JPH0338628A - Camera and photographic printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To faithfully reproduce the skin of individual persons by controlling printing exposures according to the whiteness of the skin by using the flesh color information recorded at the time of photographing. CONSTITUTION:The flesh color information 38 recorded in the peripheral part of a frame 18a is read by a bar code reader 52 at the time when a photographic film 28 is transferred on a film carrier 50. The read flesh color information 38 is decoded by a decoder 53 and is sent to an arithmetic part 54. A scanner 59 measures the transmitted light of red, green and blue, respectively at the respective points of the frame 28 when the frame 18a is set in a print position. The photometric values of these three colors are subjected to an A/D conversion processing and logarithmic conversion processing and are then sent to the arithmetic part 54. The arithmetic part 54 calculates the printing exposures of the three color light rays by using operational equation for the printing exposures. The resulted printing exposures are corrected in the color and density according to the whiteness of the flesh color.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a camera that records the whiteness (tone) of a person's skin, and a photo printing method that faithfully reproduces the whiteness of this skin. .

[Conventional technology]

The image recorded on the photographic film is photometered to check whether the color of each pixel is a skin color, and if a skin color part exists, it is determined that this is part of the person's skin. A photographic printing method is known in which the amount of printing exposure is controlled so that a portion is finished in its original skin color (for example, US Pat. No. 4,120,581).

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In most scenes that include people, the main subject is the person, so a photo printing method that emphasizes skin color can produce printed photos that satisfy customers. By the way, even if the skin tone is the same, it is better to make the face white in a bride photo, and on the other hand, in a photo of a tanned person, it is better to make the face look tanned. However, the problem with conventional methods is that the skin tone is the same in all cases.

Furthermore, photographic films often include backlit scenes in addition to frontlit scenes. Photo printers identify backlit scenes by dividing an image into multiple areas and measuring the density of each area, and then perform exposure correction to prevent the person's face from turning black. However, since it is difficult to accurately distinguish between sunburned skin and backlit scenes, sunburned skin may be rendered white.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a camera and a photo printing method that can faithfully reproduce the skin color of an individual person.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a camera with an input means for inputting skin color information representing the whiteness of a person's skin, and a recording means for recording this skin color information on a part of a photographic film. It is something that Here, the whiteness of the skin includes not only the original whiteness but also the color tone.

In the photographic printing method of the present invention, skin color information representing the whiteness of a person's skin is recorded on a part of the photographic film at the time of photographing,
When printing a photograph, skin color information is read, and the printing exposure amount is controlled based on this skin color information.

[Effect]

In the present invention, the skin color information recorded at the time of photographing is used to control the printing exposure amount according to the whiteness of the skin, thereby faithfully reproducing the skin of each individual person.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, which schematically shows the camera, a photographic lens 10 is composed of an optical system 10a and a lens barrel 10b that holds the optical system 10a, and is moved along an optical axis 11 manually or by an autofocus mechanism. Perform focus 11 verses. A shutter mechanism 12 is arranged behind this photographic lens IO.

This shutter mechanism 12 includes, for example, two shutter blades 1.
3.14, each shutter blade 13.1
4 are formed with cutouts 13a and 14a, respectively. When the movable pin 16 moves toward the fixed pin 17 by the drive mechanism 15, these shutter blades [13° 14 move away from the fixed pin 17 and overlap the notches 13a and 14a. . This notch 13a,
The overlapped portion of the film 14a is opened, and the light passing through the opening enters the photographic film 18, and an image of the subject is recorded thereon.

A knob 22 is provided on the outside of the camera body (not shown) for indicating whether or not the scene is a portrait scene, and in the case of a portrait scene, the whiteness of the person's skin. A pointer 22a is formed on the knob 22, and a mark plate 23 is arranged below this pointer 22a. This mark plate 23 has a mark 24 representing white skin. Mark 2 representing slightly tanned skin
5. A mark 269 representing a sufficiently tanned dark skin and a mark 27 representing a scene other than a human figure are drawn. When the knob 22 is moved so that the pointer 22a matches any one of these marks, the brush 30 moves in conjunction with this movement. A contact plate 3 having a plurality of contacts 31a formed in a pattern so as to face this brush 30
1 is placed. When the brush 30 comes into contact with the contact 31a, a code signal corresponding to the mark is generated.

This code signal is converted into barcode data by a barcode converter 32 and sent to a barcode recording device 34 via a driver 33. The barcode recording device 34 of this embodiment has a liquid crystal display 35 that displays barcodes.
and a flash discharge tube 32 for illuminating this, and skin color information is imprinted in the form of a bar code between the screen 18a and the film edge immediately after photographing the subject. In this example,
The skin color information indicates whether the scene is a human scene or not, and in the case of a human scene, the degree of whiteness of the skin.

Note that this barcode may be recorded immediately before or at the same time as photographing.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a photographic film on which skin color information is recorded. This photographic film 18 is perforated with perforations 18b at regular intervals, and a sensor of the winding device detects the perforations 18b to advance one frame. perforation 1
On the opposite side of 8b, skin color information 38 represented by a barcode is recorded as a latent image, which is converted into a visible image by photographic development.

FIG. 3 shows a photo printer. The white light emitted from the light source 40 is passed through a cyan filter 41, a magenta filter 42 . After passing through a yellow filter 43, it enters a mixing box 44.

The amount of insertion of these color correction filters 41 to 43 into the optical path 46 is adjusted by a filter adjustment section 45, thereby adjusting the trichromatic light components of the printing light and their intensity. The mixing box 44 is a rectangular tube whose inner surface is a mirror surface, with diffuser plates attached to both ends.

The film carrier 50 is placed at a printing position, the developed photographic film 18 is set therein, and the film carrier 50 is illuminated with light transmitted through the porridge box 44. In order to ensure the flatness of this photographic film for one day, a film mask 51 is provided above the printing position. As is well known, this film mask 51 is formed with an opening corresponding to the size of the frame, and is lifted up by a solenoid (not shown) when the photographic film 18 is transported, and presses the photographic film 18 during printing. ing.

A barcode reader 52 is placed in front of the print position, and when each frame is sent to the print position,
The skin color information 38 recorded therein is read. This read skin color information is decoded by the decoder 53 and then
The light is sent to the calculation unit 54 in order to perform exposure control according to the whiteness of the skin color.

Also, diagonally above the printing position, a scanner 5 consisting of a lens 57 and an image area sensor 58 is installed.
9 is arranged, and the transmitted light of each point of the frame set at the printing position is photometered by three-color separation. The three-color signal from the scanner 59 is converted into a digital signal by an A/D converter 60, and then logarithmically converted by a logarithmic converter 61. The three-color density signals at each point obtained by this logarithmic transformation are sent to the calculation section 54. The printing exposure amount signal for each color calculated by the calculation section 54 is sent to the controller 55, converted into a filter set position signal, and then sent to the filter adjustment section 45.

A printing lens 65 is arranged above the printing position, and enlarges and projects the image of the set frame onto color paper 67 arranged behind a paper mask 66.

A shutter 69 is disposed between the printing lens 65 and the color paper 67, and its opening and closing are controlled by a shutter drive section 68.

FIG. 4 shows the functions of the arithmetic section. Memory section 73
The three color densities of each point (pixel) on the screen photometered by the scanner 59 are stored in . The decoder 53 switches the selector 74 to the contact 74a for a human scene, and switches the selector 74 to the contact 74b for a non-human scene. In this person scene, the three-color density of each pixel read from the memory section 73 is sent to the skin color pixel extraction section 75. The skin color pixel extracting unit 75 refers to the data that defines the skin color range stored in the memory unit 76 and determines whether each pixel is a skin color. This skin color is, for example, a density difference (R-G),
It can be defined as an ellipse in orthogonal coordinates with (GB) as the axis, and if each pixel is contained within the ellipse,
This pixel is determined to be skin color. In addition to this ellipse,
The skin color range can be defined using a rectangle, diamond, etc.

The head region determining unit 77 determines a closed region composed of skin color pixels as an open region, and determines the position of the pixel in the fJM 1iJl region. The position coordinates of this R6M area are determined by the feature value extraction unit 7
8, and the feature values of the calculation formula for determining the printing exposure amount with emphasis on the finish of the face are extracted.

That is, the feature value extraction unit 78 reads out the color densities of pixels in the open area, and calculates the average value from the color densities of these pixels. Furthermore, this feature value extraction section 7 also calculates the maximum value and minimum value within the screen, or the average density of a specific area such as the center or peripheral area of the screen. The obtained feature values are sent to the calculation unit 7
9, and is substituted into a printing exposure calculation formula 79a that emphasizes skin color.

On the other hand, in a scene other than a person, the three-color density of each pixel read from the memory section 73 is sent to the feature value extraction section 80, and feature values used for n-light control based on Evans' principle, for example, are extracted. The feature values extracted by the feature value extraction section 80 are substituted into the printing exposure amount calculation formula 79b. Specific examples of these printing exposure calculation formulas are described in detail in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 189456/1983.

Further, the decoder 53 sends data representing the whiteness of the skin color to the correction calculation section 81, and corrects the printing exposure amount calculated by the printing exposure amount calculation formula 79a according to the whiteness of the skin. Although there are various types of correction calculations, it is simple to determine a coefficient depending on the whiteness of the skin color and multiply the printing exposure amount by this coefficient. For example, for white skin, multiply by ro, 9J, for slightly tanned skin, multiply by rl, IJ, and for dark, tanned skin, multiply by r.
Multiply by "l, 2".

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained. When taking a photograph, the knob 22 is operated depending on whether the scene is a portrait and the whiteness of the skin in a portrait scene, and the pointer 22a is aligned with any one of the marks 24 to 27. This knob 22
When is operated, the brush 30 moves to the contact plate 3 in conjunction with this operation.
1 to generate a code signal representing skin color information.

This code signal is converted into a barcode by a barcode converter 32 and then sent to a driver 33.

After inputting the skin color information, when a release button (not shown) is pressed, the drive mechanism 15 operates the shutter mechanism 12 and records the image of the subject on the photographic film 18. Immediately after the shutter mechanism 12 is activated, the driver 33 is activated to drive the barcode recording device 34. LCD display 35
While displaying the barcode, the flash discharge tube 36 emits light and the skin color information 38 represented by the barcode is displayed on the screen 18a.
Imprint around the area.

When the photographing of one roll of photographic film 18 is completed, the photographic film 18 is taken out from the camera and submitted to a photo processing laboratory. At the photo development laboratory, the photographic film 18 is developed to convert each frame recorded as a latent image and the skin color information recorded for each frame into a visible image.

The developed photographic film 18 is loaded into a film carrier 44 of a photographic printer shown in FIG. When this photographic film 18 is transported on a film carrier 50, skin color information 38 recorded around the frame 18a is read by a barcode reader 52. The read skin color information 3 days is decoded by the decoder 53 and then sent to the arithmetic unit 54.

When the frame 18a is set at the print position, the scanner 59 measures red, green, and blue transmitted light at each point on the frame 18a. The photometric values of these three colors are A
After being subjected to /D conversion processing and logarithmic conversion processing, it is sent to the arithmetic unit 54. This calculation unit 54 calculates the printing exposure amount of the three-color light using the printing exposure calculation formula 79a that emphasizes skin color reproduction for a human scene, and each obtained printing exposure amount is used to adjust the printing exposure amount to whiteness of the skin tone. Color and density are corrected accordingly. In addition, for scenes other than human scenes, the printing exposure amount is calculated for each color using the printing exposure calculation formula 79b.

After calculating the printing exposure amount, the controller 55 adjusts the insertion amount of the color correction filters 41 to 43 into the optical path 46 in accordance with the printing exposure amount. After this filter adjustment, the shutter 69 is opened for a certain period of time, and the frame 18a is printed and exposed on the color paper 67. Thereafter, each frame is sequentially printed onto color paper 67 in the same manner.

In the embodiment described above, skin color information is recorded as a barcode, but letters, pictures, symbols, etc. may be used instead. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, marks displayed on the mark plate 23 are used, and a mark 802 of white skin and a mark 81 of tanned dark skin are recorded on the photographic film. Note that marks are not recorded in scenes other than human scenes. When printing a photograph, the operator changes channels by looking at these marks and manually selects the printing exposure calculation formula that matches the photographic scene. Of course, it is also possible to read the mark with an optical reader and automatically select the printing exposure calculation formula.

Some types of photographic film do not have space to record subject information. In such a photographic film, for example, a mark 82 of slightly tanned skin is recorded within the screen 83.

In the embodiment described above, the position of the knob 22 is detected using a contact brush, but an optical sensor or the like may be used instead. Further, 4° information representing a backlit scene and skin color information may be used in combination.

For example, in the case of white skin in a backlit scene, the background will look white, so the exposure conditions should sacrifice some of the whiteness of the wind.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the present invention having the above configuration, skin color information representing the whiteness of the skin is recorded on a photographic film, and exposure control is performed using the skin color information when printing a photograph, so that skin as white as a bride's skin is white, and Sunburned skin is given a dark-skinned finish, making it possible to faithfully reproduce the skin color at the time the photo was taken.

Also, because the skin is recorded as dark in backlit scenes,
It is difficult to distinguish whether the skin has tanned skin or not, but since the present invention records skin color information, it is possible to reliably distinguish between the two and determine the optimal printing exposure amount for each.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a photographic camera of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of recording skin color information. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a photographic printer embodying the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the functions of the calculation section. FIGS. 5 to 7 are explanatory views showing examples of recording skin color information, respectively. 10... Lens, shutter mechanism, photographic film, knobs, barcode recording device, night crystal display, flashlight discharge tube, skin color information, barcode reader, scanner, color paper, marks.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A camera characterized by being provided with an input means for inputting skin color information representing the whiteness of a person's skin, and a recording means for recording this skin color information on a part of a photographic film. (2) A photograph characterized in that skin color information indicating the whiteness of a person's skin is recorded on a part of the photographic film when the photograph is taken, the skin color information is read when the photograph is printed, and the printing exposure amount is controlled based on this skin color information. Printing method.