JP2007060131A - Camera with live view display function - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera with a live view display function capable of being compatible with an object with low luminance without degrading the quality of live view display. <P>SOLUTION: The camera with the live view display function includes: a live view display CCD 51 including an imaging device for summating electric charges of a plurality of its pixels and capable of outputting the summated electric charges when the object has low luminance; and an image display liquid crystal monitor 26. Then image data output from the live view display CCD 51 are displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 26 in a prescribed display form. Further, the live view display CCD 51 places an upper limit for the number of summated pixels on itself in response to the display form of the liquid crystal monitor 26. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera having a so-called live view display function in which a subject is continuously picked up by an image pickup device such as a CCD and displayed on a display device.

  Conventionally, various cameras having a live view display function have been proposed. For example, in Patent Document 1 below, a half mirror is arranged in the observation optical path of a single-lens reflex camera (hereinafter abbreviated as a single-lens reflex camera), and one light beam divided by the half mirror is captured by an image sensor. A digital single-lens reflex camera that receives light and performs live view display is disclosed.

  By the way, when realizing a live view display, if a half mirror is arranged in the observation optical path or the imaging optical path, the amount of light reaching the image sensor for live view display depends on the transmittance or reflectance of the half mirror. Therefore, there is a problem that the live view display becomes unclear when the symmetric object has a low luminance.

In such a case, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3 below, a method of adding a plurality of adjacent pixels to improve the sensitivity of the image sensor is effective.
JP 2000-165730 A JP 2001-285648 A JP 2005-044915 A

  However, when the pixel addition technique disclosed in Patent Documents 2 and 3 is applied to the single-lens reflex camera having the live view display function disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, the apparent number of pixels captured by the image sensor is reduced. Therefore, if the number of added pixels is excessively increased, the quality of the live view display may be deteriorated, for example, the display image becomes coarse.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a camera having a live view display function capable of dealing with a low-luminance subject without degrading the quality of the live view display. It is to be.

  That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a camera having a live view display function, an imaging unit including an imaging device capable of adding and outputting charges of a plurality of pixels when an object has low luminance, and an image display Display means for displaying the image data output from the image pickup means on the image display monitor in a predetermined display form when performing the live view display. Is characterized in that the upper limit value of the pixel addition number of the image sensor is limited in accordance with the display form in the display means.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the display means includes a first display mode for displaying the image data in a first display size, and the first display size. And a second display form that displays in a second display size smaller than the second display size, and the imaging means sets the upper limit value of the number of added pixels when the first display form is set to the second display form. The display mode is smaller than when the display form is set.

  The invention described in claim 3 includes an optical element that guides a subject light beam to the observation optical path side, a screen mat disposed in the observation optical path, and an imaging element that can add and output charges of a plurality of pixels, Image pickup means for picking up an image formed on a screen mat, and display means for displaying image data output from the image pickup means at a predetermined size on the image display monitor. The image pickup means limits the upper limit value of the number of added pixels of the image pickup element in accordance with the display size on the display means.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the third aspect, the display means displays the image data as a first display size and a second display size smaller than the first display size. The imaging means is characterized in that the upper limit value of the number of added pixels when the first display size is set is smaller than that when the second display size is set. .

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in a camera having a live view display function, an imaging unit including an imaging device capable of adding and outputting charges of a plurality of pixels when a subject has low luminance, and the imaging unit Display means for displaying the image data output from the display means, and the display means for displaying the image data output from the imaging means in a predetermined display form, and the display means according to the display form in the display means. And control means for limiting an upper limit value of the number of added pixels of the image sensor.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the present invention, the display means includes a first display form for displaying the image data in a first display size, and the first display size. And a second display form that displays in a second display size smaller than the second display size, and the imaging means sets the upper limit value of the number of added pixels when the first display form is set to the second display form. The display mode is smaller than when the display form is set.

  According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in the fifth aspect of the invention, the control means has an upper limit of a frame rate of the image data output from the image sensor in accordance with a display form in the display means. It is characterized by controlling the value.

  The invention described in claim 8 includes an optical element that guides a subject light beam to the observation optical path side, a screen mat disposed in the observation optical path, and an imaging element that can add and output charges of a plurality of pixels. An image pickup means for picking up an image formed on the screen mat, a display means for displaying the image data output from the image pickup means in a predetermined size, and the image pickup means according to the display size in the display means Control means for controlling the display image based on the image data output from the control means, and the control means limits the upper limit value of the pixel addition number of the image sensor in accordance with the display size in the display means. It is characterized by that.

  The invention according to claim 9 is the invention according to claim 8, wherein the display means displays the image data in a first display size and a second display size smaller than the first display size. The imaging means is characterized in that the upper limit value of the number of added pixels when the first display size is set is smaller than that when the second display size is set. .

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the eighth aspect, the control means has an upper limit of a frame rate of the image data output from the imaging device in accordance with a display form in the display means. It is characterized by controlling the value.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the camera which has a live view display function which can respond | correspond to a low-intensity subject can be provided, without reducing the quality of a live view display.

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

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a configuration of a single-lens reflex digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, this single-lens reflex digital camera (hereinafter abbreviated as “camera”) 1 is mainly composed of a lens barrel 10 as an interchangeable lens and a camera body 20. A desired lens barrel 10 is detachably set with respect to the front surface.
On the upper surface of the camera body 20, a release button 21, a mode dial 22, a power switch lever 23, a control dial 24, and the like are provided.

  The release button 21 is a button for executing a shooting preparation operation and an exposure operation. The release button 21 is composed of a two-stage switch of a first release switch and a second release switch. When the release button 21 is pressed halfway, the first release switch is turned on to perform photometric processing or Shooting preparation operations such as distance measurement processing are executed. Further, when the release button 21 is fully pressed, the second release switch is turned on and the exposure operation is executed.

  The mode dial 22 is an operation member for setting a shooting mode at the time of shooting. When the mode dial 22 is rotated in a predetermined direction, a shooting mode at the time of shooting is set. The power switch lever 23 is an operation member for turning on / off the power of the camera 1. By turning the power switch lever 23, the main power supply of the camera 1 is switched on / off.

  The control dial 24 is a member for setting shooting information. By operating the control dial 24, various settings are performed during shooting.

  On the back surface of the body unit 20, a liquid crystal monitor 26 that constitutes display means for displaying captured images, menus, and the like, a playback button 27, a menu button 28, a cross key 30, an OK button 31, and an eyepiece An optical system finder 33 and the like are arranged.

  The playback button 27 is a button for switching the operation mode of the camera 1 to a playback mode in which an image can be played back from a JPEG file recorded on an SDRAM 62 or a recording medium 63 described later. The menu button 28 is a button for displaying a menu screen on the liquid crystal monitor 26. This menu screen is composed of menu items having a plurality of hierarchical structures. The user can select a desired menu item with the cross key 30 and can determine the item selected with the OK button 31. For example, this menu item also includes switching between an AF mode in which the photographic lens is driven in accordance with an AF / AE sensor output described later and an MF mode in which the photographic lens is driven in accordance with a manual operation of the photographer. .

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the finder optical system of the camera in one embodiment of the present invention.

  The finder optical system 40 is a first reflection that is a plurality of mirrors, that is, optical elements, for guiding the light beam from the subject that has passed through the photographing lens 11 in the lens barrel to the eyepiece 47 that constitutes the finder 33. A mirror 41, a second reflection mirror 42, a third reflection mirror 43, a fourth reflection mirror 44, a screen mat 46, and an eyepiece 47 are configured.

  The first reflection mirror 41 is configured to be rotatable about the shaft 41a in the direction of the arrow A, and a part of the first reflection mirror 41 is configured as a half mirror for an AF sensor not shown. The first reflecting mirror 41, as shown in the figure, observes the light beam incident from the photographing lens 11 in the direction of the second reflecting mirror 42, which is at an angle of about 90 ° with respect to the optical axis of the photographing lens 11, as shown in FIG. Reflected rightward when viewed from the lens barrel 10 side of the camera body 20. At the time of imaging, the light beam is retracted from the imaging optical path and operates so that the light flux from the subject is guided to an imaging element (not shown) disposed behind the first reflection mirror 41.

  The light beam reflected by the reflecting surface of the first reflecting mirror 41 enters the second reflecting mirror 42 via the screen mat 46. The second reflection mirror 42 is disposed on the reflection optical axis from the first reflection mirror 41 and the reflection surface is inclined with respect to the reflection optical axis of the first reflection mirror 41 by a predetermined angle. Yes. The reflected light beam from the first reflection mirror 41 that has entered the second reflection mirror 42 is reflected at an angle of approximately 90 ° with respect to the reflection optical axis from the first reflection mirror 41, that is, upward of the camera body 20. Is done.

  The light beam reflected by the reflection surface of the second reflection mirror 42 is on the reflection optical axis of the reflection surface of the second reflection mirror 42, and the reflection surface is predetermined with respect to the reflection optical axis of the second reflection surface. Is incident on a third reflecting mirror 43 that is disposed at an angle of. The reflected light beam from the second reflecting mirror 42 incident on the third reflecting mirror 43 is approximately 90 ° with respect to the reflected optical axis from the reflecting surface of the second reflecting mirror 42 at the reflecting surface of the third reflecting mirror 43. And is reflected in a direction opposite to the reflection direction by the reflection surface of the first reflection mirror 41. That is, the reflected light beam from the reflecting surface of the second reflecting mirror 42 is reflected by the reflecting surface of the third reflecting mirror 43 toward the left direction of the camera body 20. In other words, the light beam reflected by the reflecting surface of the first reflecting mirror 41 is guided by the second and third reflecting mirrors 42 and 43 so that the reflected optical axis of the reflecting surface of the third reflecting mirror 43 is The first reflection mirror 41 faces the fourth reflection mirror 44 substantially parallel to the reflection optical axis of the reflection surface.

  The light beam reflected by the reflection surface of the third reflection mirror 43 is on the reflection optical axis of the reflection surface of the third reflection mirror 43, and the reflection surface is reflected light of the reflection surface of the third reflection mirror 43. The light is incident on a fourth reflecting mirror 44 that is disposed at a predetermined angle with respect to the axis. The reflected light beam from the third reflection mirror 43 incident on the fourth reflection mirror 44 is approximately 90 ° with respect to the reflection optical axis from the third reflection mirror 43 on the reflection surface of the fourth reflection mirror 44. Reflected at an angle of. In other words, the reflected light beam from the reflection surface of the third reflection mirror 43 is incident on the eyepiece 47 arranged on the reflection optical axis of the reflection surface of the fourth reflection mirror 44.

  The screen mat 46 has a diffusing surface for diffusing the light beam incident on the finder optical system 40 as an optical image. The screen mat 46 has a diffusing surface for diffusing the light beam. Are arranged at optically equivalent positions.

  The second reflection mirror 42 and the fourth reflection mirror 44 are half mirrors. A photometric sensor 53 that measures the brightness of the subject is disposed on the back side of the reflecting surface of the second reflecting mirror 42. On the other hand, an imaging lens 50 and an image pickup device 51 for live view display as an image pickup means are disposed on the back side of the reflection surface of the fourth reflection mirror 44. The live view display imaging device 51 is for forming an image on the screen mat 46 through the imaging lens 50. Therefore, although the image formed on the live view display imaging device 51 is inverted, it is the same as the image viewed by the photographer's eyes 48.

  In this way, the subject luminous flux from the photographic lens 11 is inverted and guided to the eyepiece 47 by the first to fourth reflecting mirrors 41 to 44 described above so that the image becomes an erect image. As a result, the subject image formed on the screen mat 46 by the photographer's eye 48 can be observed through the eyepiece 47 (finder 33).

  In the present embodiment, the transmittance and reflectance of each optical element of the finder optical system 40 are as follows. That is, the transmittance of the photographing lens 11 is 100%, the reflectance of the first reflecting mirror 41 is 70%, the transmittance is 30%, the transmittance of the screen mat 46 is 95%, and the reflectance of the second reflecting mirror 42 is the same. The reflectance is 82%, the transmittance is 18%, the reflectance of the third reflecting mirror 43 is 99%, the reflectance of the fourth reflecting mirror 44 is 75%, and the transmittance is 25%. Therefore, the amount of light incident on the live view display CCD 51 is 14% of the amount of light incident on the imaging element 65 for photography described later, that is, about 3 ev lower. That is, the exposure to the live view display imaging device 51 is 3 ev lower than the main exposure to the imaging imaging device 65, but this 3ev insufficient light amount is finally subjected to pixel addition described later. Can be supplemented with.

  In the present embodiment, the first reflecting mirror 41, the second reflecting mirror 42, the third reflecting mirror 43, and the fourth reflecting mirror 44 are arranged so as to reflect at an angle of about 90 ° with respect to the incident light beam. However, it is not limited to this.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic system configuration of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 3, the light beam from the subject 5 is guided to the first reflecting mirror 41 in the camera body 20 through the photographing lens 11 in the lens barrel 10. Then, the light beam reflected upward in FIG. 3 by the first reflecting mirror 41 enters the finder optical system 40. As described above, a part of the light beam incident on the finder optical system 40 is reflected by the fourth reflecting mirror 44 and guided to the eyepiece lens 47, and is visually recognized by the photographer's eye 48. Further, the light beam that is transmitted without being reflected among the light beams incident on the fourth reflection mirror 44 is imaged on the imaging surface of the live view display imaging element (CCD for live view display) 51. An image signal generated by being converted into an electrical signal by the live view display CCD 51 is output to the switching unit 67 via the analog front end unit (AFE) 61.

  The AFE 61 is used for adjusting the variation in data of the live view display CCD 51 and supplying imaging timing to the CCD. The AFE 61 outputs the image data obtained from the live view display CCD 51 to the switching unit 67 under the control of the ASIC 70 described later. The configuration and function of the AFE 66 described later are the same as those of the AFE 61.

  The light beam incident on the first reflection mirror 41 and transmitted through the portion of the half mirror is a sub-mirror provided behind the first reflection mirror 41 on the optical axis of the taking lens 11 (right side in FIG. 3). The light is reflected by 63 and guided to the AF / AE sensor unit 64. The AF / AE sensor unit 64 includes an AF sensor (not shown) and a photometric sensor 63, and is used for automatic ranging and photometry of the camera.

  The first reflecting mirror 41 is located in the photographing optical path as shown in the figure when observing the subject, but is rotated upward about the shaft 41a and is retracted from the photographing optical path (not shown) during the photographing. Move to. At this time, the sub mirror 63 moves to a predetermined retreat position together with the first reflection mirror 41. That is, at the time of shooting, since the first reflecting mirror 41 and the sub mirror 63 are in the retracted position, the light flux from the subject 5 that has passed through the shooting lens 11 is on the imaging surface of the shooting imaging element (main CCD) 65. Is imaged. The image signal generated by being converted into an electrical signal by the main CCD 65 is output to the switching unit 67 via the analog front end unit (AFE) 66.

  The switching unit 67 switches the outputs from the AFE 61 and the AFE 66 and supplies them to an application specific integrated circuit (hereinafter abbreviated as ASIC) 70. The ASIC 70 has both a function as a control means and a function as a control unit of a peripheral circuit. In this case, the ASIC 70 includes the photographing lens 11, the first reflection mirror 41, the sub mirror 63, the AF / AE sensor unit 64, the AFE 61 and 66, the switching unit 67, the flash memory 71, the USB 72, the TFT liquid crystal driver 73, and the SDRAM 75. It controls the recording medium (Media) 76 and the like.

  The ASIC 70 includes a liquid crystal monitor (TFT) 26 via the photographing lens 11, the first reflecting mirror 41, the AF / AE sensor unit 64, AFEs 61 and 66, the switching unit 67, the flash memory 71, the USB 72, and the TFT liquid crystal driver 73. In addition to the SDRAM 75 and the recording medium (Media) 76, a switch (SW) unit 77 and the like are connected.

  The photographing lens 11 is moved in the optical axis direction based on the driving amount calculated in the ASIC 70 from the result obtained by the AF / AE sensor unit 64. Further, the first reflection mirror 41 and the sub mirror 63 are moved to the observation position and the retreat position at a predetermined timing under the control of the ASIC 70.

  The flash memory 71, SDRAM 75, and recording medium 76 are provided as a storage area of the camera 1. For example, the flash memory 71 stores a code for operating the camera, menu settings, adjustment data, and the like. The SDRAM 75 is used as a buffer for image data processing and temporary storage. Further, the recording medium 76 is an external recording medium such as various memory cards and an external hard disk drive (HDD) that can be attached to and detached from the camera body 20 via a camera interface (not shown).

  The USB 72 is an interface for connecting to an external device such as a printer. The TFT liquid crystal driver 73 is for driving the liquid crystal monitor 26, and displays specified data and images on the liquid crystal monitor 26 according to the control of the ASIC 70.

  The switch unit 77 includes various buttons and switches such as the release button 21, the menu button 28, and the OK button 31 described above.

  FIG. 4 is a view showing a display example when only the exposure information is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 26.

  In FIG. 4, 81 is a mark representing the remaining battery level, 82 is a mark representing the exposure mode, 83 is a mark representing the shutter speed, 84 is a mark representing the aperture value, 85 is a mark representing the exposure correction value, and 86 is a mark representing the exposure correction value. A mark representing noise reduction (noise removal), 87 is a mark representing AE lock, 88 is a mark representing a photometry mode, and 89 is a mark representing an exposure correction indicator and an exposure level indicator. 91 is a mark indicating the flash mode, 92 is a mark indicating the AF frame, 93 is a mark indicating the drive mode, 94 is a mark indicating the image quality mode, 95 is a mark indicating ISO sensitivity, and 96 is white balance. A mark 97, a mark representing color setting, etc., and a mark 98 representing the number of remaining shots.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the liquid crystal monitor 26 in the live view mode.

  FIG. 5A shows a display state at the time of autofocus (AF mode), and an image 100 displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 26 includes an image 101 captured by the main CCD 65 and various photographing information 102. A mark 106 corresponding to the AF frame used when performing AF distance measurement on the screen mat 46 is displayed at a substantially central portion of the image 101.

  In this case, the liquid crystal monitor 26 can display 120,000 pixels, but the displayed image 101 has 100,000 pixels, and pixel addition can be performed for 1, 2, 4 and 9 pixels. It is. In this state, the frame rate is 1/30 sec. (30 frames / sec.), 1/20 sec. 1/15 sec. Can be changed. The pixel addition increases the number of pixels to be added when the reference image is dark. Similarly, the frame rate is lowered when the reference image is dark. However, when pixel addition is performed, the sensitivity increases, but the image becomes rough. Also, when the frame rate is lowered, the image becomes brighter, but the delay that occurs between the actual captured image increases. Therefore, in this embodiment, the pixel addition and the frame rate are set to appropriate values according to the purpose of use.

  Details of the pixel addition are described in Patent Documents 2 and 3 described above, but will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating an example of a pixel when adding two adjacent pixels, FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating an example of adding four adjacent pixels, and FIG. FIG. 6D is a diagram illustrating an example in which the adjacent nine pixels are added, and FIG. 6D is a diagram illustrating an example in which the adjacent 16 pixels are added. FIG. 6E is a diagram showing an example of components of the _two pixels P ₁ and P ₂ shown in FIG.

Now, as shown in FIG. 6E, the components of the _two pixels P ₁ and P ₂ are respectively G ₁₁ , G ₁₂ , R ₁ , B ₁ , G ₂₁ , G ₂₂ , R ₂ , and B ₂ . . Then, the pixel component after the two-pixel addition is performed is represented by G ₁₁ + G ₁₂ + G ₂₁ + G ₂₂ , R component R ₁ + R ₂ , and B component B ₁ + B ₂ . The same applies to 4 pixels, 9 pixels, and 16 pixels. This pixel addition increases the addition number when the image becomes dark.

  FIG. 5B is an example of a live view image during manual focus (MF mode) or the like, and the image is displayed on the entire screen of the liquid crystal monitor 26. In the case of manual focus, the purpose is to adjust the focus, so that the larger the image display, the easier it is to operate. Therefore, pixel addition is possible only for 1, 2 and 4 pixels so that the image does not become dark, and the frame rate is 1/30 sec. So that there is no delay in order to match the actual movement of the subject 5. Only to.

  FIG. 5C shows an example in which a live view image is displayed while displaying main shooting information. In this case, an image is displayed on the entire screen of the liquid crystal monitor 26. Pixel addition is possible for 1, 2 and 4 pixels, and the frame rate is 1/30 sec. 1/20 sec. It can be changed.

  FIG. 5D, unlike FIG. 5C, is an example in which various shooting information is displayed while displaying an actual image small. In this case, since the purpose is to perform shooting while viewing the shooting information, display of shooting information is more important than the image itself. Accordingly, the display image is not related to the image quality, and may be 30,000 pixels, which is 1/4 of the liquid crystal monitor 26, and pixel addition can be performed for 1, 2, 4, 9 and 16. The frame rate is 1/30 sec. 1/20 sec. 1/15 sec. 1/10 sec. It is possible to change to 4 stages.

  FIG. 5E is a display example of an image obtained by performing digital zoom four times the display image of FIG. 5A or 5B. In this case, the display image has 120,000 pixels, but since the digital zoom is performed, the image itself is displayed coarser than those shown in FIGS. Therefore, the pixel addition is 1 time, that is, no pixel addition is performed. On the other hand, the frame rate is allowed to be delayed to some extent because pixel addition is not performed. Therefore, 1/30 sec. 1/20 sec. 1/15 sec. Can be changed.

  Next, the operation of the live view mode of the camera according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. The operation of the camera is mainly performed by the control of the ASIC 70.

  When the live view mode routine is entered from the main routine of the camera (not shown) by setting the live view mode using the mode dial 22 or operating the live view mode setting button (not shown), first, in step S1, the live view mode is displayed. The power of the display CCD 51 is turned on. In step S2, the switching unit 67 is set to the live view display CCD 51 side. In step S3, a frame rate for operating the live view display CCD 51 is initialized. In this case, “30 frames / sec.” Is set. In step S4, the start of live view display is instructed.

  Next, the operation of the mode dial 22 is detected in step S5. In subsequent step S6, the display mode is set. In step S7, the field luminance is compared with a predetermined value. Here, if the field luminance is equal to or higher than the predetermined value LV3 (ev) (when bright), the process proceeds to step S17 described later, and if smaller than LV3 (when dark), the process proceeds to step S8.

  In step S8, the upper limit value of pixel addition, the upper limit value of the frame rate, and the upper limit value of sensitivity are calculated in the ASIC 70 according to the display mode set in step S6. Next, in step S9, image data is read from the live view display CCD 51. In step S10, it is determined whether or not the exposure is appropriate from the image data read in step S9. If the exposure is appropriate, the process proceeds to step S17, which will be described later. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S11.

  In step S11, the sensitivity of the image sensor, that is, the live view display CCD 51 is detected. If the sensitivity of the live view display CCD 51 is equal to or greater than the upper limit value, the process proceeds to step S13. On the other hand, if the sensitivity of the live view display CCD 51 has not reached the upper limit, the process proceeds to step S12 to increase the sensitivity, and then the process proceeds to step S9 to repeat the subsequent processing operations.

  In step S13, it is determined whether or not the pixel addition of the live view display CCD 51 has reached the upper limit. As a result, if the upper limit is reached, the process proceeds to step S15; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S14. In step S14, the pixel addition number of the live view display CCD 51 is increased. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S9 and the subsequent processing operations are repeated.

  In step S15, the frame rate of the live view display CCD 51 is determined. If the frame rate has reached the upper limit, the process proceeds to step S17, and if not, the process proceeds to step S16. Here, the longest time is the upper limit. In step S16, the frame rate is set slower. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S9 and the subsequent processing operations are repeated.

  In step S17, it is determined whether the first release switch of the release button 21, that is, the two-stage release switch is half-pressed. If the first release switch is not turned on, the process proceeds to step S33 to determine whether or not the mode has been changed. As a result, if the mode has not been changed, the process proceeds to step S4, and the subsequent processing is repeated. On the other hand, when the mode is changed, that is, when the mode is changed to a mode other than the live view mode, the process proceeds to step S34 to instruct to stop the live view display. Next, when the power of the live view display CCD 51 is turned off in step S35, the switching unit 67 is switched to the main CCD 65 side in step S36. Thereafter, the process exits this routine and returns to the main routine (not shown).

  If the first release switch is turned on in step S17, the process proceeds to step S18 and the power of the main CCD 65 is turned on. In step S19, photometry and exposure calculation are performed on the subject 5 by the AF / AE sensor unit 64 and the ASIC 70. Subsequently, in step S20, the AF / AE sensor unit 64 and the ASIC 70 execute distance measurement and focus adjustment. As described above, in steps S19 and S20, predetermined arithmetic processing (AE, AF) is executed.

  Next, in step S21, it is determined whether or not the second release switch of the release button 21, that is, the two-stage release switch is fully pressed. If the second release switch is not turned on, the process proceeds to step S22, and the state of the first release switch is determined. As a result, if the first release switch is turned on, the process proceeds to step S21. If not, the process proceeds to step S4, and the subsequent processing operations are performed.

  If the second release switch is turned on in step S21, the process proceeds to step S23 and an instruction to stop the live view display is given. Then, the process proceeds to step S24 and the power of the live view display CCD 51 is turned off. The Subsequently, in step S25, the switching unit 67 switches the CCD to the main CCD 65 side.

  Thereafter, in step S26, the first reflecting mirror 41 is instructed to move (mirror up) from the imaging optical path to a retracted position (not shown). Next, an imaging operation by the main CCD 65 is executed in step S27. When the imaging operation is completed, in the subsequent step S28, the first reflecting mirror 41 that has been moved to the retracted position is instructed to move again (mirror down) to the observation position in the imaging optical path.

  In step S29, an instruction is given to read out image data corresponding to the image captured in the main CCD 65 in step S27. In step S30, the live view display CCD 51 is turned on. When the reading of the image data corresponding to the image captured by the main CCD 65 is completed in step S31, predetermined image processing such as JPEG compression is performed in the subsequent step S32, and then the image data recording medium is recorded. A write operation to 76 is instructed to begin. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S2.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a live view display image that is easy to view according to the shooting environment and display pixels.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the live view display imaging device and the imaging imaging device are configured by the CCD has been described. However, the embodiment is not limited thereto, and may be configured by an imaging device such as a CMOS. Of course.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention other than embodiment mentioned above, this invention can be variously modified.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an external perspective view illustrating a configuration of a single-lens reflex type digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a finder optical system of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic system configuration of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the figure which showed the example of a display when only exposure information is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor. It is the figure which showed the example of the display screen of the liquid crystal monitor 26 in live view mode. (A) is a diagram showing an example of pixels when adding two adjacent pixels, (b) is a diagram showing an example of adding four adjacent pixels, and (c) is adding nine adjacent pixels. diagram showing an example of a case where, (d) is a diagram showing an example of a case of adding the 16 pixel adjacent, (e) the two components of the pixels P _1, P ₂ as shown in (a) example FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement of the live view mode of the camera which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement of the live view mode of the camera which is one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Camera, 5 ... Subject, 10 ... Lens barrel, 12 ... Shooting lens, 13 ... Drive part, 21 ... Release button, 22 ... Mode dial, 26 ... Liquid crystal monitor, 40 ... Viewfinder optical system, 41 ... First reflection Mirror 42, second reflection mirror 43, third reflection mirror 44, fourth reflection mirror 46, screen mat, 47 eyepiece, 50 imaging lens, 51 image sensor for live view display (live view) CCD for display), 53 ... photometric sensor, 61, 66 ... analog front end unit (AFE), 64 ... AF / AE sensor unit, 65 ... imaging device for imaging (main CCD), 67 ... switching unit, 70 ... specific application Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), 71... Flash memory, 7 ... USB, 73 ... TFT LCD driver, 75 ... SDRAM, 76 ... recording media (Media), 77 ... switch (SW) section.

Claims (10)

In a camera with a live view display function,
An imaging means including an imaging device capable of adding and outputting charges of a plurality of pixels when the subject has low luminance;
A display unit that includes an image display monitor and displays the image data output from the imaging unit on the image display monitor in a predetermined display form when performing the live view display;
Comprising
The camera having a live view display function, wherein the imaging means limits an upper limit value of the number of added pixels of the imaging element in accordance with a display form on the display means.   The display means can set a first display mode for displaying the image data in a first display size and a second display mode for displaying in a second display size smaller than the first display size. 2. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the upper limit value of the number of added pixels when the first display form is set is smaller than that when the second display form is set. A camera having a live view display function described in 1. An optical element that guides the subject luminous flux toward the observation optical path;
A screen mat disposed in the observation optical path;
An imaging device including an imaging device capable of adding and outputting charges of a plurality of pixels, and imaging an image formed on the screen mat;
Display means including an image display monitor, and displaying the image data output from the imaging means on the image display monitor in a predetermined size;
Comprising
The camera having a live view display function, wherein the imaging means limits an upper limit value of the number of added pixels of the imaging element in accordance with a display size on the display means.   The display means can display the image data in a first display size and a second display size smaller than the first display size, and the imaging means is set to the first display size. 4. The camera having a live view display function according to claim 3, wherein the upper limit value of the number of added pixels is smaller than that when the second display size is set. In a camera with a live view display function,
An imaging means including an imaging device capable of adding and outputting charges of a plurality of pixels when the subject has low luminance;
Display means for displaying the image data output from the imaging means;
Control for limiting the upper limit value of the number of added pixels of the image sensor in accordance with the display mode in the display unit, which causes the display unit to display the image data output from the imaging unit in a predetermined display mode. Means,
A camera having a live view display function.   The display means can set a first display mode for displaying the image data in a first display size and a second display mode for displaying in a second display size smaller than the first display size. 6. The imaging device according to claim 5, wherein the upper limit value of the number of added pixels when the first display form is set is smaller than that when the second display form is set. A camera having a live view display function described in 1.   The live view display function according to claim 5, wherein the control unit controls an upper limit value of a frame rate of the image data output from the image sensor according to a display form in the display unit. Having a camera. An optical element that guides the subject luminous flux toward the observation optical path;
A screen mat disposed in the observation optical path;
An imaging device including an imaging device capable of adding and outputting charges of a plurality of pixels, and imaging an image formed on the screen mat;
Display means for displaying the image data output from the imaging means in a predetermined size;
Control means for controlling a display image based on the image data output from the imaging means in accordance with the display size in the display means;
Comprising
The camera having a live view display function, wherein the control means limits an upper limit value of the number of added pixels of the image pickup device in accordance with a display size in the display means.   The display means can display the image data in a first display size and a second display size smaller than the first display size, and the imaging means is set to the first display size. 9. The camera having a live view display function according to claim 8, wherein an upper limit value of the number of added pixels is smaller than that when the second display size is set.   9. The live view display function according to claim 8, wherein the control unit controls an upper limit value of a frame rate of the image data output from the image sensor in accordance with a display form on the display unit. Having a camera.

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