JP4981418B2 - Imaging device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus such as a camera-integrated recording / reproducing apparatus having first and second image display means.

  Conventionally, various proposals relating to a camera-integrated recording / reproducing apparatus (hereinafter also referred to as a camcorder) have been made (Patent Documents 1, 2, etc.). This camcorder can record and reproduce a subject image captured by an imaging system on a recording medium such as a magnetic tape while confirming the subject image on a monitor.

  Here, as a monitor, a viewfinder for magnifying and observing a small monitor with an eyepiece lens was generally used. However, the viewfinder has a drawback in that the shooting style is inevitably fixed because a good image cannot be obtained unless the eyes are brought into close contact with the eyecup during use. Furthermore, the viewfinder has a drawback that a plurality of people cannot view images at the time of shooting or playback.

  Therefore, in order to improve these drawbacks, a direct view type liquid crystal panel having a size of about 2.5 inches is provided in addition to the viewfinder. Camcorders configured so that a user can select and use a viewfinder and a direct-view type liquid crystal panel according to shooting and playback conditions are now mainstream.

Further, in an imaging system, an optical zoom imaging system using a zoom lens is often used so that shooting at various angles of view can be performed or telephoto shooting can be easily performed. Zoom lenses have been developed with smaller size and higher magnification, and small-sized camcorders for general households have been commercialized with magnifications of 20 times or more. Furthermore, many camcorders having a so-called digital zoom function for enlarging images obtained by optical zoom to 12 times, 20 times, etc. by digital image processing have been commercialized. Therefore, even when shooting in a wide place such as an athletic meet, the super-telephoto function can be used to easily shoot a subject far away.
JP 2005-322977 A JP 2006-240552 A

  As described above, the development of a compact high-power zoom lens and the incorporation of a digital zoom function have made it possible to easily perform super telephoto shooting even with a small home-use camcorder.

  However, during super telephoto shooting, it is difficult to follow the subject because the angle of view changes greatly due to slight shake of the camcorder body. In particular, once the subject is off the monitor screen, it is very difficult to re-capture the subject with the super telephoto. If you cannot find the subject even if you search for the subject in the super-telephoto mode, the user needs to move the zoom lens to the wide-angle side, capture the subject in the monitor screen, and then zoom toward the subject again was there. In other words, the conventional camcorder has a problem that it is difficult to re-capture a subject that has once left the monitor screen during shooting in the super-telephoto mode.

(Object of invention)
An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus capable of facilitating re-capturing of a subject that has been removed from an image display means.

In order to achieve the above object, an imaging apparatus according to the present invention includes a first image display means that is a direct-view image display means that can be opened and closed in a housed state and a state that is opened from the main body, and a finder type display means Second image display means, digital zoom means for digitally zooming the image, and selection means for selecting whether or not to display an image before digital zoom in the case of digital zoom. In the case of digital zoom, when the first image display means is opened, the second image display means displays the image after digital zoom as a recorded image. to display a range of an image area after the digital zoom with the image of the digital zoom previous image regions in the first image display means When the first processing is performed and the first image display means is not opened even in the case of the digital zoom, a warning is displayed on the second image display means so as to open the first image display means. When the first image display means is opened and the first image display means is opened, the first process is performed. On the other hand, if the first image display means is not opened, the second image display means is subjected to digital zoom. Control means for displaying an image as a recorded image is provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an imaging apparatus capable of facilitating recapture of a subject that has been detached from the image display means.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention is as shown in the following examples.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of a camera-integrated recording / reproducing apparatus (camcorder) according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a subject image is formed on an image sensor 2 through an optical system including a zoom lens 1, subjected to photoelectric conversion by the image sensor 2, and supplied to a video signal processing circuit 3. The video signal processing circuit 3 performs signal processing such as gamma, bright, contrast, and aperture, and outputs the processed video signal to the digital zoom circuit 4. The digital zoom circuit 4 enlarges the video signal to 12 times, 20 times, or the like. The video signal output from the digital zoom circuit 4 is supplied to the recording / reproduction signal processing circuit 5. The video signal enlarged by the digital zoom circuit 4 is supplied to one input terminal of the changeover switch 10. A video signal for reproduction is input from the recording / reproduction signal processing circuit 5 to the other input terminal of the changeover switch 10. The changeover switch 10 is switched based on a control signal from the microcomputer 9 and outputs a video signal from the digital zoom circuit 4 or a video signal for reproduction to a viewfinder (hereinafter also referred to as CVF) 7. As a result, an image (video) at the time of shooting or playback is displayed on the CVF 7.

  The video signal output from the video signal processing circuit 3 is also supplied to one input terminal of the changeover switch 11. The video signal enlarged by the digital zoom circuit 4 is input to the other input terminal of the changeover switch 11. The changeover switch 11 is switched based on a control signal from the microcomputer 9, and a video signal from the digital zoom circuit 4 or a video signal from the video signal processing circuit 3 is supplied to one input terminal of the changeover switch 12. The other input terminal of the changeover switch 12 is supplied with the reproduction video signal output from the recording / reproduction signal processing circuit 5. The changeover switch 12 is also switched based on a control signal from the microcomputer 9, and outputs the video signal from the changeover switch 11 or the output signal of the video signal 2 for reproduction to the direct viewing panel 8. Thereby, an image at the time of photographing or reproduction is displayed on the direct view panel 8. One of the viewfinder 7 and the direct view panel 8 constitutes a first image display means, and the other constitutes a second image display means.

  The recording / reproduction signal processing circuit 5 processes the video signal output from the digital zoom circuit 4 into a signal suitable for recording on the recording medium 6 and outputs the processed signal to the recording medium 6. As a result, the video signal is recorded on the recording medium 6.

  At the time of reproduction, the video signal recorded on the recording medium 6 is read out by the recording / reproduction signal processing circuit 5 and processed into a reproduction video signal. Then, as described above, the video signal for reproduction is supplied to the other input terminal of the changeover switch 10 and the changeover switch 12, and is supplied to the CVF 7 and the direct view type liquid crystal panel (hereinafter referred to as direct view panel) 8, respectively, and displayed as a reproduced image. Is done.

  The microcomputer 9 controls various circuits of the camcorder.

Further, the following switches 13 to 16 are connected to the microcomputer 9. A switch 13 (hereinafter referred to as switch SW1) is a mode selection switch for selecting whether the camcorder is used in the recording mode or the reproduction mode. The switch 14 (hereinafter referred to as switch SW2) is a selection switch for turning on / off the framing assist function. The switch 15 (hereinafter referred to as switch SW3) is an open / close detection switch for detecting whether or not the direct view panel 8 is opened from the camcorder body. The switch 16 (hereinafter referred to as SW4) is an eyepiece detection switch for detecting whether or not the eyepiece lens of the CVF 7 is being looked into by the photographer. The selection and detection results from the switch SW1 to the switch SW4 are supplied to the microcomputer 9, and the microcomputer 9 outputs a control signal for switching the states of the changeover switches 10, 11, and 12 according to the combination thereof.

  FIGS. 2A to 2C are a perspective view of the camcorder according to the present embodiment and a display example on the CVF 7 and the direct view panel 8.

  The direct view panel 8 can be opened / closed and rotated from the camcorder body as indicated by an arrow in FIG. Normally, when the direct view panel 8 is housed in the camcorder body, the direct view panel 8 is turned off, the CVF 7 is turned on, and an image is displayed on the CVF 7. When the direct view panel 8 is opened from the camcorder body, the CVF 7 is turned off in the optical zoom area, and the CVF 7 is turned on in the digital zoom area, and an enlarged image after digital zoom is displayed. Then, the direct view panel 8 is turned on and a wide-angle image before digital zoom is displayed.

In this embodiment, when the framing assist mode is selected, the direct view panel 8 has a wide-angle image before digital zoom (see FIG. 2B), and the CVF 7 has an enlarged image after digital zoom (see FIG. 2C). Are displayed at the same time. The image recorded on the recording medium 6 is the same enlarged image (see FIG. 2C) as the display image of the CVF 7.

  When a digital zoom ultra high magnification image is displayed on the CVF 7, it is difficult to recapture the subject 17 when the subject 17 is off the screen. However, in this embodiment, since the wide-angle image is displayed on the direct view panel 8 as shown in FIG. 2B, the subject 17 can be easily re-captured.

  Next, the operation of the camcorder according to the present embodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S1, the microcomputer 9 determines whether or not the digital zoom mode is set. If it is the digital zoom mode, the process proceeds to step S2, and if not, this flow ends. If it is determined that the digital zoom mode is set and the process proceeds to step S2, it is determined whether or not the framing assist mode is selected by the switch SW2. As a result, if the framing assist mode is selected, the process proceeds to step S3, and if the framing assist mode is not selected, this flow ends.

  If the framing assist mode is selected in step S2 and the process proceeds to step S3, the microcomputer 9 determines whether or not the state in which the direct view panel 8 is opened is detected by the switch SW3. If it is determined that the direct view panel 8 is opened, the process proceeds to step S4. If it is determined that the direct view panel 8 is not opened, the process proceeds to step S9 described later.

  When it is determined that the direct view panel 8 is opened and the process proceeds to step S4, the microcomputer 9 determines whether or not the eyepiece is being looked into by the switch SW4. As a result, when it is determined that the eyepiece is being looked into, the process proceeds to step S5, and when it is determined that the eyepiece is not being looked at, the process proceeds to step S7.

  When it is determined that the eyepiece is being looked into and the process proceeds to step S5, the microcomputer 9 turns off the display on the direct view panel 8. In the next step S6, the display of the CVF 7 is turned on, and a digital zoom image is displayed on the CVF 7. Then, this flow ends.

  If it is determined in step S4 that the eyepiece has not been looked into and the process proceeds to step S7, the microcomputer 9 turns off the display of CVF7. Then, in the next step S8, the display of the direct view panel 8 is turned on, and the wide angle image before digital zoom and the marker 18 indicating the digital zoom area (see FIG. 2B) are displayed on the direct view panel 8. Then, this flow ends.

  If it is determined in step S3 that the direct view panel 8 is not opened and the process proceeds to step S9, a warning is displayed on the CVF 7 so that the direct view panel 8 is opened. Then, in the next step S10, it is determined from the state of the switch SW3 whether or not the direct viewing panel 8 has been opened, and if it is determined that the direct viewing panel 8 has been opened, the processing proceeds to the above step S4 and subsequent steps. On the other hand, if it is determined that the direct view panel 8 remains closed, the process proceeds to step S5 and subsequent steps.

  According to the above embodiment, the following configuration is adopted.

  1) In the case of digital zoom, an enlarged image after digital zoom is displayed on the CVF 7 which is a finder type image display means. At the same time, recording on a recording medium is possible, and the wide-angle image before digital zoom is displayed on the direct-view panel 8 which is the other direct-view image display means. Further, the enlarged image after the digital zoom may be displayed on the direct view type image display means, and the wide-angle image before the digital zoom may be displayed on the finder type image display means. Specifically, in the embodiment, an enlarged image is displayed on the CVF 7 (see FIG. 2C) when the eyepiece is being looked into. In addition, when the subject is not in the eyepiece state because the subject is off the monitor screen, a wide-angle image before digital zoom is displayed on the direct view panel 8 (see FIG. 2B).

  Therefore, even if the subject is once removed from the monitor screen during super-telephoto shooting using the digital zoom, the surrounding area is displayed on the other monitor screen by the wide-angle image before the digital zoom, so the subject that is out of the angle of view. Can be easily recaptured.

  2) At the time of shooting using the direct view panel 8, the CVF 7 is turned off in the optical zoom region, the CVF 7 is turned on in the digital zoom region, and the enlarged image after digital zoom is displayed on the CVF 7, and the wide angle image before digital zoom is displayed on the direct view panel 8. Is displayed.

  Therefore, even when the subject is out of the angle of view and the subject needs to be re-captured, it can be realized without requiring the user to perform a special operation.

  3) A switch SW4 for detecting whether or not the user is looking into the CVF 7 is provided. When the switch SW4 detects that the finder is not looking into the camera, the direct-view panel 8 is turned on, and the wide-angle image before digital zoom is displayed on the direct-view panel 8 Is displayed.

  Therefore, since the direct-view panel 8 is turned on only when it is necessary to display a wide-angle image or the like before digital zoom, it is possible to prevent an unnecessary increase in power consumption.

  4) In the case of digital zoom, an enlarged image after digital zoom can be recorded on the recording medium 6. When the wide-angle image before digital zoom is displayed, not only the wide-angle image before digital zoom but also the marker 18 indicating the digital zoom area is displayed on the direct view panel 8 (see FIG. 2B).

  Therefore, the user can easily grasp the area actually recorded while confirming the wide-angle image before digital zooming with the direct view panel 8.

  5) A switch SW3 is provided for turning on / off the function of displaying the wide-angle image before digital zoom on the direct view panel 8 during digital zoom.

  Therefore, as in 4) above, the user can easily grasp the area that is actually recorded while confirming the wide-angle image before digital zoom with the direct view panel 8.

  The present invention is suitable not only for a camera-integrated recording / reproducing apparatus but also for an imaging apparatus such as a digital still camera having a finder.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of a camera-integrated recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view of a camera-integrated recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention and a diagram showing a display image example. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of the camera-integrated recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Zoom lens 2 Image pick-up element 3 Video signal processing circuit 4 Digital zoom circuit 5 Recording / reproduction | regeneration signal processing circuit 6 Recording medium 7 CVF
8 Direct view panel 9 Microcomputer 10-12 Switch 17 Subject 18 Area marker SW1-SW4 switch

Claims (2)

A first image display means that is a direct-view image display means that can be opened and closed in a housed state and a state opened from the main body;
Second image display means which is a finder type display means;
Digital zoom means for digitally zooming the image;
Selection means for selecting whether or not to display an image before digital zoom in the case of digital zoom,
When displaying the image before digital zoom is selected by the selection means,
In the case of digital zoom, when the first image display means is open, the second image display means displays the image after digital zoom as a recorded image, and the first image display means displays the digital image before digital zoom. Performing a first process of displaying a range indicating an image area after digital zooming together with an image of the image area;
Even in the case of the digital zoom, when the first image display unit is not opened, a second process of displaying a warning on the second image display unit so as to open the first image display unit is performed. At the same time, when the first image display means is opened, the first processing is performed, and when the first image display means is not opened, the second image display means displays the image after digital zoom as a recorded image. An image pickup apparatus comprising a control unit. It has a detecting means for detecting that it is looking into the finder type image display means,
When the detection unit detects that the finder type image display unit is not being looked at, the direct view type image display unit is turned on, and the direct view type image display unit displays an image before digital zoom. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1.

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