IMAGING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME

• US 20130179831A1
• Filed: 01/04/2013
• Published: 07/11/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Izaki, Yuko
• Granted Patent: US 9,367,220 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/800
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/20 visible in viewfinder
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/631 Graphical user interfaces [GUI] specially adapted for controlling image capture or setting capture parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/633 for displaying additional information relating to control or operation of the camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/743 Bracketing, i.e. taking a series of images with varying exposure conditions

Abstract

An imaging apparatus includes a touch detection unit configured to detect a touch operation on a display unit, a display control unit configured to control display of an indicator indicating a reference value in an autobracketing shooting and an indicator indicating a bracketing value in the autobracketing shooting, a control unit configured to perform control to increase a width between the reference value and the bracketing value to be set when the touch detection unit detects a touch operation moving in a first direction while keeping touching a setting area for setting the bracketing value on the display unit and to decrease the width when the touch detection unit detects a touch operation moving in a second direction opposite the first direction while keeping touching the setting area, and a bracketing value setting unit configured to set the bracketing value based on the width.

Claims

1. An imaging apparatus comprising:

a touch detection unit configured to detect a touch operation on a display unit;

a display control unit configured to control display of an indicator indicating a reference value in an autobracketing shooting and an indicator indicating a bracketing value in the autobracketing shooting;

a control unit configured to perform control to increase a width between the reference value and the bracketing value to be set when the touch detection unit detects a touch operation moving in a first direction while keeping touching a setting area for setting the bracketing value on the display unit and to decrease the width when the touch detection unit detects a touch operation moving in a second direction opposite the first direction while keeping touching the setting area; and

a bracketing value setting unit configured to set the bracketing value based on the width.

2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs control to change the width based on a moving direction and a moving distance of the touch operation detected by the touch detection unit and moving while keeping touching the setting area, irrespective of a starting position of the touch operation.

3. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the touch operation is an operation for touching one point on the display unit.

4. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the width is “

0” and

the touch detection unit does not detect the touch operation, the display control unit does not display the indicator indicating the reference value and the indicator indicating the bracketing value in the setting area, and when the width is “

0” and

the touch detection unit detects the touch operation, the display control unit performs control to display the indicator indicating the reference value.

5. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit performs control to move the indicator indicating the bracketing value according to the touch operation detected by the touch detection unit and moving while keeping touching the setting area.

6. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit moves the indicator indicating the bracketing value at a distance smaller than an amount of movement of the touch operation according to the touch operation detected by the touch detection unit and moving while keeping touching the setting area.

7. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an exposure compensation setting unit configured to set an exposure compensation value,

wherein the reference value is the exposure compensation value set by the exposure compensation setting unit.

8. The imaging apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the display control unit performs control to display in the same screen of the display unit:

(a) a scale;

(b) first indicators indicating a range of values settable by the exposure compensation setting unit and arranged in association with the scale; and

(c) second indicators indicating a range of values settable by the bracketing value setting unit and arranged in association with the scale and the first indicators, and

wherein the second indicators are displayed in the setting area.

9. The imaging apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the exposure compensation setting unit sets the exposure compensation value based on a touch position of the touch operation on an area in which the first indicators are displayed.

10. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit performs control to display a first touch button for receiving an instruction for increasing the width and a second touch button for receiving an instruction for decreasing the width in a position different from the setting area of a screen in which the setting area is displayed, and

wherein the control unit performs control to increase the width based on a number of times of the touch operation and/or a touch continuation time of the touch operation in response to the touch detection unit detecting the touch operation on the first touch button, and to decrease the width based on the number of times of the touch operation and/or the touch continuation time of the touch operation in response to the touch detection unit detecting the touch operation on the second touch button.

11. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a shooting control unit configured to perform control to perform an autobracketing shooting for acquiring an image in which a specific shooting setting is acquired as setting based on the reference value and an image in which the specific shooting setting is acquired as setting based on the bracketing value set by the bracketing value setting unit.

12. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the autobracketing shooting relates to at least one of exposure, flash, shutter speed, aperture value, white balance, ISO sensitivity, and focus.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program that causes a computer to function as each unit of the imaging apparatus according to claim 1.

13. A method for controlling an imaging apparatus, the method comprising:

detecting a touch operation on a display unit;

controlling display of an indicator indicating a reference value in an autobracketing shooting and an indicator indicating a bracketing value in the autobracketing shooting;

performing control to increase a width between the reference value and the bracketing value to be set when a touch operation moving in a first direction while keeping touching a setting area for setting the bracketing value on the display unit is detected and to decrease the width when a touch operation moving in a second direction opposite the first direction while keeping touching the setting area is detected; and

setting the bracketing value based on the width.