Image shooting device and image shooting method

• US 8,373,766 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2009
• Issued: 02/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Tamura, Kazunori
• Primary Examiner(s): MOE, AUNG SOE
• Application Number:
  US12/372,267
• Publication Number:
  US 20090225182A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,456 Days
• Field of Search: 348/208.6, 348/208.12, 348/208.13, 348/208.14, 348/208.16, 348/370, 348/371
• US Class Current: 348/222.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/611 where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/68 for stable pick-up of the scene, e.g. compensating for camera body vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/74 by influencing the scene brightness using illuminating means

Abstract

An image shooting device includes an image shooting component, a brightness detector, a flash component, a shift detector, a controller, and a flash amount determining component. The shift detector detects a shift amount of a subject position in a set of image data that has arisen due to shaking of the image shooting device. The controller corrects, on the basis of the detected shift amount, at least one of two sets of image data acquired within non-flash state and flash-emitting state, such that positions of a detection target region with respect to the subject position of the respective sets of image data are substantially matched. The flash amount determining component determines a flash amount of the flash component on the basis of the detected brightness level.

Claims

1. An image shooting device comprising:

a flash component that emits light toward a subject;

an image shooting component that outputs, for dimming, two sets of image data including non-flash image data that is obtained by shooting the subject without emitting light by the flash component, and flash image data that is obtained by shooting the subject with emitting light by the flash component, each of the sets of image data comprising target region image data that correspond to a detection target region that includes the subject;

a shift detector that detects a shift amount, between subject positions in the non-flash image data and the flash image data, the shift amount indicating a shift that has arisen due to shaking of the image shooting device;

a controller that, on the basis of the shift amount detected by the shift detector, corrects at least one of the non-flash image data or the flash image data, such that positions of the detection target region with respect to the subject position of the non-flash image data and the flash image data are substantially matched;

a brightness detector that detects brightness levels from the target region image data of the non-flash image data and the flash image data;

a flash amount determining component that determines a flash amount of the flash component on the basis of the detected brightness level of the non-flash image data and the flash image data; and

further comprising a prohibiting component that prohibits correction of the detection target region by the controller when the image shooting component outputs the two sets of image data in which the shift of the subject position therein has been corrected on the basis of the shift amount detected by the shift detector.

2. The image shooting device of claim 1, wherein, on the basis of the shift amount detected by the shift detector, the controller moves a position of the detection target region with respect to the subject position of one of the two sets of image data so as to substantially match that of the other of one of the two sets of image data.

3. The image shooting device of claim 1, wherein the detection target region comprises a plurality of sub-regions, and the brightness detector detects a brightness level from each of a plurality of sets of sub-region image data that correspond to the plurality of the sub-regions.

4. The image shooting device of claim 1, further comprising a face detector that detects, from the set of image data, a human face that is included in the subject, wherein the target region image data includes the detected human face.

5. The image shooting device of claim 1, wherein

when the image shooting component outputs the two sets of image data in which the shift of the subject position has been corrected by a correction amount that is within a predetermined range on the basis of the shift amount detected by the shift detector, the controller, on the basis of the shift amount detected by the shift detector and the correction amount of the image data corrected by the image shooting component, corrects at least one of the two sets of image data such that positions of the detection target region with respect to the subject position of the respective two sets of image data are substantially matched.

6. The image shooting device of claim 1, further comprising:

a display component; and

a prohibition display controller that controls the display component to display the fact that the correction is being prohibited by the prohibiting component.

7. The image shooting device of claim 1, further comprising a recording component that records relative position data of the detection target region of the non-flash image data and the detection target region of the flash image data.

8. The image shooting device of claim 1, wherein the image shooting component outputs the two sets of image data in response to the image shooting device receiving a shooting instruction from a user.

9. The image shooting device of claim 1, wherein after the flash amount determining component determines the flash amount, the image shooting component outputs, for recording, an image data with emitting light by the flash component in accordance with the determined flash amount.