according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 video camera with integrated still camera 2 subject 3 film 4 still camera section 5 magnetic tape 6 video camera section 7 lens with zoom function

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-5-181070 (JP, A) JP-A-1-130114 (JP, A) JP-A-2-193132 (JP, A) JP-A-63-195614 (JP) JP-A-6-308603 (JP, A) JP-A-3-98030 (JP, A) JP-A-64-6913 (JP, A) JP-A-8-6138 (JP, A) 2-7027 (JP, A) JP-A-6-258712 (JP, A) JP-A-7-295035 (JP, A) JP-A-1-71272 (JP, A) JP-A-5-150297 (JP, A A) JP-A-8-43917 (JP, A) JP-A-4-3412 (JP, U) JP-B-31-4877 (JP, B1) JP-B-33-7844 (JP, B1) (58) Survey Field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G02B 7/02-7/16 G03B 17/18

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An imaging apparatus having a plurality of imaging units provided with a zoom function, wherein: a zoom magnification setting unit configured to set a zoom magnification of the zoom function; and the zoom function of the plurality of imaging units is set to the zoom magnification setting. wherein the plurality of imaging unit's over beam ratio set by means
And zoom magnification control means for controlling conjunction with the zoom magnification of the image and information of the object scene that is imaged by the plurality of imaging units
Display means for displaying information, and the magnification of one of the plurality of image pickup units is within a control range.
Is exceeded, a screen corresponding to the magnification of the one imaging unit is displayed.
And displaying the range of the screen of another imaging unit on the display screen.
And a display control means for controlling the image to be displayed on the means . 2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of imaging units are housed in the same housing, and the zoom magnification setting unit is shared by a zoom function of the plurality of imaging units. 3. The control unit according to claim 2, wherein the zoom function of the plurality of imaging units has a zoom magnification that overlaps in a partial range.
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the zoom magnification is set to the zoom magnification set by the zoom magnification setting unit in a range where the zoom magnifications overlap. 4. The method of claim 1, prior SL; and a display control means having a plurality of information that can recognize the zoom magnification of the plurality of imaging units in accordance with the zoom magnification of the imaging unit is displayed on the display means 4. The imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.