JP4396309B2 - Imaging apparatus and imaging method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus and an imaging method suitable for application to, for example, a digital still camera.

Conventionally, in a general optical camera using a film, a subject can be photographed a plurality of times on the same film surface by using a multiple exposure function, so that it is possible to obtain a special effect in which several images overlap. (See Patent Document 1). On the other hand, a digital still camera using a memory is capable of creating a multiple-exposure image by combining image data captured multiple times with one digital image (see Patent Document 2), and opening and closing shutter blades from the outside. Bulb photography that can be exposed only while the shutter blades are open by attaching the lens blade unit with the lens so that the shutter blades are held in the open position and the shutter blades are closed after a predetermined time has elapsed. It has been proposed (see Patent Document 3).
Japanese Patent No. 2948919 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-93851 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-344975

  However, as shown in Patent Document 2, when an image that is multiple-exposed with a digital still camera is created, a memory circuit and a control circuit for synthesizing the digital image are required, which is costly and requires extra space. There was the inconvenience of becoming. Also, as shown in Patent Document 3, when using a digital single-lens reflex camera during so-called long-time shooting such as bulb shooting, since the function status or the like cannot be displayed on the display unit that displays the shot image, other personal There is a disadvantage that a computer must be connected and displayed on this display screen.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus and an imaging method that can perform bulb photography with a simple configuration and processing, and that can obtain various photography effects in bulb photography.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object of the present invention, an image pickup apparatus of the present invention is capable of bulb shooting in which incident light is exposed with the shutter mechanism opened and the subject is picked up by the image pickup means. In the device
A operation means for opening and closing the shutter mechanism, and a state in which no action, the press depth effect exposure by opening the shutter mechanism state (first operational state), the half-pressed state (second Operation means having a function of distinguishing the three states (operation state) ;
A light emission control means for arbitrarily controlling the timing of light emission by the strobe light emission unit to the subject during the bulb photographing;
A lens control means for controlling the focus position for an arbitrary object by causing movement of the lens position in the optical axis direction of the incident light,
Image acquisition means for acquiring a captured image of a subject obtained by superimposing at each light emission timing by the light emission control means or at each in-focus position by the lens control means;
After the operation means becomes in the above is performed exposure by being in a state of deep depression in bulb exposure, it said operating means in response to a transition to a state of pressing the half from the state of pressing the depth trigger The operation proceeds to a detection period, and the light emission control means is controlled to detect the trigger signal when the operation means changes to the deep-pressed state in the trigger detection period and cause the strobe light emitting section to emit light. And a valve photographing control means for outputting each information of the bulb photographing processing state, the light emission control state or the in-focus state together with the obtained image while controlling the lens control means and the image obtaining means. It is equipped with.

Thereby, the state of the process proceeds to trigger detection period in response to the transition from a state of deep depression is operating means for opening and closing the shutter mechanism in a state of half-pressed during bulb exposure, pressing depth operating means in the trigger detection period In order to detect the trigger signal and change the focus position, the strobe light emitting part emits light at an arbitrary timing as an auxiliary exposure amount, or the focal position is arbitrarily changed to obtain a bulb shot image. An imaging apparatus having a bulb photographing function equivalent to the multiple exposure function can be obtained. At this time, information on the bulb photographing processing state, the light emission control state, or the in-focus state is displayed together with the bulb photographing image as the bulb photographing state.

Further, the imaging method of the present invention is an imaging method capable of bulb photography in which incident light is exposed with the shutter mechanism opened and the subject is imaged by the imaging means.
An operation means for opening and closing the shutter mechanism, and has a function of distinguishing three states: a state in which no operation is performed, a deep press state in which the shutter mechanism is opened and exposure is performed, and a half press state. after the operating means becomes in the exposure by being in a state of deep depression is performed bulb exposure, trigger detection in response to said operating means is shifted to a state of pressing the half from the state of pushing the deep Transitioning to a period, performing a control to detect a trigger signal when the operation means changes to the deep-pressed state in the trigger detection period and to cause the strobe light emitting unit to emit light,
And controlling the focus position for an arbitrary object by causing movement of the lens position in the optical axis direction of the incident light,
Acquiring a captured image of the subject obtained at each light emission timing or at each in-focus position in an overlapping manner;
Performing bulb photographing control for performing output processing of each information of the bulb photographing processing state, the light emitting control state, or the in-focus state together with the obtained image while performing the light emission control and controlling the lens control and the image acquisition. It is equipped with.

Thereby, the state of the process proceeds to trigger detection period in response to the transition from a state of deep depression is operating means for opening and closing the shutter mechanism in a state of half-pressed during bulb exposure, pressing depth operating means in the trigger detection period In order to detect the trigger signal and change the focus position, the strobe light emitting part emits light at an arbitrary timing as an auxiliary exposure amount, or the focal position is arbitrarily changed to obtain a bulb shot image. An imaging method capable of performing bulb photographing processing equivalent to multiple exposure processing is obtained. At this time, information on the bulb photographing processing state, the light emission control state, or the in-focus state is displayed together with the bulb photographing image as the bulb photographing state.

  According to the present invention, a digital image composition such as multiple exposure processing or double exposure must be performed by simultaneously performing strobe light emission processing or processing for changing a focus distance on bulb photography processing. Thus, it is possible to easily take a desired image unique to the user by one exposure process.

The valve photographing process, like the multiple exposure process by a simple operation can be controlled so as to shift the input operation only by bulb shooting mode operating means for opening and closing the shutter mechanism according to the strobe light emission processing Yu over THE You can shoot a good image.

  Furthermore, by automating the flash emission process or the process of changing the focus distance in contrast to the bulb shooting process, even a novice user without camera knowledge can easily and easily shoot an image like multiple exposure processing. It becomes.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a digital still camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an embodiment in which an imaging apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a digital still camera.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image pickup apparatus of this embodiment condenses incident light and mechanically adjusts the amount of incident light centered on the optical axis with a lens unit 1 of an optical system that can adjust focus and zoom. The iris mechanism 2 to be limited and the shutter release button 20 to be described later half-pressed to open the shutter blade to enable focus adjustment, and the deep-press operation to start exposure and enable the photographing operation. A shutter mechanism 3 that closes and finishes the photographing operation and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) imaging element 4 that captures an image of a subject by photoelectrically converting the incident light that has been exposed are provided.

  The imaging apparatus also includes an analog signal circuit 5 that performs noise removal and automatic gain control by correlated double sampling, an A / D conversion circuit 6 that converts the analog signal into a digital signal, and the digital signal as a luminance signal. A digital signal processing circuit 7 that obtains a captured image by generating a signal necessary for an imaging operation by performing various color signal processing such as white balance and gamma conversion on each signal after being separated into color signals, and a CCD imaging device 4 A timing signal generation circuit 9 that generates vertical and horizontal transfer pulses and field shift pulses necessary for driving, and a main control unit 10 that controls the operation of the entire digital still camera are provided.

  The main control unit 10 includes a microcomputer and includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a program ROM (Read Only Memory), a work area RAM (Random Access Memory), and various I / O ports and interfaces (not shown). . The main control unit 10 is connected to a lens control unit 8 that drives and controls the zoom mechanism and focus mechanism of the lens unit 1. Further, a strobe device 12 is connected to the main control unit 10 via a charge / light emission control unit 11.

  Further, the main control unit 10 is connected with a photometric element 13 for measuring external light, and an operation input unit 14 capable of various operations and mode settings by a user input operation, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). A display unit 15, a recording device 16 having a removable recording medium, an external interface 17 having an output terminal such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus), and an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only) which is a nonvolatile memory. Memory) 18 and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 19 for temporarily storing generated data and the like are connected.

  Although not shown, the lens unit 1 includes a zoom control mechanism unit having a zoom lens and its drive unit, and a focus control mechanism unit having a focus lens and its drive unit. A control signal is supplied to the zoom control mechanism unit and the focus control mechanism unit of the lens unit 1 via the lens control unit 8, and the zoom control mechanism unit and the focus control mechanism unit are driven and controlled so that the zoom control or the focus control mechanism unit is controlled. Focus controlled.

  The shutter release button 20 is a momentary-type push switch that is operated to open and close the shutter mechanism 3 instantaneously when pressed by the user. The shutter release button 20 switches between three states: a state where the switch is not pressed at all (off), a state where the switch is fully pressed (deep press), and a state where the switch is pressed halfway (half press). Function is provided. The three pressed states (off, half-pressed, and deep-pressed) of the shutter release button 20 are determined by the main control unit 10. Details of the operation in each pressed state will be described later.

  The iris mechanism 2 controls the size of the aperture through which light incident through the lens unit 1 is transmitted by a control signal from the main control unit 10. The shutter mechanism 3 is driven by a control signal from the main control unit 10 in response to a pressing operation of the shutter release button 20, and controls an exposure time for transmitting light incident through the lens unit 1. The amount of exposure light is controlled by controlling the iris mechanism 2 and the shutter mechanism 3.

  In this example, the CCD image pickup device 4 is configured as a color image pickup device in which a color filter in which a color filter array is two-dimensionally arranged for each pixel in order to obtain color information is provided on the image pickup surface. An imaging output signal corresponding to the subject image formed on the surface is thus obtained.

  The analog signal processing circuit 5 is a circuit that performs analog processing such as sampling processing for noise removal by correlated double sampling and amplification processing by automatic gain control on the image signal supplied from the CCD image pickup device 4. The image signal output from the analog signal processing circuit 5 is supplied to the A / D conversion circuit 6.

  The A / D conversion circuit 6 samples the analog image signal supplied from the analog signal processing circuit 5 at a predetermined sampling rate and converts it into a digital image signal. The digital image signal output from the A / D conversion circuit 6 is supplied to the digital signal processing circuit 7.

  The digital signal processing circuit 7 performs various color signal processing on the digital image signal supplied from the A / D conversion circuit 6, and from this digital image signal, the image signal for one frame period, each pixel for taking a still image Each image signal, detection area parameter signal for autofocus, and various signals necessary for photometry are generated.

  For example, when an image signal for one frame period is generated, a display image signal is generated from the input image signal and supplied to the display unit 15. Further, at the time of capturing a still image, one still image signal is generated from the input image signal, encoded, and subjected to processing such as compression, and then supplied to the recording device 16. Further, at the time of autofocus, a high frequency component in a predetermined area in the screen is detected from the input image signal, a parameter indicating the level of the high frequency component is generated, and supplied to the main control unit 10. Further, at the time of photometry, a light amount component in a predetermined area in the screen is detected from the input image signal, a parameter indicating the light amount level is generated, and supplied to the main control unit 10.

  The timing signal generation circuit 9 generates various drive pulses such as vertical and horizontal transfer pulses and field shift pulses required for the CCD image sensor 4 to store and read image signals for each screen. Various pulses generated from the timing signal generation circuit 9 are supplied to the CCD imaging device 4 and used as timing signals for image signal imaging processing and output processing.

  The strobe control unit 12 is a discharge light emitting means such as a so-called xenon lamp, and can emit intense light for a moment and irradiate the subject with light. That is, the flash control unit 12 can irradiate the subject with a strong flash as auxiliary light for assisting the exposure amount at the time of shooting. Thereby, it is possible to obtain an exposure amount necessary for photographing. The strobe control unit 12 is attached to, for example, the front surface or upper part of the housing, and is provided so as to irradiate light on a subject to be imaged. That is, the strobe control unit 12 is provided so as to irradiate light in the direction of the optical axis of the lens and in the direction from the lens toward the front. The strobe controller 12 is driven by the charge / light emission controller 11, and the light emission timing is controlled by the main controller 10.

Next, the operation of the digital still camera configured as described above will be described.
When the digital still camera is set to the bulb shooting mode by the user's input operation on the operation input unit 14, the bulb shooting process and the flash are performed according to the pressed state of the shutter release button 20 (off, half-pressed, deep-pressed). Perform light emission processing. In the bulb exposure mode, the shutter blades of the shutter mechanism 3 are held in the open position corresponding to the pressed state of the shutter release button 20 (off, half-pressed, deep-pressed) under the control of the main control unit 10 for a predetermined time. In this mode, exposure is performed only while the shutter blades are opened by closing the shutter blades after elapse of time.

In other words, the normal bulb photographing process is a photographing function in which exposure is performed only while the shutter release button 20 is in the deep-pressed state, and exposure is terminated when the shutter release button 20 is in a state other than the deep-pressed state. There is a feature that can be set freely.
In particular, in this embodiment, by performing the flash emission process during the bulb photographing process, it is possible to superimpose images for each flash emission in one exposure.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing bulb photographing processing and strobe light emission processing. FIG. 2A is a vertical synchronization signal, FIG. 2B is a shutter button 1, FIG. 2C is a shutter button 2, FIG. 2D is a strobe, and FIG. is there. FIG. 2 shows an operation by the control of the main control unit 10.
As described above, the processing of the shutter button 1 shown in FIG. 2B is only the processing in the normal bulb photographing mode in which the exposure from the time T1 to the time T7 when the shutter button 1 is in the fully pressed state is performed as shown in 26. Represents.

  As in the process of the shutter button 2 shown in FIG. 2C, when the shutter release button 20 is input to the state of the deep press 21 and the half press 22, the processing mode of the main control unit 10 is changed from the time T1 to the time T7. As shown in 26, during exposure, it is possible to enter bulb exposure mode in which strobe light emission processing described later is performed during bulb exposure processing. At this time, when the shutter release button 20 is in the deep-pressed state 21 from time T1 to time T2, and the shutter release button 20 is shifted from the deep-pressed state 21 to the half-pressed state 22 at time T2, the processing of the main control unit 10 is performed. The mode shifts to the trigger detection period.

  In the subsequent trigger detection period, the main control unit 10 detects the trigger signal when the shutter release button 20 is changed from the half-pressed state 22 to the deep-pressed state 21 at time T3, and the charge / light emission control unit 11 is used to detect the trigger signal. By causing the strobe device 12 to emit light, it is possible to perform a process of causing the strobe device 12 to emit light at an arbitrary timing such as the time T4 and the time T5 thereafter.

  Here, when the shutter release button 20 is again deeply pressed 21 from time T5 to time T6, the trigger detection period of the processing mode of the main control unit 10 ends, and from time T6 to time T7, the shutter release button 20 is deep. From the push 21 to the half-press 22 state. Then, since the shutter release button 20 is turned off at time T7 thereafter, the exposure 26 in the processing mode of the main control unit 10 is completed, and the bulb photographing mode is released.

  For example, the shutter release button 20 may be caused to emit light every time the trigger signal described above is detected when the shutter release button 20 is changed from the half-press 22 to the deep-press 21 state, or the trigger signal described above is detected. It is possible to emit light 23, 24, 25 at a time T3, a time T4, a time T5, etc. of a variable period such as a fixed period or gradually longer (or shorter) depending on timing. The timing of light emission can be set at any timing as long as it is the vertical synchronization signal cycle shown in FIG. 2A. Thereby, it is possible to superimpose images for each of the strobe lights 23, 24, and 25 during one exposure 26.

  Although it is possible to perform an input operation so as to perform the flash emission process with the operation input unit 14, in this embodiment, the bulb photographing process and the flash emission process are simultaneously performed by an input operation of only the shutter release button 20. Became possible.

  In addition, a mode in which the flash emission process is prohibited during the bulb photographing process by the input operation of the operation input unit 14 or a mode in which the flash emission process is performed every light emission operation during the bulb photographing process, or a predetermined period from the flash emission is performed. It is also possible to set the mode to perform front curtain light emission for imaging after elapse.

  Further, it is possible to lock the pressed state of the shutter release button 20 by an input operation of the operation input unit 14. In this case, first, when it is detected that the shutter release button 20 is in the fully depressed state, exposure is started, and the processing mode of the main control unit 10 shifts to the trigger detection period. In the subsequent trigger detection period, the processing mode of the main control unit 10 maintains the exposure state by detecting the trigger signal of the operation input unit 14. Meanwhile, it is possible to perform the strobe light emission processing in the processing mode of the main control unit 10 by the detected trigger signal. When the deep release 21 state of the shutter release button 20 is detected again, the trigger detection period of the processing mode of the main control unit 10 ends, and the exposure ends.

  Further, during the bulb photographing process, the focus value can be arbitrarily changed by the operation input unit 14 to focus on another subject. In other words, during the bulb photographing process, the focus value is arbitrarily changed to perform a process of focusing on another subject, so that an image of another subject can be captured in a single exposure every time the focus value is changed. it can.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the bulb photographing process and the strobe light emission process. In particular, FIG. 3 shows operations of the main control unit 10 and the strobe control unit or the lens control unit 8.
First, it is determined whether or not the bulb photographing mode has been selected by the user's input operation on the operation input unit 14 (step S11).

  When the bulb shooting mode is not selected, the process proceeds to normal shooting processing, and normal shooting is performed by an input operation of pressing the shutter deeply (steps S12 and S13). If the bulb photographing mode is selected in the determination step S11, the main controller 10 starts exposure by the deep shutter input operation, and bulb photographing processing is started (step S14, step S15). The time point at which this exposure is started corresponds to the time point T1 shown in FIG.

  When the bulb shooting state is entered, the flash control unit performs flash emission processing (step S16). Also, manual focus processing can be performed by manual operation on the lens control unit 8 (step S21).

  First, the strobe light emission process will be described. Here, the main control unit 10 determines whether or not the strobe mode for causing the strobe light emitting unit 12 to emit light in a normal manual operation or at an arbitrary timing is selected (step S17). If the flash mode is not selected, the main control unit 10 prohibits flash emission (step S18).

  If the strobe mode is selected in the determination step S17, whether or not the shutter release button 20 has changed from the half-press 22 to the deep-press 21 as described with reference to FIG. 10 (step S19). The time when the shutter is deeply pressed corresponds to the time T3 shown in FIG. 2 when the light is emitted at the automatic timing described above. Further, the case where light is emitted at the timing of the manual operation described above corresponds to the time points T3, T4, and T5 shown in FIG.

  When firing at automatic timing, the flash emission process is performed at any timing corresponding to the detection of the trigger signal. When firing at manual operation timing, the flash is emitted at any timing corresponding to manual operation. Processing is performed (step S20). The time point at which the strobe light emission process is performed corresponds to the time points T3, T4, and T5 shown in FIG. As a result, images for each flash emission during one exposure can be superimposed and captured.

  Next, processing for changing the focus distance will be described. If manual operation by the lens control unit 8 is selected in step S21, then the main control unit 10 determines whether or not a manual focus mode in which the in-focus position can be arbitrarily changed by manual operation is selected (step S21). S22). When the manual focus mode is not selected, that is, in the auto focus mode in which automatic focusing is performed, the main control unit 10 prohibits manual focus processing (step S23).

  If the manual focus mode is selected in step S22, the main control unit 10 next determines whether or not the operation input unit 14 is turned on (step S24). If it is in the ON state, the main control unit 10 performs a process of changing the focus distance under the control of the lens control unit 8 corresponding to the input operation on the operation input unit 14 (step S25). Accordingly, it is possible to superimpose images of other subjects each time the focus distance is changed by one exposure.

  Thereafter, if the shutter half-press is released after the shutter is deeply pressed again (step S26), the main control unit 10 ends the exposure and ends the bulb photographing process (step S27). The time point at which the exposure ends corresponds to the time point T7 shown in FIG.

  In addition, for example, in the case of a digital still camera capable of electric zoom control using the zoom control mechanism unit described above, the main control unit 10 is similar to the strobe emission process and the process of changing the focus distance by the operation input unit 14 described above. It is also possible to perform an electric zoom control operation during bulb photography. During this bulb shooting process, the zoom position is arbitrarily changed and the distant subject is enlarged to enlarge the distant subject for each change of the zoom position in one exposure, and the image is overlapped with the previous image. It is possible.

  In addition, this digital still camera is characterized in that it can perform the display processing for displaying the progress of the bulb photographing processing, strobe light emission processing, and processing for changing the focus distance described above on the display unit 15 in real time.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the display control process. That is, FIG. 4 shows the control operation of the display unit 15 by the main control unit 10, and the time points T1, T3, T4, T5, and T7 in this flowchart are the time points T1, T3, T4, T5, and T7 in FIG. It corresponds.

  4, first, after the main control unit 10 starts exposure corresponding to the time point T1 (step S15 in FIG. 3), the main control unit 10 starts display processing (step S31). Next, the corresponding flash emission process is performed at time points T3, T4, and T5 (step S20 in FIG. 3), and detailed information on the flash emission is displayed on the display unit 15 according to a command from the main control unit 10 (step S33). ). At the same time, the main control unit 10 displays the detailed information of the bulb photographing state on the display unit 15 according to the display command (step S34). At the same time, it is determined whether or not the external input unit (operation input unit 14) is pressed (step S32). When the external input unit (operation input unit 14) is pressed, a display from the main control unit 10 is displayed. The detailed information of each function corresponding to the operation is displayed on the display unit 15 by the command (step S34). If the external input unit is not pressed in step S32, the process is terminated as it is.

FIG. 5 shows a display screen by the display control process, and shows a display screen of the display unit 15 displayed by the control display process of the main control unit 10.
When the display process is started by the main control unit 10 and the processing mode of the main control unit 10 enters the bulb photographing mode, the main control unit 10 sends a valve to the display unit 15 by a display command as shown in step S34 in FIG. Displays detailed information on the shooting status. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the main control unit 10 outputs a display of “3 seconds elapsed during bulb photographing” 55 to the display unit 15 as an elapsed second display during bulb photographing.

  Further, the main control unit 10 outputs a display of “Shutter locked” 56 indicating that the shutter release button 20 is locked during bulb photographing to the display screen of the display unit 15.

  When the external input unit (operation input unit 14) is pressed, the main control unit 10 can display detailed information of each function by a display command as shown in step S35 of FIG. At this time, when the process of changing the focus distance is performed by the external input unit (operation input unit 14), the display of “MF ∞” 51 is displayed on the display unit 15 as the manual focus display as shown in FIG. Is displayed.

  Similarly, when the processing mode of the main control unit 10 is selected as the strobe mode, “strobe” 52 is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 15 as a strobe display.

  When the main control unit 10 corresponding to time points T3, T4, and T5 in FIG. 4 performs strobe light emission processing (step S20 in FIG. 3), the main control unit 10 displays the state of strobe light emission processing on the display screen of the display unit 15. . Further, as shown in step S33 of FIG. 4, the main control unit 10 displays the detailed information of the strobe light emission on the display screen of the display unit 15 according to the display command. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the main control unit 10 displays the display of “strobe light emission third time” 53 on the display screen of the display unit 15 in real time as the strobe light emission number display.

  In addition, the main control unit 10 displays “wide end (W) -tele end (T)” 53 as a zoom display when zoom processing is performed to change the in-focus position from the near side to the far side. It can also be displayed on the screen.

FIG. 6 is a processing block diagram showing functions of the bulb photographing mode in the digital still camera.
When the deep release state of the shutter release button 20 is detected, the CPU 25 of the main control unit 10 determines that the photographing mode is in effect, exposure processing is started, and a photographed image is generated by the work area RAM 26. At this time, if the bulb shooting mode is selected, the bulb shooting mode control unit 70 controls the operation of the bulb shooting mode.

  Then, when the shutter release button 20 is input to the deep-pressed state 21 and the half-pressed state 22, the bulb photographing mode control unit 70 starts exposure and enters a bulb photographing mode in which the strobe emission process is performed at an arbitrary timing. Transition. At this time, when the shutter release button 20 is in the deep-pressed 21 state and the shutter release button 20 is shifted from the deep-pressed state 21 to the half-pressed state 22, the main control unit 10 shifts to the trigger detection period.

  In this trigger detection period, when the shutter release button 20 is changed from the half-press 22 to the deep-press 21 state, the bulb photographing mode control unit 70 detects the trigger signal and controls the strobe control unit 61 to charge / emit light. By causing the strobe device 12 to emit light via the control unit 11, thereafter, processing for causing the strobe device 12 to emit light at an arbitrary timing similar to that described above is performed.

Here, when the shutter release button 20 is brought into the deep-pressed 21 state again, the trigger detection period ends, the shutter release button 20 is brought into the half-pressed 22 state from the deep-pressed state 21, and then the shutter release button 20 is turned off. In this state, the exposure 26 by the main control unit 10 ends, and the bulb photographing mode is released.
In this way, the exposure process ends when the shutter release button 20 is released from the deeply pressed state or the halfway pressed state.

  At this time, the light emission timing from the charge / light emission control unit 11 is supplied to the timing control unit 72 of the image acquisition unit 71. The image acquisition unit 73 acquires image data on which images are superimposed at each light emission timing. The timing for changing the focus distance (zoom) from the lens control circuit 64 of the lens control unit 8 is supplied to the timing control unit 72 of the image acquisition unit 71. The image acquisition unit 73 acquires image data on which images are superimposed at each timing of changing the focus distance (zoom).

  The image data acquired by the image acquisition unit 71 is supplied to the bulb shooting mode control unit 70, and the bulb shooting mode control unit 70 outputs this image data to the display unit 15, and the display unit 15 performs a shot image display 69. Further, this image can be stored in the storage device 16.

  Hereinafter, a flow will be briefly described regarding the strobe light emission processing, the processing for changing the focus distance (zoom), and the processing for displaying the processing state in real time.

  In the flash emission process, the bulb shooting mode control unit 70 determines whether or not the trigger signal is detected when the shutter release button 20 is changed from the half-pressed state 22 to the deep-pressed state 21, and the flash control unit 21 controls the flash unit. 12 is made to emit light. The light emission number holding unit 62 holds the light emission number information by the charging / light emission control 11 at that time, and the bulb photographing mode control unit 70 manages the light emission number information. The bulb photographing mode control unit 70 combines the display data (for example, the first flash emission) 75 of the program ROM 67 and the light emission number information of the light emission number holding unit 62 to display in real time, and displays the processing data on the display unit 15. To the processing state display unit 68 to display the processing state of bulb photographing and light emission processing.

  The processing for changing the focus distance (zoom) is the same. The bulb photographing mode control unit 70 determines whether or not the trigger signal is detected by the input operation of the operation input unit 14, and the lens 1 is controlled by the control of the lens control unit 8. Drive. The processing state holding unit 63 holds the processing state information of the lens control circuit 64 at that time, and the bulb photographing mode control unit 70 manages the processing state information. The bulb photographing mode control unit 70 combines the display data (for example, focus 1.0 m, zoom 3.0 times, etc.) 75 of the program ROM 67 and the processing state information of the processing state holding unit 63 to display in real time. The processing data can be supplied to the processing state display unit 68 of the display unit 15 to display the processing state of processing for changing the bulb photographing and the focus distance (zoom).

  In addition, the shutter release button 20 and the operation input unit 14 can be used by previously storing in the program ROM 67 as an automatic processing table 76 for automating the flash emission processing, focus processing, zoom processing, and the like. It is also possible to perform automatic processing without adding an automatic shooting function such as a special effect shooting mode.

  As described above, according to the present invention, information from the control side, such as bulb photographing processing, strobe light emission processing, and processing for changing the focus distance, can be displayed in real time on the display unit 15 by display control processing. It was. In addition, real-time display on the display unit 15 during exposure is not performed by a single-lens reflex camera or a digital single-lens reflex camera using a conventional film. However, according to the display control process of the embodiment of the present invention, the user can This information can be obtained more accurately.

It is a block diagram which shows the system configuration | structure of the digital still camera by embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2A is a timing chart showing bulb photographing processing and strobe light emission processing, FIG. 2A shows a vertical synchronization signal, FIG. 2B shows a shutter button 1, FIG. 2C shows a shutter button 2, FIG. 2D shows a strobe, and FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of a bulb | ball photography process and strobe light emission process. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a display control process. It is a figure which shows the display screen by a display control process. It is a processing block diagram which shows the function of the valve | bulb photography mode in a digital still camera.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Lens part, 2 ... Iris mechanism, 3 ... Shutter mechanism, 4 ... CCD image pick-up element, 5 ... Analog signal circuit, 6 ... A / D conversion circuit, 7 ... Digital signal processing circuit, 8 ... Lens control part, 9 ... Timing signal generation circuit, 10 ... main control unit, 11 ... charge / light emission control circuit, 12 ... strobe light emission unit, 13 ... photometry element, 14 ... operation input unit, 15 ... display unit, 16 ... recording device, 17 ... external interface 18 ... EEPROM, 19 ... RAM, 20 ... Shutter release button, 101 ... Manual focus display, 102 ... Strobe display, 103 ... Strobe flash count display, 104 ... Second elapsed output during bulb shooting, 105 ... Shutter lock status output, 21 ... Strobe control unit, 22 ... Number of flashes held, 24 ... Lens control circuit, 25 ... CPU, 26 ... RAM for work area, 27 ... Program ROM, 28 ... Process Status display, 29 ... the captured image display

Claims (8)

In an imaging apparatus capable of bulb photography in which incident light is exposed with the shutter mechanism opened and the subject is imaged by the imaging means.
An operation means for opening and closing the shutter mechanism, and has a function of distinguishing three states: a state in which no operation is performed, a deep press state in which the shutter mechanism is opened and exposure is performed, and a half press state. Operation means;
A light emission control means for arbitrarily controlling the timing of light emission by the strobe light emission unit to the subject during the bulb photographing;
A lens control means for controlling the focus position with respect to any object lens position by causing movement in the optical axis direction of the incident light,
Image acquisition means for acquiring a captured image of a subject obtained by superimposing at each light emission timing by the light emission control means or at each in-focus position by the lens control means;
After the operation means becomes in the above is performed exposure by being in a state of deep depression in bulb exposure, it said operating means in response to a transition to a state of pressing the half from the state of pressing the depth trigger The operation proceeds to a detection period, and the light emission control means is controlled to detect the trigger signal when the operation means changes to the deep-pressed state in the trigger detection period and cause the strobe light emitting section to emit light. And a valve photographing control means for outputting each information of the bulb photographing processing state, the light emission control state or the in-focus state together with the obtained image while controlling the lens control means and the image obtaining means. An imaging device comprising: The imaging device according to claim 1,
In the trigger detection period, the bulb photographing control means controls the flash unit to emit light every time the trigger signal is detected, or automatically at a constant cycle or a variable cycle depending on the timing at which the trigger signal is detected. An imaging apparatus that performs any one of the controls for causing the strobe light emitting section to emit light. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
Operation means for selecting a bulb shooting mode enabling the bulb photography from a plurality of shooting modes;
The first light emission control mode for causing the strobe light emission part to emit light each time the light emission operation of the strobe light emission part is performed, the second light emission control mode for prohibiting the light emission of the strobe light emission part, and the strobe light emission part as described above Operating means for selecting at least three modes of the third light emission control mode for emitting light by detection of the trigger signal;
An imaging apparatus further comprising: an operation unit that selects at least two modes of a first lens control mode for performing automatic focusing and a second lens control mode for arbitrarily changing a focusing position. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
During the bulb photographing, the bulb photographing control means displays on the display screen of the display means the information on the bulb photographing processing state being executed, the number of times of light emission of the strobe light emitting unit or the in-focus state together with the acquired image. apparatus. In an imaging method capable of bulb photography in which incident light is exposed with the shutter mechanism opened and the subject is imaged by the imaging means.
An operation means for opening and closing the shutter mechanism, and has a function of distinguishing three states: a state in which no operation is performed, a deep press state in which the shutter mechanism is opened and exposure is performed, and a half press state. after the operating means becomes in the exposure by being in a state of deep depression is performed bulb exposure, trigger detection in response to said operating means is shifted to a state of pressing the half from the state of pushing the deep Transitioning to a period, performing a control to detect a trigger signal when the operation means changes to the deep-pressed state in the trigger detection period and to cause the strobe light emitting unit to emit light,
And controlling the focus position with respect to any object lens position by causing movement in the optical axis direction of the incident light,
Acquiring a captured image of the subject obtained at each light emission timing or at each in-focus position in an overlapping manner;
Performing bulb photographing control for performing output processing of each information of the bulb photographing processing state, the light emitting control state, or the in-focus state together with the obtained image while performing the light emission control and controlling the lens control and the image acquisition. An imaging method comprising: The imaging method according to claim 5, wherein
In the trigger detection period, the strobe light-emitting unit is caused to emit light at a constant cycle or a variable cycle automatically according to the timing at which the strobe light-emitting unit emits light at every timing when the trigger signal is detected or the trigger signal is detected. An imaging method that performs one of the controls. The imaging method according to claim 6.
The bulb shooting mode that enables the above bulb shooting can be selected from a plurality of shooting modes,
The first light emission control mode for causing the strobe light emission part to emit light each time the light emission operation of the strobe light emission part is performed, the second light emission control mode for prohibiting the light emission of the strobe light emission part, and the strobe light emission part as described above It is possible to select at least three modes including a third light emission control mode that emits light upon detection of a trigger signal,
An imaging method capable of selecting at least two modes of a first lens control mode for performing automatic focusing and a second lens control mode for arbitrarily changing a focusing position. The imaging method according to claim 6.
An imaging method in which each information of the bulb photographing processing state, the number of times of light emission of the strobe light emitting unit or the in-focus state being executed on the display screen of the display unit by the bulb photographing control is displayed together with the acquired image during the bulb photographing. .

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