JP4026757B2 - Digital camera - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a digital camera that can perform moving image shooting or continuous shooting, and can record / reproduce image data obtained by moving image shooting or continuous shooting.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, various types of digital cameras are known. Among them, there are digital cameras having a moving image shooting mode or a continuous shooting mode. In the following, it will be represented by the term continuous shooting, including video shooting. In a digital camera having a continuous shooting mode (including the concept of the video shooting mode), for example, continuous shooting and single shooting can be switched with a shooting mode dial or the like, while the release button is pressed when switching to continuous shooting, Continuous shooting is performed. While the release button is pressed and continuous shooting is performed, image data obtained by shooting is recorded on the recording medium one after another at predetermined intervals. Recently, there are cameras that automatically capture continuous movements when the subject moves. As such a camera, there is a vehicle monitoring camera, and there is a camera that detects a volume level of the vehicle and shoots a vehicle that produces a volume higher than a certain level (for example, Patent Document 1).
[0003]
When shooting fast-moving subjects, the shooting time before and after the release button is pressed can be set freely, and there are cameras that continuously shoot the movement of the subject within the set shooting time. It has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 2).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-92783 A
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-10-257365
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Patent Document 1 is a patent in which when a sound of a predetermined volume or higher is emitted from a vehicle, the vehicle is photographed by the camera. Although it is effective for a vehicle noise monitoring camera, it is suitable for photographing a normal person or landscape. Is not suitable.
[0006]
In Patent Document 2, even if the subject does not move, continuous shooting is performed within the set time. Therefore, if the subject does not move, almost the same image signal is successively recorded on the recording medium. There is a problem that the recording area of the recording medium is uselessly recorded in the memory.
[0007]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a digital camera that can efficiently use a recording area of a recording medium and can adaptively perform shooting according to the movement of a subject. .
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The camera of the present invention that achieves the above object is a digital camera that obtains an image signal representing a subject image by forming an image of light from the subject with a photographing optical system.
A release button with two operation modes, half-press and full-press,
A sound sensor for detecting sound from the subject side,
Continuous shooting is performed after half-pressing the release button, and when a sound of a predetermined level or higher is detected at the timing of full pressing, still image shooting is performed and continuous shooting is performed again after the still image shooting. When a sound of a level lower than the predetermined level is detected at the timing of pressing, a shooting mode for canceling the continuous shooting before the full press and enabling only the still image shooting with the release button fully pressed is provided. It is characterized by.
[0009]
According to the camera of the present invention, when the level of the sound detected by the sound sensor when fully pressed is less than a predetermined level, only the still image when fully pressed is enabled and recorded on the recording medium. Recording is performed. The continuous shooting is performed in spite of the movement of the subject as in the past, and the series of image signals obtained by the continuous shooting are not recorded on the recording medium. Therefore, shooting can be performed according to the movement of the subject, and the recording area of the recording medium can be used efficiently.
[0010]
Here, a voice registration unit for registering voice characteristics;
A voice analysis unit that detects whether or not a voice feature obtained by the sound sensor at the time of photographing matches a voice feature registered in the voice registration unit;
In the shooting mode, whether or not continuous shooting before full pressing is enabled in accordance with the determination of the audio feature instead of the determination of the audio level or according to the determination of the audio level and the continuous shooting after the still image shooting. It is preferable to determine whether to perform shooting.
[0011]
In this way, the voice feature is registered in the voice registration unit in advance, and the voice analysis unit determines whether the voice feature obtained by the sound sensor matches the registered voice feature. When it is decided whether or not continuous shooting before full press is enabled and whether continuous shooting after still image shooting is performed according to the determination of the voice analysis unit, the characteristics of the sound obtained by the sound sensor during the release operation However, since shooting is performed only when it matches the characteristics of the registered voice, useless shooting is not performed and the recording area of the recording medium is not wasted.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
[0013]
FIG. 1 is an external view of a digital camera showing an embodiment of the present invention. 1A is a front view, FIG. 1B is a top view, FIG. 1C is a side view, and FIG.
[0014]
An image of a subject is guided from the lens 101 shown in FIGS. 1A to 1C to a CCD solid-state imaging device provided inside the camera 100. A flash light emitting unit 104 is also provided so that night photography can be performed. A dimming sensor 104 a is also provided so that a predetermined amount of flash light is emitted by the flash light emitting unit 104.
[0015]
In addition, a sound sensor 110 is also provided so that externally emitted sound can be input to the signal processing unit in the digital camera.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 1D, an operation unit for performing various operations when the user uses the digital camera is provided on the back of the digital camera of the present embodiment.
[0017]
This operation unit is provided with an operation panel group and an LCD panel 105a as a display. The operation switch group includes a power switch 102 for turning on the power for operating the digital camera, a shooting / playback switching lever 103 for enabling switching between shooting and playback, a zoom switch 106, a cross key 107, and a flash light emitting unit 104. There is a pop-up switch 109 or the like. A display unit 107a is provided inside the cross key, and the operation content is displayed on the display unit so that the operation of the cross key 107 can be easily performed. In the digital camera 100, shooting and playback can be switched by the shooting / playback switching lever 103. When shooting, the shooting / playback switching lever 103 is switched to the shooting side 103a by the user and shooting is performed. The playback switching lever 103 is switched to the playback side 103b. When the shooting / playback switching lever 103 is switched to the shooting side and the release button 108 shown in FIG. 1B is pressed, a shooting start instruction is transmitted to the signal processing unit inside the camera.
The digital camera is provided with a photographing mode dial 111, and five photographing modes are prepared for the photographing mode dial.
[0018]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing five shooting modes of the shooting mode dial.
[0019]
The five shooting modes are an A mode for automatic shooting, an M mode for manual shooting, a P1 mode in which continuous shooting (moving image) / still image can be automatically switched on the camera side according to the movement of the subject, There are five modes: a P2 mode in which continuous shooting (moving image) / still image can be automatically switched on the camera side according to the sound emitted from the subject, and a high-speed continuous shooting (moving image) shooting mode. It also has an S mode that can change the internal settings of the digital camera. Here, when the P2 mode is selected, continuous shooting or still image shooting is performed according to the level of the sound emitted from the subject when the release operation is performed, and the shot image signal is recorded on the recording medium. It is like that.
[0020]
FIG. 3 is a configuration block diagram of a signal processing unit provided in the digital camera 100. The configuration of the signal processing unit in the digital camera 100 will be described with reference to FIG.
[0021]
In the digital camera 100 of the present embodiment, all processes are controlled by a control unit 120, for example, a CPU, and various switches of the operation unit shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the various switches are represented as operation switches 1000. The control unit 120 includes a RAM / ROM unit 130 including a ROM storing a program necessary for operating as a camera and a RAM serving as a working area. The control unit 120 controls the camera control unit 140, the light control sensor 104a, the display control unit 150, the memory control unit 160, and the external interface unit 170 according to the procedure of the program stored in the ROM. The camera control unit 140 controls the CCD solid-state image sensor 141 and the position of the lens 142 that forms a subject image on the solid-state image sensor, the display control unit 150 controls the LCD 105, and the memory control unit 160 controls the card memory 161. Recording processing and playback processing from the card memory are controlled. The operation switch also includes a release button 108. The release button 108 has two operation modes of half-press and full-press. Since the release button 108 has two operation modes, in the following description, a sign S1 is added to the half-press timing and described as a half-press timing S1, and a sign S2 is added to the full-press timing. These operation modes are distinguished by being described as a push timing S2. When P2 mode is selected with the shooting dial, continuous shooting is started at the timing S1 when the release button 108 is half-pressed, but the sound obtained by the sound sensor 110 at the timing S2 when the release button 108 is fully pressed is started. Depending on the level, the continuous shooting from the half-press timing S1 to the full-press timing S2 is disabled and only the still image is recorded on the recording medium, or the continuous shooting is enabled and the continuous shooting is enabled. It is determined whether a series of captured image signals is recorded on a memory card (recording medium).
[0022]
In addition, a sound detection / registration unit 121 is provided in the control unit 120. When P2 is selected with the shooting mode dial 111, the sound detection / sound registration unit 121 uses the sound at the full press timing S2. It is determined whether or not the voice obtained by the sensor 110 is a voice registered in advance. When it is determined that the sound obtained by the sound sensor 110 is a registered sound, the sound detection / sound registration unit 121 further detects the volume of the sound. If the sound level detected by the sound detection / sound registration unit 121 is equal to or higher than a predetermined level, the image signal before being fully pressed is transferred from the ring buffer to the memory card 161 via the memory control unit 160. In addition to recording, an image signal for a predetermined period after being fully pressed is also recorded on the recording medium 161. This ring buffer is a series of image signals continuously shot from when the release button 108, which is an instruction to start continuous shooting, is pressed halfway down until it is fully pressed, until it is recorded on the memory card 161. This ring buffer is temporarily stored, and this ring buffer is provided in the continuous shooting control unit 122 in the control unit 120. When continuous shooting is performed in the shooting mode P2, a series of image signals from the half-press timing S1 to the full-press timing S2 is stored in a ring buffer in the continuous shooting control unit 122 and obtained by a sound sensor. A series of image signals are sequentially output from the ring buffer at the fully-pressed timing S 2 in accordance with the level of the sound, and recording to the memory card 161 is performed via the recording control unit 160.
[0023]
A series of image signals are sequentially recorded in the ring buffer from the half-press timing S1 of the release button 108. When the capacity of the ring buffer is exceeded, a new image signal is recorded in the area of the image signal recorded at the oldest time. Will be overwritten one after another. Here, a ring buffer is provided as a ring buffer that can store a series of image signals for 3 seconds before the full-press timing S2 of the release button 108 or 5 seconds before the full-press timing S2. .
[0024]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of voice registration processing performed by the sound detection / sound registration unit.
[0025]
In step S41, it is determined whether or not the sound registration mode is set. In this sound registration mode, for example, the shooting mode dial is set to S mode, various items for setting the internal digital camera are displayed on the display screen, and a voice registration mode is provided as one of those items. You can leave it. If the sound registration mode is selected here, the sound is input to the signal processing unit inside the camera through the sound sensor in step S42, and the input sound is registered to the sound registration / sound detection unit in the control unit. This registration of sound is performed in order for the digital camera to select either continuous shooting or still image shooting according to the sound level during shooting. The voice obtained by the sound sensor is analyzed by the voice analysis unit in the sound detection / registration unit, and for example, data representing a voiceprint is extracted from the analyzed voice data, and the sound registration / sound detection unit 121 Data representing the voiceprint is registered in the storage unit provided.
[0026]
Next, in step S43, in addition to the data representing the registered voiceprint, the volume level of the voice having the voiceprint is set. Here, assuming that there is a correlation between the movement of the subject and the volume, for example, if the subject is moving above a predetermined level, continuous shooting can be performed, and if the subject is below the predetermined level, the subject is not moving. The sound level is set so that a determination that still image shooting is performed is made in the digital camera. In the flowchart of FIG. 4, two levels are set, level 1 in step S44 and level 2 in step S45. Level 2 is larger than Level 1, and each of these two levels is compared with the level of the sound obtained by the sound sensor in synchronization with the release operation, and the level of the sound obtained by the sound sensor is compared. If is large, the continuous shooting time is set before and after the release operation.
[0027]
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a situation when shooting is performed before and after the release button is fully pressed according to the sound level registered based on the flowchart of FIG.
[0028]
Three shooting states are realized by the registered sound levels, that is, level 1 and level 2, and if the sound level obtained by the sound sensor is less than level 1, still image shooting is performed. If it is less than 2, continuous shooting is performed every 3 seconds before and after the full-press timing S2, and if it is level 2 or higher, continuous shooting is performed every 5 seconds before and after the full-press timing S2.
[0029]
Then, for example, if the child makes a loud voice at the full-press timing S2 of the release button, the continuous shooting started from the half-press timing S1 is continued even after the full-press timing S2, and the child who makes a loud voice is active. A moving scene is shot continuously for 6 seconds or 10 seconds. If continuous shooting is performed on the assumption that the subject is actively moving when such a loud sound is emitted, it is possible to capture a memorable scene without missing a photo opportunity. In addition, such an effect of the shooting mode P2 is also exhibited when someone suddenly moves loudly at a wedding or alumni gathering. At this time, the sound sensor is activated and registered in the gathering, and then the shooting mode is set to P2 and when the release button is pressed halfway down to the full press, a loud voice is emitted when the press is fully pressed. A moving subject is photographed. In this shooting mode P2, when the subject does not emit sound at the full-press timing S2, even if continuous shooting has been performed since the half-press timing S1, the image signal that has been shot continuously is recorded on the recording medium. Since only a still image is recorded without being recorded, a recording medium, here a memory card is used efficiently. In this way, continuous shooting or still images can be selected and photographed as appropriate according to the state of the subject, so that it is possible to photograph a more memorable scene without missing a photo opportunity. Further, when no sound is emitted from the subject, the still image when the full press S2 is performed is only recorded on the recording medium, so that the recording medium is not wasted.
[0030]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the shooting time is set before and after the full-press timing S2 in accordance with the sound level obtained by the sound sensor.
[0031]
When the shooting mode dial shown in FIG. 2 is set to P2 to enter the continuous shooting (moving image) / still image shooting mode and the release operation is performed, the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 6 is performed. In step S61, it is determined whether or not the release button is half-pressed (S1). If half-press (S1) is performed here, it is determined as Y, and continuous shooting is started in step S62. In the next step S63, it is determined whether or not the release button is fully pressed (S2). If the release button is fully pressed (S2), it is determined as Y, and in the next step S64, the registered sound volume is detected. It is. This registered sound volume detection means that the sound volume is detected based on the sound emitted from the subject. Here, the voice print is first extracted from the sound obtained by the sound sensor, and the voice print is registered. If it matches the voiceprint, control according to the volume of the voice is performed in step S65. In this step S64, the voiceprint obtained from the voice sampled in a short time through the sound sensor is compared with the registered voiceprint to calculate the precision, and when a predetermined precision is obtained by this calculation, the voice is emitted. The sound volume is detected after determining that the registered person is the same person as the registered person. For the volume, the level 1 and level 2 stored in the sound registration / sound detection unit 121 are compared with the level of the sound obtained by the sound sensor 110, and the level of the sound is determined according to the comparison result. The shooting time before and after the full press timing S2 is determined.
[0032]
Since the two levels 1 and 2 of the volume are set to have a correlation with the movement of the subject, if it is determined in step S65 that a loud sound of level 2 or higher is emitted, the step is assumed that the movement of the subject is intense. In S67, the shooting time is set every 5 seconds with the full press timing S2 as a boundary, and continuous shooting for 10 seconds is performed. If it is determined in step S65 that sound between level 1 and level 2 is emitted, step S65 is performed. Although the subject is moving in S66, there is no intensity, and the shooting time is set every 3 seconds with the full-press timing S2 as a boundary, and shooting is performed. In the next step S68, image signals obtained by continuous shooting are successively recorded on the recording medium.
[0033]
If the level is 1 or less, the subject is not moved at all, and a still image is taken at the full-press timing S2, and a series of images stored in the ring buffer are erased without being recorded on the recording medium. The
[0034]
As described above, according to the digital camera of the present invention, video or continuous shooting and still image shooting are selected according to the level of sound emitted from the subject, and shooting is performed. Since the movement of the subject is linked in advance to the level of the sound emitted by the subject, it is possible to perform shooting according to the level of the sound emitted by the subject. In addition, since the ring buffer is provided, the contents of the ring buffer are erased without being recorded on the recording medium when the still image shooting is selected without generating sound, and the memory is not wasted. In addition, when a sound is emitted and it is determined that the subject is moving, the contents of the ring buffer are recorded on the recording medium. Since the capacity of this ring buffer is set to a predetermined value, when a series of image signals exceeding that capacity is stored, the image area stored at the oldest time in the storage area of the ring buffer is Since the latest image signal is overwritten in the written area, the image signal written to the recording medium becomes the latest version of the image signal.
[0035]
In addition, the digital camera of the present embodiment includes a compression / decompression unit in the memory control unit 160 so that the memory can be used efficiently, and image data compressed by the compression unit is stored as an image file. Recorded on the memory card. This image file has a header portion, and compressed information, shooting information, recording information, and the like when a series of image signals are compressed and recorded as an image file are written in the header portion. Therefore, when the image file recorded on the memory card is played back, the header portion is first read out and played back according to the contents of the header portion. In the header portion, there is an area called a thumbnail area, in which thumbnail images, that is, representative images are recorded as file information. Therefore, if the thumbnail image is displayed on the LCD screen as the file information, it can be understood at a glance what kind of shooting record exists in many files.
[0036]
When continuous shooting is performed, the size of the top image signal of a series of image signals that have been continuously shot is reduced and a compressed image signal is recorded in the thumbnail area of the header portion. At this time, a series of image signals are recorded as image data in a recording area different from the recording area of the header. When still image shooting is performed, the size of the still image is reduced, compressed and recorded in the thumbnail area, and the still image is recorded on the recording medium as a JPEG file. Therefore, when continuous shooting (moving image) is performed, a continuous shooting file for several seconds before the release button full press timing S2 is recorded on the recording medium, and a still image file at the full press timing S2 is recorded on the recording medium. Then, a continuous shooting file for several seconds after the full-press timing S2 is recorded on the recording medium.
[0037]
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a thumbnail image that has been compressed with the aspect ratio of the captured image reduced.
[0038]
When the shooting / playback changeover switch shown in FIG. 1D is tilted to the playback side to enter the playback mode and the file list of the image file recorded on the memory card 161 is selected from the selection menu, the thumbnail of FIG. The file name is displayed in the form of a folder on the LCD panel 105a together with the image.
[0039]
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the hierarchy of the folder and the moving image files and still image files below the folder. When a thumbnail image recorded in the thumbnail area in the header portion is used as a folder and the folder is designated by a cursor or the like, a continuous shooting (moving image) file or a still image file designated by the cursor is reproduced.
[0040]
In the thumbnail area of the header of the image file, an image signal that has been compressed by reducing the aspect ratio of the top image for continuous shooting and compressed by reducing the aspect ratio of the still image for still image shooting. Each signal is recorded. Therefore, when the memory control unit accesses each file in the recording medium based on an instruction from the control unit, reads the header of each file, and displays a list of the files on the LCD panel, the thumbnail image of each file is displayed. It can be read from the header and displayed on the LCD panel as a folder. At this time, thumbnail images of a large number of files can be displayed side by side on the LCD panel, and if any of the large number of thumbnail images is selected with the cursor, a continuous shooting (video) file having the thumbnail images in the header portion. Alternatively, a still image file is reproduced.
[0041]
As described above, when no sound is detected when the release button is fully pressed and it is estimated that the subject does not move, the image signal of the still image when the release button is fully pressed is recorded on the recording medium. Since the recording is performed, the recording area of the recording medium is efficiently used without performing unnecessary recording on the recording medium.
[0042]
In addition, the shooting period is set according to the sound level, and shooting is performed during that period, so it is possible to shoot a subject image for as long a period as possible for a subject that is moving intensely while producing a loud sound. It is possible to obtain a more memorable image.
[0043]
Furthermore, it is possible to efficiently manage image files recorded on a recording medium by using thumbnail images as folders. In addition, when an image file is reproduced from a recording medium, if a folder to be displayed as a thumbnail image is designated, an image file corresponding to the folder is reproduced from the recording medium, so that the reproduction can be easily performed.
[0044]
In this embodiment, the shooting conditions are determined based on both the voiceprint and the sound level. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the shooting conditions may be determined based on either the voiceprint or the sound level. good.
[0045]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the camera of the present invention, it is possible to provide a digital camera that can efficiently use a recording medium and can adaptively perform shooting according to the movement of a subject. it can.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an external view of a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram showing a shooting mode dial in FIG. 1; FIG.
3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a signal processing unit of the digital camera of FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of voice registration processing performed by a sound detection / sound registration unit;
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a situation when shooting is performed before and after the release button is fully pressed according to the level of sound registered based on the flowchart of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when shooting time is set before and after the full-press timing S2 in accordance with the sound level obtained by the sound sensor.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating thumbnail images that have been compressed with the aspect ratio of the captured image reduced.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a hierarchy of a folder and a moving image file and a still image file under the folder.
[Explanation of symbols]
100 digital camera
110 Sound sensor
111 Shooting mode dial
120 Control unit
121 Sound detection / sound registration part
122 Movie / Burst Control Unit
130 RAM / ROM
140 Camera control unit
150 Display control unit
160 Memory control unit
161 Memory card (recording media)
170 External interface

Claims (2)

In a digital camera that obtains an image signal representing a subject image by imaging light from the subject with a photographing optical system,
A release button with two operation modes, half-press and full-press,
A sound sensor for detecting sound from the subject side,
After the release button is pressed halfway, video or continuous shooting is performed, and when a sound of a level higher than a predetermined level is detected when the release button is fully pressed, still image shooting is performed, and after shooting the still image, video or continuous shooting is performed again. If the sound of the level lower than the predetermined level is detected at the timing of full pressing, the moving image before continuous pressing or continuous shooting is canceled and only still image shooting with the release button fully pressed is effective. A digital camera having a photographing mode to perform. An audio registration unit for registering audio features;
A voice analysis unit that detects whether or not a voice feature obtained by the sound sensor at the time of photographing matches a voice feature registered in the voice registration unit;
In the shooting mode, instead of determining the audio level or in accordance with the determination of the audio level and the determination of the audio feature, whether or not to enable the moving image before full pressing or continuous shooting and whether after the still image shooting 2. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the digital camera determines whether to perform moving image shooting or continuous shooting.

Images