Imaging apparatus capable of specifying shooting posture, method for specifying shooting posture, and storage medium storing program

• US 9,143,701 B2
• Filed: 03/06/2013
• Issued: 09/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Inventors: Muraki, Jun, Shimizu, Hiroshi, Hoshino, Hiroyuki, Ichikawa, Erina, Kato, Hiroyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Berhan, Ahmed A
• Application Number:
  US13/787,770
• Publication Number:
  US 20130235229A1
• Time in Patent Office: 930 Days
• Field of Search: 348/207.99
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/60 Control of cameras or camera modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/6812 based on additional sensors, e.g. acceleration sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2628 Alteration of picture size, shape, position or orientation, e.g. zooming, rotation, rolling, perspective, translation

Abstract

There is provided an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit, an orthogonal axis information detecting unit that detects orthogonal axis information indicating an inclination of an orthogonal axis perpendicular to an optical axis of the imaging unit after imaging by the imaging unit, and a specifying unit that specifies a shooting posture of an apparatus body at time of imaging, based on the orthogonal axis information detected by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit.

Claims

1. A shooting posture specifying method for an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit, an optical axis information detecting unit that detects, with a sensor, optical axis information indicating an inclination of the optical axis of the imaging unit, and an orthogonal axis information detecting unit that detects, with the sensor, orthogonal axis information indicating an inclination of an orthogonal axis perpendicular to the optical axis, the method comprising:

executing imaging by the imaging unit; and

specifying a shooting posture of an apparatus body at a time of imaging to be a vertical position shooting or a horizontal position shooting, based on the detected orthogonal axis information, on condition that the optical axis information indicating a predetermined inclination, from which the apparatus body can be determined to be in a particular posture, is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit, after the imaging by the imaging unit, wherein the inclination indicated by the orthogonal axis information which is detected by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit is independent from the inclination indicated by optical axis information which is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit,

wherein the specifying comprises specifying the shooting posture of the apparatus body at the time of the imaging before a posture change to be the vertical position shooting, in a case where the inclination which is detected after the posture change and indicated by the orthogonal axis information is greater than a predetermined inclination at which the orthogonal axis can be regarded as substantially corresponding to a horizontal line.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein orthogonal axis information indicating an inclination of the orthogonal axis, which is perpendicular to the optical axis of the imaging unit and is horizontal or perpendicular to the imaging apparatus, to at least one of a horizontal line and a perpendicular line, is detected by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit after the imaging by the imaging unit.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the shooting posture of the apparatus body at the time of imaging is specified, on condition that a change of the optical axis information, from which the apparatus body can be determined to have turned the optical axis from a posture of facing down toward a posture of facing forward, is detected.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

information indicating an inclination of an orthogonal axis, which is perpendicular to the optical axis and corresponds to a width direction of an angular field of view, to the horizontal line, is detected as the orthogonal axis information by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit, and

the specifying comprises specifying the shooting posture of the apparatus body at the time of the imaging before the posture change to be the horizontal position shooting, in a case where the inclination which is indicated by the orthogonal axis information detected after the posture change is not greater than the predetermined inclination at which the orthogonal axis can be regarded as substantially corresponding to the horizontal line.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the specifying comprises specifying the shooting posture of the apparatus body at the time of the imaging before the posture change to be the horizontal position shooting, in a case where the inclination which is indicated by the orthogonal axis information detected after the posture change is greater than a predetermined inclination at which the orthogonal axis can be regarded as substantially corresponding to a perpendicular line.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein a review display is performed after the imaging.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising determining whether or not a current operation status indicates that the review display is currently performed, wherein the orthogonal axis information indicating the inclination in a case where the current operation status indicates that the review display is currently performed, is detected by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the orthogonal axis information is detected by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit during the review display, and the shooting posture is specified, on condition that the shooting posture has not been specified before the review display is started.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the detecting of the orthogonal axis information by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit is started after the review display is started.

10. A shooting posture specifying method for an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit, an optical axis information detecting unit that detects, with a sensor, optical axis information indicating an inclination of the optical axis of the imaging unit, and an orthogonal axis information detecting unit that detects, with the sensor, orthogonal axis information indicating an inclination of an orthogonal axis perpendicular to the optical axis, the method comprising:

executing imaging by the imaging unit; and

specifying a shooting posture of an apparatus body at a time of imaging to be a vertical position shooting or a horizontal position shooting, based on the detected orthogonal axis information, on condition that the optical axis information indicating a predetermined inclination, from which the apparatus body can be determined to be in a particular posture, is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit, after the imaging by the imaging unit, wherein the inclination indicated by the orthogonal axis information which is detected by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit is independent from the inclination indicated by optical axis information which is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit,

wherein;

information indicating an inclination of an orthogonal axis, which is perpendicular to the optical axis and corresponds to a longitudinal direction of an angular field of view, to a perpendicular line, is detected as the orthogonal axis information by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit, and

the specifying comprises specifying the shooting posture of the apparatus body at the time of the imaging before a posture change to be the vertical position shooting, in a case where the inclination which is indicated by the orthogonal axis information detected after the posture change is not greater than a predetermined inclination at which the orthogonal axis can be regarded as substantially corresponding to the perpendicular line.

11. A shooting posture specifying method for an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit, an optical axis information detecting unit that detects, with a sensor, optical axis information indicating an inclination of the optical axis of the imaging unit, and an orthogonal axis information detecting unit that detects, with the sensor, orthogonal axis information indicating an inclination of an orthogonal axis perpendicular to the optical axis, the method comprising:

executing imaging by the imaging unit; and

specifying a shooting posture of an apparatus body at a time of imaging to be a vertical position shooting or a horizontal position shooting, based on the detected orthogonal axis information, on condition that the optical axis information indicating a predetermined inclination, from which the apparatus body can be determined to be in a particular posture, is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit, after the imaging by the imaging unit, wherein the inclination indicated by the orthogonal axis information which is detected by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit is independent from the inclination indicated by optical axis information which is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit,

wherein;

both of information indicating an inclination of a first orthogonal axis, which is perpendicular to the optical axis and corresponds to a width direction of an angular as field of view, to a horizontal line, and information indicating an inclination of a second orthogonal axis, which is perpendicular to the optical axis and corresponds to a longitudinal direction of the angular field of view, to a perpendicular line, is detected as the orthogonal axis information by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit, and

the specifying comprises specifying the shooting posture of the apparatus body at the time of imaging before a posture change, in accordance with a relationship in size between the inclination of the first orthogonal axis to the horizontal line and the inclination of the second orthogonal axis to the perpendicular line, which are indicated by the orthogonal axis information detected after the posture change.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the specifying comprises specifying the shooting posture of the apparatus body at the time of imaging before the posture change to be the vertical position shooting in a case where the inclination of the first orthogonal axis to the horizontal line, which is indicated by the orthogonal axis information detected after the posture change, is greater than the inclination of the second orthogonal axis to the perpendicular line.

13. A shooting posture specifying method for an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit, an optical axis information detecting unit that detects, with a sensor, optical axis information indicating an inclination of the optical axis of the imaging unit, and an orthogonal axis information detecting unit that detects, with the sensor, orthogonal axis information indicating an inclination of an orthogonal axis perpendicular to the optical axis, the method comprising:

executing imaging by the imaging unit; and

specifying a shooting posture of an apparatus body at a time of imaging to be a vertical position shooting or a horizontal position shooting, based on the detected orthogonal axis information, on condition that the optical axis information indicating a predetermined inclination, from which the apparatus body can be determined to be in a particular posture, is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit, after the imaging by the imaging unit, wherein the inclination indicated by the orthogonal axis information which is detected by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit is independent from the inclination indicated by optical axis information which is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit,

wherein the specifying comprises specifying the shooting posture of the apparatus body at the time of imaging, based on the orthogonal axis information detected by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit, on condition that the optical axis information indicating an inclination within a predetermined range, from which the apparatus body can be determined to be in a particular posture, is stably detected by the optical axis information detecting unit within a predetermined time period from the imaging.

14. A shooting posture specifying method for an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit, an optical axis information detecting unit that detects, with a sensor, optical axis information indicating an inclination of the optical axis of the imaging unit, and an orthogonal axis information detecting unit that detects, with the sensor, orthogonal axis information indicating an inclination of an orthogonal axis perpendicular to the optical axis, the method comprising:

executing imaging by the imaging unit;

specifying a shooting posture of an apparatus body at a time of imaging to be a vertical position shooting or a horizontal position shooting, based on the detected orthogonal axis information, on condition that the optical axis information indicating a predetermined inclination, from which the apparatus body can be determined to be in a particular posture, is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit, after the imaging by the imaging unit, wherein the inclination indicated by the orthogonal axis information which is detected by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit is independent from the inclination indicated by optical axis information which is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit; and

wherein the shooting posture is specified to be a predetermined posture in a case where the optical axis information indicating an inclination within a predetermined range, from which the apparatus body can be determined to be in a particular posture, is not stably detected by the optical axis information detecting unit within a predetermined time period from the imaging.

15. A shooting posture specifying method for an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit, an optical axis information detecting unit that detects, with a sensor, optical axis information indicating an inclination of the optical axis of the imaging unit, and an orthogonal axis information detecting unit that detects, with the sensor, orthogonal axis information indicating an inclination of an orthogonal axis perpendicular to the optical axis, the method comprising:

executing imaging by the imaging unit;

specifying a shooting posture of an apparatus body at a time of imaging to be a vertical position shooting or a horizontal position shooting, based on the detected orthogonal axis information, on condition that the optical axis information indicating a predetermined inclination, from which the apparatus body can be determined to be in a particular posture, is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit, after the imaging by the imaging unit, wherein the inclination indicated by the orthogonal axis information which is detected by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit is independent from the inclination indicated by optical axis information which is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit; and

detecting a start of displaying a review image after the imaging;

wherein the specifying comprises specifying the shooting posture of the apparatus body at the time of imaging, based on the orthogonal axis information detected by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit, on a condition that the optical axis information indicating a predetermined inclination, from which the apparatus body can be determined to be in a particular posture, is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit when the start of display of the review image is detected.

16. A shooting posture specifying method for an imaging apparatus including an imaging unit, an optical axis information detecting unit that detects, with a sensor, optical axis information indicating an inclination of the optical axis of the imaging unit, and an orthogonal axis information detecting unit that detects, with the sensor, orthogonal axis information indicating an inclination of an orthogonal axis perpendicular to the optical axis, the method comprising:

executing imaging by the imaging unit; and

specifying a shooting posture of an apparatus body at a time of imaging to be a vertical position shooting or a horizontal position shooting, based on the detected orthogonal axis information, on condition that the optical axis information indicating a predetermined inclination, from which the apparatus body can be determined to be in a particular posture, is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit, after the imaging by the imaging unit, wherein the inclination indicated by the orthogonal axis information which is detected by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit is independent from the inclination indicated by optical axis information which is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit;

wherein the specifying comprises specifying the shooting posture of the apparatus body at the time of imaging, based on the orthogonal axis information detected by the orthogonal axis information detecting unit, on condition that the optical axis information indicating an inclination not greater than a predetermined inclination, at which the optical axis can be regarded as substantially corresponding to a perpendicular line, is detected by the optical axis Information detecting unit, and that the optical axis information indicating a predetermined inclination within a predetermined range, from which the apparatus body can be determined to be in a particular posture, is detected by the optical axis information detecting unit within a predetermined time period from the imaging.