JP6700824B2 - Optical device, control method thereof, and imaging device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to drive control of movable optical members of optical devices and imaging devices.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, image pickup devices such as optical devices and digital cameras have been significantly improved in functionality and operability. For example, there is an imaging device having a zoom function that continuously changes the angle of view. Further, an imaging device having a variable speed zoom mode as well as a fixed speed zoom mode has been developed. In the variable speed zoom mode, the zoom speed changes depending on the operation angle of the operation member that instructs the start and stop of driving of the zoom lens (movable optical member).

  Depending on the shooting scene, the user may want to freely move the zoom lens regardless of the focal length to determine the shooting range, or may want to move the zoom lens all at once to a predetermined focal length. In response to these demands, there are stepless zoom (seamless zoom) for continuously changing the focal length and step zoom for gradually changing the focal length. The user can select those zooms by the menu setting. When step zoom is executed, the zoom lens is drive-controlled to a predetermined position according to a user operation. During execution of the normal zoom, the zoom lens is driven only during the period when the user operation is performed, and the drive of the zoom lens is stopped when the user operation is stopped. As one of the stepless zoom methods, there is a method of changing the speed of the electric zoom according to the operation speed. The amount of change in the angle of view can be changed by adjusting the operation speed. For example, when the user wants to finely adjust the angle of view, the user can perform fine adjustment by reducing the operation speed. On the other hand, when the user operates the operation member at high speed, the electric zoom moves at high speed, so that the angle of view can be greatly changed. In this way, the imaging device capable of changing the zoom speed according to the operation speed can switch intuitively and quickly between the fine adjustment and the coarse adjustment of the angle of view without the user performing a troublesome operation.

  In the electric zoom of the image pickup apparatus, a driving actuator typified by a DC (direct current) motor is used to obtain the driving force of the zoom lens, and therefore the zoom speed has an upper limit and a lower limit. Depending on the operation speed, the user's feeling of use may be affected when the electric zoom speed cannot follow. For example, assume that the user wants to change the zoom position from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end at once. Even if the user operates at high speed, if the electric zoom cannot follow, it is necessary to operate the operation member many times before the zoom position actually reaches the telephoto end. Therefore, there is disclosed a technique in which zooming is not stopped immediately after the end of the user operation, but zoom driving is performed at a predetermined time after the end of the operation (Patent Document 1).

JP, 10-10406, A

However, with the method in which the zoom is continuously driven after the user's operation is finished, even if the user stops the operation when he wants to stop the zoom, the zoom cannot be stopped immediately. Therefore, when the user adjusts the view angle while searching for the desired view angle, if the user tries to stop the zoom at the timing when the desired view angle is reached, the view angle may deviate from the desired view angle. .. When the frequency of zoom driving is increased against the user's intention, it becomes difficult to finely adjust the angle of view.
An object of the present invention is to improve the operability of stopping a movable optical member in an optical device that controls the drive of the movable optical member according to the operation of the operation member.

An optical device according to an embodiment of the present invention controls a drive unit according to a signal detected by a detection unit that detects an operation state of an operation member, a drive unit that moves a movable optical member, and the detection unit. Control means for controlling movement and stop of the movable optical member, and control of inertial drive for continuously moving the movable optical member after the operation of the operation member is completed. The detection means detects at least one of an operation speed and an operation acceleration of the operation member. The control means determines whether the operation state is the first state or the second state based on at least one of the operation speed and the acceleration, and the operation of the operation member is stopped. when, performs the inertia drive when the operation state of the operation member is in the first state, when the operation state of the operation member is in the second state without the inertia drive, the Control is performed to stop the movable optical member.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the operability of stopping the movable optical member in the optical device that controls the drive of the movable optical member according to the operation of the operation member.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the optical device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the rotation speed of a zoom ring, and the drive speed of a zoom. It is a figure which shows the structure regarding the zoom drive in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the optical sensor in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the detection operation of the drive direction and drive position of a zoom lens. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of zoom drive processing according to an operation of a zoom ring according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining rotation detection processing of a zoom ring in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart explaining the inertial drive in the 1st and 4th embodiment of the present invention. 9 is a flowchart subsequent to FIG. 8. It is a figure which shows the rotation speed of a zoom ring, the threshold speed of inertia drive, and continuation time. It is a flow chart explaining inertia drive in a 2nd embodiment of the present invention. 12 is a flowchart that follows FIG. 11. It is a flow chart explaining inertia drive in a 3rd embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart following FIG. It is a figure explaining the inertial drive effective judgment of a zoom lens.

  Hereinafter, each embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In each embodiment, an image pickup device such as a digital camera is described, but the present invention can be applied to a lens device having a zoom function or the like and various optical devices.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a digital camera as an image pickup apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. A lens barrel 101 of a digital camera includes a zoom lens for adjusting an angle of view, a focus lens for adjusting focus, a shutter for controlling an exposure time, and a diaphragm for adjusting a light receiving amount (brightness of an image) of an image sensor 102. Equipped with. The image pickup element 102 photoelectrically converts an optical image formed by passing through the image pickup optical system into an electric signal. The imaging signal processing unit 103 converts the video signal output from the imaging device 102 into a signal suitable for storage in the memory card 111.

  Each actuator such as a DC motor for driving a zoom is built in the lens barrel 101. The drive controller 104 drives and controls each actuator according to a control signal from the system controller 105. The system controller 105 is a central part that controls the entire digital camera, and includes a CPU (central processing unit).

  The zoom lever 106 is an operation member used for instructing zoom drive when the user changes the angle of view. An operation instruction signal from the zoom lever 106 is input to the system controller 105. The flash memory 107 is a non-volatile storage device capable of electrically erasing and writing data. The compressed program in the flash memory 107 is expanded in the program memory 108 after decompression (expansion) when the image pickup apparatus is activated. The system controller 105 reads out and executes the program expanded in the program memory 108 to perform various controls.

  The image display memory 109 is a storage device that temporarily stores the data of the captured image. The display 110 displays a captured image or the like. The image of the subject formed on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 102 is photoelectrically converted into an electric signal, and the image data is read at a predetermined cycle. The signal processed by the imaging signal processing unit 103 is temporarily stored in the image display memory 109 as standard digital image data in a predetermined cycle, and at the same time, is sent to the display 110 to display an image (shooting standby). Status). In this shooting standby state, the user operates the shutter button 113 to start the shooting operation. After the image data read out from the image sensor 102 with a preset exposure time and temporarily stored in the image display memory 109 is converted into optimum data to be stored by the image signal processing unit 103, , And is recorded in the memory card 111. The memory card 111 is a randomly accessible memory including an optical disk, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, or the like, or a solid-state semiconductor memory such as a flash memory or SRAM/DRAM.

  The mode dial switch 112 is used when the user switches the shooting mode. The user can operate the mode dial switch 112 to switch between the automatic shooting mode, the aperture priority mode, the shutter speed priority mode, the moving image shooting mode, and the like. The power switch 114 is used when the user switches the camera power ON/OFF. Operation instruction signals from the mode dial switch 112, the shutter button 113, and the power switch 114 are output to the system controller 105. The flash 115 is a light emitting unit that emits auxiliary light for autofocus and adjusts the light emission amount during flash photography.

  The zoom ring 116 is a rotary operation member for the user to instruct zoom drive of the lens barrel 101. Similar to the zoom lever 106, the zoom drive is performed by the user operating the zoom ring 116. In the operation using the zoom lever 106, driving and stopping of the zoom lens are controlled according to the operation angle. On the other hand, in the operation using the zoom ring 116, the drive start and stop of the zoom lens are controlled according to whether the zoom ring 116 is rotated, and the drive speed of the zoom lens is adjusted according to the operation speed. Done. The zoom speed during operation of the zoom lever 106 is constant, but the zoom speed during operation of the zoom ring 116 changes according to the rotation speed of the zoom ring 116 (hereinafter referred to as the ring rotation speed). A specific description will be given with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between the ring rotation speed and the zoom drive speed. The horizontal axis represents the ring rotation speed in three stages (zoom drive start speed, switching speed 1, switching speed 2). The vertical axis represents the zoom drive speed in three stages (low speed, medium speed, high speed). The system controller 105 and the drive controller 104 drive-control the zoom lens, which is a movable optical member, according to the operation of the zoom ring 116.

  When the user operates the zoom ring 116 and the ring rotation speed reaches the zoom drive start speed, the system controller 105 and the drive controller 104 start zoom drive. If the ring rotation speed is lower than the zoom driving start speed, the zoom driving is not started and the zoom remains stopped. The zoom drive speed changes at low speed, medium speed, and high speed according to the ring rotation speed. That is, the low speed corresponds to the section from the zoom driving start speed to the switching speed 1, and the medium speed corresponds to the section from the switching speed 1 to the switching speed 2. High speed corresponds to a section with a switching speed of 2 or more. When the ring rotation speed becomes the switching speed 1, the zoom driving speed is switched from the low speed to the medium speed, and when the switching speed becomes 2, the zoom driving speed is switched from the middle speed to the high speed. The zoom drive speed changes according to the operation speed when the user operates the zoom ring 116. On the other hand, when the user operates the zoom lever 106, the zoom drive speed is the high speed shown in FIG. 2 and is always constant.

  A configuration example regarding zoom drive will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a block diagram mainly showing the internal configurations of the drive controller 104 and the lens barrel 101. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of the optical sensor 1161 that detects the operation state of the zoom ring 116. FIG. 4A shows a state in which the position detection member included in the optical sensor 1161 is viewed from directly above. FIG. 4B shows a state where the position detecting member included in the optical sensor 1161 is viewed from the side.

  The drive controller 104 shown in FIG. 3 includes a motor controller 1041, a driver circuit 1042, and an optical signal detection unit 1043. When the user operates the zoom ring 116, the output signal of the optical sensor 1161 changes. The output signal of the transmissive photo interrupter 1161a in FIG. 4 changes according to the amount of received light. The light blocking member 1161b is a member that transmits and blocks the light of the photo interrupter 1161a. The photo interrupter 1161a includes light emitting units 1161c and 1161e and light receiving units 1161d and 1161f. When the user operates the zoom ring 116, the light blocking member 1161b rotates in synchronization with the rotation of the zoom ring 116. As the light blocking member 1161b rotates, the amount of light received by the light receiving portions 1161d and 1161f changes. The optical sensor 1161 outputs a detection signal according to the amount of received light.

  The optical signal detection unit 1043 in FIG. 3 acquires a signal output from the optical sensor 1161 as the zoom ring 116 rotates, and binarizes each signal based on a preset threshold value. The optical signal detection unit 1043 detects the edge time interval for each binarized signal, and stores the falling edge and falling edge interval information of each signal in a register (not shown). The stored rising and falling edge interval information is updated at each detection.

  The motor controller 1041 reads the edge interval information of each signal stored in the optical signal detection unit 1043 at a predetermined cycle, and calculates the target speed of the zoom lens 1012 from each edge interval. The motor controller 1041 controls the driver circuit 1042 so that the speed of the zoom lens 1012 becomes the target speed calculated based on the edge interval. The driver circuit 1042 generates a PWM (pulse width modulation) duty ratio signal according to a control signal from the motor controller 1041 and applies it to the DC motor 1011.

  The DC motor 1011 is an actuator of the zoom lens 1012, and starts driving with a signal supplied from the driver circuit 1042 as an input. The zoom lens 1012 moves via a gear directly connected to the DC motor 1011. The motor controller 1041 monitors the position and speed of the zoom lens 1012 acquired by the optical signal detection unit 1043 at a predetermined cycle. Then, the motor controller 1041 controls the duty ratio of the PWM signal supplied to the DC motor 1011 so that the zoom lens 1012 moves at the driving speed instructed by the system controller 105 and stops at the target position.

  The optical sensor 1013 is attached to the shaft of a gear that directly connects the DC motor 1011 and the zoom lens 1012. The optical sensor 1013 has the same configuration as the optical sensor 1161 and outputs an electric signal (analog signal) according to the movement of the zoom lens 1012. The analog output signal of the optical sensor 1013 is binarized by the binarization circuit in the optical signal detector 1043. The optical signal detection unit 1043 detects the time interval of each edge of the binarized signal, and detects the drive speed, drive distance, and drive direction of the zoom lens 1012 based on the detected edge interval information. Information about the driving speed, the driving distance, and the driving direction of the zoom lens 1012 is notified from the optical signal detection unit 1043 to the motor controller 1041.

  The motor controller 1041 sets the control amount to be input to the driver circuit 1042 according to the difference between the drive speed of the zoom lens 1012 instructed by the system controller 105 and the drive speed of the zoom lens 1012 detected by the optical signal detection unit 1043. change. This control amount is determined by known P (proportional) I (integral) D (differential) control.

  The operation of detecting the driving direction and the driving position of the zoom lens will be described with reference to FIG. The signal shown in FIG. 5 is a signal obtained by binarizing the output signal output from the optical sensor 1161 when the encoder pulse plate inside the optical sensor 1161 is rotated by the binarizing circuit of the optical signal detecting unit 1043.

  FIG. 5A shows an A-phase binarized signal (denoted as ENCA) obtained by binarizing the A-phase analog signal by the binarization circuit. FIG. 5B shows a B-phase binary signal (denoted as ENCB) obtained by binarizing the B-phase analog signal by the binarizing circuit. The driving direction of the zoom lens 1012 is determined by the order of the rising and falling edges of the A-phase binary signal ENCA and the B-phase binary signal ENCB. In the following, the rising edge of ENCA will be referred to as Up, the falling edge of ENCA will be referred to as Down, the rising edge of ENCB will be referred to as Bup, and the falling edge of ENCB will be referred to as Bdown. For example, when the edges are detected in the order of Up, Bup, Down, and Bdown, the zoom lens 1012 is moving from the Wide (wide angle) direction to the Tele (telephoto) direction. When each edge is detected in the order of Bup, Aup, Bdown, and Down, the zoom lens 1012 moves from the Tele direction to the Wide direction.

  The position of the zoom lens 1012 is managed by the number of rising and falling edges of the binarized signal. For example, assume that the zoom lens 1012 is moving from the Wide direction to the Tele direction. Each edge of Aup, Bup, Down, and Bdown is detected by the optical signal detection unit 1043. The zoom position before zoom driving is set to position 0. When the zoom position count value increases from the Wide direction to the Tele direction, the zoom position count value advances by 4 counts and the zoom position becomes position 4. After that, when each edge is detected in the order of Bup, Aup, and Bdown, 3 counts are subtracted from the zoom position count value, and the zoom position becomes the position 1. As described above, the position of the zoom lens 1012 is managed by the order and the number of times that the edges of the A-phase and B-phase binarized signals detected by the optical signal detection unit 1043 are detected.

  FIG. 5C shows an operation clock CLK of the optical signal detection unit 1043. The optical signal detection unit 1043 calculates the drive speed of the zoom lens 1012 from the time intervals (edge intervals) of the rising and falling edges of both the A-phase and B-phase binarized signals. The edge interval is obtained by converting the time interval between the rising edges and the falling edges of the A phase and the B phase into the number of operation clocks. The respective edge intervals of the A phase and the B phase are measured by an internal counter of the optical signal detection unit 1043. The count value of the internal counter increases by one every one clock of the operation clock CLK.

T1 in FIG. 5 indicates the time interval from the rising edge of ENCA to the next rising edge. An example of calculating the moving speed (denoted as V _ZM , the unit is rps) of the zoom lens 1012 based on the time interval T1 will be described. The clock frequency (denoted as f _clk ) of the optical signal detection unit 1043 is set to 10 kHz. The number of pulses per encoder phase (denoted as P _c ) output from the optical sensor 1013 per one rotation of the DC motor 1011, that is, the number of slits in the encoder pulse plate is 100. As shown in FIG. 5, the advance amount (denoted as C _ZM ) of the internal counter of the optical signal detection unit 1043 is 10 at the time interval T1. The optical signal detection unit 1043 calculates the drive speed V _ZM of the zoom lens 1012 by the following (Formula 1).

The motor controller 1041 acquires the zoom drive speed calculated by the optical signal detection unit 1043, and determines whether the drive speed V _ZM of the zoom lens 1012 has reached the target speed (for example, 10 rps) instructed by the system controller 105. judge. When the drive speed V _ZM is less than the target speed, the motor controller 1041 reduces the control amount output to the driver circuit 1042. On the other hand, when the drive speed V _ZM reaches the target speed, the motor controller 1041 increases the output control amount. In this way, the motor controller 1041 controls the drive speed V _ZM while comparing the actual speed of the zoom lens 1012 with the target speed at predetermined time intervals so that the zoom lens 1012 continues to move at the target speed. ..

  Next, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6, an example of the drive processing of the zoom lens 1012 according to the operation of the zoom ring 116 will be described. The following processing is performed according to a program that the CPU reads from the memory and executes. First, in S601 after the power of the camera is turned on, the presence or absence of rotation of the zoom ring 116 is detected. When it is detected that the zoom ring 116 is rotated by the user, the process proceeds to S602. When the zoom ring 116 is not rotated, the processing of S601 is repeated. Details of the detection process will be described later with reference to FIG. 7.

  In step S602, the optical signal detection unit 1043 detects the rotation direction and rotation speed of the zoom ring 116. Subsequently, in step S603, the motor controller 1041 determines whether the zoom lens 1012 can be driven. If the zoom lens 1012 can be driven, the process proceeds to S604. If the zoom lens 1012 is not drivable, then the flow shifts to S607. For example, when the zoom lens 1012 has reached the Wide end (wide-angle end) and the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 is the reverse direction, that is, the direction in which the zoom position is moved to the Wide side, it is determined that the zoom lens 1012 cannot be driven. It Further, when the zoom lens 1012 reaches the Tele end (telephoto end) and the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 is the forward direction, that is, the direction in which the zoom position is moved to the Tele side, it is determined that the zoom lens 1012 cannot be driven. ..

（式２）のT_Rは、光学信号検出部１０４３が検出した光学センサ１１６１の２値化信号のエッジ間隔を示す。kは、光学信号検出部１０４３が検出したエッジ間隔をズームレンズ１０１２の目標速度に変換するための変換係数（リング回転速度からズーム駆動速度への変換係数）である。モータコントローラ１０４１は、（式２）に基づいて速度を算出する。モータコントローラ１０４１は、算出した速度をズームレンズ１０１２の低速、中速、高速の各速度（図２）と比較し、３つの速度のうち最も近い速度をズーム目標速度に設定する。 In S604, the motor controller 1041 calculates the zoom target speed (referred to as V _ZMT ) using the following (Formula 2).

T _{R in} (Equation 2) represents the edge interval of the binarized signal of the optical sensor 1161 detected by the optical signal detection unit 1043. k is a conversion coefficient (a conversion coefficient from the ring rotation speed to the zoom drive speed) for converting the edge interval detected by the optical signal detection unit 1043 into the target speed of the zoom lens 1012. The motor controller 1041 calculates the speed based on (Equation 2). The motor controller 1041 compares the calculated speed with each of the low speed, the middle speed, and the high speed of the zoom lens 1012 (FIG. 2), and sets the closest speed among the three speeds to the zoom target speed.

In step S605, the motor controller 1041 determines whether the zoom lens 1012 can be driven based on the ring rotation speed held by the optical signal detection unit 1043 and the drive start speed of the zoom lens 1012. When the ring rotation speed value is smaller than the zoom drive start speed value, the motor controller 1041 determines that the zoom lens 1012 cannot be driven. In this case, the process proceeds to S607 without driving the zoom lens 1012. On the other hand, if the ring rotation speed value is equal to or higher than the zoom driving start speed value in S605, the motor controller 1041 determines that the zoom lens 1012 can be driven. In the present embodiment, it is determined whether the zoom lens 1012 can be driven or not based on the zoom target speed calculated from the ring rotation speed. Not limited to this, it may be determined whether the zoom lens 1012 can be driven or not based on the ring rotation speed. If it is determined in S605 that zoom drive is possible, the process proceeds to S606. In S606, the motor controller 1041 drives the zoom lens 1012 so that the drive speed of the zoom lens 1012 becomes the target speed V _ZMT calculated in S604. It progresses to S607 after S606.

  In S607, the motor controller 1041 determines whether the rotation of the zoom ring 116 is stopped. When the rotation of the zoom ring 116 continues due to the user's operation, the process returns to S602, and the rotation direction and the rotation speed of the zoom ring 116 are detected again. On the other hand, when the rotation of the zoom ring 116 is stopped (however, when inertial driving, which will be described later, is not performed), the process proceeds to S608, and driving of the zoom lens 1012 is ended. Then, from S601, the presence/absence of a rotation operation of the zoom ring 116 by the user is detected again.

  Due to the output torque of the DC motor 1011 for driving the zoom lens 1012 and the load on the lens barrel, the speed at which zoom driving can be performed at a constant speed is limited. When controlling the speed of the zoom lens 1012, speed detection is performed using edge interval information of a signal obtained by binarizing the signal of the optical sensor 1013. The drive input of the zoom lens 1012 is controlled based on the detected speed information. Therefore, when the drive speed of the zoom lens 1012 is slow, the cycle for detecting the change in the value of the edge interval is long, and therefore the cycle for correcting the drive input of the zoom lens 1012 based on the detected zoom drive speed is long. As a result, when a sudden load change occurs, there is a high possibility that the zoom operation will stop before the zoom lens 1012 reaches the target position because the control input of the motor controller 1041 cannot be updated in time. Become. In order to perform stable zoom driving without causing a phenomenon in which the zoom position does not reach the target position and stops midway, generally, the minimum speed of the zoom lens 1012 has a margin on the high speed side to some extent. Has been set.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 7, a process of detecting rotation of the zoom ring 116 will be described. FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B show temporal changes in the A-phase and B-phase signals obtained by binarizing the output signal of the optical sensor 1161 by the optical signal detection unit 1043. FIG. 7C shows each edge interval time stored in the cycle holding register that the optical signal detection unit 1043 detects and holds the edge interval of the binarized signal. FIG. 7D shows the operation determination output of the zoom ring 116. FIG. 7E shows the detection timing of the position change of the zoom ring 116.

When the user operates the zoom ring 116, the output signal of the optical sensor 1161 changes. The optical signal detection unit 1043 detects each edge interval time of four edges of the A-phase binary signal and the B-phase binary signal, and holds only the latest edge interval in the cycle holding register. T2 to T5 shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B are as follows.
T2: Time interval from the rising edge of the A-phase binary signal to the next rising edge.
T3: Time interval from the rising edge of the B-phase binary signal to the next rising edge.
T4: Time interval from the falling edge of the A-phase binary signal to the next falling edge.
T5: Time interval from the falling edge of the B-phase binary signal to the next falling edge.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 7, first, the period holding register holds the edge interval T2. Next, the value held in the cycle holding register is rewritten to T3 at the timing when the rising edge of the B-phase binary signal arrives. After that, the value of the cycle holding register is rewritten to T4 at the timing when the falling edge of the A-phase binary signal is detected. After that, the value of the cycle holding register is rewritten to T5 at the timing when the falling edge of the B-phase binary signal is detected. In this way, the cycle holding register holds only the latest edge intervals of the A-phase and B-phase binary signals.

  In the operation determination of the zoom ring 116 illustrated in FIG. 7D, the determination is performed with respect to the start and stop of the operation based on the change in the value of the cycle holding register at the detection timing of the zoom ring position change illustrated in FIG. 7E. Be seen. The optical signal detection unit 1043 determines that the user has operated the zoom ring 116 when the rotation cycle of the zoom ring 116 is shorter than a predetermined time (determination threshold value) (ring operation state). In the ring operation state, the zoom drive is performed at the drive speed of the zoom lens 1012 according to the operation speed of the zoom ring 116 until the operation stop of the zoom ring 116 is detected. The stop of operation of the zoom ring 116 is detected by the optical signal detection unit 1043 based on the presence or absence of a change in the cycle holding register value at the detection timing of the change in the zoom ring position. For example, the optical signal detection unit 1043 determines that the user has stopped the operation of the zoom ring 116 when the value of the cycle holding register has not continuously changed by a threshold value or more (for example, three times) at the detection timing of the zoom position change. Yes (ring operation stopped state). When shifting to the ring operation stop state, the motor controller 1041 starts the process of stopping the driving of the zoom lens 1012 which is being driven.

  The motor controller 1041 detects the position change of the zoom ring 116 by accessing the cycle holding register of the optical signal detection unit 1043 at a predetermined cycle. Whether or not the position of the zoom ring 116 has changed is determined by whether or not the value held in the cycle holding register has changed since the previous access. The motor controller 1041 reads the information from the drive direction holding register that holds the drive direction information at the same time as the position change of the zoom ring 116. The driving direction holding register rewrites the driving direction information at the timing when the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 changes. The rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 is determined by which of the rising edges of the A-phase and B-phase binarized signals shown in FIG. 7 is detected first. For example, when the rising edge of the A-phase binarized signal is detected before the rising edge of the B-phase binarized signal, it is determined that the rotation is in the forward direction. At this time, the zoom lens 1012 is moving in the Tele direction. On the contrary, when the rising edge of the B-phase binary signal is detected before the rising edge of the A-phase binary signal, it is determined that the rotation is in the reverse direction. At this time, the zoom lens 1012 is moving in the Wide direction. Information on the determined rotation direction is stored in the drive direction holding register of the optical signal detection unit 1043.

  The inertial drive control in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9. The inertial drive is a drive in which the zoom lens 1012 is continuously moved after the operation of the zoom ring 116 is completed. In the present embodiment, the inertial drive is performed after determining whether or not the inertial drive is performed according to the operation speed and the operation time of the zoom ring 116. Specifically, the ring rotation speed is compared with a threshold speed for inertial drive (denoted by Vi). Further, the time counting process is performed for the time when the ring rotation speed is equal to or higher than the threshold speed Vi, and the measured time is compared with the threshold time (indicated as Ti) of inertial drive. When the measured time is equal to or longer than the threshold time Ti, the inertial driving of the zoom is performed after the end of the operation of the zoom ring 116 is detected. That is, whether or not the inertial drive of the zoom is performed is determined depending on whether or not the state in which the operation speed of the zoom ring is equal to or higher than the threshold speed continues for the reference time or longer. If the ring rotation speed does not reach the threshold speed Vi, or if the duration time is shorter than the threshold time Ti even if it reaches the threshold speed Vi, inertia driving is not performed and the zoom lens is stopped together with the stop of the zoom ring 116. Control is performed. Note that, in FIG. 8, each processing of S801 to S803 is the same as the processing of S601 to S603 of FIG. 6, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted. If it is determined in S803 that zoom drive is possible, the process proceeds to S804. If it is determined in S803 that zoom drive is not possible, the process proceeds to S817 in FIG.

  In step S804, the drive controller 104 determines whether the ring rotation speed (denoted as Vr) exceeds the inertial drive threshold speed Vi. The ring rotation speed Vr will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a temporal change of the ring rotation speed Vr. The horizontal axis represents the time axis and the vertical axis represents the ring rotation speed Vr. The inertial drive threshold speed Vi is indicated by a horizontal dotted line, and the times ts and te are indicated by a vertical dotted line. Time ts is the time when the ring rotation speed Vr reaches the threshold speed Vi during acceleration. Time te is the time when the ring rotation speed Vr reaches the threshold speed Vi during deceleration. After the zoom ring 116 starts rotating, the ring rotation speed Vr reaches the threshold speed Vi at time ts, and the speed slightly rises to a deceleration after a constant speed period. At time te, the ring rotation speed Vr becomes the threshold speed Vi, further decreases, and finally becomes zero. The inertial drive speed continuation time (hereinafter, simply referred to as continuation time, referred to as tc) is the time from time ts to time te.

  In S804 of FIG. 8, the drive controller 104 determines whether or not the ring rotation speed Vr exceeds the inertia driving threshold speed Vi. When the ring rotation speed Vr exceeds the threshold speed Vi, the process proceeds to S805. If the ring rotation speed Vr is equal to or lower than the threshold speed Vi, the process proceeds to S812.

  In step S805, the drive controller 104 determines whether the inertial drive speed detection flag (denoted by Fi) is ON or OFF. If the flag Fi is ON, the process proceeds to S811, and if it is OFF, the process proceeds to S806. In step S811, the drive controller 104 increments the value of the clock counter (denoted by Tc), and proceeds to step S808 in FIG. The clock counter performs a count-up operation at preset time intervals of ΔT to measure the duration tc shown in FIG. Further, in S806, counting up of the clock counter Tc starts. Then, the process proceeds to S807, the inertial drive speed detection flag Fi is set to ON, and the process proceeds to S808 of FIG. With the inertial drive speed detection flag Fi set to ON, the count-up operation of the clock counter in S811 is continuously executed. And it progresses to S808 of FIG.

When the process proceeds to S812, the drive controller 104 clears the value Tc of the clock counter to zero, and then proceeds to S813 to set the inertial drive speed detection flag Fi to OFF. After that, the process proceeds to S808 in FIG. In S808, the drive controller 104 calculates the zoom target speed V _ZMT from the above (Equation 2) based on the ring rotation speed Vr detected in S802. In next step S809, the drive controller 104 starts speed control of the zoom lens 1012, and in step S810, it is determined whether or not the operation of the zoom ring 116 is completed. When it is not determined that the rotation of the zoom ring 116 is stopped, that is, when the operation of the zoom ring 116 is continued, the processing from S802 to S810 is repeatedly executed again. If it is determined in S810 that the rotation of the zoom ring 116 is stopped, the process proceeds to S814.

  In step S814, the drive controller 104 determines whether to perform zoom inertial drive. This determination is performed by comparing the value Tc of the clock counter with the count value corresponding to the inertia driving threshold time Ti. When the value Tc of the clock counter is less than or equal to the count value corresponding to the threshold time Ti, the process proceeds to S817. If the value Tc of the clock counter is larger than the count value corresponding to the threshold time Ti, the process proceeds to S815.

  In step S815, the drive controller 104 starts the inertial drive of zoom. During inertial drive, zoom drive control is performed at a predetermined speed regardless of the presence or absence of rotation of the zoom ring 116 and the rotational speed. The predetermined speed is set to, for example, the upper limit speed. After starting the inertial drive, the process proceeds to S816, and the drive controller 104 continues the inertial drive until the threshold time Ti or more elapses. The threshold time Ti relating to the continuation of the inertial drive is determined after investigating an appropriate time in advance by a monitor test or the like, and is stored in the ROM before shipping the product. When it is determined that the elapsed time Tc from the time when the inertial drive is started in S815 has exceeded the predetermined threshold time Ti or more, the process proceeds to S817. In step S817, the drive controller 104 stops driving the zoom.

  In the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not to continue moving the zoom after the end of the operation of the zoom ring, and the inertia drive control is performed according to the operation speed and the operation time of the zoom ring. According to the present embodiment, by performing the inertial drive of the zoom lens, the zoom drive continues even during the period in which the zoom ring is stopped. Therefore, the user can greatly change the angle of view with a smaller operation amount of the zoom ring. You can Further, without requiring a complicated operation, whether to perform inertial drive after the operation of the zoom ring is switched according to the operation speed and the operation time of the zoom ring. Therefore, the user can intuitively and easily perform inertial drive. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to intuitively switch between the fine adjustment of the angle of view and the coarse adjustment by a simple operation without the user feeling annoyed, and the zoom drive can be performed immediately when the user wants to stop zooming. Can be stopped.

[Modification]
A modified example of the first embodiment will be described below.
In the modification, it is determined whether or not the inertial drive is performed based on the acceleration of the zoom ring operation. In the case of determination based on acceleration, the drive controller 104 compares the rotational acceleration of the zoom ring 116 with the threshold acceleration of inertial driving in S804 of FIG. If the rotation acceleration of the zoom ring 116 is equal to or greater than the threshold acceleration, the process proceeds to S805, and if it is less than the threshold acceleration, the process proceeds to S812. When the zoom ring operation is stopped while the inertial drive speed detection flag Fi is ON, the drive controller 104, in step S<b>814, sets the time when the acceleration of the zoom ring operation is continuously equal to or more than the threshold acceleration of the inertial drive as the threshold time. Compare. When it is determined that the time during which the acceleration of the zoom ring operation is continuously the threshold acceleration or more continues for the threshold time or more, the process proceeds to S815.

  Further, in the first embodiment, as an example of the determination condition when terminating the inertial drive of the zoom, an example is shown in which the elapsed time from the time when the inertial drive is started is longer than the threshold time relating to the continuation of the inertial drive. It was In the modification, the inertial drive is stopped according to the operation direction of the zoom ring during the inertial drive. For example, it is assumed that the user operates the zoom ring 116 to perform inertial drive in the direction in which the zoom position is moved from the Wide direction to the Tele direction. When the user performs an operation during that time and rotates the zoom ring 116 in a direction of moving the zoom position from the Tele direction to the Wide direction, the drive controller 104 determines that the user intentionally cancels the inertial drive. judge. In this case, the drive controller 104 stops the zoom operation regardless of the duration of the inertial drive.

Further, in S804 of FIG. 8, whether or not the ring rotation speed is higher than the threshold speed of inertial drive (or is equal to or higher than the threshold speed) is used as a determination condition, and the process proceeds to S805 or S812 depending on the determination result. Can be switched. In the modified example, it is possible to select a mode in which the inertial drive of the zoom is performed or a mode in which the inertial drive is not performed according to the ring rotation speed and the duration of the operation, by menu setting. When inertial drive is set to be valid in the menu setting by the user's operation, a condition for determining whether to perform inertial drive is added. For example, in S814 of FIG. 9 , when the setting of inertia driving is effective and the value Tc of the clock counter is larger than the count value corresponding to the threshold time Ti of inertia driving, the process proceeds to S815 and the inertia driving is started. To do. On the other hand, in S814 of FIG. 9 , when the setting of inertia drive is invalid, even if the ring rotation speed exceeds the threshold speed of inertia drive and Tc>Ti, the process proceeds to S817 without proceeding to S815. In this way, the inertial drive of zoom is switched between valid and invalid according to the contents of the menu setting.

Further, in the modified example, it is determined whether or not the inertia driving is performed according to the zoom position at the time when the inertia driving is started and the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116. This will be specifically described with reference to FIG. ZP0, ZP10, ZP90, and ZP100 in FIG. 15 indicate zoom points. The left side is defined as the wide-angle side and the right side is defined as the telephoto side. The section from ZP0 to ZP10 and the section from ZP90 to ZP100 are both inertial drive possible determination regions. These determination regions are zoom regions when it is determined whether or not inertial drive is performed according to the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116. In S814 of FIG. 9 , the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 and the position of the zoom lens 1012 are detected. For example, when it is determined that the zoom point is within the wide-side inertial drivability determination area and the zoom lens 1012 is moving in the wide direction, inertial driving is not performed. Similarly, when it is determined that the zoom point is in the inertial drive possible determination area on the Tele side and the zoom lens 1012 is moving in the Tele direction, inertial drive is not performed.

  As a countermeasure against recording of zoom driving sound during moving image recording, there is a case where the upper limit value of zoom driving speed is set lower than that during still image shooting. Even if inertial drive is performed in such a case, the effect of inertial drive is low. Therefore, inertial drive is not performed during moving image recording. It should be noted that the above modified example is also applicable to the embodiments described later.

[Second Embodiment]
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 11 and 12. In the following, by using the same reference numerals as those used in the first embodiment, detailed description thereof will be omitted and differences will be mainly described. The omission of such description is the same in the embodiments described later.
In the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the inertia drive is performed according to the previous operation state of the zoom ring and the current operation state of the zoom ring, and the inertia drive of the zoom is controlled. The conditions for determining whether to perform inertial drive are as follows.
(A1) The inertia drive was not performed during the previous zoom ring operation (hereinafter referred to as the previous operation).
(A2) The operation speed of the zoom ring during the previous operation was equal to or higher than the inertial drive threshold speed, and the operation speed of the zoom ring during the previous operation was finally equal to or higher than the inertial drive threshold speed.
(A3) Time from the time when the state of (A2) is detected to the time when the operation speed of the zoom ring during the current zoom ring operation (hereinafter referred to as the current operation) first becomes equal to or higher than the inertial drive threshold speed Is less than or equal to a predetermined time (threshold time).
When all the conditions from (A1) to (A3) are satisfied, inertial drive is performed.

  The processing of S1001 to S1003 of FIG. 11 is the same as the processing of S801 to S803 of FIG. When the drive controller 104 detects the rotation of the zoom ring 116 in S1001, it detects the rotation direction and the rotation speed of the zoom ring 116 in S1002. In step S1003, the drive controller 104 determines whether the zoom can be driven based on the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 and the current position of the zoom lens 1012. When it is determined that the zoom drive is impossible, the zoom lens 1012 is not driven and the process proceeds to S1024 in FIG. If it is determined in S1003 that zoom driving is possible, the process proceeds to S1004.

  In step S1004, the drive controller 104 determines whether the inertial drive valid flag (denoted by Fj) is ON. When the flag Fj is ON, the inertial drive is valid, and when it is OFF, the inertial drive is invalid. If the flag Fj is OFF, the process proceeds to S1005, and if the flag Fj is ON, the process proceeds to S1020. In S1005, the drive controller 104 compares the current ring rotation speed (denoted as Vc) with the inertial drive threshold speed Vi. If the current ring rotation speed Vc is greater than the inertial drive threshold speed Vi, the process proceeds to S1006, and if the current ring rotation speed Vc is less than or equal to the inertial drive threshold speed Vi, the process proceeds to S1007.

  In S1006, the drive controller 104 sets a flag (denoted as Fc) indicating that the current ring rotation speed Vc exceeds the inertial drive threshold speed Vi to ON, and proceeds to S1007. In S1007, the drive controller 104 determines whether or not a flag (described as Fold) indicating whether or not the rotational speed at the time of the previous operation is equal to or more than the inertial drive threshold speed. If the flag Fold is ON, the process proceeds to S1008. If the flag Fold is OFF, the process moves to S1010.

  S1008 is a time (Told and Time) from the time when the ring rotational speed is finally detected to be equal to or higher than the inertial drive threshold speed during the previous operation to the time when the ring rotational speed is first equal to or higher than the inertial drive threshold speed during the current operation. (Note)). The drive controller 104 compares the time Told with the inertial drive threshold time Ti and determines whether Told is shorter than Ti. Regarding the time Told, the internal timer is set according to the timing when the ring rotation speed at the time of the previous operation is finally detected to be equal to or more than the inertial drive threshold speed Vi and the timing at which the inertial drive threshold speed Vi is firstly exceeded at the time of the current operation. Measures. In S1008, if Told<Ti, the process proceeds to S1009, and if Tol≧Ti, the process proceeds to S1010.

In S1009, the drive controller 104 sets the inertial drive valid flag Fj to ON, and proceeds to S1010. In step S1010, the drive controller 104 calculates the zoom target speed V _ZMT from the current ring rotation speed Vc using the above (formula 2). In S1011, feedback control is performed so that the drive speed of the zoom lens 1012 becomes the zoom target speed V _ZMT . The drive controller 104 performs zoom speed control based on the difference between the set zoom target speed V _ZMT and the actual drive speed of the zoom lens 1012 detected by the optical signal detection unit 1043. Next, proceeding to step S1012, the drive controller 104 determines whether or not the rotation of the zoom ring 116 has stopped. When it is determined that the rotation of the zoom ring 116 has stopped, the process proceeds to S1013 in FIG. If it is determined that the rotation of the zoom ring 116 has not stopped, the process returns to S1002.

If the inertial drive valid flag Fj is ON in S1004, the process proceeds to S1020. The drive controller 104 sets (fixes) the zoom target speed V _ZMT to a high speed regardless of the ring rotation speed detected in S1002. In next step S1021, the drive controller 104 performs zoom speed control so that the drive speed of the zoom lens 1012 becomes V _ZMT . After that, the process proceeds to S1022, and the drive controller 104 determines whether the rotation of the zoom ring 116 has stopped. When it is determined that the rotation of the zoom ring 116 has stopped, the process proceeds to S1013 in FIG. If it is not determined in S1022 that the rotation of the zoom ring 116 is stopped, the process returns to S1021 to continue the zoom speed control.

  In S1013 of FIG. 12, the drive controller 104 determines whether the inertial drive valid flag Fj is ON. If the flag Fj is OFF, the process proceeds to S1023, and if the flag Fj is ON, the process proceeds to S1014. In step S1023, the drive controller 104 substitutes the value of the flag Fc into the flag Fold and proceeds to step S1019. This is because it is used when determining inertial drive validity at the next zoom ring operation. The flag Fold is set to the value of the flag Fc indicating whether or not the ring rotation speed Vc at this time exceeds the inertial drive threshold speed Vi.

In step S1014, the drive controller 104 sets the zoom target speed V _ZMT to a high speed. After the zoom target speed V _ZMT is fixed at a high speed, the inertia driving of the zoom is started in S1015. Next, in S1016, the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 is detected. In S1017, the drive controller 104 determines whether or not the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 has been reversed since the inertial drive was started in S1015. When it is determined that the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 is reversed during the inertial drive, that is, the rotation direction before the inertial drive is started is changed to the reverse direction, the process proceeds to S1019. If it is determined that the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 is not reversed during inertial drive, the process proceeds to S1018.

  In S1018, the drive controller 104 compares the elapsed time from the time when the inertial drive is started with the inertial drive continuation time (threshold time). When the inertia driving continuation time has not elapsed, the processing is returned to S1016. When the inertia driving continuation time has elapsed, the process proceeds to S1019. In step S1019, the drive controller 104 sets the flag Fold used when determining the inertial drive validity at the next zoom ring operation to OFF, and proceeds to step S1024. In step S1024, the drive controller 104 sets OFF the flag Fc indicating that the ring rotation speed Vc at this time exceeds the inertial drive threshold speed Vi in preparation for the next zoom ring operation. After that, the process proceeds to S1025 and the zoom drive is stopped.

  In the present embodiment, whether or not the inertia drive of the zoom is performed is switched according to the ring rotation speed when the user continuously operates the zoom ring and the time interval between the previous operation and the current operation. When the inertial drive of the zoom is performed, the zoom drive continues even during the period in which the zoom ring is stopped, so that the angle of view can be greatly changed with a smaller operation amount and the number of operations of the zoom ring. In addition, the user can intuitively and easily perform inertial drive.

[Modification]
In S1005 of FIG. 11, whether or not the ring rotation speed Vc is higher than the inertial drive threshold speed Vi (or is equal to or higher than the threshold speed Vi) is used as a determination condition, and the process switches to S1006 or S1007 depending on the determination result. In the modification, it is further possible to select a mode in which the inertial drive is performed or a mode in which the inertial drive is not performed according to the menu setting depending on the operation speed of the zoom ring and the operation duration time. For example, in S1013 of FIG. 12, when the setting of the inertia drive mode is valid and the flag Fj is ON, the process proceeds to S1014, and the inertia drive is performed. On the other hand, when the inertia drive mode is set to be invalid, even if the flag Fj is ON, the process does not proceed to S1014 but proceeds to S1023. In this way, the user can perform menu setting operation and specify whether the inertial drive is enabled or disabled.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, the inertial drive of the zoom is performed after determining whether or not the inertial drive of the zoom is performed according to the operation pattern of the zoom ring. 13 and 14 are flowcharts showing an example in which the user operates the zoom ring from a state in which the operation of the zoom ring is stopped, determines whether the inertial drive of the zoom is enabled or disabled after the zoom drive, and then performs the inertial drive of the zoom. Is. In the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the inertia drive is performed according to the operating conditions of the zoom ring at the time of the previous operation and the operation of the previous two times. Specifically, when the operation direction of the zoom ring is changed a predetermined number of times, for example, twice in succession within a predetermined time, it is determined that the user intends to perform inertia drive of the zoom, and the inertia of the zoom is determined. Drive is performed. The predetermined time is a time preset for the determination. The predetermined number of times is a fixed value or can be changed according to the operation state of the zoom ring.

In S1101 of FIG. 13, the past two times of zoom ring operation information is read. The zoom ring operation information (hereinafter referred to as zoom operation information) is information on the operation speed and the operation direction of the zoom ring 116, and includes history information when the user has operated the zoom ring 116 in the past. The zoom operation information is stored in a storage area (not shown) inside the system controller 105. This storage area can store zoom operation information for the past two times. After reading the zoom operation information for the past two times, the process proceeds to S1102, and the current rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 is detected. Then, it progresses to S1103.
In step S1103, the drive controller 104 determines whether zoom drive is possible based on the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 and the current zoom position. If the zoom cannot be driven, the zoom driving is not started and the processing is ended and the zoom ring 116 is in a standby state until the next operation. If it is determined in step S1103 that zoom drive is possible, the process advances to step S1104, and information about the current rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 is stored in the storage area. At this time, if the zoom operation information is already stored in all writable areas in the storage area, the zoom operation information can be overwritten in order from the oldest zoom operation information stored in the storage area. Will be updated.

  In S1105, the drive controller 104 increments the ring continuous operation number counter. The ring continuous operation number counter measures the number of times the zoom ring 116 is operated continuously (the count value is referred to as Cd). The next step S1106 is processing for determining whether or not the count value Cd is 1. When the count value Cd is 1, the process proceeds to S1107, and the drive controller 104 starts the operation of the ring continuous operation time counting counter. The ring continuous operation clock counter measures the time during which the zoom ring 116 is operated continuously (the count value is referred to as Td). Then, the process proceeds to S1108. If Cd is not 1 in S1106, that is, if the ring continuous operation clock counter has already started to operate, the process directly proceeds to S1108. In step S1108, the drive controller 104 determines the inertial drive valid flag Fj. If the flag Fj is ON, the process proceeds to S1119 in FIG. 14, and if the flag Fj is OFF, the process proceeds to S1109 in FIG.

  First, the case where the inertial drive valid flag Fj is invalid (OFF) will be described with reference to S1109 to S1118. In step S1109, the drive controller 104 determines whether the value Cd of the ring continuous operation number counter is 3. If Cd is 3, the process proceeds to S1110, and if Cd is not 3, the process proceeds to S1115. S1110 is a determination process of whether or not the value Td of the ring continuous operation time counter is equal to or more than the inertial drive threshold time Ti. If Td<Ti, the process proceeds to S1111, and if Td≧Ti, the process proceeds to S1114.

  In step S1111, the drive controller 104 determines whether the current operating direction (rotational direction) of the zoom ring 116 is the same as the operating direction of the zoom ring 116 two times before (two operations before). If the operation direction of the zoom ring 116 is the same for the current operation and the two-previous operation, the process proceeds to S1112, and if different, the process proceeds to S1114. In step S1112, the drive controller 104 determines whether the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 during the previous operation and the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 during the current operation are different. If the rotation direction at the previous operation and the rotation direction at the current operation are different, the process proceeds to S1113, and if they are the same, the process proceeds to S1114.

In step S1113, the drive controller 104 sets the inertial drive valid flag Fj to ON. Then, the process proceeds to S1114, and the value Cd of the ring continuous operation number counter is initialized to zero. Next, proceeding to S1115, the ring rotation speed is detected. In next step S1116, the drive controller 104 calculates the zoom target speed V _ZMT from the ring rotation speed detected in step S1115 using the above (formula 2), and proceeds to step S1117. In step S1117, the drive controller 104 performs zoom speed control according to the zoom target speed V _ZMT . Next, proceeding to step S1118, the drive controller 104 determines whether the rotation of the zoom ring 116 has stopped. When it is determined that the rotation of the zoom ring 116 is stopped, the process is terminated and the process is in a standby state until the next zoom ring operation is detected. If the rotation of the zoom ring 116 is not stopped in S1118, the process returns to S1115. That is, until the rotation stop of the zoom ring 116 is detected, the zoom drive is continued so that the zoom speed corresponds to the operation speed of the zoom ring 116.

Next, a case where the inertial drive valid flag Fj is valid (ON) in S1108 will be described. In this case, the process proceeds from S1108 to S1119, and the drive controller 104 sets (fixes) the zoom target speed V _ZMT to a high speed. Next, proceeding to S1120, inertial drive is started at the zoom target speed V _ZMT set at S1119. In the next step S1121, the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 is detected. After that, the process proceeds to S1122, and the drive controller 104 determines whether or not the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 is reversed. When the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 detected in S1119 is different from the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 detected in S1104, the process proceeds to S1124. If the rotation direction of the zoom ring 116 is not reversed, the process proceeds to S1123.

  In step S1123, the drive controller 104 determines whether the elapsed time from the moment when the inertial drive is started to the present time is equal to or longer than the duration time (threshold time) of the inertial drive. When the elapsed time is less than the threshold time, the process returns to S1121 and the inertial drive is continued. If the elapsed time is equal to or longer than the threshold time in S1123, the process proceeds to S1124. In S1124, the value Cd of the ring continuous operation number counter is initialized to zero. Next, the processing proceeds to step S1125, and after the inertia drive enable flag Fj is set to OFF, the next operation of the zoom ring 116 is prepared.

  In the present embodiment, when the user continuously operates the zoom ring, it is determined whether or not the inertial drive of the zoom is performed according to the operation direction of the zoom ring in each operation. When the inertial drive of the zoom is performed, the zoom drive is continued even while the user is not operating the zoom ring, so that the angle of view can be largely changed with a smaller operation amount of the zoom ring. Further, it is determined whether or not the inertia drive after the end of the zoom ring operation is performed according to the operation speed of the zoom ring and the time interval of the operation without requiring a complicated operation. Therefore, the user can intuitively and easily perform inertial drive.

[Modification]
In the modified example of the present embodiment, it is possible to select a mode in which the inertial driving of the zoom is performed or a mode in which the inertial driving of the zoom is not performed, by menu setting. The menu setting allows the user to specify whether the inertial drive of zoom is enabled or disabled. For example, in S1112 of FIG. 14, when the setting of the inertia drive mode is valid and the zoom ring operating direction at the time of the previous operation is different from the zoom ring operating direction of the current operation, the process proceeds to S1113. On the other hand, when the inertia drive mode is set to be invalid, the process proceeds to S1114 even if the operation direction at the previous operation is different from the operation direction at the current operation in S1112.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the inertia drive is performed according to the operation speed and the operation amount of the zoom ring. Specifically, the drive controller 104 compares the ring rotation speed Vr with a threshold speed Vi for inertial drive, and compares the operation amount of the zoom ring 116 with a threshold rotation amount for inertial drive (denoted as Pi). When the operation amount of the zoom ring 116 when the ring rotation speed Vr is higher than the threshold speed Vi (or higher than the threshold speed) is higher than the threshold rotation amount Pi (or higher than the threshold rotation amount), detection of the operation end of the zoom ring 116 is detected. Later, the inertial drive of the zoom is performed. On the other hand, if the ring rotation speed Vr does not reach the threshold speed Vi, or if the operation amount of the zoom ring 116 is smaller than the threshold rotation amount Pi even if it reaches Vi, the drive controller 104 does not perform inertial drive. In this case, the drive controller 104 stops the zoom lens 1012 when the zoom ring 116 stops.

  The inertial drive control in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9. The difference from the first embodiment is the processing contents of S806, S811, S812, and S814. Therefore, the description of other processes is omitted.

  If the inertial drive speed detection flag Fi is OFF in S805, the process proceeds to S806. The position counter of the zoom ring 116 starts a count-up operation. The value of the position counter (denoted as Pc) indicates the amount of movement of the zoom ring 116 that is counted only during the duration tc shown in FIG. The position counter calculates the position from the movement amount of the zoom ring 116 detected at the detection timing of the position change of the zoom ring 116 shown in FIG. When the inertial drive speed detection flag Fi is ON, the drive controller 104 counts up the value Pc of the position counter in S811. If the ring rotation speed Vr is equal to or lower than the inertial drive threshold speed Vi in S804, the drive controller 104 proceeds to S812 and clears the value Pc of the position counter to zero.

  When the rotation stop of the zoom ring 116 is detected in S810 of FIG. 9, the process proceeds to S814. The drive controller 104 compares the value Pc of the position counter with a count value corresponding to the threshold rotation amount Pi of inertial drive. The threshold rotation amount Pi for inertial drive is determined after investigating an appropriate rotation amount by a monitor test or the like, and is stored in the ROM before shipping the product. When the value Pc of the position counter is equal to or less than the count value corresponding to the threshold rotation amount Pi of inertia driving, the process proceeds to S817 and the zoom driving is stopped. When the value Pc of the position counter is larger than the count value corresponding to the threshold rotation amount Pi for inertial drive, the process proceeds to S815, and inertial drive for zoom is started.

  In the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the inertial drive that keeps moving the zoom is performed after the end of the operation of the zoom ring, according to the operation speed and the operation amount of the zoom ring. In the zoom inertia drive end determination processing, it is determined whether or not the operation amount of the zoom ring from the time when the inertia drive is started is equal to or more than the threshold operation amount of the inertia drive. According to this embodiment, by performing the inertial drive of the zoom, the zoom drive continues even during the period in which the zoom ring is stopped, so that the angle of view can be largely changed with a smaller operation amount of the zoom ring. Further, it is determined whether or not the inertia drive is performed after the zoom ring operation is completed, according to the operation speed and the operation amount of the zoom ring, without requiring a complicated operation. Therefore, the user can intuitively and easily perform inertial drive.

[Modification]
In the modified example of the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the inertial drive is performed by the acceleration of the zoom ring operation. In this case, in step S804, the drive controller 104 determines whether or not the rotational acceleration of the zoom ring is equal to or greater than the inertial drive threshold acceleration. In S814, it is determined whether or not the operation amount in which the acceleration of the zoom ring operation is continuously the threshold acceleration of the inertial drive or more continues for the threshold time or more.

  Further, in the modified example, the inertial drive is stopped according to the operation direction of the zoom ring during the inertial drive. For example, while inertial driving is being performed in a direction in which the zoom lens is driven from the Wide direction to the Tele direction, the user rotates the zoom ring 116 in a direction in which the zoom position advances from the Tele direction to the Wide direction. Imagine a case. In this case, the drive controller 104 determines that the user is intentionally stopping the inertial drive, and stops the zoom regardless of the duration of the inertial drive.

Further, in the modification, it is possible to select whether or not the inertia drive is performed by the menu setting. The menu setting allows the user to specify whether the inertial drive of zoom is enabled or disabled. For example, in S814 of FIG. 9 , when the setting of the inertia drive mode is valid and the value Pc of the position counter is larger than the count value corresponding to the threshold rotation amount Pi of the inertia drive, the process proceeds to S815 and the inertia drive is started. To do. If the inertia drive mode setting is invalid in S814, the process proceeds to S817 even if Pc>Pi, and the zoom drive is stopped.

  According to the embodiment, in the optical device that drives the movable optical member by operating the operation member, it is determined whether or not the inertial drive is performed according to the operation state of the operation member. The information indicating the operation state includes the operation speed and acceleration of the operation member, the operation amount, the operation time, the operation direction, the operation pattern, the number of operations, the past operation history information, and the like. When the operation of the movable optical member is stopped, the control unit of the optical device performs inertial drive for a predetermined time in the first operation state, does not perform inertial drive in the second operation state, and stops the movable optical member. I do. Therefore, the operability of stopping the movable optical member can be improved. The movable optical member that performs inertial drive is not limited to the zoom lens.

[Other Embodiments]
The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program. It can also be realized by the processing. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

104 drive controller 105 system controller 116 zoom ring

Claims (10)

Detection means for detecting the operation state of the operation member,
Drive means for moving the movable optical member,
The drive means is controlled according to the signal detected by the detection means, the movement and stop of the movable optical member are controlled, and the inertial drive control for continuously moving the movable optical member after the operation of the operation member is completed. And a control means for performing
The detection means is
Detecting at least one of the operation speed and the operation acceleration of the operation member,
The control means is
It is determined whether the operation state is the first state or the second state based on at least one of the operation speed and the acceleration,
When the operation of the operating member is stopped, performs the inertia drive when the operation state of the operation member is in the first state, said when the operation state of the operation member is in the second state An optical device characterized by performing control to stop the movable optical member without performing inertial drive. The detection means detects an operation speed of the operation member,
Wherein, the optical device according to claim 1, before Symbol operation speed and wherein the determining a time at threshold speed or higher is in the first state is equal to or greater than the threshold time. The detection means detects the acceleration of the operation of the operation member,
Wherein, the optical device according to claim 1, the time acceleration before Symbol operation is the threshold value acceleration or wherein the determines that the first state when at least the threshold time. The detection means detects an operation speed and an operation amount of the operation member,
Wherein, the optical device according to claim 1, wherein the operation amount in a state before Symbol operation speed is threshold speed or higher, characterized in that determines that the first state when it is above the threshold .. The detection means detects the operation speed and the number of operations of the operation member,
Wherein said control means is a the said number of operations within a set time threshold or more and, characterized in that determines that the operation speed is the first state when a threshold speed or higher The optical device according to claim 1. The detection means detects an operation direction of the operation member,
When the control means detects that the operation direction when the inertial drive is performed is a direction opposite to the operation direction before the start of the inertial drive by the detection means, the inertial drive is performed. the optical apparatus according to claim 1, any one of 5, characterized in that the stop. A setting means for setting the inertial drive valid or invalid,
The control means, the setting means by Ri said inertia drive is enabled to, and, a TURMERIC line the inertia drive when it is determined that the a first state claim 1, wherein 6 The optical device according to any one of 1. The optical device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein the control means performs control to move the movable optical member at a predetermined speed in the inertial drive. An operation member used for zoom operation,
Detection means for detecting the operation state of the operation member,
Drive means for moving the movable optical member,
The drive means is controlled in accordance with the signal detected by the detection means, control of driving and stopping of the movable optical member, and control of inertial drive for continuously moving the movable optical member after the operation of the operating member is completed. And a control means for performing
The detection means is
Detecting at least one of the operation speed and the operation acceleration of the operation member,
The control means is
It is determined whether the operation state is the first state or the second state based on at least one of the operation speed and the acceleration,
When the operation of the operating member is stopped, performs the inertia drive when the operation state of the operation member is in the first state, said when the operation state of the operation member is in the second state An image pickup apparatus, which controls to stop the movable optical member without performing inertial drive. A control method executed by an optical device including an operating member, a movable optical member, and a driving means,
A detection step of detect the operation state of the operation member,
Controlling said drive means according to the previous SL signal detected by the detecting step, the movement and stop control of the movable optical member, and inertia drive for moving the continuously moving optical member after the operation of the operating member is completed Has a control process for controlling
In the detection step, at least one of the operation speed and the operation acceleration of the operation member is detected,
Similar said control step,
It is determined whether the operation state is the first state or the second state based on at least one of the operation speed and the acceleration,
When the operation of the operating member is stopped, performs the inertia drive when the operation state of the operation member is in the first state, said when the operation state of the operation member is in the second state A control method for an optical device, characterized in that control for stopping the movable optical member is performed without performing inertial drive.

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