JPH11196311A - Camera provided with split photographing function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate unnaturalness of a joint between adjacent images at the time of obtaining one wide range image by electronically composting plural images obtained by dividedly photographing a scene plural times. SOLUTION: Photographing conditions such as the focal distance, exposure value, white balance, and focus of a photographing lens 14 are forcedly fixed during the period of divided photographing. A part of recorded images is displayed on a display part (LCD) as a reference image and composed with a through picture being acquired at present to display a composite image. At this time, aligning is furthermore easily executed by the binarization and edge enhancement of the reference image part or the extension of a boundary. In addition, a function for obtaining matching degree from the correlation between the reference image and the through picture and presenting the matching degree to a photographer so as to be referred to the determination of a photographing position is added. In the divided photographing, plural recorded split images are composed and displayed, a photographing state is checked and the selection of a succeeding image, the selection of a rephotographing image, etc., are executed from the composite image.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera having a divided photographing function, and more particularly to a camera having a function of obtaining a large screen image by dividing a wide scene such as a landscape and photographing a plurality of times. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A camera provided with a so-called panoramic photographing function for photographing a scene such as a landscape having a spread is widely known. You can get a print. However, this function merely cuts off the upper and lower parts of the area photographed by the camera and enlarges it by processing at the time of printing, and does not actually record a wide range of scenes as one image. .

On the other hand, in an electronic still camera using a solid-state image pickup device, a so-called "connecting photograph" technique is used to divide a scene and take a plurality of shots, and use those images by an external image processing device or computer. It is possible to obtain a single large-screen image or panoramic image by performing composition processing.

[0004]

However, when a plurality of divided images are synthesized to obtain one large screen image,
It is extremely difficult to shoot an image in which the joints between adjacent images are accurately matched. If the positional joint between the adjacent images is inappropriate or the brightness or color of the adjacent images is different, there is a problem that an unnatural joint appears in the synthesized large screen image.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
Japanese Patent No. 30802 discloses a method of preventing a sharp change in a joint between brightness and white balance by measuring light in a range larger than a photographing range to be recorded. However, even with the method described in the publication,
A bright object such as the sun enters the metering range, or
When an object with a large area and high color saturation, such as a flower garden, enters, the brightness and white balance of adjacent divided images differ, resulting in an unnatural joint. .

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a position at a joint between adjacent images when an image obtained by dividing a scene and photographing a plurality of times is electronically combined to obtain one wide-area image. It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera having a function capable of preventing a natural shift, a difference in brightness and color, and the like.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera according to the present invention, wherein a photographing lens having a variable focal length and a focal length of the photographing lens are driven by driving the photographing lens. Electric drive means for changing, an image pickup means for taking an image of a subject through the taking lens, and converting the image signal into an image signal indicating the subject, and recording an image signal obtained by the image pickup means on a recording medium in response to a shutter trigger input When performing divided photographing by dividing a scene into two or more screens and sequentially photographing each screen, a photographing condition including at least a focal length of the photographing lens is fixed during a series of divided photographing. And photographing condition fixing means.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in a camera using a photographing lens whose focal length can be changed, such as a zoom lens, a step zoom, or two-focus switching, at least the focal length of the photographing lens is forcibly fixed during divided photographing. Therefore, the magnification of a plurality of images obtained by a series of divided photographing can be kept constant. This allows
By combining the divided images, one scene can be completed.

In this case, as for the camera having the auto focus function, the focus position is fixed prior to the focus adjustment by the auto focus means during the continuation of the series of divided photographing. It is preferable to provide a means for performing the operation, and to make the shooting conditions of each divided image uniform. Further, by providing a means for fixing shooting conditions such as an exposure value and a white balance during split shooting, the shooting conditions of each split image can be further unified. Thereby, unnaturalness of the joint at the time of combining can be avoided.

In order to achieve the above object, a camera according to a fourth aspect of the present invention includes an image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject via a photographic lens and converting the image into an image signal indicating the subject. Image display means for displaying an image taken through the camera, recording means for recording an image signal obtained by the imaging means on a recording medium in response to a shutter trigger input, and dividing a scene into two or more screens. When performing divided shooting in which the screen is sequentially photographed, a part of the screen of the recorded image is displayed on the screen of the image display means as a reference image for confirming a joining position, and is currently acquired through the imaging means. Image synthesizing means for synthesizing a through screen showing a video being displayed with the reference image and displaying the image on the image display means, and a method of connecting the recorded image and the through image synthesized by the image synthesizing means. The image combining means determines at least one of the four areas of the recorded image as the reference image according to the determination of the connection direction by the connection direction determining means. The image is displayed on the image display means.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the connection direction between the already recorded image (recorded image) and the video (through screen) currently captured by the imaging means is determined by the connection direction determination means. It is known whether the image to be photographed has any of the up, down, left, and right adjacent relations to the recorded screen. According to the present invention, a mode in which a plurality of reference images are combined with a through screen from a plurality of captured images is also possible.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the camera according to the fourth aspect, particularly, a correlation calculating means for obtaining a correlation indicating a degree of coincidence between the through screen and the recorded image is provided, and the correlation calculating means is provided. And a panning direction discriminating means for judging the panning direction of the camera based on the correlation obtained in step (a) and automatically determining a connecting direction between adjacent images.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the correlation between the recorded image and the through screen is obtained, and based on the obtained correlation, what kind of relation between the screen for the next photographing and the already recorded screen is obtained. It is automatically determined whether it is a positional relationship. In other words, from the correlation between the recorded image and the through screen, it is automatically determined whether the camera has been panned in the up, down, left, or right direction. You know if you have a relationship. This allows the photographer to freely photograph a wide-area scene without paying attention to the direction of the divided photographing (connecting direction).

In general, four connection directions of up, down, left, and right can be considered for one recorded screen, and when photographing the next screen, reference images are required for four areas of up, down, left, and right, respectively. When the connection direction discriminating means is provided, only one or a plurality of necessary areas among the four areas, up, down, left and right, are displayed on the image display means as a reference image in accordance with the determination of the connection direction by the connection direction discriminating means. It becomes possible. Thereby, there is an advantage that the display screen of the image display means can be effectively used and the screen can be easily viewed.

Various methods are possible for the method of synthesizing the reference image and the through screen. According to the invention described in claim 6, a part of the screen of the recorded image is binarized, and only the white point or only the black point is determined. In addition to displaying on the screen of the image display means as a reference image for connection position confirmation, a through screen showing a video currently acquired via the imaging means is combined with the reference image and displayed on the image display means. Let me. With this binarization method, the target to be aligned is clarified, and the number of target targets is larger than in the case where the relationship between the two is simply confirmed only by the boundary line, so that the positional joint can be accurately grasped. .

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided an edge extracting means for extracting an outline of a subject contained in a part of the screen of the recorded image, and the edge image obtained by the edge extracting means is used for connecting position confirmation. Is characterized by being synthesized with a through screen as a reference image. According to this method, the edge portion is emphasized, the reference image and the through screen are easily distinguished from each other, and the seam can be adjusted more accurately than when the relationship between the two is confirmed only by the boundary line.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, when the reference image and the through screen are combined, the reference image and the through screen are combined in a pattern in which the boundary line is longer than a simple horizontal or vertical straight line. And As described above, the longer the boundary line between the two, the more the number of target objects for alignment, and the more accurate the alignment of the joint.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the camera according to the ninth aspect operates a predetermined operation unit at the time of the divided photographing to combine the divided images photographed up to that point and display the combined image on the image display means. It is. Thus, the shooting progress status can be displayed at any time during the divided shooting, so that the recorded image can be confirmed and the shooting position of the next screen can be easily grasped.

Instead of displaying a composite image (confirmation screen) indicating the progress of photographing at any time according to the operation of the operation unit,
As in the tenth aspect of the present invention, each time one shooting is completed during the split shooting, the split images taken up to that point may be automatically combined and displayed on the image display means. . In this case, it is preferable that a selection means for selecting the next shooting position from the confirmation screen is provided, and the selection mode is set to a shooting mode according to the selection. Further, it is conceivable to provide a selection means for selecting a divided image to be deleted from the confirmation screen so that the screen related to the selection can be deleted according to the selection. Convenience is further improved when the screen thus erased is configured to shift to the re-shooting mode for re-shooting, as described in claim 13.

When the confirmation screen is displayed on the image display means, it is not always necessary to display the whole of the composite image indicating the progress of the photographing on the screen of the image display means at one time. Claim 14 in the case of a screen
As described in, a part of it is displayed on the image display means,
Thereafter, it may be configured to scroll according to the operation of the screen scroll operation means as needed.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a camera with a division photographing function having a function of synthesizing a reference image and a through screen and displaying the same on an image display means. And a matching degree display means for displaying the detection result of the matching degree detecting means and presenting the result to the photographer.

According to the fifteenth aspect, the degree of coincidence between the reference image and the through screen is detected and presented to the photographer. The photographer determines the photographing position with reference to the presentation. Make decisions when you need them. As a result, it is possible to reduce the burden on the photographer in determining the alignment, and to achieve accurate alignment.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a camera with a division photographing function according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. This camera mainly includes a photographing lens 14 having a zoom optical system 11 and a focus optical system 12, an aperture 16, and a solid-state imaging device 1 such as a CCD.
8, analog processing circuit 20, A / D converter 22, digital processing circuit 24, bus 26, image synthesis circuit 28, D / A
Converter 30, display unit 3 such as a liquid crystal display (LCD)
2. It comprises an image recording medium 34, an operation unit 36, a central processing unit (CPU) 38, and the like.

The solid-state image pickup device 18 via the photographing lens 14
The subject image formed on the light receiving surface is photoelectrically converted by the solid-state imaging device 18, sequentially read as a video signal, and supplied to the analog processing circuit 20. Analog processing circuit 20
Includes a CDS clamp circuit, a gain adjustment circuit, and the like, and appropriately processes a video signal (analog electric signal) input from the solid-state imaging device 18. The signal output from the analog processing circuit 20 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 22 and then guided to the digital processing circuit 24.

The digital processing circuit 24 includes a luminance signal generation circuit, a color difference signal generation circuit, a gamma correction circuit, a compression / decompression circuit, etc., and converts image data of a photographed image based on a signal input from the A / D converter 22. Generate. The data digitally processed by the digital processing circuit 24 can be supplied to the temporary recording memory 40 and the image recording medium 34 via the bus 26, and the data can be stored in the temporary recording memory 40 and the image recording medium 34. The data processed by the digital processing circuit 24 is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 30 and supplied to the display unit 32. Thus, the captured image is displayed on the display unit 32. The display unit 32
Displays a still image captured based on a shutter trigger such as a pressing operation of a shutter button included in the operation unit 36, and a video (moving image or intermittent image) before the shutter trigger is input.

The CPU 38 controls the digital processing circuit 24, the image synthesizing circuit 28, the temporary recording memory 40,
It is connected to the image recording medium 34 and the D / A converter 30 and performs various calculations such as an exposure value and a focus position according to a predetermined algorithm, and controls automatic exposure control, auto focus, auto strobe, auto white balance, and the like. , Based on the input from the operation unit 36 and the like.

That is, the CPU 38 controls the aperture 16 and the solid-state imaging device 18 via the exposure control circuit 42 according to the exposure value calculated based on the image signal to set the exposure value, and sets the white value according to the calculated RB gain value. The analog processing circuit 20 is controlled via the balance control circuit 44 to set a white balance. Also, the CPU 38
Calculates a focus evaluation value indicating the sharpness of a subject image from an image signal, and calculates a focus position based on the focus evaluation value. Then, the focus optical system 12 is controlled via the focus drive circuit 46 according to the calculated focus position, and the focus position is set. Note that the autofocus unit is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and a known distance measuring unit such as an AF sensor may be used.

Further, the CPU 38 controls the zoom optical system 11 via a zoom drive control circuit (corresponding to electric drive means) 48 in accordance with the focal length of the photographing lens 14 set by the photographer by the zoom operation means included in the operation section 36. Is set, and the focal length of the photographing lens 14 is set. Next, a general photographing operation performed by the camera having the above-described configuration will be described.

First, photometry is performed prior to actual photographing (recording). At the time of photometry, optical information input from the photographing lens 14 is photoelectrically converted by the solid-state imaging device 18 through the aperture 16, and is appropriately processed by the analog processing circuit 20.
It is digitized by the / D converter 22. Then, after this is appropriately processed by the digital processing circuit 24, the temporary recording memory 40
To record.

Using the image information recorded in the temporary recording memory 40, the CPU 38 calculates the exposure value, the RB gain value of the white balance, and the focus position according to a predetermined algorithm. Control the focus. Also, by outputting the image information on the temporary recording memory 40 to the display unit 32 via the D / A converter 30, the image captured by the photographing lens 14 can be displayed in real time.

The photographer can determine a photographing scene by using the display section 32 as a finder. The real-time shooting screen displayed on the display unit 32 in this manner is hereinafter referred to as a “through image”. When a subject image (moving image) is displayed on the display unit 32 and a shutter trigger for instructing recording is turned on by pressing a shutter button or the like, the aperture value of the aperture 16 according to the exposure value obtained by the photometry described above. And the electronic shutter control value of the solid-state imaging device 18 are determined,
The charge accumulation time of the stop 16 and the solid-state imaging device 18 is controlled via the exposure control circuit 42, and the focus optical system 12 is controlled via the focus drive control circuit 46 so that the focus evaluation value is maximized. I do.

When the various settings of the camera are determined in this way, the operation shifts to the main shooting. At the time of the actual photographing, the optical information input from the photographing lens 14 is transmitted through the aperture 16 to the solid-state imaging device 1.
8 and converts the signal into an analog processing circuit 20, an A / D
After being appropriately processed by the converter 22 and the digital processing circuit 24, the data is recorded in the temporary recording memory 40. Then, the image stored in the temporary recording memory 40 is recorded on the image recording medium 34.

Next, a case in which the present camera is used to carry out divisional photographing (photographing by a connecting photograph method) will be described.
In the case of performing the divided photographing, first, the camera is set to the divided photographing mode by operating the mode selection means of the operation unit 36.
When the division shooting mode is selected by the operation unit 36, the mode selection signal is notified to the CPU 38, and the CPU 38
Receives this signal, and fixes the exposure value, RB gain value of white balance, focus position, and the like.

As a specific mode of fixing the photographing conditions, the photographing lens 14 is set at the moment when the divided photographing mode is set.
Exposure values to optimize for the scene
The RB gain value and the focus position of the white balance may be fixed, or the scene may be optimized when the photographer operates a predetermined operation member (for example, half-presses the shutter button) after setting the mode. You may make it. According to the latter aspect, there is an advantage that the photographer can adjust the photographing condition to a scene including an object determined to be the most main subject in a series of scenes to be divided and photographed.

In addition, by setting the exposure mode, the RB gain value of the white balance, and the focus position for the first shot scene set in the split shooting mode, the settings are retained until the mode is released. Is also good.
Also, as described with reference to FIG.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a zoom lens. The focal length of the photographing lens 14 is fixed (zoom fixed) by setting the division photographing mode.

As a mode of fixing the focal length, for example, when the divided photographing mode is set, the focal length is set so as to be fixed at a predetermined focal length. In this case, the predetermined focal length is set to a focal length that has a wide range of view angles to some extent and minimizes peripheral distortion as much as possible in order to minimize the unnaturalness of joints between adjacent images at the time of synthesis. Preferably.

Alternatively, after the mode is set, the zoom may be fixed at the focal length at the time when the photographer operates a predetermined operation member, or the focal length for the first scene photographed in the divided photographing mode is released. It may be held for a period until it is performed. After the setting of the photographing condition of the camera is fixed in this way, the process shifts to actual photographing. The image input in the first shooting is recorded on the image recording medium 34 via the solid-state imaging device 18, the analog processing circuit 20, the A / D converter 22, and the digital processing circuit 24. On the other hand, the CPU 38 performs a process of cutting out an image peripheral portion (reference image) to be displayed on the display unit 32 at the time of the next shooting from the acquired image data.

That is, in the case where the image obtained by the first photographing is a scene as shown in FIG. 2, regions L, R, T, and B corresponding to a predetermined number of pixels from the edge of the screen are previously cut out at the top, bottom, left, and right of the screen. The image of each of the areas L, R, T, and B is stored in the temporary recording memory 40 in advance. Next, the camera is panned in the left-right direction or the up-down direction, and the process shifts to capturing an adjacent image. At this time, an image as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the display unit 32. That is, the peripheral portion of the immediately preceding image (partial images of the regions L, R, T, and B) is read from the temporary recording memory 40, the region R is on the left side of the screen, the region L is on the right side of the screen, and the region B is on the top of the screen. , The area T is displayed at the bottom of the screen, and a video (through screen) related to the current shooting is displayed at the center of the screen.

As described above, the upper, lower, left, and right peripheral portions of the image obtained immediately before are combined with the through screen related to the current photographing in the image combining circuit 28, and the combined screen is displayed on the display unit 32.
Therefore, even if the photographer shoots an adjacent scene in any of the upper, lower, left, and right directions with respect to the immediately preceding scene, the photographer can display any one of the reference images in the regions L, R, T, and B. The photographing position can be easily determined based on the boundary with the through screen at the center of the section 32. This makes it possible to prevent positional deviation between adjacent images at the photographing stage, and reduce positional deviation at the time of combining the connected photographs.

In the above example, the photographing (recording) was performed immediately before.
Although the case where the peripheral portion of the obtained image is stored in the temporary recording memory 40 as the reference image has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and the peripheral portion of the image stored in the image recording medium 34 (regions L, R, T,
It is also possible to form a reference image by reproducing and displaying the (partial image corresponding to B), and adjust the shooting position of the next shooting. According to this aspect, for example, after once performing horizontal shooting in the left direction from the first shooting screen and performing divided shooting, returning to the first shooting screen again and performing horizontal panning further rightward from there, or It is possible to use the camera in such a manner that vertical panning (tilting) is performed in the direction and the division photographing is continued.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, all of the four areas, that is, the upper, lower, left, and right sides of the immediately preceding screen are displayed on the display unit 32 at the time of the next photographing. In this case, it is not necessary to display all four areas on the display unit 32. For example, if the camera is only to be panned horizontally to the right, only the region R in FIG. 3 needs to be displayed on the display unit 32. Only the region T in FIG. 3 needs to be displayed.

The direction in which the camera is to be panned is configured to be set by the photographer himself by inputting it from predetermined operation means of the operation unit 36, and C is set according to the operation of the operation unit 36.
The PU 38 may determine an area to be displayed. Further, in the composite screen shown in FIG. 3, the correlation between the four areas (areas L, R, T, and B) and the through image is calculated, and the direction in which the camera is pointed is determined based on the calculation. Is also good. In this case, if it is determined by the correlation operation that the camera has been panned horizontally to the right, the display unit 32 leaves only the reference image of the region R and the other regions are displayed on the display unit 3.
In addition to deleting from the screen of FIG. It should be noted that the combined information provided in this way is used when combining divided images to complete one scene.

The photographer operates the operation unit 3 during the divisional photographing.
By operating a predetermined operation member included in 6, the divided images photographed (recorded) up to that point are read out from the image recording medium 34, and these simple composite images are created. That is, the CPU 38 reads a plurality of recorded divided captured images from the image recording medium 34 in accordance with an operation of a predetermined operation member, thins out each divided image using the temporary recording memory 40, performs reduction processing, Each image is connected to create a simple composite image. The simple composite image created in this way is displayed on the display unit 32 as a confirmation screen indicating the shooting progress.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a confirmation screen after photographing the divided images for two frames. By displaying the composite image as shown in FIG. 4, there is an advantage that the photographer can easily grasp the current photographed state during the divisional photographing. The display of such a simplified composite image is not limited to a form in which the image is displayed by the photographer intentionally operating the operation unit 36, and a simplified composite image automatically indicating a photographed state each time one photographing is completed. May be displayed. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 5, the display unit 32 displays a non-photographed area adjacent to the already-photographed image 50 and a selection frame 52 for selecting a next photo-taking area. You.

The photographer moves the selection frame 52 to a desired area by operating a predetermined selection operation member of the operation section 36, and can designate a region to be photographed next. In addition to the above-described method of designating the region to be photographed, for example, a touch panel may be arranged on the front surface of the display unit 32, and the region to be photographed may be selected by touching with a finger or a pen.

When a screen area to be photographed next is selected on the screen on which the simplified composite image is displayed, an area in contact with the selected area in the peripheral portion of the recorded image adjacent thereto in accordance with the selected area. Are displayed on the display unit 32 as reference images. Then, a through screen is displayed together with the reference image, and the mode shifts to a shooting mode for the next frame.
The photographer can take a picture of the next frame while adjusting the position of an adjacent image while looking at the screen of the display unit 32.

An example of such an operation is shown in the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 6 shows a flow of a photographing operation in which a screen for confirming a photographed state is displayed for each photographing and the next photographing area is designated. First, when the divided photographing mode is set (step 110), each photographing condition such as an exposure value is fixed by a predetermined method (step 112).
At this time, a through screen is displayed on the display unit 32 (FIG. 7).
reference).

Next, when the photographer inputs a shutter trigger by pressing the shutter button or the like, the through screen of the display unit 32 becomes stationary (freeze), and the photographed image is recorded on the image recording medium 34 (step 11).
4). When the photographing of the first screen is performed in this manner, the reduced image of the first screen is displayed on the display unit 32 in the center of the screen as described in FIG. The shooting area is displayed (step 11)
6, see FIG. 8).

An area to be photographed as the second screen is selected from such a screen (step 118). For example, when the left area of the first screen in FIG. 8 is selected, as shown in FIG. 9, the image of the left end area (the area corresponding to the area L) of the first screen is displayed on the display unit 32 as a reference image. Is displayed on the right end, and a through screen is displayed in another area of the display unit 32.

In a state where the reference image (a part of the adjacent image) and the through screen are combined, when the photographing position is adjusted by paying attention to the boundary line 52 between the two and the shutter trigger is input,
The through screen of the display unit 32 is stopped, and the captured image of the second screen is recorded on the image recording medium 34 (Step 120).
When the photographing of the second screen is performed in this way, a simplified composite image is created together with the first screen (step 122).
At the center of the display unit 32, a reduced image in which the first screen and the second screen are connected (combined) is displayed, and an unphotographed area is displayed around the reduced image (step 124, see FIG. 10). .

Next, it is determined whether or not the divisional photographing is to be ended (step 126). If photographing is to be continued, the operation returns to step 118. That is, an area to be photographed as the third screen is further selected from the screen shown in FIG. For example, when the lower area of the second screen 54 is selected, as shown in FIG. 11, the image of the lower area (the area corresponding to the area B) of the image of the second screen 54 is used as the reference image of the display unit 32. It is displayed at the upper end and the other area of the display unit 32 is a through screen.

When the photographing position is adjusted based on the boundary 56 between the reference image and the through screen in the state of the screen shown in FIG. 11 and a shutter trigger is input, the through screen on the display unit 32 stops and the third screen is stopped. Is the image recording medium 3
4 recorded. When the recording of the third screen is completed in this way, a simplified composite image is created together with the first and second screens, the composite image is displayed in the center of the display unit 32, and an unphotographed area is displayed around the composite image. (Figure 1
2).

During the n times (n = 1, 2,...) Of divisional photographing, the above steps 118 to 126 are repeated. When the divisional photographing ends, the mode is switched to the normal photographing mode (step 128), and the photographing in the divisional photographing mode ends. Although not shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, when the simplified composite image is displayed and the photographed state is confirmed (step 124), if there is an image to be photographed again, the predetermined operation means of the operation unit 36 is operated. By operating, it is possible to select the image and delete the corresponding image. In this case, after erasing, the mode is shifted to a mode for re-capturing an area corresponding to the deleted image, and a peripheral area of an image adjacent to the deleted image is displayed on the display unit 32 as a reference image to enable re-capturing.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 12, it is not necessary that the entirety of the simplified composite image is always completely displayed on the display unit 32, and when the composite image becomes large,
A part of the simplified composite image may be displayed on the display unit 32, and a part that cannot be displayed may be displayed by scrolling the screen using the operation unit 36 such as a feed button.
It should be noted that one reference region is provided for one adjacent image.
It is also possible to refer to one peripheral area from one or more adjacent images. For example, in the example described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 12, when shooting is completed in the state illustrated in FIG. 12, a screen next to the screen shot in FIG.
That is, when photographing the screen at the lower right of the screen in FIG. 12 (the screen including the lower body of the person), the screen is adjacent to the photographed image on the left side and the upper side. Therefore, in this case, it is more preferable to refer to the peripheral region one by one from the left and upper photographed images, combine the two reference images and the through screen, and display them on the display unit 32 (LCD). .

Next, a modification of the above embodiment will be described. In the above-described embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 3, a part of the previous screen is displayed as a reference image in the upper, lower, left, and right portions of the screen of the display unit 32 at the time of divided shooting, and the through-screen related to the current shooting is displayed in the center of the screen. It was mentioned that the screens are combined and displayed.
In this case, a clue for judging a positional connection between the previous screen and the through screen is a boundary line 58 shown by a thick line in FIG.

When the photographer decides the photographing position in the divided photographing, the portion where the reference image and the through screen are in contact, that is, the longer the boundary line, the easier the position determination is.
Hereinafter, a form example of the boundary line will be described. Instead of displaying part of the previous screen on the display unit 32 as it is,
It is conceivable that an image obtained by performing a predetermined process on a part of the previous screen is combined with the through screen and displayed.

For example, a partial area of the previous screen to be displayed is binarized by the image synthesizing circuit 24 shown in FIG. In this case, since the binarized image is composed of white points or black points, only the white points or only the black points are combined with the through screen. If only the black point is combined with the through screen, the image of the through screen is overlapped with the white point.

Therefore, the boundary between the previous screen and the through screen becomes a complicated boundary 60 along the shape of the subject as shown by the thick line in FIG. This is longer than the simple horizontal or vertical boundary line 58 in FIG. 13 and includes a diagonal line or a curve, so that the photographer can easily adjust the shooting position. be able to. Also,
In the case of binarization as described above, the threshold value in the case of dividing into white or black is important. The method of calculating the threshold value includes the midpoint of the luminance data range of the image, the centroid of the luminance distribution, Various methods such as a median of the luminance distribution (median) can be considered.

As a method other than the binarization, there is also a mode in which the contour (edge) of the subject is extracted from the image of a partial area of the previous screen, and only the edge portion is combined with the photographing through screen and displayed. As a filter for performing such edge extraction,
Various filters, such as well-known Laplacian Ann, Sobel, Prewitt, and Roberts, can be used. When this edge extraction method is adopted, a point regarded as an edge in an image of a partial area of the previous screen is set as a black point or a white point, and a video of a through screen is overlapped with a point not regarded as an edge. .

FIG. 15 shows an example in which the extracted edge portion is set as a black point. As described above, by extracting the edge of the image of the previous screen and using the edge portion as the boundary line 62, it is possible to obtain a composite display screen having an extremely large number of boundary lines between the reference image and the through screen. The user can more easily adjust the photographing position. As still another method, as shown in FIG. 16, a pattern in which the boundary line 64 becomes long (a zigzag line in FIG. 16) may be used. By intentionally forming a long (many) boundary line 64 with such a pattern and combining the previous screen and the through screen, the photographing position can be easily determined without performing complicated image processing such as binarization and filtering. Can be matched.

As the form of the boundary pattern, for example, various forms as shown in FIGS. 17A, 17B and 17C are possible. In FIG. 17, the area shown in black represents a part of the previous screen, and the area shown in white represents a through screen. 13 to 16, the upper, lower, left and right 4
It shows the display of all three areas, but the direction of panning the camera is specified in advance as described above,
Alternatively, in the case of being limited, it is sufficient to display one area according to the direction.

The data of the image divided and photographed by the camera is taken into a personal computer or the like, whereby the images can be joined together by using the image processing means of the personal computer, and the composite image is reproduced on a display. It is possible. In addition, it is also possible to print a horizontally long panoramic screen on one sheet of paper by using a roll paper printer or the like.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above-described embodiment, the photographer looks at the composite image of the reference image and the through screen displayed on the display unit 32, and determines whether or not the connection portion between the two matches. However, it is also possible for the camera to determine the degree of coincidence between the two and present it to the photographer.

In this case, means for calculating the degree of coincidence,
A means for informing the photographer of the degree of coincidence is required. Specifically, the image synthesizing circuit 24 and / or C shown in FIG.
The calculation of the degree of coincidence is performed by the PU 38, and the calculation result is displayed on the display unit 32 so as to overlap the through screen. According to such a configuration, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to newly provide a dedicated circuit or display means.

Next, a method of calculating the degree of coincidence will be described. When the boundary between the previous screen and the through screen is defined in advance as in the cases shown in FIGS. 3 and 16, the pixels adjacent to each other with the boundary between the previous screen and the through screen already determined. Therefore, the error between these two pixels is calculated, and this is integrated along all the boundaries. Then, it is determined that the greater the integrated value is, the lower the matching degree is.

For example, as shown in FIG.
The difference between the pixels adjacent to each other on the left and right across 6 is obtained, and the difference (the absolute value of the difference) is integrated along the boundary 66. For example, the difference between the places where the sky is adjacent to the sky across the boundary 66 with the same shooting position is small, but the difference between where the shooting position is shifted and the ridgeline of the mountain is adjacent to the sky is large. As described above, when the previous screen and the through screen are displaced in the vicinity of the boundary 66, the integration result (the integrated value of the error) increases, and it can be determined that the degree of coincidence is low.

As another method, it is conceivable to calculate a correlation value such as a mean square error between two screens in an area where the previous screen overlaps with the through screen (overlap area). This method has an advantage that it can be applied even when the boundary is not defined in advance as in the case shown in FIGS. When calculating the correlation value for the overlapping area between the previous screen and the through screen, the same image processing is applied to both screens in the overlapping area when calculating the correlation between the two screens before performing image processing such as binarization. There is a case where the correlation is obtained between the applied screens, and any of them may be adopted.

When the correlation value obtained by such a method is large, it can be determined that the degree of coincidence is low. FIG. 19 shows a display example for notifying the photographer of the degree of coincidence calculated by each of the above-described methods. As shown in the figure, an indicator 70 indicating the degree of coincidence is displayed at the lower left corner of the screen of the display unit 32, and the degree of coincidence between the reference image and the through screen is expressed in nine steps in ten stages.

In order to display the degree of coincidence by the indicator 70, for example, an approximate range of the degree of coincidence x is investigated for some general scenes, and the range is determined. [X1 to x2], the following equation (1)

[0070]

## EQU1 ## The value of (x−x1) × 10 / (x2−x1) (1) is calculated, and a value obtained by converting the value into an integer is displayed on the indicator 70 as the number of blocks. By using this method, the photographer can determine the photographing position while checking not only the composite image of the reference image and the through screen displayed on the display unit 32 but also the degree of coincidence determined by the camera with the indicator 70. Yes, and the shooting position can be easily adjusted.

The means for informing the photographer of the calculated coincidence is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 19, but may be a sound emitting means such as a multicolor light emitting lamp or a buzzer whose color changes stepwise.

[0072]

As described above, according to the camera with the divided photographing function according to the present invention, in the camera using the photographing lens with a variable focal length, the photographing conditions including at least the focal length of the photographing lens during the divided photographing are set. Since the images are forcibly fixed, the photographing conditions of a plurality of images obtained by a series of divided photographings can be unified, and unnatural joints at the time of composition can be avoided.

Further, according to the present invention, the correlation between the recorded image and the through screen is obtained, and the direction of the divided photographing (connection direction) is automatically determined based on the obtained correlation. It is possible to freely shoot a wide-area scene without being limited by the direction. In addition, the result of such determination can be used as composite information. Then, in synthesizing the reference image and the through screen, the joint between the reference images can be more easily confirmed by binarization of the reference image portion, edge emphasis, extension of the boundary line, and the like, and accurate alignment has been achieved. An adjacent image can be obtained. Furthermore, by adding a function of obtaining the degree of coincidence from the correlation between the reference image and the through screen and presenting the degree of coincidence to the photographer,
The photographer can easily determine the photographing position with reference to the presentation.

Further, during the divisional photographing, the divided images recorded so far are combined and displayed, and the next photographing screen is selected from the screen, and
In addition, since the user can select a retake screen and the like, it is possible to easily grasp the shooting progress status of the split shooting and perform shooting without failure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a display unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of a reference image extracted from a peripheral portion of a recorded image.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a simplified composite image for confirming a shooting progress status;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state when a next shooting screen is selected.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation procedure in a divided shooting mode.

7 is a diagram showing a display example of the display unit during operation in the flowchart of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of the display unit during operation in the flowchart of FIG. 6;

9 is a diagram showing a display example of the display unit during operation in the flowchart of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of the display unit during operation in the flowchart of FIG. 6;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of the display unit during operation in the flowchart of FIG. 6;

12 is a diagram showing a display example of the display unit during operation in the flowchart of FIG. 6;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a form of a boundary between a reference image and a through screen;

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a binarized reference image portion and a through screen are combined.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example in which a reference image portion from which edges are extracted and a through screen are combined.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example in which a boundary between a reference image and a through screen is extended.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a boundary pattern between a reference image and a through screen.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram used to explain a method of calculating a degree of coincidence between a reference image and a through screen;

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a unit that notifies a photographer of the degree of coincidence between a reference image and a through screen;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Zoom optical system 12 ... Focus optical system (focus lens group) 14 ... Photographing lens 18 ... Solid-state image sensor 28 ... Image synthesis circuit 32 ... Display part 34 ... Image recording medium 38 ... Central processing unit (CPU) 58, 60 62, 64, 66 ... Boundary line 70 ... Indicator (coincidence presenting means)

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A photographing lens having a variable focal length, an electric driving means for driving the photographing lens to change a focal length of the photographing lens, and an image signal representing an image of a subject through the photographing lens, Imaging means for converting an image signal obtained by the imaging means into a recording medium in response to an input of a shutter trigger; and divisional photographing for dividing a scene into two or more screens and sequentially photographing each screen And a photographing condition fixing means for fixing photographing conditions including at least the focal length of the photographing lens during a series of divided photographing operations. 2. An automatic focusing unit for moving a focus lens group of the photographing lens to an optimum focus position according to a photographing distance, wherein the photographing condition fixing unit performs the automatic focusing while the series of divided photographing is continued. 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the focus position is fixed prior to the focus adjustment by the means. 3. The camera with a divisional photographing function according to claim 1, wherein the photographing conditions include an exposure value and a white balance. 4. An image capturing means for capturing an image of a subject via a photographing lens and converting the image into an image signal indicating the subject; an image display means for displaying an image captured via the image capturing means; Recording means for recording an image signal on a recording medium in response to an input of a shutter trigger, and a part of a screen of a recorded image when performing divided photographing in which a scene is divided into two or more screens and each screen is sequentially photographed. Is displayed on the screen of the image display means as a reference image for confirming the connection position, and a through screen showing a video currently acquired via the imaging means is synthesized with the reference image to display the image. An image synthesizing unit to be displayed by the unit, and a link direction determining unit that determines a connecting direction of the recorded image and the through image synthesized by the image synthesizing unit. Tie as determined by the coupling direction by the direction determining means, recorded image up, down, left and right four divided photographing function camera, characterized in that to be displayed on the image display means at least one of areas as a reference image in the region of. 5. A correlation calculating means for obtaining a correlation indicating a degree of coincidence between the through screen and the recorded image; and a panning direction of a camera is determined based on the correlation obtained by the correlation calculating means. 5. The camera with a division photographing function according to claim 4, further comprising: a connection direction determining means for automatically determining a connection direction. 6. An image pickup means for taking an image of a subject through a photographing lens and converting the image into an image signal indicating the subject; an image display means for displaying an image taken via the image pickup means; Recording means for recording an image signal on a recording medium in response to an input of a shutter trigger, and a part of a screen of a recorded image when performing divided photographing in which a scene is divided into two or more screens and each screen is sequentially photographed. 2
Value, and only the white point or only the black point is displayed on the screen of the image display means as a reference image for connecting position confirmation, and a through screen showing a video currently acquired via the imaging means is displayed. An image synthesizing means for synthesizing the image with a reference image and displaying the image on the image display means. 7. An image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject through a photographing lens and converting the image into an image signal indicating the subject; an image display means for displaying an image taken through the image pickup means; Means for recording the image signal on a recording medium in response to the input of a shutter trigger, edge extracting means for extracting an outline of a subject included in a part of the screen of the recorded image, and dividing the scene into two or more screens When performing divided photographing to sequentially photograph each screen, the contour image obtained by the edge extraction means is displayed on the screen of the image display means as a reference image for connecting position confirmation, and the imaging means is displayed. Image synthesizing means for synthesizing a through screen showing a video currently acquired via the reference image with the reference image, and displaying the synthesized image on the image display means. . 8. An image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject via a photographing lens and converting the image into an image signal indicating the subject; an image display means for displaying an image taken via the image pickup means; Recording means for recording an image signal on a recording medium in response to an input of a shutter trigger, and a part of a screen of a recorded image when performing divided photographing in which a scene is divided into two or more screens and each screen is sequentially photographed. Is displayed on the screen of the image display means as a reference image for connection position confirmation, and a through screen showing a video currently acquired via the imaging means is synthesized with the reference image to the image display means. Image synthesizing means for displaying, wherein a boundary line between the reference image and the through screen is combined by a boundary line pattern that is longer than a simple horizontal or vertical straight line. A camera with a division photographing function, comprising: 9. An image capturing means for capturing an image of a subject via a photographing lens and converting the image into an image signal indicating the subject; an image display means for displaying an image captured via the image capturing means; Recording means for recording an image signal on a recording medium in response to an input of a shutter trigger, and operating when confirming the shooting progress of divided shooting in which a scene is divided into two or more screens and each screen is sequentially shot. An operation unit, and an image synthesizing unit that synthesizes the divided images recorded up to the time of the operation according to the operation of the operation unit, and causes the image display unit to display a confirmation screen indicating a shooting progress situation. A camera with a split shooting function, characterized in that: 10. An image of a subject is taken through a taking lens,
Imaging means for converting an image signal indicating a subject; image display means for displaying an image photographed via the imaging means; recording an image signal obtained by the imaging means on a recording medium in response to a shutter trigger input Recording means for dividing a scene into two or more screens and sequentially photographing each screen during the divisional photographing, each time one photographing recording is completed, combining the divided images recorded up to that time to photograph An image synthesizing means for displaying a confirmation screen indicating the progress on the image display means, and a camera with a division photographing function. 11. A selecting means for selecting a screen area to be photographed next on the confirmation screen, and a photographing mode shift means for setting a photographable state of the selected screen in accordance with the selection by the selecting means. The camera with a divided photographing function according to claim 9 or 10, wherein: 12. A selection means for selecting a screen to be erased from among the recorded divided images on the confirmation screen, and a photographed image corresponding to the selection screen is selected from the recording medium in accordance with the selection by the selection means. The camera with a divisional photographing function according to claim 9 or 10, further comprising: an erasing means for erasing. 13. The camera with a divisional photographing function according to claim 12, further comprising a re-taking mode shifting means for setting a state in which the screen erased by said erasing means is to be re-imaged. 14. A composite image showing a shooting progress status by displaying a part of the confirmation screen on the image display means and scrolling a part displayed according to an operation of a screen scroll operation means. The camera with a division photographing function according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the camera is configured so as to be able to confirm the whole. 15. An image of a subject is taken through a taking lens,
Imaging means for converting an image signal indicating a subject; image display means for displaying an image photographed via the imaging means; recording an image signal obtained by the imaging means on a recording medium in response to a shutter trigger input Recording means for dividing a scene into two or more screens and sequentially photographing each screen; and performing image division photographing, wherein the image display means serves as a reference image for confirming a joining position of a part of a screen of a recorded image. Image synthesizing means for displaying on the screen of the image, synthesizing a through screen showing a video currently acquired via the imaging means with the reference image, and displaying the synthesized image on the image display means, and a part of the previous screen And a degree-of-coincidence detecting means for detecting a degree of coincidence with the shooting-through screen; and a degree-of-coincidence presenting means for presenting a result of detection by the degree-of-coincidence detecting means to a photographer. Function with the camera.