JPH08254750A - Photographing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a photographing device which is constituted so that an optical axis suitable for a condition can be selected at a photographing time and whose handleability is excellent. CONSTITUTION: This device is provided with an optical system constituted so that plural incident ports 101a and 101b are formed with respect to an identical image pickup element 105, the optional incident port out of the incident ports 101a and 101b is selected and the image of an object is formed on the element 105 through the selected incident port. The optical system is individually set every incident port 101a and 101b. Specially, an optical path set with respect to the plural incident ports 101a and 101b shares one part of the optical system. Thus, the incident port suitable for a photographing state can be selected. Besides, the optical system suitable for the photographing state can be easily selected and the individual difference of the optical system is reduced between the incident ports 101a and 101b. Moreover, the constitution of the device can be made simple.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photographing device using a solid-state image pickup device such as CCD.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art This type of photographing apparatus is widely used in electronic still cameras, video cameras and the like. FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a conventional electronic still camera. This electronic still camera includes an entrance 101a through which an image at the time of shooting enters, a lens 103a for forming an image on the image pickup surface, and an image sensor at the time of shooting. A shutter 102a for exposing 105, an image sensor 105 for converting an image into an electric signal, a finder 501 for a photographer to observe a state at the time of shooting, and an electric signal generated by the image sensor 105 as a video signal. It is composed of a video signal processing unit 107 for reading, a memory 110 for recording the video signal, a CPU 108 for controlling the operation from the reading to the recording of the video signal, and a release button 113 for operating a shutter 102a for photographing. . In the figure, 502 is the optical axis of the image to be captured, 5
Reference numeral 03 denotes the optical axis of the finder 501.

At the time of shooting, the photographer first looks at the finder 5
The direction of the optical axis 503 is adjusted so that the subject to be photographed comes in the image in 01. After adjusting the direction of the optical axis 503, the photographer presses the relays button 113 at the time of photographing. When the release button 113 is pressed, the shutter 102a is opened for a certain period of time, and the image of the subject entered through the entrance 101a is imaged on the image sensor 105 by the lens 103a and exposure is performed. The image sensor 105 converts the exposed video signal into an electric signal. The electric signal from the image sensor 105 is read out as a video signal by the video signal processing unit 107,
This video signal is recorded by the CPU 108 at an appropriate position in the memory 110.

[0004]

As described above, in the conventional photographing apparatus, a single entrance 101a for taking a subject image is provided for a pair of lenses 103a, and therefore, at the time of photographing, The entrance 101a must be directed toward the subject. For this reason, for example, in the case of alternately photographing a subject in a plurality of directions, it is necessary to move the photographing device itself each time, and the operation is inevitably troublesome.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image pickup apparatus which is capable of selecting an optical axis suitable for the conditions at the time of image pickup and has excellent usability.

[0006]

An image pickup apparatus of the present invention has a plurality of entrances for the same image pickup element, selects any of these entrances, and selects the selected entrance. An optical system for forming an image of a subject on the image sensor through the mouth is provided.

Further, in the photographing apparatus of the present invention, the optical system is individually set for each of the plurality of entrances.

Further, in the photographing apparatus of the present invention, the optical paths set for the plurality of entrances share a part of the optical system.

Further, in the photographing apparatus of the present invention, the light guide means is arranged in front of the optical path of the optical system to be shared.

Further, in the photographing apparatus of the present invention, there is provided a selecting means for selecting an entrance from which a subject image is to be picked up, out of the plurality of entrances.

Further, in the photographing apparatus of the present invention, the selecting means has a light-shielding means for shielding an incident opening other than the selected incident opening.

Further, the image pickup apparatus of the present invention further comprises display means for displaying the currently selected entrance according to a signal from the selection means.

Further, in the photographing apparatus of the present invention, it is provided with recording means for storing a signal from the image pickup device and display means for displaying the signal, and the image from the selected entrance is recorded by the recording means. It is inverted through the display and is displayed on the display means.

Further, in the photographing apparatus of the present invention, the selecting means can switch the entrances at arbitrary time intervals.

Further, in the photographing apparatus of the present invention, the time interval is set in units of the shortest time required to display an image.

[0016]

According to the present invention, first, for the same image sensor,
By having an optical system having a plurality of entrances and selecting any of the entrances to form an image of a subject on the image sensor, the entrance suitable for a shooting state. Can be selected.

Further, according to the present invention, since the optical system is different for each of the plurality of entrances, it is possible to easily select an optical system suitable for a photographing state.

Further, according to the present invention, since the light rays from the plurality of entrances share a part of the optical system, the solid difference of the optical system between the entrances can be reduced, and the device The configuration can be simplified.

Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of entrances are provided for the same image pickup device, and an arbitrary entrance is selected from these entrances, and an image of a subject is picked up by the image pickup device. Has an optical system for forming an image. In this case, the light rays from the plurality of entrances share a part of the optical system, and the light guide unit is arranged in front of the shared optical system, thereby forming a multifunctional optical system configuration. It can be simplified.

Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of entrances are provided for the same image pickup device, and an arbitrary entrance is selected from these entrances, and an image of a subject is picked up by the image pickup device. Has an optical system for forming an image. In this case, it is possible to easily select the entrance port at the time of shooting by having a selection unit for selecting the entrance port for shooting an image from the plurality of entrance ports.

Further, according to the present invention, the selecting means is
By shielding the entrances other than the selected entrance,
When switching the optical system, no deviation of the optical axis occurs,
Only the image from any entrance can be taken.

Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of entrances are provided for the same image pickup device, and an arbitrary entrance is selected from these entrances, and an image of a subject is picked up by the image pickup device. Has an optical system for forming an image. In this case, it has selection means for selecting an entrance for taking an image from the plurality of entrances, and display means for displaying a signal, and the entrance selected at present is selected by the signal from the selection means. By displaying it on the display means, it is possible to surely perform photographing.

Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of entrances are provided for the same image pickup device, and an arbitrary entrance is selected from these entrances, and an image of a subject is picked up by the image pickup device. Has an optical system for forming an image. In this case, it has a selection means for selecting an entrance for taking a picture from the plurality of entrances, a recording means for storing a signal from the image sensor, and a display means for displaying the signal. ing. Then, by inverting the image displayed on the display means by the selected entrance through the recording means, an erect image can be always displayed on the display means.

Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of entrances are provided for the same image pickup device, and an arbitrary entrance is selected from these entrances, and an image of a subject is picked up by the image pickup device. Has an optical system for forming an image. In this case, it has a selection means for selecting an entrance for taking an image from the plurality of entrances, and by switching the entrance at an arbitrary time interval by the selection means, without moving the photographing device. You can shoot in different directions.

Further, according to the present invention, the arbitrary time interval is set to the unit of the shortest time required to display an image, so that a stereo image or the like can be easily taken by time division. it can.

[0026]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the photographing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show an example of the construction of a photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This apparatus is provided with a first and a second entrance port 1 for taking a subject image into an imaging system.
01a, 101b, first and second entrances 101a, 1
First and second shutters 102 for opening and closing 01b
a, 102b, a lens 10 for forming a subject image
3a, an optical path splitting prism 104 having a semi-transmissive film, an image sensor 105 for converting a subject image into an electric signal, an A / D converter 106 for converting an analog electric signal from the image sensor 105 into a digital signal, A / A field memory 116 for storing the digital signal from the D conversion unit 106, and a video signal processing unit 10 for converting an electric signal into a video signal.
7. A CPU 108 for controlling the inside of the photographing apparatus, a data bus 109 for performing data communication, a memory 110 for storing a video signal, a display panel 111 for displaying the obtained video signal, and a selection of an optical axis for photographing. Operation unit 112
And a release button 113 for shooting.

First and second entrances 101a and 101b
The images incident from the different optical axes 114, 11 are different from each other.
Have five. The light from the first entrance 101a and the light from the second entrance 101b are incident on the entrances 101a, 10a, 10b.
It is guided to the lens 103a by the prism 104 attached inside 1b. Each entrance 101a, 101
Shutters 102a and 102b are attached to b, and opening / closing operations of these shutters 102a and 102b are performed by selection / switching input to the operation unit 112.

First, when shooting an image from the first entrance 101a, the first shutter 102 is operated by the operation unit 112.
a is set to the open state, and the second shutter 102b is set to the closed state. With this setting, the first
Only the image is incident from the entrance 101a. The image incident from the first entrance 101a passes through the prism 104 and is imaged on the image sensor 105 by the lens 103a. In the image sensor 105, the image formed on this element is converted into an electric signal. The electric signal from the image sensor 105 is converted from an analog signal to a digital signal by the A / D conversion unit 106 and stored in the field memory 116.

The CPU 108 determines the reading order of the data in the field memory 116 based on the entrance selection state on the operation unit 112. Here, since the first entrance 101a is selected, the CPU 108 sends signals to the field memory 116 in which the write and read addresses are in the same order.

The signal read from the field memory 116 is converted into a video signal by the video signal processing unit 107. The video signal is sent by the CPU 108 to the display panel 111 through the data bus 109 and displayed as a video. At this time, the currently selected entrance is displayed on the display panel 111 together with the video signal.
01a is displayed by the processing of the CPU 108. At the time of shooting, the photographer presses the letters button 113 so that the video signal at that time is transferred to the data bus 109.
It is written in the memory 110 through and the image is taken.

Next, the switching of the optical axis at the time of photographing is performed by the operation unit 11.
Input to the first and second shutters 102a, 1
This is done by operating 02b. Now the first entrance 1
In the state where the image from 01a is being shot, the second
When the image is switched to the image from the entrance 101b, the first shutter 102a is changed to the closed state and the second shutter 102b is changed to the open state by performing a predetermined input to the operation unit 112. Since the optical system is changed by the light shielding by the shutter, there is no problem such as the shift of the optical axis due to the switching. As a result, the first entrance 101a, which has been photographed so far, is shielded from light, and the image from the second entrance 101b enters instead.

The image incident from the second entrance 101b passes through the prism 104 and the lens 103a and is imaged on the same image pickup device 105 as in the case of the first entrance 101a. The electrical signal from the image sensor 105 is the same as when the first entrance 101a is selected, and the A / D converter 10
6 is stored in the field memory 116. When the second entrance 101b is selected, the CPU 108 sends a signal to the field memory 116 so that the addresses for writing and reading data are in reverse order. By this operation, the vertical relationship of the signals can be reversed, and the image inverted by the action of the prism 104 can be made erect.

After that, the first entrance 101 described above is used.
By the same processing as when the image is incident from a, the image signal and the state of selecting the second incident opening 101b are displayed on the display panel 111, and the photographer releases the release button 1
By pressing 13, the video signal is written in the memory 110 through the data bus 109.

By providing the function of switching the optical axis in this way, according to the photographing apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, for example, normal photographing is performed using the first entrance 101a, and the document The second incident port 101b, which is the downward optical axis, can be used for photographing. That is,
The positional relationship between the entrance and the display panel suitable for the situation at the time of shooting can be taken, and shooting can be performed in a natural state preferred by the photographer.

By the way, when the first entrance 101a and the second entrance 101b are assigned according to the photographing application,
For example, when the second entrance 101b is for close-up photography,
This can be dealt with by disposing a close-up lens (not shown) between the shutter 102b and the prism 104 in FIG. Further, the close-up lens is made movable, and the operation unit 112 is
An optical system for close-up photography can be easily realized by operating the movement of the lens with. In this way, a multifunctional optical system can be easily realized by arranging the lens according to the application in front of the prism 104 while the lens 103a has a common basic part.

Here, another example of the optical axis switching means in this embodiment is shown in FIGS. The example of FIG. 3 shows an optical system in which a half mirror 301 is used instead of the prism 104 described above. As in the case of using the prism 104, the half mirror 301 images the images from the first and second entrances 101a and 101b through the common lens 103a and forms an image on the image sensor 105. The shutters 102a and 102b are operated by the operation unit 112.
By opening and closing, you can shoot and record images in different optical axis directions without moving the shooting device.

The example of FIG. 4 shows an optical system in which the total reflection mirror 117 is used as the optical axis switching means. The switching of the optical axes is performed by flipping up the total reflection mirror 117 by an input to the operation unit 112. FIG. 4A shows the first
The image having the optical axis 114 is incident on the lens 103a, and the image from the second incident port 101b is blocked by the total reflection mirror 117. . Second entrance 101
In order to select b, the total reflection mirror 117 is flipped up as shown in FIG. As a result, the image having the optical axis 115 is guided to the lens 103a, and the image from the first entrance 101a is blocked by the total reflection mirror 117. When the total reflection mirror 117 is used, a shutter for shielding light is not required, and the structure of the device can be simplified.

As described above, in the first embodiment, the first and second
Of the plurality of optical axes 11 with respect to the set of lenses 103a by using the entrance ports 101a and 101b, the first and second shutters 102a and 102b, and the prism 104.
Set 4,115. This makes it possible to select an optical axis suitable for the shooting state at the time of shooting, and to realize an entrance and an optical system for a specific purpose with a simple configuration.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the optical system has a plurality of different optical axes. This device, as shown in FIG.
First and second entrances 101a and 101b, and first and second entrances 101 for taking a subject image into an imaging system
a, 101b for opening and closing the first and second shutters 102a, 102b, and first, second and third lenses 103a, 103b, 103 for forming a subject image.
c, a half mirror 301 for switching the optical axis, an image sensor 105 for converting a subject image into an electric signal, an A / D converter 106 for converting an analog electric signal from the image sensor 105 into a digital signal, A / D A field memory 116 for storing the digital signal from the conversion unit 106,
Video signal processing unit 1 for converting an electric signal into a video signal
07, a CPU 108 for controlling the inside of the photographing apparatus, a data bus 109 for performing data communication, a memory 110 for storing a video signal, a display panel 111 for displaying the obtained video signal, and selection of an optical axis for photographing. Operation unit 11
2. It has a release button 113 for taking a picture.

The lenses 103a and 103b are formed so as to have a curvature on the light ray reflecting surface, and thus function as lenses. Also, as shown in FIG.
The image from the light entrance port 101a and the image from the second light entrance port 101b are formed on the same image sensor 105 after passing through different optical systems.

Here, consider the case where an image is taken from the first entrance 101a. First, an operation for selecting the first entrance 101a is input to the operation unit 112.
As a result, the first shutter 102a is set in the open state and the second shutter 102b is set in the closed state. Since the second entrance 102b is shielded by the second shutter 102b, only the image from the first entrance 101a is incident. An image from the first entrance 101a passes through the first lens 103a, the half mirror 301, and the third lens 103c and is focused on the image sensor 105.
Display and recording of the image formed on the image sensor 105 are performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

Next, the change of the optical axes 302 and 303 is the first.
And switching the open / closed states of the second shutters 102a and 102b. That is, the operation for selecting the second entrance 102b is input to the operation unit 112. As a result, the first shutter 102a is closed and the second shutter 102a is closed.
The shutter 102b is set to the open state, and only the image from the second entrance 101b is incident on the photographing device. The image from the second entrance 101b passes through the second lens 103b and is reflected by the half mirror 301, and then the third entrance is opened in the same manner as when the first entrance 101a is opened.
An image is formed on the image sensor 105 through the lens 103c. After that, the display and recording of the image are performed as in the first embodiment.

The first and second entrances 101a and 101a
When comparing images input from 1b, an operation of switching the open / closed states of the shutters 102a and 102b at regular time intervals is input to the operation unit. Images with different optical axis directions are incident on the photographing device at regular intervals, and the half mirror 3
An image is formed on the common image sensor 105 by 01. The image on the image sensor 105 is converted into an electric signal and is converted into an A / D signal.
After being converted into a digital signal by the conversion unit 106, it is recorded in the field memory 116. The CPU 108 inverts the order of the data read from the field memory 116 in synchronization with the switching of the shutters 102a and 102b so that an erect image is always obtained.

After that, the first entrance 101 described above is used.
By the same processing as when the image is incident from a, the image signals having different optical axes are displayed on the display panel 111 at regular intervals, and the image is written to the memory 110 at the time of shooting. Note that in this case, the optical axis direction is adjusted so that the same subject is photographed, and switching of the shutters 102a and 102b and control of the field memory 116 are performed in synchronization with the field signal, thereby photographing / recording a stereo image. Is also possible.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the image pickup device 10 is provided even if the optical systems used for photographing the images from the first and second entrances 101a and 101b have different configurations.
5 can be made common. Further, the lenses 103a and 103b and the optical axes 302 and 303 for shooting can be switched without moving the main body of the shooting device. Furthermore,
By switching the optical axis in time series, it is possible to display and shoot a stereoscopic image. In this case, since the image pickup element is common, the configuration of the device can be simplified.

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment shows an optical axis switching method when there are two or more optical axes. The image capturing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes first to third entrances 101a, 101b, 101c for capturing a subject image in the imaging system and first to third lenses 103a, 103b for forming a subject image. , 1
03c, a rotating prism 40 for guiding the image from the entrances 101a, 101b, 101c onto the image sensor 105.
1. Stepping motor 402 for driving rotating prism 401, image sensor 105 for converting a subject image into an electric signal, A / D converter 106 for converting an analog electric signal from image sensor 105 into a digital signal /
A video signal processing unit 107 for converting an electric signal from the D conversion unit 106 into a video signal, a CPU 108 for controlling the inside of the photographing apparatus, and a data bus 10 for performing data communication.
9, memory 110 for storing video signals, display panel 111 for displaying the obtained video signals, rotating prism 4
An operation unit 112 for operating the rotation angle of 01 and a release button 113 for shooting are provided.

The first to third entrance ports 101a, 101b,
The relationship between the optical axes 403, 404, and 405 of 101c is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the respective entrances are arranged so that the respective optical axes intersect at one point on the rotation axis of the rotating prism 401 and the angle formed by the adjacent optical axes becomes constant. Rotating prism 40
The image pickup device 105 is incorporated in the image pickup device 1, and is arranged at a position where light incident from a specific surface forms an image. On the peripheral surface of the rotating prism 401, a surface other than the surface that exposes the image sensor 105 is shielded by a light shielding plate 406, and a specific surface (a surface not shielded) enters the rotating prism 401.
Only the light from is incident. The rotation angle of the rotating prism 401 can be set by an input from the operation unit 112.

Here, consider a case where an image from the first entrance 101a is recorded. First, the operation to be selected of the first entrance 101a is input to the operation unit 112.
The operation unit 112 sends to the stepping motor 402 a drive signal corresponding to the angular difference between the optical axes of the currently selected entrance and the first entrance 101a. This driving signal causes the stepping motor 402 to rotate the rotating prism 401 by a predetermined angle, and as a result, the light from the first entrance 101a is positioned so as to pass through the center of the image sensor 105 on the rotating prism 401. The rotation angle of the rotating prism 401 is adjusted.

Light entering from other than the first entrance 101a does not enter the inside of the rotating prism 401 by the light blocking plate 406 of the rotating prism 401. Rotating prism 401
Only the image from the first entrance 101a enters inside,
This image passes through the inside of the rotating prism 401 and is reflected to expose the image sensor 105. The video display / recording process is the same as in the first embodiment. The entrance is changed by the same operation as when selecting the first entrance 101a described above, so that only the image from the entrance input to the operation unit 112 is exposed on the image sensor 105. The position of 401 is adjusted.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, compared with the first embodiment, each of the entrances 101a, 101b, 101c.
It is not necessary to dispose a shutter on the above, and the configuration becomes easy.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention, the photographer can select the entrance according to the photographing situation.
It is possible to take a picture that is natural to the photographer. Also, a multifunctional optical system can be easily configured, and a suitable photographing system can be selected according to the intended photographing situation.
It has excellent convenience.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a first embodiment of an image pickup apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the first embodiment of the image pickup apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an optical axis switching means in the first embodiment of the image pickup apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of the optical axis switching means in the first embodiment of the image pickup apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a second embodiment of an image pickup apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a third embodiment of the image pickup apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional imaging device.

[Explanation of symbols]

101a First entrance 101b Second entrance 102a First shutter 102b Second shutter 103a Lens 104 Optical path splitting prism 105 Image sensor 106 A / D converter 107 Video signal processor 108 CPU 109 Data bus 110 Memory 111 Display panel 112 Operation unit 113 Release button 114, 115, 302, 303, 403, 404, 4
05 Optical axis 116 Field memory 117 Total reflection mirror 301 Half mirror 401 Rotating prism 402 Stepping motor 406 Light shielding plate

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of entrances are provided for the same image sensor, and an arbitrary entrance is selected from these entrances,
An image pickup apparatus comprising: an optical system configured to form an image of a subject on the image pickup device via a selected entrance. 2. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical system is individually set for each of the plurality of entrances. 3. The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical paths set for the plurality of entrances share a part of the optical system. 4. The photographing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a light guide unit is arranged in front of the optical path of the optical system to be shared. 5. The imaging device according to claim 1, further comprising a selection unit for selecting an entrance from which a subject image is to be taken, from among the plurality of entrances. 6. The photographing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the selecting unit has a light shielding unit that shields an entrance other than the selected entrance. 7. The photographing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising display means for displaying the currently selected entrance in response to a signal from the selecting means. 8. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a recording unit for storing a signal from the image sensor.
And a display unit for displaying the signal, wherein the image from the selected entrance is inverted via the recording unit and displayed on the display unit. 9. The photographing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the selecting unit switches the entrances at arbitrary time intervals. 10. The photographing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the time interval is set in units of the shortest time required to display an image.