JP2003060972A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera that attains panning photographing with a simple operation, without the need for a photographer to make entry of a speed and a position. SOLUTION: The position of an object is detected on the basis of a range- finding value, measured by a multi-point range finding section 101 and a speed detection section 103 detects the speed of the object, on the basis of a change in the position of the object. When the object enters a predetermined particular position, a start position arrival detection section 104 issues an automatic tracking start instruction and an exposure start instruction of the object, to make a camera turning device 120 to turn a camera body 100 for automatically tracking the object according to the speed of the object, and to allow an exposure section 108 for exposing a film.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera capable of panning and photographing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a technique called panning in camera photography. This is to shoot while changing the direction of the camera according to the speed of the moving subject,
It is a technique that allows you to take a photograph that gives the subject a sense of dynamism, but it was not something that anyone could do to match the camera and shutter speed with the movement of the subject.

[0003] In such a flow, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-154214 has been proposed as a camera for allowing the camera itself to perform panning and photographing.
Some are disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication. This camera has a mode called panning mode, and its operation is
The moving speed of the subject and the distance measurement data are input to the camera in advance, and the camera is kept in a stand-by state. When the subject appears on the screen of the camera in this state, the blur correction lens follows the subject in accordance with the movement speed and distance data input in advance and captures an image.

[0004]

However, the camera disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2-154214 must first input data such as the speed and distance of the subject, which is troublesome to the photographer. It can be made to feel. In addition, since the camera itself is used for shooting while shooting, the subject may pass the shooting range immediately, and the number of panned shots may decrease.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a camera capable of taking a large number of follow shots with a simple operation.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, in the camera according to the present invention, the main subject enters the photographing screen from outside the photographing screen and reaches a specific position in the photographing screen. Arrival detection means for detecting, and speed detection means for detecting the moving speed of the main subject in the shooting screen,
When the arrival detection means detects that the main subject has reached a specific position in the photographing screen, the main subject is moved relative to the specific position based on the speed information detected by the speed detection means. Rotation means for rotating the camera body so that the camera body is physically stopped.

That is, according to the camera of the present invention, when the arrival detecting means detects that the main object has entered the photographed image, the speed detecting means detects the moving speed of the main object, By rotating the camera body according to the detected speed and exposing the film accordingly, the follow shot can be performed without the photographer inputting the speed in advance.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the camera of the present invention detects a deviation between the position of the main subject located in the photographing screen and a specific position in the photographing screen, and outputs deviation information. Output means for rotating the camera body based on the deviation information output from the deviation information means so as to relatively stop the main subject at the specific position. Is characterized by.

That is, according to the camera of the present invention, the deviation between the main subject and a specific position in the photographing screen is detected, and the rotation speed of the camera is changed according to the deviation, so that the main subject is always photographed. You can take panning shots while relatively stopping at a specific position on the screen.

Further, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the camera of the present invention has an arrival detecting means for detecting that the main object has reached a specific position on the photographing screen, and the main object is detected by the arrival detecting means. Rotating means for rotating the camera body so that the main subject relatively stops at the specific position after it is detected that the main position has reached a specific position in the photographing screen. .

That is, according to the camera of the present invention, when the main subject reaches a specific position in the photographing screen, the main body of the camera is rotated so that the main subject relatively stops at that position. , I am able to take panning shots.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] The camera according to the first embodiment detects the speed of a main subject entering the photographing screen, and the main subject detects the speed based on the speed information. The subject is tracked so as to relatively stop at a specific position inside. Then, by performing the exposure operation during the tracking operation, it is possible to take a photograph in which the main subject is still while the background is flowing, that is, a so-called panning photograph. The tracking operation is performed by fixing the camera body to a rotation device different from the camera body, and the rotation device directly rotates the camera body.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a camera according to this embodiment.

That is, the camera of the present embodiment comprises a camera body 100 for taking a picture and a camera turning device 120 for turning the camera body 100 for tracking a subject.

The camera body 100 includes a multi-point distance measuring section 101 including a plurality of distance measuring means for measuring an object, an entrance detecting section 102 for detecting that the object has entered the photographing range,
A speed detection unit 103 for detecting the speed of the subject, a start position arrival detection unit 104 corresponding to the above-mentioned arrival detection unit, which detects that the subject has entered a specific position at which automatic tracking and exposure operations of the subject are started, The approach direction setting unit 105 for the photographer to set in advance from which of the left and right directions, the release operation unit 106 that causes the camera to perform an exposure operation by manual operation, and the exposure operation of the camera. An exposure control unit 107 for controlling, and an exposure unit 10 controlled by the exposure control unit 107 for exposing a film (not shown).
8 and a start position setting unit 109 for setting a specific position for starting the above-mentioned automatic tracking or exposure operation.

The camera rotation device 120 also includes a power supply control unit 1 for driving and controlling the drive unit 123 of the rotation device 120.
21, a power supply unit 122 that is a power supply of the rotating device 120,
The camera rotation mechanism 1 is controlled by the power supply control unit 121.
The drive unit 123 drives the camera 24, and the camera rotation mechanism 124 that rotates the camera body 100.

Next, the operation of the camera according to this embodiment will be described.

In order to track the main subject so as to stop at a specific position within the shooting screen, at least the position and the moving speed of the subject within the shooting screen are unknown, the tracking start timing and the tracking speed (when the camera body is rotated). It is not possible to determine the moving speed).

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the multipoint distance measuring unit 101 repeats the distance measuring operation for a plurality of points arranged at a predetermined interval in the photographing screen, and the time of the distance measuring result at each distance measuring point is measured. The position and the moving speed of the subject in the shooting screen are detected based on the dynamic change.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the display in the viewfinder observed by the photographer. In the figure, the field frame 1 corresponding to the shooting screen
Marks 131 to 135 indicated by [] in 30 indicate points at which the multipoint distance measuring unit 101 measures distances.
The multi-point distance measuring unit 101 calculates distance data of a subject located at each point by a known distance measuring technique such as active AF technique. The number of points is not limited to 5 as shown in this figure.
The distance data output by the distance measuring operation repeatedly performed by the multi-point distance measuring unit 101 is sent to the entry detecting unit 102, the speed detecting unit 103, and the start position arrival detecting unit 104.

In the follow shot, since the approach direction of the main subject is often known in advance, the operator must set the approach direction (right side or left side) of the main subject by the approach direction setting unit 105. You can do it. The setting information set by the approach direction setting unit 105 is also sent to the approach detection unit 102. It should be noted that the setting of the approach direction does not necessarily have to be performed.

In the approach detection unit 102, when the approach direction is set by the approach direction setting unit 105, the outermost distance measuring point 135 (that is, the right end or the left end) in the set direction, or Only the output of 131 is repeatedly checked.

On the other hand, when the approach direction is not set, among the plurality of distance measurement results measured by the multipoint distance measuring unit 101, the distance change abruptly with respect to the previous distance measurement result (near distance side). The point that has been shifted is detected.

In this approach detection unit 102, when the approach direction is set, when the output of the distance measuring point being checked changes abruptly as compared with the previous time, or the approach direction is changed. If it is not set, when a point that has drastically changed (shifted to the short distance side) from the previous distance measurement result among the plurality of distance measurement points is detected, it is said that "the main subject has been supplemented". to decide. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, when the main subject 143 enters the shooting screen from the right side of the screen, the distance measurement data of the distance measurement point 135 changes from the long distance value to the short distance value. Therefore, it can be recognized that the main subject 143 has entered from the right side of the screen.

In this way, when it is detected that the main subject 143 has entered the photographing screen, a detection signal, which is a signal indicating which distance-measuring value of the distance-measuring point has changed, is output from the entrance-detecting unit 102. It is output toward the speed detection unit 103.

In response to the detection signal, the speed detecting section 103 outputs the output of the point next to the distance measuring point on the side where the main subject 143 has entered (the distance measuring point 134 in the case of the above example). Wait for a sharp change compared to. That is, when it is detected that the distance measurement result of the distance measurement point 134 has changed, the main subject 143 has reached the distance measurement point 134 as shown in FIG. After the distance measurement result of the distance measurement point 135 at this time changes from the long distance value to the short distance value, the distance measurement point 1
The time required for the distance measurement result 34 to change from a long distance value to a short distance value is obtained. That is, since the time required for the subject to reach the distance measuring point 134 from the distance measuring point 135 is determined, this time is the time for which the main subject 14 in the photographing screen is used.
3 represents the moving speed. The moving speed information detected by the speed detector 103 is sent to the exposure controller 107.

When the speed detection by the speed detecting unit 103 is completed, the main subject 143 waits until it reaches a specific position on the screen. This specific position corresponds to the point where the above-mentioned automatic tracking operation is started,
It is determined by the start position setting unit 109 by the photographer selecting any of the five distance measuring points described above. When a specific distance measuring point is set by the start position setting unit 109, the five distance measuring points 131 to 135 are arranged below the visual field frame 130 in the viewfinder display shown in FIG. L of
Among the EDs 138 to 142, the LED corresponding to the selected distance measuring point is turned on.

At the same time, information on the selected distance measuring point is sent to the start position arrival detecting unit 104. next,
The start position arrival detection unit 104 determines whether or not the main subject 143 has reached a specific position (automatic tracking start position) set by the photographer shown in FIG. It judges by the method of. That is, when it is detected that the distance measurement value of the distance measurement point set as the specific position has changed from the long distance value to the short distance value, the main subject 143 is detected.
Has reached the specific position. Then, when it is determined that the specific position has been reached, the start position arrival detection unit 104 issues an exposure start instruction signal for instructing the start of exposure to the exposure control unit 107, and also instructs the start of automatic tracking. Then, an automatic tracking start instruction signal is output to the rotating device 120.

As a result, as in the example of FIG. 4, the exposure operation is repeated while automatically tracking the subject 143. That is, exposure is performed while driving the rotation device 120 to rotate the camera body 1 at the same speed as the main subject 143.

That is, the exposure control section 107 is in a follow shot standby state in response to a manual operation signal from the release operation section 106 during follow shot. Then, in response to the exposure start instruction signal from the start position arrival detection unit 104, the exposure unit 108 exposes a subject image on a silver salt film (not shown).
To control. The shutter speed at this time is determined according to the speed information from the speed detection unit 103. For example,
When the main subject 143 is moving at a high speed, the camera rotation speed for tracking is also high. Therefore, if the shutter speed is set to a low speed, the subject may pass during the exposure operation. On the other hand, when the main subject 143 is slow, if the shutter speed is high, the follow shot effect is not obtained. Therefore, the exposure control unit 107 has therein a table indicating the relationship between the moving speed and the shutter speed, refers to the table according to the moving speed, and controls the exposure at the optimum shutter speed for the follow shot. To do.

FIG. 3D is an image diagram of the follow shot photograph taken as described above.

The exposure operation is performed not only once but a plurality of times. The number of times is automatically set depending on the moving speed of the main subject, but a predetermined number (for example, 5
It does not exceed the number of sheets. This is a device for preventing a large amount of similar scenes from being shot and not wasting film.

The exposure control unit 107 also outputs a rotation speed instruction signal to the rotation device 120 based on the speed information received from the speed detection unit 103.

The rotating device 120 determines the rotating direction according to the approach direction signal from the approach detecting unit 102 in order to stop the main subject 143 at the specific position in the photographing screen during the exposure operation. The rotation speed is determined according to the rotation speed instruction signal from the exposure control unit 107, and the camera rotation operation (automatic tracking operation) is performed according to the automatic tracking start instruction signal from the start position arrival detection unit 104. Start. And
The rotation is continued until the stop instruction signal is received from the exposure control unit 107. The stop instruction is, for example, when the exposure stop instruction is sent by the photographer through the release operation unit 106 or when a predetermined number (for example, 5) of images have been photographed.

The structure of the camera rotation device 120 will be described with reference to FIG. The camera rotating device 120 includes a rotary pan 201 on which the camera main body 100 is mounted, a rotary shaft 209 of the rotary pan 201, and fixing screws 202 and 203 for fixing the camera main body 100 to the rotary pan 201.
A transmission gear 204 fixed to the rotating shaft 209, a transmission gear 205 that transmits the driving force of the motor 206 to the transmission gear 204, a circuit board 207 that controls the voltage applied to the motor 206, and a power supply battery 208 are included. . And
A control voltage is supplied from the circuit board 207 to the motor 206 in response to the start instruction signal from the camera body 100, whereby the motor 206 rotates, and the rotational force of the motor 206 is transmitted by the transmission gears 205, 204, the rotation shaft 209, and the rotation shaft 209. It is transmitted to the camera body 100 via the platform 201 to rotate the camera body 100. The rotation center axis of the rotation shaft 209 is orthogonal to the photographing optical axis of the photographing lens 210, and
It is in a position where it passes over the film surface in the camera body 100. Further, the circuit board (not shown) in the camera body 100 and the circuit board 207 in the rotation device 120 are connected by a communication flexible board (not shown).

Here, the correspondence between each device of the rotating device 120 in FIG. 1 and each part of the rotating device 120 in FIG. 5 is shown. That is, the camera rotation mechanism 124 includes the transmission gears 205 and 204, the rotation shaft 209, and the rotary platform 20 of FIG.
Equivalent to 1. Further, the drive unit 123 is the motor 20 of FIG.
6, the power supply unit 122 corresponds to the battery 208 in FIG. 5, and the power supply control unit 121 corresponds to the circuit board 207 in FIG.

The power supply control unit 121 sets the rotation direction of the motor 206 in the drive unit 123 according to the approach direction signal from the approach detection unit 102, and the exposure control unit 107.
Set the applied voltage according to the rotation speed instruction signal from
Power supply to the motor 206 is started in response to the automatic tracking start instruction signal from the start position arrival detection unit 104.

In this way, the drive unit 123 rotates the camera body 100 via the camera rotation mechanism 124.
Then, when the power supply control unit 121 receives the stop instruction signal from the exposure control unit 107, the power supply control unit 121 interrupts the voltage application and stops the drive unit 123.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, information such as speed and distance is automatically detected to reduce the time and effort required for the photographer to input information, and to rotate the camera body. By enabling tracking of the subject, the number of panning shots can be increased.

[Second Embodiment] Next, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The embodiment will be described. The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that the capture of the main subject is not performed by the distance measurement output, but the imaging output is used.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a camera according to this embodiment. That is, the camera according to this embodiment includes the camera body 100 and the camera rotation device 120. The internal structure of the camera rotation device 120 is the same as that of the first embodiment described above, and the description thereof is omitted.

The internal structure of the camera body 100 is such that the image pickup section 30 is composed of an image pickup device such as a CCD for picking up a subject image.
1, a first memory 302 and a second memory 303 that store image data captured by the image capturing unit 301, image data stored in the first memory 302 and images stored in the second memory 303. A comparison unit 304 that performs a comparison calculation with the data, a moving body position detection unit 305 that detects the approach direction of the subject based on the comparison result by the comparison unit 304, a comparison result by the comparison unit 304, and the moving body position. A position deviation information output unit 306 that detects that a subject has entered a specific position based on the position information of the detection unit 305.
And a release operation unit 106 that sends a release instruction to the camera body 100 by a manual operation, which operates in the same manner as the above-described first embodiment, an exposure control unit 107 that controls the exposure operation of the camera, and the exposure control. An exposure unit 108 which is controlled by the unit 107 to expose a film, and a start position setting unit 10 which sets a specific position for starting automatic tracking and an exposure operation.
It is composed of 9 and 9.

Next, the operation of the camera according to this embodiment will be described.

First, as in the first embodiment, the start position setting unit 109 sets a specific position at which the photographer starts panning. The set specific position is displayed by the eight LEDs 341 to 347 arranged below the visual field frame 130 in the finder as shown in FIG.

At the time of panning, the photographer releases the release operation unit 10
When 6 is operated, the exposure control unit 107 instructs the image pickup unit 301 to start the image pickup operation, and enters the follow shot standby state. Here, the image pickup unit 301 converts an object image into an electronic image by an image pickup device such as a CCD, and starts an image pickup operation according to an instruction from the exposure control unit 107, and repeats this. The captured electronic image data is first stored in the first memory 302, and the next electronic image data is stored in the second memory 303.

When the electronic image data is stored in both memories 302 and 303, the comparing section 304 reads them out and calculates the absolute value of the difference between the two electronic image data. This calculation is a calculation of taking the difference for each corresponding pixel and converting the result into an absolute value. If the value of the corresponding pixel is the same, it becomes "0", and if different, it becomes a positive value other than "0". . The comparison unit 304 then extracts the contour of the image portion other than “0”. Thereby, the main subject can be specified. For example, an image in a state where the main subject 330 as shown in FIG. 8A exists outside the photographing screen is stored in the first memory 302, and the tip portion of the main subject 330 as shown in FIG. 8B is the photographing screen. The image of the state that has entered inside is the second memory 30
When the above-mentioned arithmetic processing is applied to both of them in the state of being stored in No. 3, an image in which the front end of the main subject 330 is expressed in white on a black background as shown in FIG. 9A. The image processed in this way is sent to the moving body position detection unit 305.

In the moving body position detecting section 305, the comparing section 3
Main subject 3 based on the processed image processed by 04
The approach direction of 30 is detected.

When the above calculation is completed, the image data stored in the second memory 303 is stored in the first memory 30.
2 is overwritten and the latest imaging data is stored in the second memory 303.
It is designed to be stored in. Therefore, at the time of the next calculation, since it is performed between the latest image and the previous image, it is possible to reduce the time lag as compared with performing the imaging operation twice.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8C, when the main subject 330 further advances to the central portion of the photographing screen and the difference calculation with the image immediately before that is performed, the contour image is the time difference between the two images. However, as shown in FIG. 9B, the image of the main subject 330 is expressed in white on the black background. At this time, the moving body position detection unit 305
Detects the position of the main subject 330 based on this processed image. Then, this position information is output to the position deviation information output unit 306 together with the approach direction information described above.

The position deviation information output unit 306 determines whether or not the main subject 330 has reached the specific position set by the start position setting unit 109, based on the position information sent from the moving body position detection unit 305. . Then, when the specific position is reached, an exposure start instruction signal is sent to the exposure control unit 107. The exposure control unit 107 receives the exposure start instruction signal and starts the operation of the exposure unit 108. This operation is similar to that of the above-described first embodiment, and therefore its explanation is omitted.

Further, the contour image data of the main subject 330 calculated by the comparing section 304 is sent to the moving body position detecting section 305 and the position deviation information outputting section 306 at the same time as described above. Therefore, the position deviation information output unit 306 stores the contour image data at that time as reference image data at the same time as determining whether or not the specific position has been reached. Then, when the position deviation information output unit 306 detects that the main subject 330 has reached a specific position, and then receives the next contour image data from the comparison unit 304, the position deviation information output unit 306 outputs the data to the reference image data. Correlation calculation is performed to calculate the shift amount between the two images. This deviation amount is sent to the power supply control unit 121 in the rotation device 120 as deviation information indicating how much the main subject 330 is deviated from the specific position.

The power supply controller 121 controls the voltage applied to the driver 123 based on this deviation information. Specifically, when the main subject 330 precedes the specific position, the voltage applied to the drive unit 123 is increased to control the rotation speed.

On the other hand, when the rotation speed becomes too high and the main subject 330 moves backward from the specific position, the applied voltage is lowered to control the rotation speed to be slow.

The applied voltage value is determined by a predetermined calculation (for example, fuzzy inference calculation) using the deviation amount as an input value, or by referring to a table that defines the relationship between the deviation amount and the applied voltage value. Shall be. In addition, the camera body 10
When rotating 0, the power supply unit 122 and the drive unit 1
23 and the operation of the camera rotation mechanism 124, and the camera body 1
The operation related to the stop of rotation of 00 is the same as that of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the image pickup means is used instead of the distance measuring means, it is possible to set a finer specific position (start position), and controllability is also increased. Get higher Further, since the control is performed based on the deviation information between the image at the specific position and the current image, it is possible to deal with the case where the speed of the main subject changes during the rotation, and the initial stage as in the first embodiment. Higher precision control is possible than determining the rotation speed. This directly affects the quality of the follow shot photograph.

Although the present invention has been described based on the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications and applications are possible within the scope of the present invention. Of course.

Further, although the tracking start position (specific position) is manually set in the first and second embodiments, it may be fixed at the central position for simplification of the system configuration.

[0059]

As described above, according to the present invention,
We can provide a camera that is easy to use with simple operations and can take many follow shots.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display configuration in a finder according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of detecting the speed and position of a subject using a distance measuring device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the movement of the camera during panning shooting.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the camera rotation device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block configuration diagram of a camera according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display configuration in a finder according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a method of detecting the position of a subject using an image sensor.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an output example of an image comparison result by a comparison unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 camera body 101 Multi-point distance measuring unit 102 Entry detector 103 Speed detector 104 Start position arrival detection unit 105 Approach direction setting section 106 Release operation section 107 Exposure control unit 108 exposure unit 109 Start position setting section 120 camera rotation device 121 Power supply control unit 122 Power supply 123 Drive 124 Camera rotation mechanism 301 Imaging unit 302 First memory 303 Second memory 304 comparison section 305 Moving object position detector 306 Position deviation information output unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04N 5/225 H04N 5/225 A

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An arrival detection means for detecting that a main subject has entered the photographing screen from outside the photographing screen and has reached a specific position in the photographing screen, and a moving speed of the main subject in the photographing screen. When the speed detection means for detecting and the arrival detection means detect that the main subject has reached a specific position in the photographing screen, the main information is detected based on the speed information detected by the speed detection means. A camera comprising: rotating means for rotating the camera body so that the subject relatively stops at the specific position. 2. A deviation information output means for detecting a deviation between a position of a main subject located on the photographing screen and a specific position on the photographing screen and outputting deviation information, and the deviation information output means for outputting the deviation information. Further, based on the deviation information, a rotation means for rotating the camera body so that the main subject relatively stops at the specific position, and a camera. 3. Arrival detection means for detecting that the main subject has reached a specific position on the photographing screen, and after the arrival detection means has detected that the main subject has reached a specific position on the photographing screen. A rotating means for rotating the camera body so that the main subject relatively stops at the specific position.