Moving image pickup apparatus and still image recording method therefor, program for implementing the method, and storage medium storing the program

• US 20050018071A1
• Filed: 06/22/2004
• Published: 01/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Yasuda, Hitoshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,355,634 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/345
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/633 for displaying additional information relating to control or operation of the camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/667 Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/673 based on contrast or high frequency components of image signals, e.g. hill climbing method

Abstract

A moving image pickup apparatus which is capable of attaining both enhanced focusing accuracy and increased chances of snapshooting. A predetermined time period is determined according to a designated image pickup period. Responsive to designation of still image recording, an automatic focus adjusting device starts automatic focus adjustment. When an in-focus state is obtained by the automatic focus adjusting device within the determined predetermined time period, a still image for which the in-focus state has been obtained is stored in a memory device. On the other hand, when the in-focus state is not obtained even after the lapse of the determined predetermined time period, a still image for which the in-focus state has not been obtained is stored in the memory device.

Claims

1. A moving image pickup apparatus that is capable of changing an image pickup period thereof as well as recording a still image, comprising:

a determining device that determines a predetermined time period according to a designated image pickup period;

an automatic focus adjusting device that is responsive to designation of still image recording, for carrying out automatic focus adjustment;

a memory device;

a first storage device that is operable when an in-focus state is obtained by said automatic focus adjusting device within the predetermined time period determined by said determining device, to store in said memory device a still image for which the in-focus state has been obtained; and

a second storage device that is operable when the in-focus state is not obtained by said automatic focus adjusting device even after a lapse of the predetermined time period determined by said determining device, to store in said memory device a still image for which the in-focus state has not been obtained.

2. A moving image pickup apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a setting device that sets one of a first mode in which focusing has precedence and a second mode in which snapshooting has precedence, and

a first control device that is operable when the first mode is set by said setting device and the still image recording is designated, to enable said automatic focus adjusting device and one of said first storage device and said second storage device.

3. A moving image pickup apparatus as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a second control device that is operable when the second mode is set by said setting device and the still image recording is designated, to store a still image for which the in-focus state has not been obtained, without enabling said automatic focus adjusting device.

4. A moving image pickup apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the image pickup period is set to a value related to a shutter speed.

5. A moving image pickup apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the predetermined time period is set longer as the shutter speed is lower.

6. A still image recording method applied to a moving image pickup apparatus having an automatic focus adjusting device and being capable of changing an image pickup period thereof as well as recording a still image, comprising:

a determining step of determining a predetermined time period according to a designated image pickup period;

a starting step of causing the automatic focus adjusting device to start automatic focus adjustment when still image recording is designated;

a first storage step of storing in a memory device a still image for which an in-focus state has been obtained, when the in-focus state is obtained within the predetermined time period determined in said determining step; and

a second storage step of storing in the memory device a still image for which the in-focus state has not been obtained, when the in-focus state is not obtained by the automatic focus adjusting device even after a lapse of the predetermined time period determined in said determining step.

7. A still image recording method as claimed in claim 6, further comprising:

a setting step of setting one of a first mode in which focusing has precedence and a second mode in which snapshooting has precedence, and

a first control step of causing said starting step and one of said first storage step and said second storage step to be executed, when the first mode is set in said setting step and the still image recording is designated.

8. A program for causing a computer to execute a still image recording method applied to a moving image pickup apparatus having an automatic focus adjusting device and being capable of changing an image pickup period thereof as well as recording a still image, comprising:

a determining module for determining a predetermined time period according to a designated image pickup period;

a starting module for causing the automatic focus adjusting device to start automatic focus adjustment when still image recording is designated;

a first storage module for storing in a memory device a still image for which an in-focus state has been obtained, when the in-focus state is obtained within the predetermined time period determined by said determining module; and

a second storage module for storing in the memory device a still image for which the in-focus state has not been obtained, when the in-focus state is not obtained by the automatic focus adjusting device even after a lapse of the predetermined time period determined by said determining module.

9. A storage medium storing the program as claimed in claim 8.

10. A moving image pickup apparatus that is capable of changing an image pickup period thereof as well as recording a still image, comprising:

a first focus adjusting device that carries out automatic focus adjustment during image pickup;

a memory device;

a first storage device that is responsive to designation of still image recording, for storing an image subjected to the automatic focus adjustment by said first focus adjusting device, in said memory device as a still image, when the image pickup period is longer than a predetermined period;

a second focus adjusting device that is responsive to the designation of the still image recording, for carrying out automatic focus adjustment, when the image pickup period is not longer than the predetermined period;

a second storage device that is operable when an in-focus state has been obtained by said second focus adjusting device within a predetermined time period, to store an image for which the in-focus state has been obtained by said second focus adjusting device, in said memory device as a still image; and

a third storage device that is operable when the in-focus state has not been obtained by said second focus adjusting device within the predetermined time period, to store an image obtained by said second focus adjusting device when the predetermined time period has elapsed, in said memory device as a still image.

12. A moving image pickup apparatus as claimed in claim 10 or claim 11, wherein the image pickup period is set to a value related to a shutter speed.

13. A moving image pickup apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the predetermined time period is set longer as the shutter speed is lower.

11. A moving image pickup apparatus that is capable of changing an image pickup period thereof as well as recording a still image, comprising:

a first focus adjusting device that carries out automatic focus adjustment during image pickup;

a second focus adjusting device that carries out automatic focus adjustment when still image recording is performed;

a memory device;

a setting device that sets as a processing mode to be executed, a selected one of a first processing mode in which an image for which an in-focus state has been obtained by said second focus adjusting device is stored in said memory device as a still image, when the still image recording is designated and the in-focus state has been obtained by said second focus adjusting device within a predetermined time period, or an image obtained by said second focus adjusting device when the predetermined time period has elapsed is stored in said memory device as a still image, when the still image recording is designated and the in-focus state has not been obtained by said second focus adjusting device within the predetermined time period, and a second processing mode in which an image subjected to the automatic focus adjustment by said first focus adjusting device is stored in said memory device as a still image when the still image recording is designated; and

a control device that causes the second processing mode to be executed irrespective of settings made by said setting device, when the image pickup period is longer than a predetermined period.

14. A still image recording method applied to a moving image pickup apparatus that is capable of changing an image pickup period thereof as well as recording a still image, comprising:

a first focus adjusting step of carrying out automatic focus adjustment during image pickup;

a first storage step of storing an image subjected to the automatic focus adjustment in said first focus adjusting step, in a memory device as a still image, in response to designation of still image recording, when the image pickup period is longer than a predetermined period;

a second focus adjusting step of carrying out automatic focus adjustment in response to the designation of the still image recording, when the image pickup period is not longer than the predetermined period;

a second storage step of storing an image for which an in-focus state has been obtained in said second focus adjusting step, in the memory device as a still image, when the in-focus state has been obtained in said second focus adjusting step within a predetermined time period; and

a third storage step of storing an image obtained in said second focus adjusting step when the predetermined time period has elapsed, in the memory device as a still image, when the in-focus state has not been obtained in said second focus adjusting step within the predetermined time period.

15. A still image recording method applied to a moving image pickup apparatus that includes a first focus adjusting device that carries out automatic focus adjustment during image pickup, and a second focus adjusting device that carries out automatic focus adjustment when still image recording is performed, the moving image pickup apparatus being capable of changing an image pickup period thereof as well as recording a still image, the method comprising:

a setting step of setting as a processing mode to be executed, a selected one of a first processing mode in which an image for which an in-focus state has been obtained by the second focus adjusting device is stored in a memory device as a still image, when the still image recording is designated and the in-focus state has been obtained by the second focus adjusting device within a predetermined time period, or an image obtained by the second focus adjusting device when the predetermined time period has elapsed is stored in the memory device as a still image, when the still image recording is designated and the in-focus state has not been obtained by the second focus adjusting device within the predetermined time period, and a second processing mode in which an image subjected to the automatic focus adjustment by the first focus adjusting device is stored in the memory device as a still image when the still image recording is designated; and

a control step of causing the second processing mode to be executed irrespective of settings made in said setting step, when the image pickup period is longer than a predetermined period.

16. A program for causing a computer to execute a still image recording method applied to a moving image pickup apparatus that is capable of changing an image pickup period thereof as well as recording a still image, comprising:

a first focus adjusting module for carrying out automatic focusing adjustment during image pickup;

a first storage module for storing an image subjected to the automatic focus adjustment by said first focus adjusting module, in a memory device as a still image, in response to designation of still image recording, when the image pickup period is longer than a predetermined period;

a second focus adjusting module for carrying out automatic focus adjustment in response to the designation of the still image recording, when the image pickup period is not longer than the predetermined period;

a second storage module for storing an image for which an in-focus state has been obtained by said second focus adjusting module, in the memory device as a still image, when the in-focus state has been obtained by said second focus adjusting module within a predetermined time period; and

a third storage module for storing an image obtained by said second focus adjusting module when the predetermined time period has elapsed, in the memory device as a still image, when the in-focus state has not been obtained by said second focus adjusting module within the predetermined time period.

18. A storage medium storing the program as claimed in claim 16.

17. A program for causing a computer to execute a still image recording method applied to a moving image pickup apparatus that includes a first focus adjusting device that carries out automatic focus adjustment during image pickup, and a second focus adjusting device that carries out automatic focus adjustment when still image recording is performed, the moving image pickup apparatus being capable of changing an image pickup period thereof as well as recording a still image, the program comprising:

a setting module for setting as a processing mode to be executed, a selected one of a first processing mode in which an image for which an in-focus state has been obtained by the second focus adjusting device is stored in a memory device, as a still image, when the still image recording is designated and the in-focus state has been obtained by the second focus adjusting device within a predetermined time period, or an image obtained by the second focus adjusting device when the predetermined time period has elapsed is stored in the memory device as a still image, when the still image recording is designated and the in-focus state has not been obtained by the second focus adjusting device within the predetermined time period, and a second processing mode in which an image subjected to the automatic focus adjustment by the first focus adjusting device is stored in the memory device, as a still image when the still image recording is designated; and

a control module for causing the second processing mode to be executed irrespective of settings made by said setting module, when the image pickup period is longer than a predetermined period.

19. A storage medium storing the program as claimed in claim 17.