Digital camera having red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode

• US 20050013602A1
• Filed: 07/16/2004
• Published: 01/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PENTAX RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD.
• Original Assignee: Pentax Corporation (Hoya Corporation)
• Inventors: Ogawa, Kimiaki
• Granted Patent: US 7,505,076 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 396/157
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 15/05 Combinations of cameras with electronic flash apparatus; Electronic flash units
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 2215/0571 With second light source
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/193 Preprocessing; Feature extraction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0044 for image preview or review, e.g. to help the user position a sheet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2112 using still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2141 in a multi-frame buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2101/00 Still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/72 Combination of two or more compensation controls
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/74 by influencing the scene brightness using illuminating means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/743 Bracketing, i.e. taking a series of images with varying exposure conditions

Abstract

In a digital camera having a red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode, a plurality of bracket photographing operations are carried out at a predetermined second interval, in which a strobe unit pre-emits strobe flash emission and, after the lapse of a predetermined first time from the pre-emission, emits main strobe flash emission to pickup an image by an image pickup unit. The image data obtained by each bracket photographing operation is written in a cache memory. Upon completion of the writing of the image data, the latter is read from the cache memory and is indicated in an image displaying LCD unit. A user can observe the indicated image data while switching the same by a selection switch. Consequently, only the image data selected by the user using an OK switch can be recorded in an image recording medium.

Claims

1. A digital camera having a red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode, comprising:

an image pickup device;

a strobe unit which can pre-emit a flash emission of light;

an image pickup control device having a bracket photographing mode in which a plurality of image pickup operations to pickup an image by emitting main strobe light from the strobe unit are repeated after the lapse of a predetermined first time counted from a pre-emission of the strobe unit;

a temporary storage device in which image data obtained by the plurality of image pickup operations of the image pickup device is temporarily written;

an image display device for reading and displaying the image data written in the temporary storage device;

an image selection device by which a user can select the image data displayed in the image display device; and

a recording device for writing the image data selected by the image selection device in a recording medium.

2. The digital camera having a red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode according to claim 1, wherein said image selection device is capable of selecting at least one of the image data written in the temporary storage device and not selecting any of the image data written in the temporary storage device.

3. The digital camera having a red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode according to claim 2, further comprising a data erasing device for removing the image data not selected by the image selection device from the temporary storage device.

4. The digital camera having a red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode according to claim 1, further comprising bracket photographing number setting device by which a user can set the number of the bracket photographing operations in which the strobe unit is activated to emit main strobe light to thereby pickup an image.

5. The digital camera having a red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode according to claim 1, wherein said strobe unit comprises a charging voltage detection device for detecting a charging voltage, and wherein said image pickup control device terminates the bracket photographing even before the number of the bracket photographing operations reaches a set value in the case where the strobe charging voltage detected by the detection device prior to each strobe emission is too small to emit the strobe light from the strobe unit.

6. The digital camera having a red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode according to claim 5, wherein said image pickup control device causes the display device to indicate alarm information in the case where the bracket photographing ends before the number of the bracket photographing operations reaches the set value.

7. The digital camera having a red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode according to claim 1, further comprising an interval setting device by which a user can set a first period of time from the pre-emission to a first main emission of the strobe light.

8. The digital camera having a red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode according to claim 1, further comprising a bracket photographing interval setting device by which a user can set intervals of the bracket photographing operations to pickup an image by the main emission of the strobe unit.

9. The digital camera having a red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode according to claim 8, wherein said bracket photographing interval setting device independently sets intervals of the main emission of the strobe unit to pickup an image.

10. The digital camera having a red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode according to claim 8, further comprising a memory for storing the intervals of the bracket photographing operations set by the bracket photographing interval setting device, wherein the intervals of the bracket photographing operations include a minimum value which is represented by the longest of a time in which the writing of the exposure time and the image data output from the image pickup device into the temporary storage device is completed and a time in which a subsequent main emission of the strobe unit can be effected.

11. The digital camera having a red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode according to claim 1, further comprising a pre-emission time setting device by which a user can set a pre-emission time.

12. The digital camera having a red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode according to claim 1, further comprising an object photometering device and an object distance measuring device, wherein said image pickup control device sets one of the pre-emission time and the first time, based on brightness information obtained by the photometering device and object distance information obtained by the object distance measuring device.

13. The digital camera having a red-eye reduction bracket photographing mode according to claim 1, further comprising a charging voltage detection device for detecting a charging voltage of the strobe unit and an image processing device for adjusting a color temperature in connection with the image data, based on the charging voltage when the strobe unit emits the strobe light, detected by the charging voltage detection device.