JP5413958B2 - Imaging apparatus and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an imaging device and a program including an imaging unit that captures an image.

In general, when taking an image with an imaging device such as a mobile phone with a camera function or a camera device, the fact that the image is being taken is indicated by light, or a pseudo shutter sound is output when the shutter key is operated. So, we try to suppress voyeurism. Furthermore, as a technique for suppressing such voyeurism, conventionally, a voice message is output immediately before shooting, so that shooting is forcibly notified to the surroundings before shooting is started. Has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-242096 A

However, it is possible to effectively suppress sneak shots in the technology for notifying when shooting or notifying in advance, but for example, when encountering crime scenes, accident scenes, etc. In addition to reporting to emergency contact numbers such as 110, 119, etc., even if you try to shoot the scene as evidence, the criminals or other parties will be in the process of shooting or taking pictures with the notification or prior notification at the time of shooting. There was a problem of being noticed.

An object of the present invention is to enable appropriate control of shooting notification related to shooting.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention described in claim 1 is an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit that captures an image, and a notification unit that notifies the imaging unit of imaging, and a communication destination designated in advance. And a communication unit that communicates with the communication destination specified in advance by the communication unit, the first imaging mode in which imaging by the imaging unit is performed after notification by the notification unit is set, and the communication a setting unit and when performing communications previously designated communication destination, be set by omitting the notification by the notification means to the second photographing mode performing the imaging by the imaging means by means the by the setting means A discriminating unit for discriminating whether the shooting mode is set to the first shooting mode or the second shooting mode, and the discriminating unit in shooting an image by the imaging unit; Based on the determination result by, characterized by comprising a control means for controlling the notification by the notification means.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is further provided an operation unit that instructs the imaging unit to start photographing, and a detection unit that detects an operation state of the operation unit, and the setting unit is based on the detection unit. based on the detection result, the first imaging mode, or an invention of claim 2, wherein said set to either imaging mode of the second imaging mode, and so.

Save as an invention dependent on claim 1 or 2, wherein the control means based on the discrimination result by said discrimination means, an image taken by the front SL imaging means to co-Controlling the notification by the notification means in the storage means The invention according to claim 3 may be configured to control whether or not to perform.

As an invention dependent on claim 1 or 2, wherein the control means based on the discrimination result by said discrimination means, pre-specified images taken by the front SL imaging means to co-Controlling the notification by the notification means The invention according to claim 4 may control whether or not to transmit to a transmission destination.

As an invention subordinate to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising an acquisition means for acquiring position information, the control means, based on the discrimination result by the discriminating means, co by controlling the notification by the notification means control whether the location information obtained by the previous SL acquisition means for adding the image captured by said imaging means may be an invention of claim 5, wherein it has to.

As invention dependent on any one of Claims 1 thru | or 5, it further has an acquisition means to acquire at least any one of surrounding environment and time information, The said control means is based on the determination result by the said determination means, and characterized in that the controlling the notification by the notification means for controlling whether or not at least taken with either one according to the photographic conditions of the surrounding environment, the time information acquired by the previous SL acquisition means co, as The invention according to claim 6 is also possible.

As an invention subordinate to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said control means, on the basis of the discrimination result by the discrimination unit, continuously shot images by pre SL imaging means to co-Controlling the notification by the notification means The invention according to claim 7 may be configured to control whether or not to perform the operation.

As an invention subordinate to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the notifying means is a invention of claim 8, wherein said notifying by the sound and light capturing of images by the imaging unit, and so on May be.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 9 is characterized in that a function for notifying a computer of photographing of an image by an imaging unit, a function for communicating with a communication destination designated in advance, If communication is not performed with the communication destination, the first shooting mode is set to perform shooting by the imaging means after the notification . If communication is performed with the communication destination designated in advance, the notification is performed. a function of omitting to set the second photographing mode performing the imaging by the imaging means, the first imaging mode, a function to determine whether it is set to either imaging mode of the second imaging mode, the imaging A program for realizing a function of controlling the notification based on the determination result when an image is taken by the means.

According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately control shooting notification related to shooting, and to improve convenience.

The block diagram which showed the communication network system which can use the mobile telephone with a camera function applied as an imaging device. The block diagram which showed the basic component of the mobile telephone 1 with a camera function. The figure for demonstrating imaging | photography mode memory | storage part M3. The figure for demonstrating the specific communication other party / specific transmission destination memory | storage part M4. The figure for demonstrating the surrounding environment and time memory | storage part M5. The figure for demonstrating the imaging condition memory | storage part M6. The flowchart which showed the outline | summary of the whole operation | movement by the side of the mobile telephone 1 by which execution is started with power activation. 8 is a flowchart for explaining camera function processing A (step A6 in FIG. 7) in detail. 9 is a flowchart for explaining in detail normal mode processing (step B5 in FIG. 8). 10 is a flowchart for explaining in detail a normal mode photographing process (step C6 in FIG. 9) that is started in response to a shutter key operation. 9 is a flowchart for explaining in detail an emergency mode process (step B4 in FIG. 8). 12 is a flowchart for explaining in detail an emergency mode imaging process (step E11 in FIG. 11) that is started in response to a shutter key operation. 8 is a flowchart for explaining camera function processing B (step A9 in FIG. 7) in detail. (1), (2) is the figure which illustrated the image display screen in normal mode, (3), (4) is the figure which illustrated the image display screen in emergency mode. 9 is a flowchart for explaining in detail camera function processing A (step A6 in FIG. 7) that is started when a camera function activation operation is performed in the second embodiment. 16 is a flowchart for explaining in detail the photographing process (step H6 in FIG. 15).

(Embodiment 1)
The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
This embodiment exemplifies the case where the present invention is applied to a mobile phone with a camera function as an imaging device, and FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a communication network system in which the mobile phone with a camera function can be used.
The cellular phone 1 is, for example, a foldable one in which two casings (an operation unit casing and a display unit casing) are attached so as to be openable and closable. Functions, an Internet connection function (Web access function), a camera function (imaging function), and the like.

When the cellular phone 1 is connected to the wireless communication network (mobile communication network) 2 from the nearest base station 2A and exchange 2B, the cellular phone 1 is connected to other cellular phones (not shown) via the wireless communication network 2. The phone is ready to talk. In addition, when the mobile phone 1 is connected to the Internet 3 through the wireless communication network 2, it is possible to send and receive e-mails, to access a Web site for browsing, and to store images externally. May be transmitted to the image management apparatus 4 and the storage thereof can be requested. The image management device 4 is a server device on the side of a business that provides an image storage service in response to a storage request from the mobile phone 1 and receives an image transmitted from the mobile phone 1 via the wireless communication network 2 and the Internet 3. In addition to storing in correspondence with the mobile phone 1, an image corresponding to the mobile phone 1 is read in response to a call request from the mobile phone 1 and transmitted to the requesting mobile phone 1. Yes.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing basic components of the mobile phone 1 with a camera function.
The central control unit 11 operates by supplying power from a battery unit 12 having a secondary battery (not shown), and controls the overall operation of the mobile phone 1 according to various programs in the storage unit 13. It has a processing device, a memory (not shown), and the like. The storage unit 13 includes a program storage unit M1, various information temporary storage units M2, a shooting mode storage unit M3, a specific communication partner / specific transmission destination storage unit M4, an ambient environment / time storage unit M5, a shooting condition storage unit M6, an image A storage unit M7 and the like are provided. Note that the storage unit 13 may include a removable portable memory (recording medium) such as an SD card or an IC card, or may be on a predetermined external server (not shown).

The program storage unit M1 stores a program and various applications for realizing the present embodiment in accordance with the operation procedure shown in FIGS. 7 to 13, and stores information necessary for the program. Yes. The various information temporary storage unit M2 is a work area that temporarily stores various information necessary for the mobile phone 1 to operate, such as flag information, timer information, and screen information. The shooting mode storage unit M3, the specific communication partner / specific transmission destination storage unit M4, the ambient environment / time storage unit M5, the shooting condition storage unit M6, and the image storage unit M7 will be described in detail later.

The radio communication unit 14 includes a radio unit, a baseband unit, a demultiplexing unit, and the like (not shown). For example, during operation of a call function, an e-mail function, an Internet connection function, etc., data communication with the nearest base station 2A is performed. In the operation of the call function, after receiving a signal from the receiving side of the baseband unit and demodulating it into a received baseband signal, the voice is output from the speaker SP for calling through the audio signal processing unit 15, The input voice data from the call microphone MC is taken from the voice signal processing unit 15 and encoded into a transmission baseband signal, which is then given to the transmission side of the baseband unit and transmitted from the antenna AT1.

The imaging unit 16 is a component that constitutes a camera function, has an imaging element (for example, a CCD or a CMOS), and can capture moving images in addition to still image shooting. The imaging unit 16 includes a photographic lens, a lens / mirror block such as a mirror, a flash for illumination, a driving system thereof, a distance measuring sensor, a light amount sensor, an analog processing circuit, a signal processing circuit, a compression / expansion circuit, and the like. Equipped with optical zoom adjustment control, auto focus drive control, shutter drive control, exposure, white balance, etc. The imaging unit 16 includes a bifocal lens and a zoom lens that can switch between telephoto and wide angle according to the subject, and operates a view angle changing mechanism that varies the focal length to perform telephoto / wide angle and zoom photography. I have to.

The display unit 17 uses a high-definition liquid crystal and displays, for example, display information such as character information and a standby image. A touch operation unit (touch key) is configured to configure a soft key (touch key) on the display screen. (Not shown) are stacked. Although the display unit 17 is provided in the mobile phone 1, it may be any external display device such as an external monitor. The operation unit 18 inputs dial input, character input, command input, and the like. The central control unit 11 executes processing according to an input operation signal from the operation unit 18. The RTC (real time clock module) 19 constitutes a clock unit, and the central control unit 11 acquires the current date and time from the RTC 19.

The notification unit 20 includes a sound speaker 20A, an LED light (light-emitting diode) 20B, and a vibration motor 20C. The notification unit 20 performs an incoming call notification, an alarm notification, and a shooting notification related to shooting. Here, in the shooting notification, the LED light 20B is turned on in response to the activation of the camera function to notify that the shooting is possible, or a pseudo shutter sound is generated from the sound speaker 20A in response to the shutter key operation. To notify that the shutter key has been operated. The ambient environment detection unit 21 is an illuminance meter (illuminance sensor) that detects the ambient brightness of the mobile phone 1, and the central control unit 11 is the ambient environment (ambient brightness) detected by the ambient environment detection unit 21. The imaging condition suitable for is selected and given to the imaging unit 16, and the operation of the imaging unit 16 is controlled. The position acquisition unit 22 receives, for example, GPS information (current position information) from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite by the antenna AT2, and acquires current position information.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the photographing mode storage unit M3.
The shooting mode storage unit M3 stores which of the plurality of shooting modes is the currently effective shooting mode, and has “item” and “setting flag”. “Item” indicates the type of shooting mode, and includes “normal mode” and “emergency mode” as the first shooting mode and the second shooting mode. The “normal mode” is a shooting mode (first shooting mode) in which shooting by the imaging unit 16 is started after shooting notification (LED lamp lighting, shutter sound) according to activation of the camera function is performed.

“Emergency mode” is a shooting mode (second shooting mode) in which shooting notification (LED lamp lighting, shutter sound) according to activation of the camera function is omitted and shooting by the imaging unit 16 is started. The mode can be arbitrarily set from “mode” to “emergency mode”, and the emergency mode is automatically set when a voice call is made to a specific communication partner. For example, after encountering a crime scene, an accident scene, etc. and notifying a specific communication partner such as 110 or 119, the camera function is automatically activated to set the emergency mode. In this way, the “emergency mode” is an effective shooting mode when encountering crime scenes, accident scenes, etc., but is not limited to this, and how to use this “emergency mode” is arbitrary and specific. The camera function is automatically activated when an incoming call is received from a communication partner and the emergency mode is set.

The “setting flag” is a flag indicating which of the plurality of shooting modes described above is currently valid, and can be automatically switched between “normal mode” and “emergency mode” as described above. It can be arbitrarily switched by user operation. In the illustrated example, the “emergency mode” in which the “setting flag” is “1” indicates that the imaging mode is currently valid. The central control unit 11 controls the shooting notification according to what shooting mode is set when the imaging unit 16 captures an image. That is, when the “normal mode” is set, shooting by the imaging unit 16 is started after notification by the notification unit 20 (notification by turning on the LED light or shutter sound), but the “emergency mode” is set. When set, the notification by the notification unit 20 is omitted, and shooting by the imaging unit 16 is started.

In this emergency mode, since the flash is not used when shooting by the imaging unit 16, the shooting conditions are set to suit the surrounding environment and, for example, continuous shooting is performed for 8 shots per second. Like to do. In the emergency mode, an image captured by the imaging unit 16 is automatically transmitted to a specific transmission destination (for example, home or police) by e-mail. Is added to the image and transmitted. Further, in addition to controlling the shooting notification according to what shooting mode is set, it is also controlled whether or not the captured image is stored in the image storage unit M7. That is, every time the shutter key is operated in the “normal mode”, an image captured by the imaging unit 16 is stored in the image storage unit M7. In the emergency mode, in addition to omitting the imaging notification, the imaging unit 16 The storage of images taken by is prohibited. In the “normal mode”, every time the shutter key is operated, an image captured by the imaging unit 16 is transmitted to the image management apparatus 4 via the wireless communication network 2 and the Internet 3 and stored externally. May be.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the specific communication partner / specific transmission destination storage unit M4.
The specific communication partner / specific transmission destination storage unit M4 stores, for example, an emergency communication destination (contact address) when encountering a crime scene or an accident scene, and can be arbitrarily set by a user operation. . The specific communication partner / specific transmission destination storage unit M4 includes “items” and “contents”, where “item” indicates the type of emergency communication destination, “specific communication partner”, “specific transmission destination”. have. The “specific communication partner” is, for example, a telephone number such as 110 or 119, a telephone number of a private security company, or a parent telephone number. The “specific destination” is an e-mail address such as a police station, a fire department, or a parent, but it is associated with the above-mentioned “specific communication partner” without dividing the “specific communication partner” and the “specific destination”. “Specific destination” may be stored.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the surrounding environment / time storage unit M5.
The ambient environment / time storage unit M5 stores an ambient environment and a time zone for shifting to special shooting (such as night vision shooting) in an environment with a small amount of light, and can be arbitrarily set by a user operation. . The ambient environment / time storage unit M5 includes “items” and “contents”. The “items” include “ambient environment (brightness)” and “time zone”. “Contents” corresponding to “Ambient environment (brightness)” stores “*** lux or less”, and “Content” corresponding to “Time zone” includes “18: 00 to 06: 00 ”
Is remembered.

The central control unit 11 acquires the ambient environment (ambient brightness) detected by the ambient environment detection unit 21 in the “emergency mode” described above, and also acquires the current time from the RTC 19, and the ambient environment, current time Based on the above, it is determined whether it matches the “content” of the surrounding environment / time storage unit M5, that is, whether night vision photography is necessary. In this case, it is determined that night vision photography is necessary on the condition that either the ambient environment or the current time matches the “content” of the ambient environment / time storage unit M5. You may make it discriminate | determine that night vision imaging | photography is required on the condition that both environment and the present time correspond to "content" of the surrounding environment and time memory | storage part M5.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the photographing condition storage unit M6.
The shooting condition storage unit M6 stores shooting conditions selected according to various shooting scenes, and the “item” includes “auto focus”, “flash”, “continuous shooting”, “shooting size”. ”,“ Shutter Speed ”,“ White Balance ”, etc. In the example shown in the figure,“ Content ”corresponding to“ Auto Focus ”stores“ On ”indicating that the auto focus function is driven. Has been. The “content” corresponding to “flash” stores “auto” indicating that the flash is automatically turned on according to the ambient brightness. The “content” corresponding to “continuous shooting” stores, for example, “off” that disables the continuous shooting function for shooting eight images per second. As other shooting conditions, aperture, wide-angle shooting, and the like are stored.

Next, the operation concept of the mobile phone 1 in the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. Here, each function described in these flowcharts is stored in the form of a readable program code, and operations according to the program code are sequentially executed. Moreover, the operation | movement according to the above-mentioned program code transmitted via transmission media, such as a network, can also be performed sequentially. The same applies to other embodiments described later. In addition to the recording medium, an operation peculiar to the present embodiment can be executed using a program / data supplied externally via a transmission medium.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an outline of the overall operation on the mobile phone 1 side which is started to be executed when the power is turned on.
First, when a power-on operation to turn on the power is performed (YES in step A1), the central control unit 11 reads and displays a predetermined standby image, or communicates with the base station 2A to perform the position measurement. After performing standby processing for registration or the like (step A2), it enters an operation waiting state or an incoming call waiting state.

If a setting operation for setting arbitrary information is performed (YES in step A3), for example, specific communication partner / specific transmission destination storage unit M4, ambient environment / time storage unit M5 are set as the setting process corresponding to the operation. A setting process is performed for the above (step A4). Thereafter, the process returns to step A3. When the camera function activation operation is performed in the waiting state (YES in step A5), that is, an operation for selecting a menu item for instructing activation of the camera function from the menu screen is performed, or activation of the camera function is performed. When an instruction key operation is performed, the camera function processing A is executed in response to the camera function activation operation (step A6).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the camera function processing A (step A6 in FIG. 7) in detail.
First, after activating the camera function in response to the camera function activation operation (step B1), the central control unit 11 refers to the imaging mode storage unit M3 and reads out the imaging mode whose “setting flag” is “1” ( In step B2), it is checked whether or not it is an emergency mode (step B3). If the photographing mode whose “setting flag” is “1” is the normal mode (NO in step B3), the process proceeds to the normal mode process (step B5). If the shooting mode whose “setting flag” is “1” is the emergency mode (YES in step B3), the process proceeds to the emergency mode process (step B4).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the normal mode process (step B5 in FIG. 8) in detail.
First, the central control unit 11 starts output of notification light as imaging notification in response to activation of the camera function, starts lighting the LED light 20B (step C1), and then reads the contents of the imaging condition storage unit M6. (Step C2), the imaging conditions are set in the imaging unit 16 (Step C3). In this case, various shooting parameters are adjusted according to the shooting conditions, and a through image (monitor image) under the shooting conditions is displayed on the display unit 17 (step C4). FIG. 14 (1) shows a monitor image display screen in the normal mode. On this display screen, “emergency”, “shutter”, and “menu” are arranged and displayed as a plurality of soft keys (touch keys). Yes.

Here, when the “shutter” soft key (shutter key) for instructing the start of shooting is touch-operated (YES in step C5), the process proceeds to a normal mode shooting process described later (step C6). Further, when the “emergency” soft key (shooting mode change key) for instructing a change from the normal mode to the emergency mode is touched as a shooting mode change operation (YES in step C7), the normal mode is changed to the emergency mode. In order to switch, the “setting flag” corresponding to the normal mode in the photographing mode storage unit M3 is set to “0”, the “setting flag” corresponding to the emergency mode is set to “1” (step C8), and then the emergency shown in FIG. The process proceeds to mode processing (step B4).

When an end operation for instructing the end of the camera function is performed (YES in step C9), the camera function is ended after performing various processes such as stopping the notification light output (step C10). The end operation for instructing the end of the camera function is performed by touching the “menu” soft key (menu key) for instructing display of various function menus to display the menu screen, and then in the menu screen. Is performed by selecting a menu item for instructing the end of the camera function. After the camera function ends, the process exits the normal mode process of FIG. 9 and the camera function process A of FIG. 8 and returns to step A3 of FIG. When another operation is performed (YES in step C11), for example, a shooting condition changing process is performed as a process corresponding to the operation (step C12), and the process returns to the above-described step C4.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining in detail the normal mode shooting process (step C6 in FIG. 9) started in response to the shutter key operation.
First, when the shutter key is operated in the normal mode, the central control unit 11 outputs a notification sound as a shooting notification to generate and output a pseudo shutter sound from the sound speaker 20A (step D1). Then, the imaging unit 16 is driven to perform an imaging process for acquiring an image captured under imaging conditions (step D2), and the acquired image is temporarily stored in the various information temporary storage unit M2 (step D3). This image is displayed on the display unit 17 (step D4). FIG. 14 (2) is a diagram showing an image display screen when the shutter key is operated in the normal mode. In this display screen, “Save”, “Re-take”, “Menu” is displayed.

In this case, the user touches various soft keys in the image display screen to instruct to recapture the display image, to instruct to add position information as a submenu function of the camera function, It is possible to instruct correction. Here, when a “Save” soft key (save key) for instructing image saving is touch-operated, images in the various information temporary storage unit M2 are recorded and stored in the image storage unit M7 (step D5). Then, the image in the various information temporary storage unit M2 is erased (step D6). Then, the normal mode photographing process in FIG. 10 returns to step C4 in FIG. The image stored in the image storage unit M7 can be transmitted to the image management apparatus 4 via the wireless communication network 2 and the Internet 3 and can be freely stored externally at any time (hereinafter the same).

In the flowchart of FIG. 10, the process when the “re-shoot” or “menu” soft key is touched is omitted, but the “re-take” soft key (re-shoot key) is touch-operated. In this case, after skipping the image storage process (step D5), the process proceeds to the process of deleting the temporarily stored image (step D6). In addition, when the “menu” soft key (menu key) is operated and a submenu function such as position information addition or image correction is selected, the selection function is executed and the operation of the save key is awaited. It becomes a state. Note that the image saving process is not limited to the case where the execution is started when the save key is operated, but may be started when a certain time elapses in addition to the key operation.

On the other hand, FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the emergency mode process (step B4 in FIG. 8) in detail.
First, the central control unit 11 prohibits the lighting of the LED light 20B (step E1) in order to omit the imaging notification in response to the activation of the camera function (step E1), and then the ambient environment (ambient environment) detected by the ambient environment detection unit 21 Brightness) and the current time from the RTC 19 (step E2), referring to the surrounding environment / time storage unit M5 based on the surrounding environment and the current time (step E3), Whether or not night vision photography is necessary is determined based on whether or not one of the current times matches the “content” of the surrounding environment / time storage unit M5 (step E4).

When it is determined that both the ambient environment and the current time do not match the “content” of the ambient environment / time storage unit M5 and night vision photography is not necessary (NO in step E4), the normal photography mode described above is used. Similarly, the contents of the shooting condition storage unit M6 are read (step E6), and the shooting conditions are set in the imaging unit 16 (step E7). When it is determined that either one of the acquired ambient environment or current time matches the “content” of the ambient environment / time storage unit M5 and night vision photography is necessary (YES in step E4), night vision photography is performed. A predetermined shooting condition is set for the image pickup unit 16 (step E5). However, since it is an emergency mode, in steps E7 and E5, regardless of the contents of the shooting condition storage unit M6, the shooting condition flash is set to “off”, and continuous shooting is set to “on”.

When the shooting conditions are set in the imaging unit 16 in this way, various shooting parameters are adjusted according to the shooting conditions, and an image displayed on the imaging device before the shutter operation is displayed on the display unit 17 as a through image (monitor image). It is displayed (step E8). In this case, in order to display an emergency mode mark indicating that the emergency mode is set, the blinking display is started (step E9). FIG. 14 (3) is a diagram showing an image display screen on which a monitor image is displayed in the emergency mode. In this display screen, in addition to the emergency mode mark described above, a character string (emergency mode) clearly indicating the shooting mode is displayed. In addition, “Normal”, “Shutter”, and “Menu” are arranged and displayed as a plurality of soft keys (touch keys).

If the shutter key for instructing the start of shooting is operated (YES in step E10), the process proceeds to an emergency mode shooting process described later (step E11). When the “normal” soft key (shooting mode change key) for instructing the change from the emergency mode to the normal mode is operated (YES in step E12), “corresponding to the emergency mode in the shooting mode storage unit M3” is displayed. After switching from the emergency mode to the normal mode by setting the “setting flag” to “0” and the “setting flag” corresponding to the normal mode to “1” (step E13), the normal mode processing ( Move to step B5). When an end operation for instructing the end of the camera function is performed (YES in step E14), the camera function is ended (step E15). The end operation for instructing the end of the camera function is to display the menu screen by touching the menu key for instructing the display of various function menus, and then instruct the end of the camera function from the menu screen. This is done by selecting a menu item. After ending the camera function in this way, the process exits from the emergency mode process of FIG. 10 and the camera function process A of FIG. 8 and returns to step A3 of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining in detail the emergency mode imaging process (step E11 in FIG. 11) that is started in response to a shutter key operation.
First, the central control unit 11 prohibits the output of a pseudo shutter sound from the sound speaker 20A in order to omit the shooting notification according to the shutter key operation (step F1). Then, the imaging unit 16 is driven to perform an imaging process for acquiring an image captured under imaging conditions (Step F2), and the acquired image is temporarily stored in the various information temporary storage unit M2 (Step F3). This image is displayed on the display unit 17 (step F4). In this case, since the flash is set to “off” and continuous shooting is set to “on” in the emergency mode, a plurality of shot images continuously shot with one shutter operation are used without using the flash. Temporarily stored.

FIG. 14 (4) is a diagram showing an image display screen when the shutter key is operated in the emergency mode. In this display screen, “send” and “re-shoot” are provided as a plurality of soft keys (touch keys). The layout is displayed. Now, when the “transmission” soft key (transmission key) for instructing image transmission is touched, the current position information is acquired from the position acquisition unit 22 (step F5) and added to the temporarily stored image. (Step F6). Then, the transmission destination information is read from the specific communication partner / specific transmission destination storage unit M4 (step F7), and “transmission memory + position information + additional information” is transmitted using the transmission destination as an e-mail destination (step S7). F8).

When reading the e-mail destination, the contents of the specific communication partner / specific destination storage unit M4 are displayed in a list, and the specific destination selected by the user operation is read out as the e-mail destination. However, a specific transmission destination designated in advance may be selected as an e-mail destination. For example, an item “setting flag” is provided in the specific communication partner / specific destination storage unit M4, and a specific destination whose “setting flag” is “1”, which is arbitrarily set by a user operation, is set as an e-mail destination. You may make it read. In addition, when “image + position information + additional information” is transmitted, all continuously taken images are transmitted, but a part of the images may be transmitted. In the case of transmitting some images, the best image (for example, an image including a face in front of a person) may be transmitted by determining the superiority or inferiority of each image by image recognition. Further, an image selected by a user operation from a plurality of thumbnail images displayed in a list may be transmitted.

Then, the process proceeds to the next step F9, and after the image in the temporary storage is erased from the various information temporary storage unit M2, the emergency mode imaging process in FIG. 12 returns to step C4 in FIG. In the flowchart of FIG. 12, the processing when the re-shooting key is operated is omitted, but when the re-shooting key is operated, the above-described image transmission processing (steps F5 to F8) is skipped and then temporarily executed. The process proceeds to processing for erasing the stored image (step F9). The image transmission process is started when the transmission key is operated as described above. However, the image transmission process may be started when a certain time elapses other than the key operation.

On the other hand, when a calling operation is performed on the calling party (YES in step A7 in FIG. 7), after calling to the calling party and calling / calling processing for making a call available according to the call (step A8) Then, the camera function processing B is executed (step A9).
FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the camera function process B (step A9 in FIG. 7) in detail.
First, the specific communication partner is read from the specific communication partner / specific transmission destination storage unit M4 (step G1), and the call partner (for example, police, parent) of this outgoing call operation corresponds to one of the read specific communication partners. (NO in step G2), the process exits from the camera function processing B in FIG. 13 and returns to step A3 in FIG. 7, but corresponds to any specific communication partner. If so (YES in step G2), the “setting flag” corresponding to the normal mode of the photographing mode storage unit M3 is temporarily set to “0” in response to the call operation to the specific communication partner, and the emergency mode is supported. The emergency mode is temporarily set by setting the “setting flag” to “1” (step G3). And after starting a camera function (step G4), it moves to emergency mode processing (step G5).

The emergency mode processing in this case is also the same as that described above, prohibiting shooting notification (step E1 in FIG. 11), and setting shooting conditions according to whether night vision shooting is necessary (steps E2 to E7). ), The operation proceeds to the emergency mode photographing process according to the shutter operation (steps E10 and E11). This emergency mode shooting process is also the same as described above, prohibiting shooting notification (step F1 in FIG. 12), and performing image transmission processing (steps F5 to F8).

On the other hand, even when an incoming call is detected (YES in step A10 in FIG. 7), after the incoming / call process is performed to notify the incoming call and make the call ready (step A11), the above-mentioned camera function process B Execution proceeds (step A9). Here, if the incoming call partner this time corresponds to one of the specific communication counterparts (step G2 in FIG. 13), after temporarily setting the emergency mode (step G3), the camera function is activated. (Step G4), the process proceeds to emergency mode processing (Step G5). When a power-off operation is performed (YES in step A12), the process proceeds to a power-off process (step A13). When any other operation is performed (YES in step A14), for example, a mail transmission process, etc. The process proceeds to a process corresponding to the operation (step A15).

As described above, in the first embodiment, the central control unit 11 shoots the image by omitting the shooting notification whether the normal mode for shooting after the shooting notification is set when shooting the image of the imaging unit 16. Depending on which emergency mode is set, the shooting notification (for example, LED light lighting, shutter sound, etc.) by the notification unit 20 is controlled, so depending on what shooting mode is set. Shooting notification can be appropriately controlled. For example, after reporting to the police, it is possible to shoot without notification, so it is possible to shoot without being noticed by surrounding people such as criminals, improving convenience I can do it.

When communication is performed with a communication destination designated in advance, the emergency mode is set. Therefore, the emergency mode can be automatically set after the communication with the communication destination is completed. For example, the emergency mode can be automatically set after encountering a crime scene, an accident scene, etc., and notifying a specific communication partner such as 110 or 119. Also, the emergency mode can be automatically set when an incoming call is received from a specific communication partner such as a family. Therefore, not only when a user encounters a crime scene, accident scene, etc. and reports to a specific communication partner, but for example, when a user becomes lost or a lost person, a call is received from a specific communication partner such as a family member. The emergency mode can be set accordingly.

Since whether or not the captured image is stored in the image storage unit M7 is controlled according to what shooting mode is set, in the emergency mode, the image captured by the image capturing unit 16 is controlled. By prohibiting storage, it becomes meaningless shooting, and voyeurism in the emergency mode can be effectively suppressed.

Depending on what shooting mode is set, whether or not to send a shot image to a destination specified in advance is controlled. In the emergency mode, a destination specified in advance ( For example, if you encounter a crime scene, accident scene, etc., you can inform the police, etc. of the scene by sending images taken to the police) You can inform your family about the situation.

Depending on what shooting mode is set, whether or not the acquired current position information is added to the captured image is controlled. By adding, the other party receiving the image can easily and reliably specify the shooting site.

Depending on what shooting mode is set, whether to shoot under shooting conditions according to at least one of the surrounding environment and the current time is controlled automatically in emergency mode It is possible to shoot under shooting conditions suitable for the environment.

Since whether or not to continuously take images is controlled according to what shooting mode is set, in the emergency mode, a crime scene or the like can be taken more reliably.

Since the shooting notification is performed by turning on an LED lamp or generating a shutter sound, in the normal mode, it is possible to suppress the voyeurism by notification with a high alerting power.

Since storage and transmission of captured images are controlled according to what shooting mode is set, storage and transmission of captured images can be appropriately controlled, improving convenience. It becomes possible.

In the first embodiment described above, after the communication with the specific communication partner is finished, the camera function is automatically activated to enter the emergency mode. If there is an operation to activate the camera function within the period, the camera function may be activated to enter the emergency mode.

(Embodiment 2)
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16.
In the first embodiment described above, when the camera function activation operation is performed, the emergency mode and the normal mode are switched according to the current setting of the shooting mode. However, in the second embodiment, When the shutter key is operated, the emergency mode and the normal mode are switched according to the operation state. Here, in both the embodiments, the same or the same names are denoted by the same reference numerals, the description thereof will be omitted, and the following description will focus on the features of the second embodiment. .

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining in detail camera function processing A (step A6 in FIG. 7) that is started when a camera function activation operation is performed in the second embodiment.
First, after activating the camera function (step H1), the central control unit 11 reads the contents of the shooting condition storage unit M6 (step H2) and sets the shooting conditions in the imaging unit 16 (step H3). In this case, the imaging unit 16 adjusts various imaging parameters according to the imaging conditions, and the image displayed on the imaging device before the shutter operation is displayed on the display unit 17 as a through image (monitor image) (step H4). ).

Here, when the shutter key for instructing the start of shooting is operated (YES in step H5), a shooting process described later is executed (step H6), and then the process returns to step H4 described above. If an end operation for instructing the end of the camera function is performed (YES in step H7), the camera function is ended (step H8), and then the process returns to step A3 in FIG. If any other operation is performed (YES in step H9), for example, a shooting condition setting process is performed as a process corresponding to the operation (step H10), and the process returns to step H4 described above.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining the photographing process (step H6 in FIG. 15) in detail.
First, the central control unit 11 detects the operation state (continuous operation time) of the shutter key (step I1), and whether a long press operation (for example, 1.5 seconds or more) is performed or a short press operation is performed. (Step I2), and when a short press operation is performed (NO in step I2), the “setting flag” corresponding to “normal mode” in the photographing mode storage unit M3 is temporarily set to “1”. The “setting flag” corresponding to the “emergency mode” is set to “0” to temporarily set to the normal mode (step I3). Then, after the lighting of the LED light 20B is started as a shooting notification (step I4), the process proceeds to the normal mode shooting process of FIG. 10 (step I5), and the shutter sound is output and the imaging unit 16 is driven to set the shooting condition. A photographing process for obtaining the image photographed below is performed, and this image is displayed on the display unit 17 and recorded and saved. And after stopping lighting of LED light 20B as imaging | photography notification (step I6), it returns to step H4 of FIG.

On the other hand, when a long press operation is performed (YES in step I2), the “setting flag” corresponding to the “normal mode” in the photographing mode storage unit M3 is temporarily set to “1”, which corresponds to the “emergency mode”. The emergency mode is temporarily set by setting the “setting flag” to “0” (step I7). Then, after the lighting of the LED light 20B is prohibited to omit shooting notification (step I8), the ambient environment (ambient brightness) detected by the ambient environment detection unit 21 is acquired, and the current time is obtained from the RTC 19. Acquire (step I9), refer to the ambient environment / time storage unit M5 based on the ambient environment and the current time, and either of the acquired ambient environment or the current time is “content” of the ambient environment / time storage unit M5 It is determined whether or not night vision photography is necessary depending on whether or not the above is satisfied (step I10).

When it is determined that both the ambient environment and the current time do not match the “content” of the ambient environment / time storage unit M5 and night vision photography is not necessary (NO in step I10), the normal photography mode described above is used. Similarly, the contents of the imaging condition storage unit M6 are read (step I12), and the imaging conditions are set in the imaging unit 16 (step I13). When it is determined that either the acquired ambient environment or the current time matches the “content” of the ambient environment / time storage unit M5 and night vision shooting is necessary (YES in step I10), night vision shooting is performed. A predetermined shooting condition is set in the imaging unit 16 (step I11). However, since it is an emergency mode, in steps I13 and I11, regardless of the contents of the photographing condition storage unit M6, the photographing condition flash is set to “off”, and continuous photographing is set to “on”.

Then, the flashing display of the emergency mode mark is started (step I14), and the process proceeds to the emergency mode shooting process of FIG. 12 (step I15), the shutter sound is prohibited from being output, and the imaging unit 16 is driven to take the shooting condition. In addition to displaying the image on the display unit 17 and adding position information and the like to the transmission destination, the image capturing process for acquiring the image captured in step S3 is performed. Then, after the blinking display of the emergency mode mark is deleted (step I16), the process returns to step H4 in FIG.

As described above, in the second embodiment, when an operation for instructing the start of shooting is performed, the shooting mode is set based on the operation state, so that the dedicated mode for setting the shooting mode is set. Thus, the user can easily set the shooting mode and start shooting only by performing the shooting start operation corresponding to the shooting mode desired by the user.

In the above-described second embodiment, the operation status of the operation to start shooting is set to the emergency mode when the shutter key is pressed and held, and the normal mode when the shutter key is pressed, but for example, The shooting mode may be selected depending on an arbitrary operation situation such as a double operation and a single operation.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, in the emergency mode, the sneak shot act in the emergency mode is suppressed by prohibiting the storage of the image captured by the imaging unit 16, but in the emergency mode, the imaging unit 16 The voyeurism may be suppressed by prohibiting the transmission of the captured image. That is, in the normal mode, every time the shutter key is operated, an image captured by the imaging unit 16 is transmitted to the image management apparatus 4 via the wireless communication network 2 and the Internet 3 and stored externally. Then, transmission to the image management apparatus 4 (external storage) may be prohibited.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, in the emergency mode, shooting notification (notification by turning on an LED light or shutter sound) is prohibited. However, the shutter sound is not audible to the surroundings, that is, only the user. The sound may be output at a low volume so that it can be heard. Further, although continuous shooting is performed in the emergency mode, single shooting that performs single shooting may be performed.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the communication with the specific communication partner is a voice call has been exemplified, but any communication such as a videophone call or mail communication may be used. In the case of the emergency mode, night vision shooting is exemplified as the shooting condition according to the surrounding environment and the current time. However, any shooting condition according to the surrounding environment and the current time may be used. Further, the image to be captured may be any type of image such as a still image or a moving image.

In addition, the storage unit 13 may be any external storage device such as a memory card or an external hard disk. The display unit 17 may be an arbitrary external display device such as an external monitor. In addition, the housing is not limited to a folding type mobile phone, and may be an arbitrary housing structure such as a straight type, a slide type, or a spin top type. Further, the imaging device is not limited to a mobile phone with a camera function, but a PDA with a camera function. It may be a music player with a camera function or the like, or of course, a camera device itself such as a digital camera.

Further, the “device” and “machine” shown in each of the above-described embodiments may be separated into a plurality of housings by function, and are not limited to a single housing. In addition, each step described in the above-described flowchart is not limited to time-series processing, and a plurality of steps may be processed in parallel or separately.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cellular phone with camera function 2 Wireless communication network 3 Internet 4 Image management device 11 Central control unit 13 Storage unit 14 Wireless communication unit 16 Imaging unit 17 Display unit 18 Operation unit 19 RTC
20 Notification unit 20A Sound speaker 20B LED light 21 Ambient environment detection unit 22 Position acquisition unit M1 Program storage unit M2 Various information temporary storage unit M3 Shooting mode storage unit M4 Specific communication partner / specific transmission destination storage unit M5 Ambient environment / time storage unit M6 shooting condition storage unit M7 image storage unit

Claims (9)

An imaging device comprising an imaging means for capturing an image,
An informing means for informing the image capturing by the imaging means;
A communication means for communicating with a predetermined communication destination;
When communication is not performed with a communication destination designated in advance by the communication means, the first photographing mode in which photographing is performed by the imaging means after notification by the notification means is set and communication designated in advance by the communication means is performed. If the previous communication was done, and setting means for setting the second shooting modes by omitting the notification by the notification means performs photographing by the image pickup means,
Discriminating means for discriminating whether the first photographing mode or the second photographing mode is set by the setting means;
A control unit that controls notification by the notification unit based on a determination result by the determination unit in capturing an image by the imaging unit;
An imaging apparatus comprising: Operating means for instructing the imaging means to start photographing;
Detection means for detecting the operation status of the operation means;
Further comprising
The setting means sets one of the first photographing mode and the second photographing mode based on a detection result by the detecting means.
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, which is configured as described above. It said control means, based on the determination result by the determining means, for controlling whether or not to store in the memory means an image taken by the front SL imaging means to co-Controlling the notification by the notification means,
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the imaging apparatus is configured as described above. It said control means, based on the determination result by the determining means, for controlling whether or not to transmit to the destinations specified in advance the images taken by the previous SL imaging means to co-Controlling the notification by the notification means ,
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the imaging apparatus is configured as described above. It further comprises acquisition means for acquiring position information,
It said control means, based on the determination result by the determination means, whether or not the location information obtained by the previous SL acquisition means co Controlling the notification by the notification means for adding the image taken by the imaging means To control the
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the imaging apparatus is configured as described above. It further comprises acquisition means for acquiring at least one of the surrounding environment and time information,
It said control means based on the discrimination result by the discriminating means, the surrounding environment acquired by the previous SL acquisition means co Controlling the notification by the notification means, in photographing conditions corresponding to at least one of time information Control whether to shoot,
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the imaging apparatus is configured as described above. It said control means, based on the determination result by the determining means, for controlling whether to perform the photographic image continuously by prior SL imaging means to co-Controlling the notification by the notification means,
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the imaging apparatus is configured as described above. The notification means notifies the photographing of an image by the imaging means by sound and light.
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the imaging apparatus is configured as described above. Against the computer,
A function for informing the user of taking an image by the imaging means;
A function of communicating with a pre-specified communication destination;
When not communicating with the pre-designated communication destination , set to the first photographing mode for photographing by the imaging means after the notification , and when communicating with the pre-designated communication destination, a function of setting the second photographing mode performing the imaging by the imaging means is omitted the notification,
A function of determining which of the first shooting mode and the second shooting mode is set;
A function of controlling the notification based on the determination result in capturing an image by the imaging unit;
A program to realize

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