JP6765901B2 - Imaging device and its control method, program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an imaging device capable of changing the focus position by touch operation.

Some imaging devices such as recent digital cameras can take pictures while easily moving the autofocus position (AF position) by touching the display screen. However, when shooting while looking through the conventional viewfinder (viewfinder shooting), many digital cameras allow the AF position to be specified only by physical operation means such as buttons and dials, and it is easy to specify by touch operation. The AF position could not be changed.

Against this background, Patent Document 1 proposes a technique (touch pad operation) that enables a touch operation on a touch panel provided separately from the finder while looking through the finder. In Patent Document 1, as a method of specifying the AF position by touch operation, an absolute coordinate method in which the coordinates in the touch panel and the finder have a one-to-one correspondence and a movement amount of the touch move (sliding operation) on the touch panel are used. A relative coordinate method for moving the AF position accordingly has been proposed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-089973

In the mode of tracking a subject, if AF is performed at the position of the instruction cursor while the instruction cursor to be tracked is being moved by touch move (sliding operation), the subject at the position of the instruction cursor during movement (for example, the background). Is in focus. In that case, the subject to be tracked that exists at the target position where the instruction cursor is moved may not be in focus, and the subject to be tracked may not be detected. On the other hand, in Patent Document 1, AF control while moving the cursor on the screen of the EVF in response to the sliding operation is not considered.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to realize an image pickup apparatus in which AF when selecting a tracking target by a touch operation is more appropriately controlled and convenience is improved.

In order to achieve the above object, the imaging device of the present invention
Imaging means and
A tracking means for tracking a tracking target in a live view image captured by the imaging means, and
Touch detection means that can detect touch operations and
AF mode setting means that can set any of a plurality of AF modes with different AF position determination methods,
When the AF mode setting means is set to the first AF mode in which the AF position is determined without tracking by the tracking means, the touch position is set while the touch detecting means detects the touch. Perform AF based on the position according to the movement of
When the AF mode setting means is set to the second AF mode in which the AF position can be determined by tracking by the tracking means, while the touch detecting means is detecting the touch, It is characterized by having a control means for controlling AF based on a position according to the movement of a touch position so as not to be executed.

According to the present invention, AF when selecting a tracking target by touch operation can be controlled more appropriately, and convenience can be improved.

External view of the back of a digital camera. A block diagram showing the configuration of a digital camera. A flowchart showing the shooting mode processing. A flowchart showing an AF frame display update process. A flowchart showing the display destination switching process. A flowchart showing the touchdown process. A flowchart showing the touch move process. A flowchart showing the touch-up process. A flowchart showing the touch cancel process. A flowchart showing frame button processing. The figure which illustrates the display screen in a shooting mode. The figure which shows the display example of a menu screen. The figure which shows the screen display example by a touch & drag AF function. The figure which shows the screen display example by a touch & drag AF function.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Device configuration>
The function and appearance of the digital camera of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In FIG. 1 showing the appearance of the back surface of the digital camera 100 of the present embodiment, the display unit 101 includes a liquid crystal display panel (LCD) for displaying images and various information. The display unit 101 includes a rear display panel 101a, which is a display unit arranged outside the finder, and an electronic viewfinder (hereinafter, EVF) 101b, which is a display unit inside the finder. The EVF101b allows the user to monitor the image pickup screen via the eyepiece portion of the peep-type eyepiece finder (visible). The shutter button 102 is an operation unit for giving a shooting instruction. The mode switching button 103 is an operation unit for switching various modes. The connector 107 is an interface for connecting the connection cable 108 and the digital camera 100. The operation unit 104 is an operation unit composed of operation members such as various switches, buttons, and a touch panel that receive various operations from the user. The controller wheel 106 is a rotatable electronic dial included in the operation unit 104. The power switch 105 is an operation unit that switches the power on and off. The recording medium 109 is a recording medium such as a memory card or a hard disk. The recording medium slot 110 is a slot for storing the recording medium 109. The recording medium 109 stored in the recording medium slot 110 can communicate with the digital camera 100. The lid 111 is a lid of the recording medium slot 110. FIG. 1 shows a state in which a lid 111 is opened and a part of the recording medium 109 is taken out from the recording medium slot 110 to be exposed.

In FIG. 2 showing the internal configuration of the digital camera 100 of the present embodiment, the photographing lens 203 is a lens group including a zoom lens and a focus lens. The shutter 204 has an aperture function. The image pickup unit 205 is an image pickup device composed of a CCD, CMOS, or the like that converts an optical image of a subject into an electric signal. The A / D converter 206 converts an analog signal into a digital signal. The A / D converter 206 is used to convert an analog signal output from the imaging unit 205 into a digital signal. The barrier 202 covers the imaging system of the digital camera 100 including the photographing lens 203 to prevent the imaging system including the photographing lens 203, the shutter 204, and the imaging unit 205 from being soiled or damaged.

The image processing unit 207 performs resizing processing such as predetermined pixel interpolation and reduction and color conversion processing on the data from the A / D converter 206 or the data from the memory control unit 209. Further, in the image processing unit 207, a predetermined calculation process is performed using the captured image data, and the system control unit 201 performs exposure control and distance measurement control based on the obtained calculation result. As a result, TTL (through-the-lens) AF (autofocus) processing, AE (auto-exposure) processing, and EF (flash pre-flash) processing are performed. Further, the image processing unit 207 performs a predetermined calculation process using the captured image data, and also performs a TTL method AWB (auto white balance) process based on the obtained calculation result.

The output data from the A / D converter 206 is written directly to the memory 210 via the image processing unit 207 and the memory control unit 209, or via the memory control unit 209. The memory 210 stores image data obtained by the imaging unit 205 and converted into digital data by the A / D converter 206, and image data to be displayed on the display unit 101. The memory 210 has a storage capacity sufficient to store a predetermined number of still images, moving images for a predetermined time, and audio.

Further, the memory 210 also serves as a memory (video memory) for displaying an image. The D / A converter 208 converts the image display data stored in the memory 210 into an analog signal and supplies it to the display unit 101. In this way, the image data for display written in the memory 210 is displayed by the display unit 101 via the D / A converter 208. The display unit 101 displays on a display such as an LCD according to the analog signal from the D / A converter 208. The digital signal once A / D converted by the A / D converter 206 and stored in the memory 210 is analog-converted by the D / A converter 208 and sequentially transferred to the display unit 101 for display, thereby displaying a live view image. Can be displayed.

The non-volatile memory 213 is a memory that can be electrically erased and stored, and for example, EEPROM or the like is used. The non-volatile memory 213 stores constants, programs, and the like for the operation of the system control unit 201. The program referred to here is a program for executing various flowcharts described later in the present embodiment.

The system control unit 201 controls the entire digital camera 100. By executing the program stored in the non-volatile memory 213 described above, each process of the present embodiment described later is realized. Reference numeral 212 denotes a system memory, and RAM is used. In the system memory 212, constants and variables for the operation of the system control unit 201, programs read from the non-volatile memory 213, and the like are expanded. The system control unit 201 also performs display control by controlling the memory 210, the D / A converter 208, the display unit 101, and the like.

The system timer 211 is a time measuring unit that measures the time used for various controls and the time of the built-in clock.

The mode switching button 103, the first shutter switch 102a, the second shutter switch 102b, and the operation unit 104 are operation means for inputting various operation instructions to the system control unit 201.

The mode switching button 103 switches the operation mode of the system control unit 201 to any one of a still image shooting mode, a moving image recording mode, a playback mode, and the like. The modes included in the still image shooting mode include an auto mode, an auto scene discrimination mode, a manual mode, various scene modes for shooting settings for each scene, a program AE mode, and a custom mode. The mode switching button 103 directly switches to any of these modes. Alternatively, after switching to the shooting mode selection screen once with the mode switching button 103, switching is performed by selecting one of the options corresponding to each shooting mode displayed on the shooting mode selection screen using another operation member. It may be. Similarly, the moving image recording mode may include a plurality of modes.

The first shutter switch 102a is turned on by a so-called half-press (shooting preparation instruction) during the operation of the shutter button 102 provided on the digital camera 100, and the first shutter switch signal SW1 is generated. The first shutter switch signal SW1 starts shooting preparation processing such as AF processing, AE processing, AWB processing, and EF processing.

The second shutter switch 102b is turned on when the operation of the shutter button 102 is completed, so-called full pressing (shooting instruction), and the second shutter switch signal SW2 is generated. The system control unit 201 starts a series of photographing processes from reading the signal from the imaging unit 205 to writing the image data to the recording medium 109 by the second shutter switch signal SW2.

Each operation member of the operation unit 104 is assigned a function as appropriate for each scene by selecting and operating various function icons displayed on the display unit 101, and acts as various function buttons. The function buttons include, for example, an end button, a back button, an image feed button, a jump button, a narrowing down button, and an attribute change button. For example, when the menu button is pressed, various settable menu screens are displayed on the display unit 101. The user can intuitively make various settings by using the menu screen displayed on the display unit 101 and the up / down / left / right four-direction buttons and the SET button.

The controller wheel 106 is a rotation-operable operation member included in the operation unit 104, and is used when instructing a selection item together with a direction button.

The power supply control unit 214 is composed of a battery detection circuit, a DC-DC converter, a switch circuit for switching a block to be energized, and the like, and detects whether or not a battery is installed, the type of battery, and the remaining battery level. Further, the power supply control unit 214 controls the DC-DC converter based on the detection result and the instruction of the system control unit 201, and supplies a necessary voltage to each unit including the recording medium 109 for a necessary period.

The power supply unit 215 is composed of a primary battery such as an alkaline battery or a lithium battery, a secondary battery such as a NiCd battery, a NiMH battery, or a lithium ion battery, an AC adapter, or the like. The recording medium I / F 216 is an interface with a recording medium 109 such as a memory card or a hard disk. The recording medium 109 is a recording medium such as a memory card for recording a captured image, and is composed of a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, or the like.

The communication unit 217 is communicably connected to an external device by a wireless antenna or a wired cable, and transmits / receives video and audio. The communication unit 217 can also be connected to a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) and the Internet. The communication unit 217 can transmit the image data (including the live view image) captured by the image pickup unit 205 and the image file recorded on the recording medium 109 to an external device, and the image data and various other types from the external device. You can receive information.

The posture detection unit 218 detects the posture of the digital camera 100 with respect to the direction of gravity. Depending on the posture detected by the posture detection unit 218, it is possible to determine whether the image captured by the image pickup unit 205 is taken by holding the digital camera 100 horizontally or vertically. .. The system control unit 201 can add information about the posture detected by the posture detection unit 218 to the image data captured by the image pickup unit 205, or rotate and store the image data. As the posture detection unit, an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, or the like can be used.

The eyepiece detection unit 219 detects the approach (eyepiece) and separation (eyepiece) of the eye (object) to the eyepiece of the finder (approach detection). The system control unit 201 switches the display (display state) / non-display (non-display state) of the rear display panel 101a and the EVF 101b according to the state detected by the eyepiece detection unit 219. The eyepiece detection unit 219 can use, for example, an infrared proximity sensor, and can detect the approach of some object to the eyepiece of the finder containing the EVF101b. When an object approaches, the infrared rays projected from the light projecting unit (not shown) of the eyepiece detection unit 219 are reflected and received by the light receiving unit (not shown) of the infrared proximity sensor. From the amount of infrared rays received, it is possible to determine how close the object is to the eyepiece (eyepiece distance). In this way, the eyepiece detection unit 219 performs eyepiece detection for detecting the close distance of the object to the eyepiece. When an object approaching the eyepiece of the finder within a predetermined distance is detected from the non-eyepiece state (non-approaching state), it is determined that the eyepiece has been eyepieced. When the object that has detected the approach is separated by a predetermined distance or more from the eyepiece state (approaching state), it is assumed that the eye has been removed. The threshold value for detecting the eyepiece and the threshold value for detecting the eyepiece may be different, for example, by providing hysteresis. In addition, after the eyepiece is detected, the eyepiece is assumed to be in the eyepiece state until the eyepiece is detected. After the eyepiece is detected, it is assumed that the eyepiece is not in the eyepiece state until the eyepiece is detected. The infrared proximity sensor is an example, and the eyepiece detection unit 219 may employ another sensor as long as it can detect the approach of an eye or an object that can be regarded as an eyepiece.

As one of the operation units 104, there is a touch panel 104a capable of detecting contact with the rear display panel 101a. The touch panel 104a and the rear display panel 101a can be integrally configured. For example, the touch panel 104a is configured so that the light transmittance does not interfere with the display of the rear display panel 101a, and is attached to the upper layer of the display surface of the rear display panel 101a. Then, the input coordinates on the touch panel 104a are associated with the display coordinates on the rear display panel 101a. As a result, it is possible to configure a GUI (Graphical User Interface) as if the user can directly operate the screen displayed on the rear display panel 101a. That is, the touch detection surface on the touch panel 104a becomes the display surface of the rear display panel 101a. Further, it may be an in-cell type touch panel display in which the display element of the rear display panel 101a and the electrode for touch detection (touch detection) of the capacitance method are integrally configured without sandwiching the separator. The system control unit 201 can detect the following operations or states on the touch panel 104a.
-A finger or pen that has not touched the touch panel 104a has newly touched the touch panel 104a. That is, the start of touch (hereinafter referred to as touch-down).
-The touch panel 104a is in a state of being touched with a finger or a pen (hereinafter, referred to as touch-on).
-The touch panel 104a is moved while being touched with a finger or a pen (hereinafter, referred to as a touch move (Touch-Move)).
-The finger or pen that was touching the touch panel 104a was released. That is, the end of touch (hereinafter referred to as touch-up (Touch-Up)).
-A state in which nothing is touched on the touch panel 104a (hereinafter, referred to as touch-off).

When touchdown is detected, it is also detected that it is touch-on. After touchdown, touch-on usually continues to be detected unless touch-up is detected. Touch move is also detected when touch on is detected. Even if touch-on is detected, touch move is not detected unless the touch position is moved. After it is detected that all the fingers and pens that have been touched are touched up, the touch is turned off.

These operations / states and the position coordinates of the finger or pen touching on the touch panel 104a are notified to the system control unit 201 via the internal bus. The system control unit 201 determines what kind of operation (touch operation) has been performed on the touch panel 104a based on the notified information. Regarding the touch move, the moving direction of the finger or pen moving on the touch panel 104a can also be determined for each vertical component and horizontal component on the touch panel 104a based on the change in the position coordinates. If it is detected that the touch move is performed over a predetermined distance, it is determined that the slide operation has been performed. The operation of quickly moving a finger on the touch panel for a certain distance and then releasing it is called flicking. In other words, flicking is an operation of quickly tracing the touch panel 104a as if flicking it with a finger. It can be determined that the flick has been performed when it is detected that the touch move is performed at a predetermined speed or more over a predetermined distance and the touch-up is detected as it is. Further, when it is detected that the touch move is performed at a speed equal to or less than a predetermined distance, it is determined that the drag has been performed. Further, the touch panel 104a is quickly touched up without touch-moving. Is called a tap. Tapping quickly twice in a row is called double tapping. Further, a touch operation in which a plurality of points (for example, two points) are touched at the same time to bring the touch positions closer to each other is called a pinch-in, and a touch operation to move the touch positions away from each other is called a pinch-out. Pinch out and pinch in are collectively called pinch operation (or simply pinch).

The touch panel 104a may be any of various touch panels such as a resistive film method, a capacitance method, a surface acoustic wave method, an infrared method, an electromagnetic induction method, an image recognition method, and an optical sensor method. Good. Depending on the method, there are a method of detecting that there is a touch due to contact with the touch panel and a method of detecting that there is a touch due to the approach of a finger or a pen to the touch panel, but any method may be used.

The hardware configuration is not limited to that shown in FIG. 2, and for example, even if one hardware performs display control, communication control, shooting control, image processing control, etc., and functions as each means of the digital camera 100. Good. Moreover, a plurality of hardware may cooperate and function as one means.

The digital camera 100 can be used by switching between at least a reproduction mode for reproducing an image and a photographing mode for performing an image. As a shooting mode, it has an auto mode, a manual mode, and a shooting mode for each of a plurality of scenes. The auto mode is a mode in which various parameters of the camera are automatically determined by a program incorporated in the digital camera 100 based on the measured exposure value. The manual mode is a mode in which the user can freely change various parameters of the camera. The scene-specific shooting mode is a mode realized by combining a shutter speed, an aperture value, a strobe light emission state, a sensitivity setting, a white balance (WB) setting, etc. suitable for the shooting scene for each shooting scene. The digital camera 100 includes, for example, the scene-specific shooting modes (1) to (3) described below. However, it is not limited to these scene-specific shooting modes.
(1) Portrait shooting mode: A mode specialized for portrait shooting by blurring the background to make the person stand out (2) Flower shooting mode: A mode in which the macro mode is set and the saturation is set high (3) Sports shooting mode: Shooting mode with settings specialized for shooting fast-moving subjects

The photographer can set the digital camera 100 to a desired shooting mode from the shooting mode selection screen and shoot.

Further, the present invention can be applied not only to the camera body but also to a control device that remotely controls the image pickup device by communicating with the image pickup device (including a network camera) via wired or wireless communication. As a control device for remotely controlling the image pickup device, for example, there are devices such as a smartphone, a tablet PC, and a desktop PC as a kind of mobile phone. The image pickup device can be remotely controlled by notifying the command device to perform various operations and settings from the control device based on the operation performed by the control device and the process performed by the control device. Further, the live view image taken by the image pickup device may be received by the control device via wired or wireless communication and displayed.

<Shooting process>
Next, the shooting mode by the digital camera 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 11.

The process of FIG. 3 is realized by reading the program recorded in the non-volatile memory 213 into the system memory 212 and executing the program by the system control unit 201. When the digital camera 100 is activated in the shooting mode, the shooting mode processing of FIG. 3 is started.

In S301, the system control unit 201 performs a shooting mode initialization process. The initialization process is a process of reading parameters including flags and control variables, setting values, and setting modes from the non-volatile memory 213. Further, the system control unit 201 confirms the state of the recording medium 109, and if there is an abnormality or the like, displays a warning or the like when displaying the shooting information described later.

In S302, the system control unit 201 takes an image with the image pickup unit 205, and the captured image is live-viewed on the display currently being displayed among the rear display panel 101a and the EVF 101b included in the display unit 101. It is displayed as an image (hereinafter, LV image). Hereinafter, among the rear display panel 101a and the EVF 101b included in the display unit 101, displaying on the display currently being the display destination is simply described as "displaying on the display unit 101".

In S303, the system control unit 201 superimposes the information display related to shooting on the LV image and displays it on the display unit 101. As information display, for example, shooting mode icon indicating the current shooting mode, battery remaining amount display, remaining shooting number display, shutter speed, aperture value, sensitivity, recording image quality, and other shooting setting information are displayed.

In S304, the system control unit 201 performs AF frame display update processing (display content change). The AF frame display update process will be described later with reference to FIG.

In S305, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the detection state of the eyepiece detection unit 219 has changed. The case where the detection state is changed is the case where either the eyepiece is detected from the non-eyepiece state or the eyepiece is detected from the eyepiece state. If there is a change in the detection state, the process proceeds to S306, and if there is no change, the process proceeds to S307.

In S306, the system control unit 201 performs the display destination switching process. The display destination switching process will be described later with reference to FIG.

In S307, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the menu button included in the operation unit 104 has been pressed. If the menu button is pressed, the process proceeds to S308, and if not, the process proceeds to S309.

In S308, the system control unit 201 performs a menu screen display process. In the menu screen display process, the menu screen is displayed on the display unit 101, and various settings are made according to the operation from the user. If there is an operation to close the menu screen (a completion operation of the setting operation, an operation to exit the menu screen, or a half-press operation of the shutter button 102, the menu screen processing is terminated and the process returns to S302.

12 (a) to 12 (c) show a display example of the menu screen. FIG. 12A is a display example of the shooting setting menu screen. The menu screen is divided into groups for each function group, such as the shooting setting menu, system setting menu, and playback setting menu, and the corresponding group can be displayed by selecting the tab corresponding to each group. it can. FIG. 12A shows a state in which the shooting setting menu tab 1201 is selected and the shooting setting menu is displayed. The user moves the cursor 1204 by pressing the up / down / left / right buttons included in the operation unit 104, and transitions to the setting change screen of an arbitrary function by pressing the SET button. Menu item 1202 is a menu item for setting the AF mode, and the AF mode can be set by selecting this item (AF mode setting). A plurality of AF modes are prepared for each method of determining the position for performing AF (autofocus), and the user can select and set one of the plurality of AF modes. In the present embodiment, either the one-point AF mode or the tracking mode can be set as the AF mode. The one-point AF mode is an AF mode in which an AF frame representing the focus adjustment position is set at the center of the shooting range or at one point specified by the user. In the one-point AF mode, the AF frame does not move even if the subject changes, and the information obtained from the position of the AF frame (contrast value and phase difference AF) regardless of whether or not a subject such as a face is detected. AF is performed based on the defocus amount for. In the tracking mode, when there is no tracking designation from the user (during tracking standby, tracking release state), the subject automatically determined by the digital camera 100 as the main subject is the AF target (focus adjustment position). When a person's face is detected, the face is given priority and the AF target is set as the main subject. When the face of a person is not detected, the digital camera 100 automatically determines the main subject according to predetermined conditions such as a moving object, a subject having a high contrast value, and a subject close to the center, and sets it as an AF target. Further, after the tracking designation is made by the user, the subject specified in the LV image is continuously tracked, and the tracked subject is set as the AF target. For example, when the user specifies to track the face of the person A (during tracking), even if the person A moves on the LV image, the face of the person A is continuously tracked and targeted for AF. It is also possible to track other than a person (mono tracking), and even if the same subject moves in the LV image, it will continue to be tracked, subject to the color, contrast, shape, etc. of the position specified for tracking. Target for AF. That is, the tracking mode is an AF mode in which the AF position can be determined by performing tracking. The AF mode is not limited to the one-point AF mode and the tracking mode. For example, there may be an AF mode (“zone AF”) in which tracking is performed within a limited area specified by the user. The set AF mode is stored in the non-volatile memory 213 and read out in the system memory 212 in the shooting mode processing.

FIG. 12B is a display example of the setting screen related to the touch and drag AF displayed on the display unit 101. The touch & drag AF setting screen is displayed when the touch & drag AF item is selected from the menu items included in the shooting setting menu. On the touch and drag AF setting screen, the screen title 1211 and the setting items 1212, 1213, and 1214 are displayed.

In the setting item 1212, either "Yes" or "No" can be set for the touch and drag AF. When set to "Yes", touch and drag AF is enabled (ON), and the AF position can be changed according to the touch move in the eyepiece state. When set to "No", touch and drag AF is disabled (OFF), and the AF position is not changed even if the touch move is performed while the eyepiece is in contact. When the touch & drag AF is set to "No", the touch detection on the touch panel 104a is stopped according to the detection of the eyepiece, and the power consumption for driving the touch panel 104a is reduced. May be good. The set contents are stored in the non-volatile memory 213 and read out in the system memory 212 in the shooting mode processing.

In the setting item 1213, when the touch and drag AF is set to "Yes", the AF position designation method according to the touch operation during eyepiece detection can be set to either absolute position designation or relative position designation. The initial value is absolute position specification. In the case of absolute position designation, the position coordinates in the operation surface of the touch panel 104a and the AF enable area within the shooting range are uniquely associated, and when the touch panel 104a is touched, the shooting range associated with the touched position is associated. The AF position is set to the inside position. Therefore, for example, when the position of the lower right subject in the LV image is desired to be the AF position, the user can set the AF position to the lower right by touching the lower right position of the touch panel 104a. On the other hand, in the case of the relative position designation, the position coordinates in the operation surface of the touch panel 104a and the AF enable area in the photographing range cannot be uniquely associated with each other. In the relative position designation, when a touch move is performed on the touch panel 104a, regardless of the touchdown position, the touch is touched from the currently set AF position in the movement direction of the touch move by a distance corresponding to the movement amount of the touch move. Move the position. This is similar to moving the cursor with a mouse on a personal computer. The set contents are stored in the non-volatile memory 213 and read out in the system memory 212 in the shooting mode processing.

In the setting item 1214, when the touch & drag AF is set to "Yes", the range of the touch area (touch reaction area) of the touch panel 104a that accepts the touch operation during the eyepiece detection can be set. In the touch and drag AF, since the touch operation is performed while looking into the EVF101b, for example, the user's nose may touch the touch panel 104a. If this nose touch is accepted as a touch position movement instruction operation, the AF position will move to an undesired position. In order to prevent this, means for limiting the touch reaction area are provided. Even if the nose touches a region other than the touch reaction region, it is not accepted as a touch position movement operation, so that it is possible to prevent the AF position from moving to an undesired position due to the touch of the nose. When the setting item 1214 is selected, the detailed setting screen shown in FIG. 12C is displayed. On the detailed setting screen, options for selecting which of the touch panel 104a the touch reaction area should be set are displayed. The area selected from these options is set as the touch reaction area in the eyepiece state, and the area other than the area set as the touch reaction area is a touch invalid area in the eyepiece state. The options that can be set as the touch response area include "whole", "right", "left", "upper right", "lower right", "upper left", and "lower left", but are limited to these. Absent. The touch reaction area is set to be reflected in the eyepiece state when the touch & drag AF is set to "Yes". When the touch & drag AF is set to "No", the entire touch panel 104a is a touch invalid area (non-reactive area) regardless of the setting of the setting item 1214. In the non-eyepiece state, the entire touch panel 104a is the touch effective area (reaction area) regardless of the touch & drag AF setting and the setting item 1214.

Returning to the description of FIG. 3, in S309, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the touch and drag AF button included in the operation unit 104 has been pressed. If the touch and drag AF button is pressed, the process proceeds to S310. If not, the process proceeds to S311.

In S310, the system control unit 201 switches the above-mentioned touch and drag AF setting to “Yes” or “No”, and displays a guidance indicating that the setting has been changed. That is, it is possible to change the setting of the setting item 1212 while displaying the LV image without displaying the setting screen described with reference to FIG. 12B. FIG. 11A shows an example of display on the display unit 101 when the touch & drag AF setting is changed from “not” to “yes” by pressing the touch & drag AF button. As shown in FIG. 11A, the guidance 1132 indicating the touch and drag AF setting value is displayed by superimposing the touch and drag AF on the LV image 1131 (FIG. 11A shows the touch and drag AF setting. Guidance when changing to). Guidance 1132 shall be hidden after a predetermined time (for example, 2 seconds) has elapsed. In addition, the touch & drag AF button can be customized by the user in advance, and it is also possible to assign (register) a function other than switching between "Yes" and "No" of Touch & Drag AF. is there. If a function other than switching "Yes" or "No" of Touch & Drag AF is assigned, the processing of S310 is not performed. At that point, the function assigned to the touch and drag AF button shall be executed. Functions that can be assigned to the Touch & Drag AF button include, for example, video recording start instruction, strobe flash / non-flash setting switching, touch shutter on / off switching for shooting according to touchdown, and narrowing down function. There is. The aperture function is a function that allows you to check what kind of focus is achieved (how much bokeh is achieved) when shooting with a set aperture. When the narrowing down function is assigned, the narrowing down function is activated as long as the button is held down.

In S311 the system control unit 201 determines whether or not a touchdown has been detected. If there is a touchdown, the process proceeds to S312, and if not, the process proceeds to S313. In S312, the system control unit 201 performs a touchdown process. The touchdown process will be described later with reference to FIG.

In S313, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the touch move is detected in the touch-on state. If there is a touch move, the process proceeds to S314, and if not, the process proceeds to S315 (including the touch-off state). In S314, the system control unit 201 performs a touch move process. The touch move process will be described later with reference to FIG.

In S315, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the touch-up is detected. If there is a touch-up, the process proceeds to S316, and if not (including the case where the touch-off was originally performed and the touch is canceled by the touch cancel process described later), the process proceeds to S317. In S316, the system control unit 201 performs a touch-up process. The touch-up process will be described later with reference to FIG.

In S317, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the touch cancel operation has been detected. If there is a touch cancel process, the process proceeds to S319, and if not, the process proceeds to S320. The touch cancel operation is, for example, an operation for a touch panel other than the touch panel 104a in the touch-on state (an operation for the operation unit 104 other than the touch panel 104a). When the operation unit 104 is operated in the touch-on state, the touch-on state is released and the operation of the operation unit 104 becomes effective. For example, when the shutter button 102 is pressed halfway, the touch cancel process is performed and the shooting preparation process is started. In S318, the system control unit 201 performs a touch cancel process. The touch cancel process will be described later with reference to FIG.

In S319, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the frame button included in the operation unit 104 has been pressed. If the frame button is pressed, the process proceeds to S320, and if not, the process proceeds to S321. In S320, the system control unit 201 performs frame button processing. The frame button processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

In S321, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the first shutter switch 102a and the second shutter switch 102b are turned on. If these switches are turned on, the process proceeds to S322, otherwise the process proceeds to S323.

In S322, the system control unit 201 responds to the shooting preparation process corresponding to the on (half-pressing of the shutter button 102) of the first shutter switch 102a and the on (full pressing of the shutter button 102) of the second shutter switch 102b. Perform the shooting process. In the shooting preparation process of S322, processing such as AF, AE, and AWB is performed based on the AF position set at that time by touch and drag AF or the like.

In S323, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not a shooting mode end operation (such as an operation of turning off the power or an operation of transitioning to the playback mode) has been performed. If the end operation has not been performed, the process proceeds to S324, and the system control unit 201 performs other processing. For example, processing such as changing the shutter speed is performed according to the operation of the operation unit 104. When the end operation is performed in S323, the shooting mode processing is ended.

<AF frame display update process>
Next, the details of the AF frame display update process in S304 of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

In S401, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212 and determines whether or not the AF mode is one-point AF. If it is a one-point AF, proceed to S402, and if not, proceed to S404.

In S404, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the subject is being tracked. If tracking is in progress, the process proceeds to S405, and if not, the process proceeds to S406.

In S402, the system control unit 201 displays the one-point AF frame on the display unit 101. A display example of the one-point AF frame display is shown in FIG. 11 (b). FIG. 11B displays a one-point AF frame 1134 and shooting information 1135 indicating shooting parameters superimposed on the LV image including the subject 1133. The position of the one-point AF frame 1134 can be moved to a position designated by the user in the LV image by operating the touch panel 104a or operating the up / down / left / right buttons included in the operation unit 104 in the frame movement mode. The position of the one-point AF frame 1134 is the AF position in S403, which will be described later.

In S405, the system control unit 201 displays the position of the tracking target and the tracking frame indicating that the tracking is being executed on the display unit 101. An example of the display screen of the tracking frame is shown in FIG. 11 (d). FIG. 11D shows a state in which the subject 1137 in the LV image is being tracked. A tracking frame 1138 is displayed around the subject to be tracked to indicate that the subject is being tracked. Even if the digital camera 100 is framed to change the shooting range, the tracking frame 1138 continues to indicate the subject 1137 as long as the subject 1137 is within the shooting range. The position of the tracking frame 1138 is the AF position in S403, which will be described later.

In S406, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not a face (specific subject) is detected from the LV image by the face detection process (detection process of a specific subject). If the face is detected, the process proceeds to S407, and if the face is not detected, the process proceeds to S408.

In S407, the system control unit 201 displays a detection frame (detection index) indicating the position of the detected face on the display unit 101. A screen example of the detection frame display is shown in FIG. 11 (c). FIG. 11C shows a state in which the face 1133 is detected from the LV image. A detection frame 1136 is displayed around the subject (face) to be detected to indicate that this face is being detected. A plurality of detection frames 1136 may be displayed depending on the detection result of the subject. That is, if a plurality of faces are detected, a plurality of detection frames 1136 (face frames) are displayed. It is assumed that the face can be detected by analyzing the LV image with the image processing unit 207. In the present embodiment, an example in which a face can be detected as a specific subject that can be detected by the image processing unit 207 is described, but the digital camera 100 is automatically used as the main subject in the LV image, not limited to the face of a person. The detection frame 1136 may be displayed for the determined other subject. For example, when an animal face, a moving object, a subject having high contrast, or the like can be detected in addition to the face, the detection frame may be displayed and set as the AF position. When a face is detected, the face is basically the main subject and the priority is high. The position of the detection frame 1136 becomes the AF position in S403 described later.

In S407, the system control unit 201 hides the detection frame. That is, if the detection frame is displayed until immediately before, the displayed detection frame is deleted, and if the detection frame is not displayed immediately before, the detection frame is not displayed continuously.

In S408, the system control unit 201 updates the position where continuous AF is performed to the current AF position, and performs continuous AF. The continuous AF is a function that continuously (continuously) performs AF operation so as to automatically keep focusing on the AF position in the shooting standby state even if there is no AF execution operation by the user.

<Display destination switching process>
Next, the details of the display destination switching process in S306 of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

In S501, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the state change detected by the eyepiece detection unit 219 is a change from the non-eyepiece state to the eyepiece state (that is, whether the eyepiece is detected). If the change is from the non-eyepiece state to the eyepiece state, the process proceeds to S506, and if not, the process proceeds to S502.

In S506, the system control unit 201 switches the display destination from the rear display panel 101a to the EVF 101b. In S506, even when the touch is detected (touch-on) before the change to the eyepiece state (eyepiece detection) that caused the switching of the display destination, the display destination is immediately changed to the rear display panel 101a. To switch to EVF101b. On the other hand, as will be described later in S507, when NO is determined in S501 (when eyepiece removal is detected), the display destination is immediately switched if the touch is on before the change to the eyepiece state. Absent.

In S508, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212 and determines whether or not the AF mode is one-point AF. If it is a one-point AF, the process proceeds to S515. If not, the process proceeds to S510 (in the tracking mode).

In S510, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the subject designated by the user is being tracked. If it is determined that tracking is in progress, the process proceeds to S512, and if not, the process proceeds to S515.

In S512, the system control unit 201 displays a tracking release guide indicating the tracking release method on the EVF 101b. The user can see this display and cancel the subject tracking if necessary. The tracking release guide includes message display and icon display. The tracking release can be performed by a touch operation on the icon as the tracking release guide (only when the display destination is the rear display panel 101a) or a button operation included in the operation unit 104.

On the other hand, in S502, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212, and determines whether or not the above-mentioned touch and drag AF setting is "Yes". If it is set to "Yes", the process proceeds to S503. If not, the process proceeds to S507. In S503, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the current state is touch-on (whether or not a valid touch is detected). If it is touch-on, the process proceeds to S504, and if not, the process proceeds to S507.

In S504, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the non-eyepiece state has continued for a predetermined time (for example, for 2 seconds) in the eyepiece detection unit 219. If it continues for a predetermined time, the process proceeds to S505, and if not, the process proceeds to S507.

In S505, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the detection state of the eyepiece detection unit 219 has changed. Since the eyepiece is not in the eyepiece state before the detection of S505, the process of S505 is, that is, a determination of whether or not the eyepiece is detected. If there is a change (when the eyepiece is detected), the process proceeds to S501, and if there is no change (if the non-eyepiece remains), the process returns to S503 and the display of EVF101b is maintained.

In S507, the system control unit 201 switches the display destination from the EVF 101b to the rear display panel 101a. This switching of the display destination is not performed immediately when the touch-on is performed before the change of the eyepiece state (before the eyepiece detection is detected) as described in S503 to S505. It was touch-off when the eye-removal was detected, and touch-on (YES in S503) when the eye-removal was detected, but the non-eyepiece state continued for a predetermined time after the eye-removal was detected (YES in S504) or touch-off. This is done in the case (NO in S803). Further, along with switching to the rear display panel 101a, the touch panel 104a is calibrated (initialized). In the capacitance type touch panel, the capacitance value as a reference for determining the presence or absence of touch or the threshold value of the capacitance is adjusted by calibration by calibration. If calibration is performed while the touch panel is touched on a capacitive touch panel, there is a risk of erroneous judgment or misalignment in determining the presence or absence of touch and / or calculating the touch position in the touch-on state. .. Further, in the in-cell type touch panel, since the display element and the touch detection electrode are configured without sandwiching the separator, the drive of the display element and the touch detection may interfere with each other. Therefore, if the display of the rear display panel 101a is started and calibrated at the same time while being touched, there is a high possibility that an erroneous determination or deviation will occur in the determination of the presence or absence of touch and / or the calculation of the touch position. On the other hand, in S507, if the touch is turned on before the change of the eyepiece state (before the eyepiece detection is detected), the calibration is controlled so as not to be performed immediately, so that the calibration should be performed more accurately. Can be done. If the non-eyepiece state continues for a predetermined time after the eye is removed (YES in S504), the display destination is switched from the EVF101b to the rear display panel 101a, but the calibration may not be performed until the touch-off is reached. In this case, calibration is performed when touch-off occurs. Even if it is determined in S503 that the touch is not turned on, it is assumed that a series of touch operations are in progress while the designated position index described later is displayed, and the S504 is set to suppress the switching of the display destination. You may proceed.

In S509, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212 and determines whether or not the AF mode is one-point AF. If it is a one-point AF, the process proceeds to S515, and if not (in the tracking mode), the process proceeds to S511.

In S511, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the designated position index (details will be described later) is being displayed. If it is being displayed, the process ends, and if not, the process proceeds to S513.

In S513, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the tracking release guide is displayed on the EVF101b. If it is displayed, the process proceeds to S514, and if not, the process ends.

In S514, the system control unit 201 displays the tracking release guide on the rear display panel 101a. The tracking release guide is the same as that described in S512.

In S515, the system control unit 201 performs AF frame display update processing. This process is the process described with reference to FIG. When the A frame display update process is performed, the display destination switching process ends.

As described above, even if the eyepiece detection unit 219 detects the eyepiece removal, the display destination is not switched as long as the user is performing the touch operation using the touch panel 104a (S501 to S507). On the other hand, when the eyepiece detection unit 219 detects eye separation, if the touch operation is not performed, the display destination is switched without waiting for a predetermined time (S501 to S506).

Touch & drag AF is a function of operating the touch panel 104a while looking at the rear display panel 101a. Then, when the user moves the finger near the eyepiece detection unit 219, or by moving the finger between the face and the touch panel 104a in order to operate the touch panel 104a, the eyes are mistakenly separated from the eyepiece detection unit 219. It may end up. In this case, if the system control unit 201 immediately switches the display destination, it is necessary to operate the rear display panel 101a. Therefore, for a user who wants to take a picture while looking into the EVF 101b, the operation takes time and a shooting opportunity. May be missed. Further, the repeated detection / non-detection of the eyepiece causes the EVF101b to be repeatedly displayed / hidden, which is not convenient. Further, when the eyes are accidentally separated from the eyepiece detection unit 219, the EVF 101b may not be hidden and the rear display panel 101a may be displayed at the same time. However, in this case, the power consumption is increased. It ends up. In order to solve such a problem, the processing as shown in FIG. 5 is performed.

Depending on the shooting scene, it may be desirable to switch the display destination while touching the eyepiece. Therefore, if the non-eyepiece state continues for a predetermined time (YES in S504), the display destination is switched to the rear display panel 101a. ing. However, regardless of the duration during which the eyepiece detection unit 219 detects the non-eyepiece state, as long as the touch operation continues (as long as it is a touch sound), the display destination is not switched to the rear display panel 101a. , The display on EVF101b may be maintained.

If NO in S501, the process may proceed to S507 without performing the processes from S502 to S505. That is, when the eye loss is detected, the display destination may be switched from the EVF 101b to the rear display panel 101a regardless of whether or not the touch-on is detected.

Further, whether or not the processing of S502 to S505 may be performed may be classified according to whether the touch-on is in the area set in the touch reaction area or the touch-on is in the area other than the touch reaction area. For example, when the eye loss is detected when the touch-on is detected in a region other than the touch response region (touch invalid region), the above-mentioned processes S502 to S505 are performed for the touch in the region other than the touch response region. The touch detected in the touch-disabled area is likely to be a nasal contact. By doing this, the eyepiece will not be detected because the nose is in contact (that is, the eyepiece is actually in contact) and the camera is held differently, and the display destination will not be switched in the situation where it is detected as an eyepiece. Can be done. On the other hand, if the touch-on is not detected in the area other than the touch reaction area and the eye loss is detected when the touch-on is detected in the touch reaction area, the process proceeds to S507 without performing the above-described processes S502 to S505. You may switch the display destination with. This situation is because there is a possibility that the user intentionally took his eyes off while touching the touch panel 104a with his finger to check the rear display panel 101a.

Further, the rear display panel 101a may be configured as a tilt type monitor or a vari-angle type monitor that can be rotated to an arbitrary position or posture with respect to the main body of the digital camera 100. In this case, the digital camera 100 is assumed to have a monitor position detection unit that detects the position and orientation of the vari-angle monitor with respect to the camera body. When it is detected that the vari-angle monitor is closed in the direction in which the display surface of the rear display panel 101a is exposed to the back side of the camera (that is, the same direction as shown in FIG. 1), the above-mentioned S502 The process of S505 is performed. On the other hand, when the vari-angle monitor is open, the display destination may be switched by proceeding to S507 without performing the above-mentioned processes S502 to S505. This is because when the vari-angle monitor is open, the fingers for operating the touch panel 104a are not located near the face or eyes, and the above-mentioned problems do not occur.

Although the control for suppressing the switching of the display destination depending on the presence or absence of touch-on has been illustrated, the switching of the display destination may be suppressed when there is an operation of another operating member, not limited to the touch operation. For example, the display destination may not be switched while the button to which the above-mentioned narrowing down function is assigned is being operated. Further, the operation member close to the eyepiece of the EVF101b and the operation member provided on the back of the camera and such that a finger is inserted between the face of the user who is in contact with the eye during operation and the back of the camera are displayed. Control (S502 to S505) for suppressing switching may be performed. For example, the controller wheel 106 can be considered as an operating member in which a finger is inserted between the face of the user who is in contact with the eye and the digital camera 100 when operating. As the other operating member, for example, a zoom lever provided around the shutter button 102 can be considered. In this case, if the eye-opening detection is determined in the middle of the rotation operation of the controller wheel 106, the processing of S504 and S505 is performed without proceeding to S507, and the rotation operation of the controller wheel 106 is completed or the controller wheel 106 is set to non-eye contact. When the time has passed, the process proceeds to S507. On the other hand, even if the zoom lever is operated when the eye loss is detected, the process proceeds to S507 without proceeding from S503 to S505. The zoom lever is an operating member provided on a surface (for example, the upper part or around the lens barrel of the lens on the front surface of the camera) different from the surface (rear surface) of the EVF101b having the eyepiece surface of the digital camera 100. Therefore, it is unlikely that the user's face will unintentionally move away from the eyepiece due to the influence of the finger operating the zoom lever.

In addition, although the control that suppresses the switching of the display destination when there is touch-on depending on the presence or absence of touch-on is illustrated, the control that suppresses the switching of the display destination may be switched depending on the type of touch operation. Good. For example, when the touch-on state is simply continued, it may be considered that the AF frame-related operation has not been performed, and the control for suppressing the switching of the display destination may not be performed. Then, in the state where the touch move operation is repeatedly performed within a predetermined time, it is assumed that the AF frame related operation (the AF frame moving operation by touch & drag AF) is being performed, and the above display destination Control to suppress switching may be performed.

<Touchdown processing>
Next, the details of the touchdown process in S312 of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

In S601, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the display destination is the rear display panel 101a. If it is a rear display panel, proceed to S602, otherwise proceed to S610.

In S602, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212 and determines whether or not the AF mode is the one-point AF mode. If it is the one-point AF mode, the process proceeds to S603, and if not, the process proceeds to S606 (in the tracking mode).

In S603, the system control unit 201 displays a one-point AF frame at the coordinates on the rear display panel 101a corresponding to the touchdown position on the touch panel 104a.

In S604, the system control unit 201 updates the position where the continuous AF is performed to the position of the current one-point AF frame, and performs the continuous AF.

In S605, the system control unit 201 displays a guide for returning the position of the one-point AF frame to the center on the rear display panel 101a. The guide may be a character string guidance or an icon. Further, the operation of returning the position of the one-point AF frame to the center may be a button operation included in the operation unit 104 or a touch operation on the touch panel 104a.

In S606, the system control unit 201 tracks a subject detected in the vicinity of the coordinates of the rear display panel 101a corresponding to the touchdown position of the touch panel 104a. As a result, the state transitions to the tracking state.

In S607, the system control unit 201 displays the tracking frame 1138 in the range indicating the subject being tracked in the LV image displayed on the rear display panel 101a.

In S608, the system control unit 201 updates the position where the continuous AF is performed to the current tracking position, and performs the continuous AF.

In S609, the system control unit 201 displays the tracking release guide on the rear display panel 101a. The tracking release guide is the same as that described in S512.

In S610, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212, and determines whether or not the above-mentioned touch and drag AF setting is “Yes”. If it is set to "Yes", the process proceeds to S611, and if not, the process ends.

In S611, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212, and determines whether or not the setting of the AF position designation method described above is set to the absolute position designation. If the absolute position is set, the process proceeds to S612, and if not, the process proceeds to S620.

In S612, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212 and determines whether or not the AF mode is the one-point AF mode. If it is a one-point AF, the process proceeds to S613, and if not, the process proceeds to S616 (in the tracking mode).

In S613, the system control unit 201 displays a one-point AF frame at a position on the EVF 101b corresponding to the touchdown position on the touch panel 104a.

In S614, the system control unit 201 updates the position where continuous AF is performed to the current one-point AF frame position, and performs continuous AF.

In S615, the system control unit 201 displays a guide for returning the position of the one-point AF frame to the center on the EVF101b.

In S616, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the subject is currently being tracked. If tracking is in progress, the process proceeds to S618. If not, the process proceeds to S617.

In S617, the system control unit 201 releases the tracking of the subject and shifts to the tracking release state. As a result, the tracking frame 1138 is hidden.

In S618, the system control unit 201 displays the designated position index at the coordinates on the EVF 101b corresponding to the touchdown position on the touch panel 104a. That is, if a touchdown is made during tracking execution, the tracking is canceled, and instead, a designated position index is displayed to specify a new tracking destination. FIG. 11 (e) shows a display example of the designated position index in EVF101b. The designated position index 1139 is an index (cursor) that can be moved according to the user's touch move operation, and indicates the current designated position with respect to the LV image by the touch and drag AF function. The designated position index 1139 is displayed in the eyepiece state and during the touch operation (during touch-on), and is not displayed in the non-eyepiece state, the EVF101b is in the non-display state, and the touch & drag AF is set to "No". Further, the designated position index 1139 is displayed on the EVF101b and is not displayed on the rear display panel 101a. When the designated position index 1139 is set to the absolute position designation, it is displayed at a position uniquely associated with the touch position of the touch panel 104a. Further, when the designated position index 1139 is set to the relative position designation, the designated position index 1139 is moved from the current position according to the direction and the amount of movement of the touch move regardless of where the touch position on the touch panel 104a is located. To. If a specific subject is detected even during the display of the designated position index 1139, the detection frame 1136 is displayed.

In S619, the system control unit 201 updates the position where the continuous AF is performed to a position based on the current subject detection result, and performs the continuous AF. The position where the continuous AF is performed is not a position based on the designated position index 1139, but a position based on the subject automatically determined by the digital camera 100 as the main subject. That is, the AF control is the same as in the tracking release state.

In S620, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212 and determines whether or not the AF mode is the one-point AF mode. If it is a one-point AF, the process ends, and if not, the process proceeds to S621 (in the tracking mode).

In S621, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the subject is currently being tracked. If tracking is in progress, the process proceeds to S622, otherwise the process proceeds to S627.

In S622, the system control unit 201 releases the tracking of the subject and shifts to the tracking release state. As a result, the tracking frame 1138 is hidden. That is, if a touchdown is performed during tracking execution, the tracking is canceled, and instead, the suction detection frame is displayed in S624 described later in order to specify a new tracking destination, or the designated position index is displayed in S625. Will be done.

In S623, the system control unit 201 detects whether the tracking position when the tracking is released is near the detection position of the face (specific subject) (the tracking position when the tracking is released is the detection of the face (specific subject)). Whether or not it is within a predetermined range from the position) is determined. In this determination, for example, when a face (specific subject) is detected, the range of the tracking target (tracking range) at the time of canceling tracking overlaps at least a part of the range of the detected face (specific subject). If it is, it is determined that it is in the vicinity. In addition, when a face (specific subject) is detected, if the center of the tracking target range (tracking range) at the time of canceling tracking is within the detected face (specific subject), the neighborhood It may be determined that. Further, it may be determined whether or not the tracked target is a face, and if the tracked target is a face, it may be determined as YES. If it is determined that the tracking position when the tracking is released is near the detection position of the face (specific subject), the process proceeds to S624, and if not, the process proceeds to S625.

In S624, the system control unit 201 displays the suction detection frame 1140 in the range indicating the detected face (specific subject) determined in S623 to be near the tracking position at the time of canceling the tracking.

In S625, the system control unit 201 displays the designated position index 1139 at the coordinates on the EVF101b that displayed the tracking frame until immediately before the tracking is released.

In S626, the system control unit 201 updates the position for performing continuous AF to a position based on the current subject detection result regardless of the position of the designated position index, and performs continuous AF, as in S619. Do.

In S627, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the designated position index 1139 is being displayed on the EVF101b. When the relative position is specified in the tracking mode, if the subject is not attracted to the subject detected at the position of the specified position index 1139 during the touch-up process described later, the tracking target is also after the touch-up. The designated position index 1139 remains displayed for a predetermined time without confirming. Thereby, by the relative position designation, the designated position index 1139 can be moved to a desired position by the touch move operation by the continuous touch divided into several times.

In S627, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the designated position index 1139 is being displayed. If it is displayed, the process proceeds to S629. If not, the process proceeds to S628.

In S628, the system control unit 201 displays the designated position index 1139 in the center of the LV image displayed on the EVF101b. That is, in the relative position designation, if the designated position index 1139 is not displayed and the touchdown is performed, the designated position index 1139 is displayed at the initial position (center) regardless of the touchdown position.

<Touch move processing>
Next, the details of the touch move process in S314 of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

In S701, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the display destination is the rear display panel 101a. If it is a rear display panel, the process proceeds to S702, otherwise the process proceeds to S706.

In S702, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212 and determines whether or not the AF mode is the one-point AF mode. In the case of one-point AF, the process proceeds to S703, and if not, the process ends (in the tracking mode). That is, when the display destination is the rear display panel 101a and the tracking mode is set, the tracking target is not changed according to the touch move, and AF is not performed at the position corresponding to the touch move. As described above in S606 to S608, the tracking target is determined based on the touchdown position, and even if the touch is continued and the touch move is performed thereafter, the tracking target determined based on the touchdown position continues. Will be done.

In S703, the system control unit 201 displays a one-point AF frame at the coordinates on the rear display panel 101a corresponding to the position after the touch move on the touch panel 104a.

In S704, the system control unit 201 updates the position where the continuous AF is performed to the position of the current one-point AF frame, and performs the continuous AF.

In S705, the system control unit 201 displays a guide for returning the position of the one-point AF frame to the center on the rear display panel 101a. The guide for returning to the center is the same as that described in S605.

In S706, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212, and determines whether or not the above-mentioned touch and drag AF setting is “Yes”. If it is set to "Yes", the process proceeds to S707, and if it is set to "No", the process ends.

In S707, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212, and determines whether or not the setting of the AF position designation method described above is set to the absolute position designation. If the absolute position is set, the process proceeds to S708. If not, the process proceeds to S715 (if the relative position is specified).

In S708, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212 and determines whether or not the AF mode is the one-point AF mode. If it is a one-point AF, the process proceeds to S709, and if not, the process proceeds to S712.

In S709, the system control unit 201 displays a one-point AF frame at the coordinates on the EVF 101b corresponding to the position after the touch move on the touch panel 104a.

In S710, the system control unit 201 updates the position where continuous AF is performed to the current one-point AF frame position, and performs continuous AF.

In S711, the system control unit 201 displays a guide for returning the position of the one-point AF frame to the center on the EVF101b. The guide for returning to the center is the same as that described in S605.

In S712, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the coordinates (designated position on the LV image) on the EVF 101b corresponding to the touch position after the touch move on the touch panel 104a are in the vicinity of the detected subject. .. That is, it is determined whether or not the designated position on the LV image is within a predetermined range from the position of the detected subject. This determination is made when the face (specific subject) is detected and the coordinates on the EVF101b corresponding to the touch position after the touch move are within the displayed detection frame 1136 (face detection frame). It shall be determined that it is in the vicinity. Further, when a face (specific subject) is detected, the coordinates on the EVF101b corresponding to the touch position after the touch move are outside the displayed detection frame 1136 (face detection frame). It shall be determined that it is not in the vicinity. Further, even when the face (specific subject) is not detected, it is determined that the face (specific subject) is not in the vicinity. The determination of the neighborhood is not limited to this. For example, when a face (a specific subject) is detected, the coordinates on the EVF101b corresponding to the touch position after the touch move are a predetermined times (for example, 1.) the displayed detection frame 1136 (face detection frame). If it is within the range (5 times), it may be determined to be in the vicinity. Further, when a face (a specific subject) is detected, the range indicated by the designated position index 1139 moved by the touch move overlaps at least a part of the range of the displayed detection frame 1136 (face detection frame). When it becomes a position, it may be determined to be in the vicinity. If it is in the vicinity, the process proceeds to S713, and if not, the process proceeds to S714.

In S713, the system control unit 201 hides the detection frame 1136 and the designated position index 1139 displayed on the EVF 101b, and displays the suction detection frame 1140. FIG. 11F shows a display example of the adsorption detection frame 1140. The adsorption detection frame 1140 is displayed superimposed on the LV image, and when touch-up is performed in this state, it indicates that the subject surrounded by the adsorption detection frame 1140 becomes the tracking target. The suction detection frame 1140 is displayed in the same shape as the tracking frame 1138 to indicate that it becomes a tracking target when touched up, but is different from the tracking frame 1138 so that the difference from the tracking frame 1138 can be identified. Displayed in color. The display form of the adsorption detection frame 1140 is not limited to this example, and any expression may be used as long as it is not during tracking but can be identified that tracking is started when touched up. For example, while the designated position index 1139 is displayed, the tracking icon or the tracking guide may be displayed, or only the color of the designated position index 1139 may be changed.

In S714, the system control unit 201 displays the designated position index 1139 at the coordinates on the EVF 101b corresponding to the touch position after the touch move on the touch panel 104a.

In S715, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212 and determines whether or not the AF mode is the one-point AF mode. If it is a one-point AF, the process proceeds to S716, and if not, the process proceeds to S719 (in the tracking mode).

In S716, the system control unit 201 displays a one-point AF frame at the coordinates on the EVF 101b corresponding to the moving direction and the position corresponding to the moving amount of the touch move operation on the touch panel 104a. Since this position is a relative position designation, it is not a position uniquely corresponding to the touch position.

In S717, the system control unit 201 updates the position where continuous AF is performed to the current one-point AF frame position, and performs continuous AF.

In S718, the system control unit 201 displays a guide for returning the position of the one-point AF frame to the center on the EVF101b. The guide for returning to the center is the same as that described in S605.

In S719, the system control unit 201 has coordinates (designated positions on the LV image) on the EVF 101b corresponding to the movement direction and the position corresponding to the movement amount of the touch move operation on the touch panel 104a in the vicinity of the detected subject. Determine if it exists. This determination is the same as the determination of S712 described above, but since the comparison target with the detection frame 1136 (face detection frame) is not an absolute position designation, a position uniquely corresponding to the touch position after the touch move. Not the position specified by relative position specification. If it is determined to be in the vicinity, the process proceeds to S720, and if not, the process proceeds to S721.

In S720, the system control unit 201 hides the detection frame 1136 and the designated position index 1139 displayed on the EVF101b and displays the suction detection frame 1140, similarly to S713.

In S721, the system control unit 201 displays the designated position index 1139 at the coordinates on the EVF 101b corresponding to the movement direction and the movement amount of the touch move operation on the touch panel 104a (index display position change processing). ). In this state, continuous AF is not performed at the position of the designated position index 1139, but continuous AF is performed at the position based on the current subject detection result. In this state, the AF operation may be stopped (AF may not be performed).

<Touch-up processing>
Next, the details of the touch-up process in S316 of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

In S801, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the display destination is the rear display panel 101a. If it is the rear display panel, the process ends, and if not, the process proceeds to S802.

In S802, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212, and determines whether or not the above-mentioned touch and drag AF setting is “Yes”. If it is set to "Yes", the process proceeds to S803, and if not, the process ends.

In S803, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212, and determines whether or not the setting of the AF position designation method described above is set to the absolute position designation. If the absolute position is set, the process proceeds to S804, and if not, the process proceeds to S809.

In S804, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212 and determines whether or not the AF mode is the one-point AF mode. If it is the one-point AF mode, the process ends, and if not, the process proceeds to S805 (in the case of the tracking mode).

In S805, the system control unit 201 starts tracking a subject detected in the vicinity of the designated position based on the coordinates (designated position) on the EVF 101b corresponding to the touch-up position on the touch panel 104a (tracking is in progress). ..

In S806, the system control unit 201 displays the tracking frame 1138 in the range indicating the subject being tracked in the LV image displayed on the EVF101b.

In S807, the system control unit 201 updates the position where the continuous AF is performed to the current tracking position, and performs the continuous AF.

In S808, the system control unit 201 displays the tracking release guide on the rear display panel 101a. The tracking release guide is the same as that described in S512.

In S809, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212 and determines whether or not the AF mode is the one-point AF mode. If it is the one-point AF mode, the process ends, and if not, the process proceeds to S810 (in the tracking mode).

In S810, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the adsorption detection frame 1140 is displayed on the EVF 101b. If it is displayed, the process proceeds to S813. If not, the process proceeds to S811.

In S811, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the operation unit 104 has been operated to interrupt the tracking confirmation wait. The operation of interrupting the tracking confirmation wait is, for example, a new touchdown, a display instruction of another screen (menu screen) by pressing a menu button included in the operation unit 104, or the like. If the operation to be interrupted is performed, the process is terminated, and if not, the process proceeds to S812. When there is a new touchdown, it is determined that there was a touchdown again in S311 of FIG. 3, and it is determined that there was a touchdown during display of the designated position index 1139 in S627 of FIG.

In S812, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the touch-up was detected. The predetermined time may be sufficient as the time until the next new touch in the continuous series of touch operations is performed in order for the user to continuously move the designated position index 1139, for example, about 1 second. If the predetermined time has elapsed, the process proceeds to S813, and if not, the process returns to S811.

In S813, the system control unit 201 starts tracking the subject detected in the vicinity of the designated position index 1139 based on the position of the designated position index 1139 displayed on the EVF 101b (tracking is in progress).

Since the processes of S814 to S816 are the same as the processes of S806 to S808, the description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, when the AF mode is the tracking mode and the position designation method is the relative position designation, when the designated position index 1139 is moved to an arbitrary position on the LV image by the touch and drag AF function, it is predetermined after touch-up. After the lapse of time, the subject to be tracked is confirmed.

In the tracking mode, if AF is started while the AF position is being moved from one subject to another, for example, the background will be in focus and the subject to be tracked will be out of focus. This is to prevent the inconvenience of not being detected.

Further, when the position designation method is the relative position designation method, it is assumed that the user performs the touch move operation multiple times in order to move the designated position index to the desired subject, so that the subject is immediately touched up. Operability is not good once tracking is started. On the other hand, it is not preferable for the user to separately instruct the user to start tracking immediately after the touch-up because the operation is troublesome. In order to solve such a problem, the form is as shown in S721 in FIG. 7 and S811 and S812 in FIG.

In addition, when the designated position index has already reached the detected subject (the detection frame is displayed during adsorption), it is assumed that the user has been able to move the designated position index to the desired subject, and the designated position index is determined until confirmation. The tracking subject is confirmed immediately without waiting for the passage of time. This makes it easier to specify the subject to be tracked even when the subject to be tracked is moving.

<Touch cancel processing>
Next, the details of the touch cancel process in S318 of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

In S901, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the display destination is the rear display panel 101a. If it is a rear display panel, proceed to S911, otherwise proceed to S902.

In S902, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212, and determines whether or not the above-mentioned touch and drag AF setting is "Yes". If it is set to "Yes", the process proceeds to S903. If not, the process proceeds to S911.

In S903, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212 and determines whether or not the AF mode is the one-point AF mode. If it is in the one-point AF mode, the process proceeds to S911, and if not, the process proceeds to S904.

In S904, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the designated position index 1139 is being displayed on the EVF101b. If it is displayed, the process proceeds to S905, and if not, the process proceeds to S911.

In S905, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the touch cancel operation is the on (SW1 on) of the first shutter switch 102a by half-pressing the shutter button 102. If SW1 is on, the process proceeds to S906, otherwise the process proceeds to S907.

In S906, the system control unit 201 hides the designated position index 1109. In S907, the system control unit 201 starts tracking the subject detected in the vicinity of the designated position index 1139 based on the position of the designated position index 1139 displayed on the EVF 101b (tracking is in progress). This process is the same as S813 in FIG. That is, if there is a touch cancel operation, even if it is still touched, if there is a shooting preparation instruction by turning on SW1, the tracking target is determined based on the position of the designated position index 1139 at that time, and tracking is performed. As soon as it starts, the shooting preparation process is performed at the tracking position. As a result, it is possible to quickly perform shooting with AF adjusted to the desired subject when the designated position index 1139 reaches the position of the desired subject without touching up. If there is an operation other than the first shutter switch 102a while being touched, the touch operation is canceled while the tracking target is not fixed and the tracking is released.

Since the processing of S908 to 909 is the same as that of S806 to S808 of FIG. 8, the description thereof will be omitted. In S911, the system control unit 201 performs the touch-up process of FIG.

The operation of interrupting the tracking confirmation wait in S811 described with reference to FIG. 8 and the operation of starting tracking even while being touched to be YES in S905 are not limited to the above-mentioned examples. The operation of other operation members included in the operation unit 104 may be performed, or the switching of the display destination of the rear display panel 101a / EVF101b by the user's eyepiece / eyepiece may be used as a trigger to interrupt the tracking confirmation wait or start tracking. ..

<Frame button processing>
Next, the details of the frame button processing in S320 of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

In S1001, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212 and determines whether or not the AF mode is the one-point AF mode. If it is a one-point AF, the process proceeds to S1002, and if not, the process proceeds to S1005 (in the tracking mode).

In S1002, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the frame button included in the operation unit 104 has been pressed for a long time (whether it has been continuously pressed for a predetermined time or longer). If it is pressed and held, the process proceeds to S1004, otherwise the process proceeds to S1003.

In S1003, the system control unit 201 shifts to the frame movement mode in which the position of the one-point AF frame can be changed. In this mode, in addition to the operation by the touch panel 104a described so far, it is possible to move the one-point AF frame in response to the operation of the up / down / left / right buttons and the controller wheel 106 included in the operation unit 104. It is also possible to enlarge the LV image at an arbitrary position.

In S1004, the system control unit 201 returns the position of the one-point AF frame to the center. In S1005, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the display destination is the rear display panel 101a. If it is a rear display panel, proceed to S1006, and if not, proceed to S1007.

In S1006, the system control unit 201 shifts to the face select mode. The face select mode is a function for tracking the subject most suitable for the main face among the currently detected subjects.

In S1007, the system control unit 201 refers to the setting information held in the system memory 212, and determines whether or not the AF position designation method described above is set to the absolute position designation. If the absolute position is set, the process proceeds to S1008, and if not, the process proceeds to S1006.

In S1008, the system control unit 201 determines whether or not the subject is being tracked. If tracking is in progress, the process proceeds to S1009, and if not, the process proceeds to S1006.

In S1009, the system control unit 201 releases the tracking of the subject and shifts to the tracking release state. As a result, the tracking frame 1138 is hidden.

In S1010, the system control unit 201 updates the position where continuous AF is performed to a position based on the current subject detection result, and performs continuous AF, as in S619 in FIG.

Although the EVF101b has been described as an example so far, the present invention can be applied not to the EVF101b but also to an image pickup apparatus provided with an optical viewfinder. In that case, replace and apply as follows. The eyepiece detection unit 219 detects the eyepiece of the optical viewfinder to the eyepiece. In the eyepiece state, the rear display panel 101a is hidden, and the driving of the liquid crystal display element for information display provided in the optical viewfinder is started. The display element in the optical viewfinder may be displayed in a non-eyepiece state. The rear display panel 101a may not display the LV image in the non-eyepiece state, and may display or hide information other than the LV image. However, when the touch & drag AF is set to "Yes", the touch panel 104a shall be driven. The LV image is not displayed in the optical viewfinder even in the eyepiece state, and the optical image can be visually recognized instead. The tracking frame, the designated position index, and the adsorption detection frame described as being displayed in the eyepiece state are displayed by a plurality of predetermined display elements superimposed on the optical image in the optical viewfinder. The detection frame may or may not be displayed.

The frame representation described so far may be variable in size depending on the situation, and may not be composed of one frame. For example, when a plurality of AF points are displayed on the display unit in advance such as in an optical viewfinder, the colors of the plurality of AF points are changed according to the position and area of the touched finger when indicating the touch position. The touch position may be indicated by such means.

Further, the length of the waiting time until the tracking confirmation of S811 may be changed by the user, or may be automatically changed according to the shooting scene. For example, in a scene where a moving object is detected when the moving object can be detected from the LV image, the tracking target is immediately determined even if the suction detection frame is not displayed according to the touch-up. May be good. Alternatively, in a scene where it is determined that the digital camera 100 itself is moving by the output from the attitude detection unit 218 or the analysis of the time axis correlation of the LV image, the suction detection frame may not be displayed in response to the touch-up. The tracking target may be determined immediately. This is because in these situations, it can be assumed that the user wants to track a moving object on the LV image. Further, when the shooting mode is set on the assumption that a subject with a lot of movement is shot, the tracking target may be determined immediately even if the suction detection frame is not displayed according to the touch-up. Shooting modes that assume shooting a subject with a lot of movement include, for example, sports shooting mode (described above), fireworks mode, pet (animal) shooting mode, and child (kids) shooting mode among multiple scene-specific shooting modes. .. In addition, as a shooting mode (shooting mode for shooting a subject with little movement) that is not a shooting mode assuming shooting of a subject with a lot of movement, for example, a portrait shooting mode, a flower shooting mode, a cooking shooting mode, an auction item There are shooting mode and landscape shooting mode.

On the other hand, if an undesired subject is accidentally tracked when shooting a moving image (when recording a moving image) and the undesired subject is in focus, the undesired subject is also recorded. It is not desirable. Therefore, during movie shooting (during movie recording), in order to more reliably prevent the focus from focusing on an unintended subject, even if the designated position index is moved to the subject detection position, it takes a predetermined time from touch-up to tracking confirmation. You may wait. In this case, a difference is provided in the waiting time depending on whether or not the position of the designated position index is the subject detection position, and even if the fixed waiting time is shorter when the position of the designated position index is the subject detection position. Good.

Although the expression "neighborhood" is used when tracking is confirmed or when the designated position index is adsorbed to the detection frame, the user may be able to change the threshold value for performing each process when they are close to each other. However, it may be changed automatically according to the shooting scene. For example, in a scene where moving object shooting is performed or in a shooting mode premised on moving body shooting, it may be determined that it is difficult to capture a moving subject, and even if the designated position index is farther than usual from the subject, it may be determined to be in the vicinity. ..

<Screen display example using touch and drag AF function>
Next, using FIGS. 13 (a) to 13 (f2), the tracking target is changed from the state of tracking the position of the flower on the right side in the LV image to the person on the left side by the touch and drag AF function. An example of the operation when the user performs a touch move in an attempt will be described.

13 (a) to 13 (c), 13 (d2), 13 (e2), and 13 (f2) show operation examples in this embodiment. 13 (d1), 13 (e1), and 13 (f1) show an operation example when the present embodiment is not applied, and are comparisons for explaining the effect of the present embodiment. It is assumed that each of FIGS. 13 (a) to 13 (f2) is in the following state.
Touch & Drag AF: "Yes"
Position designation method: Relative position designation Touch reaction area: Full eyepiece / non-eyepiece: Eyepiece state

FIG. 13A is an example of tracking when the touch is not made (touch-off). A flower, which is a part of the subject in the LV image, is tracked, and in EVF101b, a tracking frame 1138 is displayed for the flower in the LV image. No finger is touched on the touch panel 104a.

FIG. 13B is an example of a touchdown from the state of FIG. 13A. Flower tracking is canceled and the designated position index 1139 is displayed instead. Since the face of the person is detected by the subject detection, the detection frame 1136 is displayed on the face of the person in the LV image in the EVF101b. A finger F is touching the touch panel 104a.

FIG. 13 (c) is an example in which the finger F is touch-moved from the state of FIG. 13 (b) toward the upper left. The designated position index 1139 moves to the upper left in response to the touch move. In this example, it is the position of the butterfly of the subject that happened to move at that time. Since the finger F has moved to near the left end of the touch panel 104a, it is difficult for the user to touch move to the left side any more. However, since the designated position index 1139 has not yet reached the position of the desired person, the user touches up once, touches down to the right side again, and attempts a touch move to the left side.

FIG. 13 (d1) is an example in which the touch-up is performed in the state of FIG. 13 (c) and the tracking target is confirmed without performing the tracking confirmation waiting (S811, S812) described in the present embodiment. Tracking is immediately confirmed for the butterfly that was at the position of the designated position index 1139 at the time of touch-up, and the tracking frame 1138 is displayed for the butterfly that is not the subject desired by the user, and tracking is started. ..

FIG. 13 (e1) is an example in which the butterfly moves from the state of FIG. 13 (d1) before the user touches down again. Since it is tracking the butterfly, the tracking frame 1138 has moved to the vicinity of the flower on the right side together with the butterfly.

FIG. 13 (f1) is an example of a case where the user touches down again from the state of FIG. 13 (e1) and makes a touch move (second touch move) from the right side to the left side. Since the designated position index 1139 is moved from the position of the tracking frame 1138 (FIG. 13 (e1)) that has been tracked to the butterfly and moved to the right against the user's intention, the second touch move is performed. However, the designated position index 1139 cannot be moved to the position of the desired person. In this way, when the tracking confirmation wait (S811, S812) described in the present embodiment is not performed, the AF position is specified by the user (tracking position specification operation) by tracking an unintended subject. It may be hindered.

On the other hand, an example in which the tracking confirmation wait (S811, S812) described in the present embodiment is performed will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 (d2), 13 (e2), and 13 (f2).

FIG. 13 (d2) is an example of a state in which the touch-up is performed in the state of FIG. 13 (c) and the tracking confirmation wait (S811, S812) described in the present embodiment is performed. Since the adsorption detection frame was not displayed at the time of FIG. 13C (immediately before touch-up), it was determined as NO in S810, and the tracking confirmation process of S813 was not performed immediately.

FIG. 13 (e2) is an example of a case where the butterfly moves from the state of FIG. 13 (d2) before the user touches down again, and the situation of the subject is the same as that of FIG. 13 (e1). is there. If the interruption operation of waiting for the tracking confirmation is not performed in S811 and the predetermined time has not elapsed after the touch-up in S812, the butterfly is not tracked. Therefore, although the butterfly is moving to the right, the designated position index 1139 has not moved since the touch-up time.

FIG. 13 (f2) is an example of a case where the user touches down again from the state of FIG. 13 (e2) and makes a touch move (second touch move) from the right side to the left side. Since the movement of the designated position index 1139 is restarted from the position displayed at the time of the previous touch-up (FIG. 13 (d2)), the movement of the designated position index 1139 can be moved to the position of the desired person by the second touch move. .. As a result, the designated position index 1139 is adsorbed on the detection frame 1136 of the desired person, and the adsorbing detection frame 1140 is displayed. If you touch up at this point, tracking of the desired person is started without waiting for a predetermined time, so even if the person is moving, tracking can be performed reliably. In this way, when the tracking confirmation wait (S811, S812) described in the present embodiment is performed, it is possible to more reliably and more reliably track and specify the intended subject. In the situation of FIG. 13C, when the subject to be tracked by the user is a butterfly, if the shutter button 102 is pressed halfway at this point, the butterfly is tracked by the touch cancel process of S907 of FIG. Can be done. That is, according to the present embodiment, even if the detection frame 1136 is not displayed and the subject is moving, if the subject is to be tracked, the tracking is specified without waiting for the tracking confirmation (without missing the subject). It is possible.

Using FIGS. 14 (a) to 14 (e2), the user attempts to change the tracking target from the state in which the person on the right side in the LV image is being tracked to the person on the left side by the touch and drag AF function. An example of the operation when the touch move is performed will be described.

14 (a), 14 (b), 14 (c2), 14 (d2), and 14 (e2) show operation examples in this embodiment. 14 (c1), 14 (d1), 14 (e1), and 14 (f1) show operation examples when the present embodiment is not applied, and are for explaining the effects of the present embodiment. It is a comparison.

It is assumed that each figure of FIGS. 14 (a) to 14 (e2) is in the following state.
Touch & Drag AF: "Yes"
Position designation method: Absolute position designation Touch reaction area: Full eyepiece / non-eyepiece: Eyepiece state

FIG. 14A is an example of tracking when the touch is not made (touch-off). In the LV image, two people, one on the right side and one on the left side, are shown, and the person on the right side is being tracked. In EVF101b, the tracking frame 1138 is displayed for the person on the right side in the LV image. In addition, behind the person on the right and the person on the left, a mountain at a considerable distance is shown. No finger is touched on the touch panel 104a.

FIG. 14 (b) is an example of a touchdown from the state of FIG. 14 (a). The tracking of the person on the right side is canceled, and instead, the suction detection frame 1140 is displayed on the face of the person on the right side detected at the position corresponding to the touch position. A finger F is touching the touch panel 104a on the right side.

14 (c1), 14 (d1), 14 (e1), and 14 (f1) show continuous AF at the position of the designated position index 1139, unlike S626 and S627 described with reference to FIG. This is an operation example when

FIG. 14 (c1) is an example in the middle of touch-moving the finger F toward the person on the left side from the state of FIG. 14 (b). The designated position index 1139 moves to the left according to the touch move and becomes the position of the mountain. In this example, since continuous AF is performed at the position of the designated position index 1139, AF is performed so that the mountain is in focus, and the two people in the foreground are out of focus. Since the two people in the foreground are out of focus, they cannot be detected as faces in the LV image, and the subject frame 1136 is not displayed. At this time, there is a possibility that the person is blurred so that it cannot be identified as a person even from the user's point of view. In that case, the user loses sight of the desired person on the left side, does not know where to continue the touch move, and cannot properly specify the tracking. Further, regardless of whether the designated position index 1139 is the position of the subject that the user wants to focus on, the focusing state frequently changes according to the position of the designated position index 1139, which makes it difficult to see the LV image. Become.

FIG. 14 (d1) shows an operation example immediately after the touch move further to the left from the state of FIG. 14 (c1) and the designated position index 1139 is moved to the desired position of the person on the left side. Although continuous AF is performed with the designated position index 1139, there is a slight time lag before focusing on the left person because the left person is out of focus in FIG. 14 (c1), and the face of the left person is detected. It has not been. Therefore, although the designated position index 1139 has reached the desired position of the person on the left side, the suction detection frame 1140 is not displayed. Therefore, the user may misunderstand that the desired person on the left side cannot be tracked and specified.

FIG. 14 (e1) is an example of a touch-up from the state of FIG. 14 (d1). Since the touch-up is performed while the suction detection frame 1140 is not displayed, the tracking confirmation wait (S811, S812) is performed, and the tracking target is not immediately confirmed to the person on the left side. If the person on the left moves while waiting for the tracking confirmation, the person on the left cannot be specified for tracking even though the position of the person on the left could be specified at the time of touch-up. It ends up.

FIG. 14 (f1) is an example in which tracking of a desired left-hand person is started from the state of FIG. 14 (e1) through waiting for tracking confirmation (S811, S812). As described above, in FIGS. 14 (c1), 14 (d1), 14 (e1), and 14 (f1) to which the present embodiment is not applied, the tracking position is moved to the desired subject (person on the left side). I can't operate it well. Further, when the designated position index 1139 is moved to the desired subject (person on the left side), the desired subject (person on the left side) may not be in focus. In this case, if shooting is performed immediately, the shooting timing is delayed by the time required for focusing in the shooting preparation operation. That is, there is a risk of missing a shooting opportunity.

On the other hand, as described in the present embodiment, examples of the case where AF based on the position of the designated position index 1139 is not performed while the designated position index 1139 is being displayed are shown in FIGS. 14 (c2), 14 (d2), and FIGS. This will be described with reference to 14 (e2).

FIG. 14 (c2) is an example in the middle of touch-moving the finger F toward the person on the left side from the state of FIG. 14 (b). The designated position index 1139 moves to the left according to the touch move and becomes the position of the mountain. In the present embodiment, continuous AF is not performed at the position of the designated position index 1139 in this state (S626, S629, S721). Therefore, the two people in the foreground are focused, their faces are detected, and the detection frame 1136 is displayed at the position of each face. Therefore, the user only needs to continue the touch move aiming at the detection frame 1136 of the person on the left side, and it is easy to move the AF position (change the tracking target) to the desired subject. Further, since the focusing state does not fluctuate so much regardless of the position of the designated position index 1139, the LV image is not difficult to see.

FIG. 14 (d2) shows an operation example immediately after the touch move is further left from the state of FIG. 14 (c2) and the designated position index 1139 is moved to the desired position of the person on the left side. Since the designated position index 1139 is in the vicinity of the detection frame 1136 on the left side, it is attracted to the detection frame of the person on the left side, and the detection frame 1140 during adsorption is displayed.

FIG. 14 (e2) is an example of a touch-up from the state of FIG. 14 (d2). Since the touch-up was performed while the suction detection frame 1140 was displayed, the person on the left side was immediately confirmed as the tracking target and the tracking was started without waiting for the tracking confirmation (S811, S812). Therefore, even if the person on the left side moves after the touch-up, the person on the left side can be reliably tracked. In addition, when the designated position index 1139 is moved to the desired subject (the person on the left side), the desired subject (the person on the left side) is in focus, so that even if the photograph is taken immediately, the subject is immediately focused. The picture is taken immediately after focusing on. That is, it is possible to shoot without missing a shooting opportunity.

The above-mentioned various controls described as being performed by the system control unit 201 may be performed by one hardware, or the entire device may be controlled by sharing the processing among a plurality of hardware. ..

Further, although the present invention has been described in detail based on the preferred embodiment thereof, the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and various embodiments within the scope of the gist of the present invention are also included in the present invention. included. Furthermore, each of the above-described embodiments is merely an embodiment of the present invention, and each embodiment can be combined as appropriate.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a digital camera having a touch-and-drag AF function for designating an AF frame by performing a touch operation while looking into the EVF has been described as an example, but the present invention is limited to this example. Not done. It can be applied to any device having a function of being able to shoot while moving the AF frame by touch operation. Further, the display destination switching process according to FIG. 5 can be applied to any display control device that controls the display of the eyepiece finder even if it does not have an imaging function. That is, the present invention is applicable to personal computers, PDAs, mobile phone terminals, portable image viewers, digital photo frames, music players, game machines, electronic book readers, tablet terminals, smartphones and the like. It can also be applied to home appliances equipped with projection devices and displays, in-vehicle devices, medical devices, and the like.

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

Claims (14)

Imaging means and
A tracking means for tracking a tracking target in a live view image captured by the imaging means, and
Touch detection means that can detect touch operations and
AF mode setting means that can set any of a plurality of AF modes with different AF position determination methods,
When the AF mode setting means is set to the first AF mode in which the AF position is determined without tracking by the tracking means, the touch position is set while the touch detecting means detects the touch. Perform AF based on the position according to the movement of
When the AF mode setting means is set to the second AF mode in which the AF position can be determined by tracking by the tracking means, while the touch detecting means is detecting the touch, An imaging device characterized by having a control means for controlling AF based on a position according to the movement of a touch position so as not to be executed. When the control means is set to the second AF mode, the touch detecting means detects that the touch has been released, and when the tracking target is determined based on the movement of the touch position, the determined tracking is performed. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein AF is controlled to be performed based on the position of the target. Further having a subject detection means for detecting a specific subject from the live view image,
When the control means is set to the second AF mode, the subject detected by the subject detection means is detected regardless of the movement of the touch position while the touch detection means is detecting the touch. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein AF is controlled to be performed at the position of. With the eyepiece viewfinder,
A first display means that can be visually recognized through the eyepiece finder,
It further has a second display means which is arranged outside the eyepiece finder and whose display surface is the detection surface of the touch operation by the touch detection means.
When the control means uses the first display means as a display destination and is set to the first AF mode by the AF mode setting means, while the touch detecting means detects a touch. AF is executed based on the position according to the movement of the touch position.
When the control means uses the first display means as a display destination and is set to the second AF mode by the AF mode setting means, while the touch detecting means detects a touch. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein AF based on a position according to a movement of a touch position is controlled so as not to be executed. An eyepiece detection means for detecting an eyepiece on the eyepiece finder,
When the eyepiece detection means detects the eyepiece, the display destination is the first display means, and when the eyepiece detection means does not detect the eyepiece, the display destination is the second display means. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a switching means for switching the display destination. When the control means uses the second display means as a display destination and is set to the second AF mode by the AF mode setting means, the touch detecting means detects the start of touch. The tracking target is determined based on the position, AF is executed based on the determined position of the tracking target, and AF based on the position corresponding to the movement of the touch position while the touch detecting means is detecting the touch. The imaging apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, wherein is controlled so as not to be executed. Further having a display control means for controlling the display means to display a detection index indicating the position of the subject detected by the subject detection means.
The display control means is characterized in that, when the second AF mode is set, the display control means is controlled to display the detection index even while the touch detection means is detecting a touch. The imaging device according to claim 3. Further, when the display control means is set to the second AF mode, the designated position index is set at a position corresponding to the movement of the touch position in the display means while the touch detection means is detecting the touch. The imaging apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the image pickup apparatus is controlled so as to display. When the display control means is set to the second AF mode, the position corresponding to the movement of the touch position in the display means is detected while the touch detection means is detecting the touch. 7. Imaging device. When the display control means is set to the second AF mode, when the detection index is displayed in the second display form while the touch detection means is detecting a touch. 9. The imaging apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the designated position index to be displayed at a position corresponding to the movement of the touch position in the display means is controlled to be hidden. When the first AF mode is set, the control means is controlled to continuously execute AF based on a position corresponding to the movement of the touch position, according to claim 1 to 1. The imaging apparatus according to any one of 10. It is a control method of an image pickup apparatus having an image pickup means and a touch detection means capable of detecting a touch operation.
A tracking step for tracking a tracking target in a live view image captured by the imaging means, and
AF mode setting step that can set any of multiple AF modes with different AF position determination methods,
When the AF mode setting step is set to the first AF mode in which the AF position is determined without tracking by the tracking step, the touch position is set while the touch detecting means detects the touch. Perform AF based on the position according to the movement of
When the AF mode setting step is set to the second AF mode in which the AF position can be determined by performing the tracking by the tracking step, while the touch detecting means is detecting the touch, A control method for an imaging device, which comprises a control step for controlling AF based on a position according to a movement of a touch position so as not to be executed. A program for causing a computer to function as each means of the imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 11. A computer-readable storage medium containing a program for causing the computer to function as each means of the imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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