Image capturing apparatus and image capturing method

• US 20060007346A1
• Filed: 02/16/2005
• Published: 01/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Konica Minolta Photo Imaging Incorporated (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Konica Minolta Photo Imaging Incorporated (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Inventors: Honda, Tsutomu, Shintani, Dai, Nakamura, Kenji, Kitamura, Masahiro, Fujii, Shinichi, Kingetsu, Yasuhiro
• Application Number:
  US11/059,428
• Publication Number:
  US 20060007346A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/362
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/951 by using two or more images to influence resolution, frame rate or aspect ratio

Abstract

The image capturing apparatus can perform image capturing at a high frame rate higher than a frame rate used for displaying a moving image. In image capturing with flashlight in the image capturing apparatus, the high frame rate is set and three images are successively captured while increasing the light emission amount of the flashlight in order. A region in the lower portion of the image captured first, a region in the center portion of the image captured second, and a region in the upper portion of the image captured third, the exposure level being proper in each of these regions, are extracted and combined. As a result, a high-quality synthetic image in which exposure is proper from the front side to the deep side in image capturing in a room can be generated.

Claims

1. An image capturing apparatus having a display device capable of displaying an image, comprising:

(a) an image capturing device which generates an image of a subject;

(b) a driver which sequentially drives said image capturing device at timings based on a high frame rate higher than a display frame rate used at the time of displaying a moving image on said display device;

(c) an image capturing controller which sequentially captures two or more images while changing an image capturing condition each time said image capturing device is driven by said driver; and

(d) a synthesizer which synthesizes said two or more images, thereby generating a synthetic image, wherein

with respect to changing in said image capturing condition by said image capturing controller, said image capturing condition is changed in two or more levels.

2. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

(e) an emission setting part which sets a light emission amount of an electronic flash in said two or more levels, wherein

said image capturing condition includes a condition regarding said light emission amount of said electronic flash.

3. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

(f) a distance obtaining part which obtains an image capturing distance on the basis of said light emission amount of said electronic flash, which is set by said emission setting part, wherein

said image capturing condition also includes a focus condition according to said image capturing distance.

4. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said image capturing controller includes:

(c-1) a storage controller which makes said two or more images stored into a storing part, and

said synthesizer includes;

(d-1) a recording controller which records said synthetic image into a predetermined recording part; and

(d-2) an eraser which erases said two or more images stored in said storing part.

5. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said synthesizer includes:

(d-3) a first recording controller which makes said synthetic image recorded into a recording part at a predetermined compression ratio; and

(d-4) a second recording controller which makes said two or more images recorded into said recording part at a compression ratio higher than said compression ratio.

6. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

(g) a pre-light emitting part which captures an image obtained with pre-light emission of said electronic flash as an image for exposure detection by said image capturing device before said two or more images are captured by said image capturing controller; and

(h) a detector which divides said image for exposure detection into a plurality of regions and detects an exposure amount in each of divided regions, wherein said emission setting part includes;

(e-4) a level setting part which sets said light emission amount of said electronic flash in said two or more levels on the basis of said exposure amount of each of said divided regions detected by said detector.

7. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

(i) a receiving part which receives an image capturing instruction to activate said image capturing controller; and

(j) a frame rate setting part which sets a frame rate specifying drive timings of said image capturing device, wherein

said frame rate setting part includes;

(j-1) a switching part which switches said frame rate to said high frame rate in response to said image capturing instruction.

8. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

said frame rate setting part further includes:

(j-2) a resetting part which resets said high frame rate to said display frame rate after capturing of said two or more images by said image capturing controller is finished.

9. An image capturing method using an image capturing device which generates an image of a subject, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) sequentially driving said image capturing device at timings based on a high frame rate higher than a display frame rate used at the time of displaying a moving image on a display;

(b) sequentially capturing two or more images while changing an image capturing condition each time said image capturing device is driven in said step (a); and

(c) synthesizing said two or more images, thereby generating a synthetic image, wherein

with respect to changing in said image capturing condition in said step (b), said image capturing condition is changed in two or more levels.