JP4279476B2 - Photographing availability information display method and photographing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a photographing availability information display method and a photographing apparatus that implements the method.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Imaging devices such as cameras, digital cameras, video cameras, and information terminals with imaging functions are widely used. Recently, in order to facilitate appropriate shooting, these shooting apparatuses obtain information that can be used as a guide for whether or not shooting is possible, and display the obtained information on a monitor display unit or a finder display unit. There are many things.
[0003]
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-47315 describes “a distance display range display and a distance measurement result displayed on a liquid crystal display”. As described above, when the distance display is performed as the distance measurement result, etc., the distance measurement result can be known in more detail, but the display is complicated or the displayed distance measurement range number and the main subject are The subject was difficult to see due to the heavy weight, making it difficult to shoot.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to easily display shooting availability information indicating whether or not shooting is possible, in an easily understandable manner that is unlikely to hinder shooting.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The photographing availability information display method according to the present invention is “a method for displaying photographing availability information in a photographing apparatus having a monitor display section or a finder display section and a multipoint ranging autofocus function ”. The photographing availability information display method according to claim 1 is characterized by the following points.
[0006]
That is, a “ single cross-shaped target mark” is displayed on the monitor display section or the finder display section, and the “target mark display form” is made different according to the contents of the photographing availability information.
[0007]
The photographing availability information includes “focusing / non-focusing in autofocus control” . Whether or not the subject is in focus by autofocus control (shooting is possible) is indicated by expressing the focus / non-focus in autofocus control by the display form of the target mark displayed on the monitor display unit or viewfinder display unit. (Photographing is not possible) can be easily known, and so-called “out-of-focus” photography can be effectively prevented.
[0008]
The shooting information availability information can also include “strobe use availability information based on distance measurement information” ( claim 2 ). In this case, the photographing permission information may also include a "flash reach limit distance range out information" (Claim 3), may also include a "flash shortest distance range out information" (Claim 4).
[0009]
In this way, by displaying the information on whether or not the strobe can be used in the display form of the target mark, it is possible to easily know whether or not the subject is in focus (shootable) or not (shooting is impossible) by autofocus control. It is possible to effectively prevent unnecessary cooking of the strobe.
[0010]
The photographing availability information can also include “focusing / non-focusing based on distance measurement information during manual focus” ( claim 5 ). That is, by comparing the object distance by the manual focusing operation with the distance measurement information, the in-focus / non-in-focus state is expressed in the display form of the target mark. In this way, it is possible to perform photographing in an appropriate in-focus state even during manual focus.
[0011]
In order to “change the display mode of the target mark according to the content of the shootability information”, the “display color of the target mark” may be changed according to the content of the shootability information ( claim Item 6 ), “the blinking cycle of the target mark” may be varied ( claim 7 ). Of course, the above-mentioned “change in display color” and “change in blinking cycle” can be used together to change the display form of the target mark.
[0012]
Incidentally, claim 1 Oite "shooting permission information on the method described is, focus / out-of-focus in autofocus control, permission information of flash use based on the distance measurement information, strobe reaches limit distance range out information, strobe shortest It is also considered as a reference technique that is the distance range inside / outside information, and the target mark display color is changed by changing the display color of the target mark in accordance with the photographing availability information .
[0013]
Furthermore, in the method according to claim 1, “shooting availability information includes focusing / non-focusing in autofocus control, strobe use availability information based on distance measurement information, strobe reaching limit distance range inside / outside information, strobe shortest distance range It is also possible to refer to the inside / outside information, and the display mode of the target mark is changed by changing the blinking cycle of the target mark in accordance with the photographing availability information ”.
[0014]
As described above, in the photographing availability information display method according to claim 1 , the target mark has a “single cross shape” . Even if the cross-shaped target mark is displayed on the display unit, it does not easily obstruct the observation of the subject image or the finder image, and also serves as a reference for the upper and lower sides. Also useful for checking image tilt (horizontal / vertical).
[0015]
As described above, the photographing apparatus has a multipoint ranging autofocus function, and displays the width of the ranging area by the horizontal width or vertical width of the cross-shaped target mark. In addition, in- focus / non-in-focus by multi-point ranging autofocus is included as photographing availability information, and “vertical and horizontal lines of cross-shaped target mark are crossed” at the in-focus position .
The “ ranging area width” is “a ranging area in which all the ranging points in multi-point ranging are combined”.
[0016]
The photographing apparatus of the present invention has “a monitor display unit or a finder display unit and means for obtaining photographing availability information, a target mark is displayed on the monitor display unit or viewfinder display unit, and the photographing availability information is obtained. depending on the resulting photographing availability information includes means for changing the display form of the target mark, to implement the imaging availability information display method according to any one of the claims 1 to 7 "is a device (according Item 8 ).
[0017]
Such a photographing apparatus can be implemented as a normal camera, a digital camera, a video camera, an information terminal having a photographing function, or the like.
[0018]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows an example of an embodiment in which the photographing apparatus of the present invention is implemented as a “digital camera”.
The lens 1 is a photographic lens and is held by a displacement mechanism 13. The displacement mechanism 13 is controlled by a CPU (Central Processor Unit) 17 to displace the lens 1 in the optical axis direction. Further, the lens 1 can be displaced by scanning the displacement mechanism 13 manually.
[0019]
The light transmitted through the lens 1 enters the light receiving surface of the CCD 3. The video (RAW data) captured from the CCD 3 is digitized by the A / D converter 5, YUV converted by the image preprocessor 7 (hereinafter referred to as IPP 7), converted to analog by the D / A converter 9, and “monitor display unit” Is input to a liquid crystal display 11 (hereinafter referred to as LCD 11) and displayed on the LCD 11 as an image.
[0020]
The AF sensor 15 is of an “infrared sensor type”, for example. The CPU 17 controls the AF sensor 15 to perform distance measurement on the photographing target, “displace the lens 1 by controlling the displacement mechanism 13 according to the distance measurement result”, and executes autofocus control on the photographing target.
[0021]
Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 (a) shows target marks displayed on the LCD 11 serving as a monitor display unit. The target mark TM is “a cross shape in which vertical and horizontal straight lines are combined into a cross shape and the intersections of the lines are removed”, and the display unit displays “white” as a standby display. The LCD 11 is for displaying a color image and can display a desired color.
[0022]
The target mark TM is generated by the CPU 17 in FIG. 1 and synthesized with “an image by a RAW signal subjected to YUV conversion” in the IPP 7.
[0023]
The photographer grasps the horizontal and vertical inclinations with reference to the vertical and horizontal directions of the target mark TM displayed on the LCD 11, determines the composition, and performs the autofocus control operation. With this autofocus operation, the lens 1 is displaced, and the video (RAW data) captured from the CCD 3 is displayed on the LCD 11 as described above.
[0024]
In accordance with the autofocus control operation, the in-focus / non-in-focus state is displayed as “display form of target mark TM” as shown in FIG.
[0025]
That is, while the autofocus control operation is started and the in-focus state is not realized, “the target mark TM is displayed in red” as the out-of-focus state (that is, the photographing is impossible). When the autofocus control is executed and the in-focus state is realized, “target mark TM is displayed in green” as the photographing enabled state. Thus, by changing the display form (display color) of the target mark TM, the photographer can immediately know the autofocus control result.
[0026]
When the target mark TM is displayed in green, it is possible to shoot, so the photographer shoots. At this time, the captured image information is subjected to image processing by the IPP 7 and stored in the internal storage device 19 via the CPU 17. Alternatively, it can be stored in the external storage device 23 via the memory controller 21.
[0027]
In the above, the case of performing autofocus control using an infrared sensor as an AF sensor has been described. However, the CCD 3 is used as an AF sensor without using the AF sensor 15 and the lens 1 is driven by a predetermined amount while the image input to the CCD 3 is being driven. “Contrast detection type” autofocus control in which the contrast is detected and the lens 1 is positioned at the highest contrast may be performed. In this case, the display form (color) of the target mark as described above is also possible. By changing, the photographer can be informed of in-focus / in-focus easily and reliably.
[0028]
Further, in order to change the display form, the target mark TM may be blinked and its blinking cycle may be changed instead of changing the color. For example, in the out-of-focus state, the blinking cycle may be shortened and blinked at a “slow cycle” when the in-focus state is realized.
[0029]
A case has been described that displays the in-focus / out-of-focus in the case of auto-focus control, if there is a ranging function in AF sensor 15, that associates the distance between the imaging target and the displacement of the lens 1 Can do.
In such a case, even when the focus operation is performed manually, it is possible to display in-focus / in-focus by the display form (color, blinking cycle, etc.) of the target mark.
[0030]
As the AF sensor 15, a phase difference sensor can be used in addition to the infrared sensor. When an infrared sensor or a position scanning sensor is used as the AF sensor 15, distance measurement (distance measurement) can be performed on an object to be imaged. Therefore, in addition to the above “focusing / non-focusing in autofocus control”, shooting is performed. The availability information can be obtained.
[0031]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a photographing availability information display method in this case.
At the start in FIG. 3, the photographer is holding the digital camera. At this time, the target mark is displayed in “white” as shown in FIG. 2A to indicate a standby state. The photographer determines the composition using the displayed white target mark TM and starts control.
[0032]
The control at this time is “AF distance measurement”, that is, autofocus control and distance measurement.
[0033]
The result of the autofocus control is either in-focus (“AF in-focus” in the figure) or out-of-focus. When it is not in focus, that is, when it is not in focus, the CPU 17 controls the IPP 7 to change the color of the target mark TM from “white” to “red” in the standby display as shown in FIG. . That is, while the target mark TM is red, it is in a “photographing impossible state”.
[0034]
When the in-focus state is realized by the autofocus control, it is determined whether or not the shooting distance at this time (known as “ranging result”) is “within the range where the strobe operates effectively” (in the figure) “Focus range result strobe range”). As a result of distance measurement, when the shooting distance is a distance at which the strobe light does not reach effectively (“Judgment result out of reach range” in the figure), “whether or not the strobe can be used” as the shooting availability information is Since it cannot be used, in this case, the display color of the target mark TM is changed to “purple”. In this display mode, since the flash light does not reach the object to be photographed effectively, the photographer is not required to use the strobe. That is, it is possible to use a strobe to take an image with insufficient light quantity and to prevent the battery from being consumed. In this case, the photographer can change the composition so that the strobe can be used.
[0035]
When the distance measurement result is “within the distance measurement result strobe range”, whether or not it is further “close enough so that the strobe light becomes excessive”, that is, “the white out” of the subject does not occur even if the strobe is cooked. (“Strobe close range OK” in the figure) ”is determined.
[0036]
At this time, when the determination result is “determination result strobe short distance NG”, the color of the target mark TM is changed to “yellow”. In this case as well, the photographer can change the composition so that “strobe can be used”. In this way, “photographing without occurrence of a whiteout image by a strobe” is possible.
[0037]
When the determination result is “strobe short distance OK”, the digital camera can use the strobe and is in an in-focus state. At this time, the color of the target mark TM is changed to “green”. Therefore, when shooting using a strobe, if shooting is performed when the color of the target mark TM is “green”, proper shooting can be performed.
[0038]
If the use of the strobe is not selected, the in-focus state is displayed with a green target mark, and the out-of-focus state is displayed with a red target mark.
[0039]
The color as the display form of the target mark TM is not limited to the above “green, red, yellow, purple”, and other color combinations may be used.
[0040]
Needless to say, the display of the target mark TM may be displayed in the cycle of target mark blinking instead of changing the display form of the target mark TM to “different color”. A “display mode” may be combined with the blinking cycle.
[0041]
Of course, not only the autofocus control but also the manual focus mode can be used for distance measurement, and the display of the information on whether or not the photographing is possible can be performed by the color classification or the blinking cycle of the target mark display.
[0042]
In the embodiment of the digital camera described above, in the photographing apparatus (digital camera) having the monitor display unit (LCD 11), the photographing availability information is displayed, and the target mark TM is displayed on the monitor display unit 11. The target mark TM is displayed in a different form according to the contents of the photographing availability information.
[0043]
In the example described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the shooting availability information includes “focusing / non-focusing in autofocus control” , and in the example described with reference to FIG. It includes “strobe use availability information based on distance measurement information”, “strobe reaching limit distance range inside / outside information”, and “strobe shortest distance range inside / outside information” .
[0044]
As described above, “focusing / non-focusing based on distance measurement information during manual focus” can be used as the shooting availability information, and the display color of the target mark is changed depending on the content of the shooting availability information, and the target Although the display form of the mark is made different , the display form of the target mark can be made different by changing the blinking cycle of the target mark .
[0045]
Further, in the example described with reference to FIG. 3, the shooting availability information includes in-focus / non-focusing in autofocus control, strobe use availability information based on distance measurement information, strobe reaching limit distance range inside / outside information, strobe shortest wherein the distance range out information, in accordance with these imaging permission information, by varying the display color of the target mark TM, a shooting permission information display method to differentiate the display in the form of a target mark TM, the target mark TM single The cross shape.
[0046]
Therefore, the digital camera shown in FIG. 1 has a monitor display unit 11 and has means 15 and 17 for obtaining photographing availability information, and also displays a target mark on the monitor display portion 11 and obtains photographing availability information. An imaging apparatus comprising means 7 and 17 for changing the display form of the target mark according to the imaging availability information obtained by the above, and performing the imaging availability information display method according to any one of claims 1 to 7. is there.
[0047]
The imaging device has a "multi-point range finding autofocus" function, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), in the standby state, the target marks TM cross-shaped, the length of the length of the horizontal line (vertical line The distance measurement point width (the width of the distance measurement area) "is displayed, and the in-focus position includes in-focus / non-in-focus by multi-point distance auto-focus as shooting availability information. As shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C, it is possible to “cross the vertical and horizontal lines of the cross-shaped target mark” .
[0048]
In this way, even in multi-point ranging autofocus, the ranging area can be easily seen and the in-focus position can be easily understood.
[0049]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a novel photographing availability information display method and a photographing apparatus that implements this method can be realized. The shooting availability information display method of the present invention displays shooting availability by changing the display form of the target mark without displaying “numbers such as a distance measurement range based on the distance measurement result” as in the prior art. The shooting availability information indicating the availability of shooting can be displayed “simple in an easy-to-understand manner that is unlikely to hinder shooting”.
[0050]
Therefore, the photographing apparatus of the present invention that implements such a display method can perform proper photographing while observing an image to be photographed in a good state.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of a photographing apparatus.
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a target mark and its “change in display form”.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining one embodiment of a method for displaying shootability information.
FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the inventions according to claims 12 and 13;
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Lens 3 CCD
7 Image preprocessor 11 LCD (monitor display unit)
TM target mark

Claims (8)

In a photographing apparatus having a monitor display unit or a finder display unit and a multi-point ranging autofocus function, a method for displaying photographing availability information,
Display a single cross-shaped target mark on the monitor display or finder display,
Depending on the content of the shooting availability information, the display form of the target mark is different ,
The shooting availability information includes in-focus / in-focus with multi-point AF.
In the horizontal or vertical width of the cross-shaped target mark, the width of the distance measurement area that combines all the distance measurement points in multi-point distance measurement is displayed.
A photographing availability information display method characterized by crossing a vertical line and a horizontal line of the cross-shaped target mark at an in-focus position . In the photographing availability information display method according to claim 1,
A shooting availability information display method, wherein the shooting availability information includes information on whether or not to use a strobe based on distance measurement information . In the photographing availability information display method according to claim 2,
  A shooting availability information display method, wherein the shooting availability information includes information on the inside and outside of a strobe reach limit distance range. In the photographing availability information display method according to claim 2 or 3,
A shooting availability information display method, wherein the shooting availability information includes information on the inside and outside of the shortest distance range of a strobe. In the photographing availability information display method according to claim 1,
  A photographing availability information display method, wherein the photographing availability information includes focusing / non-focusing by distance measurement information during manual focus. In the photographing availability information display method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
  A shooting availability information display method, characterized in that a display color of a target mark is changed depending on contents of shooting availability information to change a display form of the target mark. In the photographing availability information display method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A shooting availability information display method characterized in that the display mode of the target mark is made different by changing the blinking cycle of the target mark according to the contents of the shooting availability information . Having a monitor display unit or a finder display unit, having means for obtaining shooting availability information, displaying a target mark on the monitor display unit or viewfinder display unit, and obtaining the shooting availability obtained by the means for obtaining the shooting availability information According to the information, having a means for changing the display form of the target mark,
A photographing apparatus for performing the photographing availability information display method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 .

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