JP3475950B2 - Imaging device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention classifies images into several types in association with shooting conditions such as the condition of a subject and the focal length of a shooting lens, and sets the type of image to be shot as shooting conditions. The present invention relates to an imaging device that makes a determination based on the above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Scenes to be photographed are classified into several types, and variable photographing conditions such as a shutter speed and an F number of a photographing lens are set for each scene, depending on the scene designated by a user. A camera that sets shooting conditions and shoots has been put into practical use. For example, in a scene where the subject is stationary and a scene where the subject is playing sports,
The combination of the shutter speed and the F number is different so that the scene in which sports is performed has a higher shutter speed. An image with proper exposure can be obtained when shooting either scene, but if a sports scene is specified, a faster shutter speed is adopted, and the blurring of the subject appearing in the obtained image can be reduced. In this way, if the user specifies the scene and the shooting conditions are set according to the specified scene,
It is easy to obtain the image intended by the user.

In recent years, the camera itself has been made to discriminate the scene to be photographed (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-
161174). Many cameras have a function of automatic focus adjustment (AF) that automatically adjusts the focus of the shooting lens to the subject. Using this function, the movement of the subject is detected, and the scene is still. It is possible to determine whether or not the scene is sports.

Further, even in a scene in which the subject is still, is the user trying to take a clear snapshot of both the subject and the background due to the relationship between the distance to the subject and the focal length of the taking lens? It is also possible to determine whether or not a portrait with a blurred background is being photographed, and a camera that performs such determination has been proposed. In this case, the scene, that is, the state of the subject to be photographed is determined from the setting state of the camera. Strictly speaking, the image obtained by photographing is classified into a plurality of types in association with various photographing conditions. Will be determined based on the actual shooting conditions. However, since the discrimination of the image type is often the discrimination of the scene, the expression "discrimination of the scene" is used in the meaning including the discrimination of the image type.

It should be noted that the shooting conditions used for determining the type of image are different from the shooting conditions set according to the determination result, and the former is set by the user. The shooting condition used to determine the image type is, for example, the focal length of the shooting lens, and the shooting condition set according to the determination result is, for example, the shutter speed.

Generally, the determination of the image type by the camera is performed at the end of automatic focus adjustment. The discrimination result is displayed on the display unit provided in the camera, and the user can also confirm the type of the image discriminated by the camera. In this way, if the camera itself determines the type of image,
The user can obtain the intended image more easily.
Even if the user does not have any particular intention, an image appropriately expressed according to the content, such as a portrait with a softly blurred background and a sports photograph without blur, can be obtained.

[0007]

However, in the conventional camera, the type of the image is discriminated only once, and after the discrimination is made once, for example, the start of the automatic focus adjustment is instructed again. Until, it does not discriminate. That is, even if the shooting condition such as the focal length of the shooting lens changes after the type of image is determined, the shooting control is performed based on the determined type of image. For this reason, the type of image at the time of actual shooting may not match the determined type of image, and a situation may occur in which an appropriate image cannot be obtained. The display of the discriminated image type is not updated after it is once displayed, and the user cannot know that the image type at the time of shooting does not match the discriminated image type.

Therefore, the user should always be aware that the image type may change in accordance with the change of the photographing conditions, and if the image type may change, he / she may make his / her own judgment. You have to specify the image type. For this reason, the significance of making the camera discriminate the type of image is halved, which is not always convenient.

The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and provides an image pickup apparatus capable of always accurately and accurately discriminating an image type and notifying a user of a change in the image type. The purpose is to

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, images are classified into a plurality of types in association with shooting conditions, and the types of images to be shot are based on the shooting conditions. The discriminating imaging device includes a detecting unit that detects a photographing condition, a discriminating unit that discriminates an image type based on the photographing condition detected by the detecting unit, and a display that displays information indicating the image type discriminated by the discriminating unit. Means, a discrimination control means for detecting a change in the photographing condition detected by the detecting means, and for making the discriminating means discriminate the image type again according to the detection result, and the discriminating means discriminates the image type again. When the type of image that has been determined up to now and the type of image that has been newly determined are different, the first type that indicates the type of image that has been determined up to now
And the second information indicating the newly discriminated image type are displayed on the display means, and after a predetermined time, only the second information is displayed on the display means.

In this image pickup apparatus, even after the type of image is discriminated, the type of image can be discriminated again when the photographing conditions change. Therefore, it is possible to flexibly deal with the change in the type of the image due to the change in the photographing condition, and the image pickup apparatus can accurately determine the type of the image. The determined new image type often coincides with the image type determined by the user, and thus the need for the user to specify the image type is greatly reduced.

Moreover, when the image type is determined again, information indicating both the type of image determined up to that time and the type of image newly determined is displayed, so that the user can make a new determination. It is possible to know the type of image and how the type of image has changed. further,
Since only the information indicating the new image type is displayed after the predetermined time, there is no inconvenience that the old information that is likely to be useless is displayed forever and the display becomes complicated. Also,
If the determined new image type does not match the image type determined by the user, for example, if the image type before re-determination matches the user's determination, the user displays You can also know it and specify the image type.

Here, it is preferable that the display means blinks the second information when displaying the first information and the second information. It becomes clear which of the displayed information indicates the newly discriminated image type.

Further, the display means may display the first information and the second information in different colors when displaying the first information and the second information. Even in this case, it becomes clear which information indicates the newly discriminated image type.

The information displayed by the display means may be the name of the image type. The type of image is easy for the user to understand.

The information displayed by the display means may be a symbol whose position is determined so as to correspond to the type of image. By doing so, the area required for display can be made smaller than in the case of displaying the name.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A digital camera 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the digital camera 1 and FIG.
Is schematically shown in the rear view of FIG. The digital camera 1 includes a taking lens 10, a flash unit 11 and a front window 12a of a finder on the front surface, a release button 13 on the upper surface, and a liquid crystal panel 1.
4 and operation keys 15a, 15b, 16a, 16b, a large liquid crystal panel 17 on the back, operation keys 18a, 18b,
18c, a rear window 12b of the finder, a recording medium insertion port 19 on the side surface, and an image sensor 20 inside.

The digital camera 1 forms an image of light from a subject to be photographed on the image pickup device 20 by the photographing lens 10,
An image is captured by exposing the image sensor 20 and generating image data representing an image from a signal output from the image sensor 20. The image pickup element 20 is a CCD type element having a large number of pixels arranged two-dimensionally, and outputs a signal representing the accumulated charge by performing photoelectric conversion for each pixel. The output signal of each pixel becomes a signal indicating the amount of light received from each point of the image capturing target, and after digitization, various processes are performed to obtain image data representing the captured image. Red (R) for pixels
A color filter that selectively transmits light, green (G) light, or blue (B) light is provided, and all pixels are classified into three types for R light, G light, and B light. To be done.

The generated image data is recorded on the recording medium M inserted in the insertion slot 19, and the image represented by the image data is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 17. The process of capturing an image, that is, the exposure of the image sensor 20 to the generation of image data is repeated at a substantially constant cycle, and the image data is recorded on the recording medium M in accordance with an instruction given during that period. Recording medium M
The image represented by the image data is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 17 even when the image is not recorded in, and thereby a live view is provided. The instruction to record the image data is given by operating the release button 13.

It is also possible to read the image data recorded on the recording medium M and reproduce and display the image on the liquid crystal panel 17. Image shooting and image playback display can be switched by operating the operation key 16a.

The taking lens 10 is a zoom lens having a variable focal length. The focal length of the taking lens 10 is changed to the long focus side by operating the operation key 15a and is changed to the short focus side by operating the operation key 15b.

The photographic lens 10 is provided with a diaphragm (not shown) with a variable aperture, and the exposure of the image sensor 20 is performed by adjusting the aperture of the diaphragm and adjusting the photoelectric conversion time of the image sensor 20, that is, the shutter speed. , Controlled. In the digital camera 1, there are three types of exposure control of the image sensor 20, namely, aperture priority control, shutter speed priority control, and program control.

In the aperture priority control, the aperture diameter is set so that the F number is designated by the user, and the shutter speed is adjusted according to the brightness of the object to be photographed. In the shutter speed priority control, the photoelectric conversion time of the image sensor 20 is set so that the shutter speed specified by the user is set, and the aperture diameter is adjusted according to the brightness of the object to be photographed. In program control,
Both the aperture diameter and the photoelectric conversion time of the image sensor are adjusted so that the F number and the shutter speed are predetermined according to the brightness of the object to be photographed. The exposure control is switched and the F number or the shutter speed is designated by operating the operation key 16b. The brightness of the imaging target is obtained from the intensity of the output signal of the image sensor 20.

The digital camera 1 has a function of automatic focus adjustment for automatically focusing the photographing lens 10 on a subject which is a main subject to be photographed. The automatic focus adjustment is performed by obtaining the defocus amount, which is the distance between the subject image and the image sensor 20, by the phase difference detection method, and setting the focus of the taking lens 10 at the position where the defocus amount becomes zero. Note that another method, for example, while detecting the contrast of the image on the image sensor 20, the focus of the photographing lens 10 is changed in a direction in which the contrast of the portion corresponding to the subject is increased, and the focus is gradually adjusted to the subject. Automatic focus adjustment may be performed by a hill climbing servo system.

The release button 13 generates a first signal (referred to as a signal S1) when it is pressed halfway, and further generates a second signal (referred to as a signal S2) when it is pressed fully. The signal S1 instructs the start of automatic focus adjustment and the detection of the brightness of the photographing target, and the signal S2 instructs the recording of the image data.

The liquid crystal panel 14 displays the setting status of the digital camera 1, operation guidance and the like. Operation keys 18a-18c
Is used for discriminating and designating an image type, which will be described later.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic circuit configuration of the digital camera 1.
Is schematically shown in. The digital camera 1 includes an A / D converter 21, a white balance adjustment unit 22, a γ correction unit 23,
Color interpolation unit 24, color correction unit 25, display image generation unit 26, aperture control / coring unit 27, compression unit 2
8 and a recording unit 29. These control the generation and recording of image data and the display of images.

The A / D converter 21 converts the analog output signal of the image pickup device 20 into a digital signal,
The white balance adjustment unit 22 individually adjusts the levels of the signals of the R, G, and B color components to adjust the white balance. The γ correction unit 23 performs a non-linearization process on the signal so as to be suitable for display, and the color interpolation unit 24 causes R, G, or B to be missing at each pixel position of the image sensor 20.
The signal of the color component of is generated by the interpolation processing. Color correction unit 2
Reference numeral 4 individually adjusts the signal levels of the R, G, and B color components to correct the color of the image after the white balance has been adjusted.

The display image generation unit 26 extracts signals at a predetermined ratio from the entire signals so as to be suitable for the liquid crystal panel 17 having a smaller number of pixels than the image pickup device 20, and outputs image data to the liquid crystal panel 17 for display. To generate. The aperture control / coring unit 27 performs edge enhancement / softening processing on the image data to be recorded and adjusts the noise level. The compression unit 28 is a JPE
The image data is compressed according to the G method, and the recording unit 29 controls input / output of the recording medium M. It should be noted that when reproducing and displaying the image, the compression unit 28 reproduces the original image data by performing reverse compression processing on the image data read from the recording medium M by the recording unit 29.

The digital camera 1 includes a control unit 30, a lens drive / detection unit 32, and a finder display unit 33. The control unit 30 is composed of a CPU and controls the overall operation of the digital camera 1. In addition to the release button 13, the control unit 30 includes keys 15a, 15b, 16a, 16
It is connected to an operation key group 31 including b, 18a to 18c, and controls according to those operations. Lens drive /
The detection unit 32 adjusts the focal length, the focus, and the diaphragm of the taking lens 10 and detects the setting states thereof. The viewfinder display section 33 has a front window 12a of the viewfinder.
And information is displayed in the peripheral portion of the optical image observed through the rear window 12b and the rear window 12b.

The digital camera 1 has a function of discriminating which of a plurality of types the images to be photographed correspond to the photographing conditions classified in advance based on the photographing conditions. The types of images are classified in association with not only the scene to be photographed, that is, the state of the subject to be photographed, but also photographing conditions including variable conditions of the digital camera 1 itself.
FIG. 4 shows the correspondence relationship between the classified image types and the shooting conditions used for the discrimination. There are six types of images: "portrait", "sports", "landscape", "sunset", "nightscape", and "snap". In addition, the shooting conditions used to determine the type of image, that is, the shooting conditions associated with the type of image, are the shooting magnification, the focal length of the shooting lens 10, the brightness of the subject, the type of the light source, the moving / static state of the subject. 5 conditions.

It is also possible for the user to specify the type of image, and the user can also judge which of the above six types the image is, and input it to the digital camera 1. That is, the digital camera 1 has an automatic discrimination mode in which the digital camera 1 itself automatically discriminates the image type and a manual designation mode in which the user designates the image type. These modes are operation keys. It is switched by the operation of 18a. Operation key 1 in manual designation mode
The type of image to be designated is switched by the operations of 8b and 18c.

At the time of photographing an image, the control of the operation is changed according to the discriminated or designated image type. This is to provide an image that is appropriately expressed according to the content represented by the image. FIG. 4 also shows the correspondence relationship between the types of images and the controlled contents. What is controlled is
Exposure of the image sensor 20, flash emission by the flash unit 11, γ correction by the γ correction unit 23, image sharpness and noise level by the aperture control / coring unit 27, and color correction by the color correction unit 25.

The discrimination of the image type in the automatic discrimination mode is
This is performed at the end of automatic focus adjustment, that is, at the time when the photographic lens 10 is focused on the subject. Therefore, the image type is determined every time the release button 13 is pressed halfway and the signal S1 is generated. However, in the digital camera 1, even after the type of image is discriminated at the end of automatic focus adjustment, when the photographing condition changes, the type of image is discriminated again according to the change.

As shown in FIG. 3, the digital camera 1 is
A color balance detection unit 41, a brightness detection unit 42, a focal length detection unit 43, a subject distance detection unit 44, an image type determination unit 45, a condition change determination unit 46, a timer 47, and A threshold setting unit 48 is provided.

The color balance detector 41 detects the color balance of the image on the image sensor 20 from the output signal of the A / D converter 21. Specifically, the average value of the intensities of all the signals is calculated for each of the R, G, and B color components, and the ratio R / G of the average signal intensity of the R color component to the average signal intensity of the G color component is calculated. , B / G, the ratio of the average signal intensity of the B color component to the average signal intensity of the G color component.

The brightness detecting section 42 includes the A / D converter 21.
The brightness of the subject is detected from the output signal of. The focal length detector 43 detects the focal length of the taking lens 10 from the output of the lens drive / detector 32. Subject distance detection unit 44
Calculates the defocus amount from the output signal of the A / D converter 21, and calculates the defocus amount and the lens drive / detection unit 32.
The distance to the subject is detected from the information indicating the focal position of the taking lens 10 included in the output of 1. In addition, the change in the distance to the subject and the position of the subject image (image sensor 20
The amount of movement of the subject is detected from the change in the portion used to obtain the defocus amount in the above image).

The detected values of the color balance detecting section 41, the brightness detecting section 42 and the focal length detecting section 43 are the same as those of the condition change judging section 4.
It is given to the image type discrimination unit 45 via 6, and the detection value of the subject distance detection unit 44 is directly given to the image type discrimination unit 45. The image type discriminating unit 45 calculates the photographing magnification from the focal length and the distance to the subject, and calculates the two signal strength ratios R /
The type of the light source is determined from G and B / G, and it is determined which image type the combination of these and five shooting conditions including other detection values corresponds to. The image type discriminated by the image type discriminating unit 45 is given to the control unit 30, and the image pickup device 2
It is used to control the generation of image data by the exposure of 0 and the white balance adjusting unit 22 to the aperture control / coring unit 27. Note that the control unit 30 instructs the image type determination unit 45 to determine the type of image at the end of the automatic focus adjustment.

The condition change judging section 46 gives the detection values given from the color balance detecting section 41, the luminance detecting section 42 and the focal length detecting section 43 to the image type discriminating section 45 and detects the changes in the detected values. . Then, when a change is detected, it is determined whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied, and when the predetermined condition is satisfied, the image type determination unit 45 is instructed to determine the image type. . The detection of the shooting condition by the color balance detection unit 41 to the subject distance detection unit 44 and the detection and determination of the change of the shooting condition by the condition change determination unit 46 are repeatedly performed, during which the condition change determination unit 46 to the image type determination unit 45. Is given a discrimination instruction. The image type determination unit 45 includes a condition change determination unit 46.
Each time a determination instruction is given from, the type of image is determined.

Here, the condition change determination unit 46 determines the image type when the detection values of the detection units 41 to 43 are changed even slightly, and when a predetermined time has elapsed since the detection values started to change. A discrimination instruction is given to the section 45. 0.5 hours
It is about 2 seconds and is stored in the threshold setting unit 48.
The timer 47 measures the elapsed time.

In this way, even if the detection value changes, if the original detection value is restored within a predetermined time, the image type is not discriminated. For example, even if the direction of the digital camera 1 changes due to camera shake of the user and the color balance changes temporarily, the determination is not performed. Therefore, even when there is a change, the type of image is determined at a predetermined time interval, and it is possible to avoid frequent changes in the display of the liquid crystal panel 17 and the finder display unit 33, which will be described below.
It is possible to reduce power consumption required for calculation.

The control unit 30 displays on the liquid crystal panel 17 and the viewfinder display unit 33 the image type determined by the image type determination unit 45 in the automatic determination mode and the image type designated by the user in the manual designation mode. Let In the automatic discrimination mode, the digital camera 1 discriminates the type of image, but the user can confirm the discrimination result by the display, and whether the control at the time of photographing the image to be recorded is performed according to the discrimination result. You can decide for yourself whether or not it is. If the judgment result does not match your intention,
The user may switch to the manual designation mode by operating the operation key 18a and operate the operation keys 18b and 18c to specify a desired image type.

Display examples are shown in FIGS. FIG. 5 is an example of the display of the liquid crystal panel 17, and with live view,
The determined image type is displayed by its name. Figure 5
In (a), the determined image type is "snap"
In this case, (b) is when the determined image type is "sports". FIG. 6 is an example of the display of the finder display unit 33, and the name of the determined image type is displayed in the peripheral portion of the optical image (not shown). In FIG.
(A) and (b) are when the determined image types are "portrait" and "landscape", respectively.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show an example of the display of the image type designated by the user. FIG. 7A shows the liquid crystal panel 17, and FIG. 7B shows the display of the finder display section 33. The type of the image designated in the manual designation mode is distinguished from the type of the image discriminated in the automatic discrimination mode by displaying the characters "manual" together with the name. In addition, a small lamp is provided around the rear window 12b of the viewfinder, and when the manual designation mode is set, the lamp is turned on to clearly indicate the mode and the word "manual" is displayed. Can be omitted.

When the image type discriminating unit 45 re-discriminates the image type and the newly discriminated image type has changed from the image type discriminated up to that time, the control unit 30
Both the newly discriminated image type and the already discriminated image type are displayed on the liquid crystal panel 17 and the finder display unit 3.
Display on 3 simultaneously. At this time, the display of the newly discriminated image type is made to blink for a predetermined time (for example, 5 seconds), or the newly discriminated image type and the already discriminated image type are displayed in different colors. This makes it clear which is the newly discriminated image type. Therefore, the user can know the new image type and how the image type has changed.

The control unit 30 also displays the type of image that has already been discriminated when a predetermined time has elapsed after displaying the type of image that has been newly discriminated and the type of image that has already been discriminated. Is stopped and only the newly discriminated image type is displayed. Therefore, the display does not become complicated.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the display when the image type discriminating unit 45 re-discriminates the image type and the newly discriminated image type changes from the already discriminated image type. This is the display of the liquid crystal panel 17, (a) is the one when the still image of the subject starts to move and the determined image type changes from “snap” to “sports”, (b)
Indicates that a predetermined time has elapsed thereafter. The type of image is displayed by its name. In (a), only the characters "sports" are blinking, and in (b), the characters "snap" are not displayed.

Although the type of the image is indicated by the name and the display is switched according to the type of the image, another display method can be adopted. For example,
A symbol corresponding to the image type may be displayed, or the names of the six image types may be displayed at the same time, and one of the names may be designated according to the determined or designated image type. You may make it display the pointer.

FIG. 9 shows an example in which the name of the image type is designated by displaying the pointer. This is the case where six image type names are given around the liquid crystal panel 17 and a pointer can be displayed on the liquid crystal panel 17 at a position corresponding to each name. When the discriminated image type changes, two pointers indicating the newly discriminated image type and the already discriminated image type are displayed to indicate the newly discriminated image type. Blink.

The flow of processing relating to the determination of the type of image in the digital camera 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When set to auto-discrimination mode,
First, the photographing conditions (color balance (R / R / R /
G, B / G), subject brightness, and focal length) are started to be detected (step # 5). Next, the presence or absence of the signal S1 is determined, and if the signal S1 is not present, the release button 13 is half-depressed to wait until the signal S1 is generated (# 10).

When the signal S1 is present, the distance to the subject is measured (defocus amount is detected) by the phase difference detection method (# 15), and it is determined whether or not the measurement is possible (# 20). When the contrast is low and the measurement cannot be performed, a message to that effect is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 17 and the finder display section 33 (# 25), and the signal S1 is awaited (# 30). Release button 13 is released and signal S1
When the error disappears, the indication that the measurement could not be performed is stopped (#
35), the display indicating the type of image is also stopped (# 40), and the process returns to step # 10. Note that image capture and live view display have been started before this mode was set,
Live view display continues.

When the distance can be measured, the focus of the taking lens 10 is adjusted so as to match the subject (# 4
5) When the subject is in focus, the fact is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 17 and the finder display section 33 (# 50). Then, the image type determination section 45 performs an image type determination calculation (# 55) to determine whether it is the first determination after the signal S1 is generated or the second or subsequent determination (#). 60).

At the time of the first discrimination, the type of the image discriminated in step # 55 is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 17 and the finder display section 33 (# 65). Then, the change time, which is the time after the detection value starts to change, is reset to 0 (# 70), and the color balance detection unit 41 and the brightness detection unit 42 are set.
Then, it is determined whether or not the detection values of the color balance, the subject brightness, and the focal length by the focal length detection unit 43 have changed (# 75).

If none of the detected values has changed in the determination of step # 75, the presence or absence of the signal S1 is determined (# 8
0) If there is no signal S1, the display indicating that the subject is in focus is stopped (# 85), the display of the image type is stopped (# 90), and the process returns to step # 10. If the signal S1 is present, it is determined whether or not the signal S2 is present (# 95). If the signal S2 is not present, the process returns to step # 70.

When the release button 13 is fully pressed, the signal S
2 is generated, from the exposure of the image sensor 20,
The S2 ON process is performed (# 100), in which the A / D converter 21 to the recording unit 29 generate image data and record the image data on the recording medium M (# 100), and the process returns to step # 10. In the S2 ON processing of step # 100, the processing from the exposure to the generation of the image data is controlled according to the determined image type.

If any of the detected values has changed in the determination of step # 75, the change time is calculated (# 10
5). The change time is calculated from the output thereof by starting the timer 47 in step # 70. Next, it is determined whether the change time is equal to or longer than a predetermined time (# 11
0), if the change time is less than the predetermined time, step # 75
Return to step # 15 and if it is longer than the predetermined time, return to step # 15.

If it is determined in step # 60, step # 55
If it is the second and subsequent determinations, it is determined whether or not the type of the newly determined image is the same as the type of the image that has already been determined (# 115).
Go to 5. If the newly discriminated image type is different from the already discriminated image type, the newly discriminated image type is displayed and the display is blinked (# 120). At this time, the display of the image type already discriminated, which is performed in step # 65, continues. Then, the presence or absence of the signal S1 is determined (# 125), and if the signal S1 is eliminated, the display indicating that the subject is in focus is stopped (# 8).
5) Then, the display of the image type performed in steps # 65 and # 120 is stopped (# 90), and the process returns to step # 10.

When there is the signal S1, step # 120
In step # 12, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the image type was displayed, and if the predetermined time has not been reached.
Return to 5. If the given time has passed, step #
The blinking of the display of the image type that was performed in 120 is stopped (# 13
5) Then, the display of the image type performed in step # 65 is also stopped (# 140), and the process proceeds to step # 70.

In this process, first, automatic focus adjustment (# 4
The image type determination (# 55) is performed when 5) is performed, and the image type determination (# 55) is also performed when the detected values such as color balance and focal length change thereafter. .
The determination when the detection value changes is made only when the change continues for a predetermined time (# 110). In addition, when the detected value changes and the type of image is determined, automatic focus adjustment (#
45) is also performed, and the automatic focus adjustment here corresponds to so-called continuous AF. It should be noted that it is possible not to perform automatic focus adjustment once the subject is in focus. In that case, the return destination from step # 110 may be step # 55 instead of step # 15. Good.

The image type is re-determined (# 60), and when the determination result changes (# 115), it is already displayed (#).
65) A new image type is displayed in addition to the type of image that has been displayed (# 120). Although this display blinks, the blinking stops after a predetermined time (# 130), and when the determination is newly made and the determination result changes due to disappearance of the display of the image type that has already been determined (# 140), The image type that has already been determined is displayed.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the types of images, the shooting conditions used for determining the image types, the specific numerical values of the shooting conditions, etc. shown here are merely examples, and other values may be used. It is also possible to set it. If the image types are classified more finely, the image types are likely to change due to changes in the shooting conditions. Therefore, the finer the image type classification is, the more the image types are discriminated according to the changes in the shooting conditions. Increased usefulness. Also, when the type of the discriminated image has changed, the user can know how it has changed by the display, and can appropriately determine whether to use the discrimination result or to specify the image type by himself. It is possible to do.

[0062]

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION Detecting means for detecting photographing conditions, discriminating means for discriminating an image type based on the photographing conditions detected by the detecting means, and displaying means for displaying information indicating the image type discriminated by the discriminating means. And a determination control unit that detects a change in the photographing condition detected by the detection unit and causes the determination unit to determine the image type again according to the detection result, and the determination unit determines the image type again, When the type of the image that has been discriminated is different from the type of the newly discriminated image, the first information that indicates the type of the image that has been discriminated until then and the second information that indicates the type of the newly discriminated In the image pickup apparatus of the present invention, which includes the display control unit configured to display the information and the display unit and to display only the second information on the display unit after a predetermined time, the shooting condition changes even after the type of the image is determined. When you do, make a decision Succoth can. The determined new image type often coincides with the image type determined by the user, and thus the need for the user to specify the image type is greatly reduced.

Moreover, when the image type is re-determined, information indicating both the type of image that has been determined up to that time and the type of image that has been newly determined is displayed. It is possible to know the type of image and how the type of image has changed. further,
Since only the information indicating the new image type is displayed after the predetermined time, there is no inconvenience that the old information that is likely to be useless is displayed forever and the display becomes complicated. if,
When the type of the image before the re-discrimination coincides with the type of the image determined by the user, the user can know the displayed type and specify the type of the image. Therefore, it is possible to accurately discriminate the image type even when the shooting condition changes, and it is possible to deal with the case where the discriminated image type does not meet the user's intention. It becomes an imaging device.

When the display means displays the first information and the second information, the second information blinks or the first information is displayed.
If the information and the second information are displayed in different colors, it becomes clear which of the displayed information represents the newly discriminated image type.

If the information displayed by the display means is the name of the image type, the user can easily understand the image type.

When the information displayed by the display means is a symbol whose position is determined so as to correspond to the type of image, the area required for display can be reduced and the display means can be miniaturized. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the digital camera.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic circuit configuration of the digital camera.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating classification of image types in the digital camera, shooting conditions used to determine the image types, and control performed according to the image types.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display of a discriminated image type in the digital camera.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of display of the determined image type in the digital camera.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of display of a designated image type in the digital camera.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a display when the discriminated image type changes in the digital camera.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another example of the display when the type of the determined image is changed in the digital camera.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing relating to image type determination in the digital camera.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 digital camera 10 Shooting lens 11 Flash section 12a, 12b finder window 13 Release button 14 LCD panel 15a, 15b operation keys 16a, 16b operation keys 17 LCD panel 18a, 18b, 18c operation keys 19 Recording medium insertion slot 20 Image sensor 21 A / D converter 22 White balance adjustment section 23 γ correction unit 24-color interpolator 25 color correction section 26 Display Image Generation Unit 27 Aperture control / coring section 28 Compressor 29 Recording section 30 control unit 31 Operation keys 32 Lens drive / detection unit 33 Finder display 41 Color balance detector 42 Luminance detector 43 Focal length detector 44 Subject distance detector 45 Image type discrimination unit 46 Condition change determination unit 47 timer 48 Threshold setting section

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-10-161175 (JP, A) JP-A-9-113979 (JP, A) JP-A-5-64062 (JP, A) JP-A-10- 161174 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5/222-5/257 G03B 17/18

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image pickup apparatus for classifying an image into a plurality of types in association with a shooting condition and discriminating the type of image to be shot based on the shooting condition; A discriminating means for discriminating the image type based on the photographing condition detected by the means, a display means for displaying information indicating the image type discriminated by the discriminating means, and a change in the photographing condition detected by the detecting means, The discriminating control unit that discriminates the image type again by the discriminating unit according to the detection result, and the discriminating unit discriminates the image type again. When the types are different, the display unit displays the first information indicating the type of the image determined up to that time and the second information indicating the type of the newly determined image, and the second information is displayed after a predetermined time. Means for displaying only information Imaging apparatus characterized by comprising a display control means for displaying. 2. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display means blinks the second information when displaying the first information and the second information. 3. The display means displays the first information and the second information in different colors when displaying the first information and the second information. Imaging device. 4. The information displayed by the display means is a name of an image type.
The imaging device according to any one of 1. 5. The image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein the information displayed by the display means is a symbol whose position is determined so as to correspond to the type of image. apparatus.