JPH1039192A - Image-pickup method and device, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain comfortable zooming operability by providing plural characteristics of a control means for deciding correlation between the detection output of variation associated with the rotation of a ring member (zoom ring) and the moving amount of a variable power lens (zoom lens). SOLUTION: A lens unit 101 has a ring encoder 1801, ring encoders 1803 and 1804 detecting the rotating state of the zoom ring 120, and a ring changeover switch 123 changing over the operability and the responsiveness of the zoom ring 120. The ring encoders 1803 and 1804 and the switch 123 are connected to a microcomputer (lens microcomputer) 114 controlling the entire lens unit 101. The microcomputer 114 is provided with the characteristic to control so as to make the moving amount of the zoom lens 104 per unit rotational angle of the zoom ring 120 constant and the characteristic to control so as to change the moving speed of the zoom ring 104 in accordance with the rotational speed of the zoom ring 120.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an imaging method and apparatus suitable for use in video cameras with interchangeable lenses, and a storage medium used in these methods and apparatuses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional interchangeable lens system used for video equipment such as a video camera will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional imaging device.
01 and a camera body 1302, and the lens unit 1301 is detachable from the camera body 1302.

A lens unit 1301 includes a focus lens (front lens) 1303, a variable power lens 1304a,
It has a correction lens 1304b and a fixed lens 1305. The focus lens 1303 is a lens that focuses by driving in the optical axis direction. The variable power lens 1304a and the correction lens 1304b are mechanically connected to each other by a cam (not shown). When the variable power operation is performed manually or electrically, the variable power lens 1304a and the correction lens 1304b move together. The zoom lens 1304a and the correction lens 1304b are collectively called a zoom lens 1304.

A focus lens 1303 is driven by a focus motor 1306, and a zoom lens 1304 is driven by a zoom motor 1307. The focus motor 1306 provides the focus motor driver 1308 with
A zoom motor 1307 is a zoom motor driver 1309
Connected to each other. The focus motor driver 1308 and the zoom motor driver 1309 are connected to a lens microcomputer (microcomputer) 1310.

[0005] A camera body 1302 includes an image sensor 131.
1, CDS / AGC 1312, A / D converter 1313,
Band-pass filter (hereinafter referred to as BPF) 131
4. Gate circuit 1315, peak hold circuit 131
6. A main body AF (autofocus) microcomputer (microcomputer) 1317 and a zoom switch 1318 are provided. The main body AF microcomputer 1317 is electrically connected to the lens microcomputer 1310.

As shown in the figure, when the lens unit 1301 is mounted on the camera body 1302, the light passing through the focus lens 1303, the zoom lens 1304, and the fixed lens 1305 is focused on the image pickup surface of the image pickup device 1311 to form an optical signal. It is converted into an electric signal by the conversion process and output as a video signal. This video signal is CDS / A
After being sampled and held by the GC 1312 and then amplified to a predetermined level, it is converted into digital video data by the A / D converter 1313, input to a process circuit (not shown) of the camera body 1302, and converted into a standard television signal. , BPF1314.

The BPF 1314 extracts a high-frequency component from the video signal, extracts only a signal corresponding to a portion set in a focus detection area on the screen by a gate circuit 1315, and extracts an integer of a vertical synchronization signal by a peak hold circuit 1316. A peak hold is performed at intervals synchronized with the double, and an AF evaluation value is generated. This AF evaluation value is obtained by the main body AF microcomputer 131
7, and the focusing speed (focus lens 1) corresponding to the degree of focusing in the main body AF microcomputer 1317.
The driving direction of the focus motor 1306 is determined so that the AF driving value and the AF evaluation value increase, and the speed and direction of the focus motor 1306 are set to the lens unit 13.
01 to the lens microcomputer 1310.

A lens microcomputer 1310 performs focus adjustment by driving a focus lens 1303 in the optical axis direction by a focus motor 1306 via a focus motor driver 1308 as instructed by a main body AF microcomputer 1317. Also, the zoom switch 131
The state 8 is read by the main body AF microcomputer 1317, and the main body AF microcomputer 1317 determines the driving direction and driving speed of the zoom lens 1304 in accordance with the operation state of the zoom switch 1318, and sends it to the zoom motor driver 1309 in the lens unit 1301. Feed, zoom motor 1307
, The zoom lens 1304 is driven to obtain a zooming effect. The camera body 1302 includes the lens unit 13
01 can be removed, and connecting another lens unit expands the shooting range.

On the other hand, in an image pickup apparatus in which a consumer camera body and a lens unit are integrated, a variable power lens and a correction lens which constitute a focus lens are cammed in order to reduce the size and enable photographing up to the lens surface. Of the inner focus type, which stops the mechanical connection of the lens and stores the movement trajectory of the correction lens in advance in the microcomputer as lens cam data, drives the correction lens according to the lens cam data, and adjusts the focus with the correction lens. Lenses are becoming mainstream, inexpensive, simplified systems,
It has the advantage of reducing the size and weight of the lens barrel.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a simple structure of a conventionally used inner focus type lens system. In the figure, reference numeral 1401 denotes a fixed first lens group; 1402, a second lens group (zoom lens) that performs zooming; 1403, a stop; 1404, a fixed third lens group; A fourth lens group (hereinafter, referred to as a focus lens) 1406 having both an adjustment function and a so-called competition function for correcting movement of a focal plane due to zooming is an imaging element such as a CCD.

As is well known, in the lens system configured as shown in FIG. 14, since the focus lens 1405 has both a competing function and a focus adjusting function, even if the focal lengths are equal, the focus lens 1405 can be used on the imaging surface of the image sensor 1406. The position of the focus lens 1405 for focusing on varies depending on the subject distance. When the subject distance is changed at each focal length, the position of the focus lens 1405 for focusing on the imaging surface of the imaging element 1406 is plotted continuously as shown in FIG. During zooming, the locus shown in FIG. 15 is selected according to the subject distance,
If the focus lens 1405 is moved along the locus, zooming without blurring becomes possible.

In a front lens type lens system, an independent compensating lens is provided for the variable power lens, and the variable power lens and the compensating lens are connected by a mechanical cam ring. Therefore, for example, when a knob for manual zoom is provided on this cam ring and the focal length is to be changed by manual operation, the cam ring rotates following the knob, no matter how much the knob is moved, and the variable power lens and the compensating lens. Moves along the cam groove of the cam ring, and if the focus lens is in focus, the above operation does not cause blur.

On the other hand, in the control of the inner focus type lens system, a plurality of trajectory information shown in FIG. 15 is stored in some form (the trajectory itself or a function using the lens position as a variable). In general, it is common to select a trajectory according to the positions of the focus lens and the variable power lens, and perform zooming while following the selected trajectory.

Further, since the position of the focus lens with respect to the position of the variable power lens is read out from the storage element and applied to lens control, the position of each lens must be read out with a certain degree of accuracy. In particular, as is clear from FIG. 15, when the variable power lens moves at a constant speed or a speed close thereto, the inclination of the locus of the focus lens changes every moment due to a change in the focal length. This indicates that the moving speed and the moving direction of the focus lens change every moment. In other words, the actuator of the focus lens must perform an accurate speed response from 1 Hz to several hundred Hz. become.

As an actuator that satisfies the above-mentioned requirements, it is becoming common to use a stepping motor for a focus lens in an inner focus type lens system. This stepping motor rotates in full synchronization with a stepping pulse output from a microcomputer for lens control and the like, and has a constant stepping angle per pulse, so that high speed responsiveness, stopping accuracy and position accuracy are obtained. It is possible. Furthermore, when a stepping motor is used, since the rotation angle with respect to the number of stepping pulses is constant, the stepping pulse can be used as it is as an incremental encoder, and there is an advantage that a special position encoder does not need to be added. is there.

As described above, in the case of performing a variable power operation while maintaining focus by using a stepping motor, a microcomputer or the like converts the trajectory information shown in FIG. It is necessary to read out locus information according to the position or moving speed of the variable power lens, and move the focus lens based on the information.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional trajectory tracking method. In FIG. 16, Z0, Z1, Z2,... Z6 indicate the positions of the variable power lenses, and a0, a1, a2. Shows the representative trajectory stored in the microcomputer. Also, p0, p1, p2,... P6 are trajectories calculated based on the two trajectories. The formula for calculating this locus is shown below.

P (n + 1) = | p (n) -a (n) | / | b (n) -a (n) | * | b (n + 1) -a (n + 1) | + a (n + 1) (1) According to the equation (1), for example, in FIG. 16, when the focus lens is at p0, the ratio of p0 to the line segment b0-a0 is calculated, and the line is calculated according to this ratio. A point that internally divides the minute b1-a1 is defined as p1. From the position difference of p1-P0 and the time required for the variable power lens to move from Z0 to Z1, the moving speed of the focus lens for maintaining focus can be determined.

Next, a description will be given of a case where the stop position of the variable power lens is not limited only to the boundary possessing the stored representative trajectory data. FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining an interpolation method in the position direction of the variable power lens.
6 is extracted, and the position of the variable power lens is set arbitrarily. In FIG. 17, the ordinate and the abscissa indicate the focus lens position and the zoom lens position, respectively. The representative trajectory position (focus lens position with respect to the zoom lens position) stored in the lens control microcomputer is scaled. The lens positions z0, z1,... Zk-1, Zk... Zn, and the focus lens position at that time are defined as a0, a1,... Ak-1, ak ... an b0, b1, bk-1, bk. I have.

Now, the zoom lens position is not on the zoom boundary
Ax, b if Zx and focus lens position is Px
When x is obtained, ax = ak- (Zk-Zx) * (ak-ak-1) / (Zk-Zk-1) ... (2) bx = bk- (Zk-Zx) * (bk-bk-1 ) / (Zk-Zk-1) ... (3)

That is, the current zoom lens position and two zoom boundary positions sandwiching it (for example, Zk and Zk in FIG. 17).
-1), the stored representative trajectory data (ak, ak-1, bk, bk-1 in FIG. 17) having the same object distance is used as the internal division ratio in accordance with the internal division ratio obtained from Ax and bx can be obtained by internal division. Then, according to the internal division ratio obtained from ax, px, and bx, the stored representative trajectory data (ak, ak-1, bk, and bk-1 in FIG. 17) having the same focal length is referred to as ( Pk and pk-1 can be obtained by dividing internally by the internal division ratio as in the equation (1). And
At the time of zooming from wide to telephoto, the focus lens for maintaining focus is determined by the position difference between the following focus position pk and the current focus position px and the time required for the variable magnification lens to move from Zx to Zk. You can see the moving speed. Also,
Follow focus position when zooming from tele to wide
From the position difference between pk-1 and the current focus position px and the time required for the variable power lens to move from Zx to Zk-1, the moving speed of the focus lens for maintaining focus can be determined.

As described above, in the inner focus type lens system, a stepping motor is combined as an actuator to reduce the size and simplify the drive transmission system. Since the stepping pulse supplied to the stepping motor can be easily generated in the microcomputer for lens control, counting the number of stepping pulses output by the microcomputer for lens control itself makes it possible to determine the lens position. Even if there is no special encoder for detection,
The position of the lens can be accurately known.

By the way, in a front lens focus type lens system, a general mechanism of "a mechanism for rotating a zoom ring fitted to a lens barrel to move a zoom lens mechanically connected to the zoom ring to perform zooming. Indicates that the lens moves in proportion to the amount of rotation.

Therefore, the zooming can be smoothly performed from the coarse adjustment to the fine adjustment. It is excellent in such points.

However, in the lens system of the inner focus type, all the movable lenses are arranged in the lens barrel.

If the lens is rotated by a mechanically connected cam ring or the like without using a control circuit, an error occurs between the count value of the drive pulse of the stepping motor and the actual lens position.

The drive transmission system having a simple structure is not suitable for mechanical manual operation. For these reasons, it is difficult to mechanically couple the zoom ring and the lens and move the lens by an external force, and it is difficult to realize manual zoom operability of a front lens type lens system.

In particular, in the interchangeable lens system described with reference to FIG. 13, depending on the lens system to be mounted, the holding of the camera body holds the lens barrel, and if there is no zoom operation member on the lens system side, the image is not displayed. In order to adjust the angle, it is necessary to look away from the viewfinder and look for the zoom operation switch on the camera body, which causes camera shake and hinders smooth shooting. Was.

On the other hand, a lens system in which an encoder is fitted to a lens barrel and a zoom lens is moved by electrically detecting a rotation direction and a rotation speed of the encoder has been proposed. Here, a zoom ring that is not mechanically connected to the zoom lens is hereinafter referred to as a zoom ring and will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 18, reference numeral 1801 denotes a rotary encoder fitted to a lens barrel; 1802, a comb-shaped structure having a light reflecting portion and a light transmitting portion;
Reference numeral 04 denotes a light emitting / receiving element, each of which has a light receiving / receiving section 1805 and a light receiving section 1806 as shown in FIG. The state of the output signal changes depending on whether or not the reflected light from the comb-shaped structure portion 1802 is received. FIG. 19 is an enlarged view of a portion A surrounded by a broken line in FIG.

When the encoder 1801 is rotated, the output signals of the light emitting / receiving elements 1803 and 1804 become the signals shown in FIG.
0 (a) and 0 (b). Emitter / receiver element 1
The positional relationship between 803 and 1804 is determined so that the phases of the two output signals are shifted by an appropriate amount, and the rotation speed is detected based on the period of change of the output signals. That is, if FIG. 20A is the forward rotation direction, FIG.
(B) shows an output waveform when the rotating member is operated in the reverse rotation direction. The output signals of the light emitting and receiving elements 1803 and 1804 are fetched, and the driving direction and the driving speed of the lens are determined according to the state of the signals. Equipped with an encoder 1801 as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, and by driving a lens actuator such as a stepping motor according to the rotation of a zoom ring, it is an inner focus type lens system, but as if it were a front lens type lens. It is possible to perform the zooming operation by the power zoom while maintaining the same operational feeling as the system.

When a zoom ring is used as the manual zoom means as in the above-mentioned conventional example, the amount of operation of the zoom ring and the amount of movement of the variable power lens are not mechanically fixed unlike the front lens type. The system can arbitrarily correlate the zoom ring operation with the lens movement.

[0033]

When a zoom ring is used as manual zoom means as in the prior art, the operation amount of the zoom ring and the movement amount of the variable power lens are mechanically fixed as in the front lens type. Since it is not performed, the control system can arbitrarily correlate the zoom ring operation with the lens movement.

However, if the above correlation is controlled so that the amount of operation of the zoom ring required to move from the wide end to the tele end is constant, as in the case of the front lens type, the zoom ring rotation of about 120 degrees is easy to use. In order for the lens to move the entire zoom stroke by the amount, it was necessary to increase the amount of lens movement relative to the amount of operation of the zoom ring. At this time, the angle of view at the time of the movement of the variable power lens suddenly changes, resulting in an unsightly photographed image. Conversely, if priority is given to smooth movement of the variable power lens, the amount of operation of the zoom ring required to move the variable power lens increases, resulting in poor usability.

In order to make up for these disadvantages, FIG.
The pitch of the comb structures 1802 in
Increasing the diameter of the encoder 1801, increasing the resolution of the rotation detection angle, detecting the operation amount with a small zoom ring,
It is necessary to move the variable power lens little by little to make the movement start smoothly. However, it is practically difficult because there is a limit in mechanical structure, the cost is increased, and miniaturization cannot be achieved.

Also, depending on the shooting condition, such as shooting a fast-moving subject, the rotation angle of the zoom ring operation required for moving the entire zoom stroke is about 120 degrees, which is too large to follow the subject. There is a problem, and it is difficult to satisfy comfortable zoom ring operability under all photographing conditions even if the zoom ring operability is determined optimally under specific photographing conditions.

On the other hand, as a control method for realizing the zooming operation faithful to the zoom ring operation, there is a method of determining the lens moving speed according to the rotation speed of the zoom ring operation. In other words, low-speed zoom is performed when the zoom ring is operated slowly, and high-speed zoom is performed when the zoom ring is turned quickly. The rotation speed of the zoom ring operation is used as a variable, and a linear or non-linear function or table data is used. Is a control for determining the moving speed of the zoom lens according to In particular, if the above function formula is an exponential function, it is possible to realize zoom ring operability that can be adapted to human senses and faithfully reproduces a photographer's zoom ring operation as a zooming effect.

If the above function is a linear function, the same characteristics as the above-mentioned front lens type can be obtained. However, when the zoom ring operation speed and the lens moving speed have a non-linear relationship, the amount of operation of the zoom ring required for the zoom lens to move from the wide end to the telephoto end varies depending on the zoom ring operation speed. There's a problem. Even if you rotate the zoom ring to the left by the same amount after rotating it to the right, if the operation speed is different, the angle of view before operation and the angle of view after operation will be different from each other, so for example, zooming with the zoom ring operation during shooting And
If the zoom lens is returned to the angle of view before zooming again, it cannot be returned, resulting in confusion for the photographer.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and a first object of the present invention is to satisfy comfortable operability and a natural zooming effect. It is an object of the present invention to provide an imaging method and apparatus capable of performing the above.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a control program capable of smoothly controlling the above-described imaging device.

[0041]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imaging method for detecting an amount of change accompanying rotation of a ring member provided concentrically with respect to an optical axis of a lens. Control means having a plurality of characteristics for detecting the output of the detection means and determining the correlation between the output of the detection means and the movement of the variable power lens, moving at least the variable power lens in the optical axis direction based on the output of the detection means. / Stop control.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the first object, the amount of change accompanying rotation of the ring member provided concentrically with respect to the optical axis of the lens is detected by the detecting means. Control means having a plurality of characteristics for determining the correlation between the output of the detecting means and the movement of the variable power lens, and at least the variable power based on the output of the detecting means by control means capable of setting the characteristics by the photographer himself / herself. It is characterized in that the lens group is moved / stopped in the optical axis direction.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imaging method according to the second aspect, wherein the control means is controlled in accordance with a state of an operation switch operable by a photographer. The characteristic is changed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imaging method according to the second aspect of the present invention, wherein the imaging method is performed in accordance with characteristic information of the control means set by the photographer himself. The characteristic of the control means is changed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imaging method according to the second aspect, wherein the characteristic of the control means is changed according to an imaging state. Is what you do.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imaging method according to the first aspect, wherein the plurality of characteristics of the control means are at least the ring member. A first characteristic for controlling the moving amount of the variable power lens per unit rotation to be constant, and a second characteristic for controlling the moving speed of the variable power lens in accordance with the rotation speed of the ring member. It is characterized by including.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imaging method according to the first aspect, wherein the plurality of characteristics of the control means are at least the ring member. The first characteristic of controlling the moving amount of the variable power lens per unit rotation to be a first predetermined amount and the first predetermined amount of moving the variable power lens per unit rotation of the ring member are as follows. And a second characteristic for controlling to be a different second predetermined amount.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup apparatus comprising: an image pickup apparatus main body and a lens unit, wherein the ring is provided concentrically with the lens optical axis. Detecting means for detecting an amount of change due to rotation of the member, and control means having a plurality of characteristics for determining a correlation between an output of the detecting means and movement of the variable power lens, wherein the control means includes the detecting means Is controlled to move / stop at least the variable power lens in the optical axis direction based on the output of the zoom lens.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup apparatus, comprising: a detecting means for detecting a change amount accompanying rotation of a ring member provided concentrically with respect to a lens optical axis; Control means having a plurality of characteristics for determining the correlation between the output of the detection means and the movement of the variable power lens; and setting means capable of setting the characteristics of the control means by the photographer himself. Is controlled to move / stop at least the variable power lens unit in the optical axis direction based on the output of (1).

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the first object, the imaging device according to the ninth aspect has an operation switch which can be operated by a photographer and a state of the operation switch. And changing means for changing the characteristics of the control means.

In order to achieve the first object, an image pickup apparatus according to claim 11 is the image pickup apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the changing means includes a characteristic of the control means set by the photographer himself. The characteristic of the control means is changed according to the information.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the first object, in the imaging apparatus according to the tenth aspect, the changing means changes a characteristic of the control means according to a shooting state. It is characterized by doing.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the first object, the imaging device according to the eighth to eleventh or twelfth aspects is provided.
In the imaging device described above, the plurality of characteristics of the control unit include a first characteristic for controlling at least a moving amount of a variable power lens per unit rotation of the ring member and a rotation speed of the ring member. And a second characteristic for controlling the variable-speed lens moving speed to change accordingly.

In order to achieve the first object, the image pickup apparatus according to the present invention has the following features.
In the imaging apparatus described in the first aspect, the plurality of characteristics of the control unit are such that at least a variable magnification lens movement amount per unit rotation of the ring member is controlled to be a first predetermined amount.
And a second characteristic of controlling the moving amount of the zoom lens per unit rotation of the ring member to be a second predetermined amount different from the first predetermined amount. Things.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the first object, in the imaging device according to the eighth aspect, the lens unit is detachably attached to the imaging device body. It is characterized by having.

Further, in order to achieve the second object, the storage medium according to the sixteenth aspect of the present invention includes a detecting step for detecting an amount of change accompanying rotation of a ring member provided concentrically with respect to a lens optical axis. A control step of moving / stopping at least the variable power lens in the optical axis direction based on the detection output by a detection module and control means having a plurality of characteristics for determining a correlation between the detection output and the movement of the variable power lens And a control module having a control module.

[0057]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

(First Embodiment) First, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
The lens unit 101 is detachable from the camera main body 102.

A lens unit 101 includes a fixed first lens group 103, a second lens group (hereinafter, referred to as a zoom lens) 104 for changing the magnification, an aperture 105, and a fixed third lens. A group 106 and a fourth lens group (hereinafter referred to as a focus lens) 107 having both a focus adjustment function and a competition function for correcting movement of a focal plane due to zooming are provided.

The zoom lens 104 is a zoom motor 108
The aperture 105 is driven by an iris motor 109, and the focus lens 107 is driven by a focus motor 110. The zoom motor 108 is connected to the zoom motor driver 111, the iris motor 109 is connected to the iris motor driver 112, and the focus motor 110
Are connected to the focus motor driver 113, respectively. Zoom motor driver 111, iris motor driver 112, and focus motor driver 113
Is connected to a microcomputer (hereinafter, referred to as a lens microcomputer) 114 that controls the entire lens unit 101. An iris encoder 115 for detecting the state of the aperture 105 is also connected to the lens microcomputer 114. The lens microcomputer 114 has an AF (autofocus: automatic focus adjustment) program 116, a motor control program 117, a computer zoom program 118, and lens cam data 119.

The lens unit 101 includes a zoom ring 120 having the same structure as that of the related art, which is disposed in a stage preceding the first lens group 103, ring encoders 121 and 122 for detecting the rotation state of the zoom ring 120, and a zoom ring. Ring switch 1 for switching the rotation direction of 120
23. These ring encoders 121, 1
The lens switch 22 and the ring switch 123 are connected to the lens microcomputer 114.

The camera body 102 has a CC as an image pickup means.
Imaging devices 124, 125, 126 such as D, amplifier 12
7, 128, 129, camera signal processing circuit 130, AF
A signal processing circuit 131, a microcomputer (hereinafter, referred to as a body microcomputer) 132 for controlling the entire camera body 102, an amplifier 133, a magnetic recording / reproducing device 134,
It has an LCD display circuit 135, a display 136 such as an LCD (liquid crystal display), a character generator 137, a zoom switch 138, and an AF switch 139. The main body microcomputer 132 has a data reading program 140.

Next, the operation of the imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described. In a state where the lens unit 101 is connected to the camera body 102 as shown in FIG.
Light from a subject (not shown) includes a fixed first lens group 103, a zoom lens 104, an aperture 105, a fixed third lens group 106, and a focus lens 1.
07, the red component of the three primary colors is on the imaging surface of the first image sensor 124, and the green component is the second image sensor 125
Are formed on the imaging surface of the third imaging element 126 respectively. Each image sensor 124 to 126
Are converted into electrical signals by photoelectric conversion processing and output as video signals.

This video signal is supplied to each of the image sensors 124 to 12
After being amplified to a predetermined level by the amplifiers 127 to 129 corresponding to 6, the signal is input to the camera signal processing circuit 130, converted into a standard television signal, and input to the AF signal processing circuit 131. The AF signal processing circuit 131 extracts a high-frequency component in the video signal and generates an AF evaluation value. The AF evaluation value is read by a data reading program 140 in the microcomputer 132 of the main body. Also,
The main body microcomputer 132 includes a zoom switch 138 and an AF switch.
The state of the switch 139 is read. Further, the main body microcomputer 129 sends the AF evaluation value and signals indicating the states of the zoom switch 138 and the AF switch 139 to the lens microcomputer 114.

In the lens microcomputer 114, based on information from the main body microcomputer 132, the direction in which the AF switch 139 is off and the zoom ring 120 is rotating or the zoom switch 138 is pressed (tele (T) or wide (W) direction) ), Depending on tele (T) or wide (W)
The computer zoom program 118 of the lens microcomputer 114 sends a signal to the zoom motor driver 111 based on the lens cam data 119 stored in advance in the lens microcomputer 114 in order to drive in the direction.
By driving the zoom lens 104 via the zoom motor 108 and sending a signal to the focus motor driver 113 to drive the focus lens 107 via the focus motor 110, a variable power operation is performed.

When the AF switch 139 is on and the zoom ring 120 is rotating or the zoom switch 138 is pressed in the tele (T) or wide (W) direction,
Since it is necessary to keep the in-focus state, the computer zoom program 118 of the lens microcomputer 114 determines not only the lens cam data 119 stored in the lens microcomputer 114 in advance but also the AF evaluation value transmitted from the body microcomputer 132. Referring to the signal, the zoom operation is performed while maintaining the position where the AF evaluation value becomes maximum.

On the other hand, when the zoom ring 120 is rotating and the zoom switch 132 is tele (T) or wide (W).
When pressed in the direction, the operability similar to that of the front lens unit can be realized by giving priority to the zoom ring 120. Also, the AF switch 139
Is ON and the zoom ring 120 is not rotating or the zoom switch 138 is not pressed in the tele (T) or wide (W) direction, the AF in the lens microcomputer 114
The program 116 sends a signal to the focus motor driver 113 so that the AF evaluation value sent from the main body microcomputer 132 is maximized, and drives the focus lens 107 via the focus motor 110 to perform an automatic focus adjustment operation. .

The state of the ring switch 123 is detected by the lens microcomputer 114. Zoom ring 12
A plurality of responsiveness of the zooming operation to the operation of “0” is provided in advance by the zoom ring control program in the lens microcomputer 114 (two types in the present embodiment), and the zooming operation is performed by any of the characteristics. It depends on the state of the ring switch 123. Therefore, by operating the ring changeover switch 123 by the photographer, it is possible to obtain a zoom ring function for realizing the operability and response characteristics of the user's preference according to the photographing situation. This zoom ring function will be described later with reference to FIGS.

Further, the main body microcomputer 132 transmits a signal indicating the position of the zoom lens 104 and the driving / stop state based on the position information and driving information of the zoom lens 104 received from the lens microcomputer 114 of the lens unit 101 to the character. Output to generator 137. The position / drive / stop information of the zoom lens 104 generated by the character generator 137 is displayed on the display 136 via the LCD display circuit 135.

Further, the lens microcomputer 114 controls the stop 10
5 is received from the encoder 115,
Signal the iris driver 1 so that the optimal aperture state is achieved
12 and the iris 105 via the iris motor 109.
, The automatic aperture adjustment operation is performed.

A signal output from the camera signal processing circuit 130 is amplified or amplified by an amplifier 133 and then recorded or reproduced by a magnetic recording / reproducing device 134. The signal is displayed on a display 136 via an LCD display circuit 135. Will be displayed.

Next, regarding the AF signal processing circuit 131,
This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a signal processing circuit 131. The outputs of the red (R), green (G), and blue (B) image sensors 124 to 126 amplified to optimal levels by the amplifiers 127 to 129 in FIG. 1 respectively correspond to the corresponding A / D converters 206. , 207 and 208 are converted into digital signals.
To the corresponding amplifiers 209 and 2 respectively.
After being amplified to an appropriate value by 10, 211, the adder 2
12, the luminance signal S5 for automatic focus adjustment is generated.

The luminance signal S5 for automatic focus adjustment is input to the gamma circuit 213 and gamma-converted by a predetermined gamma curve, whereby a signal S6 that emphasizes low luminance components and suppresses high luminance components is obtained. Generated. The gamma-converted signal S6 is converted to a TE-LPF 214 which is a low-pass filter (LPF) having a high cutoff frequency.
And a low-pass filter with a low cutoff frequency (LP
F), which is input to the FE-LPF 215, and the main body microcomputer 129 is connected to the microcomputer I / F (interface) 253.
, The low-frequency component is extracted from the respective filter characteristics determined through the filter, and the output signals S7 and FE of the TE-LPF 214 are extracted.
An output signal S8 of the LPF 215 is generated. These signals S7 and S8 are signals used by the switch 216 to identify whether the horizontal line is an even number or an odd number.
The signal is selected by a signal and input to a high-pass filter (HPF) 217. That is, the even-numbered line outputs the signal S7 to the HPF2
17 and the odd lines pass the signal S8 to the HPF 217, respectively. In the HPF 217, only the high frequency component is extracted by the odd / even filter characteristics determined by the main microcomputer 129 via the microcomputer I / F 253, and is converted into an absolute value by an absolute value circuit (ABS) 218, whereby a positive signal is obtained. S9
Is generated.

The signal S9 is supplied to the first peak hold circuit (Peak L) 225, the second peak hold circuit (Peak C) 226, the third peak hold circuit (Peak R) 227, and the line peak hold circuit 227 in FIG. The signal is input to a circuit (Line Peak) 231.

The frame generation circuit 254 shown in FIG. 2 generates gate signals L, C, and R for focus adjustment at positions in the screen 401 as shown in FIG.

Returning to FIG. 3 again, the first peak hold circuit 225 has a signal LineE / O for identifying whether the L frame and the horizontal line of the output of the frame generation circuit 254 in FIG. A signal is input, and as shown in FIG.
2 and LR3, the first peak hold circuit 22
5 is initialized, and the microcomputer I
/ F253, the signal S9 within the frame of either the even line or the odd line is peak-held, and IR1
The peak hold value in the frame is transferred to the first buffer 228 in FIG. 3 and the TE / FE peak evaluation value (TEP L, F
EPL). Similarly, the C frame and Line E / O signal of the output of the frame generation circuit 254 in FIG. 2 are input to the second peak hold circuit 226, and as shown in FIG. Initialize the second peak hold circuit 226 at the location of CR1,
The signal S9 in the frame of either the even line or the odd line determined from the main body microcomputer 132 via the microcomputer I / F 253 is peak-held, and the peak hold value in the frame is stored in the second buffer 229 of FIG. Transfer, TE /
An FE peak evaluation value (TEPC, FEPC) is generated. Further, similarly, the third peak hold circuit 227 has the R frame of the output of the frame generation circuit 254 in FIG.
The neE / O signal is input, and the third peak hold circuit 227 is initialized at the top left RR1 at the top of the focus adjustment R frame as shown in FIG.
32, the signal S9 in the frame of either the even line or the odd line determined via the microcomputer I / F 253 is peak-held, and the peak hold value in the frame is transferred to the third buffer 230 of FIG. , TE / FE peak evaluation values (TEPR, FEPR).

In FIG. 3, the line peak hold circuit 231 includes a signal S9 and the frame generation circuit 25 in FIG.
The L frame, C frame, and R frame of the output of 4 are input, initialized at the horizontal start point in each frame, and hold the peak value of one line of the signal S9 in each frame. Integration circuits 232 and 23
3, 234, 235, 236, and 237, the output of the line peak hold circuit 231 and a Line E / O signal that is a signal for identifying whether the horizontal line is an even-numbered or an odd-numbered are input, and the first and fourth signals are input. Integration circuit 232,
235, L of the output of the frame generation circuit 254 in FIG.
The frame is the C frame of the output of the frame generation circuit 254 in FIG. 2 in the second and fifth integration circuits 233 and 236, and the frame generation in FIG. 2 is in the third and sixth integration circuits 234 and 237. The R frame of the output of the circuit 254 is input.

As shown in FIG. 4, the first integration circuit 232 initializes the first integration circuit 232 at the location of LR1 at the top left, which is the head of the L frame for focus adjustment, and even lines in each frame. The output of the line peak hold circuit 231 is added to the internal register just before the end of the process, the line peak hold value is transferred to the fourth buffer 238 at the location of IR1, and a line peak integral evaluation value (TES L) is generated.

The second integration circuit 233 initializes the second integration circuit 233 at the position of CR1 at the top left, which is the head of the C frame for focus adjustment, as shown in FIG. Immediately before the end, the output of the line peak hold circuit 231 is added to the internal register, the line peak hold value is transferred to the fifth buffer 239 at the location IR1, and a line peak integral evaluation value (TES L) is generated.

As shown in FIG. 4, the third integration circuit 234 initializes the third integration circuit 234 at the upper left position RR1 which is the head of the focus adjustment R frame, and the even lines in each frame are initialized. The output of the line peak hold circuit 231 is added to the internal register just before the end of the process, the line peak hold value is transferred to the sixth buffer 240 at the location of IR1, and a line peak integral evaluation value (TES L) is generated.

The fourth to sixth integration circuits 235 to 237
Instead of adding the data of the even lines, the first to third integrating circuits 232 to 234 add the data of the odd lines respectively, and the corresponding seventh, eighth, and ninth buffers 241, 242,. 243, and transfers the line peak integration evaluation value (FESL,
FESC, FESR).

The signal S7 corresponds to the fourth peak hold circuit (Peak L) 219, the fifth peak hold circuit (Peak C) 220, the sixth peak hold circuit (Peak R) 221 and the line maximum in FIG. It is input to the value peak hold circuit (LineMax.) 244. The L frame of the output of the frame generation circuit 254 in FIG. 2 is input to the fourth peak hold circuit 219, and as shown in FIG. The hold circuit 219 is initialized, the signal S7 in each frame is peak-held, the peak-hold result is transferred to the tenth buffer 222 at the location IR1, and a Y-peak evaluation value (YPL) is generated.

Similarly, the fifth peak hold circuit 220
2, the C frame output from the frame generation circuit 254 in FIG. 2 is input. As shown in FIG. 4, the fifth peak hold circuit 220 is initialized at the position of CR1 at the top left of the focus adjustment C frame. The signal S7 in each frame is peak-held,
The peak hold result is transferred to the eleventh buffer 223 at the location of IR1, and a Y peak evaluation value (YPC) is generated.

Further, similarly, the sixth peak hold circuit 2
The R frame of the output of the frame generation circuit 254 in FIG. 2 is input to 21, and as shown in FIG.
1, the signal S7 in each frame is peak-held, the peak-hold result is transferred to the eleventh buffer 224 at the location of IR1, and a Y-peak evaluation value (YPR) is generated.

The line maximum value peak hold circuit 244 and the line minimum value peak hold circuit (Li
neMin. ) 245 includes the frame generation circuit 2 in FIG.
The L frame, C frame, and R frame of the output of 54 are input, initialized at the horizontal start point in each frame, and hold the maximum value and the minimum value of each line of the signal S7 in each frame. . The maximum value and the minimum value held by these are subtracted by the subtractor 2
46, the (maximum value-minimum value) is calculated, and the output signal S10 indicating the calculation result is output from the seventh peak hold circuit (Peak L) 247, the eighth peak hold circuit (PeakR) 248, and the ninth Are respectively input to the peak hold circuit (Peak R) 249.

The thirteenth peak hold circuit 247 includes:
The L frame output from the frame generation circuit 254 in FIG. 2 is input, and as shown in FIG. 4, the thirteenth peak hold circuit 247 is initialized at the location of LR1 at the top left, which is the head of the L frame for focus adjustment, The signal S10 in each frame is peak-held, the peak-hold result is transferred to the thirteenth buffer 250 at the location of IR1, and the Max-Min evaluation value (MM
L).

Similarly, the fourteenth peak hold circuit 24
8, the C frame output from the frame generation circuit 254 in FIG. 2 is input. As shown in FIG. 4, the fourteenth peak hold circuit 2 is located at the top left CR1 which is the top of the focus adjustment C frame.
20, the signal S10 in each frame is peak-held, the peak-hold result is transferred to the fourteenth buffer 251 at the location IR1, and the Max-Min evaluation value (MM
C).

Similarly, the R frame of the output of the frame generation circuit 254 in FIG. 2 is input to the fifteenth peak hold circuit 249, and as shown in FIG. , The fifteenth peak hold circuit 249 is initialized, the signal S10 in each frame is peak-held, the peak-hold result is transferred to the fifteenth buffer 252 at the location IR1, and the Max-Min evaluation value ( M
MR).

In the place of IR1 in FIG. 4, buffers 222 to 224, 228 to 230, 238 to 243,
At the same time as transferring the data to 50 to 252, an interrupt signal is sent from the frame generation circuit 254 in FIG. The main body microcomputer 129 receives the interrupt signal, and receives the buffers 222 to 224, 228 to 230, and 238 to 2 via the microcomputer I / F 253.
43, 250 to 252 are read by the time the next data is transferred to the buffer in the lower frame, and transferred to the lens microcomputer 101 of FIG. 1 in synchronization with the vertical synchronization signal as described later.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the timing in the AF signal processing circuit 131. In the figure, the outer frame is an effective image screen of the output of the image sensors 124 to 126 in FIG. The inner three divided frames are gate frames for focus adjustment, and the left L frame, the center C frame, and the right R frame are output from the frame generation circuit 254 in FIG. At the start positions of these frames, the reset signals are L, C, R
LR1, LR2, and LR3 are generated for each frame, and the product decomposition path, the peak hold circuit, and the like are reset. Further, at the end of the frame, a data transfer signal IR1 is generated, and each integrated value and peak hold value are transferred to a buffer.
The scanning of the even field is indicated by a solid line, and the scanning of the odd field is indicated by a dotted line. In both the even and odd fields, the even lines select the output of the TE LPF 214 and the odd lines select the output of the FE LPF 215.

Next, the TE / FE peak evaluation value in each frame,
The following describes how the lens microcomputer 114 performs the automatic focus adjustment operation using the TE line peak integrated evaluation value, the FE line peak integrated evaluated value, the Y peak evaluated value, and the Max-Min evaluated value. The TE / FE peak evaluation value is an evaluation value indicating the degree of focus, and is relatively suitable for the focus degree determination and the restart determination because the peak hold value and the like are relatively independent of the subject and less affected by camera shake and the like. Also,
The TE line peak integral evaluation value and the FE line peak integral evaluation value are also evaluation values representing the degree of focus, but are stable evaluation values with little noise due to the integration effect, and are therefore optimal for direction determination. Further, since both the peak evaluation value and the line peak integration evaluation value extract higher frequency components in TE, it is optimal in the vicinity of focusing, and conversely, FE is optimal in large blur far from focusing. Further, the Y peak evaluation value and Max-M
Since the in evaluation value does not depend much on the degree of focus and depends on the subject, it is optimal for grasping the situation of the subject in order to reliably perform the focus degree determination, the restart determination, and the direction determination. That is, it is determined whether the subject is a high-brightness subject or a low-brightness subject based on the Y-peak evaluation value, the contrast is determined based on the Max-Min evaluation value, and the TE / FE peak evaluation value, the TE line peak integration evaluation value, and the FE line Optimal control is performed by predicting and correcting the size of the peak of the peak integration evaluation value.
These evaluation values are transferred from the camera body 102 to the lens unit 101, and the lens microcomputer 114 in the lens unit 101 performs an automatic focusing operation.

Next, the algorithm of the automatic focusing operation by the lens microcomputer 114 in the lens unit 101 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First,
It starts in step S501, and T in next step S502.
Speed control is performed at the E and FE peak levels, and the TE line peak integrated evaluation value is calculated near the top of the mountain, and the FE is calculated at the foot of the mountain.
The hill-climbing control is performed by controlling the direction mainly using the line peak integral evaluation value. Next, at step S503, T
The peak of the mountain is determined based on the absolute value of the E or FE line peak integrated evaluation value or the amount of change in the TE line peak integrated evaluation value. In the next step S504, the peak is stopped at the highest point, and a restart standby state is set. to go into. In the restart standby state, after detecting that the level of the TE or FE line peak evaluation value has decreased and restarting in the next step S505,
The process returns to step S502.

In such a loop of the automatic focus adjustment operation, the degree of speed control using the TE or FE line peak evaluation value, the absolute level of the judgment of the top of the mountain, and T
The amount of change in the E-line peak integrated evaluation value and the like are determined based on prediction of the size of the mountain based on subject determination using the Y peak evaluation value and the Max-Min evaluation value.

Next, a zoom control operation for a zoom ring operation having a plurality of characteristics and a method of setting the characteristics by a photographer, which are features of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a rotation detection operation of the zoom ring 120 performed in the lens microcomputer 114, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are flowcharts showing a control procedure of a zoom operation performed in the lens microcomputer 114.

The processing shown in FIG. 6 detects the time required for the lens microcomputer 114 to move the zoom ring 120 in the rotation direction and the unit rotation angle.
Is an interrupt processing routine. The triggering factor of the interrupt is the switching point of the output waveform voltage of the ring encoders 121 and 122, and the rising of the output of the light emitting and receiving element similar to the output of the light emitting and receiving element 1703 and 1704 shown in FIGS. When an edge or a falling edge is detected, an interrupt occurs, and the processing in FIG. 6 is executed (while the processing in FIGS. 7 and 8 is executed in synchronization with a vertical synchronization signal or the like).

In FIG. 6, when the process starts, first,
In step S601, it is determined whether or not the “rotation flag” is 0. If it is 0, the “rotation flag” is set to 1 in step S602.
To clear the interrupt number counter C0 (set to 0), and store the current timer value in the memory T1.
Here, the "timer value" refers to a free-running counter or the like generally provided in a microcomputer or the like, and is a counter that is counted at a period obtained by dividing the system clock of the microcomputer. The “rotation flag” is a flag indicating that the zoom ring 120 has rotated, and is used to determine whether or not the zoom ring 120 has rotated in the processing of FIGS. 7 and 8 described below. 8 is cleared (set to 0) each time the process 8 is performed. That is, the “rotation flag” is a flag indicating whether or not the zoom ring 120 has rotated within one vertical synchronization period, which is the processing cycle of FIGS.

After the processing in step S602, in step S605, the current interrupt is issued to one of the ring encoders 1
21 is the rising edge of the output
Determine whether it is a falling edge. If it is the rising edge, the output of the other ring encoder 122 (light emitting / receiving element thereof) is low level (L) in step S606.
Is determined. If the output is at the low level, the combination of the two outputs of the two ring encoders 121 and 122 is the same as that of FIG. 19A, and the ring indicating that the rotation direction of the zoom ring 120 is the forward rotation direction. The process proceeds to step S608 to set the tele flag. If the output of the other ring encoder 122 (light emitting / receiving element) of the other ring encoder 122 is high level (H) in step S606, the combination of the two outputs is
Since this is the same as the case of FIG.
The process proceeds to step S612 to set a ring wide flag indicating that the rotation direction of the rotation direction 20 is the reverse rotation direction. If the current interrupt is the falling edge of the output of (the light emitting and receiving element of) one of the ring encoders 121 in step S605, the output of (the light emitting and receiving element of) the other ring encoder 122 is set to the low level (L) in step S607. ) Is determined. If it is low level, the process goes to step S612, where high level (H)
If so, the process proceeds to step S608.

When the rotation of the zoom ring 120 is detected for the first time, both the ring tele flag and the ring wide flag indicating the rotation direction of the zoom ring 120 have been initialized and are in the clear state. If the rotation direction of the zoom ring 120 is the forward rotation direction, it is determined in step S608 whether the ring teleflag is already set to 1. However, since the ring teleflag is initially 0, the rotation is performed in step S610. The continuation counter C1 is cleared, the chatter flag is set to 1, and the current position of the zoom lens 104 is stored in the memory OFFSET. Next, step S61
After setting the ring teleflag to 1 and clearing the ring wide flag with 1, the present processing operation is terminated.

On the other hand, if the rotation direction of the zoom ring 120 is the reverse rotation direction, it is determined in step S612 whether or not the ring wide flag has already been set to "1". In step S614, the same processing as in step S610 is performed. Next, in step S615, the ring wide flag is set to 1
And the ring tele flag is cleared, and then this processing operation is terminated.

When the rotation of the zoom ring 120 is continued after the processing of FIG. 6 is completed and before the “rotation flag” is cleared in the processing of FIGS. 7 and 8, an interrupt processing is generated again, and 6 is performed. At this time, since the "rotation flag" has already been set to 1 in step 601, the processing from step 603 is performed.
In this step 603, the interrupt counter C0 is incremented and the current timer value is stored in the memory T2. Next, in step 604, the difference between the previous timer value and the current timer value is calculated (T2−T1), and the difference is divided by the count value of the interrupt counter C0, thereby obtaining the half cycle of the comb-shaped structure of the zoom ring 120. The rotation time is obtained, and this is stored in the memory $ T, and then the process proceeds to step 605.

If the previous and current rotation directions of the zoom ring 120 are the same, step 60 is performed according to the rotation direction.
8 or step 612 is performed, and if the determination result in step 608 or step 612 is affirmative (YES), the process proceeds to step 609 or step 613. Step 609 and step 613 are:
The rotation continuation counter C1 is incremented by the same processing contents, and the chatter flag is cleared. The rotation continuation counter C1 is provided with the zoom ring 120 in the same direction.
Is a counter indicating how much rotation of the zoom ring 1 has been performed.
20 rotation amount.

On the other hand, the zoom ring 120 for the previous time and this time
If the rotation direction is the reverse direction, the result of the determination in step 608 or step 612 is negative (NO), so the rotation continuation counter C1 is cleared in step 610 or step 614, and the chatter flag is set to 1. The memory contents of the memory OFFSET are the current zoom lens 10.
4 is updated. This process is performed on the zoom ring 12
The chattering is prevented during the rotation of 0, and the chatter flag is not cleared unless the rotation of the zoom ring 120 in the same direction is continued twice, that is, for one cycle of the comb-shaped structure of the zoom ring 120. This chatter flag is
7 and 8 are used to determine whether the driving of the zoom lens 104 is permitted. Further, how the rotation continuation counter C1 and the memory OFFSET are used for zoom control will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

If an interrupt occurs again while the "rotation flag" is still set to 1, the interrupt counter C0 is incremented in steps 603 and 604, and T2-T1 becomes one cycle of the comb-shaped structure. The rotation time is a minute, and the memory ΔT indicates an average time required for a half-cycle rotation.

By executing the zoom ring rotation detection routine shown in FIG. 6, the rotation continuation counter C1 is executed.
, The amount of rotation in the same direction indicated by the count value, the average rotation speed of the zoom ring indicated by 1 / △ T, the zoom ring rotation direction indicated by the ring tele flag and the ring wide flag, the presence or absence of the zoom ring operation indicated by the rotation flag, the chatter flag It is possible to obtain information such as the presence or absence of chattering represented by.

When the zoom ring 120 is rotated, the processing of FIGS. 7 and 8 is executed in synchronization with the vertical synchronizing signal while the processing of FIG. 6 is performed.

In FIG. 7, when the process starts, first,
In step S701, mutual communication with the main body microcomputer 132 is performed. As described above, the main body microcomputer 132 outputs the zoom switch 138 and the AF switch 13 on the camera body 102 side.
9 and information such as an AF evaluation value. next,
In step S702, it is determined whether the rotation flag is set to 1 in order to give priority to the zoom ring operation on the lens unit 101 side. If the rotation flag has not been set to 1 and the zoom ring operation has not been performed, the process proceeds to step S722 in FIG. 8 described below. If the rotation flag is set to 1, that is, if the zoom ring 120 has been rotated within one vertical synchronization period before, in the next step S703, it is determined whether or not the interrupt counter value C0 is cleared. I do. If the interrupt counter value C0 is clear, the next step S
In step 704, it is determined whether the current rotation of the zoom ring 120 is continuously rotating at a low speed, or whether the zoom ring 120 has been started from a rotation stopped state.

When the number-of-interrupts counter value C0 is clear, it is determined that T1-T2 is larger than a predetermined value α, assuming that the current rotation has not been rotated by a half cycle of the comb-shaped structure portion of the zoom ring 120. At the time of low-speed rotation in which the zoom ring 120 continues to rotate over the past several V synchronization periods, the memory T2 stores the timer value of the previous rotation (prior to the vertical synchronization period) (see FIG. 6). In step S603), the memory T1 stores the timer value for the current rotation (within one vertical synchronization cycle) (step S602 in FIG. 6), so that the value of T1-T2 is a small value to some extent. On the other hand, if the rotation is started from the rotation stop state of the zoom ring 120, the previous memory T
Since the time when 2 is updated will be several tens of vertical synchronization cycles or earlier, the value of T1-T2 becomes a large value. Therefore, T1
By examining the value of −T2, it is possible to determine whether the zoom ring 120 has started up from a rotation stop state or is in a continuous low-speed rotation state, and the switching threshold value for the determination is a predetermined value α. is there. Actually, the value of T1-T2 at the time of low-speed rotation is determined from the relationship between the pitch of the comb-shaped structure of the zoom ring 120 and the rotation speed at which the photographer slowly rotates the zoom ring 120. The predetermined value α is determined.

If it is determined in step S704 that the rotation of the zoom ring 120 has not been continuously performed, the process proceeds to step S725 in FIG. 8, which will be described later, and the rotation of the zoom ring 120 is continuously performed. If it is determined that T1−T1 is satisfied in the next step S705.
2 is stored in the memory $ T, and the next step S7
The processing from step 06 is executed. On the other hand, step S70
If the interrupt counter value C0 is not cleared in step 3, the steps S704 and S705 are skipped, and ΔT (average rotation per half cycle of the comb-shaped structure of the zoom ring 120) obtained in step S604 of FIG. The processing from step S706 is executed using (time).

In this step S706, the state of the ring changeover switch 123 is detected, and it is determined whether or not the detection signal is H (high level). When the detection signal is low level (L), the state of FIG. From step S712, go to the processing routine of "constant lens movement amount per ring rotation angle" control. If the detection signal is H (high level), then from next step S707, "lens movement speed according to ring rotation speed" The process proceeds to the variable control routine.

In step S707, step S6 in FIG.
04, the reciprocal of the average time ΔT required for half-period rotation of the comb-shaped structure of the zoom ring 120 obtained at 04/1 / T
The moving speed Zsp of the zoom lens 104 is set using (corresponding to the rotation speed of the zoom ring 120) as a variable. Here, the zoom speed Zsp is determined by an exponential function using the ring rotation speed 1 / ΔT as a variable so as to obtain an effective zooming effect that is faithful to the operation of the zoom ring 120 and matches the human sense. I have. The calculation formula is as follows.

Zsp = Zspmax * exp (1 / ΔT−1 / ΔTmin) (4) Here, Zspmax is the zoom lens 1 within a range where the focus motor 110 performing the competing operation at each focal length does not lose synchronism.
04, the maximum moving speed, ΔTmin, indicates that when the photographer rotates the zoom ring 120 at the maximum speed, the zoom ring 1
This is the time required for the half cycle of the comb-shaped structure (the minimum time required for the half-cycle of the comb-shaped structure) determined by the pitch and the rotational load of the 20 comb-shaped structures. That is, when the photographer rotates the zoom ring 120 at the maximum speed (ΔTmin = ΔT)
In addition, Zsp = Zspmax, and the zoom lens 104 moves at the maximum speed possible at the focal length. On the other hand, when the photographer rotates the zoom ring 120 at a very low speed, 1 / ΔT → 0, so Zsp → Zspmax / exp (1 / ΔT
min), but since Zspmax << exp (1 / ΔTmin), Zs
p → 0.

Next, in step S708, it is determined whether or not the chatter flag obtained in the process of FIG. 6 is set to 1. If the chatter flag is set to 1, the process proceeds to step S725 in FIG. If the chatter flag is not set to 1, the next step S70
Go to 9 respectively. In this step S709, it is determined whether or not the ring wide flag is set to 1. If the ring wide flag is not set to 1, the process proceeds to step S718 in FIG. If so, the next step S71
Go to 0 respectively. In this step S710, the zoom lens 104 is driven in the wide direction, and in the next step S71
After the rotation flag is cleared at 1 to prepare for the detection of the rotation of the zoom ring 120 in the next one vertical synchronization period, this processing operation ends.

On the other hand, if the detection signal of the ring switch 123 is low (L) in step S706, the process proceeds to the processing routine of "constant lens movement per ring rotation angle" control from step S712 in FIG. .

First, in FIG. 8, in step S712, as in step S707 in FIG.
04 is calculated. However, in the control routine from step S712, since (zoom movement amount / ring rotation amount) = constant, the zoom speed Zsp is also calculated as being proportional to the ring rotation speed (1 / ΔT). The calculation formula is as follows.

Zsp = Zspmax * ΔTmin / ΔT (5) Here, Zsp, Zspmax, and ΔTmin are as described above.

When the photographer rotates the zoom ring 120 at the maximum speed (ΔTmin = ΔT), Zsp = Zspmax, and the zoom lens 104 moves at the maximum speed.

Next, in step S713, it is determined whether or not the chatter flag is set to 1. If the chatter flag is not set to 1, the flow proceeds to step S72 to be described later.
The process proceeds to step S714 if the chatter flag is set to 1. This step S714
Then, it is determined whether the ring wide flag is set to 1 or not. If the ring wide flag is not set to 1, the process proceeds to the next step S715, and if the ring wide flag is set to 1, Step S71
Go to 9. These steps S715 and S71
In step 9, the amount of movement of the zoom lens 104 by the amount of operation rotation of the zoom ring 120 is calculated, and the zoom position to be reached by the movement of the zoom lens 104 is calculated as the target value of the position counter. The formula for calculating the zoom position to be reached is
It is as follows.

Target value = OFFSET ± (total zoom stroke / N) * C1 (6) where OFFSET is the zoom position counter value at the time of switching the operation rotation direction of the zoom ring 120 obtained in the processing of FIG. N is the number of executions of the interrupt processing (FIG. 6) at the rotation angle β of the zoom ring 120 required for the entire zoom stroke movement (the output logic of the output of the ring encoder 121 which changes when the zoom ring 120 rotates by the rotation angle β). (The number of times of switching), and C1 is a rotation continuation counter, which represents the number of times of execution of the interrupt processing in which the operation direction of the zoom ring 120 is determined to be the same direction.

Therefore, the second term of the above equation (6) is the zoom movement amount to be moved when the zoom ring 120 is rotated by the rotation angle β / N * C1 (the entire zoom stroke movement when C1 = N: The rotation angle of the zoom ring 120 at the time = β). The target zoom position counter value is calculated by adding or subtracting this zoom movement amount to or from the zoom position counter value (= OFFSET) when the rotation of the zoom ring 120 is started in the same direction. In this embodiment, the zoom position counter value increases when the zoom lens 104 moves in the telephoto direction, and decreases when the zoom lens 104 moves in the wide direction (steps S715 and S7).
19). Further, here, the operation rotation angle of the zoom ring 120 required for zooming the entire zoom stroke is set to β for convenience, but β = about 120 degrees is practically preferable in terms of operability. In this case, N in the above equation (6)
Means that the comb-shaped structure of the zoom ring 120 is the zoom ring 1
This corresponds to the number of switching points having a range of about 120 degrees around 20 circles.

When the ring wide flag is clear in step S714, the zoom target position is calculated by adding the above formula (6) in step S715, and in step S716, the current zoom position is set to the target position. Is determined. If the current position of the zoom position has reached the target position, step S
The flow advances to step S725, and if the current zoom position has not reached the target position, the flow advances to step S717. In this step S717, the moving flag is set to 1, and in the next step S718, the zoom ring 120 is driven in the tele direction at the zoom speed Zsp obtained in the step S712, and thereafter, the process proceeds to the step S711 in FIG.

On the other hand, when the ring wide flag is set to 1 in step S714, the zoom target position is calculated by adding the target zoom position by the above equation (6) in step S719, and the zoom position is calculated in the next step S720. It is determined whether or not the current position has reached the target position. If the current position of the zoom position has reached the target position, the process proceeds to step S725 described below. If the current position of the zoom position has not reached the target position, the process proceeds to step S725.
Proceed to 721. In this step S721, the moving flag is set to 1, and thereafter, the step S710 in FIG.
Proceed to. As described above, the focus lens 107 is also driven in order to correct the focal plane as the zoom lens 104 moves.

The processing routine of the “constant movement amount of the zoom lens 104 per rotation angle of the zoom ring 120” control from the step S712 is that the movement is performed while constantly updating the target position during the operation of the zoom ring 120 in the same direction. Since the process is executed, even if the operation of the zoom ring 120 is interrupted before reaching the target, the moving flag that needs to continue moving to the target position is a flag indicating whether the target position is being moved or has already been reached. If the operation of the zoom ring 120 is stopped while the moving flag is set, that is, the target position is not reached, the processing in FIG. 6 is not performed, and the rotation continuation counter C1 and the ring flags are not updated. The driving direction is a holding state.

Step S722 in FIG.
This is a process for continuously driving the lens until the target position is reached even when the operation of the lens 20 is stopped. That is, it is determined in step S722 whether the moving flag is set to 1 or not. If the moving flag is set to 1, the process proceeds to step S714, and the moving flag is not set to 1. If so, the next step S7
Go to 23 respectively. In this step S723, it is determined whether or not the zoom switch 138 is stopped. If the zoom switch 138 is stopped, the moving flag is cleared in step S725, and after the movement of the zoom lens 104 is stopped in the next step S726, The process proceeds to step S711 in FIG. If the zoom switch 138 is not stopped, the operation state of the zoom switch 138 is determined in step S724, and the process proceeds to step S710 or step S718 in accordance with the operation state, and the cam described in “Prior art” is moved while moving the zoom lens. The focus lens is also operated according to the trajectory tracking method.

When the moving flag is set to 1 in step S722, the processing from step S714 is executed to enable driving to the target position. Even if the operation of the zoom ring 120 is stopped by this processing, the zoom lens 104 will continue to move, but since the time difference is short, no unnaturalness actually occurs.

The zoom switch (zoom key) 13
Although the zoom moving speed by the zoom switch 8 is not specified here, it may be a fixed speed of a predetermined speed, or if the structure of the zoom switch 138 is a volume or multi-contact type whose output voltage changes by pressing operation. Alternatively, a multi-step speed according to the pressing may be used.

In the present embodiment, the interchangeable lens system has been described as an example. However, an image pickup apparatus in which the lens unit 101 and the camera body 102 are integrated may be used.

In this embodiment, the zoom ring 1
Although the description has been made as two types of zoom response characteristics for the 20 operations, a plurality of response characteristics may be provided, and the selected response characteristics may be individual characteristics or a combination of a plurality of characteristics.

As described in detail above, the same zoom ring 1 is obtained by executing the processing routines of FIGS.
Since two types of zoom response characteristics can be obtained by the operation 20, the photographer can obtain an optimal and comfortable zoom operability according to the shooting situation and preference.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the above-described first embodiment, the user's setting of the responsiveness of the movement of the zoom lens 104 to the operation of the zoom ring 120 has been described as being operated by the photographer using the external switch. However, it is not preferable to provide an operation switch because the switch is not changed, because the switch becomes complicated. Therefore, the present embodiment allows a user to set a zoom response characteristic by operating the zoom ring 120 using a menu function conventionally provided in a television, a video camera, a stationary video, or the like. It is.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image pickup apparatus according to this embodiment. In FIG. 9, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 in the above-described first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. is there. 9 differs from FIG. 1 in that the zoom ring switch 123 is removed from the configuration of FIG. 1, a rewritable nonvolatile memory 141 is provided in the lens microcomputer 114, a menu setting operation switch 142 is provided in the camera body 102, and That is, a menu function control unit 143 is added to the main body microcomputer 132.

In FIG. 9, the character generator 137 is controlled according to the operation state of the menu setting operation switch 142 operated by the photographer, and the menu screen is displayed on the LCD.
136. This menu screen displays a plurality of shooting condition items (for example, conditions of white balance, remote control reception, electronic zoom, etc.) and setting conditions of each item (for example, on and off for electronic zoom). Select the item you want to set and set the conditions. In order to perform a menu operation, the menu setting operation switch 142 includes a mode switch for turning on / off a menu function, a selection switch for selecting an item or a state setting, and a determination switch for determining the selected content.

When the photographer operates these switches while looking at the menu screen, the menu function control section 143 controls the menu screen display in accordance with the key operation.
The setting contents can be recognized.

As a feature of the present invention, the "zoom response characteristic to zoom ring operation" is described in the photographing condition item of the menu function and in the setting condition, "according to the zoom ring rotation speed" described in the first embodiment. Variable lens movement speed "or" constant lens movement amount per zoom ring rotation angle "or" zoom ring rotation speed priority / zoom ring drive amount priority "is provided. Select / set according to your preference.

When the menu setting is completed, the menu information of the response characteristics of the zoom lens 104 among the shooting conditions of the set menu items is transferred from the main microcomputer 132 to the lens microcomputer 114. Lens microcomputer 11
4 has rewritable nonvolatile memory (EEPROM) inside
141 is provided, and changes the data in the non-volatile memory 141 in accordance with the delivered menu information. When the zoom ring 120 is rotated, the zoom operation is performed so as to refer to the data in the non-volatile memory 141 and to determine the zoom response characteristic according to the contents. As a flowchart of the zooming operation at this time, the determination routine of step 706 in FIG.
What is necessary is just to make the discrimination routine which branches according to the content stored in 41.

In the present embodiment, the memory for storing the menu information relating to the zoom movement direction is the non-volatile memory 141 in the lens microcomputer 114, but may be a non-volatile memory outside the lens microcomputer 114.
Further, a RAM (random access memory), which is a volatile memory, may be used as long as the memory contents can be backed up.

(Third Embodiment) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The second mentioned above
In the embodiment, the user setting of the responsiveness of the movement of the zoom lens 104 to the operation of the zoom ring 120 is transferred from the camera body 102 to the lens unit 101 and stored in the nonvolatile memory 141 in the lens unit 101. However, even if the menu is set by the photographer and replaced with another lens unit, the stored contents become invalid. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the menu setting information relating to the zoom movement is stored in the camera body 102, the stored contents are transferred to the lens unit 101, and the response characteristics of the zoom lens 104 are determined according to the information. It is.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image pickup apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 10, the same parts as those in FIG. The same reference numerals are given. 10 differs from FIG. 9 in that the nonvolatile memory 141 in the lens microcomputer 114 in FIG.
The backup power supply 144 is
Is that a backup data memory 145 has been added.

In FIG. 10, the character generator 137 is controlled according to the operation state of the menu setting operation switch 142 operated by the photographer, and the menu screen is displayed on the LCD.
136. When the menu is set, the setting information is stored in the backup data memory 145.
The backup data memory 145 is also supplied with power by a backup power supply 144 such as a battery even when the power is off.
Holds menu setting information. Among the various menu information stored in the backup data memory 145, information relating to the responsiveness of the zoom ring 120 is transferred to the lens microcomputer 114. The lens microcomputer 114 performs a zoom operation so as to determine a zoom response characteristic according to the received memory information. In this case, the determination routine of step S706 in FIG. 7 in the first embodiment described above is performed according to the data contents stored in the backup data memory 145 of the camera body 102 which is transferred from the body microcomputer 132 to the lens microcomputer 114. A branching determination routine may be used.

In this embodiment, the zoom response characteristic information is stored in the volatile backup data memory 145 in the microcomputer 132 which requires a backup power supply. The information may be stored in the means, or a memory such as a nonvolatile EEPROM may be used.

(Fourth Embodiment) Next, the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The first mentioned above
In the third to third embodiments, the responsiveness setting of the movement of the zoom lens 104 in response to the operation of the zoom ring 120 is set by the photographer according to the shooting situation or preference, but in the present embodiment, The optimum zoom response characteristic is automatically determined according to the shooting situation. Here, the case of recording and the case of recording standby will be described as an example.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image pickup apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 11, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 in the above-described first embodiment denote the same parts. Is attached. 11 differs from FIG. 1 in that the zoom ring switch 12 is different from the configuration of FIG.
And REC for switching between the recording execution state and the recording interruption state in the camera body 102.
That is, the switch unit 146 is added.

In FIG. 11, the microcomputer 132 of the main body responds to the switching state of the REC switch unit 146.
The control is performed by sending the operation execution commands of the recording state and the recording standby state to the magnetic recording / reproducing device 134 in a toggle operation. On the other hand, the recording state information is sent from the body microcomputer 132 to the lens microcomputer 114. Lens microcomputer 11
In step 4, the zoom response characteristic of the above-mentioned "constant lens movement amount per zoom ring rotation angle" is set according to the sent recording state information, for example, so that a smooth angle of view can be easily set during recording standby. I do. This is because when the angle of view is adjusted, the zoom ring operation amount and the zoom lens movement amount correspond one-to-one like a front lens type zoom ring. This is because it is desirable that the angle of view can be set quickly with a small number of images.

On the other hand, in the video recording state, the zoom response characteristic is set to "variable lens moving speed according to zoom ring rotation speed". This is because zooming is used as a picture-making effect during recording, so the zoom ring 12
This is because, if the zoom response characteristic is set to be faithful to the 0 operation and matched to the human operation feeling, the photographer's intention of operating the zoom ring 120 can be reliably reproduced. Such switching of the zoom response characteristic according to the operation situation is performed in step S706 in FIG. 7 described above.
Can be easily realized if the determination routine is branched in accordance with the shooting situation transferred from the main body microcomputer 112 to the lens microcomputer 114.

Although the zoom response characteristic according to the recording situation has been described in the present embodiment, the photographing state of the photographing mode setting function (so-called program mode function) that is common in video cameras and still cameras is described. The above-mentioned response characteristics may be switched and selected according to the above. For example, when the manual mode is set in the program mode, the photographer wants to set the shooting conditions voluntarily, so that even if the zoom ring 120 is delicately operated, the photographer does not touch the zoom ring 120 by mistake. Since it is considered to be intentional, the subtle zoom ring 120
It is desired that the zoom operation be performed with good responsiveness even in the above operation.

On the other hand, in the auto mode, it is desirable that the delicate operation of the zoom ring 120 has such a characteristic that the zoom operation is difficult to be performed even if the zoom ring 120 is touched by mistake. Also, for example, a so-called “sports mode” which is a shooting mode when the subject moves fast (the image sensor 124
By controlling the electronic shutter that controls the accumulation time of ~ 126 to give priority to high speed, shooting with excellent dynamic resolution can be performed. And setting the rotation angle of the zoom ring required for the movement of the entire zoom stroke to be shorter than usual can follow the quick movement of the subject with good responsiveness.
Since the manual operation feeling of 0 and the feeling of zoom interlocking are integrated, it is possible to set a good angle of view. In order to realize this, if the magnitude of the constant N in steps S715 and S719 in FIG. 8 is changed, the rotation angle of the zoom ring required for moving the entire zoom stroke can be reduced (for example, N → If N / 2, the above rotation angle is also β → β / 2).

(Fifth Embodiment) Next, a storage medium used in the imaging method and apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The storage medium that stores the control program for controlling the imaging device according to each of the above-described embodiments includes:
As shown in FIG. 12, at least the program code of each of the “detection module” and the “control module” may be stored.

[0147] Here, the "detection module" is a program module for detecting an amount of change accompanying rotation of a ring member (zoom ring) provided concentrically with respect to the optical axis of the lens. The “control module” may be configured to control at least the variable power lens based on the detection output by control means (lens microcomputer) having a plurality of characteristics for determining a correlation between the detection output and the movement of the variable power lens (zoom lens). Is a program module for controlling the movement / stop of the optical axis in the optical axis direction.

[0148]

As described in detail above, according to the imaging method and apparatus of the present invention, the amount of change accompanying rotation of the ring member provided concentrically with respect to the lens optical axis, which can be selected by the photographer himself. A plurality of control means for determining the correlation between the detection output of the zoom lens and the moving amount of the variable power lens, thereby increasing the cost such as changing the size of the bitch or the operation ring of the comb-shaped structure portion of the ring member and the imaging apparatus. It is possible to achieve a comfortable zooming operation reflecting the photographer's intention without increasing the size and weight of the camera.

In particular, as the characteristics of the control means, there are a characteristic of controlling the moving amount of the variable power lens per unit rotation angle of the ring member to be constant, and a characteristic of the variable power lens according to the rotation speed of the ring member. With the characteristic of controlling the moving speed to change, the characteristic that “the lens can be moved for the entire zoom stroke at a predetermined ring operation angle” when adjusting the angle of view, While taking advantage of the advantages, a sharp change in the angle of view at the start of zooming by making the characteristics that can be used for painting when shooting is `` adapted to the human feeling and the photographer's ring operation can be faithfully reproduced as a zooming effect '' It is possible to prevent
This has the effect of compensating for the disadvantages of the mechanically linked zoom ring.

While using these two characteristics properly, there is an effect that optimal ring operability can be realized according to the photographing conditions and the photographer's preference.

Further, by providing a means for automatically selecting a plurality of control characteristics according to the photographing conditions instead of the photographer, it is possible to prevent the troublesome switching of the characteristics at the time of photographing. This has the effect.

In particular, as a plurality of characteristics of the control means, a characteristic of controlling the moving amount of the variable power lens per unit rotation angle of the ring member to be a second predetermined amount different from the first predetermined amount. By providing, it is possible to switch the responsiveness of the zoom operation to a predetermined ring operation in accordance with the shooting conditions, so that in a shooting condition such as a sports mode that follows a fast-moving subject that is difficult to follow with normal zoom responsiveness. Even if there is, there is an effect that a quick zoom operation can be realized without missing the target subject.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an AF signal processing circuit in the device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an AF signal processing circuit in the device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing timing in an AF signal processing circuit in the same device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an algorithm of an automatic focusing operation by a lens microcomputer in a lens unit in the apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a rotation detection operation of a zoom ring in the apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a zoom operation in the apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a zoom operation in the apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a storage medium used for the imaging device of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional imaging device.

FIG. 14 is a view for explaining a conventional inner focus type lens system.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a locus when the position of a focus lens for focusing on an imaging surface is continuously plotted when the subject distance is changed at each focal length of the lens system.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conventional trajectory tracking method.

FIG. 17 is a view for explaining a conventional interpolation method in the direction of the position of a variable power lens.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a conventional encoder.

19 is an enlarged view of a portion A in FIG.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a change state of an output signal of a comb-shaped structure portion of a conventional encoder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 lens unit 102 camera body 103 fixed first lens group 104 zoom lens (second lens group) 105 aperture 106 fixed third lens group 107 focus lens (fourth lens group) 108 zoom motor 109 iris motor 110 Focus Motor 111 Zoom Motor Driver 112 Iris Motor Driver 113 Focus Motor Driver 114 Lens Microcomputer 116 AF Program 117 Motor Control Program 118 Computer Zoom Program 119 Lens Cam Data 120 Zoom Ring 121 Ring Encoder 122 Ring Encoder 123 Zoom Ring Changeover Switch 124 Image Sensor 125 image sensor 126 image sensor 127 amplifier 128 amplifier 129 amplifier 130 camera signal processor Circuit 131 AF signal processing circuit 132 Main body microcomputer 133 Amplifier 134 Magnetic recording / reproducing device 135 LCD display circuit 136 LCD 137 Character generator 138 Zoom switch 139 AF switch 140 Data read program 141 Rewritable nonvolatile memory 142 Menu setting operation switch 143 Menu function control Unit 144 backup power supply 145 backup data memory 146 REC switch unit

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] June 30, 1997

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0030

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

In FIG. 18, reference numeral 1801 denotes a rotary ring encoder fitted to a lens barrel; 1802, a comb-shaped structure having a light reflecting portion and a light transmitting portion;
Numerals 3 and 1804 denote light emitting / receiving elements, each having a light receiving / receiving section 1805 and a light receiving section 1806 as shown in FIG. The state of the output signal changes depending on whether or not the reflected light from the comb-shaped structure portion 1802 is received. FIG. 19 is an enlarged view of a portion A surrounded by a broken line in FIG.

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0031

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

When the ring encoder 1801 is rotated, the output signals of the light emitting / receiving elements 1803 and 1804 change as shown in FIGS. 20 (a) and 20 (b), respectively. The positional relationship between the light emitting and receiving elements 1803 and 1804 is determined so that the phases of the two output signals are shifted by an appropriate amount.
The rotation speed is detected based on the cycle of the output signal change. That is, if FIG. 20A is the forward rotation direction, FIG. 20B is the output waveform when the rotating member is operated in the reverse rotation direction. The output signals of the light emitting and receiving elements 1803 and 1804 are fetched, and the driving direction and the driving speed of the lens are determined according to the state of the signals. A ring encoder 1801 as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19 is provided, and a lens actuator such as a stepping motor is driven in accordance with the rotation of the zoom ring. While maintaining the same operational feeling as the lens system,
Zooming operation by power zoom can be performed.

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0035

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

In order to make up for these disadvantages, FIG.
The pitch of the comb structures 1802 in
It is necessary to increase the diameter of the ring encoder 1801 to increase the resolution of the rotation detection angle, detect a small operation amount of the zoom ring, move the variable power lens little by little, and smoothly start its movement. It is practically difficult, for example, there is a structural limit, the cost is high, and miniaturization cannot be achieved.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0061

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

The lens unit 101 is provided with a ring encoder provided with a zoom ring 120 having the same structure as that of the related art shown in FIG.
Over Da 1801, operation of the ring encoders 1803 and 1804 and the zoom ring 120 for detecting the rotational state of the zoom ring 120 has a ring changeover switch 123 for switching the response. These ring encoders
1803, 1804 and the ring switch 123
It is connected to the lens microcomputer 114.

[Procedure amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0095

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

The processing shown in FIG. 6 detects the time required for the lens microcomputer 114 to move the zoom ring 120 in the rotation direction and the unit rotation angle.
Is an interrupt processing routine. Activation source interrupt is switched point of the output waveform voltage of the ring encoders 1803 and 1804, FIG. 20 (a), (b)
When a rising edge or a falling edge of the output of the light emitting / receiving element similar to the output of the light emitting / receiving element 1803 or 1804 shown in FIG. 7 is detected, an interrupt occurs, and the processing of FIG. The process of FIG. 8 is executed in synchronization with a vertical synchronization signal or the like).

[Procedure amendment 6]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0097

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

After the processing in step S602, a step
In S605, the current interrupt is one of the ring encoders1
803It is the rising edge of the output
Or a falling edge. And standing
If it is a rising edge, the other ring in step S606
Encoder1804(Emitting / receiving element) output is low level
(L) is determined. And at the low level
If both ring encoder1803, 1804The two
The combination of outputs20Same as (a)
Therefore, the rotation direction of the zoom ring 120 is the normal rotation direction.
To set the ring teleflag indicating that
The process proceeds to S608. Also, in step S606,
In the other ring encoder1804(Emitting and receiving elements of
Child) If the output is high level (H), the two outputs
Combination diagram20Since it is the same as the case of (b),
The rotation direction of the zoom ring 120 is the reverse rotation direction
Step S6 to set a ring wide flag indicating
Proceed to step 12. Also, in step S605,
The interrupt this time is one ring encoder1803
If the output is a falling edge,
In step S607, the other ring encoder1804(of
The light emitting and receiving element) determines whether the output is low level (L).
Separate. If the level is low, step S612
If it is high level (H), go to step S608
Go forward.

[Procedure amendment 7]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0098

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

When the rotation of the zoom ring 120 is detected for the first time, both the ring tele flag and the ring wide flag indicating the rotation direction of the zoom ring 120 have been initialized and are in the clear state. If the rotation direction of the zoom ring 120 is the forward rotation direction, it is determined in step S608 whether the ring teleflag is already set to 1. However, since the ring teleflag is initially 0, the rotation is performed in step S610. The continuation counter C1 is cleared, the chatter flag (chattering flag) is set to 1, and the current position of the zoom lens 104 is stored in the memory OFFSET. Next, after setting the ring teleflag to 1 and clearing the ring wide flag in step S611, the present processing operation ends.

[Procedure amendment 8]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] Fig. 1

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG.

[Procedure amendment 9]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] Fig. 9

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 9

[Procedure amendment 10]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] FIG.

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG.

Claims (16)

[Claims] A plurality of detecting means for detecting an amount of change accompanying rotation of a ring member provided concentrically with respect to a lens optical axis and determining a correlation between an output of the detecting means and movement of a variable power lens; An imaging method comprising: controlling at least movement / stop of the variable power lens in the optical axis direction based on an output of the detection means by a control means having the following characteristics. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the detecting means detects a change in rotation of a ring member provided concentrically with respect to the optical axis of the lens, and determines a correlation between an output of the detecting means and movement of the variable power lens. An imaging method characterized by controlling / moving / stopping at least the variable magnification lens group in the optical axis direction based on the output of the detection means by control means having the characteristics described above and capable of setting the characteristics by the photographer himself / herself. . 3. The imaging method according to claim 2, wherein the characteristic of said control means is changed according to a state of an operation switch operable by a photographer. 4. The imaging method according to claim 2, wherein the characteristic of the control unit is changed according to the characteristic information of the control unit set by the photographer himself. 5. The imaging method according to claim 2, wherein characteristics of said control means are changed according to a shooting state. 6. A plurality of characteristics of the control means, the first characteristic controlling at least a constant amount of movement of a variable power lens per unit rotation of the ring member, and a characteristic according to a rotation speed of the ring member. 6. The imaging method according to claim 1, further comprising a second characteristic of controlling the moving speed of the zoom lens to change. 7. The plurality of characteristics of the control means include: a first characteristic for controlling at least a variable magnification lens movement amount per unit rotation of the ring member to be a first predetermined amount; And a second characteristic for controlling the variable magnification lens movement amount per unit rotation to be a second predetermined amount different from the first predetermined amount.
The imaging method according to 4 or 5. 8. An image pickup apparatus comprising an image pickup apparatus main body and a lens unit, detecting means for detecting an amount of change accompanying rotation of a ring member provided concentrically with respect to the optical axis of the lens, and an output of the detection means. And control means having a plurality of characteristics for determining the correlation between the variable power lens and the movement of the variable power lens. The control means controls movement / stop of at least the variable power lens in the optical axis direction based on the output of the detection means. An imaging device, comprising: 9. A detecting means for detecting an amount of change accompanying rotation of a ring member provided concentrically with respect to a lens optical axis, and a plurality of means for determining a correlation between an output of the detecting means and movement of a variable power lens. Control means having the following characteristics: and setting means capable of setting the characteristics of the control means by the photographer himself, and moving / stopping at least the variable magnification lens group in the optical axis direction based on the output of the detection means. An imaging device characterized by controlling. 10. An operation switch operable by a photographer,
10. The imaging apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising changing means for changing characteristics of the control means according to a state of the operation switch. 11. The imaging apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said changing means changes characteristics of said control means in accordance with characteristic information of said control means set by said photographer. 12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said changing means changes a characteristic of said control means according to a photographing state.
0. The imaging device according to 0. 13. A plurality of characteristics of the control means, the first characteristic controlling at least a constant amount of zoom lens movement per unit rotation of the ring member, and a characteristic according to a rotation speed of the ring member. 13. The imaging apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising: a second characteristic for controlling the zoom lens moving speed to change. 14. A plurality of characteristics of the control means, a first characteristic for controlling at least a variable magnification lens movement amount per unit rotation of the ring member to a first predetermined amount;
9. A second characteristic for controlling the moving amount of the variable power lens per unit rotation of the ring member to be a second predetermined amount different from the first predetermined amount.
13. The imaging device according to any one of items 11 to 12. 15. The imaging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the lens unit is detachably attached to the imaging apparatus main body. 16. A detection module for a detection step for detecting an amount of change accompanying rotation of a ring member provided concentrically with respect to a lens optical axis, and a correlation between the detection output and movement of a variable power lens is determined. A storage medium storing a program having at least a control module of a control step of controlling movement / stop of the variable power lens in the optical axis direction based on the detection output by control means having a plurality of characteristics.