JP2001159730A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic camera which can be focused to a main subject without regulating the direction of the camera even when the main subject does not exist in the central part of a photographic range. SOLUTION: This electronic camera has a liquid crystal display section 6 for checking photographic images, a touch panel 4 disposed on the liquid crystal display device section 6, an image pickup unit 8 consisting of a photographic lens, an AF module, a CCD, etc., a distance measuring circuit 9 for measuring the distance to the desired subject of the image inputted by the image pickup unit 8 and an automatic focusing drive circuit 10 for driving the image pickup unit 8 so as to focus on the desired subject. The focus block which is the point desired to be focused of the subject within the photographic range displayed on the liquid crystal display section 6 is assigned by the touch panel 4 and the distance up to the subject within the assigned focus block is measured by the distance measuring circuit 9. The auto focusing drive circuit 10 is controlled in accordance with the result of the measurement, thereby, the photographing focusing on the subject existing in the arbitrary place of the photographing range is carried out.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera,
In particular, the present invention relates to photographing settings of an electronic camera including a display device for confirming a photographed image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electronic cameras for converting a still image or a moving image into a digital signal and recording the digital signal on a recording medium such as a flash memory have become widespread. In an electronic camera equipped with an automatic focusing mechanism, a subject is positioned substantially at the center of a shooting range, focus adjustment is performed so that the subject is in focus, and shooting can be performed in a focused state. However, when the composition is determined, if the main subject is not located at the center of the shooting range and the distance between the subject located at the center of the shooting range and the main subject is different, the subject located at the center of the shooting range The main subject is out of focus. For example, if the person who is the main subject is located at a position other than the center of the shooting range, and a mountain landscape is positioned at the center of the shooting range,
The autofocus mechanism focuses on a mountain scene in the center, for example, at infinity, and does not focus on a main subject located within the shooting range.
For this reason, the camera position is changed so that the main subject is located at the center of the shooting range, and after focusing on the main subject, focus lock is performed and the main subject is again positioned in the desired shooting range. In general, a method of changing a camera position so as to change the camera position has been used. Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
The invention described in Japanese Patent No. 234604 discloses a problem that camera shake is likely to occur because the focus lock is performed by half-pressing the shutter button.
A single shutter button can be operated independently in two directions, so that the single shutter button has two functions, a focus lock function and a shooting function, and the focus lock function is maintained until the exposure operation is completed. Thus, after the focus is locked, shooting can be performed without half-pressing the shutter button, thereby preventing camera shake.

[0003]

However, in the case of the conventional autofocus camera described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-234604, if the main subject does not exist at the center of the shooting range, the main subject is first moved to the shooting range. Point the camera at the main subject so that it is located at the center of the camera, slide the shutter button in one direction to lock the focus,
There is a problem that the camera needs to be adjusted again to a desired angle, and the orientation of the camera must be adjusted. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic camera that can focus on a main subject without adjusting the direction of the camera even when the main subject does not exist at the center of the shooting range.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic camera comprising: a liquid crystal display for confirming a captured image; a touch panel provided on the liquid crystal display; An image pickup unit including an AF module and a CCD; a distance measuring circuit for measuring a distance of an image input by the image pickup unit to a desired subject; and an auto camera for driving the photographing unit so as to focus on a desired subject. A focus drive circuit is provided, and among the subjects within the shooting range displayed on the liquid crystal display unit, a focus block which is a place to be focused is designated by the touch panel, and the subject within the designated focus block is designated. Is measured by the distance measuring circuit, and the auto focus driving circuit is controlled based on the measurement result, so that the arbitrary position of the photographing range Performing imaging focused on the subject to be stationary. Thus, an in-focus image can be taken of a desired subject within the shooting range without changing the camera angle. The invention according to claim 2 of the electronic camera according to the present invention includes a liquid crystal display unit for confirming a photographed image, a touch panel provided on the liquid crystal display unit, a photographing lens, an AF module, a CCD, and the like. An imaging unit, including a distance measuring circuit that measures a distance to a desired subject of an image input by the imaging unit, and an auto-focus driving circuit for driving the imaging unit to focus on a desired subject, By specifying, on the touch panel, a position to be focused among the subjects within the shooting range displayed on the liquid crystal display unit, the distance to the subject within the designated range is measured by the distance measuring circuit. Controlling the auto focus driving circuit based on the measurement result and zooming the subject within the designated range so that the subject exists at an arbitrary position in the shooting range; It focused on the subject in the specified range and performs imaging the subject in the specified range while zooming. As a result, a desired subject in the shooting range can be focused and a zoomed image can be shot without changing the camera angle.

[0005] The electronic camera according to the present invention is claimed in claim 3.
The invention described above includes a liquid crystal display unit for confirming a captured image, a touch panel disposed on the liquid crystal display unit, a photographing lens,
An image pickup unit including an F module and a CCD; a distance measurement circuit for measuring a distance of an image input by the image pickup unit to a desired subject; and an auto camera for driving the photographing unit so as to focus on a desired subject. A focus drive circuit, a date character block is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit, and the character date block can be moved to an arbitrary position by dragging the character date block on the touch panel. As a result, it is possible to capture an image in which the date is inserted in a place where the subject is not affected. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic camera including a liquid crystal display for confirming a photographed image, a touch panel disposed on the liquid crystal display, a photographing lens, an AF module, a CCD, and the like. An imaging unit, including a distance measuring circuit that measures a distance to a desired subject of an image input by the imaging unit, and an auto-focus driving circuit for driving the imaging unit to focus on a desired subject, A character block is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit, and the date block can be moved to an arbitrary position by dragging the date block on the touch panel. As a result, it is possible to capture an image in which characters are inserted in a place where the subject is not affected. According to a fifth aspect of the electronic camera according to the present invention, in addition to the fourth aspect, the character block is a sub-window, and selects a fixed character displayed in the sub-window. In this way, the selected character can be photographed at an arbitrary place. As a result, an image can be photographed in a state where a fixed character is selected at an arbitrary designated place.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an electronic camera according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an electronic camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a CP that controls an electronic camera and includes a signal processing unit and the like.
U and 2 are R storing a program for operating the CPU, etc.
OM and 3 are RAs used as a work area of the CPU.
M, 4 denotes a touch panel, 5 denotes a touch panel control unit, 6 denotes a liquid crystal display unit, 7 denotes an input unit for inputting a shutter button, a shooting mode, and the like, 8 denotes an imaging unit including a shooting lens, an AF module, a CCD, and the like; Is a distance measuring circuit for obtaining subject distance data within a photographing range using an AF module in the image pickup unit. 10 is for focusing a photographing lens in the photographing unit 7 based on focusing drive data output from the CPU 1. It is an auto focus drive circuit.
The operation of the electronic camera configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B. First, when the electronic camera is set in a photographable state, an image formed on the light receiving surface of the CCD of the imaging unit 8 is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 6 as shown in FIG. A touch panel 4 is provided on the front surface of the liquid crystal display unit 6, and the touch panel 4 has a focus block including nine divided areas as shown in FIG. Therefore, when the user of the electronic camera presses a part on the touch panel where the main subject is located from the image displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 6, FIG.
As shown in (b), the image corresponding to the position of the focus block is displayed with the hatching overlapped, and the distance to the main subject in the focus block is measured by the distance measurement circuit 9, and the main subject is measured. The auto-focus drive circuit 10 is operated so as to focus on. Thereafter, by pressing the shutter button of the input unit 7, a desired image can be taken. Thus, the user of the electronic camera according to the present invention presses the touch panel 4 provided on the liquid crystal display unit 6 even if the main subject is not located at the center of the image, thereby allowing the photographer to select a desired angle. You can shoot with. In the above description, the case where a nine-segment touch panel is used has been described as an example.
A split touch panel other than the split touch panel may be used.

FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b) are views showing another embodiment of the electronic camera according to the present invention. First, when the electronic camera is set in a photographable state, as shown in FIG. An image formed on the light receiving surface of the CCD of the imaging unit 8 is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 6. The touch panel 4 is provided on the front surface of the liquid crystal display unit 6. Therefore, when the user of the electronic camera designates a range A to be photographed including the main subject from the image displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 6 on the touch panel 4 as shown in FIG. The distance to the main subject is measured by a distance measuring circuit 9 and an auto-focus driving circuit is operated so as to focus on the main subject, and a designated range is displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal display unit 6 as shown in FIG. The zoom is adjusted to fit in. Thereafter, by pressing the shutter button of the input unit 7, a desired image can be taken. As a method of specifying a range using the touch panel described above, a method of specifying two diagonal points (x marks) of a desired shooting range of an image displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 6 as shown in FIG. There is also a method of enclosing a desired photographing range on a touch panel. Also, a function to automatically return from the zoom state to the standard angle of view after shooting, and a key to return to the standard angle of view to redo the range setting, are provided on the touch panel 4.
, It is also possible to smoothly perform shooting by zooming only by operating the touch panel 4. Thus, the user of the electronic camera according to the present invention can specify the range on the touch panel 4 disposed on the liquid crystal display unit 6 even if the main subject is not located at the center of the image, and It is possible to take an image in which the shooting range is zoomed and the main subject within the specified range is in focus.

FIG. 4 is a view showing another embodiment of the electronic camera according to the present invention. First, when the electronic camera is set in a photographable state, the liquid crystal display unit 6 is connected to the light receiving surface of the CCD of the imaging unit 8. The captured image is displayed. The touch panel 4 is provided on the front surface of the liquid crystal display unit 6. By operating the input unit 7 in such a state, the date character block B is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 6 as shown in FIG. Can be moved to a position. Thereafter, by pressing the shutter button of the input unit 7, an image in which the date character block B is inserted at a desired position can be photographed. As described above, since the date character block B can be moved to an arbitrary position, the date can be displayed on a portion that does not affect the subject, and the image can be shot in that state. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, instead of the date character block, a character block C is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 6, and the character block C is moved to an arbitrary position by dragging the character block C on the touch panel 4. Is also good. As a result, the character block C can be displayed in a portion that does not affect the subject, and the photographing can be performed in that state. Further, the characters to be input to the character block C are displayed in a sub-window D on the liquid crystal display unit 6 as shown in FIG. By enabling selection using the assigned keys or the like, it is possible to capture an image in which desired characters are input at an appropriate position that does not affect the subject. If the display location of the sub-window D is the lower right corner of the liquid crystal display 6 as shown in FIG. 6, all the characters displayed in the sub-window D cannot be displayed on the liquid crystal display 6, but for convenience of explanation, A plurality of standard documents displayed in the subwindow are virtually shown. Further, if the display location of the sub-window D is the upper right corner of the liquid crystal display unit 6, all the fixed characters can be displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 6. Further, the sub-window D can be displayed by pressing a designated portion, for example, a character block portion a predetermined number of times.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to focus and shoot an object at an arbitrary position in the shooting range by operating the touch panel provided on the liquid crystal display unit for image confirmation. Therefore, the subject is positioned substantially at the center of the shooting range in order to perform the focus lock, and there is no need to change the camera angle after the focus lock is performed, so that the operability can be improved.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, by operating the touch panel provided on the image confirmation liquid crystal display unit, it is possible to focus on an object at an arbitrary position in the photographing range and perform photographing with zooming. Therefore, the subject is positioned substantially at the center of the shooting range in order to perform the focus lock, and there is no need to change the camera angle after the focus lock is performed, so that the operability can be improved. According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to perform shooting with the date inserted at an arbitrary position when performing shooting with a date, and to confirm and specify a place that does not affect the subject. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when performing photographing with characters, it is possible to photograph with characters inserted at an arbitrary position, and to confirm and designate a place that does not affect the subject. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when performing shooting with characters, it is possible to shoot with characters inserted at an arbitrary position, and it is possible to confirm and specify a place that does not affect the subject, The input standard characters are displayed in the sub-window, and the standard characters displayed in the sub-window can be selected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic camera according to the present invention.

2A is a diagram illustrating a display state of an electronic camera according to the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a focus block and a main subject of the electronic camera according to the present invention.

3A is a view for explaining a display state of the electronic camera according to the present invention, and FIG. 3B is a view showing a display state in a zoom state of the electronic camera according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a date character block B of the electronic camera according to the present invention.
The figure for explaining operation which moves to arbitrary positions by dragging.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining an operation of moving a character block C of the electronic camera according to the present invention to an arbitrary position by dragging.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining an operation of moving a character block displayed in a sub window D of the electronic camera to an arbitrary position by dragging according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... CPU, 2 ... ROM, 3 ... RA
M, 4: touch panel, 5: touch panel control unit, 6: liquid crystal display unit, 7: input unit,
8 imaging unit 9 distance measuring circuit 10
..Autofocus drive circuits

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A liquid crystal display for confirming a photographed image, a touch panel provided on the liquid crystal display, a photographing lens,
An image pickup unit including an F module and a CCD; a distance measurement circuit for measuring a distance of an image input by the image pickup unit to a desired subject; and an auto camera for driving the photographing unit so as to focus on a desired subject. A focus drive circuit, and among the subjects within the shooting range displayed on the liquid crystal display unit, a focus block that is a place to be focused is designated by the touch panel, and the subject within the designated focus block is also designated. Is measured by the distance measuring circuit, and the autofocus driving circuit is controlled based on the measurement result, thereby performing photographing focused on a subject existing at an arbitrary position in the photographing range. And electronic camera. 2. A liquid crystal display unit for confirming a photographed image, a touch panel provided on the liquid crystal display unit, a photographing lens,
An image pickup unit including an F module and a CCD; a distance measurement circuit for measuring a distance of an image input by the image pickup unit to a desired subject; and an auto camera for driving the photographing unit so as to focus on a desired subject. A focus drive circuit, and among the subjects within the shooting range displayed on the liquid crystal display unit, by designating a point to be focused on the touch panel, the distance to the subject within the designated range is determined. Measured by a distance measurement circuit, and controlling the auto focus drive circuit based on the measurement result,
By zooming the subject within the specified range, it is possible to focus on the subject located at an arbitrary position in the shooting range, within the specified range, and perform shooting with the subject within the specified range zoomed. Electronic camera featuring. 3. A liquid crystal display for confirming a photographed image, a touch panel disposed on the liquid crystal display, a photographing lens,
An image pickup unit including an F module and a CCD; a distance measurement circuit for measuring a distance of an image input by the image pickup unit to a desired subject; and an auto camera for driving the photographing unit so as to focus on a desired subject. An electronic camera, comprising: a focus drive circuit; displaying a date character block on the liquid crystal display unit; and moving the character date block to an arbitrary position by dragging the character date block on a touch panel. 4. A liquid crystal display for confirming a photographed image, a touch panel provided on the liquid crystal display, a photographing lens,
An image pickup unit including an F module and a CCD; a distance measurement circuit for measuring a distance of an image input by the image pickup unit to a desired subject; and an auto camera for driving the photographing unit so as to focus on a desired subject. An electronic camera, comprising: a focus drive circuit; displaying a character block on the liquid crystal display unit; and moving the date block to an arbitrary position by dragging the date block on a touch panel. 5. The character block according to claim 4, wherein the character block is a sub-window, and by selecting a fixed character displayed in the sub-window, a selected character is photographed at an arbitrary position. Electronic camera.