JP2010206434A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging apparatus preventing a malfunction during light-turning on under automatic illumination control by controlling light-turning on of an illumination portion with the use of: focal distance information detected by a focal distance detection portion; subject illuminance information detected by a subject illuminance detection portion; subject motion detection information detected by a subject motion detection portion; and imaging apparatus operation detection information detected by an imaging apparatus operation detection portion. <P>SOLUTION: An illumination control portion 12 includes an illumination control means for controlling light-turning on of an illumination portion 11 by using: the focal distance information 104 detected by the focal distance detection portion 7; the subject illuminance information 105 detected by the subject illuminance detection portion 8; the subject motion detection information detected by the subject motion detection portion 9; and the imaging apparatus operation detection information 107 detected by the imaging apparatus operation detection portion 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus such as a video camera or a digital camera.

  Some imaging devices such as video cameras and digital cameras have automatic illumination control that automatically turns on and off the illumination depending on the state of the subject. The configuration of such a conventional imaging device has the following configuration.

  That is, an optical lens unit that forms an image of subject light, an imaging unit that captures subject light and captures it as video information, an imaging control unit that controls the optical lens unit and the imaging unit, and a lens position of the optical lens unit A focal length detection unit that detects a focal length to the subject from information, a subject illuminance detection unit that detects illuminance of the subject from video information captured by the imaging unit, an illumination unit that irradiates the subject, and the illumination A lighting control unit for controlling the lighting unit, the lighting control unit performs lighting control using the illuminance information of the subject obtained from the subject illuminance detection unit when the lighting is turned on, and the subject illuminance detection unit when the lighting is turned off. There is an imaging apparatus that performs extinction control using the illuminance information of the subject obtained from the above and the focal length information of the subject obtained from the focal length detection unit.

By performing such illumination control, it is determined that the illuminance is sufficient in the close-up state that is easily affected by the illumination, the light is turned off, and after the light is turned off, it is determined that the illuminance is insufficient and the light is turned on again. There has been an imaging device that can take measures against lighting hunting.
JP-A-7-99601

  The problem with the conventional example is that, in automatic lighting control, malfunction may occur when lighting is turned on.

  That is, in the above conventional example, when the subject illuminance detection unit detects the illuminance of the subject and determines that the subject illuminance is insufficient, the illumination of the imaging device is turned on. When shooting a specific subject, if an object other than the subject, that is, a non-subject suddenly appears unintentionally so as to block light entering the imaging unit between the subject and the imaging device, the subject illumination of the imaging device The detection unit may determine that the illuminance of the subject is insufficient and may cause a malfunction such that the illumination is automatically turned on.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to prevent malfunctions when lighting is turned on in automatic lighting control.

  In order to achieve this object, the present invention includes an optical lens unit that forms an image of subject light, an imaging unit that captures subject light and captures it as video information, and a control unit that controls the optical lens unit and the imaging unit. A focal length detection unit that detects a focal length to the subject from lens position information of the optical lens unit, a subject illuminance detection unit that detects illuminance of the subject from video information captured by the imaging unit, and the imaging A subject motion detection unit that detects the motion of the subject from video information captured by the unit, an imaging device motion detection unit that detects a motion of the imaging device, an illumination unit that irradiates the subject, and an illumination that controls the illumination unit A control unit, and the illumination control unit includes focal length information detected by the focal length detection unit, subject illuminance information detected by the subject illuminance detection unit, and the subject motion detection unit. Illumination control means for controlling lighting of the illumination unit using the detected subject motion detection information and the imaging device motion detection information detected by the imaging device motion detection unit, thereby achieving the intended purpose. is there.

  As described above, the present invention provides an optical lens unit that forms an image of subject light, an imaging unit that images subject light and captures it as video information, a control unit that controls the optical lens unit and the imaging unit, and the optical A focal length detection unit that detects a focal length to the subject from lens position information of the lens unit, a subject illuminance detection unit that detects illuminance of the subject from video information captured by the imaging unit, and the imaging unit A subject motion detector that detects motion of the subject from video information; an imaging device motion detector that detects motion of the imaging device; an illumination unit that irradiates the subject; and an illumination controller that controls the illumination unit. The illumination control unit includes focal length information detected by the focal length detection unit, subject illuminance information detected by the subject illuminance detection unit, and subject motion detected by the subject motion detection unit. Since it has illumination control means for controlling lighting of the illumination unit using detection information and imaging device motion detection information detected by the imaging device motion detection unit, it prevents malfunction during illumination lighting in automatic illumination control. Is something that can be done.

  That is, in the present invention, the non-subject that blocks the subject to be photographed is specified by the motion information of the video information and the motion information of the imaging device, the focal length information to the specified non-subject and the imaging device, and the non-subject Since lighting is controlled by subject illuminance, as a result, it is possible to prevent malfunction during lighting of automatic lighting control.

  Hereinafter, the thing which applied one Embodiment of this invention to the video camera as an example of an imaging device is demonstrated using FIGS.

(Embodiment 1)
In FIG. 1, 1 is an optical lens unit, 2 is an illumination unit, and 3 is a display unit. In the video camera shown in FIG. 1, the illumination unit 2 that irradiates the subject direction automatically turns on and off according to the brightness around the subject in front of the optical lens unit 1. Exposure can be obtained. Furthermore, this video camera uses the display unit 3 or the like to display video information with an appropriate exposure. A detailed configuration of the video camera shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 2, 4 is an optical lens unit, 5 is an imaging unit, 6 is an imaging control unit, 7 is a focal length detection unit, 8 is a subject illuminance detection unit, 9 is a video motion detection unit, 10 is an imaging device motion detection unit, Reference numeral 11 denotes an illumination unit, and 12 denotes an illumination control unit. Here, the optical lens unit 4 and the illumination unit 11 in FIG. 2 correspond to the optical lens unit 1 and the illumination unit 2 shown in FIG.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 2, subject light 101 imaged through the optical lens 4 is imaged by the imaging unit 5 and converted into video information 102. Here, the optical lens unit 4 and the imaging unit 5 are controlled by the control unit 6 so that the video signal 102 is appropriately exposed. The focal length detection unit 7 detects focal length information 104 from the subject to the optical lens 4 based on the lens position information 103 in the optical lens unit 4 in the operation of focusing the subject.

  The subject illuminance detection unit 8 detects the subject illuminance information 105 based on the video information 102 obtained from the imaging unit 5. Further, the video motion detection unit 9 detects the video motion information 106 from the video information 102 obtained from the imaging unit 5. The imaging device motion detection unit 10 arranges an external sensor such as a gyro sensor in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction of the optical lens connecting the subject 13 and the optical lens unit 14 as shown in FIG. The gyro sensor 16 and the Y-axis direction detection gyro 17 detect vibration information such as camera shake at the time of photographing. For example, as shown in FIG. When the vibration vector information 20, which is the combined vector information of the vector information 18 and the Y-axis direction vibration vector information 19, continues for a predetermined time in a certain direction, it is determined that the movement of the imaging device has occurred. Device movement information 107 is detected.

  The illumination control unit 12 determines lighting of the illumination unit according to the algorithm shown in FIG. 5 based on the focal length information 104, the subject illuminance information 105, the video motion information 106, and the imaging device motion information 107, and performs illumination control. Signal 108 is provided. The illumination unit 11 automatically turns on in response to the illumination control signal 108.

In FIG. 5, subject illuminance information L _obj and L _obj-1 is the subject illuminance signal 105 shown in FIG. 2, and focal length information D _obj is the focal length information 104 shown in FIG. L _obj is current subject illuminance information, and L _obj-1 is past subject illuminance information for a predetermined time.

In the algorithm shown in FIG. 5, first, in ST1, a determination is made according to the current subject illuminance. When L _obj <L ₀ is NO, that is, when the illuminance is high, the lighting unit 11 is not turned on. On the other hand, if L _obj <L ₀ is YES, that is, if the illuminance is low, a determination is made according to the focal length information D _obj of the next ST2.

In ST2, if D _obj <D ₀ is NO, that is, if the distance between the subject and the imaging device is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance, the light of the illumination unit 11 reflected from the subject may affect the imaging device. Therefore, the lighting unit 11 is turned on. On the other hand, if D _obj <D ₀ is YES, that is, if the distance between the subject and the imaging device is within a predetermined distance, a determination is made based on a change in subject illuminance in the next ST3.

In ST3, a determination is made according to changes in subject illuminance between the present and the past. | L _obj -L _obj-1 |> When L ₁ is NO, that is, when the change in the subject illuminance is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the change in the subject illuminance is not abrupt and the lighting condition of the illumination unit 11 is satisfied. Therefore, the lighting unit 11 is turned on. On the other hand, if | L _obj -L _obj-1 |> L ₁ is YES, that is, if the change in the subject illuminance is greater than or equal to the predetermined value, the change in the subject illuminance is abrupt, so the shooting conditions are specified. Therefore, a determination is made based on the imaging device motion information M _dev in the next ST4.

In ST4, when M _dev > M ₀ is YES, that is, when it is determined that there is a movement of the imaging device, the imaging device is moved according to the photographer's intention as a shooting condition, and in accordance with the movement Since the lighting condition of the lighting unit 11 is assumed to be satisfied, the lighting unit 11 is turned on. On the other hand, when M _dev > M ₀ is NO, that is, when it is determined that there is no movement of the imaging device, in order to further specify conditions at the time of shooting, determination is performed based on the next video motion information M _img of ST5.

In ST5, when M _img > M ₁ is NO, that is, when it is determined that there is no motion of the image captured by the imaging unit 5, the imaging device and the subject are both fixed as a shooting condition. Since it is assumed that there is, the lighting unit 11 is turned on. On the other hand, when M _img > M ₁ is YES, that is, when it is determined that there is a motion of the video imaged by the imaging unit 5, the imaging device is fixed, contrary to the intention of the photographer. Since it is assumed that a non-subject that blocks the subject is changing in illuminance, the illumination unit 11 is not turned on.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, the focal length information detected by the focal length detection unit, the subject illuminance information detected by the subject illuminance detection unit, the subject motion detection information detected by the subject motion detection unit, and the imaging device By controlling lighting of the illumination unit using the imaging device motion detection information detected by the motion detection unit, a non-subject that blocks the subject to be photographed can be specified by the motion information of the video information and the motion information of the imaging device. This makes it possible to prevent malfunction during lighting in automatic lighting control.

  The imaging apparatus according to the present invention has a function capable of specifying a non-subject that blocks a subject to be photographed by motion information of video information and motion information of the imaging apparatus. It is useful as an imaging device capable of performing automatic lighting control.

The perspective view which shows the imaging device in embodiment of this invention 1 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of an imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows arrangement | positioning of the external sensor which detects the motion of the imaging device in embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the vibration vector information for judging the motion of the imaging device in embodiment of this invention Processing flow chart for explaining an algorithm at the time of lighting of the illumination unit in the embodiment of the present invention

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical lens part 2 Illumination part 3 Display part 4 Optical lens part 5 Imaging part 6 Imaging control part 7 Focal length detection part 8 Subject illuminance detection part 9 Image | video motion detection part 10 Imaging device motion detection part 11 Illumination part 12 Illumination control part 101 Subject light 102 Video information 103 Lens position information 104 Focal length information 105 Subject illuminance information 106 Video motion information 107 Imaging device motion information 108 Illumination control signal

Claims (1)

From an optical lens unit that images subject light, an imaging unit that captures subject light and captures it as video information, a control unit that controls the optical lens unit and the imaging unit, and lens position information of the optical lens unit A focal length detection unit that detects a focal distance to a subject, a subject illuminance detection unit that detects illuminance of the subject from video information captured by the imaging unit, and a movement of the subject from video information captured by the imaging unit. A subject motion detection unit for detecting, an imaging device motion detection unit for detecting motion of the imaging device, an illumination unit for illuminating the subject, and an illumination control unit for controlling the illumination unit, Focal length information detected by the focal length detection unit, subject illuminance information detected by the subject illuminance detection unit, subject motion detection information detected by the subject motion detection unit, and the imaging Imaging device that controls lighting of the illuminating unit using the imaging device motion detection information 置動-out detection unit has detected.

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