JPH0572648A - Method for forming photographic print - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To precisely extract the density of a main object on a negative film and to properly finish the main object. CONSTITUTION:An automatic focusing mechanism, an automatic exposure mechanism and a main object position recording mechanism are provided in a camera. By the automatic focusing mechanism, the range-finding of the plural points of a photographing scene is executed and the position of the main object is detected based on the range-finding data and focused. By the automatic exposure mechanism, the photometry of the photographing scene is executed by dividing the photographing scene to plural photometry areas according to the range- finding point and exposure is controlled based on the photometry value of the photometry area where the main object is positioned. At the time of photographing, the positional information of the main object is recorded on a film. At the time of printing and exposing, the position of the main object on a frame to be printed is specified based on the positional information of the main object and the density of the main object is extracted. Besides, correction quantity is calculated based on the density of the object and proper exposure quantity is obtained based on the calculated correction quantity and basic exposure quantity. Then, the printing and the exposure is executed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing a print photograph, and more particularly to a method for producing a print photograph for printing exposure using position information of a main subject recorded at the time of photographing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional photographic printing method, first, a basic exposure amount is determined based on an average density of each frame of a negative film (for example, LATD (Large Screen Transmission Density)), and then each frame of the negative film is determined. The amount of exposure correction was calculated using the image information of 1., and the appropriate amount of exposure was determined from these.

[0003]

However, in the above conventional method, correction is required when the density of the main subject is farther than the average density of the entire frame, but the position of the main subject on the frame is unknown. Therefore, the density of the main subject cannot be accurately grasped. Therefore, there is a problem in that accurate correction cannot be performed. In particular, when the position of the main subject is not in the center, it is difficult to estimate the density of the main subject, and the accuracy of correction is reduced.

By the way, recently, the automatic exposure control of the camera has been made highly accurate, and the exposure is controlled so that the image recorded on each frame of the film has an appropriate density. Therefore, it is possible to perform printing exposure (for example, exposure for a certain period of time) with a constant exposure amount that is preset according to the type of color paper used and the print magnification, without photometrically measuring each frame of the negative film as in the conventional method. It will be possible. However, in the case of simply printing exposure uniformly for a fixed time, as described above, when the density of the main subject is far from the average density of the entire frame, the main subject cannot be finished with the optimum density. There's a problem.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a print photograph capable of appropriately finishing the density of a main subject.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an autofocus system that measures a plurality of points in a shooting scene, detects a main subject from the measured distance data, and focuses on the main subject. Functions, and an autoexposure control function that divides the shooting scene into a plurality of photometric areas corresponding to the plurality of points to perform photometry and performs exposure control according to the photometric value of the photometric area in which the main subject is located. At the time of shooting with a camera having an information recording function of recording the main subject position information on a recording medium, the main subject position information is recorded, and image data of a frame is printed when printing exposure is performed using the film thus photographed. A constant basic exposure amount that does not depend on the standard exposure amount and a correction amount for this basic exposure amount are used to obtain an appropriate exposure amount, and the appropriate exposure amount is used for printing exposure. Ilm is a value honed optimally, the reading of the main subject position information, detects a main object density to be printed frame This information is obtained to calculate the correction amount using the same.

Another invention is to add a function of displaying the photometric area where the main subject is located in the viewfinder to the camera so that the main subject is appropriate based on the photometric area displayed in the viewfinder at the time of photographing. It is possible to determine a composition that achieves a proper exposure, and it becomes possible for the camera side to shoot with a more appropriate exposure centering on the main subject.

[0008]

When a photograph is taken, the screen is divided into a plurality of areas for distance measurement, and the main subject is detected based on the distance measurement data. Then, the photometric area where the main subject is located is displayed in the viewfinder. The photographer observes the main subject in the photometric area and shifts the position or zooms to change the composition when an object with extremely different brightness from the main subject enters the photometric area. , It is possible to prevent inaccurate photometry on the camera side. Also, at the time of printing, the density of the main subject of the frame to be printed can be accurately extracted from the position information of the main subject, and the basic exposure amount can be corrected based on this to finish the main subject with an appropriate density. it can.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 2 shows a camera for recording position information of main parts. The light projecting unit 11 includes a light source unit 12 that generates spot-like infrared light. When the release button 13 is pressed halfway, the controller 14 causes the light source units 12 and 2 to operate.
The dimensional scanning unit 15 is controlled to project the irradiation light 16 toward the shooting scene 10. The irradiation light 16 is emitted intermittently, and distance measuring points SP1 to SP15 in the shooting scene 10 are detected.
Are sequentially irradiated. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the screen is divided into a matrix of 7 × 5 and the photometric areas A1 to A3 are divided.
5, the distance measuring points SP1 to SP15 are areas A9 to A13, A16 to A2 located on the central side of the photometric areas A1 to A35 excluding the areas located on the outer periphery.
0, A23 to A27 are arranged at the center. Irradiation light 1
During the intermittent irradiation of 6, the reflected light 18 reflected by the object 17 passes through the lens 19 and enters the incident position detecting means, for example, the image area sensor 20. The presence or absence of the subject 17 is displayed depending on whether or not the reflected light 18 is incident on the image area sensor 20, and the position of the subject 17 is detected from the scanning position of the irradiation light and the incident position of the reflected light when detecting the subject. It

The two-dimensional scanning unit 15 scans the light source 12 two-dimensionally and intermittently emits the light source 12 when positioned at each of the distance measuring points SP1 to SP15. The controller 14 includes a pulse counter, and detects the scanning position of the light source 12 with respect to the shooting scene 10, that is, the position on the shooting screen by counting the driving pulses sent to the scanning unit 18, and the signal of this screen position is detected. Position / distance detection circuit 26
Sent to. The light source 12 may be made to intermittently emit light and be intermittently scanned at a constant pitch, or the light source 12 may be made to continuously emit light to scan the shooting scene in a line.

The position / distance detection circuit 26 obtains the position where the reflected light 18 is incident from the time-series signal of the image area sensor 20, and from the relationship between this incident position and the screen position,
The position and distance of the subject are detected. The subject position and distance signals are sent to the selection circuit 27. When there are a plurality of subjects in the shooting scene 10, the position and distance of each subject are detected.

The selection circuit 27 determines the main subject based on the signals of the position and the distance from the plurality of subjects. This decision is made as follows. Generally, when determining a main subject among a plurality of subjects existing in a shooting scene, a short-distance priority method or a screen center portion priority method is adopted. In this embodiment, the closest subject is first determined as the main subject by the short distance priority method, and the display unit 28 is driven based on the position signal of the main subject. The main part position information from the selection circuit 27 is sent to the lens setting unit 29, the exposure control circuit 30, and the main part position information generation circuit 31.

The display unit 28 is composed of a light-transmissive liquid crystal panel 33 arranged in the finder 32 and a driver 34 for driving the same. This liquid crystal panel 33
Are divided into a 7 × 5 matrix like the photometric areas A1 to A35. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, an area corresponding to the subject, for example, A12, A19, A20, A2, is obtained by the subject position signal from the selection circuit 27.
Only 6, A27 is turned on, which causes this area to have a slight density. In this semi-transmissive state, it is possible to observe whether the subject is the main subject through this area. When the subject straddles a plurality of areas, all the areas where the subject is located are turned on.

When there are a plurality of subjects in the photographic scene, the selection circuit 27 first informs the photographer that there are a plurality of subjects, and the first closest subject in each area of the liquid crystal panel 33. Flashes the area where is located. Then, when the main subject is located within the blinking area, the release button 13 is further pressed down from this state, so that photographing is performed. When the main subject is not within the blinking area, the main circuit selection button 35 is pressed to cause the selection circuit 27
Blinks the area where the next closest subject is located. Then, when the main subject is within this area, the release button 13 is pressed down to perform shooting. If the main subject is not included in this area, the selection button 35 is similarly pressed to blink the area containing the next subject.
The main subject is determined.

A known diaphragm mechanism 41 and shutter mechanism 42 are arranged behind the taking lens 40. The photometric unit 43 is composed of a lens 44 and an image area sensor 45, and when the release button 13 is half-depressed, the subject brightness (BV) is measured in each of the photometric areas A1 to A3.
Measure every 5 minutes.

Although the image area sensor 45 is divided into a 7 × 5 matrix as shown in FIG. 3, the number of divisions may be increased or decreased as appropriate. Each of these areas A1
The subject brightness signal from A35 is sent to the exposure control circuit 30. The exposure control circuit 30 is supplied with the main part position information from the selection circuit 27. Then, the exposure control circuit 30 calculates the light value (LV) from the subject luminance signal from the area where the main subject is located and the film sensitivity signal among the luminance signals from the areas A1 to A35, and the diaphragm drive unit. 47 and the shutter drive unit 48 are program-controlled.

Further, the exposure control circuit 30 is provided with a subject luminance discriminating circuit as is well known, and when the subject has a low luminance,
A strobe mechanism (not shown) in synchronization with the shutter mechanism 42
Flashes automatically. The main portion position information generation circuit 31 encodes the subject position information and sends it to the information writing unit 49. The information writing section 49 drives the LED 50 to record the main part position information as a digital code in the margin above the image recording section 51a of the film 51.

FIG. 5 shows a negative film 51 in which the position information of the main part is recorded. Perforations 51a are perforated at regular intervals in the negative film 51, and the perforations 51a are detected by a sensor of a winding stop device, so that one frame is fed. Negative film 5 corresponding to each perforation 51a
Each frame 51b is recorded on the first photosensitive emulsion surface.
In addition, a digitally encoded bar code 5 is provided in a blank area on the side opposite to the perforation formation position of each frame 51b.
1c is recorded.

FIG. 6 shows a photographic printer. The white light emitted from the light source 62 is emitted by the cyan filter 63,
After passing through the magenta filter 64 and the yellow filter 65, the mixture enters into the mixing box 66. These color correction filters 63 to 65 are fixed at fixed positions during normal frame printing. Then, when the operator inputs the correction amount from the keyboard 61 for the frame for which the correction is particularly necessary, the filter adjusting unit 6 corresponding to this correction amount.
7, the amount of insertion into the optical path 68 is adjusted, and thereby the three-color light component of the printing light and its intensity are adjusted. The mixing box 66 is formed by attaching diffusion plates to both ends of a rectangular tube whose inner surface is a mirror surface.

The film carrier 70 is arranged at the print position, the developed negative film 51 is set, and the film carrier 70 is illuminated by the light transmitted through the mixing box 66. The light transmitted through the negative film 51 is imaged on the photosensitive emulsion surface of the color paper 75 by the printing lens 74 when the shutter 73 is opened, and is printed and exposed. The shutter 73 is opened by the shutter drive unit 76 for a certain period of time. In addition, the film carrier 70 is provided with a film mask 71 at the print position in order to ensure the flatness of the negative film 51. As is well known, the film mask 71 has an opening corresponding to the size of the frame. When the negative film 51 is transferred, the film mask 71 is lifted by a solenoid (not shown), and the negative film 51 is pressed during printing. ing.

A bar code reader 80 is arranged in front of the print position, and when the negative film 51 is sent to the print position, the main position information recorded in each frame is read. The read position information is sent to the decoder 81, decoded into data usable by the printer, and then sent to the controller 82. A well-known scanner 83 is arranged at a position of the film carrier 70 that faces the frame to be printed. The scanner 83 performs three-color separation photometry on each point of the frame to be printed, and sends it to the characteristic value calculation unit 84. Characteristic value calculation unit 84
Is sent from the controller 82, and the density of each point in the photometric area in which the main part is located is extracted based on this main part position information. The main part density data is sent to the exposure amount calculation part 85. Exposure amount calculation unit 85
Calculates an appropriate exposure amount based on a basic exposure amount that is predetermined based on the proper exposure on the camera side and a correction amount that is calculated based on main part position information.

The controller 82 is composed of a well-known microcomputer, calculates the exposure time from the appropriate exposure amount, controls the shutter drive unit 76 based on this, and opens the shutter 73 for a predetermined time. Instead of calculating the exposure time from the appropriate exposure amount as described above, the exposure time corresponding to the basic exposure amount is obtained in advance, and the exposure correction time obtained from the correction amount is added to this exposure time. The exposure time may be calculated.

The exposure correction amount is calculated as follows. First, the position of the main part on the negative film 51 is specified based on the area information in which the main subject is located. Then, by identifying this position, the density distribution in the area to which the main subject of the negative film 51 belongs is examined, and thereby the main subject and the background are discriminated. Then, the density of the main subject is extracted from the distribution state of the main subject and the background when the exposure is determined by the camera, and the correction amount for the basic exposure amount is adjusted so that the main subject has the optimum density. Ask for.

FIG. 1 shows a print photograph creating routine of this embodiment. First, multi-point distance measurement is performed on the camera side, and the selection circuit 27 determines the position of the main subject based on this. After that, photometry is performed on the photometry area where the main subject is located, exposure is controlled based on the photometry value, and shooting is performed. Further, the position information of the main subject is recorded on the photosensitive emulsion surface of the film in the form of a bar code at the position corresponding to the frame.

After the photographing is finished, the photographed film 51 is submitted to the developing station, and printing is performed after the film development. First, the film 5 is read by the barcode reader 80.
The barcode 51c recorded in 1 is read. And
The read bar code signal is converted into main part position information by the decoder 81, and this is sent to the controller 82. The scanner 83 performs three-color separation photometry on each point of the frame set at the print position. The characteristic value calculation unit 84 extracts the density of the main subject based on the main part position information and the photometric value of each point. Then, a correction amount is calculated from the density value of the main subject, and this is added to the basic exposure amount to calculate the optimum exposure amount. The controller 82 obtains the shutter opening time based on this exposure amount, and controls the shutter drive unit 76 based on this shutter opening time to expose the image of the frame to be printed on the color paper 75 by exposure.

In the above embodiment, the position information of the main part is optically recorded on the photosensitive emulsion surface of the film in the form of a bar code, but in addition to this, a magnetic recording layer is formed on the film, It may be magnetically recorded. In addition to forming the magnetic recording layer in the area other than the image recording portion, the magnetic recording layer may be formed over the entire surface of the film base opposite to the photosensitive emulsion layer by using a transparent magnetic material. As a magnetic recording layer made of a transparent magnetic material, US Pat. No. 4,302,523,
It is preferable to use the transparent magnetic bases disclosed in JP-A-3782947 and JP-A-5279945. Further, the position information of the main part may be electrically recorded on an electronic recording medium such as an IC memory built in the film cartridge or an IC card mounted on the camera.

Further, in the above embodiment, as the photographing information,
Although the photometric area information in which the main subject is located is used, in addition to this, photometric information for each photometric area, aperture information, shutter speed information, shooting distance, shooting magnification information, and the like may be used together. In this case, the metering value for each metering area,
The diaphragm and shutter speed information is effective for determining the basic exposure amount, and more accurate exposure control can be performed. Also,
The shooting distance and shooting magnification information are effective when searching for a main subject on a negative film.

The exposure control varies depending on the type of camera. Therefore, the type of camera may be recorded in the film as shooting information, and the basic exposure amount may be changed corresponding to this.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Shoot with automatic exposure control adapted to the main subject,
Since the proper exposure amount is determined by the basic exposure amount according to the negative film and the correction amount that incorporates the main subject position information at the time of shooting, the exposure amount is higher than that of the conventional exposure control method using only the density of the negative film. Quality printing is possible. Further, since the photometric area to which the main subject belongs is displayed in the viewfinder at the time of shooting, the photographer can easily confirm the photometric area of the main subject. Therefore, it is possible to perform zooming, composition change, and the like for a scene in which photometric errors are likely to occur on the camera side. As a result, appropriate automatic exposure can be performed on the camera side based on the main subject. Further, the information on the photometric area used for the automatic exposure control of the camera can be used for the density extraction of the main subject on the negative film on the print side. Therefore, the main subject can be finished with an appropriate density as compared with the conventional exposure control method using only the density information of the frame to be printed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a main part of a method for creating a print photograph according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a main part position information recording camera used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a photometry area and distance measurement points of the camera.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a finder image.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a negative film in which main part position information is recorded.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a photographic printer used in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Photographing scene 17 Main subject 33 Liquid crystal panel 49 Information writing section 51 Negative film 51c Bar code 80 Bar code reader

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An autofocus function for measuring a plurality of points of a shooting scene, detecting a main subject from the distance measurement data and focusing on the main object, and a plurality of shooting scenes corresponding to the plurality of points. An automatic exposure control function that controls the exposure based on the photometric value of the photometric area in which the main subject is located, and an information recording function that records the main subject position information on a recording medium during shooting. When recording the main subject position information while shooting with a camera having a fixed exposure amount and performing a print exposure using the film that has been shot, a constant basic exposure amount that does not depend on the image data of the frame and correction for this basic exposure amount. The appropriate exposure amount is obtained from the exposure amount, and the exposure is performed with the appropriate exposure amount. The basic exposure amount is set to a value at which the standard film is optimally finished. A method for producing a print photograph, characterized in that the main subject density of the frame to be printed is detected from this information, and the correction amount is calculated using this. 2. An autofocus function for measuring a plurality of points in a shooting scene, detecting a main subject from the distance measurement data and focusing on the main object, and a plurality of shooting scenes corresponding to the plurality of points. Auto-exposure control function that controls the exposure according to the photometric value of the photometric area where the main subject is located, and the function that displays the photometric area where the main subject is located in the viewfinder. At the time of shooting, the main subject position information is recorded by a camera having an information recording function of recording the main subject position information on a recording medium, and the main subject position information is recorded, and at the time of shooting, it is appropriate based on the photometric area displayed in the viewfinder. When the composition is determined and printing exposure is performed using this film that has already been shot, a fixed basic exposure amount that does not depend on the image data of the frame and this basic exposure amount The appropriate exposure amount is obtained from the corresponding correction amount, and printing exposure is performed by this appropriate exposure amount, the basic exposure amount is set to a value at which the standard film is optimally finished, the main subject position information is read, and this information is used to print the frame to be printed. A method of creating a print photograph, characterized in that the main subject density is detected and the correction amount is calculated using this.