JP5488558B2 - Camera and camera control program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention is a camera having a function for capturing a main object the photographer is subject to be photographed, and a camera control program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a camera that shoots by correcting a blur accompanying a change in a subject has been proposed. This camera has a blur detection area in at least a part of the shooting screen, and obtains a contrast value in a predetermined order for any blur detection block in the blur detection area. A blur amount of the subject is detected from the first obtained block, and the detected blur amount is corrected for shooting. However, since the block in which a contrast value equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value is first obtained does not necessarily match the position of the main subject that is the subject that the photographer intends to photograph on the photographing screen, In some cases, it is impossible to shoot with correction of blurring.

  In view of this, a multi-point distance measuring unit is provided which has a plurality of distance measuring areas in the shooting screen and compares the measurement data obtained from each distance measuring area to select one distance measuring area. There has also been proposed a camera that selects a blur amount detection area section including a distance measurement area selected by the first as a block for obtaining a contrast value (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In other words, this camera assumes that the distance measurement area selected by comparing the measurement data obtained from each distance measurement area is the "main subject exists" area, and includes the selected distance measurement area. By correcting the blurring of the subject in the blur amount detection area to be performed, it is intended to enable photographing of the main subject without blurring.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-260442

  However, as described in the above-mentioned publication, since it is arbitrary to select which distance measurement area in the multipoint distance measurement means, the distance measurement area selected by the multipoint distance measurement means and the photographing The main subject in the screen does not always match. In addition, it is also disclosed that by selecting a distance measurement area with the closest distance, it is predicted that the distance measurement area with the closest distance is an area where the main subject is present, but shooting is performed. It is not possible to assume that the main subject exists in the ranging area that is variously unique and closest. Therefore, the main subject cannot be specified, and it is not possible to shoot with the blur corrected appropriately.

  Further, the problem related to the identification of the subject is not limited to shooting with blurring, but also applies to normal AF shooting. That is, in general, AF sets a focus area at the center of the shooting area, and performs AF so that an image in the focus area is in focus. However, as described above, there are various shooting scenes, and the main subject is not necessarily located at the center of the shooting area. Therefore, when the main subject is located outside the center of the shooting area, the main subject is not in focus even if AF is performed, and the main subject cannot be identified and focused.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, it is an object to provide a camera, and a camera control program that can perform various photographing control for a particular subject.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the camera according to the first aspect of the present invention, the focus control means for controlling the optical system to focus the subject image, and the predetermined shooting area focused by the optical system In order to obtain an appropriate exposure by composing a plurality of images in which images in the camera are continuously shot, shooting means for shooting at a high shutter speed in each shooting, and the optical system focuses the subject A locking unit that locks the focusing control unit in a state in which the optical system is in focus, and an imaging target within a predetermined imaging region focused by the optical system in a state in which the focusing control unit is locked by the locking unit. obtaining means for obtaining characteristic information indicating characteristics of the main subject, in parallel with imaging by the imaging means, on the basis of the characteristic information acquired by the acquisition unit, the by the locking means if the Recognition means for recognizing the same main object in the control means each of the photographing region of the plurality of times of shooting with the continuous that may vary from a locked state, and means for executing a control of synthesizing a plurality of images, in parallel with imaging by the imaging unit, based on the recognized position of the main object definitive photographing region of each of the shooting by the recognizing means, the images taken are synthesized up to the previous time by the imaging means images And a control means for executing a control for shifting and synthesizing by a change amount of the position of the main subject.

In the camera according to the second aspect of the present invention, the control unit changes the captured image from the main subject of the previously synthesized image with the main subject every time the image capturing unit captures the image. Executes the control to synthesize by shifting the amount .

In the camera control program according to the third aspect of the present invention, each time so as to obtain an appropriate exposure by synthesizing a plurality of images obtained by continuously capturing images in a predetermined imaging region. In this shooting, a computer having a camera equipped with a photographing means for photographing at a high shutter speed, a focusing control means for controlling the optical system to focus the subject image, and a state where the optical system focuses the subject A locking unit that locks the focusing control unit, and a main subject to be imaged in a predetermined imaging region focused by the optical system in a state where the focusing control unit is locked by the locking unit. obtaining means for obtaining characteristic information indicating characteristics, in parallel with imaging by the imaging unit, based on the feature information obtained by the obtaining unit, by the locking means Recognition means for recognizing the same main subject in Kigoase control means each photographing region of the plurality of times of photographing the continuous that may vary from a locked state, as a unit that performs a control process for combining the images there are, said in parallel with photographing by photographing means, based on said recognized position of the imaging region definitive main object of shooting of the respective by the recognition unit, combining the images taken by the photographing unit up to the previous It is made to function as a control means for executing a control to synthesize the shifted image by the amount of change in the position of the main subject.

As described above, according to the present invention , the blur correction control according to the blur of the main subject is performed by recognizing the AF-locked subject and executing predetermined control related to the image to be shot based on the recognized subject. It is possible to perform predetermined control.

It is a system configuration figure showing a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of the digital camera which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of the badge in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. (A) is a flowchart which shows the processing procedure by the side of a badge in the 1st Embodiment of this invention, (B) is a flowchart which shows the processing procedure by the side of a digital camera. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the pre-process in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the trimming in the same embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence at the time of the video recording mode in the embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence at the time of still image shooting mode in the embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the pre-process in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the trimming in the same embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the pre-process in the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence at the time of the video recording mode in the 5th Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence at the time of still image shooting mode in the embodiment.

  (First embodiment)

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This camera system includes a digital camera 1 capable of wireless communication with each other and a badge 5 as a wearing body. The badge 5 includes a neck string 51 to be attached to the neck of the main subject M, which is a subject to be photographed by the photographer.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the digital camera 1. The digital camera 1 has general functions such as AE and AWB as well as a blur correction function described later. That is, the lens block 11 includes a main optical system such as a zoom lens and a focus lens, a correction optical system for correcting blur, and a drive mechanism for driving each optical system. The main optical system is driven by a motor 12 provided in a drive mechanism, and the correction optical system is driven by an actuator 13 provided in the drive mechanism. In the present embodiment, the AF detects the AF evaluation value (contrast value) of the center subject imaged at each position while moving the focus lens in the optical axis direction, and the AF evaluation value peak position This is a contrast detection method with the in-focus position.

  The CPU 14 that controls the entire digital camera 1 is connected to a motor driver 17 and an actuator driver 18 via a bus 15 and a timing generator (TG) 16, and both drivers 17, 18 are instructed by the CPU 14. Based on the timing signal generated by the timing generator 16, the motor 12 and the actuator 13 are driven.

  Further, the digital camera 1 has a CCD 19 for drawing a photographing area. The CCD 19 is disposed on the optical axis of the lens block 11, and the subject is imaged on the light receiving surface of the CCD 19 by the lens block 11. The CCD 19 is driven by a vertical and horizontal driver 20 based on a timing signal generated by the timing generator 16 in accordance with a command from the CPU 14, and outputs an analog imaging signal corresponding to the optical image of the subject to the unit circuit 21. The unit circuit 21 includes a CDS circuit that removes noise included in the output signal of the CCD 19 by correlated double sampling, an A / D converter that converts an imaging signal from which noise has been removed into a digital signal, and the like. The converted imaging signal is output to the image processing unit 22.

  The image processing unit 22 performs processing such as pedestal clamping on the input imaging signal, converts it into a luminance (Y) signal and a color difference (UV) signal, and performs image processing such as auto white balance, contour enhancement, and pixel interpolation. Perform digital signal processing to improve quality. The YUV data converted by the image processing unit 22 is sequentially stored in the SDRAM 23 and is converted into a video signal every time one frame of data (image data) is accumulated in the through image shooting mode, and the backlight (BL) The image is sent to a liquid crystal monitor (LCD) 25 having 24 and displayed on the screen as a through image.

  In the still image shooting mode, using the shutter key operation as a trigger, the CPU 14 causes the CCD 19, vertical and horizontal driver 20, unit circuit 21, and image processing unit 22 to switch from the through image shooting mode to the still image shooting mode. Switching is instructed, and the image data obtained by the photographing process in this still image photographing mode and temporarily stored in the SDRAM 23 is compressed by the CPU 14 and finally recorded in the external memory 26 as a still image file of a predetermined format. The In the movie recording mode, a plurality of image data sequentially stored in the SDRAM 23 is sequentially compressed by the CPU 14 between the recording start button operation and the recording end button operation, and is recorded in the external memory 26 as a moving image file. The still image file and the moving image file recorded in the external memory 26 are read out and expanded by the CPU 14 according to the user's selection operation in the PLAY mode, and are expanded on the SDRAM 23 as YUV data, and then displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25. Is done.

  The flash memory 27 has various apertures corresponding to various programs for causing the CPU 14 to control the respective units, for example, AE, AF, AWB control programs, data communication programs, and appropriate exposure values (EV) at the time of photographing. The program AE data, EV value table, and the CPU 14 constituting the program diagram showing the combination of the value (F) and the shutter speed, and the CPU 14 function as the blur correction unit, the acquisition unit, the recognition unit, and the control unit of the present invention. Various programs such as a program for storing are stored.

  The digital camera 1 can be charged with a key input unit 28 including a plurality of operation keys and switches such as a power switch, a mode selection key, a shutter key, a zoom key, a cursor key, a recording start button and an end button, and a nickel metal hydride battery. A battery 29, a power supply control circuit 30 for supplying the power of the battery 29 to each unit, and a microcomputer 31 for controlling them. The microcomputer 31 regularly scans for operation of the operation key in the key input unit 28, and when any operation key is operated by the user, the operation signal corresponding to the operation content is sent to the CPU 14. .

  The digital camera 1 also has a recording function for recording ambient sounds in the movie recording mode. The CPU 14 has a speaker (SP) 34 and a microphone via an audio chip 33 having an audio processing circuit. (MIC) 35 is connected. In the movie recording mode, the audio chip 33 processes the audio waveform input from the microphone 35 and inputs the audio waveform data to the CPU 14. Then, the CPU 14 compresses the audio waveform data input from the audio chip 33 between the recording start button operation and the recording end button operation in the movie recording mode, and the audio including the compressed ambient sound data and the compressed moving image data. An attached moving image file is generated and recorded in the external memory 26. The moving image file with sound recorded in the external memory 26 is reproduced by the speaker 34 after the surrounding sound data is converted into a sound waveform by the sound chip 33 when the moving image data is reproduced in the PLAY mode.

  Further, a gyro sensor 36 and a wireless transmission / reception unit 37 are connected to the CPU 14 via the bus 15. The gyro sensor 36 is an angular velocity sensor that detects the angular velocity of the digital camera 1 as blurring. The wireless transmission / reception unit 37 is controlled by the CPU 14 to perform wireless communication with the badge 5 and includes an antenna 38.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the badge 5. A flash memory 54, a RAM 55, a gyro sensor 56, and a wireless transmission / reception unit 57 are connected to the CPU 52 that controls the entire badge 5 via a bus 53. The flash memory 54 stores a program for causing the CPU 52 to control the entire badge 5, and the CPU 52 executes control while using the RAM 55 as a work area based on the program. The gyro sensor 56 is an angular velocity sensor that detects the angular velocity of the badge 5 as a blur of the main subject M. The wireless transmission / reception unit 37 is controlled by the CPU 52 to perform wireless communication with the digital camera 1 and has an antenna 58.

  In the present embodiment according to the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 1, the photographer wears a badge 5 with a neck string 51 on a main subject M participating in an event or the like. In this state, the CPU 52 on the badge 5 side executes processing as shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, when the gyro sensor 56 detects the angular velocity of the badge 5 associated with the operation of the main subject M, this is output as subject-side vibration data (step A101). Further, the wireless transmission / reception unit 57 is controlled to wirelessly transmit the subject-side vibration data output from the gyro sensor 56 to the outside from the antenna 58 (step A102), and thereafter the operations of steps A101 and A102 are repeated.

  On the other hand, the CPU 14 of the digital camera 1 executes processing as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4B based on the program. In the shooting standby state in which the through image shooting mode is set, first, a through image display process is started (step B101), and a through image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25. Next, it is determined whether or not the shutter key is pressed (step B102), and the process waits until the shutter key is pressed. If the shutter key is pressed, contrast AF processing is executed, and the focus lens is driven so that the center subject is in focus within the imaging region (step B103). Further, the distance to the subject is calculated based on the position of the focus lens driven in step B103 (step B104). Therefore, the distance to the main subject M is calculated by the photographer pressing the shutter key (AF lock) with the main subject M at the center of the image.

  In this embodiment, contrast AF is used. However, phase difference AF may be used. In this case, in step B104, processing for acquiring distance information output from the distance sensor is performed. Become.

  Next, exposure is started by controlling the vertical and horizontal drivers 20 to drive the CCD 19 (step B105). Further, the wireless transmission / reception unit 37 is controlled to wirelessly receive the subject vibration data transmitted from the badge 5 side by the processing in step A102 (step B106), and the gyro sensor 36 is controlled to control the vibration on the camera side. Data is output (step B107).

  Subsequently, the camera shake amount corresponding to the camera vibration data output in step B107, the subject shake amount corresponding to the subject vibration data received in step B106, and the distance to the subject calculated in step B104. From this, the relative blur amount between the main subject M and the digital camera 1 is calculated (step B108). Then, based on the blur amount calculated in step B108, a lens driving process for correcting blur is executed (step B109). That is, the actuator driver 18 is controlled and the actuator 13 is operated to drive the correction optical system in the lens block 11 based on the calculated blur amount.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the exposure is completed (step B110), and the processing from step B106 is repeated until the exposure is completed. When the exposure time corresponding to the shutter speed elapses and the exposure ends, image recording processing is executed, the image data temporarily stored in the SDRAM 23 is compressed, and finally a still image file of a predetermined format Is recorded in the external memory 26 (step B111). As a result, an image in which both the main subject side blur and the digital camera 1 side blur are corrected can be recorded in the external memory 26.

  In this embodiment, as shown in the flowchart, the blur correction is performed only during the exposure period at the time of still image shooting. However, the same exposure as described above is also performed during through image display and during moving image shooting. Blur correction for movie shooting that always performs the blur correction process of the present invention regardless of whether it is during the exposure period in parallel with the blur correction during the period (blur correction for still image shooting) or the movie shooting process May be performed. The blur correction executed in step B109 is not limited to the optical blur correction in which a part of the optical system is driven to correct the blur, and the exposure is divided into a plurality of images. Electronic blur correction that obtains a blur-corrected image by shifting and compositing according to the blur amount may be used.

  In the present embodiment, vibration data is transmitted unidirectionally from the badge 5 side. However, for example, data indicating an exposure period is transmitted from the digital camera 1 side via the wireless transmission / reception unit 37. May be received by the wireless transmitter / receiver 57 and the vibration data may be transmitted only during the exposure period. Thereby, useless transmission of vibration data can be avoided.

  In this embodiment, the badge 5 is attached to the main subject by the neck string 51. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other attachment means such as a pin or the like or an adhesive can be used. It may be used or incorporated in various portable devices such as a wristwatch.

  Further, in the present embodiment, exposure is performed in response to pressing of the shutter key to perform blur correction. However, a predetermined or more subject-side vibration data is transmitted from the badge 5 without performing blur correction. Exposure may be prohibited while coming, and exposure may be permitted when blurring of the main subject M converges to some extent and the subject-side vibration data becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value.

  In this embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a digital camera that does not have a zoom function has been described. However, the present invention is applied to a digital camera that has an optical zoom function or an electronic zoom function. You may do it. In this case, the camera shake amount corresponding to the camera vibration data output in step B107, the subject shake amount corresponding to the subject vibration data received in step B106, the distance to the subject calculated in step B104, Further, it is necessary to calculate a relative blur amount between the main subject M and the digital camera 1 from the zoom amount (view angle).

  In addition, in the present embodiment, the blurring of the main subject M is detected by the badge 5 attached to the main subject and the subject-side vibration data is transmitted. The vibration of the main subject may be detected on the basis of the change in the subject, and the subject-side vibration data may be transmitted.

  (Second Embodiment)

  5 to 8 show a second embodiment of the present invention, in which a main subject is recognized based on a pre-registered shape and shake correction is performed. In the present embodiment, only the digital camera 1 is used without using the badge 5.

  That is, when the “pre-processing” mode is selected by operating a mode selection key provided in the key input unit 28, the CPU 14 executes processing as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 based on the program. First, the image data of a photograph selected according to the operation of the function key or the like at the key input unit 28 is read from the flash memory 27 and displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25 (step S201). Next, in response to the operation of the cursor key or the like on the key input unit 28, the shape portion to be recognized is trimmed from the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25 (step S202), and the image of the trimmed shape portion is flashed. It is registered in the My pattern matching area provided in the memory 27 (step S203).

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6B, by trimming a desired area while the main subject M wearing a hat is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25 as shown in FIG. The shape F of the hat portion can be registered. Further, by executing this “preprocessing” a plurality of times, a plurality of shape portions to be recognized can be registered in the My pattern matching region.

  When the movie recording mode is set, the CPU 14 executes processing as shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, shape part data registered from the My pattern matching area is read (step S211). At this time, if a plurality of shape part data is registered in the My pattern matching area, these are displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25 as a list, and the shape part data selected by the operation of the key input unit 28 from among them are displayed. Is read. Further, the through image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25 in the same manner as described above (step S212).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the recording start button has been pressed (step S213), and the process waits until the recording start button is pressed. If the recording start button is pressed, the moving image shooting process is started (step S214), and the subject is recognized by pattern matching (step S215). That is, the subject image captured in the SDRAM 23 by driving the CCD 19 is compared with the shape portion indicated by the shape portion data read in step S211, and the subject having the shape portion in the subject image is determined as the main subject. Recognize as

  Subsequently, based on the temporally adjacent images in the plurality of image data sequentially stored in the SDRAM 23 during the moving image shooting, the movement amount (motion vector including the movement amount and the movement direction) identified in step S215. Is detected (step S216). Further, the actuator driver 18 is controlled in accordance with the detected movement amount and the actuator 13 is operated to drive the correction optical system in the lens block 11 (step S217). Next, it is determined whether or not the video recording has ended, that is, whether or not the video recording end button has been pressed, and whether or not the external memory 26 has become full (step S218). The processing from S215 is repeated. Then, when the pressing of the recording end button is detected or the external memory 26 becomes full, the moving image shooting is ended.

  The moving image thus shot is shot while driving the correction optical system in the lens block 11 according to the amount of movement of the subject recognized as described above. Even if camera shake occurs or the main subject moves, it can be a still image in which the main subject without blurring is captured.

  In this embodiment, as shown in step S217 of the flowchart, optical blur correction is performed to correct blur by driving a part of the optical system. Electronic blur correction may be performed to obtain a moving image that has undergone blur correction by shifting (changing) the cutout range (trimming range) of the frame image in accordance with the blur amount.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of still image shooting in the present embodiment. First, the shape part data registered from the My pattern matching area is read (step S221). At this time, if a plurality of shape portion data are registered in the My pattern matching area, they are displayed in a list on the liquid crystal monitor 25 as described above, and are selected by operating the key input unit 28 from among them. Read out shape part data. Then, the through image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25 (step S222).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the shutter key is pressed (step S223), and the process waits until the shutter key is pressed. If the shutter key is pressed, high-speed still image shooting processing (high-speed shutter processing) is executed (step S224). In this high-speed still image shooting process, the shutter speed based on the program AE data constituting the program diagram showing the combination of the aperture value (F) and the shutter speed, that is, the original shutter when shooting the image. A high-speed shutter speed obtained by dividing the speed by 10 is calculated. Then, by driving the CCD 19 at this high shutter speed, still image shooting is performed at a shutter speed of 1/10 hours, and the image data is stored in the SDRAM 23.

  Further, the subject is recognized by pattern matching (step S225). That is, the subject image stored in the SDRAM 23 by high-speed still image shooting is compared with the shape portion indicated by the shape portion data read in step S221, and the subject having the shape portion in the subject image is recognized as the main subject. .

  Subsequently, the processes of steps S226 and S227 are executed, but these processes are skipped at the time of shooting the first high-speed still image. In step S228 following step S227, it is determined whether or not 10 high-speed still image shootings have been completed, and the processing from step S224 is repeated until the shooting is completed. When the second and subsequent high-speed still image shooting is performed by executing the processing from step S224 again, the processing of step S226 is executed without skipping, and the subject image stored in the SDRAM 23 this time is By comparing the main subject with the main subject in the previously stored subject image, the movement amount (including the movement direction) of the main subject is detected (step S226). Then, the current subject image is combined with the previous subject image by shifting by the detected movement amount (step S227). Therefore, the processing in steps S226 and S227 is performed nine times until the determination in step S228 is YES, that is, until 10 high-speed still image shootings are completed, and 10 high-speed still image shot still images are captured. One still image is generated by sequentially combining the images.

  When 10 high-speed still image shootings are completed, a combined image, that is, one still image obtained by sequentially combining 10 high-speed still image shooting still images is recorded in the external memory 26 (step S229). In this still image, since the movement amount of the main subject, which is the subject recognized by pattern matching as described above, is detected and the image is synthesized by shifting the detected movement amount, the digital camera 1 Even if camera shake occurs or the main subject moves, it is possible to obtain a still image in which the main subject without blurring is photographed.

  The 10 synthesized still images were shot at a shutter speed obtained by dividing the shutter speed based on the program AE data constituting the program diagram showing the combination of the aperture value (F) and the shutter speed into 10 parts. It is. Therefore, the brightness of the image becomes appropriate by combining 10 still images taken at this shutter speed. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a still image in which the brightness of the image is appropriate and the main subject is not blurred.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in the flowchart, a process of detecting the amount of movement of the subject recognized for each still image shooting (step S226) while detecting 10 high-speed still images is detected. The process of synthesizing the image by shifting the movement amount (step S227) is performed, but each of these processes may be performed after 10 high-speed still images have been captured.

  In the present embodiment, a plurality of trimmed images of a shape portion to be recognized are registered in the My pattern matching region. However, the shape is recognized by image recognition, and the recognition result data is registered. After that, recognition result data is obtained by executing image recognition processing on a subject image obtained by moving image shooting processing or high-speed still image shooting processing, and this recognition result data is compared with registered recognition result data. Then, the portion of the subject from which the substantially matched recognition result data is obtained may be recognized as the main subject.

  (Third embodiment)

  FIGS. 9 and 10 show a third embodiment of the present invention, in which a main subject is recognized based on a pre-registered characteristic color portion (color or pattern) to perform blur correction. . In this embodiment, processing as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9 is executed in the “preprocessing” mode. First, image data selected in accordance with an operation of a function key or the like on the key input unit 28 is read from the flash memory 27 and displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25 (step S301). Next, in accordance with the operation of the cursor key or the like on the key input unit 28, the feature color portion to be recognized from the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25 is trimmed (step S302), and the trimmed feature color portion image is displayed. Are registered in the My pattern matching area provided in the flash memory 27 (step S303).

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10B, by trimming a desired area while the main subject M wearing a hat is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25 as shown in FIG. The characteristic color portion C of the hat can be registered. Further, by executing this “preprocessing” a plurality of times, a plurality of characteristic color portions to be recognized can be registered in the My pattern matching region.

  When the movie recording mode is set, the process is executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, when the subject is recognized by pattern matching in step S215, the various colors included in the subject image captured in the SDRAM 23 by driving the CCD 19 and the characteristic color partial data read in step S211 are obtained. Compared with the indicated color, the subject of the color portion that is substantially the same is recognized as the main subject. As a result, even if camera shake occurs in the digital camera 1 or the main subject M moves as described above, a moving image in which the main subject without blurring is captured can be obtained.

  When the still image shooting mode is set, processing is executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, when the subject is recognized by pattern matching in step S225, the various colors included in the subject image captured by the SDRAM 23 by driving the CCD 19 and the characteristic color portion data read in step S221 are obtained. Compared with the indicated color, the subject of the color portion that is substantially the same is recognized as the main subject. As a result, even if camera shake occurs in the digital camera 1 or the main subject M moves as described above, it is possible to obtain a still image in which the main subject without blurring is captured, and the brightness of the image is also appropriate. It becomes. Therefore, it is possible to shoot a still image in which the brightness of the image is appropriate and the main subject is not blurred.

  In the present embodiment, a plurality of trimmed images of characteristic color portions to be recognized are registered in the My pattern matching region. However, the color is recognized by image recognition, and the color recognition result data is registered. Then, color recognition result data is obtained by executing color recognition processing on the subject image obtained by moving image shooting processing or high-speed still image shooting processing, and the color recognition registered with this color recognition result data The result data may be compared to recognize the portion of the subject from which the substantially identical color recognition result data is obtained as the main subject.

  (Fourth embodiment)

  FIG. 11 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention, in which a main subject is recognized based on a preselected shape and shake correction is performed. In this embodiment, processing as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 11 is executed in the “preprocessing” mode. First, the matching list stored in the flash memory 27 is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25 (step S401). This matching list is composed of data for displaying a plurality of shapes such as “◯”, “Δ”, “×”..., And accordingly, in this step S401, the liquid crystal monitor 25 displays “O”, “Δ”, “ A plurality of types of shapes such as “×”... Are displayed. Next, a characteristic shape attached to the main subject from the matching list displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25 according to the operation of the cursor key or the like on the key input unit 28 (may be close to the shape of the main subject). Is selected (step S402), and the selected shape is registered in the My pattern matching area provided in the flash memory 27 (step S403). For example, if the main subject has “o” as a characteristic shape unlike other subjects, “o” is selected.

When the movie recording mode is set, the process is executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. As a result, even if a main subject having a characteristic shape of “◯” moves or a camera shake occurs in the digital camera 1, a moving image in which the main subject is not blurred can be obtained. When the still image shooting mode is set, processing is executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. Thereby, or cause shake in digital camera 1, even if the main object with "○" as a characteristic shape is moved, when it can be a still image where the main subject blur-free is taken as also In addition, the brightness of the image is also appropriate. Therefore, it is possible to shoot a still image in which the brightness of the image is appropriate and the main subject is not blurred.

  In this embodiment, a plurality of types of shapes are stored in the matching list and one of the shapes is selected. However, a plurality of types of colors are stored and one of the colors is selected. Then, as in the third embodiment, the main subject may be recognized by color matching. In the flowchart of FIG. 11, the shape selected from the matching list is registered in the My pattern matching region (step S403), but the shape selected in the matching list without providing the My pattern matching region. An identifier may be attached to the mark so that it can be determined that the shape is selected.

Further, in the second to fourth embodiments described above, as shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 5, 9, and 11, each different single pre-process is performed. The preprocessing may be executed so that the user can select any of the preprocessing.
(Fifth embodiment)

  FIGS. 12 and 13 show a fifth embodiment of the present invention, in which the outline of an AF-locked subject is extracted in advance, and the main subject is recognized based on the extracted outline and shake correction is performed. It is what I did.

  When the movie recording mode is set, the CPU 14 executes processing as shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, a through image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25 (step S501). At this time, the CPU 14 controls the motor driver 17 to drive the motor 12, thereby performing contrast AF so that the subject in the center is focused in the photographing area while moving the focus lens in the optical axis direction. ing.

In this state, it is determined whether or not an AF lock instruction is given by an operation on the key input unit 28 (step S502), and AF is continued until an AF lock instruction is issued. Then, when the orientation of the digital camera 1 is adjusted so that the main subject is located in the center of the shooting area, and AF lock instruction is given when the main subject is in focus, the determination in step S502 is YES, and the focus lens more to fix the current position toward the imaging object, performs an AF lock (step S503). Note that the focus lens may be fixed after performing AF according to the AF lock instruction without performing AF until an AF lock instruction is issued. Next, a process for extracting a contour centering on the AF portion is executed (step S504). That is, since the AF portion is the central portion of the shooting area, the contour of the image within a predetermined range is extracted with the central portion of the shooting area as the center. Therefore, the outline of the main subject is extracted by adjusting the orientation of the digital camera 1 so that the main subject is located at the center of the shooting area as described above. Thereafter, the user adjusts the orientation of the digital camera 1 so that the main subject located at the center of the shooting area moves to a desired position in the shooting area, and then presses a recording start button to shoot a moving image. Processing will be started.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the recording start button has been pressed (step S505), and the process waits until the recording start button is pressed. If the recording start button is pressed, the moving image shooting process is started (step S506), and the subject is recognized by pattern matching (step S507). That is, the contour in the subject image captured in the SDRAM 23 by driving the CCD 19 is compared with the contour extracted in step S504, and the subject having the substantially matched contour in the subject image is recognized as the main subject. To do.

  Subsequently, based on the temporally adjacent images in the plurality of image data sequentially stored in the SDRAM 23 during the moving image shooting, the movement amount (movement including the movement amount and the movement direction) of the subject recognized as the main subject in the step S507. Vector) is detected (step S508). Further, the actuator driver 18 is controlled according to the detected movement amount and the actuator 13 is operated to drive the correction optical system in the lens block 11 (step S509). Next, it is determined whether or not the video recording has ended, that is, whether or not the video recording end button has been pressed, and whether or not the external memory 26 has become full (step S510). The processing from S507 is repeated. Then, when the pressing of the recording end button is detected or the external memory 26 becomes full, the moving image shooting is ended.

  The moving image thus shot is shot while driving the correction optical system in the lens block 11 according to the amount of movement of the subject recognized as described above. Even if camera shake occurs in the digital camera 1, it is possible to make a moving image in which the main subject is not blurred.

  In this embodiment, as shown in step S509 in the flowchart, optical blur correction is performed to correct blur by driving a part of the optical system. However, the exposure is divided into a plurality of parts. Electronic blur correction to obtain a blur-corrected frame image by shifting (changing) the cutout range (trimming range) of each frame image obtained by moving image shooting processing obtained by each exposure according to the blur amount May be performed.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of still image shooting in the present embodiment. First, a through image is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 25 (step S511). At this time, the CPU 14 controls the motor driver 17 to drive the motor 12, thereby performing contrast AF so that the subject in the center is focused in the photographing area while moving the focus lens in the optical axis direction. ing.

  In this state, it is determined whether or not there has been an AF lock instruction by an operation on the key input unit 28 (half-press operation of the shutter key) (step S512), and AF is continued until an AF lock instruction is issued. Then, when the orientation of the digital camera 1 is adjusted so that the main subject is located at the center of the shooting area, and the AF lock instruction is given when the main subject is in focus, the determination in step S512 becomes YES, and the focus lens Is locked at the current position, and AF lock is performed toward the object to be imaged (step S513). Note that the focus lens may be fixed after performing AF according to the AF lock instruction without performing AF until an AF lock instruction is issued.

  Next, similarly to the process of step S504 described above, after executing the process of extracting the outline around the AF portion (step S514), whether or not the shutter key is pressed (shutter key is fully pressed) is determined. (Step S515), and waits until the shutter key is pressed. The user adjusts the orientation of the digital camera 1 so that the main subject located at the center of the shooting area moves to a desired position in the shooting area, and then presses the shutter key to shoot a still image. Processing will be started. If the shutter key is pressed, high-speed still image shooting processing (high-speed shutter processing) is executed (step S516). In this high-speed still image shooting process, as described above, when shooting the image, the shutter speed based on the program AE data constituting the program diagram showing the combination of the aperture value (F) and the shutter speed. A high-speed shutter speed obtained by dividing the original shutter speed by 10 is calculated, and the CCD 19 is driven at this high-speed shutter speed, so that a still image is taken at a shutter speed of 1/10 hours, and the image data is stored in the SDRAM 23. To do.

  Further, the subject is recognized by pattern matching (step S517). That is, the contour in the subject image stored in the SDRAM 23 by high-speed still image shooting is compared with the contour extracted in step S514, and the subject having the substantially matched contour in the subject image is recognized as the main subject.

  Subsequently, the processes of steps S518 and S519 are executed, but these processes are skipped at the time of shooting the first high-speed still image. In step S520 subsequent to step S519, it is determined whether or not 10 high-speed still image shootings have been completed, and the processing from step S516 is repeated until the shooting is completed. Then, when the second and subsequent high-speed still image shootings are performed by executing the process from step S516 again, the process of step S526 is executed without skipping, and the subject image stored in the SDRAM 23 this time is processed. By comparing the main subject with the main subject in the previously stored subject image, the movement amount (including the movement direction) of the main subject is detected (step S518). Then, the current subject image is combined with the previous subject image by shifting the detected movement amount (step S519). Therefore, the processing in steps S518 and S519 is performed nine times until the determination in step S520 is YES, that is, until the 10 high-speed still image shootings are finished, and the 10 still images taken with the high-speed still image shooting are performed. One still image is generated by sequentially combining the images.

  When 10 high-speed still image shootings are finished, a combined image, that is, one still image obtained by sequentially combining 10 high-speed still image shooting still images is recorded in the external memory 26 (step S521). In this still image, since the movement amount of the main subject, which is the subject recognized by pattern matching as described above, is detected and the image is synthesized by shifting the detected movement amount, the digital camera 1 Even if camera shake occurs or the main subject moves, it is possible to obtain a still image in which the main subject without blurring is photographed. The 10 synthesized still images were shot at a shutter speed obtained by dividing the shutter speed based on the program AE data constituting the program diagram showing the combination of the aperture value (F) and the shutter speed into 10 parts. Therefore, the brightness of the image becomes appropriate by combining the 10 still images taken at this shutter speed. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a still image in which the brightness of the image is appropriate and the main subject is not blurred.

  In the present embodiment as well, as shown in the flowchart, while detecting 10 high-speed still images, the process of detecting the amount of movement of the subject recognized for each still image shooting (step S518) is detected. The process of synthesizing the image by shifting the movement amount (step S519) may be performed, but each of these processes may be performed after 10 high-speed still images have been captured.

  In the second to fourth embodiments described above, the present invention is used for blur correction for correcting the blur of the main subject recognized by pattern matching. However, the present invention is used for AF, AF for focusing the recognized main subject may be performed.

1 Digital Camera 5 Badge 11 Lens Block 12 Motor 13 Actuator 14 CPU
16 Timing generator 17 Motor driver 18 Actuator driver 19 CCD
20 Horizontal Driver 21 Unit Circuit 22 Image Processing Unit 23 SDRAM
25 Liquid crystal monitor 26 External memory 27 Flash memory 28 Key input unit 36 Gyro sensor 37 Wireless transmission / reception unit 38 Antenna 51 Neck string 52 CPU
54 Flash memory 55 RAM
56 Gyro sensor 57 Wireless transmitter / receiver 58 Antenna C Characteristic color part F Shape M Main subject

Claims (3)

Focusing control means for controlling the optical system to focus the subject image;
Each shot is shot at a high shutter speed so as to obtain an appropriate exposure by combining a plurality of images obtained by continuously shooting images in a predetermined shooting area focused by the optical system. Photographing means;
Lock means for locking the focusing control means in a state where the optical system has focused the subject;
Acquisition means for acquiring characteristic information indicating characteristics of a main subject to be imaged in a predetermined imaging area focused by the optical system in a state where the focusing control unit is locked by the locking unit;
In parallel with the photographing by the photographing means , each photographing of the plurality of consecutive photographings that can be changed from the state in which the focusing control means is locked by the locking means based on the feature information obtained by the obtaining means. Recognition means for recognizing the same main subject in a region;
Means for executing control for combining a plurality of images, wherein the photographing is performed based on a position of a main subject in a photographing region of each photographing recognized by the recognition means in parallel with photographing by the photographing means; camera, characterized in that it comprises a control means for performing control to synthesize shifted by the amount of change in the position of the main subject the captured images until a combined image previous by means. The control means executes a control for shifting and synthesizing the main subject of the photographed image by an amount of change from the main subject of the image synthesized so far every time the photographing means performs photographing. The camera according to claim 1. A computer provided in a camera having a photographing means for photographing at a high shutter speed in each photographing so as to obtain an appropriate exposure by combining a plurality of images obtained by continuously photographing images in a predetermined photographing region. The
Focusing control means for controlling the optical system to focus the subject image;
Lock means for locking the focusing control means in a state where the optical system has focused the subject;
Acquisition means for acquiring characteristic information indicating characteristics of a main subject to be imaged in a predetermined imaging area focused by the optical system in a state where the focusing control unit is locked by the locking unit;
In parallel with the photographing by the photographing means , each photographing of the plurality of consecutive photographings that can be changed from the state in which the focusing control means is locked by the locking means based on the feature information obtained by the obtaining means. Recognition means for recognizing the same main subject in a region;
Means for executing control for combining a plurality of images, wherein the photographing is performed based on a position of a main subject in a photographing region of each photographing recognized by the recognition means in parallel with photographing by the photographing means; the camera control program, characterized in that to function as a control means for executing control to synthesize shifted by the amount of change in the position of the main object the images taken on the image synthesized up to the previous time by means.

Images