JP5429588B2 - Imaging apparatus and imaging method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to improvement of a continuous shooting function in an imaging apparatus such as a digital camera, and more particularly to an imaging apparatus that performs continuous shooting while moving a focus position and an imaging method in such an imaging apparatus.

In general, an electronic imaging apparatus such as a digital still camera is equipped with an autofocus (AF) system for automatically focusing. As an AF control method in such an autofocus system, for example, a control method called hill-climbing AF control is widely used. An example of this hill-climbing AF control is disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Publication No. 39-5265).
In this hill-climbing AF control, an integrated value of a high-frequency component or a luminance difference between adjacent pixels is obtained from a video signal obtained for each field or frame, and this is used as an AF evaluation value indicating the degree of focus. The AF evaluation value increases when the subject is in focus because the edge portion of the subject is clear, and the AF evaluation value decreases when the subject is out of focus. When the AF operation is performed, the AF evaluation values are sequentially acquired while moving the lens, and the lens is stopped with the point where the AF evaluation value is maximized as the focal point.
An apparatus that captures a still image, such as a digital still camera, generally requires strict focusing as compared to an apparatus that captures a moving image such as a video camera. The focus operation is always repeated in the recording mode.

However, when a plurality of subjects having different distances are mixed in the screen, or when the contrast of the subject is low, an image focused on a place different from the place intended by the photographer may be taken.
In order to deal with such a problem, for example, in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-131698), a desired image is obtained by performing an AF operation and photographing a predetermined number of images including the detected focus position. It is disclosed that it is possible to shoot. In this method, when subjects are mixed at a plurality of distances in the field of view, the subject detected as being in focus during AF operation is not necessarily the subject that the photographer desires to shoot. There are weaknesses. In other words, when there is a subject to be photographed outside the focus target distance range, the photographed image does not include the desired image, and as a result, all the photographed images do not match the desired. It becomes useless.

Further, for example, Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-169979) discloses a method in which a plurality of photographings are performed using each of detected objects at a plurality of distances as focus points. However, even in this method, since the focus position is selected by the camera, when there are a plurality of subjects with much higher contrast than the subject that is originally required, the subject that is originally intended to be photographed may not be selected as the subject to be photographed. For this reason, in this system, it is necessary to check after shooting whether or not shooting that matches a desired distance is being performed.
On the other hand, for example, in Patent Document 4 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-277813), after capturing all images within a distance range that can be focused, an area on the screen that is desired to be focused is selected, and the area is most selected. It is disclosed that an image in focus is selected. Further, for example, Patent Document 5 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-28486) discloses saving an image selected by a camera or a user to a memory card after shooting all images within a focusable distance range. ing.

These methods disclosed in Patent Document 4 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-277813) and Patent Document 5 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-28486) all reduce failures when the number of pixels to be recorded is small. Although it seems possible, if the number of pixels of the image sensor increases, a remarkably large buffer memory is required to store the image. In such a case, if the image is stored while being compressed for each shooting, it is not necessary to increase the capacity of the buffer memory, but instead, the time required for processing each image becomes longer and repeated shooting is performed. Since the interval also becomes long, it becomes difficult to use a moving subject. On the other hand, it is possible to solve the problem of time lag by using an ultra-high-speed system, but in this case, a great amount of power is consumed.
Further, Patent Document 6 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-202064) discloses displaying the current focus lens position and the focusing range of the state on the screen before performing the AF scan operation. . In this case, the photographer can correct the focus range based on the display of the position of the focus lens and the focus range in that state and the blur condition of the subject on the screen. Thereafter, AF scanning is performed in response to half-pressing of the release button, and only one image is taken in response to full-pressing.

The technique disclosed in Patent Documents 2 to 5 described above is a type of what is referred to as focus bracket shooting or focus continuous shooting, and the lens positions before and after the in-focus point determined by the camera are determined. It ’s a technique to shoot just in case. That is, focus bracket photography is a technique for photographing a plurality of images while changing parameters originally used for exposure.
In addition, within the shooting distance range, the focus is changed at a predetermined interval, and everything within the shooting distance range is shot and stored, so that the photographer can cope with any shooting intention after shooting. Various techniques have been proposed.
Further, for example, Patent Document 7 (Japanese Patent No. 3934954) discloses a technique for changing the operation so that the focusing operation is not performed again when the focused state is maintained.

Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 39-5265 JP-A-7-131698 JP 2001-116979 A JP 2005-277813 A JP 2007-28486 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-202064 Japanese Patent No. 3934954

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and automatically sets a distance range to be continuously photographed and enables confirmation in advance, and reliably focuses on a desired subject with a relatively small number of photographs. It is an object of the present invention to provide an imaging apparatus and an imaging method that enable this.
The object of claim 1 of the present invention is to be able to confirm in advance whether or not a desired distance range is shot by automatic setting in advance, and even if only a specific distance range is shot by limiting the number of shots. An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus that enables shooting without failure.
The object of claim 2 of the present invention is to compare whether the distance range to be continuously photographed is a desired range by comparing the distance range to be continuously photographed with the displayed focus position. An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus capable of surely confirming.
The object of the third aspect of the present invention is to make it possible to correct the distance range of continuous shooting even when there is a deviation in the subject distance by automatic ranging, and to enable continuous shooting at a desired target distance. To provide an apparatus.
The object of claim 4 of the present invention is to enable more reliable correction of the distance range of continuous shooting, especially when there is a shift in the subject distance by automatic ranging, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible. An imaging apparatus is provided.

The object of claim 5 of the present invention is to enable more reliable correction of the distance range of continuous shooting even when there is a deviation in the subject distance by automatic ranging, and to enable continuous shooting at a desired target distance. An imaging apparatus is provided.
An object of claim 6 of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus that enables more appropriate setting of the distance range for continuous shooting based on the subject distance by automatic distance measurement and enables continuous shooting at a desired target distance. There is.
An object of claim 7 of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus that enables more appropriate setting of a distance range for continuous shooting based on subject distance by automatic distance measurement and enables continuous shooting at a desired target distance. There is.
The object of claim 8 of the present invention is to provide an imaging apparatus that enables even more appropriate setting of the distance range for continuous shooting based on the subject distance by automatic distance measurement, and enables continuous shooting at a desired target distance. There is to do.
The object of the ninth aspect of the present invention is to effectively prevent an unnecessary image from being taken or an abnormal operation from being caused by an operation in a state where the shooting target distance is not determined. It is to provide an image pickup apparatus.

The object of claim 10 of the present invention is to be able to confirm in advance whether or not a desired distance range is shot by automatic setting, and even if only a specific distance range is shot by limiting the number of shots. An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging method that enables imaging without failure.
The object of the eleventh aspect of the present invention is to further determine whether or not the distance range to be continuously photographed is a desired range by comparing the distance range to be continuously photographed with the displayed focus position. An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging method capable of surely confirming.
An object of claim 12 of the present invention is to make it possible to correct the distance range of continuous shooting even when there is a deviation in the subject distance by automatic ranging, and to enable continuous shooting at a desired target distance. It is to provide a method.
The object of the thirteenth aspect of the present invention is to enable more reliable correction of the distance range for continuous shooting even when there is a deviation in the subject distance by automatic ranging, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible. An imaging method is provided.
The object of the fourteenth aspect of the present invention is to enable more reliable correction of the distance range for continuous shooting even when there is a deviation in the subject distance by automatic ranging, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible. An imaging method is provided.

The object of the fifteenth aspect of the present invention is to provide an imaging method that enables more appropriate setting of the distance range of continuous shooting based on the subject distance by automatic distance measurement and enables continuous shooting at a desired target distance. There is.
The object of the sixteenth aspect of the present invention is to provide an imaging method that enables more appropriate setting of the distance range for continuous shooting based on the subject distance by automatic distance measurement and enables continuous shooting at a desired target distance. There is.
The object of the seventeenth aspect of the present invention is to provide an imaging method that enables even more appropriate setting of the distance range of continuous shooting based on the subject distance by automatic distance measurement and enables continuous shooting at a desired target distance. There is to do.
The object of the eighteenth aspect of the present invention is to be able to effectively prevent an unnecessary image from being taken or an abnormal operation from being caused by an operation in a state where the shooting target distance is not determined. An imaging method is provided.

In order to achieve the above-described object, an imaging apparatus according to the present invention described in claim 1
An imaging apparatus comprising an automatic focusing means for moving at least a part of an imaging lens as a focus lens and focusing on a subject,
Continuous shooting means for continuously shooting at a plurality of focus positions for a predetermined target distance range while repeatedly moving and stopping the focus lens;
Number of shots setting means for setting the number of shots taken by the continuous shooting means from the memory size of the frame memory for acquiring data at high speed ;
A distance range determining unit that includes the subject distance selected by the automatic focusing unit and that determines a distance range obtained from the number of shots set by the number of shots setting unit as a target range of continuous shooting by the continuous shooting unit;
And a display means for displaying the image of the subject focused by the automatic focusing means and the target distance range determined by the distance range determining means.
An imaging device according to the present invention described in claim 2 is the imaging device according to claim 1,
The display means further includes means for superimposingly displaying the position focused by the automatic focusing means together with the target distance range of the continuous shooting.

An imaging apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is the imaging apparatus according to the first or second aspect,
It is further characterized by further comprising range changing means for changing the target distance range of the continuous shooting as desired.
An imaging device according to the present invention described in claim 4 is the imaging device according to claim 3,
In accordance with the change by the range changing unit of the target distance range of the continuous shooting, the target distance range of the continuous shooting displayed on the display unit is changed.
An imaging device according to the present invention described in claim 5 is the imaging device according to claim 3 or 4,
The range changing means includes means for resetting the target distance range for the continuous shooting in response to a first predetermined operation.
An imaging device according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the imaging device according to any one of the third to fifth aspects,
The automatic focusing means includes means for selecting a plurality of distance ranges corresponding to a plurality of subject distances, and the range changing means responds to a second predetermined operation, and the target distance range of the continuous shooting It is characterized by including means for sequentially changing.

An imaging device according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the imaging device according to any one of the third to sixth aspects,
The range changing means includes means for resetting the target distance range of the continuous shooting based on a state change in the second predetermined operation.
The imaging device according to the present invention described in claim 8 is the imaging device according to any one of claims 3 to 7,
The range changing means includes means for resetting the target distance range of the continuous shooting based on the time interval of the second predetermined operation.
The imaging device according to the present invention described in claim 9 is the imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
And a warning means for warning that the target distance range has not yet been determined when a shooting start instruction is detected before the distance range determining means determines the target distance range of the continuous shooting. It is a feature.

In order to achieve the above-described object, an imaging method according to the present invention described in claim 10 is provided.
An imaging method in an imaging apparatus that performs focus adjustment on a subject by moving at least a part of the imaging lens as a focus lens,
An automatic focusing step for focusing the focus lens on a subject;
A number of shots setting step for setting the number of shots to be taken continuously at a plurality of focus positions for a predetermined target distance range from the memory size of the frame memory for acquiring data at high speed ;
A distance range determining step that includes a subject distance selected in the automatic focusing step and that determines a distance range obtained from the number of shots set in the shot number setting step as a target distance range for continuous shooting;
A display step for displaying the target distance range determined in the distance range determination step together with an image of the subject focused in the automatic focusing step;
Continuous shooting in response to a shooting instruction input, and continuously shooting at a plurality of focus positions while repeatedly moving and stopping the focus lens with respect to the target distance range of the continuous shooting displayed in the display step. And a step.
An imaging method according to the present invention described in claim 11 is the imaging method of claim 10,
The display step includes a step of superimposingly displaying the position focused by the automatic focusing step together with the target distance range of the continuous shooting.

An imaging method according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention is the imaging method according to the tenth or eleventh aspect,
It is further characterized by further comprising a range changing step for changing the target distance range of the continuous shooting as desired.
The imaging method according to the present invention described in claim 13 is the imaging method according to claim 12,
According to the change of the target distance range of the continuous shooting in the range changing step, the target distance range of the continuous shooting displayed in the display step is changed.

An imaging method according to the present invention described in claim 14 is the imaging method according to claim 12 or claim 13,
The range changing step includes a step of resetting the target distance range of the continuous shooting in response to a first predetermined operation.
An imaging method according to the present invention described in claim 15 is the imaging method according to any one of claims 12 to 14,
The distance range determining step includes a step of selecting a plurality of distance ranges corresponding to a plurality of subject distances, and the range changing step is responsive to a second predetermined operation, and the target distance range of the continuous shooting It is characterized by including a step of sequentially changing.
The imaging method according to the present invention described in claim 16 is the imaging method according to any one of claims 12 to 15,
The range changing step includes a step of resetting the target distance range of the continuous shooting based on a state change in the second predetermined operation.

The imaging method according to the present invention described in claim 17 is the imaging method according to any one of claims 12 to 16,
The range changing step includes a step of resetting a target distance range of the continuous shooting based on a time interval of the second predetermined operation.
An imaging method according to the present invention described in claim 18 is the imaging method according to any one of claims 10 to 17,
And further comprising a warning step for warning that the target distance range has not yet been determined when the shooting instruction input is detected before the target range of the continuous shooting is determined by the distance range determining step. It is said.

According to the present invention, an image pickup apparatus and an image pickup device that can automatically set a distance range to be continuously shot and can check in advance, and can reliably focus on a desired subject with a relatively small number of shots. A method can be provided.
That is, according to the imaging device of claim 1 of the present invention,
An imaging apparatus comprising an automatic focusing means for moving at least a part of an imaging lens as a focus lens and focusing on a subject,
Continuous shooting means for continuously shooting at a plurality of focus positions for a predetermined target distance range while repeatedly moving and stopping the focus lens;
Number of shots setting means for setting the number of shots taken by the continuous shooting means from the memory size of the frame memory for acquiring data at high speed ;
A distance range determining unit that includes the subject distance selected by the automatic focusing unit and that determines a distance range obtained from the number of shots set by the number of shots setting unit as a target range of continuous shooting by the continuous shooting unit;
By comprising a display means for displaying the image of the subject focused by the automatic focusing means and the target distance range determined by the distance range determining means,
It is possible to confirm in advance whether or not a desired distance range is shot by automatic setting, and even if only a specific distance range is shot with a limited number of shots, shooting without failure is possible.

According to the imaging device of claim 2 of the present invention, in the imaging device of claim 1,
By further comprising means for displaying the position focused by the automatic focusing means on the display means together with the target distance range of the continuous shooting,
In particular, it is possible to more reliably confirm whether or not the distance range to be continuously photographed is a desired range by comparing the distance range to be continuously photographed with the displayed focus position.
According to the imaging device of claim 3 of the present invention, in the imaging device of claim 1 or claim 2,
By further comprising a range changing means for changing the target distance range of the continuous shooting as desired,
In particular, even when there is a difference in subject distance due to automatic ranging, it is possible to correct the distance range for continuous shooting, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible.
According to the imaging device of claim 4 of the present invention, in the imaging device of claim 3,
In response to the change by the range changing unit of the target distance range of the continuous shooting, by changing the target distance range of the continuous shooting displayed on the display unit,
In particular, even when there is a deviation in the subject distance due to automatic ranging, it is possible to more reliably correct the distance range of continuous shooting, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible.

According to the imaging device of claim 5 of the present invention, in the imaging device of claim 3 or claim 4,
The range changing means includes means for resetting the target distance range of the continuous shooting in response to a first predetermined operation;
In particular, even when there is a deviation in the subject distance due to automatic distance measurement, the distance range for continuous shooting can be more reliably corrected, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible.
According to the imaging device of claim 6 of the present invention, in the imaging device of any one of claims 3 to 5,
The automatic focusing means includes means for selecting a plurality of distance ranges corresponding to a plurality of subject distances, and the range changing means responds to a second predetermined operation, and the target distance range of the continuous shooting By including means for sequentially changing
In particular, it is possible to more appropriately set the distance range for continuous shooting based on the subject distance by automatic ranging, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible.

According to the imaging device of claim 7 of the present invention, in the imaging device of any one of claims 3 to 6,
The range changing means includes means for resetting the target distance range of the continuous shooting based on a state change in the second predetermined operation.
In particular, it is possible to set a more appropriate distance range for continuous shooting based on subject distance by automatic distance measurement, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible.
According to the imaging device of claim 8 of the present invention, in the imaging device of any one of claims 3 to 7,
The range changing means includes means for resetting the target distance range of the continuous shooting based on the time interval of the second predetermined operation.
In particular, it is possible to set an even more appropriate distance range for continuous shooting based on subject distance by automatic ranging, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible.
According to the imaging device of claim 9 of the present invention, in the imaging device of any one of claims 1 to 8,
By detecting a shooting start instruction before determining the target distance range of the continuous shooting by the distance range determination means, further comprising warning means for warning that the target distance range has not yet been determined,
In particular, it is possible to effectively prevent an unnecessary image from being shot or an abnormal operation from being caused by an operation in a state where the shooting target distance is not determined.

And according to the imaging method of claim 10 of the present invention,
An imaging method in an imaging apparatus that performs focus adjustment on a subject by moving at least a part of the imaging lens as a focus lens,
An automatic focusing step for focusing the focus lens on a subject;
A number of shots setting step for setting the number of shots to be taken continuously at a plurality of focus positions for a predetermined target distance range from the memory size of the frame memory for acquiring data at high speed ;
A distance range determining step that includes a subject distance selected in the automatic focusing step and that determines a distance range obtained from the number of shots set in the shot number setting step as a target distance range for continuous shooting;
A display step for displaying the target distance range determined in the distance range determination step together with an image of the subject focused in the automatic focusing step;
Continuous shooting in response to a shooting instruction input, and continuously shooting at a plurality of focus positions while repeatedly moving and stopping the focus lens with respect to the target distance range of the continuous shooting displayed in the display step. And having steps
It is possible to confirm in advance whether or not a desired distance range is shot by automatic setting, and even if only a specific distance range is shot with a limited number of shots, shooting without failure is possible.

According to the imaging method of claim 11 of the present invention, in the imaging method of claim 10,
The display step includes a step of superimposingly displaying the position focused by the automatic focusing step together with the target distance range of the continuous shooting,
In particular, it is possible to more reliably confirm whether or not the distance range to be continuously photographed is a desired range by comparing the distance range to be continuously photographed with the displayed focus position.
According to the imaging method of claim 12 of the present invention, in the imaging method of claim 10 or claim 11,
By further comprising a range changing step for changing the target distance range of the continuous shooting as desired,
In particular, even when there is a difference in subject distance due to automatic ranging, it is possible to correct the distance range for continuous shooting, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible.
According to the imaging method of claim 13 of the present invention, in the imaging method of claim 12,
By changing the target distance range of the continuous shooting displayed in the display step according to the change of the target distance range of the continuous shooting by the range changing step,
In particular, even when there is a deviation in the subject distance due to automatic ranging, it is possible to more reliably correct the distance range of continuous shooting, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible.

According to the imaging method of claim 14 of the present invention, in the imaging method of claim 12 or claim 13,
The range changing step includes a step of resetting the target distance range of the continuous shooting in response to a first predetermined operation,
In particular, even when there is a deviation in the subject distance due to automatic distance measurement, the distance range for continuous shooting can be more reliably corrected, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible.
According to the imaging method of claim 15 of the present invention, in the imaging method of any one of claims 12 to 14,
The distance range determining step includes a step of selecting a plurality of distance ranges corresponding to a plurality of subject distances, and the range changing step is responsive to a second predetermined operation, and the target distance range of the continuous shooting By sequentially changing
In particular, it is possible to more appropriately set the distance range for continuous shooting based on the subject distance by automatic ranging, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible.

According to the imaging method of claim 16 of the present invention, in the imaging method of any one of claims 12 to 15,
The range changing step includes a step of resetting the target distance range of the continuous shooting based on a state change in the second predetermined operation.
In particular, it is possible to set a more appropriate distance range for continuous shooting based on subject distance by automatic distance measurement, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible.
According to the imaging method of claim 17 of the present invention, in the imaging method of any one of claims 12 to 16,
The range changing step includes a step of resetting a target distance range of the continuous shooting based on a time interval of the second predetermined operation.
In particular, it is possible to set an even more appropriate distance range for continuous shooting based on subject distance by automatic ranging, and continuous shooting at a desired target distance is possible.
According to the imaging method of claim 18 of the present invention, in the imaging method of any one of claims 10 to 17,
Before detecting the target distance range of the continuous shooting by the distance range determination step, when detecting the shooting instruction input, further includes a warning step that warns that the target distance range has not yet been determined,
In particular, it is possible to effectively prevent an unnecessary image from being shot or an abnormal operation from being caused by an operation in a state where the shooting target distance is not determined.

Hereinafter, based on the embodiment concerning the present invention, the imaging device and imaging method of the present invention are explained in detail with reference to drawings.
1, 2, 3 and 4 show the configuration of a digital still camera to which the imaging apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of the entire system configuration of a digital still camera as an image pickup apparatus, and FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 schematically show an external configuration of the digital still camera of FIG. They are a top view, a front view, and a rear view, respectively.
A digital still camera shown in FIG. 1 includes an imaging lens 1, a mechanical shutter 2, an image sensor 3, an A / D (analog-digital) converter 4, a timing generator (TG) 5, and a sensor interface (sensor I / F) 6. , Memory controller 7, display output control unit 8, compression processing unit 9, YUV conversion unit 10, resize processing unit 11, media interface (media I / F) 12, CPU (central control unit) 13, ROM (read only memory) 14, a frame memory (SDRAM) 15, a liquid crystal (LCD) display 16, a motor driver 17, an operation unit 18, an audio output device 19, and a memory card 20. The imaging lens 1 includes a zoom lens 1a and a focus lens 1b.

The image sensor 3, the A / D converter 4, and the timing generator 5 constitute an imaging processing unit 31. The sensor interface 6, memory controller 7, display output control unit 8, compression processing unit 9, YUV conversion unit 10, resize processing unit 11, media interface 12, and CPU 13 are mounted on a digital signal processing IC (integrated circuit) 32. .
The imaging lens 1 is an optical system for forming a subject optical image on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 3. In this case, the imaging lens 1 is configured as a zoom lens, and at least a part thereof is a zooming lens 1 a for zooming operation. At least part of the focus lens 1b is used for focusing operation. The mechanical shutter 2 is inserted in the imaging lens 1 or on the optical path between the imaging lens 1 and the image sensor 3 to open and close the optical path and limit the exposure of the image sensor 3.
An imaging processing unit 31 including the image sensor 3, the A / D converter 4, and the timing generator 5 functions as a front end that processes the imaging output signal of the image sensor 3. The image sensor 3 is configured using, for example, a CMOS solid-state image pickup device using a CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) as a light-receiving device or a CCD solid-state image pickup device using a CCD (charge coupled device) as a light-receiving device. A CDS (correlated double sampling) circuit that performs correlated double sampling of the output image signal of the light receiving element and an AGC (automatic gain control) circuit that automatically adjusts the correlated double sampling output of the CDS circuit to a required signal level Etc.

The image sensor 3 converts an optical image incident on the light receiving surface in an exposure state into an electrical signal, temporarily holds it, and transfers and outputs image data. The A / D converter 4 converts the analog output of the image sensor 3 into digital data. The timing generator 5 provides a VD signal (vertical synchronization drive signal) and an HD signal (horizontal synchronization drive signal), which are synchronization drive signals, to the sensor interface 6 of the signal processing IC 32 in cooperation with the CPU 13, and the image sensor 3 and A timing signal is given to the A / D converter 4 to properly synchronize them.
The signal processing IC 32 stores the digital image data given through the A / D converter 4 of the imaging processing unit 31 in the frame memory 15 based on the control of the CPU 13 and performs necessary signal processing such as compression and YUV conversion. Storing the data processed in the signal processing IC 32 in the frame memory 15, displaying the image data supplied from the A / D converter 4 or taken out from the frame memory 15 on the LCD display 16, A / Memory card 20 through the digital image data compression process, YUV conversion and resizing process given from the D converter 4 or taken out from the frame memory 15, and the media interface 12 of the digital image data taken out from the frame memory 15 Processing such as storage in

  The sensor interface 6 receives digital image data given from the A / D converter 4 of the imaging processing unit 31 and stores it in the frame memory 15 via the memory controller 7. Under the control of the CPU 13, the memory controller 7 is the original RGB (RAW-RGB) data given through the sensor interface 6, the YUV data YUV converted by the YUV conversion unit 10, the compression processing unit 9, for example, JPEG (Joint It controls the writing to the frame memory 15 and the reading from the frame memory 15 such as JPEG data and OSD (on-screen display) image data compressed by the Photographic Experts Group). The display output control unit 8 displays the image data read from the frame memory 15 on the LCD display 16 and outputs a TV output for display on an external TV (television) or the like. The compression processing unit 9 compresses image data or the like given from the A / D converter 4 or taken out from the frame memory 15 by a predetermined compression method such as the JPEG method. The YUV conversion unit 10 performs YUV conversion on the image data given from the A / D converter 4 or taken out from the frame memory 15 in accordance with an auto white balance (AWB) control value given from the CPU 13. The resizing processing unit 11 resizes the image data given from the A / D converter 4 or taken out from the frame memory 15 to a different size.

The media interface 12 writes the image data given from the A / D converter 4 or taken out from the frame memory 15 to the memory card 20 under the control of the memory controller 7 and the CPU 13. That is, the memory controller 7 stores the image data given from the A / D converter 4 in the frame memory 15, takes out the image data from the frame memory 15, and displays the image data via the display output control unit 8. The image data is taken out from the frame memory 15 and is compressed by the JPEG method by the compression processing unit 9, YUV conversion by the YUV conversion unit 10, resizing processing by the resizing processing unit 11, and these compression and YUV conversion. The data after the resizing process is used for writing to the frame memory 15, and the data is further extracted from the frame memory 15 and used for writing to the memory card 20.
The ROM 14 stores an operation program, data, and the like of the CPU 13, and the CPU 13 executes various processes related to the shooting operation according to the program and data read from the ROM 14. The frame memory 15 is configured using a semiconductor memory such as SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), for example, original RGB data, YUV converted YUV data, JPEG compressed JPEG data, and OSD. Stores image data and the like.

The LCD display 16 is a display device capable of displaying an image, displays image data or the like supplied from the A / D converter 4 or taken out from the frame memory 15 and given via the display output control unit 8, and Displays the required information. The motor driver 17 drives a lens driving motor (not shown) such as a zooming lens 1a and a focusing lens 1b of the imaging lens 1 for zooming and focusing, and the shutter opening / closing operation based on the control of the CPU 13. For this purpose, a shutter drive motor (not shown) of the mechanical shutter 2 is driven in conjunction with the timing generator 5.
The operation unit 18 includes at least a part of operation means such as a shutter release button for instructing photographing, a mode dial for switching each mode, and other switches, keys, levers, dials, and the like, and operates on the digital camera. An operation for giving information such as an instruction, a setting instruction, and a selection instruction to the CPU 13 is performed. The sound output device 19 emits a sound such as an alarm and a sound announcement. The memory card 20 is a small IC memory type recording medium referred to as a small card incorporating a semiconductor non-volatile memory such as a so-called flash memory, and is used as an external recording medium that can be attached to and detached from the digital still camera. It is done. For example, the memory card 20 is detachably mounted in a slot provided in a digital still camera. For example, under the control of the CPU 13, the memory card 20 takes out image data compressed by the JPEG method or the like in the frame memory 15 from the frame memory 15 via the memory controller 7 and stores it as a photographing result.

2 to 4, the digital still camera is provided with an LCD monitor 16a on the back of the body, and the LCD monitor 16a constitutes the LCD display 16 in FIG. The LCD monitor 16a displays various situations related to images and imaging. In addition to the LCD monitor 16a, the LCD display 16 may be provided with a sub-LCD for mainly displaying a film counter, various symbols indicating the date / time and operation state, and the like. When the sub LCD is not provided, information such as a film counter, date / time and various symbols indicating the operation state is also displayed on the LCD monitor 16a.
A shutter release button 201 and a shooting / playback mode dial 202 are arranged on the upper surface of the body, and a power button 203 for turning on / off the power switch is arranged in the center of the mode dial 202. Has been. On the back of the body, a wide angle side (WIDE) zoom button 204, a telephoto side (TELE) zoom button 205, a menu button 206, an up (UP) / down (DOWN) / left (LEFT) / right (RIGHIT) button 207, and An OK button 208 is provided, and these buttons and dial constitute the operation unit 18 in FIG.
A strobe light emitting unit 101, an objective surface of the optical viewfinder 102, a lens barrel unit 103 of a photographing lens, and the like are disposed on the front surface of the body. Further, an eyepiece of the optical viewfinder 102 is disposed on the back side of the body.

The focus lens 1b, which continuously shoots at a plurality of focus positions for a predetermined target distance range while repeating the movement of the focus lens 1b and the stop for shooting, automatically focuses the subject. In-focus means, distance range determining means for determining a predetermined distance range including the subject distance selected by the auto-focus means as a target distance range for continuous shooting by the continuous shooting means, and in-focus by the automatic focusing means For example, display means for displaying the subject image and the target distance range determined by the distance range determination means on the LCD display 16, and the position where the automatic focusing means is in focus on the display means. Means for superimposing display with the target distance range for shooting, and a range for changing the target distance range for continuous shooting as desired. In response to the change by the range changing unit of the target distance range of the continuous shooting, the continuous range by the distance range determining unit and the means for changing the target distance range of the continuous shooting displayed on the display unit The warning means for warning that the target distance range has not been determined yet when the shooting start instruction is detected before the target distance range for shooting is determined is realized by the above-described units being controlled by the CPU 13 or the like. Is done.
First, an outline of the operation of this type of digital still camera will be described.
Note that the subject distance can be calculated (automatic distance measurement) from the focus position detected by the automatic focusing means.

The digital still camera is activated in the shooting mode by operating the mode dial 202 shown in FIG. 2 in the operation unit 18 of FIG. 1 to set the operation mode to the shooting mode and pressing the power button 203. The mode dial 202 and the power button 203 are included in the operation unit 18 of FIG. 1, and when the CPU 13 detects that the power button 203 is turned on while the mode dial 202 is in the shooting mode, the CPU 13 The driver 17 is controlled to move the lens barrel unit 103 to a photographing position. Further, power is turned on to the image processing unit 31 and the LCD display 16 to start the operation.
When the power of each part is turned on, the operation in the finder mode is started. In this finder mode, the object field optical image formed through the imaging lens 1 and incident on the image sensor 3 of the imaging processing unit 31 using, for example, a CMOS image sensor is converted into an electrical signal and converted into an A / D converter. Sent to 4. Each signal converted into a digital signal in the RAW-RGB format by the A / D converter 4 is converted into a YUV signal in a format that can be displayed by the YUV conversion unit 10 in the digital signal processing IC 32, and is converted by the memory controller 7. It is written in the frame memory 15. The YUV signal is read by the memory controller 7 and output as a TV output via the display output control unit 8 or sent to the LCD display 16 to be displayed on the LCD monitor 16a. This process is normally performed at intervals of 1/30 seconds, and is displayed in a finder mode as a so-called electronic finder that is updated every 1/30 seconds.

In this case, if the image sensor 3 is a CMOS image sensor having 8 million pixels, for example, all pixels can be output every 1/30 seconds during still image shooting. In the finder mode, the addition and decimation for the peripheral pixels are combined, and the number of pixels is reduced to, for example, 640 × 480 pixels every 1/30 seconds.
The sensor interface 6 of the digital signal processing IC 32 includes an AF evaluation value indicating the degree of focus on the screen, an AE (automatic exposure) evaluation value that detects the subject brightness, and a digital RGB signal captured in the sensor interface 6. An AWB evaluation value for detecting the subject color is calculated. These data are read out as feature data to the CPU 13 and used for each of AE, AF, and AWB processes. The AF evaluation value is created by, for example, an output integrated value of a high frequency component extraction filter or an integrated value of a luminance difference between adjacent pixels. When in the in-focus state, the edge portion of the subject is clear, so the high frequency component is the highest. By utilizing this, at the time of focus detection operation by AF control, AF evaluation values at various focus lens positions are acquired, and AF control is executed with the point where the maximum is obtained as the focus position. The AE evaluation value and the AWB evaluation value are created from the integrated values of the R, G, and B signals. For example, the screen is equally divided into 256 areas (horizontal 32 divisions and vertical 32 divisions), and RGB integrated values, that is, integrated values of the respective areas are calculated. The CPU 13 reads the RGB integrated values, and in AE, calculates the luminance of each area, and determines an appropriate exposure time as a control value of AE from the luminance distribution.
In AWB, an AWB control value that matches the color of the light source is determined from the RGB distribution. These AE and AWB processes are continuously performed during the finder mode.

When the shutter release button 201 in FIG. 2 is operated, an AF operation for detecting a focus position and a still image recording process are performed. When the shutter release button 201 is pressed, a still image shooting start signal is taken into the CPU 13 from the operation unit 18 in FIG. 1, and the CPU 13 moves the focus lens 1b of the imaging lens 1 via the motor driver 19 in synchronization with the frame rate. The hill-climbing AF control is executed by driving. When the AF target range is the entire region from infinity to the nearest, the focus lens 1b moves to each focus position from the nearest to infinity or from infinity to the nearest, and each frame ( The CPU 13 reads the AF evaluation value at each focus position. The focus lens 1b is moved to the in-focus position with the point at which the AF evaluation value at each focus position is maximized as the in-focus position. After the AF is completed, the analog RGB signal output from the image sensor 3 is converted into a digital RGB signal and stored in the frame memory 15 via the digital signal processing IC 32. The digital RGB signal is read again by the digital signal processing IC 32, converted into YUV data, and written back to the frame memory 15.
At the time of capturing a still image, YUV converted image data is sent to a compression processing unit 9 including an image compression / decompression circuit in the digital signal processing IC 32. The YUV data sent to the compression processing unit 9 is compressed and written back to the frame memory 15. The compressed data in the frame memory 15 is read out via the digital signal processing IC 32 and stored in a data storage memory such as the memory card 20.

Next, an operation that characterizes the digital still camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described.
First, a focus continuous shooting (focus bracketing) mode in which continuous imaging is performed while moving a focus position, which is an operation characteristic of the present invention, will be described with reference to an operation flowchart in the focus continuous shooting mode shown in FIG.
When the menu button 206 in FIG. 4 in the operation unit 18 in FIG. 1 is pressed, whether to perform focus continuous shooting for continuous imaging while moving the focus position by interactive operation on the screen of the LCD display 16 is selected. It can be performed. Here, when focus continuous shooting is selected and the OK button 208 in FIG. 4 is pressed, the focus continuous shooting mode is set, and the screen returns to the finder mode screen as shown in FIG.
First, Table 1 shows an example in which the number of points required to move the focus lens 1b is calculated in consideration of the in-focus depth within a focusable range. Table 1 shows an example of the number of in-focus position detection points with respect to the zoom position when the close range of 1 to 30 cm is the macro mode and the far range is the normal mode.

In the case of a zoom lens, the number of focus points to be moved varies greatly depending on the zoom position even in the same distance range, and the number of points increases as the zoom becomes telephoto (tele) side. Also, the number of points increases in the macro area where the shooting range is close. The digital camera according to this embodiment is assumed to have 8 million pixels. During continuous shooting, data is acquired at a high speed, and is stored in the frame memory (SDRAM) 15 as RAW data of 12 bits per pixel. Therefore, a 12MB memory is used for one image of 3264 × 2448 pixels. The SDRAM capacity of the frame memory 15 is assumed to be 128 MB, for example. In this case, the SDRAM of the frame memory 15 also serves as a work RAM and OSD for program data for the CPU 13 to operate, a work RAM for display data for natural images, and a work RAM for image processing. Is assumed to be up to eight. For this reason, even if eight images are taken, it is not possible to photograph the entire region of the focusing target range at a time, and a portion is selectively photographed.

Here, several selection methods can be used to select the shooting range when selectively shooting a part of the focusing target range. For example, the shooting operation when the first selection method for selecting the shooting range is used is performed as follows.
In the focus continuous shooting mode, an AF operation is executed prior to shooting. When the OK button 208 is pressed in the finder mode in FIG. 6 in which the focus range is not set (step S11), the focus position is detected by hill-climbing AF and the distance measurement range is displayed (step S12). FIGS. 7 and 8 are displays after distance measurement is performed when the zoom position is on the wide angle (wide: W) side and the telephoto (tele: T) side, respectively. The horizontal bar at the bottom of the screen indicates the entire focus range, the circle “◯” in the horizontal bar indicates the detected focus position, and the range indicated by the arrow is the range to be imaged in 8 consecutive shots It is. At this time, the position of the focus lens 1b is a position corresponding to the in-focus position indicated by a circle “◯”.
The AE process is performed in the state where the AF operation is executed in step S12 and the distance measurement range is displayed, or the AE process is also performed when the OK button 208 is not pressed in step S11 (step S13). When the left / right of the up / down / left / right button 207 of the operation unit 18 is pressed (step S14), the photographing distance range is moved (step S15). In the state where the shooting distance range has moved in step S15, it is determined whether or not the release button 201 has been pressed (step S16).

Even when the left and right of the up / down / left / right button 207 are not pressed in step S14, it is determined in step S16 whether the release button 201 is pressed. If the release button 201 is not pressed in step S16, the process returns to step S11 to determine whether or not the OK button 208 is pressed.
When photographing within the displayed range, the photographing operation is started by pressing the shutter release button 201. Further, when changing the shooting range by looking at the displayed image, it is possible to correct the position of the shooting range with the left and right of the up / down / left / right button 207. FIG. 9 shows a display screen in a state where distance measurement is performed with the OK button 208 in the macro mode and the distance measurement is completed. FIG. 10 shows a display screen in a state where the shooting distance range is changed by pressing the left / right of the up / down / left / right button 207.
If the zoom position is changed by pressing the zoom button 204 or 205 of the operation unit 18 here, the state in the screen changes, so that the measured data becomes invalid and the original state shown in FIG. 6 is restored. If the OK button 208 is pressed again (corresponding to the first predetermined operation), the AF operation is executed again, and the distance measurement is performed again.
The ability to change the shooting distance range while looking at the display screen in this way is very convenient in shooting. Particularly in macro photography where the depth of field tends to be shallow and the focus is strict, it is very effective to easily determine whether the photographing distance range is appropriate based on the degree of blur on the display screen.

  When the shooting target distance range is determined by the above operation, shooting is started by pressing the release button 201. When the CPU 13 detects that the release button 201 has been pressed in step S16, the focus lens 1b is moved to the first position of the target distance range for continuous imaging, that is, the continuous shooting range (step S17). For example, the focus lens 1b is moved to a point where the in-focus position is closest in the photographing target distance range. At this position, the focus lens 1b stops, exposes the subject for the exposure time determined in step S13 in the finder mode, reads all 8 million pixel data, and stores it in the frame memory 15 as RAW data (step S18). When the reading is completed, if a predetermined number of images have not been taken (step S19), the process returns to step S17, the focus lens 1b is moved to the next focus position and stopped, and exposure and data reading are performed again in step S18. I do. Alternatively, the focus lens 1b may be moved to the next focus position while reading is being performed, and the next exposure may be performed when both the reading of data and the movement of the focus lens 1b are completed. Such an operation is repeated over the entire continuous shooting range (here, 8 points) until it is determined in step S19 that the predetermined number of shots has been completed.

When acquisition of all image data for the planned number of times of shooting (eight times) is completed, image processing is started. First, the obtained RAW data is read out to the signal processing IC 32, YUV conversion and JPEG compression are performed, and temporarily stored in the frame memory 15 as a JPEG file. The compressed data in the frame memory 15 is read out via the signal processing IC 32 and stored in a data storage memory such as the memory card 20 (step S20).
Prior to shooting, FIG. 11 shows a display screen when the release button 201 is pressed or the left and right of the up / down / left / right button 207 are pressed in a state where the ranging process is not performed by the OK button 208. In FIG. 11, the position of the focus lens 1 b is displayed on the horizontal bar by a circle “◯”. Further, a warning that the focus is not performed is displayed at the center of the screen. This warning process is not shown in the flowchart of FIG.
Next, FIG. 12 shows an operation flowchart when the second selection method is used for selecting a shooting range in the focus continuous shooting (focus bracket) mode in which continuous imaging is performed while moving the focus position as described above. ing.
In this case, the release button 201 in FIGS. 2 to 4 of the operation unit 18 in FIG. 1 is configured as a two-stage release switch, and is operated in the first stage, that is, half-pressed (this is referred to as “release 1 ”), An AF distance scan is performed, and the second stage operation, that is, full-pressing (this is referred to as“ Release 2 ”) performs imaging processing. For example, FIG. 13 shows an example of the AF distance measurement result, in which the in-focus distance of the lens is shown on the horizontal axis and the AF evaluation value is shown on the vertical axis. The example of FIG. 13 is composed of a front person located at a distance of 1 m to 2 m, a rear person located at a distance of 2 m to 3 m, and a distant building (building) as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. This is the AF distance measurement result of the subject.

  When the focus continuous shooting mode is selected, the counter (variable) K is initialized to “0” (step S101), and the release button 201 is half-pressed, that is, the release 1 is turned on (step S102). When the release button is pressed halfway in step S102 and release 1 is turned on, it is determined whether or not the counter K is greater than “0” (step S103). If it is determined in step S103 that the counter K is not greater than “0”, that is, K = 0, AF distance measurement is performed, AF peak value detection is performed, and the peak number N is determined. (Step S104). After the peak number N is determined in step S104, or when it is determined in step S103 that the counter K is greater than “0”, the counter K is incremented by “1” (K = K + 1) (step S105). The focus lens 1b is moved to a position corresponding to the Kth peak position, and a shooting range is displayed in advance (step S106). Next, it is determined whether or not the counter K has reached the peak number N (step S107). If it has reached (K = N), the counter K is returned to “0” (step S108). If not, it is determined whether or not the release button 201 is half-pressed, that is, whether the release 1 is on (step S109).

If it is determined in step S109 that the release button 201 is half-pressed, that is, the release 1 is not on, the process returns to step S102 and the above-described processing is repeated. If it is determined in step S109 that the release button 201 is half-pressed, that is, the release 1 is on, it is determined that the release button 201 is fully pressed, that is, the release 2 is on (step S110). ) If the release button 201 is fully pressed and release 2 is turned on, a focus continuous shooting process corresponding to steps S17 to S20 in FIG. 5 is performed (step S111). If the release button 201 is not fully pressed in step S110 and the release 2 is not turned on, the process returns to step S109 and waits until the release 2 is turned on.
Therefore, in such a process, for example, when a distance measurement result as shown in FIG. 13 is obtained by AF distance measurement immediately after the first release button 201 is pressed halfway, as shown in FIG. In addition, a notice is displayed on the screen that shooting is performed within a distance range of 1 m to 3 m in which two persons are within the shooting target range. The position that is initially displayed in advance is the peak position detected by AF distance measurement. If there are two or more peak positions, the peak position corresponding to the closest subject is selected. In this state, when the release button 201 is fully pressed, continuous shooting is performed while moving the focus lens 1b at 8 points in the range displayed in advance. For the eight continuous shootings, the image is taken while moving the focus position in the same manner as the focus continuous shooting process corresponding to steps S17 to S20 in FIG. Process and save.

Here, if the range displayed in advance is not appropriate for the photographer's intention, the release button 201 is once released and the release button 201 is half-pressed again (corresponding to a second predetermined operation). A distance region from 4 m to infinity that fits the building at the second peak position in FIG. 13 in the focal range is displayed in advance as shown in FIG.
As described above, the peak position found in the AF distance measurement scan is sequentially selected by half-pressing re-pressing operation, but when the next peak position disappears (K = N) (first predetermined (Corresponding to the operation), AF distance scanning is performed again, and the range including the nearest peak position is displayed as the first warning range in the same manner as described above.
16 to 18 show examples in the case of a subject having peak positions at three places. In the AF distance measurement result shown in FIG. 16, the front person, the back person, and each subject of the car are detected in the vicinity of 1.5 m, 2.5 m, and 5 m, respectively. In this case, in the same manner as described above, a shooting range of 1 m to 3 m is initially displayed as a notice. When the release button 201 is once released and half-pressed again, a shooting range of 2 m to 4 m is displayed, and when it is pressed halfway again, a shooting range of 2 m to 6 m is displayed in advance.

In FIG. 14, FIG. 15, FIG. 17 and FIG. 18, only the range to be photographed is displayed on the horizontal bar at the upper end of the screen, but before photographing, as in FIGS. You may make it also display the focus point used as the focus position when AF operation was performed.
In the example using the second selection method for the selection of the photographing range described above, the AF peak position scan is first performed by releasing the release button 201 once and then pressing the release button 201 halfway again. When the release button 201 is pressed halfway again after the peak positions detected in step S1 are sequentially selected and all of the detected peak positions are selected, the AF scan is executed again. Here, a method for adding a selection condition for re-executing the AF scan or moving to the detected next peak position will be described.
First, the first method for adding a selection condition for re-execution of AF scan or moving to the detected next peak position is a method for determining whether the state of the subject has changed.

  As described above, a digital still camera as described in the embodiment generally includes an AF evaluation value acquisition unit and an RGB integration value acquisition unit that calculates an AE evaluation value and an AWB evaluation value. ing. According to the AF evaluation value, it is possible to know the frequency distribution within the screen, according to the AE evaluation value, the luminance distribution within the screen, and according to the AWB evaluation value, the color distribution within the screen. These frequency distribution, luminance distribution, and color distribution are acquired at the time when the AF distance scan is completed and stored in the memory. Next, when the release button 201 is pressed halfway again, the frequency distribution, the color distribution, and the luminance distribution are acquired again and compared with the immediately preceding frequency distribution, color distribution, and luminance distribution. If the difference is within a predetermined range, the state of the subject has not changed, and it is determined that the distance measurement data at the time of AF distance measurement is valid and moves to the next peak position. Also, if the difference in this case exceeds the predetermined range, it is determined that the state of the subject has changed and the peak position has changed, and the peak position at that time is the highest. It is assumed that the AF scan is executed again. A technique for changing the operation so that the in-focus operation is not performed again is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 7 (Japanese Patent No. 3934954) when the in-focus state is maintained based on a similar concept. Has been.

In the above method, all of the information such as the frequency distribution, the color distribution, and the luminance distribution is acquired. However, by combining one or more of these information, It may be determined whether or not the state has changed.
Further, a second method for adding a selection condition for re-executing the AF scan or moving to the detected next peak position is a method of determining based on the elapsed time.
The CPU 13 measures the elapsed time after the AF ranging scan is performed. For example, when a time of 10 seconds or more has elapsed, it is highly likely that the subject has changed, and the reliability of the distance measurement result is determined to be low, and the current peak position is determined. Regardless of the number, the AF scan is executed again. Alternatively, the CPU 13 measures the elapsed time until the finger is once released from the release button 201 which is half-pressed and the release 1 is turned on and then pressed, and if the elapsed time is within 2 seconds, for example, AF is performed again. A scan may be executed.
In the first embodiment described above, as shown in Table 1, the number of steps of the focus point is calculated from the in-focus depth. In addition, the number of images taken in one continuous shooting is the maximum number that can be taken from the size of the memory. However, it is also possible for the user to select them. In this case, the items to be selected are the step width for moving the focus point and the number of images to be shot in one continuous shooting (the number of focus points).

A digital camera according to the second embodiment of the present invention in which the user selects the step width for moving the focus point and the number of images to be shot in one continuous shooting will be described.
A series of operations for selecting the step width and the number of continuous shots will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In this case, in the focus continuous shooting mode, the step width and the number of continuous shots are set before the OK button 208 is pressed (step S31). When the OK button 208 is pressed in the finder mode (FIG. 6) in which the focus range is not set (step S32), the focus position is detected by hill-climbing AF and the distance measurement range is displayed (step S33). ).
In a state where the AF operation is executed in step S33 and the distance measurement range is displayed, the AE process is performed, or the AE process is also performed when the OK button 208 is not pressed in step S32 (step S34). When the left / right of the up / down / left / right button 207 of the operation unit 18 is pressed (step S35), the photographing distance range is moved (step S36). In the state where the shooting distance range has moved in step S36, it is determined whether or not the release button 201 has been pressed (step S37). Even when the left and right of the up / down / left / right button 207 are not pressed in step S35, it is determined in step S37 whether the release button 201 is pressed. If it is determined in step S37 that the release button 201 has not been pressed, the process returns to step S32 to determine whether or not the OK button 208 has been pressed.

When the shooting target distance range is determined, shooting is started by pressing the release button 201. When the CPU 13 detects that the release button 201 is pressed in step S37, the focus lens 1b is moved to the first position of the target distance range for continuous imaging, that is, the continuous shooting range (step S38). For example, the focus lens 1b is moved to a point where the in-focus position is closest in the photographing target distance range. At this position, the subject is exposed for the exposure time determined in step S13 in the finder mode, and all data of 8 million pixels are read and stored as RAW data in the frame memory 15 (step S39). When the reading is completed, if the set number of shots is not completed (step S40), the process returns to step S38, the focus lens 1b is moved to the next focus position corresponding to the set step width, and In step S39, exposure and data reading are performed again. This is performed over the entire continuous shooting range (eight points here) until it is determined in step S40 that the predetermined number of shots has been completed.
When acquisition of all image data is completed, image processing is started. First, the obtained RAW data is read out to the signal processing IC 32, YUV conversion and JPEG compression are performed, and temporarily stored in the frame memory 15 as a JPEG file. The compressed data in the frame memory 15 is read out via the signal processing IC 32 and stored in a data storage memory such as the memory card 20 (step S41).

FIG. 20 shows a screen display when the step width is not changed and the number of continuous shots at one time is half that of FIG. In FIG. 20, since the number of shots is halved without changing the step width, the width displayed as a shooting target after AF is half that of FIG. If the number of continuous shots is reduced as described above, the distance range for shooting is narrowed, but the number of processed images is reduced. Therefore, the processing time is shortened, and the waiting time until the next shooting can be shortened.
If the display as shown in FIG. 20 is performed and it can be visually confirmed that the focus is approximately in the state on the screen, reducing the number of shots as necessary is effective in speeding up the processing, and wasteful power consumption is also reduced. Contributes to power saving. In addition, since the memory capacity used for storage after shooting can be reduced, the number of shots can be increased.
Even if the step width is changed to half without changing the number of steps, the same range as in FIG. 20 is obtained. Changing the step width makes it possible to shoot at a finer focus position, and increases the possibility of obtaining an image in a desired focus state.

In the above embodiment, the first acquired image is recorded first. However, for example, the focus point (“○” on the horizontal bar) that is the in-focus position when the AF operation is performed before shooting is performed. ”) May be read out first, image processing and storage in the data storage memory may be performed, and the image may be stored in order from the position closest to the focus point. Since there is a high possibility that the image determined to be in focus by the camera is the most necessary image, such an order can make it easier to find the necessary image.
In the embodiment described here, the continuous shooting data is stored as RAW data in the frame memory, and image processing is performed after the continuous shooting image acquisition is completed. The processing may be started. Further, the operation of the signal processing IC 32 is very fast. For example, if the image processing up to JPEG compression of the image at the previous focus point is completed within the exposure time, it is necessary for storing one image. The memory required is about 2 MB, and the number of continuous shots can be further increased.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic system configuration of a digital still camera according to an embodiment of an imaging apparatus of the present invention. It is a top view which shows typically the external appearance structure of the digital still camera of FIG. It is a front view which shows typically the external appearance structure of the digital still camera of FIG. FIG. 3 is a rear view schematically showing an external configuration of the digital still camera of FIG. 2. In order to explain the characteristic operation of the digital still camera of FIG. 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the second one for selecting a shooting range in focus continuous shooting in which continuous shooting is performed while moving the focus position. 6 is a flowchart of a main part when the selection method 1 is used. It is a figure which shows typically the display screen of an LCD monitor when the focusing range is not designated in finder mode for demonstrating the specific example of operation | movement of the digital still camera of FIG. It is a figure which shows typically the display screen of the LCD monitor at the time of AF completion on the wide angle (wide) side for demonstrating the specific example of operation | movement of the digital still camera of FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a display screen of an LCD monitor when AF is completed on the telephoto side (telephoto) for explaining a specific example of the operation of the digital still camera of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows typically the display screen of the LCD monitor after the focus range specification in macro imaging | photography for demonstrating the specific example of operation | movement of the digital still camera of FIG. It is a figure which shows typically the display screen of the LCD monitor after a focus range change in macro imaging | photography for demonstrating the specific example of operation | movement of the digital still camera of FIG. It is a figure which shows typically the display screen of an LCD monitor when a warning is displayed since AF operation has not been performed once for explaining a specific example of the operation of the digital still camera of FIG. In order to explain the characteristic operation of the digital still camera of FIG. 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the second one for selecting a shooting range in focus continuous shooting in which continuous shooting is performed while moving the focus position. 6 is a flowchart of a main part when the selection method 2 is used. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an AF distance measurement result of a subject, with the horizontal axis representing the in-focus distance of the lens and the vertical axis representing the AF evaluation value in order to describe a specific example of the operation of FIG. 12. It is a figure which shows typically the display screen of the LCD monitor at the time of the focus range setting corresponding to the to-be-photographed object in the example of FIG. It is a figure which shows typically the display screen of the LCD monitor at the time of the focus range setting corresponding to the to-be-photographed object in the example of FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating another example of the AF distance measurement result of the subject, in which the in-focus distance of the lens is taken on the horizontal axis and the AF evaluation value is taken on the vertical axis, in order to explain a specific example of the operation in FIG. 12. It is a figure which shows typically the display screen of the LCD monitor at the time of the focus range setting corresponding to the to-be-photographed object in the example of FIG. It is a figure which shows typically the display screen of the LCD monitor at the time of the focus range setting corresponding to the to-be-photographed object in the example of FIG. It is a flowchart of the principal part for demonstrating the characteristic operation | movement of the digital still camera which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 20 is a diagram schematically showing a display screen of the LCD monitor when AF is completed on the wide angle side when the shooting point is halved for explaining a specific example of the operation of the digital still camera of FIG. 19.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging lens 1a Zooming lens 1b Focus lens 2 Mechanical shutter 3 (CMOS) Image sensor 4 A / D (analog-digital) converter 5 Timing generator (TG)
6 Sensor interface (Sensor I / F)
7 Memory Controller 8 Display Output Control Unit 9 Compression Processing Unit 10 YUV Conversion Unit 11 Resize Processing Unit 12 Media Interface (Media I / F)
13 CPU (Central Control Unit)
14 ROM (Read Only Memory)
15 frame memory (SDRAM)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 16 Liquid crystal (LCD) display 16a Liquid crystal (LCD) monitor 17 Motor driver 18 Operation part 19 Audio | voice output apparatus 20 Memory card 31 Imaging process part 32 Digital signal processing IC (integrated circuit)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Strobe light emission part 102 Optical viewfinder 103 Lens barrel unit 201 Shutter release button 202 Mode dial 203 Power button 204 Wide angle side (WIDE) zoom switch 205 Telephoto side (TELE) zoom switch 206 Menu switch 207 Up / down / left / right button 208 OK (OK) switch

Claims (18)

An imaging apparatus comprising an automatic focusing means for moving at least a part of an imaging lens as a focus lens and focusing on a subject,
Continuous shooting means for continuously shooting at a plurality of focus positions for a predetermined target distance range while repeatedly moving and stopping the focus lens;
Number of shots setting means for setting the number of shots taken by the continuous shooting means from the memory size of the frame memory for acquiring data at high speed ;
A distance range determining unit that includes the subject distance selected by the automatic focusing unit and that determines a distance range obtained from the number of shots set by the number of shots setting unit as a target range of continuous shooting by the continuous shooting unit;
An imaging apparatus comprising: a display unit configured to display an image of a subject focused by the automatic focusing unit and a target distance range determined by the distance range determination unit.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit that causes the display unit to superimpose and display a position focused by the automatic focusing unit together with a target distance range of the continuous shooting.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a range changing unit that changes a target distance range of the continuous shooting as desired.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the distance range for continuous shooting displayed on the display unit is changed according to the change by the range changing unit of the target distance range for continuous shooting.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the range changing unit includes a unit that resets the target distance range of the continuous shooting in response to a first predetermined operation. The automatic focusing means includes means for selecting a plurality of distance ranges corresponding to a plurality of subject distances, and the range changing means responds to a second predetermined operation, and the target distance range of the continuous shooting The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 5, further comprising means for sequentially changing.   The range changing means includes means for resetting the target distance range of the continuous shooting based on a state change in the second predetermined operation. The imaging device according to item.   The range changing means includes means for resetting the target distance range of the continuous shooting based on a time interval of the second predetermined operation. The imaging device according to item.   And a warning means for warning that the target distance range has not yet been determined when a shooting start instruction is detected before the distance range determining means determines the target distance range of the continuous shooting. The imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the imaging device is characterized. An imaging method in an imaging apparatus that performs focus adjustment on a subject by moving at least a part of the imaging lens as a focus lens,
An automatic focusing step for focusing the focus lens on a subject;
A number of shots setting step for setting the number of shots to be taken continuously at a plurality of focus positions for a predetermined target distance range from the memory size of the frame memory for acquiring data at high speed ;
A distance range determining step that includes a subject distance selected in the automatic focusing step and that determines a distance range obtained from the number of shots set in the shot number setting step as a target distance range for continuous shooting;
A display step for displaying the target distance range determined in the distance range determination step together with an image of the subject focused in the automatic focusing step;
Continuous shooting in response to a shooting instruction input, and continuously shooting at a plurality of focus positions while repeatedly moving and stopping the focus lens with respect to the target distance range of the continuous shooting displayed in the display step. And an imaging method.   The imaging method according to claim 10, wherein the display step includes a step of superimposingly displaying the position focused by the automatic focusing step together with the target distance range of the continuous shooting.   The imaging method according to claim 10 or 11, further comprising a range changing step of changing the target distance range of the continuous shooting as desired.   13. The imaging method according to claim 12, wherein the distance range of the continuous shooting displayed in the display step is changed according to the change of the distance range of the continuous shooting target in the range changing step.   The imaging method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the range changing step includes a step of resetting the target distance range of the continuous shooting in response to a first predetermined operation. The distance range determining step includes a step of selecting a plurality of distance ranges corresponding to a plurality of subject distances, and the range changing step is in response to a second predetermined operation, and the target distance range of the continuous shooting The imaging method according to claim 12, further comprising a step of sequentially changing.   The range changing step includes a step of resetting a target distance range of the continuous shooting based on a state change in the second predetermined operation. The imaging method according to item.   The range change step includes a step of resetting a target distance range of the continuous shooting based on a time interval of the second predetermined operation. The imaging method according to item.   And further comprising a warning step for warning that the target distance range has not yet been determined when the shooting instruction input is detected before the target range of the continuous shooting is determined by the distance range determining step. The imaging method according to any one of claims 10 to 17.

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