JP3900364B2 - Digital camera - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital camera capable of converting light from a subject to be photographed into a digital signal and storing it.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a digital camera that converts light into an electric signal by an optical sensor such as a CCD, converts the electric signal into digital data, and stores it in a storage medium such as a flash memory is known. With a digital camera, you can easily store image data and perform various processing using a personal computer, etc., and develop the film by outputting images with a personal computer or a printer that can be directly connected to the digital camera. You can print photos without any. Due to the improvement in printer printing quality, it has become possible to print high quality photos that are almost indistinguishable from silver halide photos.

  In a digital camera equipped with a liquid crystal display (LCD), the shooting range can be accurately determined by using the LCD as a viewfinder during shooting. In addition, after shooting, the image can be confirmed on the spot, and unnecessary image data such as an image that has failed to be shot can be easily deleted.

  On the other hand, CCDs used in digital cameras generally have a narrower dynamic range than silver halide photographic films, so if the exposure adjustment is inappropriate during shooting, some of the images will fly white or collapse black. Sometimes. Normally, a digital camera can automatically adjust the exposure by adjusting the shutter speed and aperture according to the amount of light received by the CCD, but it is difficult to always set an appropriate exposure under any conditions. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a function that allows the user to arbitrarily adjust the exposure.

As described above, the digital camera has more functions than the silver halide camera. In order for the user to select a process to be executed by such a function, the digital camera is provided with a plurality of operation buttons.

However, when one button is assigned to each of the processes executed by the digital camera as described above, there is a problem that the number of buttons increases as the number of functions increases, which is difficult for the user to understand. In addition, for example, when a deletion process is executed by pressing only one button, there is a problem that important image data may be deleted if a person unfamiliar with the operation accidentally presses the button. .

  In order to reduce the number of operation buttons, a menu method that displays multiple types of processing performed by the digital camera on the LCD, selects processing by pressing the selection button, and executes the processing selected by pressing the decision button Is also possible. However, in the case of the menu method, there is a problem that it is necessary to press a button many times before selecting and determining a process, and the operation becomes complicated.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a digital camera capable of deleting image data with a simple operation and preventing erroneous operation in the image data deletion operation. It is in.

  According to the digital camera of the first aspect of the present invention, from the optical sensor having a plurality of imaging elements, a condensing lens for condensing light from a subject to be photographed on the optical sensor, a shutter button, and the optical sensor. Conversion means for converting the output signal into image data, means for recording the image data in a nonvolatile storage medium when the shutter button is pressed, a screen, and the nonvolatile storage medium when the shutter button is pressed Means for displaying the image data on the screen while the image data is being recorded, and recording the image data on the nonvolatile storage medium after the shutter button is pressed and the recording is started. While the image data until completion is displayed, a first operating means for inputting an instruction to delete the image data, and when the deletion instruction is input, the deletion is performed. Means for displaying an instruction confirmation or cancellation menu on the screen; operation means for selecting confirmation of the deletion instruction; second operation means different from the first operation means; and the deletion And means for deleting the image data displayed on the screen from the non-volatile storage medium when the confirmation of the instruction is selected.

  According to the digital camera of the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the means for displaying the exposure change degree is provided, the user can check the exposure change degree.

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

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the structure of the digital camera 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. A control device 11, a condenser lens 12, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) 13 as an optical sensor, an A / D converter 14, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 15 for temporarily recording image data, and a flash for recording image data. A memory 16, a liquid crystal display (LCD) 17 as a display means for displaying an image, a VRAM 18 in which data for an image displayed on the liquid crystal display is stored, and a flash memory 16 for outputting the contents to an external device The interface 19 is configured. The control device 11 includes a CPU, a ROM in which programs for performing various controls of the digital camera 1 are recorded, and input / output means. The condenser lens 12 is provided with a diaphragm 121 for adjusting the amount of light input to the condenser lens 12.

  By using the CCD 13 in which a plurality of imaging elements having complementary color filters of C (Cyan), M (Magenta), Y (Yellow), and G (Green) are arranged in a matrix as the CCD 13, a color image is taken. Can do. The complementary color filter may have three colors of C, M, and Y. A CCD having primary color filters of R (Red), G (Green), and B (Blue) may be used. As the RAM 15, a DRAM having a self-refresh function is used. The flash memory 16 is a rewritable storage medium that can hold recorded contents without being energized, and is built in the digital camera 1 or detachably attached to the digital camera 1. By using, for example, a memory card conforming to the PCMCIA standard or a memory card that can be attached to a PCMCIA card adapter as the flash memory 16, the contents of the flash memory 16 can be directly read and written by a personal computer having a PCMCIA card slot.

  FIG. 1 is a rear view showing a digital camera 10 of the present embodiment. Shooting is performed by pressing a shutter button 101 as a processing button. The control device 11 can distinguish and recognize “half press” in which the shutter button 101 is pressed halfway in the movable range and “full press” in which the shutter button 101 is pressed to the limit of the movable range. The user selects one of the three modes “View”, “Off”, and “Playback” with the mode changeover switch 102 that switches the mode of the LCD 17. The “View” mode is a mode in which shooting is performed using the LCD 17 as a viewfinder. “Off” is a mode in which the LCD 17 is not displayed in order to save power consumption of the digital camera 1 and the optical viewfinder 101 is viewed for photographing. The “Playback” mode is a mode for displaying an image based on image data that has already been shot and recorded in the flash memory 16.

  The digital camera 10 further includes a select key 103, a first arrow key 104, a second arrow key 105, and a back key 106 as process buttons for the user to instruct the control device 11 to execute the process. In addition, a function key 107 is provided as a function button that changes an instruction by the processing button when pressed simultaneously with the processing button. The control device 11 periodically detects whether or not each key is pressed, and when the key is pressed, executes a predetermined program to control the digital camera 10. Since the operation buttons and the function keys 107 are arranged on both sides of the LCD 17, it is easy to press the operation buttons and the function keys 107 simultaneously when holding the digital camera 10 with both hands. “Pressing the function button and the processing button simultaneously” includes pressing the processing button further from the state where the function button is held down.

  Next, the operation of the digital camera 1 of this embodiment will be described.

  When the mode switch 102 is set to “Playback”, an image based on the image data in the flash memory 16 is displayed on the LCD 17. Pressing the first arrow key 104 displays the next image, and pressing the second arrow key 105 displays the previous image.

  When the select key 103 is pressed, the menu display mode is entered, and various settings such as date and image quality can be made. By selecting an item to be set with the first arrow key 104 and the second arrow key 105 and pressing the select key 103 again, the setting can be changed. Here, conditions such as numerical values can be changed by the first arrow key 104 and the second arrow key 105. Further, the user can return to the previous screen by pressing the back key 106.

  In the “Playback” mode, when the back key 106 is pressed while the function key 107 is pressed, the image deletion mode is set. In the image deletion mode, as shown in FIG. 3, two character strings “SELECT: this image deletion” and “BACK: cancellation” are displayed. When the select key is pressed here, the image data displayed immediately before entering the image deletion mode is deleted from the flash memory 16. When the back key is pressed, the image data is not deleted and the “Playback” mode is restored.

  When the mode changeover switch 102 is in the “View” position, the light condensed on the CCD 13 by the condenser lens 12 is converted into an electrical signal every few seconds to several tens of seconds. It is converted into image data and transferred to the VRAM 18, and the shooting target is displayed on the LCD 17 as a moving image.

  The exposure at the time of photographing is changed by the control device 11 controlling the aperture 121 and shutter speed of the condenser lens 12, that is, the accumulation time of the CCD 13, based on the data output from the CCD 13. The exposure automatically set by the control device is referred to as automatic exposure. As the shutter of the digital camera 10, a shutter that physically blocks light, an electronic shutter of the CCD 13, or both can be used.

  The exposure can be adjusted by pressing the first arrow key 104 or the second arrow key 105 while pressing the function key 107. Each time the first arrow key 104 is pressed while pressing the function key 107, the exposure is corrected by 0.75 EV in one step, and every time the second arrow key 105 is pressed while pressing the function key 107, 1 is added. In steps, 0.75 EV is corrected to the under side. Arbitrary exposure can be selected from a total of 5 steps, 2 steps each from the automatic exposure to the over side and the under side. The brightness of the image displayed on the LCD 17 is changed according to the exposure adjustment. That is, the LCD 17 is used as means for displaying the exposure change degree described in the claims. The degree of exposure change may be displayed on the LCD 17 by characters.

  When the user half-presses the shutter button 101 of the digital camera 1, appropriate exposure and focus are set for the image recognized by the CCD 13, and the exposure and focus are fixed while the shutter button 101 is half-pressed.

  When the user fully presses the shutter button 101, all charges accumulated in the CCD 13 are once discharged, and then light collected by the condenser lens 12 is input to the CCD 13. In the CCD 13, the light is converted into a charge corresponding to the amount of light.

  The electrical signal output from the CCD 13 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 14. The digital data output from the A / D converter 14 is recorded by designating the address of the RAM 15 directly without using the control device 11 by DMA (Direct Memory Access) for high speed.

  The data recorded in the RAM 15 is subjected to various image corrections such as white balance adjustment, interpolation processing, and color correction, and then JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) or the like in order to increase the number of recordings in the flash memory 16. To generate image data with a small capacity. JPEG is a commonly used irreversible image compression method capable of handling an image of about 16.7 million colors, and the stored image quality can be adjusted by changing the compression rate. JPEG compression is performed by software by the control device 11, and a dedicated circuit can be used for speeding up. The JPEG compressed image data is recorded in the flash memory 16.

  Although it may take several seconds to several tens of seconds from the start of recording the image data to the flash memory 16 to completion, an image based on the image data continues to be displayed on the LCD 17 during that time. At this time, when the function key 107 and the back key 106 are pressed at the same time, the deletion mode is set, and two character strings “SELECT: recording stop” and “BACK: recording continue” are displayed on the LCD 17 as shown in FIG. . Recording to the flash memory 16 is stopped by pressing the select key 103, and recording is continued by pressing the back key 106. When the recording to the flash memory 16 is stopped, the data of the next photographed image is overwritten with the image data whose recording is stopped. For this reason, when a failure is noticed immediately after shooting, recording in the flash memory 16 can be interrupted to quickly prepare for the next shooting.

  When the mode switch 102 is in the “Off” position, the LCD 17 is not energized, and the LCD 17 is always in a non-display state. Normally, the CCD 13 is not energized, and the CCD 13 starts operating when the user presses the shutter button 101 halfway. Other operations are the same as those in the “View” mode, and the exposure can be changed by pressing the first arrow key or the second arrow key while pressing the function key 107. When the exposure is changed, the degree of exposure adjustment can be displayed on a small second LCD (not shown) provided on the top surface of the digital camera 10 separately from the LCD 17. The second LCD is used as means for displaying the exposure change degree described in the claims.

  As described above, according to the digital camera of the present invention as described in the embodiments, frequently used processes such as image data deletion and exposure correction can be executed with a simple operation and with few erroneous operations. it can. In this embodiment, image data is deleted and exposure adjustment is performed, but other processing such as shooting with a special effect can be performed by pressing the shutter button while pressing the function key.

  In this embodiment, a digital camera having an LCD has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to a digital camera having no LCD.

It is a rear view which shows the digital camera by one Example of this invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a digital camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the screen displayed on LCD of the digital camera by one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the screen displayed on LCD of the digital camera by one Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Digital camera, 11 Control apparatus, 12 Condensing lens, 121 Diaphragm, 13 CCD (light sensor), 14 A / D converter (conversion means), 15 RAM (storage means), 16 Flash memory (storage means), 17 Liquid crystal display device (LCD, display means), 18 VRAM, 19 interface, 101 shutter button (processing button), 102 mode selector switch, 103 select key (processing button), 104 first arrow key (processing button), 105 2 arrow keys (processing buttons), 106 back key (processing buttons), 107 function keys (function buttons), 108 optical viewfinder

Claims (1)

An optical sensor having a plurality of image sensors;
A condensing lens for condensing light from the object to be photographed on the optical sensor;
A shutter button;
Conversion means for converting an output signal from the optical sensor into image data;
Means for recording the image data in a non-volatile storage medium when the shutter button is pressed;
Screen,
Means for displaying the image data on the screen while the image data is recorded on the non-volatile storage medium when the shutter button is pressed;
An instruction to delete the image data is input while the image data is displayed from when the shutter button is pressed until the recording is started until the recording of the image data to the nonvolatile storage medium is completed. A first operating means for
Means for displaying on the screen a menu for confirming or canceling the deletion instruction when the deletion instruction is input;
Operation means for selecting confirmation of the deletion instruction, second operation means different from the first operation means;
Means for deleting from the non-volatile storage medium the image data displayed on the screen when the deletion instruction confirmation is selected;
Digital camera equipped with.

Images