JP4635899B2 - camera - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera that is optimal for photographing and reproducing a person.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, digital cameras that perform various settings using a menu function are known. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-228561 discloses a device that can select a desired setting item by repeating operations according to menu items displayed on a monitor screen of a digital camera.
JP-A-11-261852

  However, in the above-mentioned patent document, there is a problem that the setting operation must be performed up to a lower layer depending on the setting contents in person photographing, and the operation becomes complicated.

The camera of one embodiment of the present invention is directed to mode selection means for selectively selecting a shooting mode and a playback mode, and when a shooting mode is selected , a person shooting condition suitable for shooting a person is instructed. When selected, a dedicated operation member for instructing a person reproduction condition suitable for the reproduction of a person, a monitor for displaying an image, a shooting mode is selected, and a shooting condition different from the person shooting condition is set When the dedicated operation member is operated once, an image photographed according to the person photographing condition is displayed on the monitor, and when the photographing mode is selected and the person photographing condition is set, the dedicated operation member is operated once. When an image shot under different shooting conditions before the person shooting condition is set is displayed on the monitor and the dedicated operation member is operated once when the playback mode is selected Characterized in that it comprises a display control means for displaying on the monitor the regeneration process image by object reproduction condition.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to perform the photographing process and the reproduction process by setting the conditions related to the person by operating the dedicated operation member.

  FIG. 1A is a front perspective view of a compact digital camera according to an embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a rear perspective view. A photographing lens 2 and an electronic flash device 3 are attached to the camera body 1. On the upper surface of the camera body 1, a release button 4, a face clear button 5, and a power switch 9 are provided. The face clear button 5 is a dedicated operation member for setting shooting conditions and playback conditions related to a person, and is provided on the opposite side of the release button 4 with respect to the center of the camera body 1. Further, a liquid crystal monitor 6, a setting switch 7 for performing various setting operations, and a playback button 8 for switching to a playback mode are provided on the back of the camera body 1.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the compact digital camera according to the embodiment.
When the power switch 9 is turned on, the photographing mode is set, and the subject light incident through the photographing lens 2 is guided to the image sensor 11, and a subject image is formed on the imaging surface. The imaging device 11 is configured by a CCD or CMOS image sensor including a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements corresponding to pixels, captures a subject image formed on the imaging surface, and performs photoelectric processing according to the brightness of the subject image. Output the conversion signal. R (red), G (green), and B (blue) color filters are provided on the imaging surface of the imaging element 11 so as to correspond to the pixel positions, respectively. Since the image pickup device 11 picks up a subject image through the color filter, the image pickup signal output from each image pickup device has RGB color system color information.

  The timing generator (TG) 32 generates a timing signal in response to a command sent from the main CPU 31, and supplies the timing signal to each of the driver 33, the AFE (Analog Front End) circuit 34, and the A / D conversion circuit 35. . The driver 33 uses the timing signal to generate a drive signal for accumulating charges in the image sensor 11 and sweeping out the accumulated charges, and supplies the generated drive signal to the image sensor 11. The AFE circuit 34 performs analog processing (such as gain control) on the photoelectric conversion signal (accumulated charge) output from the image sensor 11. The A / D conversion circuit 35 converts the imaging signal after analog processing into a digital signal.

  The main CPU 31 receives a signal output from each block, performs a predetermined calculation, and outputs a control signal based on the calculation result to each block. The image processing circuit 30 is configured as an ASIC, for example, and performs image processing such as white balance adjustment, saturation correction, gradation correction, and red-eye correction on the digital image signal input from the A / D conversion circuit 35.

  The white balance adjustment is performed as follows, for example. R gain and B gain are respectively multiplied to the R and B color image signals in accordance with the light source determined based on the R, G, and B color image signals output from the A / D conversion circuit 35. Combined. In the face clear photographing mode, which will be described later, after adjusting the above white balance, for example, skin color adjustment is performed as follows. For example, the imaging screen is divided into 250 areas, and an area having a color close to the skin color is detected in each divided area, and the color of the area is corrected to become a beautiful skin color. For the beautiful skin color data corresponding to each light source, for example, a value stored in advance in the main CPU 31 in a table format or the like is used.

  In the saturation correction, the saturation is corrected so that the saturation is bright, the saturation is low, and an intermediate value thereof. For example, the R gain, the G gain, and the B gain are corrected based on the image signals of the R, G, and B colors so that the saturation matches the shooting mode. In the face clear shooting mode to be described later, correction is performed so that the saturation of the intermediate value is obtained. In the tone correction, the tone curve is changed so that the brightness and contrast of the image suitable for the shooting mode can be reproduced while referring to the histograms of the R, G, and B image signals. In the face clear photographing mode, the tone curve is corrected based on the histogram so that the contrast of the subject becomes intermediate, that is, the shadow of the person's face is not overshadowed.

  In red-eye correction, image data is scanned to detect a red-eye area, and the color of the red-eye area is replaced with a surrounding color, thereby correcting the expression to natural eyes. The color of the red eye area may be filled with a specific color such as black.

  The image compression processing circuit 44 performs image compression processing on the digital image signal after the image processing by the image processing circuit 30 by a predetermined method such as the JPEG method. The display image creation circuit 42 creates display data for displaying the captured image on the liquid crystal monitor 6 using the digital image signal after image processing, and generates display data from the compressed image data read from the recording medium 45. To do. The liquid crystal monitor 6 is composed of an LCD or the like, and displays an image based on display data.

  The buffer memory 41 is used to temporarily store data during or after image processing, image compression processing, and display data creation processing. Image data after the image compression processing is recorded on a recording medium 45 configured by a memory card that can be attached to and detached from the camera body 1.

  The photometry circuit 46 calculates the luminance of the subject based on the image signal of the photometry area in the image sensor 11 and determines the light emission of the flash device 3. When the image signal in the photometry area has a low luminance, the flash device 3 is determined to emit light, and the flash device 3 is commanded to emit light via the main CPU 31. The focus adjustment device 49 performs a known focus evaluation value calculation based on the imaging signal output from the imaging device 11 in response to a command sent from the main CPU 31, and sends the calculation result to the main CPU 31. Based on the calculation result, the main CPU 31 drives the photographic lens 2 toward the in-focus position so that the focus evaluation value is maximized.

  The half-press switch 47 and the full-press switch 48 that are turned on / off in conjunction with the pressing operation of the release button 4 output an on signal or an off signal to the main CPU 31, respectively.

  The setting switch 7 is a switch for selecting and setting various shooting modes such as an auto shooting mode and a portrait assist mode. The setting switch 7 is used for various other settings on the menu screen. The playback button 8 shifts from the shooting mode to the playback mode when pressed in the shooting mode, reads the image data recorded on the recording medium 45, and plays back and displays the image on the liquid crystal monitor 6. When the playback button 8 is pressed in the playback mode, the mode returns to the shooting mode, and the image captured by the image sensor 11 is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 6 as a through image.

  When the face clear button 5 is pressed in the shooting mode, a face clear signal is output to the main CPU 31, and the mode shifts to the face clear shooting mode in which various processes optimal for human shooting are performed. At that time, an icon indicating that the face clear photographing mode is set is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 6. When the face clear button 5 is pressed again during the face clear shooting mode, the main CPU 31 ends the face clear shooting mode and returns to the shooting mode before the transition. When the face clear button 5 is pressed in the playback mode, the main CPU 31 performs image processing that is optimal for playback of a person image on the image data of the image that is played back and displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 6.

The operation of the compact digital camera in this embodiment will be described using the flowcharts shown in FIGS. Each process in this flowchart is executed by starting a program by the main CPU 31. The processing of this flowchart is started by a program that is activated when the power button 9 is turned on.
In step S101, it is determined whether or not the playback mode is set. If it is the playback mode, an affirmative decision is made in step S101 and the process proceeds to step S102. If it is the shooting mode, a negative decision is made in step S101 and the process proceeds to step S103. In step S102, a playback mode operation processing subroutine described later is called to transition to the playback mode. After the processing in the subroutine, the process proceeds to step S103.

  In step S103, the shooting mode that was activated when the power was last turned off is read from a predetermined memory area, and the process proceeds to step S104. In step S104, it is determined whether or not the previous shooting mode is the face clear shooting mode. If it is the face clear shooting mode, an affirmative determination is made in step S104 and the process proceeds to step S105. If it is not the face clear shooting mode, a negative determination is made in step S104 and the process proceeds to step S107.

  In step S105, a subroutine for the face clear photographing mode described later is called. After each process in the subroutine, the process proceeds to step S106. In step S106, the face clear flag is set to 1, and the process proceeds to step S109. The face clear flag indicates that the current mode is the face clear shooting mode when the flag value is 1, and the current mode is a shooting mode other than the face clear shooting mode when the flag value is 0. Represents.

  On the other hand, in step S107, in which the negative determination is made in step S104, a setting value corresponding to the previous shooting mode is set, and the process proceeds to step S108. In step S108, the face clear flag is set to 0, and the process proceeds to step S109.

  In step S109, a subroutine for photographing operation processing described later is called. After each process in the subroutine, the process proceeds to step S110. In step S110, it is determined whether or not the face clear button 5 has been pressed. If the face clear button 5 is pressed and step S110 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step S111. If the face clear button 5 is not pressed and step S110 is negative, the process proceeds to step S115.

  In step S111, it is determined whether or not the current face clear flag value is 1. If the value of the face clear flag is 1, an affirmative determination is made in step S111 and the process proceeds to step S112. If the value is 0, a negative determination is made in step S111 and the process proceeds to step S113. In step S112, the previous shooting mode is read from a predetermined memory area, and the process returns to step S107. In step S113, the current shooting mode is stored in a predetermined memory area, and the process returns to step S105.

  On the other hand, in step S115, in which the negative determination is made in step S110, it is determined whether or not the playback button 8 has been pressed. If the playback button 8 is pressed and an on signal is input, an affirmative determination is made in step S115, and the process proceeds to step S116. If the playback button 8 is not pressed and an on signal is not input, a negative determination is made in step S115. Then, the process proceeds to step S117.

  In step S116, the current shooting mode is stored in a predetermined memory area, and the process returns to step S102. In step S117, it is determined whether or not the power switch 9 is turned off. When the power switch 9 is turned off and step S117 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step S118, the current shooting mode is stored in a predetermined memory area, and the series of operations is terminated. If the power switch 9 is not turned off and step S117 is negative, the process returns to step S109.

The face clear shooting mode subroutine of step S105 in FIG. 3 will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
In step S201, a portrait program AE suitable for portrait photography is selected, and thereafter an exposure calculation is performed according to the selected portrait program AE. In step S202, a portrait white balance suitable for portrait photography is set, and the image processed by the image processing circuit 30 based on the selected white balance is subsequently displayed as a through image on the liquid crystal monitor 6. indicate.

  In the next step S203, the saturation and gradation for portrait suitable for human photography, that is, saturation and contrast are set to intermediate values, and thereafter the saturation and gradation are adjusted by the image processing circuit 30. The obtained image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 6 as a through image. In step S204, the red-eye strobe mode is set. That is, the pre-flash and the main flash are set by the flash device 3. In step S205, the red-eye correction image processing is enabled and the process proceeds to step S206.

In step S206, the face recognition AF mode is set, and this subroutine is exited to return to the caller. In the face recognition AF mode, face recognition is performed based on a captured image, and focus adjustment (face recognition AF) is performed based on image data corresponding to the face. When the face recognition AF mode is set, an icon representing the face recognition AF setting is displayed on the imaging screen being displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 6, and then the face recognized area is displayed in a rectangular frame. In face recognition, for example, when a skin color region in a photographing screen is extracted and a pair of eye-like regions exist in the region, the region is determined as a face region.
When the setting in step S206 is completed, the subroutine in the face clear photographing mode is exited and the process returns to the caller.

A sub-routine of the photographing operation process in step S109 in FIG. 3 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG.
In step S301, the through image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 6, and the process proceeds to step S302. In step S302, it is determined whether the value of the face clear flag is 1. If the value of the flag is 1, that is, in the face clear shooting mode, an affirmative determination is made in step S302 and the process proceeds to step S303. If the value of the face clear flag is 0, a negative determination is made in step S302 and the process proceeds to step S305.

  In step S303, the face position is specified as described above based on the image data, and the process proceeds to step S304. In step S304, the area specified as the face position in step S303 is set as the focus adjustment area, and the face-recognized area on the imaging screen being displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 6 is rectangularly displayed as described above, and then the process proceeds to step S306. move on.

  In step S305, where the negative determination is made in step S302, the image area determined by the shooting mode is set as the focus adjustment area, and the process proceeds to step S306. In step S306, the focus adjustment device 49 performs focus adjustment based on the image data from the region set in step S304 or step S305, and the process proceeds to step S307.

  In step S307, it is determined whether or not the release button 4 has been half-pressed. If a half-press signal is input from the half-press switch 47, an affirmative determination is made in step S307 and the process proceeds to step S308. If a half-press signal is not input, step S307 is skipped and the calling source is skipped. Return to.

  In step S308, it is determined whether or not the release button 4 has been fully pressed. If a full-press signal is input from the full-press switch 48, the determination in step S308 is affirmative and the process proceeds to step S310. If the full-press signal is not input, the determination in step S308 is negative and the process proceeds to step S309. In step S309, the through image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 6, and the process returns to step S307.

  In step S310, actual imaging is performed by the image sensor 11, and the process proceeds to step S311. In the main shooting, if the red-eye strobe mode is set in step S205, the pre-flash and the main flash are performed by the flash device 3, and shooting is performed. In step S311, image processing is performed on the image data actually captured by the image processing circuit 30, and the process proceeds to step S312.

  In step S312, it is determined whether or not the flash device 3 emits light in step S310 and whether or not the red-eye correction process is enabled in step S205. If step S312 is positively determined, the process proceeds to step S313. If step S312 is negatively determined, the process skips step S313 and proceeds to step S314. In step S313, the red-eye correction process described above is performed by the image processing circuit 30, and the process proceeds to step S314.

  In step S314, the image compression circuit 44 performs image compression processing in a format such as JPEG format on the digital image signal after image processing, and the process proceeds to step S315. In step S315, the compressed image data is recorded on the recording medium 45, and the process proceeds to step S316. In step S316, the display image creation circuit 42 creates display data using the digital image data after image processing. As a result, the photographed image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 6 and the subroutine of the photographing operation process is exited and the process returns to the caller.

A subroutine of the playback mode processing in step S102 in FIG. 3 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG.
In step S401, the image file read from the recording medium 45 is decompressed and converted into image data, and the process proceeds to step S402. In step S402, the image data expanded in step S401 is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 6, and the process proceeds to step S403.

  In step S403, it is determined whether or not the face clear button 5 has been pressed. If the face clear button 5 is pressed and the determination in step S403 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S404. If the face clear button 5 is not pressed and step S403 is determined to be negative, the reproduced image display is continued as it is and step S412 is continued. Skip to

  In step S404, image analysis is performed on the image data of the reproduced image read from the recording medium 45, specifically, a histogram is created to check gradation characteristics, and the process proceeds to step S405. In step S405, the tone curve is changed so that the darkness is brightened by changing the tone characteristics of the image data being reproduced based on the tone characteristics checked in step S404 by the image processing circuit 30, that is, the histogram is shifted. Then, the process proceeds to step S406.

  In step S406, the display image creation circuit 42 creates display data using the digital image data after the correction processing. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the thumbnail image T1 before the correction process and the thumbnail image T2 after the correction process are simultaneously displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 6, and a menu for prompting the recording of the image after the correction process is displayed. The process proceeds to step S407. An execution button B1 and a cancel button B2 are displayed as menus.

  In step S407, it is determined whether or not to execute the recording process, that is, whether or not the “record execution button” B1 in FIG. 7 has been selected or the “cancel button” B2 has been selected. When the “record execution button” B1 is selected, an affirmative determination is made in step S407 and the process proceeds to step S408. If the “cancel button” B2 is selected and the determination in step S407 is negative, the process proceeds to step S409, where the image data after the correction process is discarded and the process skips to step S412.

  In step S408, the image compression circuit 44 compresses the corrected image data in JPEG format, and the process advances to step S410. In step S410, a new image file different from the image file before the correction process is recorded on the recording medium 45, and the process proceeds to step S411. In step S411, the display image creation circuit 42 displays the corrected image on the liquid crystal monitor 6, and the process proceeds to step S412.

  In step S412, it is determined whether or not the playback button 8 has been pressed. If the playback button 8 is pressed and an off signal is input, an affirmative determination is made in step S412 to return to the caller after exiting the playback mode processing subroutine. If the playback button 8 is not pressed and no off signal is input, a negative determination is made in step S412 and the process returns to step S402.

  Note that the degree of correction in the above-described gradation correction and saturation correction processing can be set by the photographer. When the setting switch 7 is operated in the face clear photographing mode, a “person photographing menu” shown in FIG. 8A is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 6. When “portrait shooting effect” is selected from “portrait shooting menu”, a menu screen shown in FIG. 8B is displayed. When “Standard” is selected in the “Portrait Shooting Effect” menu, image processing optimum for shooting a person is performed based on the correction level set as a default. When “Brighter” is selected, exposure is performed by changing the program diagram, auto white balance, or gradation level so that the skin tone of the person in the image after image processing becomes white or the subject is emphasized by blurring the background. Perform calculations and image processing. When “Soft” is selected, the degree of saturation is lowered so that the edge of the image after image processing is weakened.

According to the digital camera according to the embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) A face clear button 5 is provided as a dedicated operation button for instructing a shooting mode optimal for a person or a playback mode optimal for a person. Therefore, in the shooting mode or the playback mode, by pressing the face clear button 5, it is possible to set the optimal process for the person shooting or playback by a single operation, so that the operability is improved.

(2) When the face clear button 5 is operated in the shooting mode, focus on the person such as face recognition AF setting, red-eye correction, saturation correction for person shooting, gradation correction for person shooting, and white balance adjustment for person shooting. Since a plurality of settings necessary for shooting can be performed with a single button operation, the operability is improved.

(3) When the face clear button 5 is operated in the playback mode, it is necessary for optimal playback for a person such as correcting the gradation of the playback image and brightly correcting a dark part caused by backlight or insufficient light emission of the flash device 3. It was made to be able to perform various settings. Accordingly, it is possible to set the optimum reproduction process for a person with a single button operation without performing a plurality of selection operations for making a desired setting from the hierarchy of the menu screen, thereby improving operability.

(4) When the face clear button 5 is operated in the playback mode, an image obtained by image processing that does not optimize a person and an image (corrected image) obtained by image processing that optimizes a person are displayed in parallel. A menu for selecting whether to save the image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 6. Therefore, the photographer can compare the changes in the image before and after the correction, confirm the effect of the image processing optimized for the person, and save the image.

(5) In addition, the corrected image is saved as a new image file different from the image before correction. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the image file before correction is lost due to an operation error or the like.

(6) When the face clear button 5 is pressed when the face clear shooting mode is not set (when the non-person optimum shooting conditions are set), the various shooting conditions (shooting modes) emphasizing non-persons set at that time are stored. The face clear shooting mode has been changed. Therefore, when the face clear button 5 is pressed in the face clear shooting mode, it is possible to easily return to the shooting mode before the transition to the face clear shooting mode. Therefore, since the person photographing is completed and the original photographing mode can be restored by one button operation, the operability is improved.

(7) The face clear button 5 was installed on the side opposite to the release button 4 with respect to the center of the camera. Therefore, the face clear photographing mode can be easily set when the release operation is performed.

The camera of the above embodiment can be modified as follows.
(1) When the face clear button 5 is operated even in the playback mode, any one of the person photographing effects as shown in FIG. 6B may be set by the photographer.

(2) The installation position of the face clear button 5 is on the upper surface of the camera body 1, but it can be operated on the side or front surface as long as the face clear button 5 can be operated while operating the release button 4. Good.

(3) The optimum conditions for photographing a person and the optimum conditions for reproducing a person are not limited to those described in the above embodiment.

  In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as long as the characteristics of the present invention are not impaired, and other forms conceivable within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention are also within the scope of the present invention. included.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a general-view figure of the digital camera by one embodiment of this invention, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a rear view. It is a block diagram showing the circuit structure of a digital camera. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the digital camera by embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement in the subroutine of face clear imaging | photography mode. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement in the subroutine of an imaging process. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement in the subroutine of a reproduction | regeneration mode. It is a figure explaining the example of a display of the recording execution menu in reproduction | regeneration mode. It is a figure explaining the example of a display of a person photography menu.

Explanation of symbols

4 Release Button 5 Face Clear Button 11 Image Sensor 30 Image Processing Circuit 31 Main CPU 49 Focus Adjustment Device

Claims (5)

Mode selection means for selectively selecting a shooting mode and a playback mode;
A dedicated operation member for instructing a person playing conditions suitable for regeneration of a person when instructed person photographing conditions suitable for photographing a person, the reproduction mode is selected when the photographing mode is selected,
A monitor for displaying images;
When the dedicated operation member is operated once when the shooting mode is selected and shooting conditions different from the person shooting conditions are set, an image shot under the person shooting conditions is displayed on the monitor, If the dedicated operation member is operated once when the shooting mode is selected and the person shooting condition is set, an image shot under the different shooting conditions before the person shooting condition is set is displayed. Display control means for displaying on the monitor, when the dedicated operation member is operated once when the reproduction mode is selected, and displaying on the monitor an image reproduced by the person reproduction condition;
A camera comprising: The camera of claim 1,
A first recording instruction unit for instructing recording of an image photographed according to the person photographing condition when the photographing mode is selected and the person photographing condition is set;
When the reproduction mode is selected and the dedicated operation member is operated, a second recording instruction unit that is different from the first recording instruction unit that instructs whether or not to record an image reproduced by the person reproduction condition;
A camera comprising: The camera according to claim 1 or 2,
The camera according to claim 1, wherein the display control means displays in parallel on the monitor an image reproduced according to the person reproduction condition and an image before being reproduced according to the person reproduction condition . The camera according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The camera according to claim 1, wherein the reproduction process is a process of performing gradation correction on an image read out for reproduction . The camera according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The dedicated operation member is installed on the upper surface of the camera opposite to the release button .

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