JPH05183796A - Focusing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit a user to attain a satisfactory focusing state regardless of the focusing state of an image pickup device by variably changing a filter characteristic corresponding to the focusing state of the image pickup device at the time of an image forming processing in the image pickup device. CONSTITUTION:A focusing state recognition means recognizing the focusing state of the image pickup device consists of a system controller 11; and an image formation means variably changing the image formation state corresponding to the focusing state recognized by the focusing state recognition means at the time of the image formation processing in the image pickup device consists of a process processing part respectively. At this time, the image formation processing is performed by variably changing the frequency characteristic of an aperture compensation circuit 4a in the image formation means consisting of the process processing part 4. That is, how the focusing state of the image pickup device is recognized by the focusing state recognition means and the image formation state by the image formation means is variably changed based on the recognition result.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a focusing device, and more particularly to a focusing device used for an image pickup device such as a video movie, cine movie, still video camera, and silver salt still camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional focusing device will be described with reference to FIG. 6 using a silver salt film camera as an example. The control device 22 drives the focusing lens 23 to the in-focus position on the basis of the information detected by the distance sensor or the defocus sensor 21 for recognizing the in-focus state of the camera. During manual focusing (hereinafter abbreviated as MF), the photographer manually drives the focusing lens 23 while monitoring the optical finder 24. As the focusing method in this case, an image correlation processing method using a line sensor, an active AF (autofocus) method using infrared rays, and a contrast detection type A that detects the contrast information of the subject image and drives the lens
There is an F method, etc., which is used properly depending on the system.

On the other hand, in video cameras such as video movies and electronic still cameras, the so-called hill-climbing AF system, which is a kind of the contrast detection AF system, has been widely adopted in recent years and has become the mainstream.

In the hill-climbing AF system, the peak value of the contrast information of the subject indicating the degree of focusing is obtained based on the image signal when the focusing lens is extended or retracted, and the position showing this peak value is focused. The focus lens is determined to be a position and the focusing lens is driven to the position. This will be described with reference to the block diagram of the main part of FIG. 7 applied to a still video camera.

In the figure, the subject light transmitted through the focusing lens 31 is imaged on the light receiving surface of the CCD imager 32 and photoelectrically converted into an electric signal. This electric signal is subjected to required signal processing in the process processing unit 33, and the EVF
It is supplied to a recording system and an external device (not shown) including the (electronic viewfinder) 34. The process processing unit 3
The output signal of No. 3 is also supplied to the contrast signal detection unit 35, and the contrast information of the subject indicating the degree of focusing is detected. Based on this contrast information, the control device 36 drives the focusing lens 31 to its in-focus position.

The operation of the hill-climbing AF system thus constructed will be described with reference to FIG. When the focusing lens is driven from the start point ST to the focus point FP, it is not known at the start point ST whether the point is in the ascending region or the descending region of the hill climbing curve L6 indicated by the broken line. Therefore, the start position S first
Move the focusing lens by a small distance with T (hereinafter,
The driving direction is determined by checking the increase or decrease in the contrast value. That is, it can be determined that the peak point FP of the hill-climbing curve exists in the direction in which the contrast value increases, and in the direction opposite to the direction P1 in the decreasing direction indicated by the arrow P1, respectively.
This determines the lens drive direction.

When the lens moves on the hill climbing curve L6 in the direction thus determined, the contrast value increases, but at the peak point FP where the contrast value becomes maximum, this point can still be judged as the peak point. No
Further, it is possible to recognize that the focus point FP is the peak point that gives the maximum contrast value, only after the lens is driven in the P2 direction and the overrun point OR at which the contrast value decreases is reached. Then, the lens is driven in the P3 direction to return to the focus point FP, and the hill-climbing AF operation is completed.

[0008]

However, in the hill-climbing AF operation shown in FIG. 8, since the initial movement direction at the start point ST is unknown, it is necessary to move in the opposite direction with a probability of 1/2, that is, in the direction in which a larger focus shift occurs. There is.
Further, the focus becomes uncomfortable during the reciprocal movement to the overrun point OR after passing the focus point FP. Therefore, a general photographer who monitors such mountain climbing AF operation wonders why AF moves in the in-focus direction or in the out-of-focus direction, and the AF operation of the camera is performed correctly. There is a sense of anxiety about whether or not there is a sense of in-focus achievement.

The above is the case of the hill-climbing AF operation in the still camera. However, even in the case of the movie camera, if the subject to be photographed changes, the hill-climbing AF operation is performed again during continuous movie photography to focus. It will be necessary to start over. Then, during continuous movie recording, the focus suddenly loses focus, which not only makes the user feel uneasy, but also
The focus movement during the hill-climbing AF operation adversely affects the shooting result (recorded contents).

On the other hand, regardless of whether the camera is a still camera or a movie camera, depending on the conditions such as the focal length of the lens and the diaphragm, the depth of field becomes deep and a so-called pan focus state is obtained in which a state close to a jaspin state can be obtained at any lens position. May be.

Hill climbing A in this pan focus state
In the F operation, the user who monitors the subject image with the finder does not change much regardless of the lens position in the jaspin state, and thus feels uneasy as to whether or not the AF operation is actually performed. As a result, the feeling of accomplishment of focus cannot be obtained. Or it may be an illusion that it is out of focus even though it is just a spin. Further, even when the manual operation is performed in the MF mode, there is no defocusing, so it is confusing to know where the true jaspin position is.

This can occur with one camera depending on the conditions, as described above. For example, even with a camera that normally does not have a problem, widening the field will increase the depth of field, and similarly, there is concern about focusing. There is a case that you cannot feel the achievement of focusing. By the way, most of the silver halide cameras of recent years are almost AF type and there is no need to focus, so the brightness of the screen mat of the optical viewfinder is prioritized by design, and as a result, focus detection is difficult.
Therefore, there is a tendency to use something that looks like jaspin everywhere. Therefore, enthusiasts and professionals who want to focus in a serious manner have a particular sense of anxiety during AF operation or MF.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide a focusing device which can satisfy the user's feeling of accomplishing focusing regardless of the focusing state of the image pickup device.

[0014]

A focusing device according to the present invention comprises a focusing state recognition means for recognizing what the focusing state of the image pickup device is, and an image forming process in the image pickup device. And an image forming means capable of changing the image forming state according to the in-focus state recognized by the in-focus state recognizing means.

[0015]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. Before explaining the embodiment of the present invention, the basic concept thereof will be described first. In the image forming process in the image pickup apparatus, for example, the characteristics of a filter whose characteristics can be changed according to the focus state of the image pickup apparatus are changed. This improves the user's feeling of accomplishment of focusing.

More specifically, for example, in the case of a camera close to the pan focus state, during AF operation, the focus is electrically reduced by about 10 to 20% compared to the original focus adjustment state, that is, it is intentionally out of focus. When the AF operation is completed, the original adjustment state is restored. On the contrary, if trial blurring or overrun blurring of AF is a problem,
AF during initial trial or overrun during hill climbing AF operation
The contrast enhancement that compensates for the decrease in the contrast information is provided so that the user cannot recognize out-of-focus as a whole.

In this case, if the contrast enhancement is applied, noise components increase correspondingly and the image quality is deteriorated, so that it may not be possible to use for a long time. However, there is no need to worry about the deterioration of the movie screen for a short time such as during the initial trial or overrun in the mountain climbing AF operation, and the mountain climbing A during movie shooting A
It is possible to eliminate the discomfort caused by the out-of-focus effect associated with the F motion.

The above is the basic concept of the present invention. Next, examples will be described. FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a main part of a camera to which a focusing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied, in which a subject light transmitted through an imaging lens 1 is a CCD imager 2
An image is formed on the light receiving surface of and is photoelectrically converted into an electric signal. This electric signal is supplied to a process processing unit 4 that forms a video signal via a pre-process circuit 3 including a circuit block that directly receives an imager output such as an S / H (sample hold) circuit and a gain control circuit. ..

The aperture compensating circuit 4a included in the process processing section 4 is also called a contour correcting circuit and is originally a circuit for compensating the deterioration of the frequency characteristic of the video signal. That is, a peaking circuit with little phase distortion for emphasizing a certain specific band is used to increase the apparent sense of resolution, and its frequency characteristic is normally set to a fixed value. As described above, this is variably used as an image forming means. The video signal output from the processing unit 4 is supplied to the EVF system 5, the recording system 6, and the camera output system 7, respectively.

The output of the preprocess circuit 3 is also supplied to the contrast detection circuit 10. This detection circuit 10
In, a signal component within a certain band is extracted and detected using an electric filter, and image information is integrated for each field and detected as a contrast signal.

The detected contrast signal is normally supplied to a system controller 11 having a microcomputer built therein. Then, the determination / arithmetic processing unit 11a in the controller 11 drives the lens motor 8 via the motor driver 9 to drive the focusing lens 1 to the in-focus position. Further, the processing unit 11a supplies a signal for changing the image forming state according to the focused state to the aperture compensation circuit 4a.

Then, a focus state recognizing means for recognizing what the focus state of the image pickup apparatus is is by the system controller 11 and when the image formation processing in the image pickup apparatus is performed, the image formation state is changed to the above-mentioned state. The process processing section 4 constitutes image forming means that can be changed according to the in-focus state recognized by the in-focus state recognizing means.

Here, for example, in the aperture compensating circuit 4a in the image forming means including the process processing section 4,
An image forming process by varying a frequency characteristic which is generally set to a fixed value will be described with reference to FIGS. The characteristics of the video signal supplied to the EVF 5 are shown in FIG.
The transmission characteristics of the focusing lens 1 shown in FIG.
It is determined by multiplying the electrical frequency characteristic of the image forming means shown in FIG. Therefore, if the focusing lens 1 is moved in the optical axis direction, the degree of blurring of the focus can be changed, but even if the frequency characteristic of the image forming means is changed, the apparent focus feeling can be changed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an MTF curve in which the transmittance of contrast, that is, the MTF value is plotted with respect to the number of resolution charts, that is, the spatial frequency of the object. Incidentally, in correspondence with FIG. 3 described later, the spatial frequency on the horizontal axis corresponds to the time frequency of the video signal handled by this imaging device. In this case, the subject image can be perfectly reproduced at any spatial frequency if MTF = 1, but in an actual focusing lens, the curve is similar to the characteristic curve of the LPF (low-pass filter) that descends to the right as shown in FIG.

The MTF curve L2 shown by the broken line in FIG. 2 is a curve in the case where the focusing lens used in this image pickup apparatus is in the jaspin state, and the MTF becomes 1 at a low spatial frequency, but the MTF becomes L as the spatial frequency rises. The limit frequency at which MTF = 0 decreases and which corresponds to the limit resolution is f _J. The higher the limit frequency f _J is, and the closer the MTF value at each frequency is to 1, the better the imaging performance of the lens.

On the other hand, the MTF curve L1 shown by the solid line is
It is in a slightly unfocused state, and M at low spatial frequencies
The TF value is 1 as in the case of the curve L1, but the spatial frequency at which the MTF value becomes 0 decreases according to the amount of focus shift. Conversely, the closer the focusing of the focusing lens is to the jaspin state, the closer it is to the limit curve L2 showing the limit performance of the lens, but the curve L2 cannot be exceeded.

Therefore, with respect to the area S _J of the region surrounded by the above-mentioned limit MTF curve L2 and both coordinate axes and having a right downward descending broken line, it is surrounded by the MTF curve L1 corresponding to a certain amount of out-of-focus and both coordinate axes. If the ratio of the area S _D of the region marked with a solid line descending to the left is defined as the focus ratio FR, the focus ratio FR is

[Equation 1] Can be expressed as Further, the defocus ratio DR indicating the degree of out-of-focus at this time is defined as the following formula.

[0028]

[Equation 2] In other words, the degree of blurring of the focusing lens from the jaspine position is originally a psychological concept and cannot be expressed quantitatively.
Once R is defined, this allows it to be expressed numerically to some extent.

The above is a description of means for quasi-quantitatively capturing the amount of focus shift when the focusing lens is mechanically moved. In the present embodiment, this is electrically supplemented and the user's focus is adjusted. This is intended to enhance the feeling of accomplishment of focus, which will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is an output characteristic diagram of the aperture compensation circuit 4a in which, for example, the video signal frequency of the NTSC system is plotted on the horizontal axis and the signal output is plotted on the vertical axis. A straight line L3 parallel to the horizontal axis is intentional. This is an output characteristic in a standard imaging state in which focus correction is not performed. On the other hand, in the focusing device of the first embodiment, the aperture compensation circuit 4a (see FIG. 1)
As shown by the curve L4 in the same figure, the frequency characteristic of is convex downward in the band around the frequency 3 MHz that strongly affects the relative focus feeling, that is, by decreasing the output value,
It seems to be out of focus.
On the other hand, if you increase the output value in the band around 3MHz, you can emphasize the focus as described later. In this case, the straight line L in the figure
As shown in FIG. 5, the frequency may continue to drop at the same ratio even in the frequency band of 3 MHz or more, which will be described here as an application example of the first embodiment.

In any case, if the response is lowered around the frequency band around 3 MHz, the feeling of defocusing is felt, and if the response is raised conversely, the feeling of focusing is emphasized. Therefore, as a means of quantitatively capturing such a feeling of focus to some extent, a pseudo focusing degree RR is introduced, and the pseudo focusing degree RR is set to approximately 3 on the curve L4.
It is defined as the ratio of the output value at the point P4 corresponding to MHz to the standard value 1.

In other words, the determination / arithmetic processing unit 11a (see FIG. 1) of the system controller 11 recognizes what the in-focus state of the image pickup device is, and raises or lowers the pseudo in-focus degree RR accordingly. As a result, it is possible to visually recognize the image that is out of focus even if the image is out of focus, or the image that is out of focus is out of focus, thereby satisfying the user's in-focus feeling.

As described above, since the object corresponding to the original degree of focus cannot be focused more than the Jaspin, the MTF always becomes 1 or less, but the pseudo degree of focus RR is set.
Then, it is possible to emphasize to a value of 1 or more. However, if emphasized in this way, the noise component is also amplified and the image quality is deteriorated, so it cannot be used as a stationary monitor image, but it is not possible to obtain a feeling of achieving focus during AF operation. There is no problem if you use time.

The focusing operation of the thus constructed first embodiment will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. This flow is an example suitable for a camera that performs a one-time AF operation such as a still camera. When this flow starts,
First, the pseudo focusing degree RR is set to, for example, 0.8 (step S1). Then, the actual AF operation is started and continuously executed until the focusing is completed (steps S2 and S).
3). When the focusing operation is completed, the pseudo focusing degree RR is returned to 1 (step S4), and the AF operation is ended.

In step S4, the pseudo focusing degree is stepwise returned from 0.8 to 1. However, the pace is set to 0.8 to 0.9, 1 so as to substantially match the actual focusing operation. You can change it with. When the pseudo focus degree RR is set to 1, a monitor display such as a focus completion mark on the EVF may be displayed. In this case, the pseudo focusing degree RR in step S1 may be appropriately set to an arbitrary value smaller than 1 such as 0.9 instead of 0.8.

According to the first embodiment, for example, the judgment / arithmetic processing unit 11a of the system controller 11 recognizes what the in-focus state of the image pickup device is, and the image formation corresponding to this is performed, that is, the AF operation is being performed. Since the pseudo focusing degree RR is automatically set to, for example, 0.8, and when the focusing operation is completed, the pseudo focusing degree RR is automatically set to 1, so that the user's anxiety about focusing can be eliminated, and the feeling of achievement of focusing can be satisfied. ..

In this case, if the image pickup device is set to the telephoto side, the depth of field becomes shallow and a feeling of accomplishment of focusing in the hill climbing AF method can be sufficiently obtained. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Flow is needed. For this purpose, some switching means is required. For example, the setting of the pseudo focusing degree RR in step S1 of FIG. 4 is 0.8 on the wide side, 1 on the tele side, and in the intermediate state. You may make it set to 0.9 respectively. That is, even if this flow is executed on the tele side, the pseudo focusing degree RR does not change, so that the same effect as that provided by the tele / wide switching means for executing this flow only on the wide side can be obtained. This will be described here as a modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the focusing operation in the focusing device showing the second embodiment of the present invention. The first embodiment is applied to, for example, a still camera which takes a picture after the focusing operation is completed. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the hill-climbing AF is performed every time the target subject changes during continuous shooting.
The flow is applied to, for example, a movie camera that operates, and the configuration of the hardware surface is exactly the same as in FIG. Then, since the hill-climbing AF operation is performed during continuous shooting in the movie mode, the pseudo focus degree RR is set to 1 or less in the first embodiment, whereas
In the second embodiment, a value larger than 1, that is, the contrast is emphasized, so that the user does not feel the out-of-focus condition that accompanies the hill-climbing AF operation during movie shooting.

In FIG. 5, when this flow starts, an initial trial is first performed to determine the initial drive direction in the hill-climbing AF operation (step S11), and the hill-climbing AF operation is performed in the drive direction thus determined. (Step S12). Then, when the vehicle overruns beyond the peak point (step S13), it returns to the point showing the maximum value in the past and ends the focusing operation (step S14) and waits (step S15). After that, if the target subject in movie recording changes, the process returns to step S11 and the above steps are repeated.

The above is the mountain climbing AF in the normal movie mode.
This is an operation, but steps S11 and S1 in this flow
In S3 and S14, conventionally, the EVF image being monitored becomes unfocused, which gives the user anxiety, but in the second embodiment, the contrast information C _n in each step is used as the reference contrast information C _n. Compared with _s , the pseudo focus degree RR is set as follows. That is, if C _n <C _s, RR = C _s / C _n ……………… (1) If C _n ≧ C _s, set RR = 1 ………… (2). However, the reference contrast information C _s
Takes a different value in each step, and is set to the initial contrast value C _o in S11 and S12, and the peak (peak) contrast value C _p in S13 and S14.

If this is applied to each step of the above flow, trial blur does not occur if the trial direction is the hill climbing direction in step S11, but at this time C _n ≧
Since C _s = C _o , the pseudo focusing degree RR is set to 1, and no particular correction is made. Then, when the trial direction is the hill-down direction, that is, when trial blurring occurs, C _n
<C _s = C _o , so pseudo focus degree RR = C _o / C
_n > 1 is set, that is, contrast enhancement is performed and trial blurring is corrected.

Similarly, in S12 during mountain climbing, C _n
Since ≧ C _s = C _o , RR = 1 is set. However, in overrun focusing S13 and S14, C _n <C _s = C _p
Then RR = C _p / C _n is set, and overrun blur is corrected.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, in the hill-climbing AF operation in the movie mode for continuous shooting, the out-of-focus blur which has inevitably occurred in the past is detected by the system controller 11 which is a focus state recognition means. Upon recognition, the process control unit 4, which is an image forming unit, emphasizes the pseudo focus degree RR in response to the recognition, so that the user can perform normal movie shooting without visually recognizing the unnatural focus shift of the subject image. It can be performed.

By the way, in the hill-climbing AF operation in this type of movie mode, when the contrast information of the image signal is detected to correct the pseudo focusing degree, as in the still recording mode, the correction is delayed in timing. Become. Therefore, in order to optimize the means as in the second embodiment, a video memory capable of memorizing the information for one field of the video signal is actually required, and the image information is stored once in the video memory. It is necessary to detect the contrast value of the same information to determine the pseudo focusing degree, and then read the stored information from the video memory while matching the timings and correct the data according to the pseudo focusing degree. However, such a video memory is not necessary if it is possible to delay by one field.

In each of the above-described embodiments, in order to make the description easier to understand, the first embodiment mainly emphasizes the feeling of achieving the focus of the still camera (in the still mode), and the second embodiment mainly concerns the movie camera ( This has been done in order to prevent the unintended out-of-focus feeling (in movie mode), but the distinction between still and movie in this case is not essential, and whatever camera system the requirements of that system have. According to the above, both can be used in combination. That is, a feeling of in-focus can be obtained by supplementing unnecessary focus blur by emphasizing, and conversely, if necessary, creating focus blur midway and returning to the normal state. In other words, the above-mentioned embodiments may be used in particular, but may be used in combination.

By the way, in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the aperture compensating circuit 4a (see FIG. 1) has been described as the image forming means capable of changing the image forming state according to the in-focus state recognized by the in-focus state recognizing means. However, since the blur of the focusing lens is two-dimensional, two-dimensional is preferable. Therefore, it is more preferable to use a two-dimensional aperture compensation circuit. Furthermore, since the means for changing the frequency characteristic of the aperture compensation circuit by the pseudo focusing degree RR does not become exactly the same as the blur amount of the focusing lens, the focusing device of the present invention can be used when the design permits. It is more desirable to use a dedicated filter.
This kind of filter may be an analog filter or a two-dimensional digital filter using DSP or the like,
By these, arbitrary characteristics can be obtained.

Further, when an optical finder is used as a means for blurring the focus of the subject image in the image forming means, a dedicated defocus device may be provided in the finder system. This kind of defocusing device may be, for example, a mechanism that slightly moves at least one part of the lens in the finder optical system back and forth, or a liquid crystal lens that can adjust the focus by changing the voltage applied from the outside. Good.

In the above, the image forming state is changed by changing the frequency characteristic of the image signal or the image forming state of the optical system, but the present invention is not applied to the recording system and is applied only to the finder system such as EVF. In this case, it is only necessary for the user to feel that the focus has changed apparently. For example, a means for emphasizing or weakening the color by electric signal processing, or varying the DC bias level of the video signal. It may be means or the like. This is because when the color is clear, it feels like the image is in focus, and when DC bias is applied to the entire image, the contrast of the image decreases and the image becomes whitish, which reduces the feeling of focus, making it a true focus operation. Even if they do not respond, it is sufficient if the same effect as the psychological focus feeling is obtained. Thus, the image forming means of the present invention includes all means for changing the state of the image by some means.

Further, the "focusing state" as the detection target by the focusing state recognizing means is explained as the contrast value of the contrast information detected as the electric signal in the above-mentioned respective embodiments, but the "focusing state" is this. However, the contrast value itself can be used including the increase / decrease information as long as the image contrast can be directly detected by the optical means.

In addition, as already shown in the embodiment, during the stop of the focusing operation, the search in the initial direction in the hill climbing AF operation, the hill climbing AF operation, the overrun, the focusing completion,
What kind of control is currently being performed, including each control state such as the standby state or the start of focusing, is also included in the “focusing state” in the present invention. Further, the change in the depth of focus value due to the change in the aperture value, the focal length, and the like described in the first embodiment is also an example of the “focused state”. As described above, the “focusing state” is used to refer to all states related to the focusing device, and for example, the “MF state” is one of them.

Although the so-called hill-climbing method is used as the AF method in each of the above-described embodiments, the present invention is applicable to any AF (MF).
It can be applied in combination with the method. When the defocus amount and the final focus point are known prior to the focusing operation, as in the image correlation processing method, for example, the information can be used to more appropriately emphasize the focus achievement feeling. For example, the contrast change when the feeling of achieving focusing is maximized is stored in advance in a memory as a data table, and this data table is used for the contrast change of the image which is known to be the expected focusing operation. It can be realized in the form of performing correction based on.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention, the in-focus state recognizing means recognizes what the in-focus state of the image pickup device is, and based on this recognition, the image forming means forms the image. Since the state can be changed, the remarkable effect that the user can satisfy the feeling of achieving the focus regardless of the focus state of the image pickup apparatus is exhibited.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a main part of a camera to which a focusing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an M plotting MTF values with respect to spatial frequencies.
TF curve diagram.

FIG. 3 is an output characteristic diagram in which a relative signal output is plotted with respect to a video signal frequency.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a focusing operation in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a focusing operation in the focusing device showing the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block configuration diagram when a conventional focusing device is applied to a silver salt film camera.

FIG. 7 is a block configuration diagram when a hill-climbing AF type focusing device is applied to a still video camera.

8 is a diagram in which contrast values are plotted with respect to the focusing lens position in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 ... Process processing section (image forming means) 11 ... System controller (focus state recognition means)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An in-focus state recognition means for recognizing what the in-focus state of the image pickup device is, and an image formation state recognized by the in-focus state recognition means during image formation processing in the image pickup device. A focusing device comprising: an image forming unit that can be changed according to a focusing state.