JP2010050603A - Photographing device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to enable accurate acquisition of in-focus position information in a changed composition even when the composition is changed at the time of shooting.
As the composition is changed, a CPU 13 detects a change amount of the photographing range using information on acceleration of the digital camera 1 (detection signal of the sensor unit 18), and a step based on the detected change amount of the photographing range. The focus lock position information (focus lock position information at the time of focusing) acquired in S4 is corrected. In this way, even when the user changes the composition after the focus is locked, the focus lock position information attached to the image file and recorded is actually in focus in the captured image, that is, the composition after the change. It can be the same as the location information.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a captured image and a program for recording in-focus position information.

  Conventionally, in Patent Document 1, a specific area (such as the center of the shooting range) in a live view image is enlarged and displayed for confirmation of focus before shooting, and the area information displayed in an enlarged manner is stored. There has been proposed an electronic camera that enlarges and displays again an area that has been enlarged before photographing based on area information. According to such an electronic camera, the user can confirm whether or not the captured image is in focus immediately after shooting by looking at the screen that is enlarged and displayed again immediately after shooting.

  By the way, when the user performs photographing, there is a case where the composition is changed by moving the camera after temporarily locking the focus (fixing the in-focus position) by half-pressing the shutter key or the like. For example, there is a case in which after the focus lock is once performed on the main subject located at the center of the composition, the user moves the camera to the left and changes the composition to take a picture. In such shooting, a shot image focused on the main subject that is positioned to the right in the changed composition is obtained.

  Here, when the user performs shooting for changing the composition after focus lock using the above-described conventional electronic camera, the information on the enlarged area for focus confirmation before shooting stored in the electronic camera is enlarged and displayed immediately after shooting. Therefore, the focus of the main subject cannot be confirmed. Because, since the user changed the composition after the focus was locked, the position of the main subject that was once in focus is no longer in the specific area that was enlarged before shooting (the area that was enlarged again after shooting). Because.

Therefore, in Patent Document 2, when the user changes the composition from the focus lock to shooting, information indicating that the composition has been changed and in-focus position information are attached to the image and recorded. There has been proposed a digital camera that displays that the composition has been changed after focus lock when played back. According to such a digital camera, even when the user changes the composition after shooting after focus lock, it is possible to clearly notify the user that the composition has been changed.
JP 2001-28699 A JP 2004-248229 A

  However, in the electronic camera of Patent Document 2, since the focus position information to be recorded is the composition before the change, that is, the focus position information in the composition at the start of the focus lock, the information on the focus position in the composition after the change is obtained. There was a problem that it could not be obtained accurately.

  In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to acquire accurate in-focus position information in a changed composition even when the composition is changed during shooting.

In order to solve the above problems, the invention of claim 1
Photographing means for photographing a subject image in a photographing range and generating image data;
Focusing means for focusing on a subject image photographed by the photographing means;
An acquisition unit that acquires information on a focus position that is a position in the shooting range of the subject image focused by the focus unit at the time of focusing by the focus unit;
Calculating means for calculating a change amount of the position of the subject focused by the focusing means in the photographing range;
Correction means for correcting the information on the in-focus position acquired by the acquisition means based on the amount of change in the photographing range calculated by the calculation means;
And a recording control unit that causes the recording unit to record information on the in-focus position corrected by the correcting unit.

In the invention of claim 2,
With an acceleration sensor,
The calculating means includes
Based on the detection signal output from the acceleration sensor, the amount of change in the position of the focused subject in the shooting range is calculated.

In the invention of claim 3,
A computer comprising photographing means for photographing a subject image in a photographing range to generate image data, and focusing means for focusing on the subject image photographed by the photographing means;
Calculating means for calculating a change amount of the position of the subject focused by the focusing means in the photographing range;
An acquisition unit that acquires information on a focus position that is a position in the shooting range of the subject image focused by the focus unit at the time of focusing by the focus unit;
Correction means for correcting the information on the in-focus position acquired by the acquisition means based on the amount of change in the photographing range calculated by the calculation means;
Recording control means for recording information on the in-focus position corrected by the correcting means on the recording means;
As a program to function as.

  According to the present invention, even when the composition is changed at the time of shooting, it is possible to acquire accurate information on the in-focus position in the changed composition.

<Description of Overall Configuration of Digital Camera 1>
With reference to FIG. 1, the overall configuration of a digital camera 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the digital camera 1. The digital camera 1 includes a focus lens 2, a zoom lens 3, a CCD 4, a CDS / AD block 5, a TG (Timing Generator) 6, a CCD data preprocessing block 7, a color processing (CP) block 8, a JPEG encoder 9, a DRAM 10, The built-in flash memory 11, RAM 12, CPU 13, display unit 14, key block 15, card interface 16, memory card 17, sensor unit 18, shutter control unit 19, shutter 20, and lens driving unit 22 are provided.

  The focus lens 2 and the zoom lens 3 are each composed of a lens group (not shown). The lens driving unit 22 includes a focus motor (not shown) that drives the focus lens 2 in the optical axis direction, a zoom motor that drives the zoom lens 3 in the optical axis direction, and a focus motor and a zoom motor according to a control signal sent from the CPU 13. Each motor driver is configured to be driven.

  The CCD 4 that is an image pickup device photoelectrically converts a subject image captured through the focus lens 2 and the zoom lens 3 to accumulate signal charges, and outputs the accumulated signal charges as an image pickup signal. A TG (timing generator) 6 generates a timing signal of a predetermined frequency according to a control signal sent from the CPU 13 and drives the CCD 4.

  The CDS / AD block 5 samples the output signal from the CCD 4 to remove noise and convert it into a digital signal. The CCD data preprocessing block 7 performs data processing such as luminance signal processing on the imaging signal converted into a digital signal. The color processing (CP) block 8 performs color processing such as color separation on the image signal subjected to luminance signal processing or the like, and performs Y (luminance signal), Cb (blue difference signal), Cr (red difference signal). The captured image data is generated. The DRAM 10 temporarily and sequentially stores Y, Cb, and Cr image data after color processing.

  A memory card 17 as a recording medium is detachably connected to the card interface 16. The memory card 17 records the captured image data stored in the DRAM 10 in response to the imaging instruction.

  In the flash memory 11, a program and various data necessary for control of the digital camera 1 by the CPU 13, that is, AF control, AE control, AWB control, focus lock control, and control shown in the flowchart shown in FIG. Control programs and data are stored. In addition, image data can be recorded in the flash memory 11.

  The display unit 14 includes a liquid crystal display (not shown) and its drive circuit. When the digital camera 1 is in the shooting standby state, the subject image captured by the CCD 4 is displayed on the liquid crystal display as a live you image. The display unit 14 displays an image based on the captured image data read from the memory card 17 on the liquid crystal display when the digital camera 1 reproduces the captured image data.

  The key block 15 includes a plurality of operation keys such as a shutter key (not shown), a mode key, a SET key, a cross key, and a shooting mode selection key, and sends an operation signal to the CPU 13 according to the user's key operation. The shutter key is provided with a so-called half shutter function, and is configured to be able to perform a half-press operation for focusing and a full-press operation for shooting instruction (shooting image data recording instruction).

  The CPU 13 controls the entire digital camera 1. The CPU 13 operates with the RAM 12 as a working memory in cooperation with a program stored in the flash memory 11.

  The sensor unit 18 includes an acceleration sensor (not shown), a gyro sensor (angular velocity sensor), and the like. The acceleration sensor detects the acceleration caused by the position change of the digital camera 1, and the gyro sensor detects the angular velocity caused by the attitude change of the digital camera 1. The sensor unit 18 sends a detection signal (a signal related to acceleration and angular velocity) according to the detection result to the CPU 13.

<Operation of Digital Camera 1>
Next, an operation according to this embodiment of the digital camera 1 having the above configuration will be described. When the user sets a shooting mode by a predetermined operation on the key block 15, the CPU 13 executes processing of the shooting mode shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 in cooperation with a program read from the flash memory 11 and developed in the RAM 12. .

  First, the CPU 13 causes the display unit 14 to perform live view display of the image data sequentially captured from the CCD 4 and sequentially stored in the DRAM 10 (step S1). Next, the CPU 13 enters a standby state to determine whether or not the shutter key has been half-pressed (step S2). If the CPU 13 does not detect that the shutter key is half-pressed (step S2; NO), the CPU 13 returns the process to step S1 and continues to display the live view image. On the other hand, when the shutter key is half-pressed by the user, the CPU 13 detects that the shutter key is half-pressed by detecting an operation signal corresponding to the half-press operation (step S2; YES).

  Then, the CPU 13 immediately performs focus adjustment by normal AF control. That is, the CPU 13 performs focusing on the focus area in the central area within the photographing range of the CCD 4, and adjusts ISO sensitivity and shutter speed by normal AE control (so-called program AE control) (step S3). ). In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, the subject image B1 located in the focus area F in the central area within the shooting range is focused during the process of step S3.

  Next, the CPU 13 starts normal focus lock control for the subject image focused in step S4 in accordance with the focus lock control program (step S4). Here, the focus lock refers to an operation that, once focused, keeps fixing the subject (subject image) to be focused even if the shooting range (composition) is changed. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, the subject image B1 located at the center of the shooting range A1 during the process of step S4 continues to be fixed as an object to be focused. Then, the CPU 13 continues this focus lock control until it determines that the half-press operation of the shutter key is released.

  Next, the CPU 13 acquires position information of the subject image focus-locked in step S4 as focus lock position information, and temporarily stores the focus lock position information in the DRAM 10 (step S5). In the present embodiment, the user first moves the camera to focus, determines the composition so that the subject image B1 is positioned in the focus area F at the center of the shooting range A1, and then presses the shutter key halfway. . Therefore, if the coordinates of the center pixel of the light receiving surface of the CCD 4 are X0 and Y0, the coordinates of the position of the subject image that is focus-locked in step S4 are X0 and Y0, and this position information (X0, Y0) in step S5. Is temporarily stored in the DRAM 10.

  Thereafter, the CPU 13 enters a standby state to determine whether or not the shutter key has been fully pressed (step S6). In this state, when the CPU 13 does not detect that the shutter key has been fully pressed (step S6; NO), the CPU 13 determines the change amounts ΔX and ΔY for the position of the digital camera 1 specified by the detection signal sent from the sensor unit 18. Then, it is calculated as the amount of change within the shooting range of the position of the subject image whose focus is locked (step S7). Next, the CPU 13 corrects the focus lock position information stored in the DRAM 10 to X0 + ΔX and X0 + ΔY using the amount of change in the shooting range of the position of the focus-locked subject image calculated in step S7 (step 0). S8), the process returns to step S6.

  And CPU13 repeats each process of step S6-> step S7-> step S8 until it detects that the shutter key was pressed fully. During this time, that is, while the user continues to press the shutter key halfway, the CPU 13 continues the focus lock control.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the user moves the digital camera 1 in the lower left direction on the plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the digital camera 1 from the start of the focus lock control until the shutter key is fully pressed. The shooting range A1 (composition before change) in FIG. 3A is changed to the shooting range A2 (composition after change) in FIG. 3B. The focus-locked subject image B1 is positioned at the center in the shooting range A1 (composition before change) in FIG. 3A, but in the shooting range A2 (composition after change) in FIG. 3B. It will be located in the upper right.

  Due to this composition change, the position where the user holds the digital camera 1 is changed by the change amounts ΔX and ΔY in the real space. The amount of change in the position of the digital camera 1 is equal to the amount of change in the shooting range (composition). As the digital camera 1 moves due to the composition change, the sensor unit 18 detects the acceleration of the digital camera 1 and sends a detection signal corresponding to the detection result to the CPU 13. Then, the CPU 13 uses the amount of change (ΔX, ΔY) of the position of the digital camera 1 specified by the detection signal acquired from the sensor unit 18 as the amount of change in the shooting range of the position of the subject image B1 due to the composition change. calculate.

  When the shutter key is fully pressed by the user, the CPU 13 determines that the shutter key is fully pressed by detecting an operation signal corresponding to the full-press operation (step S6; YES). Then, the CPU 13 immediately performs a shooting process on the subject image signal currently captured by the CCD 4 to generate shot image data, and compresses the generated shot image data by the JPEG method (step S9).

  Subsequently, the CPU 13 generates header data attached to the captured image data (step S10). The header data includes information indicating various shooting conditions and focus lock position information. The focus lock position information included in the header data is the focus lock position information corrected in step S8 (the focus lock position information acquired in step S4 if the composition is not changed after focus lock). Next, the CPU 13 generates an image file composed of header data and JPEG image data, and records the generated image file on the memory card 17 (step S11).

  Next, the CPU 13 enters a standby state to detect an instruction to end the shooting mode by a predetermined operation by the user (step S12). In this state, if the CPU does not detect an instruction to end the shooting mode (step S12; NO), the process returns to step S1. On the other hand, when detecting an instruction to end the shooting mode (step S12; YES), the CPU ends the processing of the shooting mode shown in FIG.

  As described above, in this embodiment, after the user locks the focus on the subject image B1 located at the center of the shooting range A1 (composition before change) in FIG. The subject image is shot in the shooting range A2 (composition after change) in (B). In the photographed image photographed in this way, the subject image B1 located at the upper right in the composition of the photographed image (the composition after the change) is focused.

  In the present embodiment, the CPU 13 uses the acceleration information of the digital camera 1 (the detection signal of the sensor unit 18) to calculate the amount of change in the shooting range of the position of the subject image, and the detected change in the shooting range. Based on the amount, the focus lock position information (focus lock position information at the start of focus lock) acquired in step S4 is corrected. In this way, even if the user changes the composition after the focus is locked, the focus lock position information to be recorded is the same as the information on the actually focused position in the shot image, that is, the composition after the change. Can be.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, even when the composition is changed after focus lock, accurate focus lock position information (focus position information) in the changed composition can be acquired.

  In the present embodiment, the acceleration sensor acquires the amount of change in the position of the subject image in the shooting range associated with the composition change. For this reason, in this embodiment, compared with the case where the amount of change in the position of the subject image within the shooting range is calculated by calculating the luminance information between the image data, complicated calculation processing of the image data becomes unnecessary. It is possible to reduce the processing load of the CPU 13 required for the position change amount calculation process.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the focus lock position information corrected in step S8 is not recorded as part of the header data, but only for the enlarged display of the position indicated by the focus lock position information immediately after recording the image file. It may be used. In this case, the CPU 13 does not include the focus lock position information in the header data generated in step S10, and enlarges and displays a predetermined area near the position indicated by the focus lock position information stored in the DRAM 10 immediately after the process of step S11. Will be allowed to.

  The photographing apparatus according to the present embodiment is the digital camera 1, but the present invention can be applied to any device that incorporates a small electronic camera such as a camera-equipped mobile phone or a camera-equipped game machine.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a digital camera 1 according to the present embodiment. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the digital camera 1 in a shooting mode. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a composition at the time of focus lock (composition before change) in the present embodiment. FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a composition at the time of photographing (composition after change) in the present embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 Digital Camera 2 Focus Lens 3 Zoom Lens 4 CCD
5 CDS / AD block 6 TG (Timing Generator)
7 Pre-processing block 8 Color processing (CP) block 9 JPEG encoder 10 DRAM
11 Flash memory 12 RAM
13 CPU
14 Display Unit 15 Key Block 16 Card Interface 17 Memory Card 18 Sensor Unit 22 Lens Drive Unit

Claims (3)

Photographing means for photographing a subject image in a photographing range and generating image data;
Focusing means for focusing on a subject image photographed by the photographing means;
An acquisition unit that acquires information on a focus position that is a position in the shooting range of the subject image focused by the focus unit at the time of focusing by the focus unit;
Calculating means for calculating a change amount of the position of the subject focused by the focusing means in the photographing range;
Correction means for correcting the information on the in-focus position acquired by the acquisition means based on the amount of change in the photographing range calculated by the calculation means;
An imaging apparatus comprising: a recording control unit that causes the recording unit to record information on the in-focus position corrected by the correcting unit. With an acceleration sensor,
The calculating means includes
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a change amount of the position of the focused subject in the imaging range is calculated based on a detection signal output from the acceleration sensor. A computer comprising photographing means for photographing a subject image in a photographing range to generate image data, and focusing means for focusing on the subject image photographed by the photographing means;
Calculating means for calculating a change amount of the position of the subject focused by the focusing means in the photographing range;
An acquisition unit that acquires information on a focus position that is a position in the shooting range of the subject image focused by the focus unit at the time of focusing by the focus unit;
Correction means for correcting the information on the in-focus position acquired by the acquisition means based on the amount of change in the photographing range calculated by the calculation means;
Recording control means for recording information on the in-focus position corrected by the correcting means on the recording means;
Program to function as.

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