JP2019129468A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Kind Code: A1 When driving a lens, the completion of lens driving is detected by periodically performing communication for monitoring the state of the lens from the camera body. There is a detection delay until the camera body detects the completion of lens drive, and this detection delay is one of the factors that reduce the operational response of the camera. A lens drive state is detected from a power supply state to the lens and a drive instruction state to the lens, thereby reducing a detection delay of the lens drive state on the camera body side. [Selection drawing] Fig. 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a lens interchangeable imaging device.

  In a lens-interchangeable digital camera, a lens mount unit for mounting an interchangeable lens is provided on the camera body, and information communication is performed between the camera body and the lens via an electrical contact provided on the lens mount unit. It is carried out.

  For example, when driving a lens at the time of shooting, as shown in FIG. 3A, after the camera body instructs the lens to start lens driving through communication, a cycle of communication for monitoring the state of the lens from the camera body is performed. The completion of the lens drive is detected by For this reason, there is a detection delay (a in FIG. 3A) until the lens driving is detected by the camera body with respect to the timing at which the lens driving is actually completed. It is a factor that reduces the operation response.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for calculating the actual driving time of a lens from the driving amount of the lens and driving data relating to lens driving control acquired through communication with the lens.

JP-A-8-50229

  In Patent Document 1, the lens side also needs to be compatible with a mechanism for transmitting drive data related to lens drive control, and it is difficult to apply it to an existing interchangeable lens already on the market.

In order to solve the above problems, an imaging apparatus according to the present invention provides:
An imaging apparatus comprising: mounting means to which an interchangeable lens can be attached; power supply means for supplying power to the interchangeable lens; and communication means capable of transmitting and receiving information between the interchangeable lens, Power supply detecting means for detecting the power supplied to the interchangeable lens by the supplying means; power supplied to the interchangeable lens detected by the power detecting means; and a drive instruction transmitted from the imaging device to the interchangeable lens by the communication means The driving state of the interchangeable lens is detected from the state.

  According to the imaging apparatus of the present invention, the detection delay of the lens driving state on the camera body side is reduced by detecting the lens driving state from the power supply state to the lens and the driving instruction state to the lens. It is possible to improve the camera operation response.

It is an outline view of an imaging device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of an imaging device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing of the lens drive state detection of the imaging device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. 5 is a flowchart of lens driving processing of the imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart of the lens drive completion detection process of the imaging device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the relationship between the lens drive and supply current of the imaging device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the lens drive completion threshold value calculation process of the imaging device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the lens drive completion detection process of the imaging device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an external view of a digital camera as an example of an imaging apparatus of the present invention.

  The display unit 28 is a display unit that displays an image and various information. A shutter button 61 is an operation unit for giving a photographing instruction. The mode dial 60 is an operation unit for switching various modes. The connector 112 is a connector between the connection cable 111 and the digital camera 100. The operation unit 70 is an operation unit including operation members such as various switches, buttons, and a touch panel for receiving various operations from the photographer. The controller wheel 73 is a rotatable operation member included in the operation unit 70. A power switch 72 switches power on and off.

  The recording medium 200 is a recording medium such as a memory card or a hard disk. The recording medium slot 201 is a slot for storing the recording medium 200. The recording medium 200 stored in the recording medium slot 201 can communicate with the digital camera 100. The lid 202 is a lid of the recording medium slot 201. In the drawing, the lid 202 is opened and a part of the recording medium 200 is taken out of the slot 201 and exposed. 300 is a strobe device. Reference numeral 400 denotes a detachable and replaceable lens device.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a digital camera as an example of the imaging apparatus of the present invention.

  In FIG. 2, the shutter 101 performs exposure control on the image sensor. The imaging unit 22 is an imaging device configured with a CCD, a CMOS device, or the like that converts an optical image into an electrical signal. The A / D converter 23 is used to convert an analog signal output from the imaging unit 22 into a digital signal.

  The image processing unit 24 performs predetermined pixel interpolation, resizing processing such as reduction, and color conversion processing on data from the A / D converter 23 or data from the memory control unit 15. Further, in the image processing unit 24, predetermined calculation processing is performed using captured image data, and the system control unit 50 performs exposure control and distance measurement control based on the obtained calculation result. As described above, AF (autofocus) processing, AE (automatic exposure) processing, and EF (flash pre-emission) processing of the TTL (through-the-lens) method are performed. The image processing unit 24 also performs predetermined calculation processing using captured image data, and also performs TTL AWB (Auto White Balance) processing based on the obtained calculation result.

  Output data from the A / D converter 23 is directly written to the memory 32 through the image processing unit 24 and the memory control unit 15 or through the memory control unit 15.

  The memory 32 stores image data obtained by the imaging unit 22 and converted into digital data by the A / D converter 23, and image data to be displayed on the display unit 28. The memory 32 has a sufficient storage capacity to store a predetermined number of still images and moving images and sounds for a predetermined time. The memory 32 also serves as an image display memory (video memory). The D / A converter 13 converts the image display data stored in the memory 32 into an analog signal and supplies the analog signal to the display unit 28. Thus, the display image data written in the memory 32 is displayed by the display unit 28 via the D / A converter 13.

  The display unit 28 performs display according to the analog signal from the D / A converter 13 on a display such as an LCD. As an electronic view finder, the digital signal that has been A / D converted once by A / D converter 23 and analog converted by D / A converter 13 in D / A converter 13 is sequentially transferred to display unit 28 for display. It functions and can display through images.

  The nonvolatile memory 56 is a memory as an electrically erasable / recordable recording medium, and for example, a flash ROM, an EEPROM, or the like is used. The nonvolatile memory 56 stores constants, programs, and the like for operating the system control unit 50. Here, the program is a program for executing various flowcharts described later in the present embodiment.

  The system control unit 50 controls the entire digital camera 100. By executing the program stored in the non-volatile memory 56 described above, each process of the present embodiment described later is realized. A RAM is used as the system memory 52. In the system memory 52, constants and variables for the operation of the system control unit 50, programs read out from the non-volatile memory 56, etc. are expanded. The system control unit 50 also performs display control by controlling the memory 32, the D / A converter 13, the display unit 28, and the like.

  The system timer 53 is a time measuring unit that measures the time used for various controls and the time of a built-in clock.

  A mode change switch 60, a shutter button 61, and an operation unit 70 are operation means for inputting various operation instructions to the system control unit 50.

  The mode switch 60 switches the operation mode of the system control unit 50 to any one of a still image recording mode, a moving image recording mode, a reproduction mode, and the like. As modes included in the still image recording mode, there are an auto shooting mode, an auto scene determination mode, a manual mode, various scene modes as shooting settings for each shooting scene, a program AE mode, a custom mode and the like. The mode changeover switch 60 can directly switch to any of these modes included in the still image shooting mode. Alternatively, after switching to the still image shooting mode once with the mode switch 60, the mode may be switched to one of these modes included in the still image shooting mode using another operation member. Similarly, the moving image shooting mode may include a plurality of modes.

  During the operation of the shutter button 61 provided to the digital camera 100, the first shutter switch 62 is turned on by a so-called half depression (shooting preparation instruction) and generates a first shutter switch signal SW1. In response to the first shutter switch signal SW1, operations such as AF (autofocus) processing, AE (automatic exposure) processing, AWB (auto white balance) processing, and EF (flash pre-emission) processing are started.

  The second shutter switch 62 is turned on by the completion of the operation of the shutter button 61, that is, full-press (shooting instruction), and generates a second shutter switch signal SW2. In response to the second shutter switch signal SW2, the system control unit 50 starts a series of shooting processing operations from reading a signal from the imaging unit 22 to writing image data on the recording medium 200.

  Each operation member of the operation unit 70 is appropriately assigned a function for each scene by selecting and operating various function icons displayed on the display unit 28, and functions as various function buttons. Examples of the function buttons include an end button, a return button, an image advance button, a jump button, a narrowing button, and an attribute change button. For example, when a menu button is pressed, various setting menu screens are displayed on the display unit 28. The user can make various settings intuitively using the menu screen displayed on the display unit 28, and the four-way button and the SET button.

  The controller wheel 73 is a rotatable operation member included in the operation unit 70, and is used when a selection item is instructed together with a direction button. When the controller wheel 73 is rotated, an electrical pulse signal is generated according to the operation amount, and the system control unit 50 controls each unit of the digital camera 100 based on the pulse signal. From this pulse signal, it is possible to determine the angle at which the controller wheel 73 is rotated, how many rotations, and the like. The controller wheel 73 may be any operation member that can detect a rotation operation. For example, the controller wheel 73 may be a dial operation member that rotates to generate a pulse signal according to the rotation operation of the photographer. Alternatively, the operation member may be a touch sensor, so that the controller wheel 73 itself does not rotate, and the rotation operation of the finger of the photographer on the controller wheel 73 may be detected (so-called touch wheel).

  The power supply control unit 80 includes a battery detection circuit, a DC-DC converter, a switch circuit for switching a block to be energized, and the like, and detects the presence or absence of a battery, the type of battery, and the battery remaining amount. Further, the power control unit 80 controls the DC-DC converter based on the detection result and the instruction of the system control unit 50, and supplies a necessary voltage to each unit including the lens apparatus 400 for a necessary period. In addition, the power control unit 80 includes an A / D converter and also detects power supplied to the lens device 400.

  The power supply unit 30 includes a primary battery such as an alkaline battery or a lithium battery, a secondary battery such as a NiCd battery, a NiMH battery, or a Li battery, an AC adapter, or the like. The recording medium I / F 18 is an interface with the recording medium 200 such as a memory card or a hard disk. The recording medium 200 is a recording medium such as a memory card for recording a captured image, and includes a semiconductor memory, an optical disk, a magnetic disk, or the like.

  The communication unit 54 is connected wirelessly or via a wired cable, and transmits and receives video signals, audio signals, and the like. The communication unit 54 can also be connected to a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. The communication unit 54 can transmit an image captured by the imaging unit 22 (including a through image) and an image recorded on the recording medium 200, and can receive image data and other various types of information from an external device. it can.

  The posture detection unit 55 detects the posture of the digital camera 100 with respect to the direction of gravity. Based on the posture detected by the posture detection unit 55, whether the image photographed by the imaging unit 22 is an image photographed by holding the digital camera 100 horizontally or an image photographed by holding the digital camera 100 vertically It can be determined. The system control unit 50 can add orientation information according to the posture detected by the posture detection unit 55 to the image file of the image captured by the imaging unit 22, or can rotate and record the image. is there. As the attitude detection unit 55, an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, or the like can be used.

  The strobe device 300 is a strobe that is detachably attached to the digital camera 100. The strobe control unit 301 is a CPU, for example, and controls the operation of each block of the strobe 300 according to an instruction input from the camera control unit 50 via the I / F 33. Specifically, the strobe system control unit 301 controls the light emission amount, the light emission time, the light emission angle, and the like. The light emitting unit 304 emits the strobe with the voltage instructed by the strobe system control unit 301.

  The lens device 400 is a lens unit that is detachable and exchangeable, and is a lens group including a zoom lens, a focus lens, and an aperture stop. The lens control unit 401 is a CPU, for example, and controls each block of the lens according to an instruction input from the camera control unit 50 via the I / F 34. Specifically, the lens control unit 401 performs zoom lens control, focus lens control, and diaphragm blade control.

  Further, the system control unit 50 acquires lens information indicating the characteristics of the lens device 400 from the lens device 400 through communication via the I / F 34. The lens information includes the driving state of the lens.

  The operation of each embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  In the first embodiment, an example in which the lens driving state is detected from the power supply state to the lens and the driving instruction state to the lens will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart of lens driving processing of the digital camera 100 according to the first embodiment. Each process in the flowchart is realized by the system control unit 50 developing a program stored in the non-volatile memory 56 in the system memory 52 and executing the program.

  First, in step S400, the system control unit 50 starts detecting the power supplied to the lens device 400. The detection of the power supplied to the lens device 400 is performed, for example, by measuring the current flowing through the lens motor power terminal among the electrical contacts provided in the lens mount (not shown) by the power control unit 80. The measurement of the current is performed, for example, by detecting the voltage across the resistor (not shown) connected in series to the lens motor power supply terminal using an A / D converter provided in the power supply control unit 80. FIG. 6 schematically shows the relationship between the lens driving state and the current flowing through the lens motor power supply terminal. Next, in step S401, the system control unit 50 instructs the lens apparatus 400 to drive the lens by communication via the I / F 34. For example, in the case of the lens drive for AF, the drive of the focus lens is instructed to focus, and in the case of the lens drive for AE, the drive of the diaphragm is instructed to adjust the exposure.

  Next, in step S402, the system control unit 50 waits until completion of lens driving of the lens device 400 is detected. When the completion of the lens drive is detected, the system control unit 50 ends the detection of the power supplied to the lens apparatus 400 in step S403. Thus, the series of lens drive processing of the digital camera 100 is completed.

  Here, the lens drive completion detection process in step S402 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In step S501, the system control unit 50 acquires the state of the lens apparatus 400 by communication via the I / F 34. In step S502, the system control unit 50 waits until the acquired lens state indicates that lens driving of the lens apparatus 400 is started. Process to the next. Next, in step S503, the system control unit 50 detects the power supplied to the lens apparatus 400, and waits for completion of lens driving of the lens apparatus 400 to be detected. The completion of lens driving of the lens device 400 is detected by detecting a timing X at which the lens driving is stopped and the holding current A is changed from the driving current B during lens driving in FIG. Specifically, it is performed by detecting that the current flowing through the lens motor power supply terminal detected by the A / D converter provided in the power supply control unit 80 has fallen below a predetermined threshold.

  Here, a method of calculating a threshold value for detecting completion of lens driving will be described with reference to FIG.

  The threshold is calculated in advance by measuring the change in supplied power before and after the completion of the lens drive of the lens device 400 when the lens is driven at the time of camera start-up or the like. First, in step S700, the system control unit 50 starts detecting the power supplied to the lens device 400. Next, in step S701, the system control unit 50 instructs the lens apparatus 400 to drive the lens by communication via the I / F 34. Next, in step S702, the system control unit 50 acquires the state of the lens apparatus 400 by communication via the I / F 34. In step S703, the system control unit 50 waits until the acquired lens state indicates that the lens driving of the apparatus 400 is completed. Process to the next. Here, waiting for completion of lens driving is performed by periodically communicating with the lens device 400 from the digital camera 100 via the I / F 34 until lens driving of the lens device 400 is completed, as in the conventional case. This is performed by monitoring the state of the device 400. When the completion of the lens drive of the lens device 400 is detected, the system control unit 50 ends the detection of the power supplied to the lens device 400 in step S704, and the variation of the power supplied before and after the completion of the lens drive in step S705 Calculate Specifically, the threshold value is calculated from the fluctuation amount of the current value flowing through the lens motor power supply terminal detected by the A / D converter provided in the power supply control unit 80 and the current value during driving. The threshold value is stored in the memory 32 and used when driving the lens.

  Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 3 (1), after instructing the lens device 400 to start lens driving from the digital camera 100 through communication via the I / F 34, digital processing is performed until lens driving of the lens device 400 is completed. Communication is periodically performed from the camera 100 to the lens apparatus 400 via the I / F 34 to monitor the driving state of the lens apparatus 400. For this reason, a detection delay (a in FIG. 3A) occurs until the digital camera 100 detects the completion of the lens drive with respect to the actual lens drive completion timing of the lens device 400. The delay has contributed to a decrease in the operation response of the digital camera 100.

  On the other hand, as described above, according to the first embodiment, the state of the lens drive instruction to the lens device 400 and the state of the power supplied to the lens device 400 are detected. By detecting the drive state of the lens drive, it is possible to reduce the detection delay until the digital camera 100 detects the completion of the lens drive with respect to the actual lens drive completion of the lens device 400 (see FIG. B), the operation response of the digital camera 100 can be improved.

  In the second embodiment, in addition to the power supply state to the lens and the drive instruction state to the lens, an example in which the lens drive state is detected using the lens state acquired through communication with the lens will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart of lens drive completion detection processing of the digital camera 100 according to the second embodiment.

  In the lens driving process described in the first embodiment, the driving completion detection process in step S402 is replaced with this process. Each process in the flowchart is realized by the system control unit 50 developing a program stored in the non-volatile memory 56 in the system memory 52 and executing the program.

  In step S801, the system control unit 50 acquires the state of the lens apparatus 400 by communication via the I / F 34. In step S802, the system control unit 50 waits until the acquired lens state indicates that lens driving of the lens apparatus 400 is started. Process to the next. Next, in step S803, the system control unit 50 detects the power supplied to the lens apparatus 400, and waits for completion of lens driving of the lens apparatus 400 to be detected. The completion of lens driving of the lens device 400 is detected by detecting a timing X at which the lens driving is stopped and the holding current A is changed from the driving current B during lens driving in FIG.

  Next, in step S804, the system control unit 50 acquires the state of the lens apparatus 400 by communication via the I / F 34. In step S805, the lens apparatus 400 acquires in step S804 that the lens driving of the lens apparatus 400 is completed. Determine from the state of In the lens drive completion waiting here, the digital camera 100 continuously communicates with the lens device 400 via the I / F 34 until the lens drive of the lens device 400 is completed, and the state of the lens device 400 is displayed. It does by monitoring.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, in the case where detection of the lens driving state by the power supplied to the lens is concerned about erroneous detection, the detection of the driving state by the power supplied to the lens is continuously performed. By detecting the driving state of the lens through communication, the driving state of the lens can be detected with a minimum detection delay.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the detection delay of the lens driving state on the camera body side is reduced by detecting the lens driving state from the power supply state to the lens and the driving instruction state to the lens. It is possible to improve the operation response of the camera.

  Note that the detection of the lens driving state described above and the detection of the lens driving state of monitoring the lens driving state by performing periodic communication may be switched according to the state of the camera. In that case, it is possible to correctly detect the lens drive state even when it is difficult to detect the lens drive state based on the power supplied to the lens or before calculating the lens drive completion detection threshold.

  Although the present invention has been described in detail based on preferred embodiments thereof, the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and various forms within the scope of the present invention are also included in the present invention. included. A part of the above-described embodiments may be appropriately combined. Also, when a software program that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied from a recording medium directly to a system or apparatus having a computer that can execute the program using wired / wireless communication, and the program is executed Is also included in the present invention. Accordingly, the program code itself supplied and installed in the computer in order to implement the functional processing of the present invention by the computer also realizes the present invention. That is, the computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention is also included in the present invention. In that case, as long as it has the function of the program, the form of the program, such as object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to the OS, etc., does not matter. The recording medium for supplying the program may be, for example, a hard disk, a magnetic recording medium such as a magnetic tape, an optical / optical magnetic storage medium, or a non-volatile semiconductor memory. As a program supply method, a computer program that forms the present invention is stored in a server on a computer network, and a connected client computer downloads and programs the computer program.

100 digital camera, 400 lens device, 32 memory, 34 I / F,
50 system control unit, 56 nonvolatile memory, 80 power supply control unit

Claims (4)

An imaging apparatus comprising: an attaching unit capable of attaching an interchangeable lens; an electric power supply unit that supplies electric power to the interchangeable lens; and a communication unit that is capable of transmitting and receiving information to and from the interchangeable lens. Power detection means for detecting the power supplied to the interchangeable lens by the supply means, power supplied to the interchangeable lens detected by the power detection means, and drive instruction transmitted from the imaging device to the interchangeable lens by the communication means An image pickup apparatus that detects a drive state of the interchangeable lens from the state of the above. The present invention is characterized in that the supplied power while driving the interchangeable lens is detected and stored using the power detecting means, and the stored supplied power is used to determine the driving state of the interchangeable lens. An imaging device according to Item 1. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the drive state of the interchangeable lens is detected by further using the drive state of the interchangeable lens acquired from the interchangeable lens by the communication unit. Whether the drive state of the interchangeable lens is detected based on the power supplied to the interchangeable lens, or the drive means of the interchangeable lens acquired from the interchangeable lens by the communication unit is detected based on the state of the imaging device The imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the imaging device is switched in accordance with.