JP4974753B2 - Imaging apparatus, control method therefor, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus such as a digital camera, a control method thereof, and a program for acquiring an image having a special effect by capturing a subject image while moving the subject image during exposure.

  In recent years, the spread of digital cameras has progressed, and many users have taken various pictures in various scenes. In order to perform appropriate shooting in various scenes, digital cameras capable of selecting a shooting mode desired by the user by preparing a plurality of shooting programs according to the scene in advance as shooting modes have been commercialized.

  On the other hand, many digital cameras equipped with a camera shake correction mechanism have been commercialized. In a digital camera equipped with a camera shake correction mechanism, generally, control is performed so that the subject image does not move relative to the image sensor so as to reduce camera shake during shooting by the user. A digital camera equipped with such a camera shake correction mechanism plays a role of further expanding a user's shooting scene.

As the above-described shooting mode, a camera that has a special effect using a camera shake correction mechanism is introduced. For example, according to Patent Document 1, a soft filter effect and a cross filter effect are obtained by performing exposure while moving a camera shake correction mechanism.
JP-A-2-58034

  For example, as an example of a special effect, when a subject image includes a bright spot and the subject image is moved relative to the imaging surface while being exposed, a bright line appears in the output image. That is, by controlling a moving mechanism for moving the subject image during exposure, a bright line can be drawn on the captured image.

  When the image is shaken two-dimensionally regardless of the subject image as introduced in Patent Document 1, the moving mechanism can be driven in a sufficiently short time with respect to the entire exposure time. Further, in the case of swinging so as to draw a cross that is a simple figure, it is sufficient to repeatedly drive the moving mechanism during a predetermined exposure time.

  However, in the case of drawing a somewhat complex bright line such that the user selects a figure to be drawn as a bright line in advance, the time required for the operation of the moving mechanism necessary for drawing the planned bright line is longer than the exposure time. If it is long, you cannot draw the planned emission line. On the other hand, if the exposure time is longer, unevenness occurs between the bright part and the other part of the bright line.

  Further, there may be a case where a drawing figure by a bright spot cannot be obtained sufficiently depending on the bright spot included in the subject image and the brightness of the background. For example, a subject image that contains many point light sources (bright spots) of different sizes, colors, brightness, etc., such as a night scene, predicts the bright lines obtained from those bright spots and obtains the desired figure. In general, it is difficult to set the exposure time.

  An object of the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an imaging apparatus and a control method thereof capable of performing appropriate exposure control when a drawing figure is obtained using a bright spot included in a subject image, And providing a program.

To achieve the above object, an imaging apparatus comprising an imaging device for photoelectrically converting an object image formed by the imaging optical system, the object image formed on the imaging element and the imaging element and moving means for Ru moved relatively, in making a selection means for selecting one from a plurality of figures, the photographing by moving the moving means in accordance with the locus of a figure selected by the selection means, the Using exposure time determining means for determining an exposure time required to draw a figure without a difference in brightness, or an exposure time that is an integral multiple of the exposure time, and a bright spot included in a subject image obtained by the image sensor and control means graphic selected by the selection means to the object image to control the movement of said moving means so as to be rendered, performs photometry by dividing the imaging surface of the imaging element into a plurality of light metering areas, the On the basis of the photometry means the luminance level of the number of detection areas to extract the highest photometric area, the exposure time determined by the pre-Symbol exposure time determination means, and the luminance level of light metering areas extracted by said photometry means Exposure control means for controlling exposure conditions of the image sensor other than the exposure time .

Imaging device according to claim 2, wherein the transfer an image sensor for photoelectrically converting an object image formed by the imaging optical system, that the a subject image formed with the image-capturing element is moved relatively to the imaging element A moving means, a selecting means for selecting one of a plurality of figures , and when moving the moving means according to the locus of the figure selected by the selecting means to draw the figure without any difference in brightness. Exposure time determining means for determining an exposure time required for the exposure, or an integral multiple of the exposure time, and a bright spot included in the subject image obtained by the image sensor by the selection means. a control means selected graphics controls the movement of said moving means so as to be rendered, performs photometry by dividing the imaging surface of the imaging element into a plurality of light metering areas, said by the distribution condition of brightness levels A metering means for extracting photometric region including the point light source from the number of detection areas, before SL and exposure time determined by the exposure time determination means, on the basis of the luminance level of light metering areas extracted by said photometry means Exposure control means for controlling exposure conditions of the image sensor other than the exposure time .

Imaging device according to claim 6, wherein the transfer an image sensor for photoelectrically converting an object image formed by the imaging optical system, that the a subject image formed with the image-capturing element is moved relatively to the imaging element A moving means, a selecting means for selecting one of a plurality of figures , and when moving the moving means according to the locus of the figure selected by the selecting means to draw the figure without any difference in brightness. Exposure time determining means for determining an exposure time required for the exposure, or an integral multiple of the exposure time, and a bright spot included in the subject image obtained by the image sensor by the selection means. a control means selected graphics controls the movement of said moving means so as to be rendered, an image display unit for displaying the object image, to respond to arbitrarily set area on the screen of the image display unit A photometric means for performing photometry at a timing designated by the user in Part position of the imaging surface of the imaging element, the exposure time determined by the pre-Symbol exposure time determination means, which is set arbitrarily on the screen of the image display unit Exposure control means for controlling an exposure condition of the image sensor other than the exposure time based on a luminance level at a part of the imaging surface of the image sensor corresponding to a region .

The image pickup apparatus control method according to claim 11, wherein an image pickup device that photoelectrically converts a subject image formed by an image pickup optical system, and a subject image formed on the image pickup device and the image pickup device are relatively moved. the control method of an imaging apparatus and a moving means for Ru is, when performing a selection step of selecting one from a plurality of figures, the photographing by moving the moving means in accordance with the locus of a figure selected by the selection step And an exposure time determining step for determining an exposure time necessary for rendering the figure without a difference in luminance, or an exposure time that is an integral multiple of the exposure time, and a bright spot included in the subject image obtained by the imaging device. And controlling the movement of the moving means so that the figure selected in the selection step is drawn on the subject image, and dividing the image pickup surface of the image pickup device into a plurality of photometry areas for photometry. line , A metering step of the brightness level among the plurality of photometric regions are extracted highest photometric area, the exposure time calculated in the previous SL exposure time determination step, the luminance level of light metering areas extracted by said metering step based characterized by having a, and exposure control step of controlling the exposure conditions of the imaging element other than the exposure time.

The image pickup apparatus control method according to claim 12, wherein an image pickup device that photoelectrically converts a subject image formed by an image pickup optical system, and a subject image formed on the image pickup device and the image pickup device are relatively moved. In a control method of an imaging apparatus comprising a moving means for causing a shooting to be performed, a selection step for selecting one of a plurality of figures, and shooting by moving the movement means according to a locus of the figure selected in the selection step And an exposure time determining step for determining an exposure time necessary for rendering the figure without a difference in luminance, or an exposure time that is an integral multiple of the exposure time, and a bright spot included in the subject image obtained by the imaging device. and a control step of figure selected in the selecting step to the subject image to control the movement of said moving means so as to be rendered using a measurement by dividing the imaging surface of the imaging element into a plurality of light metering areas Was carried out, and metering step of extracting photometric region including the point light source from the plurality of light metering areas by the distribution condition of brightness levels, and exposure time determined in the previous SL exposure time determination step, extracted by the metering step an exposure control step of controlling the exposure conditions of the imaging element other than the exposure time based on the luminance level of light metering areas, and having a.

The image pickup apparatus control method according to claim 13, wherein an image pickup device that photoelectrically converts a subject image formed by an image pickup optical system, and a subject image formed on the image pickup device and the image pickup device are relatively moved. the control method of an imaging apparatus and a moving means for, when performing a selection step of selecting one from a plurality of figures, the photographing by moving the moving means in accordance with the locus of a figure selected by the selection step An exposure time determining step for determining an exposure time necessary for rendering the figure without any difference in brightness, or an exposure time that is an integral multiple of the exposure time, and a bright spot included in the subject image obtained by the image sensor. And a control step for controlling movement of the moving means so that the figure selected in the selection step is drawn on the subject image, and an arbitrary setting on the screen of the image display unit for displaying the subject image. And a metering step for metering at a timing designated by the user in Part position of the imaging surface of the imaging element corresponding to the region, and the exposure time determined in the previous SL exposure time determination step, on the screen of the image display unit and having a an exposure control step of controlling the exposure conditions of the imaging element other than the exposure time based on the luminance level at the site of the imaging surface of the imaging element corresponding to any set area .

  A program according to claim 14 causes a computer to execute the control method of the imaging apparatus.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when obtaining the drawing figure by the bright line contained in a to-be-photographed image, appropriate exposure control can be performed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes an image pickup optical system of the image pickup apparatus 1, which includes a zoom lens 11a, a focus adjustment lens 11b, a shutter 12, a correction lens unit 11c, a diaphragm unit 13, and the like. Reference numeral 14 denotes an optical axis of the imaging optical system 10. An image sensor 21 photoelectrically converts an optical image into an electrical signal, and an A / D converter 22 converts an analog signal output from the image sensor 21 into a digital signal. A timing generator 24 supplies a clock signal and a control signal to the image sensor 21, A / D converter 22, and D / A converter 27, and is controlled by the memory control unit 25 and the system control unit 50.

  An image processing unit 23 performs predetermined pixel interpolation processing, color conversion processing, and gamma processing on the data from the A / D converter 22 or the data from the memory control unit 25. Further, the image processing unit 23 performs predetermined processing using the captured image data, and the system control unit 50 controls the exposure control unit 41 and the focus control unit 42 based on the obtained result. That is, contrast AF (autofocus) processing, AE (automatic exposure) processing, and the like are performed. Further, the image processing unit 23 can perform a predetermined calculation process using the captured image data, and can also perform an AWB (auto white balance) process based on the obtained calculation result. The specific calculation processing of the exposure control unit will be described in detail later.

  A memory control unit 25 controls the A / D converter 22, the image processing unit 23, the timing generation unit 24, the image display memory 26, the D / A converter 27, the compression / decompression unit 28, and the internal memory 29. The data of the A / D converter 22 is sent to the image display memory 26 or the internal memory 29 via the image processing unit 23 and the memory control unit 25, or the data of the A / D converter 22 is directly sent to the memory control unit 25. Written. 26 is an image display memory, and 27 is a D / A converter. Reference numeral 7 denotes an image display unit including a TFT, an LCD, and the like. Display image data written in the image display memory 26 is displayed on the image display unit 7 via a D / A converter 27. If image data captured using the image display unit 7 is sequentially displayed, an electronic finder function can be realized. The image display unit 7 not only displays an image, but also displays various menu items related to various settings of the imaging apparatus 1 together with or without displaying the image. The user can change the setting of the designated item by appropriately selecting the menu item displayed on the image display unit 7 while operating the operation switch 5.

  A compression / decompression unit 28 compresses and decompresses image data by adaptive discrete cosine transform (ADCT) or the like, reads an image stored in the internal memory 29, performs compression processing or decompression processing, and stores the processed data in the internal memory. Write to 29. Reference numeral 29 denotes an internal memory for storing captured still images and moving images, and has a sufficient storage capacity for storing a predetermined number of still images and a predetermined time of moving images. As a result, even in the case of continuous shooting or panoramic shooting in which a plurality of still images are continuously shot, it is possible to write a large amount of images to the internal memory 29 at high speed. The internal memory 29 can also be used as a work area for the system control unit 50.

  Reference numeral 30 denotes a correction lens unit control unit. During normal photographing, the shake detector 33 detects the camera shake amount, and the drive control unit 31 and the position detection sensor 32 set the correction lens unit 11c according to the shake amount. Control image blur due to camera shake. The shake detector 33 is configured using, for example, a gyro sensor, and the position detection sensor 32 is configured using, for example, a Hall element. When drawing a figure using the bright spots present in the subject image, the correction lens unit 11c is controlled after further processing the locus data recorded in the nonvolatile memory 46. Specific processing will be described in detail later.

  Reference numeral 41 denotes an exposure control unit that controls the shutter 12 and the aperture unit 13, and supports flash photography by cooperating with the strobe 9 controlled via the strobe control unit 8. Reference numeral 42 denotes a focus control unit that controls the focus adjustment lens 11b, 43 denotes a zoom control unit that controls zooming by the zoom lens 11a, and 44 controls the operation of the barrier 2 that is a protective member disposed in front of the lens. A barrier control unit.

  Reference numeral 9 denotes a strobe, which is controlled by the strobe control unit 8 and corresponds to the AF auxiliary light projection function and the strobe dimming function. Reference numeral 50 denotes a system control unit that controls the entire imaging apparatus 1, and reference numeral 45 denotes a volatile memory that temporarily stores constants, variables, programs, and the like for operation of the system control unit 50.

  Reference numeral 46 denotes an electrically erasable / recordable nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM. Constants, variables, programs, and the like necessary for the operation of the imaging apparatus 1 are recorded so that they are not lost even when the imaging apparatus 1 is not operating. During operation of the imaging apparatus 1, constants, variables, programs, and the like that are recorded in response to a call instruction from the system control unit 50 are sent to the system control unit 50. The system control unit expands the called constants, variables, programs, and the like in the memory 45 so that they can be used as needed. Further, the trajectory data is also recorded in the nonvolatile memory 46 as described above. Specific recording modes and usage will be described in detail later.

  Reference numeral 47 denotes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display device that displays an operation state, a message, and the like using characters, images, sounds, and the like in accordance with execution of a program in the system control unit 50. The display unit 47 is installed in a single or a plurality of positions near the operation unit of the image pickup apparatus 1 so as to be easily visible, and is configured by a combination of an LCD and an LED, for example. In addition, the display unit 47 may have a part of the function installed in the optical viewfinder 6. The display unit 47 displays, for example, shutter speed, aperture value, exposure correction, strobe light emission setting, and the like.

  Reference numerals 3, 4 and 5 are operation units for inputting various operation instructions of the system control unit 50, and are configured by a single or a combination of a switch, a dial, a touch panel, a voice recognition device, and the like.

  Reference numeral 3 denotes a release switch, which is specifically configured to be pushed in two stages. The user gives a shooting preparation instruction by a half-press operation (SW1 on) that is a push operation up to the first stage, and gives a shooting instruction by a full press (SW2 on) operation that is a push operation up to the second stage. Can do. When the photographing preparation instruction SW1 is turned on, the system control unit 50 performs control so as to perform photographing preparation operations such as AF (autofocus) processing and AE (automatic exposure) processing. When the image capturing instruction SW2 is turned on, the system control unit 50 drives the shutter 12 and the aperture unit 13 via the exposure control unit 41 to perform control for capturing the subject image by the image sensor 21. Specifically, the subject image is exposed by driving the shutter 12 to open and close while the image sensor 21 is in the accumulation state. The period between the opening and closing of the shutter 12 is the exposure time, that is, the shutter speed. After the shutter 12 returns to the closed state and the charge accumulation of the image sensor 21 is completed, the accumulated charge is read out as a signal. The system control unit 50 and the memory control unit 25 use the A / D converter 22, the image processing unit 23, the compression / decompression unit 28, and the internal memory 29 to perform a series of development processing and image processing on the signal read from the image sensor 21. To generate image data. The generated image data is stored as an image file in the recording unit 63 of the recording medium 60 via the interface 51 and the connector 52 on the imaging device 1 side, and the connector 61 and the interface 62 on the recording medium 60 side that is detachable. To be recorded. As the recording unit 63, a recording unit having a sufficient capacity for recording a plurality of pieces of image data, such as a hard disk or a flash memory, is suitable. Reference numeral 53 denotes a recording medium attachment / detachment detection unit that detects whether or not the recording medium 60 is attached to the imaging apparatus 1.

  When the camera shake correction is set to ON, the correction lens unit control unit 30 operates the correction lens unit 11c in accordance with the switch SW1 being turned on, and the camera shake of the subject image formed on the image sensor 21 is reduced. Reduces the shake caused by it.

  Further, when the locus drawing mode is set, the correction lens unit control unit 30 drives the correction lens unit 11c so as to draw a figure designated at the exposure time after turning on SW2.

  Reference numeral 4 denotes a mode dial, which can be set by switching each function mode such as power-off, shooting mode (normal shooting mode, locus drawing mode, etc.), playback mode, PC connection mode, and the like. Reference numeral 5 denotes an operation switch including various buttons, a touch panel, and the like, which are provided with a menu button, a set button, a strobe setting button, and the like.

  In order to turn on or off camera shake correction, an operation switch 5 including a slide switch, for example, provided for camera shake correction setting is operated.

  When the locus drawing function is turned on, after the mode dial 4 is switched to the locus drawing mode, the drawing menu displayed on the image display unit 7 is selected and set by the operation switch 5 including, for example, a cross key. To do. Specific display and the like will be described later.

  Reference numeral 6 denotes an optical viewfinder, which can directly check the subject. In this case, shooting can be performed using only the optical viewfinder 6 without using the electronic viewfinder function of the image display unit 7. In addition, a part of the display unit 47 may be provided in the optical viewfinder 6 so that, for example, the shutter speed and the aperture value can be confirmed.

  A power control unit 48 includes a battery detection circuit, a DC / DC converter, a switch circuit that switches a block to be energized, and the like. Then, the presence / absence of a battery, the type of battery, and the remaining battery level are detected, and the detection result is sent to the system control unit 50. Further, necessary power is appropriately supplied to each unit of the imaging apparatus 1 based on an instruction from the system control unit 50.

  A power supply 70 supplies power from the power supply unit 72 to the imaging device 1 side via the connector 71 and the connector 49 on the imaging device 1 side. The power supply unit 72 is configured by either a primary battery such as an alkaline battery or a lithium battery, a secondary battery such as a NiCd battery, a NiMH battery, or a Li battery, an AC adapter, or the like, or a combination thereof.

  A communication control unit 54 supports various communication functions such as USB, IEEE 1394, LAN, and wireless communication. Reference numeral 55 denotes a connector for connecting the imaging device 1 to another device by the communication unit 54 or an antenna for wireless communication.

  Next, the locus drawing mode and the locus drawing function will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The locus drawing mode is a correction lens unit during the exposure time (during exposure control) of the image sensor 21 when a point light source (bright spot) such as a distant street lamp exists in a scene with a dark background such as dusk or at night. In this mode, 11c is driven and a locus (bright line) planned by the point light source is drawn on the image sensor.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram comparing images obtained when the normal shooting mode is set (trajectory drawing function off) and when the trajectory drawing mode is set (trajectory drawing function on).

  FIG. 2A shows an example of an image obtained when shooting is performed with normal shooting mode settings. A person who is a main subject is located relatively close to the imaging device 1, the background is a night view, and there are several point light sources such as street lamps. In this example of the image, a person is irradiated by causing the strobe 9 to emit light at a certain timing during exposure while performing camera shake correction at least during exposure.

  When photographing in this way, a person who is within the illumination range of the strobe 9 reflects the strobe light and appears bright, and a distant view outside the illumination range of the strobe 9 is captured only by a point light source that emits light (here, a streetlight). The light reaches the element 21 and appears. However, since the streetlight in the distant view has a small illuminance with respect to the image pickup apparatus 1, it is not captured as a subject image unless it is a so-called slow shutter. Therefore, here, camera shake correction is turned on so that the point light source appears as a point.

  FIG. 2B shows an example of an image obtained with the same composition as that in FIG. Here, it is assumed that the user has previously selected a star shape as a drawing figure. When the correction lens unit 11c is driven by superimposing a target value for drawing a star shape on a target value for camera shake correction during a period in which the image sensor is in an exposure state, that is, during exposure, the background point light source becomes the image sensor 21. A star is drawn on the top.

  On the other hand, the person is illuminated by the strobe 9. The light emission time of the strobe 9 is sufficiently shorter than the exposure time of the image sensor 21, and the person is present under low illuminance that does not receive any irradiation light except during the strobe light emission. Only the reflected image reaches the image sensor 21 and appears as if it were stationary. Then, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), a star-shaped image of a streetlight that is a point light source is shown in a single image, and a person is shown still.

  FIG. 2B shows an example of a star shape, but an arbitrary figure or size can be selected by a user's selection from a plurality of predetermined figures and sizes.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining selection of a locus graphic and a size by the user. Specifically, this is a menu screen of the image display unit 7 displayed when the operation switch 5 for calling the menu is operated when the locus drawing mode is selected with the mode dial 4.

  Reference numeral 301 denotes an icon tab for indicating that the currently displayed menu item is an item related to shooting. In addition to this, there are a tab 302 for indicating an item relating to playback and a tab 303 for indicating a setting item other than shooting / playback, and these are the cross keys of a part of the operation switch 5. Of these, movement and selection are possible by operating the left and right keys.

  The selection of the trajectory graphic and size is an item related to the trajectory drawing mode, which is one of the shooting modes, and is therefore displayed as a menu item when the icon tab 301 related to shooting is selected.

  304 to 307 are menu items related to the locus drawing mode. Each menu item can be moved and selected by operating the up and down keys of the cross key that is a part of the operation switch 5. In addition to these, there are many menu items related to shooting. Similarly, by operating the up and down keys, the menu items are scrolled to display new items. In order to indicate how much the currently displayed menu item is in relation to the entire menu item, a bar 308a for indicating the whole and a bar 308b for indicating the position superimposed on the bar 308a are displayed. Is displayed.

  Reference numeral 304 denotes a “camera shake correction” menu item for selecting whether to perform camera shake correction at the same time in the locus drawing mode. Even if camera shake correction is turned off with the slide switch (operation switch 5) provided separately for camera shake correction setting, it is prepared for when you want to turn it on automatically when the locus drawing mode is selected. Has been. This is because, in principle, in the trajectory drawing mode, shooting is often performed with a slow shutter, so that hand shake is likely to occur in hand-held shooting, and a more beautiful figure can be drawn by performing hand shake correction together with the drawing of the trajectory. On the other hand, even if the camera shake correction is turned on in the slide switch, the camera shake correction function may be an obstacle when the imaging apparatus 1 is fixed on a tripod and the locus is drawn. In such a case, it is only necessary to select “OFF” for camera shake correction in advance using this menu item. In the figure, a state in which “ON” is selected is shown.

  Reference numeral 305 denotes a “graphic selection” menu item for selecting a graphic to be drawn using a point light source in the locus drawing mode. FIG. 3 shows that this item is selected by the up and down keys, is displayed in a thick frame, and is active. Further, when the set button (operation switch 5) is operated with the menu item highlighted, each figure can be selected with the left and right keys. FIG. 3 shows this selectable state. Each figure is displayed as an icon. The icon of the currently selected graphic is displayed in a shaded state, and FIG. 3 shows that a star shape is selected. In addition to the star shape, heart shape, and round shape displayed here, selectable figures are also prepared. The left triangle icon indicates that there is a selectable figure hidden behind the left side. Similarly, the right triangle icon indicates that there is a selectable figure hidden behind the right side. Examples of the hidden and selectable figure may include a diamond and a spade. The user can select a desired figure by moving the shaded portion by operating the left and right keys.

  Reference numeral 306 denotes a “graphic size” menu item for selecting a size of a graphic selected by graphic selection to be drawn in the captured image. In the example of FIG. 3, “small”, “medium”, and “large” can be selected. Here, “medium” is selected.

  Reference numeral 307 denotes a “drawing start point” menu item for selecting which point of the graphic selected by the graphic selection is the drawing start point. For example, when the round shape is selected in “Select figure”, the correction lens unit 11c is made to go around “lower” → “up” → “lower”, or “up” → “lower” → “up”. The relative positional relationship between the circle to be drawn and the subject to be stroboscopically changed depends on whether or not it makes one round. Therefore, the drawing start point can be selected according to the user's intention. Here, “upper”, “lower”, “right”, and “left” are prepared so that they can be selected. In the figure, “lower” is selected. In addition, since the output image and the subject image formed on the image sensor 21 are in an upside down relationship, “up”, “down”, “right”, and “left” in the menu are The starting positions of the correction lens unit 11c correspond to “down”, “up”, “left”, and “right”. Also, depending on the shape selected, "upper", "lower", "right", the position corresponding to the "left" is sometimes not clear, but this in advance which position in the locus data to be described later " Whether it corresponds to “upper”, “lower”, “right”, or “left” is defined.

  In FIG. 3, the menu screen called when the mode drawing mode is selected with the mode dial 4 has been described. However, when any other mode is selected, the menu items 304 to 307 are grayed out and the selection is made. It will be impossible.

  Next, the setting of the drawing start point will be further described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining what kind of difference occurs as a captured image due to a difference in drawing start point.

  In FIG. 4A, the center point indicates the bright spot of the background. Then, a case will be described in which a hand is held near the imaging apparatus 1 and the composition is determined so that the positional relationship with the bright spot in the background becomes the relationship shown in FIG. A hand held under low illuminance is within the irradiation range of the strobe 9. Here, it is assumed that “heart shape” is selected in the “figure selection” menu as a figure to be drawn.

  FIG. 4B shows an image obtained when “lower” is selected as the drawing start point. When the drawing start point is set to “below”, drawing starts from the heart-shaped lowest point, so that a bright line is drawn above the position of the bright point in FIG. Therefore, the drawn heart is copied as if it were on a hand held up.

  On the other hand, when “upper” is selected as the drawing start point, a captured image as shown in FIG. 4C is obtained. When the drawing start point is set to “above”, drawing starts from one point at the top of the heart shape, so that the heart shape draws a bright line below the position of the bright point in FIG. . Therefore, an image in which the hand held over the heart shape overlaps.

  Next, the trajectory data recorded in the nonvolatile memory 46 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for conceptually explaining the recording format of the trajectory data.

  The locus data is data for driving the correction lens unit 11c in accordance with the setting selected by the user on the menu screen. The system control unit 50 reads the locus data of the graphic selected by the user from the nonvolatile memory 46 and sends it to the drive control unit 31 together with other setting items such as the graphic size and drawing start point, exposure information, and the like. The trajectory control unit 31g (described later) constituting the drive control unit receives these pieces of information, and calculates the movement amount of the correction lens unit 11c necessary for drawing.

  FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating a storage rule for trajectory data.

  The trajectory data indicating a certain graphic has an array structure, and “graphic information” indicating which graphic the trajectory data indicates is stored in the head address. Therefore, the system control unit 50 compares the graphic selected by the user with the graphic information and reads out the matching graphic.

  Next, the “drawing start point address” is stored. This indicates from which coordinate data the drawing start point selected by the user is used depending on which of “upper”, “lower”, “right”, and “left”.

  Next to the “drawing start point address”, “drawing trajectory length” is stored. This corresponds to the length of the locus of the corresponding figure. That is, how much the correction lens unit 11c has to be moved before drawing the selected figure is calculated from this information. Therefore, based on the “drawing trajectory length”, the trajectory drawing time for drawing the selected figure, that is, the optimum exposure time can be determined to calculate the exposure time.

  If the trajectory drawing time (the time required to move the correction lens unit 11c to draw the figure) is shorter than the exposure time, the exposure state will continue after drawing the figure, so the end of the figure Bleeding (high-brightness part) occurs in the part. In addition, if the second and third turns are made without stopping even if the selected figure is drawn once, the exposure time ends when the start point and end point do not match. A locus portion with high brightness and a locus portion with low brightness are generated in one figure.

  On the other hand, if the exposure time is shorter than the trajectory drawing time, the exposure time ends before the figure is completely drawn, so that an incomplete figure interrupted in the middle appears as a photographed image.

  Therefore, it is preferable that the exposure time coincides with a trajectory drawing time which is a time for drawing the selected figure once or drawing for a whole number of times. Specific calculation of exposure time and determination of exposure conditions will be described in detail later.

  The necessary number of coordinate values are stored after the “drawing trajectory length”. The coordinate values are coordinate 1, coordinate 2, coordinate 3,..., And the correction lens unit 11c is sequentially driven to positions corresponding to these to trace the selected figure. The arrows conceptually indicate the coordinates corresponding to the position where the correction lens unit 11c is moved next. At the start of drawing, an arrow is set according to the drawing start point address. Thereafter, the coordinate values are read out by sequentially incrementing (an arrow is set to the next coordinate address).

  The trajectory data is created based on “medium” selected by the menu item “graphic size”. Therefore, when “medium” is selected as the “graphic size”, the target value of the correction lens unit 11c may be set according to the coordinate value described in the trajectory data.

  When “Large” is selected, the drawing trajectory length is converted to double to calculate the exposure time and the like, and the movement of the correction lens unit 11c is converted to double the coordinate value indicated by the arrow. To do. The sampling period for reading the coordinate value is set to ½ times the sampling period for driving the correction lens unit 11c (the reading time interval is twice the driving time interval). The intermediate value of the coordinate value of.

  In other words, the sampling for driving the correction lens unit 11c is synchronized with the sampling for reading the coordinate value once every two times, and at this time, the coordinate value converted to twice from the trajectory data is used as the target value. When not synchronized, the intermediate value (interpolated coordinate) of the previous and subsequent converted coordinate values is used as the target value. In this way, the correction lens unit 11c can move a trajectory that is twice as large as the reference with respect to the coordinates (0, 0) at the same driving speed and takes twice as much time.

  When “small” is selected, the reverse relationship is obtained when “large” is selected. That is, the exposure time and the like are calculated by converting the drawing trajectory length to ½ times, and the coordinate value indicated by the arrow is converted to ½ times for the movement of the correction lens unit 11c. The sampling period for reading the coordinate value is set to twice the sampling period for driving the correction lens unit 11c (the reading time interval is ½ times the driving time interval), and the coordinate value at the timing when the correction lens unit 11c is not driven. Shall be ignored without being used.

  That is, the sampling for reading the coordinate value is synchronized with the sampling for driving the correction lens unit 11c once every two times, but at this time, the coordinate value converted to 1/2 times from the trajectory data is used as the target value. It is not used when not synchronized. (Of course, it may be configured not to perform reading at a timing not used as the target value.) By doing so, the correction lens unit 11c is 1/2 with respect to the coordinates (0, 0). A trajectory that is twice as large can be moved in half the time at the same drive speed.

  In this example, the trajectory data stored as the reference is the size “medium”, and an example relating to the size of 2 times or 1/2 times has been shown. However, if this method is applied in a linear interpolation manner, the size is 2 times, 1 / It can be set even at a magnification other than two times. The trajectory data stored as a reference may have coordinate data corresponding to the minimum size, or conversely, coordinate data corresponding to the maximum size.

  5 (b) and 5 (c) are diagrams showing a case where the storage rule of trajectory data is applied to a specific figure, FIG. 5 (b) is a star shape, and FIG. 5 (c) is a heart shape. It is a figure which shows a type | mold. The values described respectively correspond to FIG. For example, in FIG. 5B, “star shape” is selected as the “graphic information” at the start address, and “upper” is selected as the “drawing start point address”. In such a case, information such as reading from “coordinate 20” is described.

  In addition, “100” is described as “drawing trajectory length”, and “0, −10”, “2, −13”... Are described as “coordinate 1”, “coordinate 2”. When “Up” is selected in the “Drawing start point” menu item, since “Up: Coordinate 1” is designated as the drawing start point address, an arrow is set at the coordinate 1 as an initial value. If “middle” is selected as the “graphic size”, the arrows are sequentially incremented from the coordinate 1 to the last coordinate, and are used as data for driving the correction lens unit 11c.

  When “down” is selected in the “drawing start point” menu item, “down: coordinate 20” is designated as the drawing start point address, so an arrow is set at the coordinate 20 (not shown) as an initial value. Is done. Then, the arrow is incremented and set in order from the coordinate 20 to the last coordinate, and further jumps to the coordinate 1 and is similarly incremented to the coordinate 19 to be used as data for driving the correction lens unit 11c. If the selected figure is drawn twice or three times, this may be repeated twice or three times. When “large” or “small” is selected as the “graphic size”, it is read according to the rules described above.

  “Drawing start address” is defined by correlating the coordinate values when the positions of “top”, “bottom”, “right”, and “left” are geometrically clear, such as a round shape. You can attach it. However, for the star shape and the heart shape, for example, “right” and “left” do not necessarily have a clear feature point with respect to the center of gravity of the figure. In such a case, vertices and inflection points that are relatively close feature points, or points that have maximum and minimum values in the left-right direction may be defined. This is because it is easy for the user to perceive sensuously as a point to start the drawing trajectory.

  Next, an internal configuration of the drive control unit 31 and a configuration related thereto will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing these configurations.

  First, a case where the mode dial 4 is set to a shooting mode other than the locus drawing mode and the camera shake correction is turned on by the slide switch (operation switch 5) will be described.

  From the signal detected by the shake detector 33, only necessary signals are extracted by the filter 31a and the amplifier 31b, and are converted from analog values to digital values by the A / D converter 31c. Then, the integration process is performed by the calculator 31d, whereby the first movement target amount for driving the correction lens unit 11c corresponding to the amount of camera shake of the user is calculated and input as it is to the drive target position calculation unit 31i. The

  The signal detected by the position detection sensor 32 of the correction lens unit 11c is amplified by the amplifier 31e, and input to the drive target position calculation unit 31i as the position signal of the correction lens unit 11c via the A / D converter 31f. .

  The drive target position calculation unit 31i performs feedback control using these input signals. The drive target position calculation unit 31i calculates the movement target position of the correction lens unit 11c in consideration of sensitivity and the like calculated using the position information of the zoom lens 11a input from the system control unit 50. Then, according to the calculated movement target position, the drive driver 31j energizes the coil of the correction lens unit 11c, and moves the correction lens (correction lens 800 described later) in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis so as to reach the target position. To drive.

  By repeating these series of operations at high speed and periodically, even if the imaging apparatus 1 is shaken by a user's camera shake, the subject image formed on the image sensor 21 can be kept almost stationary, and the influence of camera shake. It is possible to obtain a photographic image with reduced image quality.

  Next, the case where the mode dial 4 is set to the locus drawing mode and the camera shake correction is set to “ON” in the “camera shake correction” menu item 304 will be described.

  The processing is the same as that in the normal camera shake correction signal processing until the signal detected by the shake detector 33 is input and the first moving target amount is calculated by the calculator 31d.

  When drawing a figure in the locus drawing mode, the locus data described above is input from the system controller 50 to the locus controller 31g. At the same time, the drawing size and drawing start point information set by the user are input from the system control unit, and the trajectory control unit 31g sets the drawing start point address as described above, and performs enlargement / reduction according to the drawing size. Perform the operation. Then, a second movement target amount as a movement target amount for drawing is calculated / generated in a cycle in which the correction lens unit 11c is driven.

  The timing to start driving for drawing is synchronized with the timing at which the shutter is opened. Specifically, the synchronization is realized by the timing signal from the exposure control unit 41 being input to the trajectory control unit 31g via the system control unit 50.

  A first movement target amount that is a movement amount according to the amount of user shake output from the computing unit 31d and a second movement target amount that is a movement amount for drawing output from the trajectory control unit 31g are: After being added by the adder 31h, it is input to the drive target position calculation unit 31i. In the drive target position calculation unit 31i, the correction lens is calculated from the sum of the input first movement target amount and the second movement target amount and the current position of the correction lens unit 11c input from the A / D converter 31f. The movement target position of the unit 11c is calculated. Then, according to the calculated movement target position, the drive driver 31j energizes the coil of the correction lens unit 11c, and moves the correction lens (correction lens 800 described later) in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis so as to reach the target position. To drive.

  By performing these series of operations during the exposure time of the image sensor 21, it is possible to draw the selected figure according to the setting while reducing the influence of the user's hand shake.

  Next, the case where the mode dial 4 is set to the locus drawing mode and the camera shake correction is set to “OFF” in the “camera shake correction” menu item 304 will be described.

  In this case, the output of the computing unit 31d is set to 0 by the instruction of the system control unit 50, and the influence from the shake detector is removed. Therefore, the input to the drive target position calculation unit 31i is only the second movement target amount. The drive target position calculation unit 31i calculates the movement target position of the correction lens unit 11c from the input second movement target amount and the current position of the correction lens unit 11c input from the A / D converter 31f. Then, according to the calculated movement target position, the drive driver 31j energizes the coil of the correction lens unit 11c, and moves the correction lens (correction lens 800 described later) in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis so as to reach the target position. To drive.

  By performing these series of operations during the exposure time of the image sensor 21, it becomes possible to draw the selected figure according to the setting. Such control is effective in the case where a complicated figure or a large-size figure is drawn and the exposure time is long, and the imaging device 1 is fixed with a tripod and is photographed. It is.

  In the above description, driving of the correction lens unit 11c that moves in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis 14 for two axes in the plane is collectively described. It is assumed that each element is provided in each axial direction.

  FIG. 7 illustrates the correction lens unit 11c described with reference to FIG. 6 when the mode dial 4 is set to the locus drawing mode and the camera shake correction is set to “ON” in the “camera shake correction” menu item 304. It is a figure for demonstrating roughly operation | movement.

  In FIG. 7, the horizontal axis represents the passage of time from the start of exposure of the image sensor 21, and the vertical axis represents the amount of movement from the optical axis center. The correction lens unit 11c moves in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis 14, and thus has a biaxial direction. Here, for the sake of simplicity, the operation in the uniaxial direction will be described.

  FIG. 7A illustrates a case where the correction lens unit 11c is driven in response to a user's camera shake so that the subject image is focused on the optical axis 14 without shaking on the image sensor 21. It is. That is, the driving is based on the normal camera shake correction control, and the state when the drive driver 31j is controlled based only on the first movement target amount is shown.

  FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating a state when the drive driver 31j is controlled based only on the second movement target amount output from the trajectory control unit 31g. That is, the correction lens unit 11c draws a locus output from the locus control unit 31g based on the locus data.

For the sake of explanation here, the trajectory data is
x = αsin (ωt) in the x-axis direction (1)
In the y-axis direction orthogonal to the x-axis,
y = αcos (ωt) −α (2)
So that it is quantized and converted into coordinate values,
Exposure time is
0 ≦ t ≦ 2π / ω (3)
Is given to be That is, during the exposure time, the correction lens unit 11c is given the locus data and the exposure time so as to draw one round of the circular locus with the radius α centered at (0, −α), starting from (0, 0). It shall be. Accordingly, FIG. 7B is a diagram showing the amount of movement in the x-axis direction when the correction lens unit 11c is driven according to the x-axis trajectory data.

  FIG. 7C shows a driving driver based on the movement target amount obtained by adding the first movement target amount shown in FIG. 7A and the second movement target amount shown in FIG. It is the figure which showed the case where 31j was controlled.

  By moving the correction lens unit 11c shown in FIG. 7C, the camera shake is corrected by the effect of the first movement target amount, and the figure set on the image sensor 21 according to the second movement target amount Can be drawn.

  Next, the drive mechanism of the correction lens unit 11c will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing a mechanism for moving the correction lens 800 of the correction lens unit 11c.

  8A, reference numeral 801 denotes a movable frame that holds the lens, 800 denotes a correction lens, 803 denotes a fixed portion attached to the lens barrel, 804 denotes a support / guide portion on the movable frame, and 805 denotes a support / guide portion. Shows a spring mounted coaxially. Reference numerals 806a and 806b denote coils attached to the fixed portion, and reference numerals 807a and 807b denote magnets attached to the movable frame.

  FIG. 8B is a right side view of the camera shake correction mechanism shown in FIG. In FIG. 8B, reference numerals 810 and 812 denote yokes not shown in FIG. 8A. Reference numeral 811 denotes a sensor for detecting the position of a movable part (not shown in FIG. 8A). Specifically, it is an element constituting the position detection sensor 32, and a Hall element is used as the sensor.

  FIG. 8C is a view taken in the direction of arrow 802 in FIG. The movable frame 801 is guided and supported by the support / guide unit 804 so as to be capable of planar movement with respect to the fixed unit 803. In FIG. 8C, a circular support / guide portion 804 is inserted into an oval guide groove 813. By using the same structure at all three locations, the camera shake correction mechanism is restrained in the direction of the optical axis 14 of the imaging optical system 10 and can be moved on a plane perpendicular to the optical axis 14.

  On the movable frame 801, a camera shake correction lens 800 and driving magnets 807a and 807b are attached. Further, the movable frame 801 is elastically supported by a spring 805 attached coaxially to the support / guide unit 804 so that the center of the camera shake correction lens 800 substantially coincides with the optical axis 14 when no driving force is generated. Is arranged. As shown in FIG. 8B, the drive portion has a configuration in which both sides of a magnet 807a are sandwiched between yokes and a coil 806a is provided on one side. The principle of the driving portion will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIGS. 9A and 9B are arrow views extracted from the drive circuit portion with the dotted line 808 shown in FIG. The drive magnet 807a is magnetized in the thickness direction with two poles. Furthermore, yokes 810 and 812 are provided on both sides of the magnet 807a in the magnetizing direction, so that a large amount of magnetic flux does not leak to the outside and generates a magnetic field in the direction of the arrow as shown in FIG. 9A. I am letting. When the coil 806a is energized in this state, currents in opposite directions flow in the regions 901 and 902 on the coil 806a.

  On the other hand, since the direction of the magnetic field is also opposite, a force in the same direction is generated according to the Fleming left-hand rule. At this time, since the coil is fixed, the magnet 807a attached to the movable part is driven by receiving a force according to the law of action and reaction.

  The driving force is proportional to the current of the coil 806a, and the driving force received by the magnet 807a can be reversed by changing the direction of the current flowing through the coil 806a to the opposite direction. When the driving force is generated, the movable portion is elastically supported by the spring 805, and therefore, it is displaced to a point that balances with the spring force. That is, the position of the movable part can be controlled by appropriately controlling the current of the coil 806a.

  Further, a hall element 811 is mounted on the yoke 810. As shown in FIG. 9B, when the magnet 807a is displaced by the driving force generated by applying a current to the coil 806a, the hall element 811 is moved. The magnetic balance also changes. Therefore, the position of the magnet 807a can be detected by obtaining a signal from the Hall element 811.

  8 and 9 exemplify an embodiment using a moving magnet system in which a magnet is arranged in the movable part and a coil is arranged in the fixed part. However, this embodiment can also be applied to a moving coil in which a coil is arranged in the movable part and a magnet is arranged in the fixed part.

  Next, the imaging operation of the imaging apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  10 to 12 are flowcharts of the imaging operation in the imaging apparatus 1. It should be noted that execution / non-execution of various operations is determined in advance by user settings on the menu screen described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 10, in step S <b> 1001, it is confirmed whether or not the locus drawing mode is set with the mode dial 4. When it is not the locus drawing mode, it is assumed that the normal photographing mode is set (the locus drawing function is off), and the process proceeds to step S1002. Here, a case where the normal shooting mode is set will be described first.

  In step S1002, the SW1 of the release switch 3 is in the input standby state. When SW1 is turned on in step S1002, in step S1003, the system control unit 50 confirms whether camera shake correction is set to ON by the slide switch (operation switch 5). If camera shake correction is set to ON, driving of the correction lens unit 11c for correcting camera shake is started in step S1004. That is, the driving by the normal camera shake correction control described with reference to FIG.

  After driving the correction lens unit 11c for correcting camera shake in step S1004 or when it is determined in step S1003 that camera shake correction is set to OFF, the correction lens unit 11c is not driven. The process proceeds to step S1005.

  In step S1005, the system control unit 50 and the focus control unit 42 control the focus adjustment lens 11b, thereby executing an AF (autofocus) process. Specifically, a known contrast method is used in which the system controller 50 detects the contrast of the subject image continuously captured while the focus adjustment lens 11b is driven by a minute amount, and the position where the contrast is highest is the in-focus position. Use.

  In step S1006, the system control unit 50 executes AE (automatic exposure) processing. The AE process here is a normal photometry method, and consists of two steps of subject photometry and exposure calculation. As the subject photometry, a normal photographing photometry process shown in FIG. As a result, the subject image is divided into a plurality of photometric areas, and the luminance value of each photometric area is weighted to the integral value of the luminance level of each photometric area as necessary to calculate the subject luminance.

  On the other hand, as the exposure calculation, the shutter speed, the aperture value, and the ISO sensitivity are determined based on the subject brightness as a photometric result. The exposure value calculation method differs depending on whether the current shooting mode is the fully automatic mode, the aperture priority mode, or the shutter speed priority mode.

  In the fully automatic mode, the system control unit 50 arbitrarily determines the shutter speed, aperture value, and ISO sensitivity. Specifically, it is determined according to a program diagram stored in advance in the nonvolatile memory 46. In this program diagram, for example, when the subject brightness is small (dark), the shutter speed that does not cause camera shake as much as possible, the aperture value close to full open, and the high ISO sensitivity are considered. In the aperture priority mode, the shutter speed and ISO sensitivity are adjusted according to the program diagram so as to maintain the aperture value designated by the user. In the shutter speed priority mode, the aperture value and ISO sensitivity are adjusted according to the subject brightness according to the program diagram so as to maintain the shutter speed designated by the user.

  After performing the AE process in step S1006, in step S1007, the input of SW2 of the release switch 3 is waited. Here, when the input of the release switch 3 is released and SW1 is turned off, the process returns to step S1002 again to enter the input standby state of SW1.

  When SW2 is turned on in step S1007, the system control unit 50 performs dimming light emission of the strobe 9 via the strobe control unit 8 in step S1008. If it is determined in step S1006 that the subject brightness is sufficiently large (bright), the strobe light does not need to be emitted. However, here, for explanation, a case where the subject brightness is low and the strobe light needs to be emitted will be described. To do.

  In step S1009, in response to the result of the dimming light emission in step S1008, the system control unit 50 calculates the main light emission amount from the reflection amount. Specifically, adjustment is performed so that saturated pixels are not generated in the image sensor 21 when main light emission is performed (so as not to cause whiteout).

  In step S1010, the exposure control unit 41 receives an instruction from the system control unit 50, opens the shutter 12 so that the image sensor 21 is in an exposure state, and narrows down the aperture unit 13 according to a predetermined aperture value. To start.

  In step S1011, the strobe control unit 8 emits the strobe 9 at a predetermined timing according to the main light emission amount calculated in step S1009.

  Next, when the exposure time corresponding to the shutter speed determined in step S1006 has elapsed, in step S1012, the exposure control unit 41 closes the shutter 12 and returns the aperture to the open state.

  When the exposure of the image sensor 21 is completed, in step S1013, image processing is performed as described with reference to FIG. 1, and in step S1014, the processed image file is recorded on the recording medium 60 and the image display unit 7 is processed. The processed image data is displayed, and a series of shooting operations in the normal shooting mode is terminated.

  As a result of the determination in step S1001, when the trajectory drawing mode is set with the mode dial 4 (the trajectory drawing function is on), the processing after step S1015 is executed.

  In FIG. 11, step S1015 is in the input standby state of SW1 of the release switch 3 as in step S1002. When SW1 is turned on in step S1015, in step S1016, the system control unit 50 confirms whether or not the camera shake correction menu item 304 is set to perform camera shake correction. Here, unlike step S1003, as described with reference to FIG. 3, the setting by the menu item 304 is followed regardless of the setting of the camera shake correction by the slide switch (operation switch 5).

  If camera shake correction is set to ON, driving of the correction lens unit 11c for correcting camera shake is started in step S1017. That is, the driving by the normal camera shake correction control described with reference to FIG.

  After driving the correction lens unit 11c for correcting camera shake in step S1017 or when it is determined in step S1016 that camera shake correction is set to OFF, the correction lens unit 11c is not driven. The process proceeds to step S1018.

  In step S1018, as in step S1005, the system control unit 50 and the focus control unit 42 control the focus adjustment lens 11b to execute AF (autofocus) processing.

  When AF processing is executed in step S1018, AE processing in FIG. 12 described later is performed (step S1019). The AE process here is an AE process in the trajectory drawing mode, and consists of two steps of subject photometry and exposure calculation. Each will be described separately below.

  In FIG. 12, first, in step S1201, a trajectory drawing photometric process shown in FIG. Thus, in order to appropriately perform the trajectory drawing, the photometry is performed by a photometry method that pays particular attention to the luminance level of the bright spot in the subject. The process in step S1201 may be replaced with the process in FIG. 17A or the process in FIG.

  Next, the exposure calculation is performed. The principle of determining the shutter speed, the aperture value, and the ISO sensitivity based on the subject brightness as the photometric result is the same as that in the AE process in step S1006. However, the determination method is different for each of the fully automatic mode, aperture priority mode, and shutter speed priority mode, which are prepared as shooting modes.

  After subject photometry is performed in step S1201, in step S1202, the system control unit 50 determines whether or not the current shooting mode is the fully automatic mode. If it is determined that the mode is the fully automatic mode, in step S1203, the system control unit 50 reads out the trajectory data corresponding to the graphic selected in the graphic selection menu item 305 from the nonvolatile memory 46, and from among the trajectory data. Get the drawing trajectory length. Then, the acquired drawing trajectory length is converted according to the size selected in the figure size menu item 306. If “large” is selected, it is converted to double, if “medium” is selected, it is left as it is, and if “small” is selected, it is converted to 1/2.

  Here, the number of laps determined according to the brightness of the bright spot to be drawn (how many times the selected figure is drawn during the exposure time) is a parameter that determines the moving distance of the correction lens 800. It is. By dividing this movement distance by a predetermined speed at which the correction lens 800 is driven, a trajectory drawing time for drawing the selected figure with the selected size is obtained. This trajectory drawing time is determined as the shutter speed. When the shutter speed is determined in this way, the figure selected by the user can be drawn without being interrupted and without causing blurring or unevenness.

  Then, the ISO sensitivity and the aperture value are determined according to the program diagram stored in advance in the nonvolatile memory 46 based on the shutter speed depending on the number of rotations. This program diagram is taken into consideration so that the shutter speed is as low as possible.

  If it is determined in step S1202 that the current shooting mode is not the fully automatic mode, the system control unit 50 determines in step S1205 whether or not the current shooting mode is the aperture priority mode. If it is determined that the aperture priority mode is set, the process proceeds to step S1206.

  In step S1206, as in step S1203, the system control unit 50 reads the trajectory data corresponding to the graphic selected in the graphic selection menu item 305 from the nonvolatile memory 46, and draws the trajectory length from the trajectory data. To get. Then, the drawing trajectory length acquired in step S1206 is converted according to the size selected in the figure size menu item 306. If “large” is selected, it is converted to double, if “medium” is selected, it is left as it is, and if “small” is selected, it is converted to 1/2.

  Then, for example, the number of rotations determined according to the brightness of the bright spot to be drawn (how many times the selected figure is drawn during the exposure time) is further multiplied to determine the movement distance of the correction lens 800. decide. By dividing this movement distance by a predetermined speed at which the correction lens 800 is driven, a trajectory drawing time for drawing the selected figure with the selected size is obtained. This locus drawing time is determined as the shutter speed. When the shutter speed is determined in this way, the figure selected by the user can be drawn without being interrupted and without causing blurring or unevenness.

  When the shutter speed is determined, the ISO sensitivity is determined so as to obtain an appropriate exposure based on the shutter speed, the instructed aperture value, and the subject brightness obtained in step S1201.

If it is determined in step S1205 that the current shooting mode is not the aperture priority mode, the system control unit 50 determines that the current shooting mode is the shutter speed priority mode. In the shutter speed priority mode, the user instructs the shutter speed. Therefore, the drawing trajectory length is not acquired from the trajectory data as in step S1203 and step S1206. In this case, the shutter speed specified by the user may not match the drawing time of the selected figure at the selected size, and it may be interrupted or overlapped in the middle, but the user specified Follow the shutter speed.

  In step S1208, based on the photometric calculation result obtained in step S1201, the aperture value and ISO sensitivity are determined so that the subject that is assumed to be the main, for example, the subject near the center of the screen has a proper exposure. Here, as in step S1204, the appropriate exposure that becomes the reference as the locus drawing mode in step S1208 is set to be, for example, about one step under the appropriate exposure that becomes the reference in the normal shooting mode in step S1004.

  When the shutter speed, aperture value, and ISO sensitivity are determined through step S1204, step S1207, or step S1208, input of SW2 of the release switch 3 is awaited in step S1020 of FIG. Here, when the input of the release switch 3 is released and SW1 is turned off, the process returns to step S1015 again to enter the SW1 on standby state.

  Returning to FIG. 11, when SW2 is turned on in step S1020, the system control unit 50 performs dimming light emission of the strobe 8 via the strobe control unit 8 in step S1021. Next, in step S1022, in response to the result of the dimming light emission in step S1021, the system control unit 50 calculates the main light emission amount from the reflection amount. Specifically, adjustment is performed so that saturated pixels are not generated in the image sensor 21 when main light emission is performed (so as not to cause whiteout).

  In step S1023, the exposure control unit 41 receives an instruction from the system control unit 50, opens the shutter 12 so that the image sensor 21 is in an exposure state, and narrows down the aperture unit 13 according to a predetermined aperture value. To start. Simultaneously with exposure of the image sensor 21, in step S1023, the drive control unit 31 receives necessary information from the system control unit 50, operates the correction lens unit 11c, and starts locus driving. Specifically, the drive control unit 31 receives the trajectory data of the graphic selected by the user from the system control unit 50, receives the size selected by the user, and converts the coordinate value of the trajectory data as described above. To do. Then, the drawing start point address is acquired from the trajectory data, and the drawing is set to start from the coordinate value corresponding to the drawing start point selected by the user.

  When the camera shake correction drive is started in step S1017, the drive control unit 31 has already operated the correction lens unit 11c (operation corresponding to FIG. 7A). In this case, in step S1024, with the start of exposure in step S1023, the second movement target amount corresponding to the coordinate value set as the drawing start point is added to the first movement target amount corresponding to the amount of camera shake of the user. Thus, the movement target amount of the correction lens unit 11c is set.

  The drive control unit 31 drives the correction lens unit 11c according to the movement target amount. Draw the selected figure with the selected size while correcting the user's camera shake by sequentially incrementing the coordinate value according to the trajectory data and updating the movement target amount in synchronization with the sampling period. Becomes possible (operation corresponding to FIG. 7C). In step S1025, the strobe controller 8 emits the strobe 9 at a predetermined timing according to the main light emission amount calculated in step S1022.

  After the main flash emission, drawing of the figure is completed in step S1026, and the drive control unit 31 ends the locus driving for drawing. At the same time, in step S1027, the exposure control unit 41 closes the shutter 12 and returns the aperture to the open state. When the exposure of the image sensor 21 is completed, in step S1028, image processing is performed as described with reference to FIG. However, the γ curve applied here is different from the γ curve applied in the normal shooting mode in step S1013.

  The γ correction in the locus drawing mode will be described.

  As described above, as shown in FIG. 2 as one of the scenes assumed by the trajectory drawing mode, when a point light source exists in the background and a person exists within the irradiation range of the strobe 9, the person emits strobe light. Except for times, it receives little irradiation light. However, in reality, there are few situations in which a person does not receive irradiation light completely, and in fact, the person often exists under some kind of illumination.

In the locus drawing mode, the shutter speed is often long (during a long second), so that even if a person is slightly exposed to light, the correction lens unit 11c is driven and the person who is the subject shakes. The part becomes an image with blurring and blurring as a whole.
Then, the bright line drawn by the point light source may be superimposed on this blur or blur and may not be clear.

  Therefore, in the locus drawing mode, a γ correction different from the γ correction in the normal photographing mode is performed in order to clarify the contrast between the bright line with high luminance and the blurring and blurring that appear dimly. Specifically, γ correction is performed using a γ curve that makes a low-luminance subject relatively inconspicuous and emphasizes a high-luminance subject.

  FIG. 13A is a diagram illustrating an example of the γ curve applied in the normal photographing mode, and FIG. 13B is a diagram illustrating an example of the γ curve applied in the locus drawing mode.

  Compared to the normal imaging mode, in the locus drawing mode, in order to make the bright line clear, the output signal for the low luminance side input signal is sufficiently lowered and the output signal for the high luminance side input signal is relatively increased. By changing in this way, the high-luminance subject is emphasized with respect to the low-luminance subject, and the contrast of the entire image is increased.

  Returning to FIG. 11, when the image processing is completed in step S1028, the process proceeds to step S1014 in FIG. 10. In step S1014, the processed image file is recorded on the recording medium 60 and processed to the image display unit 7. Is displayed. This completes the series of shooting operations in the locus drawing mode.

  FIG. 14A is a flowchart showing a procedure of normal photographing photometry processing executed in step S1006 of FIG.

  14A, first, the imaging surface of the image sensor 21 is divided into a plurality of photometric areas (step S1701) (FIG. 15A), and the luminance level of each photometric area is integrated for each divided photometric area. Calculation is performed to calculate the luminance level of each photometric area (step S1702) (FIG. 16A). Then, subject luminance is calculated by applying a weighting process corresponding to the photometric method to the luminance level of each photometric area (step S1703), and this process ends.

  FIG. 15A shows an imaging surface of the imaging device 21 divided into a plurality of photometry areas by the normal photographing photometry processing of FIG. Some of the plurality of photometric areas include a bright spot 1401. In this normal photographing photometry processing, subject luminance is calculated by applying a weighting process to the luminance value of each photometry area as necessary with respect to the integral value of the brightness level of each photometry area.

  FIG. 14B is a flowchart showing a procedure of an example of the trajectory drawing photometry process executed in step S1201 of FIG.

  In the process of FIG. 14B, the locus is appropriately drawn by paying particular attention to the luminance level of the point light source (bright spot) in the subject.

  In FIG. 14B, first, the imaging surface of the imaging element 12 is divided so as to have an optimum photometric area size when performing locus drawing (step S1704). The division of the image pickup surface of the image pickup device 12 into a plurality of photometry areas is subdivided as compared with normal photometry. Next, the luminance level of each photometric area is integrated for each photometric area divided into a plurality of subdivided photometric areas, the luminance level of each photometric area is calculated, and the brightness levels of each photometric area are compared. Then, a photometric area having the maximum luminance level is extracted (step S1705). Next, the subject brightness is calculated based on the brightness level of the photometric area with the highest brightness level (step S1706), and this process ends.

  In the locus drawing photometry process of FIG. 14B, since the locus is drawn by the bright spot included in the subject, it is necessary to determine an exposure value so that the locus of the bright spot is drawn with appropriate brightness. For this purpose, it is desirable to detect the luminance of the point light source included in the subject more accurately. In this example, the imaging surface of the image sensor 12 is divided into a plurality of photometric areas (FIG. 15 (b)), and the luminance levels of the photometric areas are compared (FIG. 15B). 16 (b)), the luminance value of the photometric area having the highest luminance level is set as the subject luminance. By subdividing the imaging surface of the imaging device 12 into a plurality of photometric areas as compared with normal photometry, the detection accuracy of bright spots can be increased.

  FIG. 16A shows the photometry results when the number of divisions of the image pickup surface of the image sensor 12 into the plurality of photometry areas is normal, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the photometry result when a division | segmentation is subdivided rather than the time of normal photometry.

  In FIGS. 16A and 16B, a photometric area with a high luminance level is indicated by (◎), a photometric area with a low luminance level is indicated by (Δ), a photometric area in the middle is indicated by (◯), and the luminance level of the background The photometry results for each photometry area are shown with (×) being the photometry area determined to be.

  As shown in FIG. 16A, when the number of divisions is normal, a photometric area including a point light source with the highest luminance level and a photometric area including a plurality of point light sources with a low luminance level have the same luminance. It will be processed as a photometric area.

  As shown in FIG. 16B, by dividing the division into a plurality of photometric areas, a point light source having a high luminance level and a point light source having a low luminance level can be appropriately separated, and detection accuracy is improved. Can be achieved.

  In addition, an example of a photometric method for more accurately detecting the luminance of a point light source included in a subject different from the photometric method described above will be given. The luminance level distribution of the pixels included in each photometric area divided by the imaging surface of the image sensor 106 is measured, and it is determined whether or not a point light source is included in each photometric area. For the photometric area including the point light source, the subject brightness is determined based on the level of the high brightness pixel.

  FIG. 17A is a flowchart showing the procedure of another example of the drawing process photometry process executed in step S1201 of FIG.

  In FIG. 17A, the imaging surface of the imaging device 12 is divided into a plurality of photometric areas so as to have an optimal area size when performing locus drawing (step S1704). The division of the image pickup surface of the image pickup device 12 into a plurality of photometry areas is subdivided as compared with normal photometry. The luminance level distribution is measured for each photometric area (step S1707), and it is determined from the measured luminance level distribution conditions whether a point light source is included in the photometric area (step S1708). If the result of determination in step S1708 is that a point light source is included in the photometry area, the subject brightness is calculated based on the brightness level of the high brightness pixels in the photometry area including the point light source (step S1709) (FIG. 18 ( a)) This processing is terminated.

  If the result of determination in step S1708 is that point light sources are not included in all photometric areas (FIG. 18B), for example, subject luminance is calculated by the known photometric processing of FIG. 14A (step S1710). ), This process is terminated.

  FIG. 18A shows an example of the luminance level distribution of the photometric area including the point light source, and FIG. 18B shows an example of the luminance level distribution of the photometric area not including the point light source. . Specifically, it is a graph with the horizontal axis as the luminance value and the vertical axis as the number of pixels. When attention is paid to one photometric area, the number of pixels is plotted by the brightness value for all the pixels included in the area.

  In order to sufficiently obtain the effect of the locus drawing, it is preferable that the luminance level in the photometry area is clearly divided into high luminance pixels and low luminance pixels as shown in FIG. Thereby, the effect of locus drawing can be expected. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 18B, if the high-luminance pixels are not clearly separated, the point drawing light source cannot be expected even if the point light source is included in the photometric area, so the point light source is included. It is determined as a non-photometric area. Whether or not a point light source is included can be determined by determining whether the ratio of the number of pixels in the dark part and the bright part occupies a predetermined ratio with respect to the total number of pixels in the luminance level distribution. What is necessary is just to judge that a point light source is included, when the ratio of the number of pixels of a dark part and a bright part exceeds the preset threshold value.

  If the point light source is not included in all photometric areas, a warning may be given by displaying on the display unit 47 that a desired figure cannot be drawn. In addition, if the exposure time required to draw the predetermined figure and the exposure amount required to draw the predetermined figure with appropriate brightness cannot be secured, the display unit displays that the desired figure cannot be drawn. A warning may be given by displaying on 47.

  According to the above-described method, it is possible to perform photometry by extracting only a photometric region including a light source that can be expected to have a locus drawing effect, regardless of the brightness and number of point light sources included in the subject.

  FIG. 17B is a flowchart showing a procedure of still another example of the locus drawing photometry process executed in step S1201 of FIG.

  In this example, a capture frame 1701 for capturing a point light source is displayed at a specific portion on the screen of the image display unit 7 as an electronic viewfinder on which a live image is displayed, in this case, in the center (FIG. 19).

  In FIG. 17B, first, the user changes the orientation of the imaging device 1 so as to guide a point light source to be given a locus drawing effect at the center of the capture frame 1701 on the screen of the image display unit 7 (step S1711). ), When a photometric button (not shown) on the operation switch 5 is pressed, the imaging device 1 acquires the luminance level at the part of the imaging surface of the imaging device 12 corresponding to the capture frame 1701 (step S1712). Next, the imaging apparatus 1 calculates subject brightness based on the acquired brightness level (step S1713), and ends this process.

  In this example, the capture frame 1701 may be displayed on a part other than the center of the screen display unit 7.

  In the above-described embodiment, the correction lens unit 11c is arranged in the imaging optical system 10 and driven to reduce the shake caused by the user's camera shake on the subject image formed on the imaging device 21. At the same time, it was controlled to draw a figure designated for the exposure time.

  However, the configuration for reducing the shake caused by the hand shake of the user and drawing the figure designated for the exposure time is not limited to this. For example, even if the image pickup device 21 is configured to shift two-dimensionally in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis 14, the same effect can be obtained. Specifically, two guide bars are provided so that the image sensor 21 slides in two axial directions, a coil is disposed on the image sensor side, and a magnet is disposed on the fixed side, and position control is performed using the repulsive force. Can be done.

  Further, when it is determined that the point light source (bright spot) is not included in the entire photometric area based on the luminance level and luminance distribution of the photometric area described above, the system control unit 50 may prohibit photographing. In addition, if for some reason the predetermined trajectory cannot be drawn based on the exposure time calculated to draw the predetermined figure and the exposure amount for drawing the trajectory with appropriate brightness, photographing is prohibited. You may do it.

  In the above embodiment, the brightness level at the time of photometry is calculated based on the integrated value for each subdivided photometry area, but is not limited thereto, and is calculated based on the average value for each photometry area. Also good.

  In the above-described embodiment, the embodiment in which the posture of the imaging device 1 is set to the normal horizontal position has been described, but it goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained even if the posture of the imaging device 1 is set to the vertical position. For example, a posture detection sensor (not shown) detects the posture of the imaging device 1 and notifies the system control unit 50 that the imaging device 1 is in the vertical position. Then, the system control unit 50 changes the control of the drive control unit 31 so that the drawing of the figure is in the vertical position.

  The object of the present invention is achieved by executing the following processing. That is, a storage medium that records a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus is stored in the storage medium. This is the process of reading the code. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code and the storage medium storing the program code constitute the present invention.

  Moreover, the following can be used as a storage medium for supplying the program code. For example, floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD + RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM or the like. Alternatively, the program code may be downloaded via a network.

  Further, the present invention includes a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by executing the program code read by the computer. In addition, an OS (operating system) running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing based on an instruction of the program code, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing. Is also included.

  Furthermore, a case where the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by the following processing is also included in the present invention. That is, the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, based on the instruction of the program code, the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing.

1 is a system configuration diagram of an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic which compares the image obtained at the time of normal imaging | photography mode setting, and the time of locus | trajectory drawing mode setting. It is a figure for demonstrating selection of the locus | trajectory figure, size, etc. by a user. It is a figure explaining what kind of difference arises as a picked-up image by the difference in a drawing start point. It is a figure for demonstrating notionally the recording format of locus | trajectory data. It is a block diagram explaining the internal structure of the drive control part 31, and the structure relevant to this. It is a figure for demonstrating schematically operation | movement of the correction | amendment lens unit 11c. It is a figure which shows schematically the mechanism to which the correction | amendment lens 800 is moved. It is the arrow view which extracted the drive circuit part among the mechanisms to which the correction lens 800 is moved. It is a flowchart of the imaging operation in an imaging device (the 1). It is a flowchart of the imaging operation in an imaging device (the 2). It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the AE process in step S1019 of FIG. (A) is a figure which shows an example of (gamma) curve applied in normal imaging | photography mode, (b) is an example of (gamma) curve applied in locus | trajectory drawing mode. (A) is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the photometry process in normal imaging | photography mode, (b) is a flowchart which shows the procedure of an example of the photometry process in locus | trajectory drawing mode. (A) is a figure which shows the photometry area | region in normal imaging | photography mode, (b) is a figure which shows the photometry area | region in locus | trajectory drawing mode. (A) is a figure which shows the photometry result in normal imaging | photography mode, (b) is a figure which shows the photometry result in locus | trajectory drawing mode. (A) is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the other example of the photometry process in locus | trajectory drawing mode, (b) is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the other example of the photometric process in locus | trajectory drawing mode. (A) is a figure which shows an example of the luminance level distribution of the photometry area | region where a point light source is included, (b) is a figure which shows an example of the luminance level distribution of the photometry area | region which does not contain a point light source. It is a figure which shows an example of the frame for taking in of the point light source by an electronic viewfinder.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging device 11c Correction lens unit 21 Imaging element 31 Drive control part 33 Shake detector 41 Exposure control part 50 System control part

Claims (14)

An image sensor that photoelectrically converts a subject image formed by the imaging optical system ;
And moving means for Ru is relatively moving the object image and the imaging device is focused on the imaging element,
A selection means for selecting one from a plurality of figures;
When shooting by moving the moving means according to the trajectory of the graphic selected by the selecting means, the exposure time required to draw the graphic without any difference in brightness, or an exposure time that is an integral multiple of the exposure time Exposure time determining means for determining
And control means graphic selected by the selection unit to the subject image using the bright points included in the subject image obtained by the imaging device to control the movement of said moving means so as to be rendered,
A photometric unit that divides the imaging surface of the imaging device into a plurality of photometric areas, performs photometry, and extracts a photometric area having the highest luminance level from the plurality of photometric areas ;
The exposure time determined by the pre-Symbol exposure time determining means, and a exposure control means for controlling the exposure conditions of the imaging element other than the exposure time based on the luminance level of light metering areas extracted by said photometry means An imaging apparatus comprising: An image sensor that photoelectrically converts a subject image formed by the imaging optical system ;
And moving means for Ru is relatively moving the object image and the imaging device is focused on the imaging element,
A selection means for selecting one from a plurality of figures;
When shooting by moving the moving means according to the trajectory of the graphic selected by the selecting means, the exposure time required to draw the graphic without any difference in brightness, or an exposure time that is an integral multiple of the exposure time Exposure time determining means for determining
Control means for controlling the movement of the moving means so that the figure selected by the selecting means is drawn on the subject image using a bright spot included in the subject image obtained by the imaging element;
A photometric unit that divides the imaging surface of the imaging element into a plurality of photometric areas, performs photometry, and extracts a photometric area including a point light source from the plurality of photometric areas according to a distribution condition of luminance levels ;
The exposure time determined by the pre-Symbol exposure time determining means, and a exposure control means for controlling the exposure conditions of the imaging element other than the exposure time based on the luminance level of light metering areas extracted by said photometry means An imaging apparatus comprising: It said photometric means, the imaging apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that fragmented than in metering the division into a plurality of light metering areas of the imaging surface at a normal shooting mode. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 when there is not any bright spots in all further comprising a warning means for performing warning of the plurality of light metering areas. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a prohibiting means for prohibiting the shooting when there is not any bright spots in all of the plurality of light metering areas. An image sensor that photoelectrically converts a subject image formed by the imaging optical system ;
And moving means for Ru is relatively moving the object image and the imaging device is focused on the imaging element,
A selection means for selecting one from a plurality of figures;
When shooting by moving the moving means according to the trajectory of the graphic selected by the selecting means, the exposure time required to draw the graphic without any difference in brightness, or an exposure time that is an integral multiple of the exposure time Exposure time determining means for determining
Control means for controlling the movement of the moving means so that the figure selected by the selecting means is drawn on the subject image using a bright spot included in the subject image obtained by the imaging element;
An image display unit for displaying the subject image;
A photometric means for performing photometry at a timing designated by the user in Part position of the imaging surface of the imaging element corresponding to the arbitrarily set area on the screen of the image display unit,
The exposure time determined by the pre-Symbol exposure time determination means, other than the exposure time based on the luminance level at the site of the imaging surface of the imaging element corresponding to any set area on the screen of the image display unit And an exposure control means for controlling an exposure condition of the imaging device. The imaging apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a prohibiting unit that prohibits photographing when a luminescent spot is not included in all the photometric areas. Camera shake detection means for detecting camera shake;
Based on the output of the camera shake detection means, there is further provided a calculation means for calculating a relative movement amount between the subject image formed on the image sensor and the image sensor by the moving means for canceling the camera shake. And
The control means calculates the relative movement amount between the subject image and the image sensor by the moving means for drawing the graphic selected by the selecting means as the locus of the bright spot, and is calculated by the calculating means. by superimposing the movement amount for canceling the vibration the hand, the image pickup apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the controller controls the driving of the moving means. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving unit is a shift lens that forms part of a photographing optical system. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving unit is a member that holds the imaging element. Control of the imaging apparatus including an imaging device for photoelectrically converting an object image formed by the imaging optical system, and a subject image and the moving means for Ru and an imaging device are relatively moved to be imaged on the imaging element In the method
A selection process for selecting one of a plurality of figures;
When shooting by moving the moving means according to the trajectory of the graphic selected in the selection step, the exposure time required to draw the graphic without any difference in brightness, or an exposure time that is an integral multiple of the exposure time Determining the exposure time,
A control step of controlling the movement of the moving means so that the figure selected in the selection step is drawn on the subject image using a bright spot included in the subject image obtained by the imaging element;
A photometric step of dividing the imaging surface of the image sensor into a plurality of photometric areas to perform photometry, and extracting a photometric area having the highest luminance level among the plurality of photometric areas ;
Before SL and exposure time calculated by the exposure time determination step, and a exposure control step of controlling the exposure conditions of the imaging element other than the exposure time based on the brightness level of the photometric process metering area extracted in A control method for an imaging apparatus, comprising: Control of an imaging apparatus comprising: an imaging device that photoelectrically converts a subject image formed by an imaging optical system; and a moving unit that relatively moves the subject image formed on the imaging device and the imaging device. In the method
A selection process for selecting one of a plurality of figures;
When shooting by moving the moving means according to the trajectory of the graphic selected in the selection step, the exposure time required to draw the graphic without any difference in brightness, or an exposure time that is an integral multiple of the exposure time Determining the exposure time,
A control step of controlling the movement of the moving means so that the figure selected in the selection step is drawn on the subject image using a bright spot included in the subject image obtained by the imaging element;
A photometric step of performing photometry by dividing the imaging surface of the image sensor into a plurality of photometric regions, and extracting a photometric region including a point light source from the plurality of photometric regions according to a distribution condition of luminance levels ;
Before SL and exposure time determined by the exposure time determination step, and a exposure control step of controlling the exposure conditions of the imaging element other than the exposure time based on the brightness level of the photometric process metering area extracted in A control method for an imaging apparatus, comprising: Control method for an imaging apparatus including an imaging device for photoelectrically converting an object image formed by the imaging optical system, and a moving means for relatively moving the object image formed on the imaging element and the imaging element In
A selection process for selecting one of a plurality of figures;
When shooting by moving the moving means according to the trajectory of the graphic selected in the selection step, the exposure time required to draw the graphic without any difference in brightness, or an exposure time that is an integral multiple of the exposure time Determining the exposure time,
A control step of controlling the movement of the moving means so that the figure selected in the selection step is drawn on the subject image using a bright spot included in the subject image obtained by the imaging element;
A metering step for metering at a timing designated by the user in Part position of the imaging surface of the imaging element corresponding to any set area on the screen of the image display unit for displaying the subject image,
The exposure time determined in the previous SL exposure time determination step, except the exposure time based on the luminance level at the site of the imaging surface of the imaging element corresponding to any set area on the screen of the image display unit control method for an imaging apparatus for the the exposure control step of controlling the exposure conditions of the image pickup device, characterized by having a.   A program for causing a computer to execute the method for controlling an imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 11 to 13.

Images