JP2021170808A - Electronic apparatus, control method, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

To generate an imaging signal with a suitable S/N ratio for each operation mode.SOLUTION: An electronic apparatus includes: first imaging means for taking images; communication means for communicating with another electronic apparatus including second imaging means; and control means for causing the first imaging means to take an image based on an imaging instruction, causing the second imaging means to take an image via the communication means based on the imaging instruction, and causing a storage means to store image data captured by the first imaging means. The communication means receives image data captured by the second imaging means from the other electronic apparatus.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to electronic devices.

A camera system is known in which cooperative photography is performed by a plurality of cameras (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-008089

However, in the conventional camera system described above, it is desired that a plurality of devices appropriately perform coordinated shooting.

The electronic device according to one aspect of the present invention has a first imaging means for performing an image, a communication means for communicating with another electronic device having a second imaging means, and the first imaging means based on an imaging instruction. The second imaging means captures an image based on the imaging instruction via the communication means, and the communication means includes a control means for storing the image data captured by the first imaging means in a storage unit. (2) The image data captured by the imaging means is received from the other electronic device.

According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately perform coordinated photography with a plurality of devices.

Block diagram showing the configuration of the electronic camera of one embodiment Rear view of the electronic camera of one embodiment The figure which shows the operation menu screen example of the electronic camera of one Embodiment The figure which shows the example of the pairing establishment condition setting screen of the electronic camera of one Embodiment The figure which shows the pairing person setting screen example of the electronic camera of one Embodiment The figure which shows the folder display screen example of the electronic camera of one Embodiment Diagram showing an example of a folder display screen of another electronic camera The figure which shows the thumbnail list display example of the electronic camera of one Embodiment A flowchart showing an image reproduction program of an electronic camera according to an embodiment.

An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to image reproduction of a digital still camera (hereinafter referred to as DSC or electronic camera) will be described. In this embodiment, a compact type electronic camera will be described as an example, but a single-lens reflex type or another electronic camera may be used. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic camera according to an embodiment. It should be noted that the illustration and description of camera devices and circuits that are not directly related to the image reproduction of the electronic camera will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, the electronic camera 1 includes a photographing optical system 11, an image sensor 12, an AFE (Analog Front End) circuit 13, an image processing circuit 14, a speaker drive circuit 15, a speaker 16, an LCD monitor 17, a RAM 18, a flash memory 19, and a CPU. (Microcomputer) 20, memory card interface (I / F) 21, communication control circuit 22, operation member 23, attitude sensor 24, voice processing circuit 25, microphone 26, etc., and these devices and circuits are bus 27. It is connected via. A memory card 51 is mounted on the memory card interface 21 via a connector (not shown).

Although the photographing optical system 11 is shown as a single lens, it is composed of a plurality of lens groups including a zoom lens and a focusing lens, and a subject image is formed on the image pickup surface of the image pickup element 12. The image pickup element 12 is composed of a CMOS image sensor or the like in which a plurality of light receiving elements are arranged two-dimensionally on the light receiving surface, and photoelectrically converts the subject image imaged by the photographing optical system 11 to output an analog image signal.

The AFE circuit 13 performs analog processing such as correlation double sampling and gain adjustment on the analog image signal, and converts the image signal after the analog processing into digital image data. The image processing circuit 14 performs various image processing (color interpolation processing, gradation conversion processing, contour enhancement processing, white balance adjustment processing, image compression processing, image expansion processing, etc.) on the digital image data.

The speaker drive circuit 15 generates a voice reproduction signal such as an operation sound, a caution sound, and a voice message from the voice data transmitted from the CPU 20, and drives the speaker 16 to perform voice reproduction. The LCD monitor 17 is composed of a liquid crystal panel, and displays an image, an operation menu screen, or the like in response to an instruction from the CPU 20. The RAM 18 is used as a work memory of the CPU 20, and temporarily stores digital image data in a pre-process and a post-process of image processing by the image processing circuit 14. The flash memory 19 stores a program to be executed by the CPU 20 (including an image reproduction program described later), and also stores reference data described later.

The CPU 20 controls various operations of the electronic camera 1 such as image pickup, exposure, focus adjustment (AF), and image display, and also executes an image reproduction program described later to control image reproduction. In this embodiment, the focus adjustment control of the contrast detection method for obtaining the focusing position of the focusing lens (not shown) based on the contrast information of the through image is performed. The through image is a monitor image that is repeatedly acquired by the image sensor 12 at predetermined time intervals (for example, 30 frames / second) before the shooting instruction.

The memory card interface 21 writes images and various information data to the memory card 51, and reads images and various information data from the memory card 51. In this embodiment, a memory card 51 having a built-in semiconductor memory will be described as an example, but any kind of recording medium for recording images and various information data can be used.

The communication control circuit 22 performs wireless communication with an external device including another electronic camera via the antenna 22a. The communication control circuit 22 also has a human body communication function for communicating via the human body. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2 on the back surface of the electronic camera 1, the transmission / reception electrodes 22b to 22e are arranged so as to be exposed on the upper, lower, left, and right surfaces of the housing of the electronic camera 1, respectively. The user of the electronic camera 1 and the user of the other electronic camera each hold the electronic camera 1 with one hand so as to touch at least one transmission / reception electrode, and both users do not hold the electronic camera 1. By shaking hands with each other, a closed circuit is formed by the capacitance coupling between the human body and the human body, and communication is performed between the electronic cameras using both human bodies as antennas (Re-Table 2006/054706).

As shown in the rear view 2 of the electronic camera, the operation member 23 includes various switches such as a release button 23a, a zoom switch T23b, W23c, a mode switch 23d, a menu switch 23e, a deletion switch 23f, a cross switch 23g, and an OK switch 23h. Kind is included. The operation member 23 sends a signal to the CPU 20 according to the operation of the operation member 23 such as the mode switching operation and the menu selection operation of the user.

The OK switch 23h is also used as a release button of another electronic camera having a pairing relationship. When the OK switch 23h is pressed when the remote control shooting mode is set for another electronic camera having a pairing relationship, a release signal is sent to the electronic camera via the communication control circuit 22, and the electronic camera The shooting operation is executed with.

The posture sensor 24 detects the direction of gravity, and the CPU 20 determines the shooting posture of the electronic camera 1 based on the direction of gravity detected by the posture sensor 24. Specifically, not only the shooting postures of the electronic camera 1 in the vertical position and the horizontal position but also the orientation of the top and bottom of the electronic camera 1 are determined. The voice processing circuit 25 amplifies the voice signal collected by the microphone 26, and converts the amplified signal into digital voice data by an A / D conversion circuit (not shown). The lighting device 28 is a device for illuminating a subject during shooting such as at night. The power supply circuit 29 converts the power supply voltage of the battery 52 into a predetermined voltage and supplies it to a device and a circuit such as the CPU 20 of the electronic camera 1. The lens drive circuit 30 drives the zoom lens of the photographing lens 11 to adjust the focal length, and drives the focusing lens of the photographing lens 11 to adjust the focus.

The CPU 20 of the electronic camera 1 communicates with another electronic camera having substantially the same configuration as the electronic camera 1 to establish a state in which cooperative shooting is possible with a plurality of cameras (hereinafter, referred to as a pairing state). Specifically, commands and data are transmitted from one of the electronic camera 1 and the other electronic cameras to the other, and the electronic camera that receives the commands returns to the electronic camera of the command transmission source to establish communication, which will be described later. The pairing state is established by satisfying the predetermined conditions.

The pairing shooting mode in which such pairing is performed and the normal shooting mode in which pairing is not performed are switchable. This mode switching may be performed, for example, according to the pressing operation of the mode switch 23d, or may be performed in the "operation menu" screen displayed according to the pressing operation of the menu switch 23e.

In this one embodiment, the user can select one of the four types of pairing establishment conditions of "normal", "face recognition", "handshake", and "camera touch". The process of selecting the pairing establishment condition is performed by the CPU 20 in the following procedure before communicating with another electronic camera. When the menu switch 23e is pressed, the "operation menu" screen shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the LCD monitor 17. The "operation menu" includes "registered shooting" item 171, "pairing establishment condition setting" item 172, "pairing off timer" item 173, and "pairing person setting" item 174. When the cross switch 23g is pressed in the vertical direction while the "operation menu" screen is displayed, the selection item is changed up and down according to the operation signal. When the cross switch 23g is pressed to the right with the "pairing establishment condition setting" item 172 selected, the "pairing establishment condition setting" screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the LCD monitor 17.

In FIG. 4, four types of “pairing establishment conditions”, that is, “normal” item 176, “face identification” item 177, “handshake” item 178, and “camera touch” item 179 are displayed. When the cross switch 23g is pressed in the vertical direction while the screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed, the selection item is changed up and down according to the operation signal. Then, when the cross switch 23g is pressed to the right, the item selected at that time is set as the pairing establishment condition.

When the pairing establishment condition is set to "normal", the pairing is established on the condition that communication with another electronic camera is established. The transmission power of the communication control circuit 22 is set in advance so as to perform communication within a predetermined range (for example, 10 m). The transmission power is configured so that the communication range can be gradually limited to, for example, 3 m and 50 cm by operating the menu. When pairing is established under the "normal" condition, the electronic camera on the side that first transmits the command and data is used as the master unit, and the electronic camera on the side that receives it is used as the slave unit.

In addition, when the pairing establishment condition is set to "face identification", after establishing communication with another electronic camera, the face of the person included in the through image is detected and whether or not it is the face of the predetermined person. Is identified, and pairing is established on the condition that the face of a predetermined person is identified. When pairing is established under the condition of "face identification", the electronic camera on the side where the face is identified is used as the master unit, and the electronic camera on the side where the face is identified is used as the slave unit.

The setting of the predetermined person for establishing the pairing is performed by the CPU 20 in advance as follows before communicating with another electronic camera. When the cross switch 23g is pressed to the right while the "pairing person setting" item 174 is selected while the "operation menu" screen shown in FIG. 3 is displayed, the "pairing person setting" shown in FIG. 5 is displayed. The screen is displayed on the LCD monitor 17. Then, the thumbnail image data of the "face" is read out from all the reference data recorded (registered) in the flash memory 19, and the thumbnail image is displayed. The reference data includes thumbnail image data of the "face" and feature amount data generated based on the image data. The feature amount data is used for the above-mentioned "face identification". The reference data used for "face identification" is recorded (registered) in the flash memory 19 in advance.

In FIG. 5, thumbnail images of “faces” for person A, person B, and person C are displayed, respectively. Check boxes are displayed on the left side of each thumbnail image. For example, a check box 172 is displayed on the left side of the thumbnail image 171.

When the cross switch 23g is pressed in the vertical direction while the "pairing person setting" screen is displayed, the display position of the cursor 173 is moved up and down in response to the operation signal. When the OK switch 23h is pressed, a check mark is displayed in the check box surrounded by the cursor 173. Next, when the OK switch 23h is pressed while the check mark is displayed in the check box, the check mark in the check box is deleted. Then, the "face" of the thumbnail image indicated by the check mark in the "pairing person setting" screen is set as the identification target.

When the pairing establishment condition is set to "handshake", after the communication with another electronic camera is established, the pairing is established on the condition that the data is received by the above-mentioned human body communication. As described above, a closed circuit is formed by shaking hands between the users of the electronic camera 1 and the other electronic cameras for which communication has been established, and the electronic cameras send and receive predetermined data to establish pairing. When pairing is established under the condition of "handshake", the electronic camera on the side that first transmitted the command and data in the closed circuit by shaking hands is used as the master unit, and the electronic camera on the receiving side is used as the slave unit. ..

Further, when the pairing establishment condition is set to "camera touch", the pairing is established on the condition that the direct contact between the electronic cameras is established after the communication with the other electronic cameras is established. As described above, the transmission / reception electrodes 22b to 22e are exposed and arranged on the upper, lower, left, and right surfaces of the housing of the electronic camera 1, respectively (see FIG. 2). When the electronic cameras come into direct contact with each other at any of the transmission / reception electrodes 22b to 22e, a large current flows because the impedance of the closed circuit is lower than that during human body communication via the human body. By detecting the generation of this signal current through the communication control circuit 22, the contact between the electronic cameras is determined. The communication control circuit 22 identifies which of the transmission / reception electrodes 22b to 22e is in contact and notifies the CPU 20 of the contact. Based on the positional relationship of the electrodes in contact with each other, it is determined which electronic camera was on the upper side at the time of contact, the upper electronic camera is used as the master unit, and the lower electronic camera is used. Use as a slave unit.

When pairing is established under any of the conditions, both the master unit and the slave unit in the pairing manage the pairing partner by the identification information such as the ID of the electronic camera, and at the time of the master unit, the slave unit Adjust the time Adjust the time.

While pairing is established, the contents of the file folder that has been set to be shared in advance can be viewed from the other party's electronic camera via wireless communication. FIG. 6 is an example of a “folder display” screen displayed on the LCD monitor 17 of the electronic camera 1 of Mr. X, who is the “master unit”. In FIG. 6, the folders in the camera of oneself (Mr. X) are displayed. The "pair folder" on the "own camera" side is a folder that allows the pairing partner (in this example, the electronic camera of Mr. B, who is a slave unit) to view while the pairing is established. The image files recorded in the "pair folder" on the "own camera" side can be viewed from Mr. B's electronic camera, which is a slave unit, via wireless communication.

FIG. 6 also shows a folder in the electronic camera of Mr. B, who is a slave unit. The "pair folder" on the "camera of Mr. B" side is a folder that allows the pairing partner (in this example, the electronic camera of Mr. X, who is the master unit) to view while the pairing is established.

FIG. 7 is an example of a “folder display” screen displayed on the LCD monitor of Mr. B's electronic camera, which is a slave unit. In FIG. 7, the folders in the camera of oneself (Mr. B) are displayed. The "pair folder" on the "own camera" side is a folder that allows the pairing partner (in this example, the electronic camera of Mr. X, who is the master unit) to view while the pairing is established. The image files recorded in the "pair folder" on the "own camera" side can be viewed from Mr. X's electronic camera, which is the parent device, via wireless communication.

FIG. 7 also shows a folder in the electronic camera 1 of Mr. X, who is the master unit. The "pair folder" on the "Mr. X's camera" side is a folder that allows the pairing partner (in this example, Mr. B's electronic camera, which is a slave unit) to view while the pairing is established.

The pair holder is generated every time a pairing relationship is established with another electronic camera and pairing shooting is performed with the electronic camera. Therefore, it is naturally possible that there are a plurality of pairs of pair holders. In a plurality of pair holders, the pairing partner may be common or different, and even if the pairing partner is the same, the shooting time (including the shooting date) may be different. In the properties of the pair holder, identification information of the pairing partner, shooting time information, folder sharing setting information, and the like are recorded.

The electronic camera that has been paired can browse all the folders on the "own camera" side and the "pair folder" on the pairing partner "Mr. XX's camera" side. When the folder selection operation (selected by pressing the cross switch 23g and determined by pressing the OK switch 23h) is performed, the thumbnail image of the image file in the selected and determined folder is displayed on the LCD monitor 17.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of displaying a thumbnail list. The cursor 131 is displayed in one of the plurality of thumbnails. The cursor position can be moved up, down, left and right by a thumbnail selection operation (pressing operation of the cross switch 23g). When the OK switch 23h is pressed, the reproduced image corresponding to the thumbnail image in which the cursor is located at that time is displayed in full screen on the LCD monitor 17.

Next, the shooting operation during pairing will be described. If the release button 23a (see FIG. 2) is operated during the pairing establishment, the CPU 20 executes a shooting operation. At the time of pairing shooting, the same subject is shot with a plurality of pairing electronic cameras, but the shooting conditions are slightly different by communicating with each other so as not to obtain similar images. For example, when one electronic camera is set to a wide angle, the other electronic camera is automatically set to telephoto so that the zoom ratios differ to some extent. In this case, the electronic camera equipped with a lens having a high zoom ratio is set to telephoto by communication between the electronic cameras, and the electronic camera equipped with a lens capable of shooting on the wider angle side is set to wide angle. Since there is more color information on the wide-angle side, white balance control is performed based on the image of the electronic camera on the wide-angle side, and that information is fed back to the electronic camera on the telephoto side to execute common white balance control. do.

In addition, the sensitivity and shutter speed are controlled between multiple paired electronic cameras, one electronic camera is set to a high shutter speed, and the other electronic camera is set to a low shutter speed for movement. Shoot a subject at the same time with different tastes. In portrait photography, the shooting is guided so that you can shoot from different angles to some extent. That is, face recognition is performed in the through image, and guidance is given by voice and monitor images so that the angles are different, such as diagonally right front and diagonally left front, or front and side.

Further, at the time of pairing shooting, a plurality of electronic cameras having a pairing relationship communicate with each other to shoot each other. That is, it is possible to shoot for a long time by staggering the shooting times from each other. In the case of movie shooting, after shooting a movie with one electronic camera, by subsequently shooting a movie with the other electronic camera, the movie is shot while catching each other, and videos with different shooting angles are continuously shot. Can be photographed as a target. Similarly, in still image shooting, one or more still images are taken with one electronic camera, and then one or more still images are taken with the other electronic camera to catch each other. It is possible to take a plurality of still images while playing a ball and provide a slide show of a series of images taken by a plurality of electronic cameras during playback.

Next, the CPU 20 executes a recording operation of the image taken during the pairing establishment. An Exif format image file including the image data and the shooting information is generated based on the information before the shooting process and the image data acquired in the shooting process. The Exif format image file is such that data such as a thumbnail image and shooting information is embedded in the image data of the PEG image format, and this image file is recorded in the memory card 51.

The structure of the Exif type image file has a header area for recording attached information of the image and an image data area for recording captured image data. The CPU 20 records in the header area (tag area) in the image file information indicating that the image was taken during pairing. The information indicating that the image was taken during the pairing establishment includes the identification information (camera ID, etc.) of the pairing partner and the shooting time information based on the timekeeping after the time adjustment. Note that the information indicating that the image was taken while the pairing was established may be recorded as a separate file associated with the image file instead of being recorded in the header area of the image file.

Next, a method of reproducing images taken by a plurality of electronic cameras during the establishment of pairing will be described. In this embodiment, an example of reproducing an image with the electronic camera 1 is shown, but the reproduction of the image taken in the paired state is not limited to the electronic camera 1, and the image taken in the paired state is personalized. It may be transferred to a computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) and the reproduction process described below may be executed on the PC. Alternatively, it may be transferred to a digital photo frame (hereinafter referred to as DPF) and the following reproduction process may be executed on the DPF.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an image reproduction program of one embodiment. When the reproduction mode is selected by the mode switch 23d of the operation member 23, the CPU 20 starts executing the image reproduction program shown in FIG. In step 1, the "folder display" screen is displayed on the LCD monitor 17, and all the image folders to be reproduced are shown. These image holders to be reproduced are all image folders and pair folders recorded on the memory card 51 of the own electronic camera 1 shown in FIG.

In step 2, it is determined whether or not the pair holder has been selected by the holder selection operation by the cross switch 23g of the operating member 23 and the OK switch 23h. If the pair holder is not selected, the process proceeds to step 3, and the image file of the selected holder is read out and displayed on the LCD monitor 17. Regarding the reproduction processing of the image recorded in the holder other than the pair holder, that is, the image other than the paired captured image, the reproduction processing shall be performed by the conventional method, and the description thereof will be omitted here.

On the other hand, when the pair holder is selected, the process proceeds to step 4, the pairing captured image data recorded in the pair holder of the pairing partner's electronic camera is read, and the data is recorded in the pair holder of the own electronic camera 1. The paired image group is stored in the RAM 18 (see FIG. 1) together with the paired image. As described above, in the image data taken by the pairing shooting, the identification information (camera ID, etc.) and the shooting time information of the pairing partner are recorded in the header area of the image file, so that they are based on the information. Read the paired captured image from the pairing partner's electronic camera.

As described above, the pair holder is generated every time a pairing relationship is established with another electronic camera and pairing shooting is performed with the electronic camera. Therefore, it is naturally possible that there are a plurality of pairs of pair holders. In a plurality of pair holders, the pairing partner may be common or different, and even if the pairing partner is the same, the shooting time (including the shooting date) may be different. In the properties of the pair holder, identification information of the pairing partner, shooting time information, folder sharing setting information, and the like are recorded.

The identification information and shooting time information of the pairing partner are read from the properties of the pair holder selected as the playback target, and communication is performed with the pair holder's electronic camera to communicate with the identification information of the own electronic camera and the pair holder of the playback target. Introduces the shooting time information and asks the pairing partner's electronic camera to search for a pair holder with a shooting time that is almost the same as the shooting time of the pair holder to be played back. The pairing partner's electronic camera examines the properties of the pair holder recorded in the memory, searches for the pair holder corresponding to the pair holder to be played back, that is, the pair holder in which the pairing partner's identification information and the shooting time information match, and the pair holder is searched for. The pairing captured image data included in is transmitted to the requesting electronic camera.

The identification information and shooting time information of the pairing partner are also recorded in the header area for each pairing shot image data, and these information are read out and sent to the pairing partner's electronic camera as the identification information of the own electronic camera. Introduces the shooting time information of the image to be played back, and requests the electronic camera of the pairing partner to search for the paired shot image at almost the same shooting time as the paired shot image to be played back. The pairing partner's electronic camera examines the header area of the pairing image data recorded in the memory, searches for the pairing captured image corresponding to the paired captured image to be played back, and requests the data from the electronic camera of the request destination. Send to the camera.

The pairing captured image may be read from the pairing partner by wireless communication by the communication control circuit 22, or may be connected to the pairing partner's electronic camera by a communication code and performed by wired communication.

Next, in step 5, it is determined whether or not the image of the pair image group is an image of a person. When playing back a paired shot image taken with a person as the main subject, if the images taken by a plurality of electronic cameras are played back in the order of shooting time, the shooting angle may change frequently and it may be difficult to see. To some extent, it is more effective and natural to play back the paired shot images of a person at each shooting angle. In the header area of the image file, setting information of the shooting scene mode, for example, setting information of the shooting scene mode such as macro, landscape, portrait, and night view is recorded, and the set shooting scene mode is portrait. Is determined to be an image of a person. Alternatively, the image itself may be scene-analyzed to determine whether it is a person's image.

To reproduce the paired captured image taken with a person as the main subject, proceed to step 6, and one of the paired captured images stored in the folder of the paired image group is one of the paired cameras. For example, the images taken by the master unit are displayed on the LCD monitor 17 at predetermined time intervals in the order of the shooting time, and the slide show is reproduced. After that, the images taken by the other camera, for example, the slave unit, are displayed on the LCD monitor 17 at predetermined time intervals in the order of the shooting time, and the slide show is reproduced. As a result, a slide show of a series of images according to the movement of the person at the time of shooting can be effectively performed for each shooting angle, and more natural image reproduction can be realized.

On the other hand, if the paired captured image is not a person, the process proceeds to step 7, and the paired captured images stored in the folder of the paired image group are displayed on the LCD monitor at predetermined time intervals in the order of the shooting time. It is displayed on 17 and the slide show is played back.

Even if the paired shot image is not a person, the paired shot image shot by a plurality of electronic cameras is not played back in the order of the shooting time by the custom setting operation of the playback method menu by the operation member 23. The paired images taken by the master unit, for example, are played back in the order of shooting time, and then the paired images taken by the other electronic camera, for example, the slave unit are played back in the order of shooting time. You can also change to the playback method.

Also, when playing back a paired shot image, it may be difficult to see if many similar scenes continue. Therefore, when there are images having substantially the same shooting time, the image of one camera, for example, the master unit is adopted, and the image of the other camera, for example, the slave unit is skipped and reproduced. In addition, an image with a small amount of contour extraction as an image analysis result and poor image quality is determined to be an image with camera shake, and an image having the largest amount of contour extraction among images taken at approximately the same time, that is, a camera shake An image that does not exist may be adopted, and an image with camera shake may be skipped and reproduced. Alternatively, the smile of the image may be determined, the image having the highest smile degree (smile degree) among the images taken at substantially the same time may be adopted, and the image having a low smile degree may be skipped and reproduced. The playback method of playing back one of the multiple paired shot images taken at the same time and skipping the remaining images is whether or not to execute in advance on the menu screen, or how to skip when executing. Can be finely customized.

When the paired captured image is reproduced on the PC or DPF, the process is started from step 4 of the image reproduction program of FIG. 9, the paired captured image is read from a plurality of electronic cameras in step 4, and the paired captured image is read in step 5. The above-mentioned processing may be executed in ~ 7.

In the above-described embodiment, an example in which a plurality of images are separately recorded by a holder or a pair holder is shown, but it is not always necessary to separate and record each image, and each image data is paired with the identification information of the pairing partner. If the ring shooting time information is recorded, it can be sorted into one pair image group based on the information. Further, the pairing shooting image may be stored and recorded in one pair holder regardless of the pairing partner and the pairing shooting time.

In one embodiment described above, an example in which the image reproduction function of the present invention is mounted on an electronic camera is shown, but the image reproduction function of the present invention is mounted on an electronic device such as a mobile phone or a mobile PC equipped with an image pickup function. May be good.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment and its modified examples, any combination of the embodiment and the modified example is possible.

According to the above-described embodiment and its modification, the following effects can be obtained. First, pairing is performed when playing back a plurality of images in which pairing shooting (cooperative shooting) is performed by a plurality of electronic cameras, and information about the pairing shooting partner (cooperative shooting partner) and shooting time information are recorded for each image. Based on the information about the shooting partner and the shooting time information, a plurality of images paired and shot by a plurality of electronic cameras at substantially the same time are aggregated as a pair image group, and a plurality of images included in the pair image group according to the shooting time information. Since the images are played back in the order of shooting time, multiple images paired and shot by multiple electronic cameras can be effectively and continuously played back, and the movement of the subject at the time of shooting can be faithfully reproduced. ..

Further, according to one embodiment and a modification thereof, among a plurality of images included in the paired image group, the images captured by the first electronic camera are reproduced in the order of shooting time, and then the second electronic camera. Since the images captured by the camera are played back in the order of shooting time, it is possible to continuously play back the images according to the photographer's shooting intention for each electronic camera, and the movement of the subject for each electronic camera at the time of shooting is faithful. Can be reproduced in.

According to one embodiment and a modification thereof, it is determined whether or not the plurality of images included in the pair image group are images taken for a person, and it is determined that the images are taken for a person. In this case, among the plurality of images included in the pair image group, the images captured by the first electronic camera are played back in the order of shooting time, and then the images captured by the second electronic camera are played back in the order of shooting time. On the other hand, if it is determined that the image was not shot for a person, all the images included in the pair image group are played back in the order of shooting time.
When a plurality of paired shot images taken of a person with a plurality of electronic cameras are simply played back in the order of shooting time, the shooting angle may change frequently and it may be difficult to see. , People's pairing It is possible to play back captured images for each shooting angle to some extent, and it is possible to realize an effective and natural-looking slide show that follows the movement of the person at the time of shooting. On the other hand, for paired shot images other than a person, a slide show can be realized according to the movement of the subject at the time of shooting by simply playing back the images taken in the order of the shooting time.

According to one embodiment and a modification thereof, when there are a plurality of images taken at substantially the same time among the plurality of images included in the pair image group, one of them is selected as the reproduction image. Since it is played back, it is possible to prevent the annoyance and difficulty of seeing many similar scenes.

According to one embodiment and a modification thereof, a plurality of images taken at substantially the same time among a plurality of images included in the pair image group are analyzed to extract contours, and the images are taken at substantially the same time. Since the image having the largest amount of contour extraction among the plurality of images is selected as the reproduced image and reproduced, it is possible to select and reproduce the image with less camera shake and good image quality.

According to one embodiment and a modification thereof, the degree of smile is detected by analyzing a plurality of images taken at substantially the same time among the plurality of images included in the pair image group, and the degree of smile is the highest. Since the image of the above is selected as the playback image and played back, the image with a smiling face can be selected and played back.

1; electronic camera, 12; image pickup element, 17; LCD monitor, 19; flash memory, 20; CPU, 22; communication control circuit, 22a; antenna, 51; memory card

The present invention relates to electronic devices , control methods, and recording media .

The electronic device according to one aspect of the present invention describes the first imaging unit for imaging, the communication unit for communicating with an external device having the second imaging unit for imaging, and the imaging conditions for imaging performed by the external device. A setting unit that can be set independently of the image pickup of the first image pickup unit, a transmission unit that transmits image pickup condition information indicating the image pickup condition to the external device via the communication unit, and the information transmitted by the transmission unit. It includes a receiving unit that receives an image captured under the imaging conditions indicated by the imaging conditions via the communication unit, and a display unit that displays the image received by the receiving unit .

Claims (1)

The first imaging means for imaging and
A communication means that communicates with another electronic device having a second imaging means,
An image is taken by the first imaging means based on an imaging instruction, an image is taken by the second imaging means via the communication means based on the imaging instruction, and image data captured by the first imaging means is stored in a storage unit. Equipped with a control means to make
The communication means is an electronic device that receives image data captured by the second imaging means from the other electronic device.

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