JP5847280B2 - Imaging apparatus, imaging apparatus control method, and imaging method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a photographing apparatus that captures a moving image, a control method for the capturing apparatus that captures a moving image, and a moving image capturing method.

  A digital camera has a function of automatically controlling various shooting conditions. However, an image captured by automatic control is not always an image as intended by the photographer. For example, a captured image with an automatically set exposure amount may be too bright or too dark than an image intended by the photographer. For this reason, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-111635 discloses a bracket-type camera that continuously takes a plurality of still images while changing shooting conditions such as exposure amount in stages.

  In the bracket shooting method, for example, an optimum control value is determined by automatic control at the time of shooting the first image, and shooting is performed under the condition that the control value is changed to the plus side and the minus side around the optimum control value. Get the image. By performing bracket shooting, the photographer can acquire an image that more closely matches his intention from the three images.

  On the other hand, cameras that can shoot not only still images but also moving images have been provided by digitization of shooting techniques. In still image shooting, it is possible to check the state of the subject's brightness / tone before shooting, but in moving image shooting, various changes may occur in the subject during shooting. For this reason, when a moving image is shot using the shooting conditions determined before shooting, the moving image intended by the user may not be obtained.

  In recent years, the number of female camera users has increased, and there are increasing opportunities for familiar experiences, for example, the progress of cooking to be filmed. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, moving images may be taken when grilling meat. However, the image 28A2 at the completion of printing shown in FIG. 1B is predicted from the image 28A1 at the start of printing shown in FIG. 1A, and shooting conditions (aperture / exposure time, etc.) are set at the start of shooting. Is not easy. Further, the meat 91 changes in color or the like according to the change in the degree of baking, and the portion where the change occurs (the meat 91) is an unspecified and small portion on the screen. For this reason, if automatic control is performed so that the portion of the meat 91 is in the optimum shooting condition, the brightness / color tone of subjects other than the meat 91, for example, the person 92 and the background 93, change according to changes in the shooting conditions. For this reason, the video may become unnatural.

JP 2009-111635 A

  The present invention relates to a photographing apparatus for photographing a moving image having a photographing condition suitable for a user's intention, a method for controlling a photographing apparatus for photographing a moving picture having a photographing condition suitable for the user's intention, and photographing suitable for the user's intention. An object of the present invention is to provide a shooting method for shooting a moving image of conditions.

In order to achieve the above object, an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an imaging unit that outputs an image of a subject, and repeatedly performs imaging under a plurality of predetermined imaging conditions at a predetermined frame rate. A moving image shooting control means for controlling the shooting means to shoot a plurality of moving images formed of a plurality of images shot in the step, and the plurality of images out of the plurality of moving images are all less than a saturated luminance value. And an automatic selection means for automatically selecting a moving image having a maximum difference in luminance values among the plurality of images.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling an image capturing apparatus, in which an image capturing unit repeatedly captures an image of a subject at a predetermined frame rate under a plurality of predetermined image capturing conditions, and captures a plurality of moving images each including a plurality of images. And automatically selecting a moving image in which the plurality of images are all less than a saturation luminance value and the difference in luminance values of the plurality of images is the largest from the plurality of moving images. And a selection step.
Furthermore, the imaging method of another embodiment is to repeatedly capture an image of a subject imaged by an imaging unit at a predetermined frame rate under a plurality of predetermined imaging conditions, and each of a plurality of moving images each including a plurality of images. Analyzing the luminance values of the plurality of images, and among the plurality of moving images, the plurality of images are all less than a saturation luminance value, and the difference in the luminance values of the plurality of images is maximum. A selection step of automatically selecting the moving image.

  According to the present invention, a photographic device that shoots a moving image having a shooting condition that matches the user's intention, a control method for the shooting device that shoots a moving image that has a shooting condition that matches the user's intention, and a user's intention It is possible to provide a shooting method for shooting a moving image under the shooting conditions.

It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the image of video recording, FIG. 1 (A) has shown the image at the time of a photography start, and FIG.1 (B) has shown the image at the time of completion | finish of imaging | photography. It is a block diagram of the camera of 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the flow of operation | movement of the camera of 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the image which comprises the some moving image which the camera of 1st Embodiment image | photographs. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the use condition of the camera of 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the display surface of the display part of the camera of 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating operation | movement of the brightness | luminance analysis part of the camera of 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the display surface of the display part of the camera of 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram of the camera of 2nd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the use condition of the camera of 2nd Embodiment.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, the camera 1 capable of shooting a moving image, which is the shooting apparatus according to the first embodiment, will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the camera 1 includes an interchangeable lens 10 and a body 20. The camera 1 is not limited to the interchangeable lens type, but the following description will be made using the camera 1 as an example. Since the interchangeable lens 10 of the camera 1 is a general-purpose product, it will be briefly described.

  The interchangeable lens 10 includes a lens 11, an operation unit 12, a drive unit 13, a position detection unit 14, a control unit 15, and a communication unit 16. The lens 11 is, for example, a zoom lens including a plurality of optical members / diaphragms. The user's operation is transmitted to the control unit 15 via the operation unit 12, and the drive unit 13 drives the aperture, focus, and angle of view (zoom state) of the lens 11. The position detection unit 14 detects the zoom state, in-focus state, and stop of the lens 11. The state and the like of the lens 11 are transmitted to the body 20 via the communication unit 16. Note that the camera 1 can also be mounted with an interchangeable lens other than the lens 10 shown in the figure. When a lens that is not a zoom lens is attached, a focus ring or the like (not shown) becomes the operation unit 12.

  The body 20 includes an imaging unit 21 that is a photographing unit, a moving image shooting control unit 31 that is a moving image shooting control unit, a moving image generation unit 32 that is a moving image generation unit, a display control unit 33 that is a display control unit, and a temporary storage. A temporary storage unit 22 as a means, an image analysis unit as an image analysis unit, an image extraction unit as an image extraction unit, a manual selection unit as a manual selection unit, and an automatic selection unit as an automatic selection unit. 37, a storage unit 23 that is a storage unit, a display unit 28 that is a display unit having a touch panel 29, a touch panel 29 and an operation unit 26 that are input units, a clock 25, and a communication unit 24. Each component of the body 20 is not independent hardware. For example, a component stored in a storage unit such as a ROM (not shown) or a storage medium is read into the CPU by a component such as the moving image shooting control unit 31. Thus, the function of each component may be executed. That is, the CPU may constitute the control unit 30, and the control unit 30 may have the function of each component as its function.

  The imaging unit 21 captures an image of the subject via the lens 11 and outputs a captured image. The moving image shooting control unit 31 controls the imaging unit 21 to repeatedly perform shooting under a plurality of predetermined shooting conditions at a predetermined frame rate. The moving image generation unit 32 generates a moving image based on a plurality of images shot under predetermined shooting conditions. The display control unit 33 performs control so that a plurality of through images under a plurality of different shooting conditions are displayed side by side on the display unit 28 at the time of shooting. The image analysis unit 34 analyzes the luminance values of a plurality of images constituting a plurality of moving images. Based on the result of the image analysis unit 34, the image extraction unit 35 extracts a first image having the maximum maximum luminance value and a second image having the minimum minimum luminance value from a plurality of moving images.

  The display control unit 33 controls the display unit 28 to display the first image and the second image under a plurality of different shooting conditions side by side after the shooting. The manual selection unit 36 selects one of the moving images based on the first image and the second image displayed on the display unit 28 based on an instruction via the user's touch panel 29 or the like. On the other hand, when the manual selection unit 36 has not received an instruction from the user for a predetermined time, the automatic selection unit 37 has a luminance value of the first image equal to or lower than a saturation luminance value from a plurality of captured moving images. In addition, a moving image having a maximum difference in luminance value between the first image and the second image is automatically selected. The storage unit 23 stores the moving image selected by the manual selection unit 36 or the automatic selection unit 37. The camera 1 can be connected to other external devices via the communication unit 27, and can display an image on a TV, for example.

Next, the processing flow of the camera 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
<Step S10> Power ON
The operation starts when the power of the camera 1 is ON (Yes), and ends when it is OFF (No).

<Step S11> System Initial Setting When the shooting operation mode is the multi movie mode, that is, the bracket movie shooting mode (Yes), the processing from S13 is performed. If it is not the multi-movie mode (No), the normal shooting process is performed from S12.

<Steps S13 to S15> Shooting under Conditions 1 to 3 For example, the moving image shooting control unit 31 controls the imaging unit 21 to repeatedly perform shooting under three types of shooting conditions A, B, and C at a predetermined frame rate. To do. Here, the shooting conditions A, B, and C are, for example, a condition B with exposure as a standard, a condition A with a positive side (for example, exposure amount times), and a condition C with a negative side (for example, exposure amount ¼). is there.

For determining the exposure condition, a known photometry method (evaluation photometry, center-weighted average photometry, spot photometry) is used. When a person is photographed, the face portion detected using the face detection system may be in the proper exposure condition. Furthermore, a predetermined area on the screen may be measured by touching the touch panel on which the through screen is displayed with a finger.
For example, when shooting a state of grilling the grilled meat shown in FIG. 1, the user touches the meat 91 portion and the person 92 portion of the through screen in order, so that the designated two regions, That is, the meat 91 and the person 92 may be in the proper exposure condition.

  In the camera 1, shooting under shooting conditions A, B, and C is sequentially repeated at a predetermined frame rate to obtain a plurality of moving images. For example, when the frame rate of one moving image is 60 frames / second and the shooting is performed under three types of shooting conditions A, B, and C, the imaging unit 21 performs shooting at a frame rate of 180 frames / second.

  The number of shooting conditions and the frame rate can be changed by user settings. That is, when the user places importance on the exposure time and the total exposure time of the three types of shooting conditions is 1/60 seconds or more, the user may shoot at a lower frame rate. Further, the user may lower the frame rate in order to reduce the storage capacity. On the other hand, moving image shooting may be performed under four or more shooting conditions.

  4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining captured images under the shooting conditions A, B, and C. FIG. 4A shows an image FA that is double the exposure amount, and FIG. 4B shows an image FB that is a standard exposure amount. FIG. 4C shows an image FC with an exposure amount of 1/4, and conceptually shows a state in which an image after a lapse of time is obtained as it goes to the right side of the figure.

<Step S16> Image Multi Display The display control unit 33 controls the display unit 28 to display the three through images being photographed under the three types of photographing conditions A, B, and C side by side. For example, in FIGS. 5 and 6, the standard exposure amount image FB is displayed in the display area 28A1 of the display screen 28A of the display unit 28, the double exposure amount image FA is displayed in the display area 28A2, and the image FC having the exposure amount ¼. Is displayed in the display area 28A3.

Since the user can check the through image during shooting, the shooting can be stopped if the shooting conditions are all inappropriate. That is, the through image here is an image being photographed, and each image is stored in the temporary storage unit 22.
Note that, in the case of the multi-movie mode, the display control unit 33 also includes a plurality of throughs that are not stored in the temporary storage unit 22 for the three shooting conditions A, B, and C on the display unit 28 before the start of shooting. You may control to display an image side by side simultaneously.

<Step S17> End of shooting?
The processing from step S13 is repeated until the user instructs the end of shooting (Yes).

<Step S18> Moving Image Generation The moving image generation unit 32 generates the respective moving images AFA, AFB, and AFC under the three types of predetermined shooting conditions based on the images stored in the temporary storage unit 22. Note that the processing of the moving image generation unit 32 may perform moving image processing only on a plurality of selected images stored in the storage unit 23 after selection processing described later. That is, the moving image generation unit 32 generates a moving image based on a plurality of images shot under predetermined shooting conditions after shooting is completed or before storage in the storage unit 23.

<Step S19> Image Analysis The image analysis unit 34 analyzes the luminance values of the plurality of images FA1 to FA9, FB1 to 9, and FC1 to FC9 constituting the plurality of moving images AFA, AFB, and AFC. 7A to 7F show the luminance at the center of the image, FIG. 7A shows the image FA1, FIG. 7B shows the image FB1, and FIG. 7C. 7D shows the image FC1, FIG. 7D shows the image FA9, FIG. 7E shows the image FB9, and FIG. 7F shows the image FC9.

  That is, the brightness (luminance) of the subject M is the optimum value for the image FB1 in the initial images FA1, FB1, and FC1. However, at the end of shooting, the image FA9 and the image FB9 are overexposed. That is, since the luminance value exceeds the saturation luminance value Bmax of the pixel of the imaging unit 21, it is different from the correct luminance.

  Here, the luminance value is one of a white luminance value, a red luminance value, a green luminance value, and a blue luminance value. When selecting one luminance value, a white luminance value is preferable. When emphasizing color, in other words, in the “color change mode”, it is preferable that the luminance value is a red luminance value, a green luminance value, and a blue luminance value. In this case, the image analysis unit 34 analyzes the red luminance value, the green luminance value, and the blue luminance value of each image.

  Further, the image analysis unit 34 may not only analyze the pixels of the entire screen of the image, but may analyze only the central portion of the screen or only the region designated by the user, similarly to the determination of the exposure condition described above. The area specification by the user is preferably specified by touching the screen of the display unit 28 on which an image is displayed with a finger via the touch panel 29. Further, high-speed processing can be performed by performing image analysis on, for example, one of nine pixels in the region.

<Step S20> Image Extraction Based on the analysis result of the image analysis unit 34, the image extraction unit 35 extracts the first image having the maximum maximum brightness value Bmax from the plurality of moving images AFA, AFB, and AFC, and the minimum brightness. The second image having the smallest value Bmin is extracted. In the example shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, for example, from the moving image AFA, the image FA9 is extracted as the first image, and the image FA1 is extracted as the second image. That is, in order to place importance on selection based on the judgment of the user, the image extraction unit 35 extracts the image FA9 even if the exposure is overexposed.
In addition, it is preferable that it is possible by a user's selection so that the image extraction part 35 may extract an image with the highest brightness other than an overexposed image as the first image.
When the image analysis unit 34 analyzes the red luminance value, the green luminance value, and the blue luminance value of each image, the image extraction unit 35 uses the average value of the luminance values of the three colors or uses the three colors. The maximum or minimum luminance value is used.

  In the above example, the first image is the second image and the last image is the first image. Of course, the image being captured is often the first image / second image. .

<Step S21> Still Image Multi Display The display control unit 33 controls the display unit 28 to display the first image and the second image under three different shooting conditions A, B, and C side by side simultaneously. To do. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, six images of the shooting conditions A, B, and C are displayed side by side on the display screen 28A.

<Step S22> Is there a video selection?
The manual selection unit 36 selects one of the three types of moving images displayed on the display unit 28 by, for example, instructing (Yes) one moving image from the touch panel 29 by the user. In other words, the user selects a moving image that matches his intention.

<Step S23> Automatic Selection For example, when manual selection is not performed within a predetermined time or when an automatic selection instruction is given by the user (S22: No), the automatic selection unit 37 automatically selects one. Select a video. At this time, the automatic selection unit 37 selects a moving image in which the first image is less than the saturation luminance value and the difference in luminance value between the first image and the second image is the largest. That is, the automatic selection unit 37 selects a moving image having the largest change amount.
When the image analysis unit 34 has analyzed the red luminance value, the green luminance value, and the blue luminance value of each image, the image extraction unit 35 has the first luminance value that is less than the saturation luminance value for all three colors. A moving image that is an image and has the largest difference in luminance value between the first image and the second image is selected.

<Step S24> Moving Image Storage A moving image selected by the manual selection unit 36 or the automatic selection unit 37, that is, a moving image with shooting conditions suitable for the user's intention is stored in the storage unit 23. At this time, the moving image stored by a moving image compression unit (not shown) may be stored after being compressed.

In the above description, the case where the image extraction unit 35 extracts the first image and the second image based on the analysis result of the image analysis unit 34 has been described. However, the image extraction unit 35 is based on a predetermined condition. The first image and the second image may be extracted for each of the predetermined shooting conditions A, B, and C. For example, the image extraction unit 35 may extract the first image as the first image and extract the last image as the second image.
Further, the image extraction unit 35 may extract a moving image having the largest change, in other words, a first image and a second image in which the change is clear, or a moving image having a large change amount with respect to time. In other words, the first image and the second image having a large differential value of the change amount may be extracted. Further, the photographing condition is not limited to the exposure time, and may be an aperture state or the like.

  As described above, the camera 1 according to the present embodiment captures and stores a moving image under shooting conditions that match the user's intention.

Second Embodiment
Next, a camera 1A according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the camera 1A of the second embodiment is similar to the camera 1 of the first embodiment, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the camera 1 </ b> A includes a subject designation unit 38 that is a subject designation unit for the user to designate a specific subject from among the through images displayed on the display unit 28 before the start of shooting. Then, the image analysis unit 34A analyzes the area constituting the specific subject designated by the subject designation unit 38 in the captured image.

  In other words, the subject to be photographed may move in the screen as time passes, as in the case of shooting a movie of the sun sinking on the horizon. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 10, in the camera 1 </ b> A, the user can specify the sun as a specific subject from the through image before touching the start of shooting by touching the touch panel 29 with his / her finger. Start video recording so that the optimal exposure is achieved. Then, the image analysis unit 34A detects a portion where the sun is photographed in the photographed image, and analyzes the luminance value of the region.

  For example, the subject specifying unit 38 determines a specific shape, color, brightness, or the like of the subject image in the region specified by the user via the touch panel 29, and the position of the similar pattern on the sequentially obtained image is determined. Is detected. The detection result is stored in the temporary storage unit 22 together with the image.

Then, in order for the image analysis unit 34A to analyze the image of the region in which the sun is photographed in the image, the user or the automatic selection unit 37 can select a moving image composed of images with the largest sun color change. It is. Two or more areas may be designated by the user.
When a specific subject designated by the subject designation unit 38 disappears from the screen during photographing, for example, when the sun falls below the horizon, the camera 1A notifies the user to determine whether to continue or stop photographing.

  As described above, the camera 1 </ b> A of the present embodiment can capture a moving image suitable for the user's intention, focusing on the subject image of a small part in the screen, in addition to the effects of the camera 1.

  That is, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1A ... Camera, 10 ... Interchangeable lens, 11 ... Lens, 12 ... Operation part, 13 ... Drive part, 14 ... Position detection part, 15 ... Control part, 16 ... Communication part, 20 ... Body, 21 ... Imaging part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 22 ... Temporary memory | storage part, 23 ... Memory | storage part, 24 ... Communication part, 25 ... Clock, 26 ... Operation part, 27 ... Communication part, 28 ... Display part, 29 ... Touch panel, 30 ... Control part, 31 ... Movie imaging | photography control part , 32 ... moving image generation unit, 33 ... display control unit, 34, 34A ... image analysis unit, 35 ... image extraction unit, 36 ... manual selection unit, 37 ... automatic selection unit, 38 ... subject designation unit, 91 ... meat, 92 ... person, 93 ... background

Claims (9)

Photographing means for outputting an image of a subject;
Movie shooting control for controlling the shooting means so as to shoot a plurality of moving images composed of a plurality of images shot under the predetermined shooting conditions by repeatedly shooting at a predetermined frame rate under a plurality of predetermined shooting conditions. Means,
Automatic selection means for automatically selecting, from among the plurality of moving images, a moving image in which each of the plurality of images is less than a saturation luminance value and the difference between the luminance values of the plurality of images is maximum. An imaging apparatus comprising:   The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the luminance value is one of a white luminance value, a red luminance value, a green luminance value, and a blue luminance value. Display means;
The imaging according to claim 1, further comprising: a display control unit configured to control the display unit to display a plurality of through images under the predetermined imaging conditions side by side. apparatus.   The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit that stores the moving image selected by the automatic selection unit. An imaging step in which an imaging unit repeatedly captures an image of a subject at a predetermined frame rate under a plurality of predetermined imaging conditions, and captures a plurality of moving images each including a plurality of images;
An automatic selection step of automatically selecting, from among the plurality of moving images, a moving image in which each of the plurality of images is less than a saturation luminance value and the difference in luminance value between the plurality of images is maximum. A control method for an imaging apparatus, comprising:   6. The method according to claim 5, wherein in the photographing step, a plurality of through images under the plurality of predetermined photographing conditions are displayed side by side on the display means.   7. The method according to claim 5, further comprising a storage step of storing the moving image selected in the automatic selection step in a storage unit. The photographing of the subject image taken by the photographing means is repeatedly performed at a predetermined frame rate under a plurality of predetermined photographing conditions, and the luminance value of each of the plurality of images of a plurality of moving images each including a plurality of images is analyzed. An analysis step;
A selection step of automatically selecting, from among the plurality of moving images, a moving image in which each of the plurality of images is less than a saturation luminance value and the difference between the luminance values of the plurality of images is maximum. A photographing method characterized by:   The imaging method according to claim 8, further comprising a storage step in which the moving image selected in the selection step is stored in a storage unit.