JPH01238283A - Video camera device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable an at-site confirmation of a picked-up picture by outputting an optical image captured by the zooming lens system of a main pickup system to a video signal switching means, and outputting an optical image captured by the wide angle lens system of an auxiliary pickup system also to the same switching means. CONSTITUTION:A zoom drive circuit 6 actuates a zooming lens 2, and and an optical image formed on an image sensor 3 is zoomed up by a master lens 1 and the zooming lens 2 conjointly, and the image is converted to a video signal. Thereafter, this signal is inputted to a video signal processing circuit 5 via a sensor drive circuit 4, and supplied to the switching switch circuit 14 as a video signal 100 in ranging from a telescopic to wide-angle video signal. The lenses of the auxiliary image pickup system 60 also form the optical image of the same object being image-picked-up by the main image pickup system 50 on an image sensor 8 provided in own system 60, and the signal is similarly supplied to the switch circuit 14. As a result, an operator can confirm the overall visual field as looking into a finder 16 by which he or she can confirm the extent of image pickup of the system 50.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a video camera device having a zoom function and capable of confirming a dark shadow range with an electronic viewfinder.

(Prior art) In recent years, video signals have been used for monitor television (monitor TV).
Video cameras that are used by outputting data to video tape recorders (VTRs) and consumer-use camera-type VTRs are equipped with a zoom function that enables effective dark shadows under various situation settings. When checking the screen shot with such a video camera using an electronic viewfinder, etc., it may be difficult to zoom in due to the photographer's inexperience.
The subject may be large and impressive, or the image frame may become unstable due to manual digging or subject tracking, resulting in a screen that is difficult to see. On the other hand, if the zoom function is used in a wide-angle mode, the above-mentioned nuisance will be resolved, but the subject of interest will often be relatively small and the screen will be monotonous. Therefore, with a video camera that has a zoom function, it is better to adjust the degree of zooming according to the situation and purpose, and use dark shadows to improve the screen quality.
An easy-to-read screen can be obtained. By the way, if you are unable to use the video camera or are tired from being in the dark for a long time,
This tends to close the eye on the other side of the eye that looks through the electronic viewfinder that can monitor the shooting range, and the user ends up shooting while looking at only a much narrower field of view than what can normally be seen with the naked eye.

For this reason, it becomes impossible to optimally perform zooming adjustment and panning that follows the subject when zooming up, which are necessary for the above-mentioned skillful screen creation. The reason for this is that the area captured during shooting appears on the electronic viewfinder, which is a confirmation monitor, so you can check which part of the wide-angle field of view visible to the naked eye is being copied by looking at the screen of the electronic viewfinder. This is because it cannot be confirmed by just checking.

One way to avoid this problem is to use an optical viewfinder. However, in this case, you can always see a wide field of view through the optical viewfinder, but on the other hand, you cannot check the image frame range that you are shooting on the spot, so the optical viewfinder is not suitable for cameras with a zoom function. Could not be applied.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As mentioned above, with conventional video cameras that have a zooming function and view the shooting range using an electronic viewfinder for a monitor, it is difficult to It is extremely difficult to easily confirm which part of the front field of view is being photographed when adjusting zooming or the like. Therefore, the present invention aims to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks.
To provide a video camera device that allows you to check the screen being shot on the spot, and also allows you to easily check which part of the front field of view the shooting screen is during zooming adjustment.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a video camera device in which an image being shot can be confirmed with an electronic viewfinder, in which an optical image captured by a lens system having a zoom function is displayed as a video camera. a main R image system that converts into a signal and outputs it; an auxiliary Vji image system that converts an optical image captured by a lens system with a wider angle than the wide-angle end of the zoom function of the main imaging system into a video signal and outputs the image signal; A video signal switching unit that switches between the output video signal of the main R image system and the output video signal of the auxiliary imaging system and supplies one of the video signals to the electronic viewfinder. .

(Function) In the video camera device of the present invention, the main @image system converts an optical image captured by a lens system having a zoom function into a video signal, and outputs the video signal to the video signal switching means. The auxiliary imaging system converts an optical image captured by a lens system with a wider angle than the wide-angle end of the zoom function of the main imaging system into a video signal, and outputs it to the video signal switching means. The video signal switching means switches between the output video signal of the main imaging system and the output video signal of the auxiliary carrier system, and supplies either one of the video signals to the electronic viewfinder.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The figure is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the video camera device of the present invention. 1 is a master lens of the main imaging system 50, 2 is a zoom lens of the main imaging system 50, 3 is a master lens, an image sensor that converts the image formed by the zoom lens 2 into a video signal, and 4 is a sensor drive that drives the image sensor 3. 5 is a video signal processing circuit that processes the video signal from the image sensor 3 to create and output a brightness signal/color signal or NTSC signal; 6 is a zoom drive circuit that drives the zoom lens 2; 7 is an auxiliary imaging circuit; A lens of a system 60, 8 is an image sensor that converts the image formed by the lens 7 into a video signal, 9 is a sensor drive circuit that drives the image sensor 8, and 10 is a luminance signal/color that processes the video signal from the image sensor 8. A video signal processing circuit 11 generates and outputs a signal or NTSC signal, and 11 is a window that generates a window-like frame of the imaging range photographed by the main @ imaging system 50 and superimposes it on the video signal from the auxiliary imaging system 60. Signal superimposition circuit, 12
13 is a reference synchronization signal generation circuit that supplies a reference synchronization signal to the sensor drive circuits 4 and 9 and the vertical synchronization timing generation circuit 13; and 13 is a vertical synchronization timing that outputs a timing signal for switching screens between the main imaging system 50 and the auxiliary imaging system 60. 14 is an output signal changeover switch circuit for switching the output signal to the electronic viewfinder; 15 is a main @image system 50 operated by the user;
or an output signal changeover switch that issues a command to switch the video signal output of the auxiliary @ image system 60; 16 is an electronic viewfinder that monitors the screen of either the main imaging system 50 or the auxiliary R image system 60; 50 is the main imaging system , 60 indicates an auxiliary R image system.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. The zoom drive circuit 6 operates the zoom lens 2 to perform zooming of the optical image formed on the image sensor 3 by the master lens 1 and the zoom lens 2. The image sensor 3 is driven by a drive signal supplied from a sensor drive circuit 4, and converts the formed optical image into a video signal. This video signal is input to the video signal processing circuit 5 via the sensor drive circuit 4, where it becomes a video signal 100 such as an NTSC signal, output terminal 17, terminal a of the output signal changeover switch circuit 14, and vertical synchronization timing generation. It is output to the circuit 13. Therefore, the video signal ioo becomes compatible with screens from telephoto to wide-angle due to the zooming. On the other hand, the lens of the auxiliary @ imaging system 60 is the main imaging system 5.
An optical image of the same subject as that seen at 0 is formed on the image sensor 8. The image sensor 8 is driven by a drive signal supplied from a sensor drive circuit 9, converts the optical image into a video signal, and outputs this to a video signal processing circuit 10 via the sensor drive circuit 9. The video signal processing circuit 5 outputs the input video signal to the window signal@tatami circuit 11 and the vertical synchronization timing generation circuit 13 as a video signal 200 such as an NTSC signal. The window signal superimposition circuit 11 detects the position of the zoom lens 2 from the positions of mechanical parts such as cams in the zoom lens drive system, and
A rectangular window-like frame indicating the @shadow range of the main @image system 50 is generated, and this is superimposed on the video signal 200 and output to the terminal of the output signal changeover switch circuit 14. During the above operation, the reference synchronization timing generation circuit 12 outputs a common reference synchronization signal to the sensor drive circuits 4 and 9 to synchronize the operations of the main imaging system 50 and the auxiliary image carrier system 60. Here, when the output signal changeover switch 15 is on the a side, the output signal changeover switch circuit 14 is switched to the terminal a side, and the electronic viewfinder 16 is supplied with the video signal of the main imaging system 50.
An image captured by a master lens 1 and a zoom lens 2 is displayed. Therefore, at this time, the electronic viewfinder 16 allows the user to check the image of the main imaging system that is being supplied to the monitor TV or VTR. When the output signal changeover switch 15 is set to the terminal side in this state, the output level of this switch becomes low, and the vertical synchronization timing generation circuit 13 receives this and outputs the reference synchronization signal input from the reference synchronization signal generation circuit 12. The switching control signal 51 is output to the output signal changeover switch circuit 14 at a timing synchronized with . As a result, the output signal changeover switch circuit 14 is switched to the terminal side, and the video signal 200 from the auxiliary i-image system 60 is output to the electronic viewfinder 16. Incidentally, the lens 7 of the auxiliary image carrier system 60 has a wider angle than the wide-angle side of the zoom mechanism of the main image pickup system 50, and the entire front field of view is displayed on the electronic viewfinder 16. Furthermore, a frame indicating the range of the main @ image system within the projected field of view is also projected at the same time. Next, when the output signal changeover switch 15 is switched to the terminal side again, the changeover control signal 50 is outputted from the vertical synchronization timing generation circuit 13 to the output signal changeover switch circuit 14. As a result, the output signal changeover switch circuit 14 is switched to the terminal a side, and the image captured by the main imaging system 50 is displayed on the electronic viewfinder 16.

According to this embodiment, a main image system 50 having a zooming function and supplying captured images to a monitor TV or VTR;
The electronic viewfinder 16 is provided with an auxiliary imaging system 60 that captures a field of view in front of the main imaging system 50 at a wider angle, and the image captured by the main imaging system 50 and the image captured by the auxiliary imaging system 60 are alternately displayed on the electronic viewfinder 16. It can be copied. Therefore, while looking through the electronic viewfinder 16, the user can confirm the entire front field of view using the image of the auxiliary imaging system 60, and the shooting range of the main imaging system 50 is Since you can check which part of the field of view is in the field of view, you can optimally adjust the zoom ratio of the main imaging system 50 according to the photographer's aim, and it is also possible to zoom in and chase a moving subject smoothly. tracking becomes possible. Furthermore, even if the subject captured by the main imaging system 50 leaves the field of view, its direction can be easily confirmed. Furthermore, the image captured by the main imaging system 50 and output to the monitor TV or VTR can be viewed on the spot using the electronic viewfinder 16.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the video camera device of the present invention, there is an effect that the front field of view and the part that is actually being photographed can be confirmed using one electronic viewfinder.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the video camera device of the present invention. 1...Master lens 2...Zoom lens 3.8...Image sensor 4.9...Sensor drive circuit 5.10...Video signal processing circuit 6...Zoom drive circuit 7... Lens 11...Window signal superimposition circuit 13...Vertical synchronization timing generation circuit 14...Output signal changeover switch circuit 15...Output signal changeover switch 16...Electronic viewfinder agent Patent attorney Nori Chika Kenzo Hiroshi Uji

Claims (1)

[Claims] A video camera device in which the image being shot can be confirmed with an electronic viewfinder includes a main imaging system that converts an optical image captured by a lens system having a zoom function into a video signal and outputs it, and a zoom of the main imaging system. Switching between an auxiliary imaging system that converts an optical image captured by a lens system with a wider angle than the wide-angle end of the function into a video signal and outputs the video signal, and an output video signal of the main imaging system and an output video signal of the auxiliary imaging system. and video signal switching means for supplying one of the video signals to the electronic viewfinder.