JPH05127072A - Camera with focus detecting means and sight line detecting means - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To optimize the signal processing of the focus detecting means and sight line detecting means by controlling one signal processing once the other signal processing ends when both the signal processing are performed independently and individually. CONSTITUTION:When the signal processing of the sight line detection unit 35 ends earlier than the signal processing of the focus detection unit 30, the signal output of a focusing state is suspended until the signal processing of the focus detection unit 30 corresponding to a range finding area in a gazing direction obtained by the sight line detection unit 35 ends. Further, when the signal processing of the focus detection unit 30 ends earlier than the signal processing of the sight line detection unit 35, the signal output of a focusing state by the focus detection unit 30 is suspended until the signal processing of the sight line detection unit 35 ends.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera having focus detecting means and line-of-sight detecting means. And a focus point, and one focus from a plurality of focus signals obtained by the focus detection means having a function of detecting focus states in a plurality of regions of the subject based on the signal obtained by the line-of-sight detection means. It is suitable for a photographic camera, a video camera, an SV camera, etc. in which a signal is selected to adjust the in-focus state of a photographing system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a line of sight of a photographer is detected by detecting the direction of the line of sight of the photographer, which region (position) the photographer is observing in the viewfinder. Various cameras have been proposed in which various photographing functions such as automatic focus adjustment and automatic exposure are controlled based on a signal from the line-of-sight detecting means.

For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-61135, there is disclosed a camera which mechanically controls the distance measuring direction of a focus detecting device based on an output signal from the line-of-sight detecting means to adjust the focus state of a photographing system. Proposed.

Further, the applicant of the present invention has, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-241511, a line-of-sight detecting means for detecting a gaze direction of a photographer, a focus detecting means having a plurality of distance measuring fields, and a plurality of photometric sensitivity distributions. A camera is proposed which has an automatic exposure control means, and at this time controls the drive of the focus detection means and the automatic exposure control means based on the output signal from the line-of-sight detection means.

In the conventional camera, the photographing conditions such as focus adjustment and exposure control are automatically set based on the central area in the viewfinder field, whereas in the camera proposed in this publication, An arbitrary area (may be a large number of areas) is selected based on the will of the photographer, and focus adjustment, exposure control, etc. are performed in this area. This makes it possible to shoot under the free conditions intended by the photographer, apart from the method of automatically controlling the composition, which is the most important factor in drawing.

Generally, in a camera having an automatic focus detection means, signal processing (A) relating to automatic focus detection and photometry /
A method of controlling signal processing (B) such as switch sense as a series of flows is adopted.

When such a camera is added with a visual axis detecting function for performing control such as automatic switching of a plurality of distance measuring areas by using information of the visual axis of the photographer, signal processing relating to automatic focus detection (A) The signal processing (B) such as photometry and switch sense and the signal processing (C) for inputting the line-of-sight information are controlled as a series of flows.

[0008]

The signal processing for inputting the line-of-sight information (C), the signal processing for automatic focus detection (A), and the signal processing for switch sensing and photometry (B) are repeatedly executed as a series of flows. In the progressive camera sequence, the interval of each signal processing becomes longer than that in the camera sequence without the line-of-sight detecting means. Therefore, the responsiveness of each function becomes worse.

For example, when the subject brightness becomes dark, the processing time of the focus detection control becomes long, the processing interval of the line-of-sight detection means is greatly delayed, and the responsiveness of detection of the gazing point (line of sight) deteriorates.

The present invention optimizes the signal processing of each of the focus detection control and the line-of-sight detection control, and realizes both the focus detection control and the line-of-sight detection control with quick response without significantly delaying the cycle of each detection control. An object of the present invention is to provide a camera having a focus detecting means and a line-of-sight detecting means that can be used.

[0011]

A camera having a focus detecting means and a line-of-sight detecting means of the present invention is a line-of-sight detecting means for detecting a gaze direction of a photographer looking into a viewfinder field of the camera, and a viewfinder of a photographing system. Based on the focus detection means for detecting the in-focus state in a plurality of areas in the field of view, the signal regarding the gaze direction obtained by the line-of-sight detection means and the signal of the in-focus state by the focus detection means corresponding to the gaze area When adjusting the in-focus state of the photographing system, if the signal processing in the line-of-sight detecting means ends earlier than the signal processing in the focus detecting means, the in-focus state signal output is obtained in the line-of-sight detecting means. When the signal processing of the focus detection means corresponding to the distance measuring area in the gaze direction is completed, the signal processing in the focus detection means is completed earlier than the signal processing in the line-of-sight detection means, Burning It is characterized in that the signal output of the focus state by the detection means signal processing in the visual axis detecting means is provided and a control means adapted to wait until the end.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a main part of a first embodiment when the present invention is applied to a single-lens reflex camera, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a part of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the main part of the present invention. ..

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an eyepiece lens, and a dichroic mirror 1a for transmitting visible light and reflecting infrared light is obliquely provided inside thereof, and also serves as an optical path splitter.

Reference numeral 4 is a light receiving lens, and 5 (5a, 5b (not shown), 5c) is an illuminating means, which comprises, for example, a light emitting diode. Reference numeral 6 is a photoelectric element array. Light receiving lens 4
The photoelectric element array 6 constitutes one element of the light receiving means. The photoelectric element array 6 normally uses a device in which a plurality of photoelectric elements are arranged one-dimensionally in the direction perpendicular to the drawing, but a device in which photoelectric elements are arranged two-dimensionally is used as necessary. Each element 1,
The eye-gaze detecting system (eye-gaze detecting means) is constituted by 4, 5, and 6.

Reference numeral 11 is a taking lens, 2 is a quick return (QR) mirror, 3 is a display element, 14 is a focusing plate, and 15 is a focusing plate.
Is a condenser lens, 16 is a penta roof prism, 7
Is a sub-mirror, and 8 is a focus detection device (focus detection means) capable of multi-point distance measurement, and performs focus detection by selecting a plurality of regions within the photographing screen.

As shown in FIG. 2, the focus detecting device 8 is arranged in the vicinity of the planned image forming surface of the taking lens 11 and has a field mask 20 having a plurality of slits that respectively determine the distance measurement area and an image in each slit. A lens member 21 which functions as a field lens is arranged in close proximity, and a group 22 of re-imaging lenses and a group 23 of photoelectric element rows are arranged in order according to the number of slits. Set 2 of slit 20, field lens 21, and reimaging lens
2 and the group 23 of photoelectric element rows respectively constitute a well-known focus detection system.

In the present embodiment, part of the subject light transmitted through the taking lens 11 is reflected by the QR mirror 2 to form a subject image in the vicinity of the focusing plate 14. The subject light diffused by the diffusing surface of the focusing plate 14 is guided to the eye point E through the condenser lens 15, the penta roof prism 16, and the eyepiece 1.

Here, the display element 3 is, for example, a two-layer type guest-host type liquid crystal element which does not use a polarizing plate, and displays the distance measuring area (focus detection position) in the finder field.

Part of the subject light that has passed through the taking lens 11 passes through the QR mirror 2, is reflected by the sub mirror 7, and is guided to the above-mentioned multipoint focus detection device 8 arranged at the bottom of the camera body. Further, based on the focus detection information of the position on the object surface selected by the multipoint focus detection device 8, the photographic lens driving device (not shown) causes the photographic lens 11 to be extended (or retracted) to perform focus adjustment.

The line-of-sight detection apparatus according to the present embodiment has the reference numbers 1,
A visual axis detection system composed of members 4, 5, and 6, and an eyeball optical axis detection circuit, an eyeball discrimination circuit, a visual axis correction circuit, and a gazing point detection circuit included in a signal processing circuit 9 which is a calculating means. Etc.

The line-of-sight detection method in this embodiment is described in detail, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-241511 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-274736 proposed by the present applicant.

That is, the infrared light emitted from the infrared light emitting diode 5 enters the eyepiece lens 1 from above in the figure, is reflected by the dichroic mirror 1a, and illuminates the eyeball 17 of the observer located near the eye point E. .. The infrared light reflected by the eyeball 17 is reflected by the dichroic mirror 1a and converges by the light receiving lens 4 to form an image (Purkinje image or the like) on the photoelectric element array 6. Further, the signal processing circuit 9 is executed by software of a microcomputer.

The gazing point information detected by the gazing point detecting circuit is first transmitted to the display element 3 and the multipoint focus detecting device 8. On the display element 3, the place where the observer is gazing is displayed in the viewfinder of the camera, and the gazing point (focus detection point) is displayed.
Plays the role of confirmation.

Further, in the multi-point focus detection device 8, the focus adjustment is performed on the gaze object at the point gazed by the observer according to the flow described later.

Next, the basic operation of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 35 denotes a line-of-sight detection unit that detects the line of sight of the observer. Reference numeral 36 denotes a sub-microprocessor unit (SPU) including a line-of-sight calculation circuit, which obtains line-of-sight information from the line-of-sight detection unit 35.

Reference numeral 34 denotes a microprocessor unit (M including a photometry calculation circuit and a distance measurement calculation circuit (focus detection circuit).
PU), for example, each information is obtained from the photometric sensor 32 and the focus detection unit 30 via the interface 31.

The MPU 34 and the SPU 36 exchange signals with each other as necessary. Reference numeral 33 is a switch means for performing various shooting operations of the camera. That is, the first switch (SW1) of the release switch (not shown)
Signal and the second signal of the second switch (SW2)
Are typing in.

Next, various operations of the present invention will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS.

4 to 6 mainly show a flow chart for performing AE control and focus detection control, and FIG. 7 mainly shows a flow chart for performing visual axis detection control.

First, when a signal of a basic operation is input to the camera and power is supplied to the circuit of each element in FIG. 3, the microprocessor unit (MPU) 34 starts execution from step 101 in FIG. .. At the same time, the sub-microprocessor unit (SPU) 36 starts execution from step 201 in FIG. At this time, the microprocessor unit (MPU) 34 and the sub-microprocessor unit (SPU) 36 are independently controlled.

First, the microprocessor unit (M
The control of the PU 34 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. In step 101 of FIG. 4, the state of the first switch SW1 that is turned on by pressing the release button of the switch means 33 in the first step is detected. If it is off, step 101 is repeated until it is turned on. If the first switch SW1 is on, step 102
Move to. In step 102, a command for executing the line-of-sight detection is output to the sub-microprocessor unit (SPU) 36 to operate the line-of-sight detection. Sub-microprocessor unit (S
The execution of PU) 36 will be described later.

Next, the routine proceeds to step 103, where the line-of-sight detection end flag is cleared. This flag is a flag indicating that the sight line detection is completed and the distance measuring area information is being input from the SPU 36. Next, the routine proceeds to step 104, where the subroutine "AE control" is executed. In this subroutine "AE control", control such as photometry, detection of switch state and display is performed. Since these are not directly related to the present invention, detailed description will be omitted.

Next, in step 105, the accumulation operation of the AF sensor (focus detection sensor) is started to perform focus detection. In the next step 106, the line-of-sight detection end flag is checked, and if the flag is 1, the range-finding area information has already been input, so step 110-
Move to. If the flag is 0 in step 106, the range-finding area information has not been input yet, so the routine proceeds to step 107, and it is determined whether or not the sight line detection being processed by the SPU 36 is completed. If the line-of-sight detection is not completed, the process proceeds to step 110-. If the line-of-sight detection is completed, the distance measuring area information based on the line-of-sight detection is input from the SPU 36.

In step 108, the sight line detection end flag is set to 1 and the fact that the distance measuring area information has been input is stored. In the next step 109, a signal requesting the SPU 36 to communicate the distance measurement area information is output. Next step 110
Then, the distance measurement area information is input from the SPU 36.

Next, in FIG. 5, in step 110-, it is determined whether or not the defocus calculation has been completed for all the focus detection areas. If it has been completed, the routine proceeds to step 114. If not completed, the process proceeds to step 111.

In step 111, it is checked whether or not the sensor of a certain distance measuring area of the plurality of distance measuring areas has completed the accumulation. If there is no sensor whose accumulation has just ended, the routine proceeds to step 106. If there is a sensor whose storage has just ended, the process proceeds to the next step 112, and the image signal of the subject in the distance measurement area is input.

Next, at step 113, the defocus amount is calculated based on the image signal of the subject by a known method. A detailed description of the process for obtaining the defocus amount is omitted here. Next, in step 114, the line-of-sight detection end flag is checked, and if the flag is 0, go to step 115, and if the flag is 1, step 11
Go to 6.

In step 115, it is determined whether or not the defocus calculation has been completed for all distance measuring areas.
If there is a range-finding region for which defocus calculation has not been completed in step 115, the process proceeds to step 106, and if defocus calculation for all range-finding regions has been completed, the process proceeds to step 117.

In step 116, it is determined whether or not the defocus calculation of the distance measuring area selected is completed. If not completed, the process returns to step 106, and if completed, the process proceeds to step 117.

In step 117, the line-of-sight detection end flag is checked. If the flag is 0, the range-finding region information has not been input yet, so the process proceeds to step 118. If the flag is 1, the range-finding region information has already been input. So step 12
Move to 1. In step 118, the process waits until the line-of-sight detection process being processed by the SPU 36 is completed. When the line-of-sight detection process is completed, the process proceeds to step 119, and a request signal for communicating distance measurement area information is output to the SPU 36.

Next, in step 120 in FIG. 6, the selected distance measurement area information obtained from the gazing point of the photographer is input from the SPU 36. Next, at step 121, the defocus amount of the focus detection area obtained from the gazing point of the photographer is determined as the finally controlled defocus amount.

In the next step 122, it is determined whether or not the taking lens is in focus. If it is in focus, step 123
The focus is displayed on the screen. If it is not in focus, step 1
The process moves to 24 and the lens is driven. When these processes are completed, the process returns to step 101 again.

Next, the control by the sub-microprocessor unit (SPU) 36 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step 201 of FIG. 7, step 201 is repeatedly executed until a command for starting the execution of the visual axis detection is input from the microprocessor unit (MPU) 34, and the command for starting the execution of the visual axis detection is executed. When is input, the process proceeds to step 202,
Executes gaze detection control.

In step 202, the accumulating operation of the sensor for inputting visual line information is started. In step 203, the process continues waiting until the accumulation of the sensor for inputting the line-of-sight information is completed. When the accumulation is completed, the process proceeds to step 204, and the sensor for inputting the line-of-sight information is read. Step 20
In 5, the work for obtaining the gazing point of the photographer is executed based on the output of the sensor for inputting the line-of-sight information. In the next step 206, the distance measuring area corresponding to the gazing point of the photographer is determined.

In step 207, a signal indicating that the line-of-sight detection has been completed is output to the MPU 34, and in step 208 the system waits until a communication request signal from the MPU 34 arrives. MP
When the communication request signal from U34 arrives, the distance measurement area information obtained from the gazing point of the photographer is output to the MPU in step 209. When these processes are completed, step 20
Return to 1.

[0048]

According to the present invention, when the signal processing of the focus detecting means and the line-of-sight detecting means is carried out separately and independently, by controlling the other signal processing as described above when one signal processing is completed. , A focus capable of performing both focus detection control and line-of-sight detection control with quick responsiveness without optimizing the signal processing of each of the focus detection control and the line-of-sight detection control, without significantly delaying the cycle of each detection control. It is possible to achieve a camera having detection means and line-of-sight detection means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a main part of a first embodiment when the present invention is applied to a single-lens reflex camera.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an essential part of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Eyepiece lens 4 Light receiving lens 5 Illuminating means 6 Photoelectric element array 8 Focus detecting means 9 Computing means 11 Photographing lens 30 Focus detecting unit 32 Photometric sensor 33 Switch means 34 Microprocessor 35 Eye-gaze detecting unit 36 Sub-microprocessor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A line-of-sight detecting means for detecting a gaze direction of a photographer looking into the finder field of view of a camera, a focus detecting means for detecting an in-focus state in a plurality of regions within the finder field of an image pickup system, When adjusting the focus state of the imaging system based on the signal regarding the gaze direction obtained by the line-of-sight detection means and the signal of the focus state by the focus detection means corresponding to the gaze area, signal processing by the line-of-sight detection means is performed. When the signal processing in the focus detection means ends earlier than the signal processing in the focus state until the signal processing in the focus detection means corresponding to the distance measuring area in the gaze direction obtained by the line-of-sight detection means ends. When the signal processing in the focus detecting means is put on standby and finished earlier than the signal processing in the visual axis detecting means, the signal output in the focused state by the focus detecting means ends the signal processing in the visual axis detecting means. You A camera having a focus detection means and a line-of-sight detection means, which is provided with a control means for standing by until the start.