JP3478687B2 - Compound eye 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 a compound eye image pickup device such as a compound eye camera having two or more image pickup optical systems.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, for the purpose of wide panoramic image generation or high-definition image generation as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-67020, a plurality of image pickup systems each including an image pickup optical system and an image pickup device are provided. There has been proposed a compound-eye image pickup apparatus that has one image and uses the image signals obtained by the respective image pickup elements to generate one combined image.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional compound-eye image pickup device, due to the difference in the position of each image pickup system, there is a region in the image obtained by each image pickup device in which the subject in the front is not photographed by the subject in the front. The problem of being different arises. 14 and 15 are diagrams for explaining this problem, and in FIG.
Reference numerals 33 are spherical objects. Also 134, 13
Reference numerals 5 indicate viewpoint positions for viewing the subject. Figure 1
5A and 5B are diagrams showing the states of the subjects 131 to 133 viewed from the viewpoint positions 134 and 135, respectively.
First, when the subject is viewed from the viewpoint position 134, FIG.
As shown by, the subject 132 is partially invisible due to the subject 131. On the other hand, when the subjects 131 to 133 are viewed from the viewpoint position 135, the subject 132 is not hidden by the subject 131 as shown in FIG.
It can be seen that the subject 133 is hidden behind the subject 131 due to the shadow of the subject 131. For this reason, even if two panoramic images are combined by overlapping two overlapping images captured from different viewpoint positions, the overlapping regions of the two images do not match. It can be seen that it is difficult to synthesize images so that the overlapping areas of two images are not noticeable.

Further, when a three-dimensional object is photographed, the shape of the object itself may appear different depending on the viewpoint position. 16 and 17 are diagrams for explaining this problem. In FIG. 16, reference numeral 156 is a subject, which has a cubic shape. Reference numerals 157 and 158 indicate viewpoint positions. 17A and 17B are diagrams showing the state of the subject 156 viewed from the viewpoint positions 157 and 158, respectively. First, when the subject 156 is viewed from the viewpoint position 157, the subject looks almost square as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when the subject 156 is viewed from the viewpoint position 158,
It looks like two trapezoids sharing one side as shown in FIG. From this, even if two panoramic images are combined by overlapping two overlapping regions, which are captured from different viewpoint positions,
It can be seen that the two images cannot be superposed because the shape of the subject itself in the overlapping region of the two images looks different.

As described above, even when performing panoramic photographing with the conventional compound-eye image pickup apparatus, the above-mentioned problem often occurs due to the difference in the photographing positions of the left and right image pickup systems, and the panoramic image synthesis often fails. Note that such a difference between the shooting positions of the left and right imaging systems will be hereinafter referred to as parallax.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a compound eye image pickup device having an image pickup system with almost no parallax with a simple structure.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a compound eye image pickup apparatus having a plurality of image pickup optical means for respectively collecting subject light and forming an optical image on an image forming surface of an image pickup device. The plurality of image pickup optical means are arranged so that the intersections of the entrance pupils of the respective image pickup optical means and the optical axes substantially coincide with each other.

Further, as in the second aspect of the invention, an optical path changing means for changing the traveling direction of the photographing light flux incident on the plurality of image pickup optical means may be provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the plurality of image pickup optical means are arranged at the intersections of the respective entrance pupils and the optical axes or the intersections of the respective entrance pupils and the optical axes generated by the optical path changing means. Of the image positions of the first position where the image positions of the input pupil and the optical axis substantially coincide with each other, and the image position of the intersection of the input pupil and the optical axis or the intersection of the input pupil and the optical axis generated by the optical path changing means is separated by a predetermined distance. A moving means for moving the second position to the second position may be provided.

Further, as in the invention of claim 4, when the plurality of image pickup optical means are arranged at the first position, a plurality of image data photographed by the respective image pickup optical means are made into one continuous image. Image combining means for combining with data may be provided.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, image composition for generating a stereoscopic video signal from a plurality of image data taken by the respective imaging optical means when the plurality of imaging optical means are in the second position. Means may be provided.

Further, as in the invention of claim 6, the optical path changing means may be a mirror or a prism.

Further, as in the invention of claim 7, the optical path changing means may be arranged between the most object side lens of each image pickup optical means and the image pickup element.

According to the invention of claim 8, the optical path changing means is configured to reflect or refract the photographing light beam incident on each of the image pickup optical means in a direction substantially perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the image pickup optical means. May be.

Further, as in the ninth aspect of the present invention, there may be provided correction means for correcting the trapezoidal distortion caused by the difference in the centers of the one continuous image data after being combined by the image combining means.

[0016]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, each imaging position of an object point according to the distance, specifically, the optical system captures the object point within a predetermined shooting distance range within a common field of view of a plurality of imaging optical means. The respective imaging optical means may be arranged so that the position of the center of gravity of the intensity of the luminous flux on the imaging surface remains unchanged. Then, if the aberration of each imaging optical unit is large enough to affect the difference in the captured images, there is a problem in image quality, but in a realistic optical system, aberration can be regarded as not affecting parallax, so the spread of the light flux incident on the optical system is widened. By arranging the center of the entrance pupil, which is the image of the diaphragm that limits the aperture, that is, the intersection of the entrance pupil and the optical axis so as to be substantially coincident with each other in each imaging optical means, Each imaging optical means can be arranged so that the imaging position is unchanged.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION First to fifth embodiments of the present invention will be described below. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a compound eye camera embodying the present invention. In the figure, reference numerals 1 and 2 denote the positions of the photographing optical systems 1a and 2a, respectively, and the positions of the intersections of the entrance pupils of the photographing optical systems 1 and 2 and the optical axis. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the object-side principal points also exist near the intersections 1a and 2a of the entrance pupil and the optical axis. Reference numerals 3 and 4 are image pickup devices for converting the optical images formed by the photographing optical systems 1 and 2 into electrical video signals. Hereinafter, the image pickup optical system 1 and the image pickup device 3 will be collectively referred to as an image pickup optical system L, and the image pickup optical system 2 and the image pickup device 4 will be collectively referred to as an image pickup optical system R. Further, C and D in the drawing indicate the photographing ranges of the respective image pickup optical systems R and L. Further, e, f, g, and h are spherical subjects.

As described above, the image pickup optical systems L and R are arranged so that the optical axes of the image pickup optical systems 1 and 2 intersect at a position near the entrance pupil. As a result, since parallax does not occur in the images captured by the imaging optical systems L and R as described above, when the subjects e, f, g, and h are captured by the imaging optical systems L and R, respectively, 2 (a),
It becomes like (b). As can be seen from the figure, since the regions that are imaged by the imaging optical systems L and R in duplicate are completely the same subject image, the overlapping regions of FIGS. 2A and 2B as shown in FIG. 2C. It is also possible to easily obtain one panoramic image by synthesizing so as to overlap.

Returning to FIG. 1, reference numeral 5 is a release button which emits a release signal when operated. Reference numeral 6 denotes a photometric unit that measures the brightness of the subject. Reference numeral 7 denotes a focus (focus) detection unit that detects the in-focus state of the imaging optical systems L and R. Reference numeral 8 denotes a signal processing unit that combines the two video data obtained by the image pickup devices 3 and 4 into one continuous video data and then converts the video data into a predetermined video signal. Reference numeral 9 is a memory that stores image data and the like obtained by the signal processing unit 8. 1
Reference numeral 0 is a system controller that controls the entire compound eye camera. Reference numeral 11 is a monitor for displaying the video signal obtained by the signal processing unit 8.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the compound eye camera of FIG. Unless otherwise specified, the system controller 10 performs all operations. In the figure, first, when a power switch of a compound eye camera (not shown) is turned on, a shooting standby state is set (S101). When the release button 5 is operated in S101 and a release signal is issued, the brightness of the subject is measured by the photometric unit 6, and the aperture and shutter speed are determined according to the photometric value (S102). Next, the focus detection unit 7 causes the imaging optical systems L and R to perform focus (focus) adjustment on the subject (S103). Then S
The image sensor 3 and the image sensor 4 are exposed with the aperture value and shutter speed determined in step 102 (S104). The signals obtained by the image pickup devices 3 and 4 are processed by the signal processing unit 8 according to the shooting mode (S105). The signal processing unit 8 corrects the trapezoidal distortion before combining the two video signals obtained by the imaging optical system L and the imaging optical system R into one continuous video signal.

Here, the trapezoidal distortion will be described. FIG. 4 shows an image pickup optical system equivalent to the image pickup optical systems L and R of FIG. 1, and 20 is a taking lens and 21 and 22 are image pickup elements. As can be seen from the figure, the image pickup elements 21 and 22 are the optical axes of the image pickup optical systems L and R of FIG. 1 with respect to the optical axis of the photographing lens 20 having an angle of view equivalent to the image pickup optical systems L and R. It can be seen that they are inclined to each other according to the intersection angle. This is because, as described above, in the present embodiment, the optical axes of the image pickup optical systems L and R intersect with each other at a predetermined crossing angle and are arranged to be inclined with respect to the central subject. Therefore, the photographing lens 2
The image formed by 0 does not match the image formed on one plane indicated by the dotted line S and becomes a distorted image, which is called trapezoidal distortion. Therefore, in the present embodiment, this trapezoidal distortion is corrected, and an image captured by the image pickup optical systems L and R is taken into one image by one image pickup lens 20 having the same image pickup range of the image pickup optical systems L and R shown in FIG. It is designed to be equivalent to an image formed on a plane.

Returning to FIG. 3, the signal processing unit 8 further extracts the corresponding points of both images from the overlapping portions of the respective video signals whose trapezoidal distortion has been corrected, and 2 is obtained from the obtained corresponding points.
The overlap amount of one video signal is obtained, and the overlapping is performed according to the overlap amount to generate one horizontally long video signal as shown in FIG. The video signal thus generated by the signal processing unit 8 is recorded in the memory 9 (S106).
The above ends one shooting operation, but the video signal recorded in the memory 9 can be reproduced on the monitor 11 by operating the reproduction button (not shown) to make the compound-eye camera reproducible.

Although the number of the image pickup optical systems is two in the present embodiment, the present invention is not restricted to this, and in a compound eye image pickup apparatus having two or more image pickup optical systems, at least one pair is a book. It may be configured as in the embodiment. Further, in the imaging optical system of the present embodiment, since the intersection of the entrance pupil and the optical axis and the object-side principal point are close to each other,
Even if the principal points on the object side are made to substantially coincide with each other, substantially the same effect can be obtained.

Further, the photographing lenses 1 and 2 and the image pickup element 2,
By rotatably providing 3 respectively, the intersections 1a and 2a of the entrance pupils of the respective photographing lenses 1 and 2 and the optical axis may not be aligned as shown in FIG.
In the state of FIG. 5, the taking lens 1 forms an image on the image pickup device 4,
The taking lens 2 is focused on the image sensor 3. The optical axes of the taking lenses 1 and 2 are substantially parallel. Since parallax occurs in each video signal captured in this state, so-called stereo stereoscopic video can be reproduced by using these video signals.

(Second Embodiment) Further, in the signal processing section 8, the two image signals thus photographed are photographed, and the relative angle of the photographing optical axes of the image pickup optical systems L and R, the focal length, etc. It is also possible to obtain the position of the other image with respect to one image based on, and perform panorama synthesis. In this case, there are the following effects. (1) Since the corresponding points are not extracted, the configuration of the signal processing unit is simplified and the processing time in image synthesis can be shortened. (2) Since the amount of overlap between the two images can be made as close to zero as possible, it is possible to obtain a wider panoramic image.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a compound-eye image pickup apparatus embodying the present invention. In the figure, 5 to 11 substantially correspond to the same numbered parts in FIG. Reference numerals 51 and 52 are photographing lenses. 51a and 52a are focus lenses,
It is movable in the optical axis direction by a focus adjusting mechanism (not shown). 53 and 54 are photographing lenses 5 respectively
A lens barrel for fixing the lenses 1, 52 and the focus lenses 51a, 52a is rotatably fixed to a camera body (not shown) about a shaft 55 and a shaft 56. Reference numerals 57 and 58 denote image pickup devices for converting the optical images formed by the taking lenses 51 and 52 into electric image signals, and fixed to the lens barrels 53 and 54. 59 and 60 are photographing lenses 51 and 5, respectively.
2 is arranged on the front surface of the subject 2, and the subject light flux is taken by the photographing lenses 51, 5
It is a reflection mirror leading to 2. The configurations up to this point will be generically referred to as a compound eye camera unit hereinafter. In the present embodiment, since the compound eye camera unit has the above-mentioned configuration, it can be understood that the thickness of the compound eye camera unit in the shooting direction is thin.

In the figure, A and B respectively indicate the positions of the intersections of the entrance pupils of the taking lenses 51 and 52 and the optical axis, and C and
D denotes the photographing light flux of the photographing lenses 51 and 52, respectively. E represents the symmetrical position of the intersections A and B of the entrance pupils of the photographing lenses 51 and 52 and the optical axis, that is, the virtual image position when the reflecting surfaces of the reflecting mirrors 59 and 60 are symmetrical. That is, in the state shown in FIG. 6, the taking lenses 51 and 52 are moved by the reflecting mirrors 59 and 60, respectively.
This is equivalent to the case where the intersections A and B of the entrance pupil of 52 and the optical axis are made to coincide with the position of the virtual image position E and the respective photographing ranges C and D are photographed, and the entrance pupils of the respective photographing lenses 51 and 52. It can be seen that the intersection of the and the optical axis coincides. As a result, the parallax as described above does not occur in the images taken by the taking lenses 51 and 52.

Reference numerals 61 and 62 denote lens barrel driving portions for rotating the lens barrels 53 and 54 about the shaft 55 and the shaft 56, respectively. 6
3 is a panorama mode that obtains one horizontally long image by joining images that have no subject change due to the shooting positions of the taking lenses 51 and 52, and an image that has subject changes depending on the taking positions of the taking lenses 51 and 52. It is a mode switching unit that switches between two shooting modes, a stereoscopic shooting mode that enables reproduction of stereoscopic video. Here, since the principle of image composition in the panoramic shooting mode has been described in the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 7 shows a state of the stereoscopic photographing mode of the compound eye camera section, in which the optical axes of the respective image pickup optical systems are substantially parallel to each other, and the intersections A and B of the entrance pupils of the photographing lenses 51 and 52 and the optical axes. The position of is also different. Therefore, a so-called stereoscopic image in which the subject looks three-dimensional can be created by reproducing an image obtained by shooting the subject from the left side so that it is seen only by the viewer's left eye and an image obtained by shooting the subject from the right side is seen only by the viewer's right eye. Can be played.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the compound-eye image pickup apparatus of FIG. Unless otherwise specified, all operations are performed by the system controller 10. In the figure, first, when the power switch of the compound eye camera (not shown) is turned on, the photographing standby state is set (S100, S101). In this shooting standby state, by operating the mode switching unit 63, the process proceeds to S108 and the shooting mode can be switched (S10).
0). In S108, the lens barrel is rotated about the shaft 55 and the shaft 56 according to the switched photographing mode to bring the compound eye camera unit to the state shown in FIG. 6 or 7.

Next, when the release button 5 is operated and a release signal is issued in S101, S102 to S106.
By this, substantially the same processing as in the case of FIG. 3 is performed, and the video signal processed by the signal processing unit 8 is stored in the memory 9.
If the subject is out of focus in S103, the focus adjustment mechanism (not shown) moves the focus lenses 51a and 52a in the optical axis direction to adjust the focus. Further, in the case where the image is captured in the stereoscopic shooting mode in the signal processing unit 8, after converting the respective signals obtained by the image pickup devices 57 and 58 into predetermined video signals, the respective video signals are captured in the shooting mode and paired with each other. Is added, and information such as shooting conditions is added. When the image is taken in the panoramic shooting mode, the image sensor 5
Each of the signals obtained at 7 and 58 is first horizontally reversed to cancel the mirror image by the reflection mirrors 59 and 60, and then converted to a predetermined video signal, and then the trapezoidal distortion is set in the same manner as in the first embodiment. To correct.

2 generated by the signal processing unit 8.
One horizontally long video signal as shown in (c) is recorded in the memory 9. The video signal recorded in the memory 9 can be reproduced on the monitor 11 by operating a reproduction button (not shown).

The present embodiment has the following effects. (1) The direction is changed by the reflecting mirrors 59 and 60 to the photographing lenses 51 and 52, so that the structure is simple. (2) The mechanism is simple because the driving part when changing the photographing mode only has to rotate the lens barrels 53 and 54 for fixing the photographing lenses 51 and 52, the focusing lenses 51a and 52a, and the image pickup devices 57 and 58. .

(Fourth Embodiment) FIGS. 9 and 10 are views showing a compound eye camera section of a compound eye image pickup apparatus embodying the present invention.
FIG. 9 shows the arrangement of the image pickup optical system of the compound eye camera unit. In the figure, reference numerals 81, 82 and 83 denote photographing lenses, and 8
Focus adjustment lenses 1a, 82a, and 83a are supported by a focus adjustment mechanism (not shown) so as to be movable in the optical axis direction. 84, 85 and 86 are image pickup devices, 87 and 88,
Reference numeral 89 is a reflection mirror. Reference numerals 90, 91 and 92 denote the taking lenses 81, 82 and 83 and the image pickup devices 84 and 8 respectively.
5, 86 and the reflecting mirrors 87, 88, 89. The lens barrels 90 and 92 are respectively lens barrel 91.
It is rotatably supported about the rotary shafts 93 and 94. In the figure, A, B and C are photographing lenses 81, 82 and 83.
At the intersection of the entrance pupil and the optical axis, and A ′, B ′, and C ′ are the reflection mirrors 87, 88, and 89 at the intersections of the entrance pupil and the optical axis, respectively.
The symmetric position with respect to the reflecting surface as the symmetric surface, that is, the virtual image position is shown.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are views of the compound eye camera section of FIG. 9 viewed from the direction of arrow D. FIG. 10 (a),
In (b), E, F, and G are the photographing lenses 8 respectively.
The imaging light fluxes 1, 82, and 83 are shown. Figure 10 (a)
Shows the state of the stereoscopic shooting mode, and each shooting lens 8
The virtual image positions of the object-side principal points of 1, 82, and 83 do not match. FIG. 10B is a diagram showing a state of the compound eye camera in the panorama mode. As can be seen from the figure, the lens barrel 9
0, 91, and 92 rotate about axes 93 and 94, respectively, and virtual image positions A ′ and C ′ at the intersections of the entrance pupils of the taking lenses 81 and 83 and the optical axis are the entrance pupils of the taking lens 82. Coincides with one point at the virtual image position B ′ at the intersection of
Since parallax does not occur in each image captured by each lens barrel, panoramic composition is possible. Since the operation and the like are almost the same as those of the third embodiment, the description will be omitted.

The present embodiment has the following effects. (1) Reflection mirrors 87, 88, 89 for changing the directions of E, F, G of the photographing light fluxes incident on the objective lenses 81, 82, 83.
Since it is done in, the configuration is simple. (2) Since the lens barrels 90, 91, and 92 holding the image pickup optical system are connected so as to be relatively rotatable, the structure of the moving mechanism of the image pickup system at the time of changing the photographing mode is simple.

In the present embodiment, the intersections of the entrance pupils of the three image pickup optical systems and the optical axis are made coincident with each other, but more image pickup optical systems may be used. By doing so, there is an effect that it becomes possible to perform panoramic photography with a wider range and an extreme 360 degrees.

(Fifth Embodiment) FIGS. 11 and 12 are views showing a compound eye camera section of a compound eye image pickup apparatus embodying the present invention. In FIG. 11, 101 and 102 are photographing lenses. Reference numerals 101a and 102a denote focus adjustment lenses, which are movably supported in the optical axis direction by a focus adjustment mechanism (not shown). 103 and 104 are image pickup devices, and 105 and 10
Reference numeral 6 is a reflection mirror. Reference numerals 107 and 108 denote photographing lenses 101 and 102, focus adjustment lenses 101a and 1a, respectively.
02a, image pickup devices 103 and 104, reflection mirror 105,
Lens barrels for holding the shafts 106a and 108a,
It is fixed to a camera body (not shown) so as to be rotatable around a. In the figure, A and B are the object-side principal points of the taking lenses 101 and 102, and A'and B'are reflection mirrors 10, respectively.
The symmetric positions where the reflecting surfaces 5 and 106 are symmetry planes, that is, virtual image positions are shown.

12 (a) and 12 (b) are views showing the compound eye camera section of FIG. 11 as viewed in the direction of arrow C. FIG. As can be seen from the figure, in the state of FIG.
The image pickup light beams 02 are substantially parallel to each other, and the virtual image positions A ′ and B ′ at the intersections of the respective entrance pupils and the optical axis are separated by a predetermined distance. As described in the first embodiment, this state is the stereoscopic shooting mode. In addition, FIG.
From the state of FIG.
As can be seen from the figure, the virtual image positions A'and B'at the intersections of the entrance pupils of the taking lenses 101 and 102 and the optical axis are overlapped with each other. Therefore, as described in the first embodiment, no parallax occurs in the images formed on the image pickup devices 103 and 104, so that the images taken in this state can be panorama-composited.

In this embodiment, since the direction of the photographing light flux is changed by the reflecting mirrors 105 and 106 as described above, there is an advantage that the structure is simple.

In the third to fifth embodiments, the reflecting mirror is used as the optical path changing means of the photographing light beam, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a prism as shown in FIG. 13 is used. You may use. FIG. 13 shows reflection mirrors 59 and 6 of the compound eye camera unit according to the third embodiment of FIG.
It is the figure which showed the case where the prisms 120 and 121 were used instead of 0. Needless to say, a prism may be used instead of the reflecting mirror in other embodiments. Further, an optical fiber used in an endoscope or the like may be used as the optical path changing means.

In the first to fifth embodiments, since the aberrations of the first and second image pickup optical systems are sufficiently small, the intersections of their entrance pupils and the optical axis are made to coincide with each other. In the case where the aberration is large, the parallax cannot be eliminated even if the intersections of the entrance pupil and the optical axis are made to coincide with each other. In addition, as a practical matter, the intersection between the entrance pupil and the optical axis can be made to coincide in design, but it is difficult to confirm it.

In such a case, with respect to the object point located at the center of the common visual field of the two optical systems, the imaging positions of the farthest distance and the closest distance of the photographing distance range are substantially matched. You may make it arrange | position two optical systems. It goes without saying that, as a result, the optical axes of the first and second imaging optical systems intersect in the vicinity of the intersection of the entrance pupil and the optical axis. In this case, (1) By targeting the object point located at the center of the common field of view, the difference in the captured image due to the difference in the capturing position at the most prominent point that becomes the center during the composition can be minimized. Also,
The maximum parallax in the common field of view can be minimized, resulting in the best composite image. (2) The parallax can be minimized over the entire range of the shooting distance by making the farthest distance and the closest distance of the shooting distance range substantially coincide with each other. There is an effect.

[0044]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the plurality of image pickup optical means are arranged so that the intersections of the entrance pupils and the optical axes substantially coincide with each other. Since parallax hardly occurs in the images taken by the imaging optical means, there is an effect that the images can be easily combined.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by providing the optical path changing means, the image positions of the intersections of the entrance pupil and the optical axis of the respective image pickup optical means can be made substantially coincident with each other. There is an effect that it is possible to provide a compound-eye imaging device with a simple configuration, which is not subject to physical restrictions such as interference between optical means, and which causes almost no parallax in an image obtained by each imaging optical means.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, each image pickup optical means is arranged so that the image position of the intersection of the respective entrance pupils and the optical axis or the intersection of the respective entrance pupils generated by the optical path changing means. Are substantially coincident with each other, and a virtual position of the intersection of the entrance pupil and the optical axis or the intersection of the entrance pupil and the optical axis generated by the optical path changing means can be moved to a second position at a predetermined distance. With this configuration, a panoramic image is captured when each imaging optical unit is in the first position, and a stereoscopic image that utilizes subject change due to parallax of each captured image is captured when the imaging optical unit is in the second position. As described above, it is possible to take different images.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when each of the image pickup optical means is in the first position, the image combining means for combining the image data obtained by each of the image pickup optical means into one continuous image data. By providing the above, it is possible to immediately reproduce the image taken immediately after the shooting.

According to the invention of claim 5, a stereoscopic image is formed by providing image synthesizing means for generating a stereoscopic video signal from each image data photographed when each image pickup optical means is at the first position. In addition to being obtained, the photographer can take a desired image only by moving the image pickup optical means to the first and second positions.

According to the invention of claim 6, by using a mirror or a prism as the optical path changing means, it is possible to match the image position of the intersection of the entrance pupil and the optical axis of each imaging optical means with a simple structure. effective.

According to the invention of claim 7, there is an effect that the optical path changing means can be made more compact by disposing the optical path changing means between the objective lens and the image pickup device.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the optical path changing means reflects or refracts the photographing light beam incident on each of the image pickup optical means in a direction substantially perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the respective image pickup optical means, whereby each of the image pickup optical means. Since the means does not largely project in the arrangement direction, there is an effect that the compound-eye imaging device can be made more compact in the arrangement direction. Further, there is an effect that the intersections of the entrance pupil and the optical axis of each image pickup optical means can be arranged so as to coincide with each other.

According to the invention of claim 9, the trapezoidal distortion caused by the difference in the centers of one continuous image data after the image combination is corrected,
The effect is that a natural image without distortion can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a subject image captured by each imaging optical system and an image after combination.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a shooting operation.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing the principle of trapezoidal distortion.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram illustrating an operation example of a compound eye camera unit.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing a state during stereoscopic photography.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a shooting operation.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing a driving state of a lens barrel.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram showing a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram showing a driving state of a lens barrel.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram when a prism is used as an optical path changing unit.

FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram showing a relationship between a subject and a viewpoint position.

FIG. 15 is a configuration diagram showing how a subject looks at each viewpoint position in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram showing another relationship between the subject and the position of the viewpoint.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram showing how a subject looks at each viewpoint position in FIG. 16;

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 shooting optical system 1a, 2a The intersection of the entrance pupil and the optical axis 3, 4 image sensor 8 Signal processor 10 system controller 51, 52 shooting lens 53, 54 lens barrel 57, 58 Image sensor 61, 62 lens barrel drive section 63 Mode switching unit 81, 82, 83 photography lens 84, 85, 86 Image sensor 87, 88, 89 Reflective mirror 90, 91, 92 lens barrel 101, 102 shooting lens 103, 104 image sensor 105, 106 Reflective mirror 107, 108 lens barrel 120, 121 prism

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Masayoshi Sekine Inventor Masayoshi Sekine 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Tokyo Prefecture Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Shigeki Okauchi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. Within the corporation (56) References JP-A-7-72600 (JP, A) JP-A-7-67024 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5/225

Claims (9)

(57) [Claims] 1. A compound eye image pickup apparatus having a plurality of image pickup optical means for respectively collecting subject light and forming an optical image on an image forming surface of an image pickup element, wherein the plurality of image pickup optical means are provided for each of the image pickup optical means. A compound-eye imaging device, characterized in that it is arranged such that the intersections of the entrance pupil and the optical axis are substantially coincident with each other. 2. The compound eye image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising optical path changing means for changing a traveling direction of a photographing light flux incident on the plurality of image pickup optical means. 3. A plurality of imaging optical means, wherein the image positions of the intersections of the entrance pupils and the optical axis or the intersections of the entrance pupils and the optical axis generated by the optical path changing means are substantially the same. And a second position at which the image position of the intersection of each of the entrance pupils and the optical axis or the intersection of each of the entrance pupils and the optical axis generated by the optical path changing means is separated by a predetermined distance. The compound-eye imaging device according to claim 2, further comprising a moving unit. 4. An image synthesizing means for synthesizing a plurality of image data captured by each of the image pickup optical means into one continuous image data when the plurality of image pickup optical means are arranged at the first position. The compound-eye imaging device according to claim 3, wherein 5. An image synthesizing means for generating a stereoscopic video signal from a plurality of image data taken by each of the image pickup optical means when the plurality of image pickup optical means are in the second position is provided. The compound eye imaging device according to claim 3. 6. The compound eye imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the optical path changing unit is a mirror or a prism. 7. The compound eye image pickup apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the optical path changing means is arranged between the most object side lens of each image pickup optical means and the image pickup element. 8. The compound eye according to claim 2, wherein the optical path changing unit reflects or refracts a photographing light beam incident on each image pickup optical unit in a direction substantially perpendicular to an arrangement direction of each image pickup optical unit. Imaging device. 9. The above-mentioned 1 after composition by the image composition means.
The compound-eye imaging device according to claim 4, further comprising a correction unit that corrects a trapezoidal distortion caused by the difference in the centers of the two continuous image data.