JP2006119454A - Imaging apparatus and photometric method of imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately obtain luminance information of only a main subject portion when spot photometry or partial photometry is performed, if the size of the main subject in the photographing screen is sufficient for the spot photometry area Es. Although it is possible, if the size of the main subject is small, the background also enters the spot photometry area Es, and it may be difficult to obtain accurate subject brightness.
When the output value of the entire photometry area or a part of the photometry area is compared with each photometry area and a deviation of a predetermined value or more is found, the photometric value is recalculated to obtain the optimum subject brightness. Make it possible to get.
[Selection] Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a photometric method for obtaining luminance information of a subject in a camera, a digital still camera, a digital video camera, or the like. In particular, the present invention is used to obtain luminance information of a very narrow area of a subject called spot metering or partial metering. This is related to a photometric method.

  It is a well-known technique to mount a photometric device for obtaining luminance information of an object for exposure control in a camera, a digital still camera, a digital video camera, or the like. There are various photometric devices or photometric modes among photometric devices mounted on cameras.

  For example, average metering for calculating average brightness information for the entire shooting screen, partial metering for calculating brightness information for only a limited area of about 10% of the shooting screen, and only for a few percent of the shooting screen Spot photometry for calculating the luminance information of only the divided area, or multi-division photometry for dividing the photographing screen into a plurality of areas and automatically performing backlight correction from the luminance information of the divided areas.

A digital camera capable of switching between multi-division metering and spot metering has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-298660 A

  Es shown in FIG. 12 is an example of a photometric area for spot photometry. The square frame represents the entire shooting screen, and the photometric value is obtained only from the circle area located at the center of the shooting screen. In conventional spot metering or partial metering, the metering area for the shooting screen is fixed. Spot metering or partial metering is a metering mode that is effective when you want to obtain brightness information of only the main subject in a situation where the brightness difference between the main subject and the background is large, such as in a backlight scene. When the size is sufficiently large with respect to the spot photometry area Es, it is possible to accurately obtain luminance information of only the main subject portion. However, if the size of the main subject is small, the spot photometry area Es is also obtained. In some cases, the background has entered and it is difficult to obtain accurate subject brightness. Conversely, if the spot metering area is reduced to prevent the background from entering the metering area, the subject becomes relatively large with respect to the spot metering area, and accurate subject brightness is obtained without entering the spot metering area. There were cases where it was impossible.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an imaging apparatus according to the present invention includes an area dividing unit that divides an imaging screen into a plurality of areas, and a plurality of objects for photometry from the divided areas. Metering area selecting means for selecting the area, reference value setting means for setting a reference value from the outputs of the plurality of metering areas selected by the metering area selecting means, and metering of the plurality of selected metering areas The first photometric calculating means for calculating the value is different from the first photometric calculating means for obtaining the subject brightness according to the comparison result of the reference value and the output values of the selected plurality of photometric areas. An image pickup apparatus comprising: a second photometric calculation unit that performs photometric calculation.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an imaging apparatus of the present invention is configured to divide the imaging screen into a plurality of areas and to make a photometric object from the plurality of divided areas. A photometric area selecting unit for selecting a plurality of areas for reference, a reference value setting unit for setting a reference value from outputs of a plurality of photometric areas selected by the photometric area selecting unit, and the plurality of photometers selected In the comparison result of the first photometric value calculation means for calculating the photometric value of the area, the reference value, the output value of the selected plurality of photometric areas, and the output value of the photometric area other than the selected area Accordingly, an image pickup apparatus comprising: a second photometric calculation unit that performs a photometric calculation different from the first photometric calculation unit for obtaining subject luminance.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a method for controlling an imaging apparatus according to the present invention includes an area division process for dividing an imaging screen into a plurality of areas, and a photometric object from the plurality of divided areas. A photometric area selection process for selecting a plurality of areas to be set, a reference value setting process for setting a reference value from outputs of the photometric areas selected in the photometric area selection process, and the selected plurality The first photometric calculation step for calculating subject luminance in accordance with a first photometric calculation process for calculating a photometric value of the photometric area and a comparison result between the reference value and the output values of the selected plural photometric areas A control method for an imaging apparatus, comprising: a second photometric calculation process that performs a photometric calculation different from the calculation process.

  In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, a method for controlling an imaging apparatus according to the present invention includes an area dividing step of dividing an imaging screen into a plurality of areas, and photometry from the divided areas. A photometric area selection process for selecting a plurality of areas to be targeted, a reference value setting process for setting a reference value from outputs of a plurality of photometric areas selected in the photometric area selection process, and the selected A first photometric value calculation step of calculating photometric values of a plurality of photometric areas, the reference value, output values of the selected photometric areas, and output values of photometric areas other than the selected area A control method for an imaging apparatus, comprising: a second photometric calculation step for performing a photometric calculation different from the first photometric calculation step for obtaining subject brightness according to a comparison result.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an optimum subject brightness by recalculating a photometric value in a photometric area in which a deviation equal to or larger than a predetermined value is seen compared to an output value in the photometric area.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows mainly the arrangement of optical members as a cross-sectional view in the imaging apparatus of the present embodiment. Regarding the other drawings in the present embodiment, the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

  In this drawing, the configuration of a so-called single-lens reflex camera capable of exchanging lenses is shown, but the present invention is not limited to a single-lens reflex camera.

  In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a camera body which is an imaging device, 2 denotes an interchangeable lens, and 3 denotes a flash device. In the camera body 1, 10 is a mechanical shutter, 11 is a low-pass filter, 12 is an image sensor having a photoelectric conversion function such as CMOS or CCD, 13 is a semi-transparent main mirror, and 14 is a first reflecting mirror. Both the mirror 13 and the first reflection mirror 14 jump up to the top during photographing. 15 is a paraxial imaging plane conjugate with the surface of the image sensor 12 by the first reflecting mirror 14, 16 is a second reflecting mirror, 17 is an infrared cut filter, 18 is a stop having two openings, 19 Is a secondary imaging lens, and 20 is a focus detection sensor. As shown in FIG. 2, the focus detection sensor 20 has a structure in which two light receiving sensor sections 20A and 20B are divided into a plurality of areas corresponding to the two openings of the diaphragm 18. Further, in addition to the light receiving sensor units 20A and 20B, a signal storage unit, a signal processing peripheral circuit, and the like are formed as an integrated circuit on the same chip. The configuration from the first reflecting mirror 14 to the focus detection sensor 20 enables focus detection by an image shift method at an arbitrary position in the photographing screen.

  Reference numeral 21 denotes a diffusive focusing plate, 22 a pentaprism, 23 an eyepiece, 24 a third reflecting mirror, 25 a condenser lens, and 26 a photometric sensor for obtaining information on the luminance of the subject. The photometric sensor 26 is a semiconductor integrated circuit including a photoelectric conversion light receiving unit and a signal processing circuit thereof. The photoelectric conversion light receiving portion of the photometric sensor 26 is divided into a large number as illustrated in FIG. 3, and in this embodiment, substantially the entire photographing screen is the field of view. As shown in the drawing, in this embodiment, the luminance information in the screen can be obtained by dividing the light receiving field into 21 columns × 11 rows = 231 divisions. The areas in the shooting screen corresponding to the respective light receiving units divided into 231 are referred to as A01 to K21 as shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, the inside of the light receiving field is divided into 231. However, the size, shape, and relative arrangement of the divided areas illustrated are appropriately changed according to the configuration of the apparatus to which the present invention is applied and various conditions. The present invention is not limited to these examples. It is well known that in addition to the light receiving sensor part, a signal amplifying part, a signal processing peripheral circuit, and the like are formed as an integrated circuit on the same chip.

  The focus plate 21, the pentaprism 22 and the eyepiece lens 23 constitute a finder optical system. Of the light beam reflected by the main mirror 13 and diffused by the focus plate 21, a part outside the optical axis is incident on the photometric sensor 26.

  Reference numeral 27 denotes a mount portion for attaching the photographing lens, 28 denotes a contact portion for performing information communication with the photographing lens, and 29 denotes a connection portion to which the flash device is attached. In the interchangeable lens 2, reference numerals 30a to 30e denote optical lenses constituting the photographing lens, reference numeral 31 denotes a diaphragm, reference numeral 32 denotes a contact part for performing information communication with the camera body, and reference numeral 33 denotes a mount part to be attached to the camera.

  In the flash device 3, 34 is a xenon tube, 35 is a reflective shade, 36 is a Fresnel plate, 37 is a monitor sensor for monitoring the amount of light emitted from the xenon tube 34, and 38 is an attachment portion for attaching the flash device 3 to the camera body 1. It is.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an electric circuit of the camera body 1, the interchangeable lens 2 and the flash unit 3 embodying the present invention. In the camera main body 1, reference numeral 41 denotes a control circuit by a one-chip microcomputer having, for example, an ALU, ROM, RAM, A / D converter, timer, serial communication port (SPI), etc. therein, and performs overall control of the camera mechanism and the like. A specific control sequence of the control circuit 41 will be described later. The focus detection sensor 20 and the photometric sensor 26 are the same as those described in FIG. Output signals of the focus detection sensor 20 and the photometry sensor 26 are connected to an A / D converter input terminal of the control circuit 41.

  A shutter drive circuit 42 is connected to the output terminal of the control circuit 41 and drives the mechanical shutter 10 shown in FIG. Reference numeral 43 denotes a signal processing circuit, which controls the image sensor 12 in accordance with an instruction from the control circuit 41 and performs signal processing using an A / D converted image signal output from the image sensor 12 as an input signal to obtain an image signal. Further, necessary image processing is performed on the obtained image signal.

  Reference numeral 44 denotes a storage medium such as a non-volatile memory such as a flash ROM or an optical disk, which stores captured image signals. Reference numeral 45 denotes a first motor for moving the main mirror 13 and the first reflecting mirror 14 up and down. A first motor driver 46 is connected to the output terminal of the control circuit 41 and is controlled to drive the first motor 45. Reference numeral 47 is a display unit which is composed of a liquid crystal panel or the like and displays the number of shots, date information, exposure information, and the like, and each segment is controlled to be lit according to the output signal of the control circuit 41. Reference numeral 48 denotes a white balance setting circuit for setting a white balance mode, 49 is a photographing mode setting circuit, and 50 is a release switch. Reference numeral 28 denotes a contact portion described in FIG. 1, to which an input / output signal of a serial communication port of the control circuit 41 is connected. Reference numeral 29 denotes a flash device connection unit described in FIG. 1, to which input / output signals of the serial communication port of the control circuit 41 are also connected so that communication with the flash device 3 is possible.

  In the interchangeable lens 2, for example, 51 is a lens control circuit using a one-chip microcomputer in which an ALU, ROM, RAM, timer, serial communication port (SPI), and the like are incorporated. Reference numeral 52 denotes a second motor for adjusting the focus. A second motor driver 53 is connected to and controlled by the output terminal of the lens control circuit 51 to drive the second motor 52. Reference numeral 54 denotes a third motor for controlling the diaphragm 31 described in FIG. A third motor driver 55 is connected to and controlled by the output terminal of the lens control circuit 51 to drive the third motor 54. Reference numeral 56 denotes a distance encoder for obtaining information relating to the amount of extension of the focus adjustment lens, that is, the subject distance, and is connected to the input terminal of the lens control circuit 51.

  Reference numeral 57 denotes a zoom encoder for obtaining focal length information at the time of shooting when the interchangeable lens 30 is a zoom lens, and is connected to an input terminal of the lens circuit 51. Reference numeral 32 denotes a contact portion described in FIG. 1 to which an input / output signal of a serial communication port of the lens control circuit 51 is connected.

  When the interchangeable lens 2 is attached to the camera body 1, the contact portions 28 and 32 are connected, and the lens control circuit 51 can perform data communication with the control circuit 41 of the camera body 1. The lens control circuit 51 includes optical information unique to the lens necessary for the control circuit 41 of the camera body to perform focus detection and exposure calculation, information on the subject distance based on the distance encoder 56 or the zoom encoder 57, or focal length information. To the control circuit 41 of the camera body by data communication. Further, the focus adjustment information and the aperture information obtained as a result of the focus detection and exposure calculation performed by the control circuit 41 of the camera body are output from the control circuit 41 of the camera body to the lens control circuit 51 by data communication, and the lens control is performed. The circuit 51 controls the second motor driver 53 according to the focus adjustment information, and controls the third motor driver 55 according to the aperture information.

  In the flash device 3, 61 is a flash control circuit by a one-chip microcomputer having an ALU, ROM, RAM, A / D converter, timer, serial communication port (SPI), etc. built therein, and 62 is a light emission of the xenon tube 34. The boosting unit for generating a high voltage of about 300 V necessary for the above, the xenon tube 34 and the monitor sensor 37 are the same as those described in FIG. When the flash device 3 is attached to the camera body 1, the connection portions 38 and 29 are connected, and the flash control circuit 61 can perform data communication with the control circuit 41 of the camera body 1. The flash control circuit 61 controls the boosting unit 62 according to the communication content from the control circuit 41 of the camera body 1 to start and stop the light emission of the xenon tube 34, and the detected amount of the monitor sensor 37 is controlled by the control circuit 41 of the camera body. Output for.

  Next, a calculation flow for acquiring spot photometry data related to the present invention by the control circuit 41 of the camera body will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Since the camera operation other than the photometric data calculation is not particularly related to the present invention, a detailed description of the operation is omitted.

  When the control circuit 41 becomes operable and enters a sequence for acquiring spot photometric data, the process is executed from step S101 in FIG.

  In step S101, the control circuit 41 outputs a control signal to the photometric sensor 26 to cause signal accumulation.

  When the signal accumulation is completed in step S101, in step S102, the control circuit 41 performs A / D conversion while reading the signals of each of the 231 divisions accumulated in the photometric sensor 26, and sequentially stores them in the RAM.

  In step S103, the control circuit 41 receives lens information necessary for obtaining correct photometric information from the lens control circuit 51, and performs a correction operation based on the lens information input to the signals of the respective units stored in the RAM. And subject luminance information of each light receiving unit divided into 231 is obtained.

  Note that the subject luminance data of each area after performing the correction calculation is referred to as follows. The subject luminance data corresponding to the area A01 is Y (A01), the subject luminance data corresponding to the area A02 is Y (A02), and similarly the subject luminance data corresponding to the area K21 is Y (K21).

In step S104, the control circuit 41 calculates a simple average value of the spot photometry area. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the spot photometry area in the screen divided into 231 is an area occupied by nine areas of E10, E11, E12, F10, F11, F12, G10, G11, and G12. Thus, photometric data in a small area of about several percent of the entire screen is acquired. Here, first, a simple average value Ym of subject luminance information in each area of E10, E11, E12, F10, F11, F12, G10, G11, and G12 is obtained.
Ym = (Y (E10) + Y (E11) + Y (E12) + Y (F10) + Y (F11) + Y (F12) + Y (G10) + Y (G11) + Y (G12)) ÷ 9

In step S105, the control circuit 41 calculates a deviation between the subject luminance data in each part of the spot photometry area and the average value Ym calculated in step S104.
ΔY (E10) = Y (E10) −Ym
ΔY (E11) = Y (E11) −Ym
ΔY (E12) = Y (E12) −Ym
ΔY (F10) = Y (F10) −Ym
ΔY (F11) = Y (F11) −Ym
ΔY (F12) = Y (F12) −Ym
ΔY (G10) = Y (G10) −Ym
ΔY (G11) = Y (G11) −Ym
ΔY (G12) = Y (G12) −Ym

  In step S106, the control circuit 41 calculates the deviations ΔY (E10), ΔY (E11), ΔY (E12), ΔY (F10), ΔY (F11), ΔY (F12) calculated in step S105. , .DELTA.Y (G10), .DELTA.Y (G11), .DELTA.Y (G12), it is determined whether there is one whose absolute value exceeds a predetermined value.

  If there is nothing exceeding the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step S107, and the simple average value Ym of subject luminance data in each part of the spot photometry area is set as spot photometry data.

If there is a value exceeding the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step S108, and the control circuit 41 performs a process of recalculating the spot photometry data in a state where an area having a large deviation is excluded. For example, it is assumed that the scene is a backlight scene in which the person portion is dark and the background portion is bright as shown in FIG. In this case, E10 and E12 of the spot metering area are metering data including a bright background part, and are considerably larger than the data of other spot metering areas in which only the person part is metered. Exceeds value. Therefore, the average value Yms of the area excluding these areas is calculated, and Yms is used as spot photometric data in this scene.
Yms = (Y (E11) + Y (F10) + Y (F11) + Y (F12) + Y (G10) + Y (G11) + Y (G12)) ÷ 7

  The area where the deviation exceeds a predetermined value varies depending on the scene, so the above equation is not always applied. Even if the area exceeds the predetermined value, the center Y (F11) is not excluded because it is unnatural. If the number of areas to be excluded is too large, it may become unnatural as a spot metering area of several percent of the screen, so the area to be excluded is limited to a maximum of three areas.

  It should be noted that the predetermined value in this embodiment is set to a difference in luminance value that is apparently uncomfortable.

  Further, in the present embodiment, when calculating the deviation ΔY (x), the difference between the luminance information Y (x) of each area and the average value Ym is obtained, but instead of Ym, the luminance information Y of the central portion is obtained. (F11) or preset luminance information may be used.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the subject photometric brightness is accurately calculated by calculating the final photometric data by excluding an area where the deviation is larger than a predetermined value with respect to the average photometric value of the spot photometric area. Making it possible to get.

(Second Embodiment)
The operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Steps that perform the same processing as in the first embodiment are assigned the same numbers as in FIG.

  The difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is that the first embodiment obtains final photometric data by excluding areas where the deviation is larger than a predetermined value with respect to the average value of the spot photometric areas. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the final photometric data is obtained by changing the weight according to the deviation from the average value of the spot photometric area.

  Since the processing up to step S105 in FIG. 6 is the same in the flowchart, the processing after step S206 in the flowchart of FIG. 9 will be described.

In step S206, the control circuit 41 obtains the weighting coefficient W (x) with reference to the table shown in FIG. 10 according to the value of each deviation ΔY (x). Further, the weighted average value Ymw of the photometric area according to the weighting coefficient is calculated.
Ymw = Σ (W (x) × ΔY (x)) ÷ Σ (W (x))
Here, x is E10, E11, E12, F10, F11, F12, G10, G11, G12.

  As a result, an area where the deviation from the simple average value is larger, such as the area E10 or E12 in the scene of FIG.

  This weighted average value Ymw is used as spot photometric data.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when spot metering is performed by calculating the final metering data by changing the metering area weighting according to the deviation from the average value of the metering value in the spot metering area, Even when the background is in the background, accurate photometry is performed to obtain the subject brightness accurately.

(Third embodiment)
The operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Steps that perform the same processing as in the first embodiment are assigned the same numbers as in FIG.

  The difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is that the first embodiment obtains final photometric data by excluding areas where the deviation is larger than a predetermined value with respect to the average value of the spot photometric areas. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, not only the photometry value in the spot photometry area but also the photometry value outside the spot photometry area adjacent to the spot photometry area is referred to and compared, so that only the main subject portion is accurately detected. This is the point where spot metering data is obtained.

  Since the processing up to step S103 in FIG. 6 is the same in the flowchart, the processing after step S304 in the flowchart in FIG. 11 will be described.

In step S304, the control circuit 41 compares the subject luminance information of each part excluding the center F11 in the spot photometry area with the center F11 to obtain the deviation.
ΔYs (E10) = Y (E10) −Y (F11)
ΔYs (E11) = Y (E11) −Y (F11)
ΔYs (E12) = Y (E12) −Y (F11)
ΔYs (F10) = Y (F10) −Y (F11)
ΔYs (F12) = Y (F12) −Y (F11)
ΔYs (G10) = Y (G10) −Y (F11)
ΔYs (G11) = Y (G11) −Y (F11)
ΔYs (G12) = Y (G12) −Y (F11)

  In step S305, the control circuit 41 determines whether there is any deviation ΔYs (E10) to ΔYs (G12) that exceeds the first predetermined value or not.

If there is nothing exceeding the first predetermined value, in step S306, the control circuit 41 calculates a simple average value Ym of the spot photometry area from the deviations ΔYs (E10) to ΔYs (G12).
Ym = (Y (E10) + Y (E11) + Y (E12) + Y (F10) + Y (F11) + Y (F12) + Y (G10) + Y (G11) + Y (G12)) ÷ 9
This simple average value Ym is used as spot photometric data.

  If there is a value exceeding the first predetermined value, in step S307, the control circuit 41 adjoins the area of the deviation ΔYs (E10) to ΔYs (G12) exceeding the first predetermined value. Comparison is made with the photometry value outside the spot photometry area. For example, if the deviation ΔYs (E10) exceeds the first predetermined value, the value of Y (E10) is set to the value of Y (D10) that is the adjacent photometric value of D10 or E09, Compared with the value of Y (E09), it is determined whether or not the difference between the values is within a second predetermined value. Similarly, if the deviation ΔYs (F10) exceeds the first predetermined value, the value of Y (F10) is compared with the value of Y (F09) which is the luminance value of F09 which is an adjacent area. In order to determine whether or not the difference is within the second predetermined value, each area is compared with an area outside the adjacent spot photometry area.

In step S308, the control circuit 41 compares the deviation ΔYs (E10) to ΔYs (G12) with a value exceeding the first predetermined value and comparing with data outside the adjacent spot photometry area. If the difference is within the second predetermined value, there is a high possibility that it is not the main subject area but the background area, so the average value Yms of the spot photometry area excluding the corresponding area is calculated. As in the case of the first embodiment, if the area of E10 and the area of E12 correspond to areas to be excluded, calculation is performed using the following formula.
Yms = (Y (E11) + Y (F10) + Y (F11) + Y (F12) + Y (G10) + Y (G11) + Y (G12)) ÷ 7
Let Yms be spot photometric data.

  It should be noted that the first predetermined value referred to in the present embodiment is set to a value such that a luminance difference is clearly felt visually.

  In addition, the second predetermined value is set to a value that does not cause a significant difference in luminance.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, not only the photometry value in the spot photometry area but also the photometry value outside the spot photometry area adjacent to the spot photometry area is referred to and compared, and the spot photometry data of only the main subject portion is accurately compared. Thus, when spot metering is performed, accurate metering is performed even when a background enters the metering area, and the subject brightness can be accurately obtained.

  In the present invention, the number of divisions of the photometric sensor, the number of spot photometric areas, etc. are not limited to this.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, general spot metering for metering the area in the center of the screen is exemplified, but partial metering for metering a slightly wider area, spot metering at the distance measuring point in conjunction with the distance measuring point is performed. The present invention may be applied to a distance measuring point-linked spot metering or the like.

  The present invention may be applied to the case where the reflected light from the subject is measured while emitting the flash as well as the steady light.

  In the above embodiment, a camera provided with a photometric sensor in addition to the image sensor has been described as an example. However, the photometric sensor is also used as an image sensor, and a photometric value obtained from the image sensor is calculated to calculate the subject. It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to a camera having a configuration for obtaining luminance.

  Further, not only when recording a still image as an image signal, but also when displaying the output of the image sensor as an image signal sequentially on the display means in order to make it possible to observe the movement of the subject on the display means, Even when a moving image signal is generated and recorded, the present invention can be applied.

It is sectional drawing of the camera, interchangeable lens, and flash apparatus which implemented this invention. It is a figure showing the structural example of the sensor for focus detection. It is a figure showing the example of a structure of the sensor for photometry. It is a figure explaining a photometry area. It is a block diagram showing the structural example of the electric circuit of a camera, an interchangeable lens, and a flash apparatus. It is a calculation flowchart of the control circuit in a 1st Example. It is a figure showing a spot photometry area. It is a figure showing the example of a backlight scene. It is a calculation flowchart of the control circuit in the second embodiment. It is a figure which shows the weighting coefficient in a 2nd Example. It is a calculation flowchart of the control circuit in a 3rd Example. It is a figure showing the conventional spot photometry area.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Camera body 2 Interchangeable lens 3 Flash apparatus 10 Mechanical shutter 11 Low pass filter 12 Image sensor 13 Main mirror 14 First reflective mirror 15 Paraxial imaging surface 16 Second reflective mirror 17 Infrared cut filter 18 Aperture (aperture) 2 parts)
19 Secondary imaging lens 20 Focus detection sensor 21 Focus plate 22 Penta prism 23 Eyepiece 24 Third reflection mirror 25 Condensing lens 26 Photometric sensor 27 Mount section (camera side)
28 Lens contact part 29 Flash unit connection part (camera side)
30 Optical Lens 31 Aperture 32 Camera Contact Part 33 Mount Part (Lens Side)
34 Xenon tube 35 Reflecting shade 36 Fresnel plate 37 Monitor sensor 38 Flash unit connection (flash side)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 41 Camera control circuit 42 Shutter drive part 43 Signal processing circuit 44 Recording medium 45 1st motor 46 1st motor driver 47 Indicator 48 White balance setting circuit 49 Shooting mode setting circuit 50 Release switch 51 Lens control circuit 52 2nd Motor 53 Second motor driver 54 Third motor 55 Third motor driver 56 Distance encoder 57 Zoom encoder 61 Flash device control circuit 62 Boosting unit 63 Irradiation angle adjustment unit 64 Irradiation angle detection unit

Claims (12)

Area dividing means for dividing the imaging screen into a plurality of areas;
A photometric area selection means for selecting a plurality of areas for photometry from the plurality of divided areas;
A reference value setting means for setting a reference value from outputs of a plurality of photometry areas selected by the photometry area selection means;
First photometry calculating means for calculating photometric values of the plurality of selected photometry areas;
A second photometric calculation means for performing a photometric calculation different from the first photometric calculation means for obtaining the subject brightness according to a comparison result between the reference value and the output values of the selected plurality of photometric areas;
An imaging apparatus comprising:   The second photometry calculation means compares the reference value with the output values of the selected plurality of photometry areas, and if there is a deviation exceeding a predetermined value, the first photometry calculation for obtaining subject luminance. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein photometric calculation different from the means is performed. Area dividing means for dividing the imaging screen into a plurality of areas;
A photometric area selecting means for selecting a plurality of areas for photometry from the divided areas;
A reference value setting means for setting a reference value from outputs of a plurality of photometry areas selected by the photometry area selection means;
First photometric value calculating means for calculating photometric values of the selected plurality of photometric areas;
The first photometric calculation means for obtaining subject brightness according to a comparison result of the reference value, the output values of the selected photometric areas, and the output values of photometric areas other than the selected area A second photometric calculation means for performing a photometric calculation different from
An imaging apparatus comprising:   The second photometry calculating means outputs the photometry area in which the deviation between the reference value and the output values of the plurality of photometry areas is not less than a first predetermined value and a deviation not less than the first predetermined value is observed. The deviation between the value and the output value of the photometry area adjacent to the photometry area that is outside the plurality of selected photometry areas and has a deviation greater than or equal to the first predetermined value is within a second predetermined value. 4. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a photometry calculation different from the first photometry calculation means for obtaining subject luminance is performed.   5. The second photometric calculation means calculates a photometric value by excluding a photometric area in which a deviation between the reference value and an output value of the plurality of photometric areas exceeds a predetermined value. 6. The imaging device according to any one of the above.   5. The imaging according to claim 1, wherein the second photometric calculation unit calculates a photometric value by changing a weight according to a deviation between the reference value and an output value of the plurality of photometric areas. apparatus.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reference value is an average value of output values of the plurality of selected photometric areas.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reference value is an output value of a center area of the selected plurality of photometric areas.   5. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photometric area selection unit selects a plurality of predetermined photometric areas.   5. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second calculation unit performs calculation for obtaining subject brightness using only output values in a plurality of areas in the imaging screen. 6. . An area division process for dividing the imaging screen into a plurality of areas;
A photometric area selection step of selecting a plurality of areas for photometry from the plurality of divided areas;
A reference value setting step for setting a reference value from outputs of a plurality of photometric areas selected by the photometric area selection step;
A first photometric calculation step of calculating photometric values of the selected plural photometric areas;
A second photometric calculation step for performing a photometric calculation different from the first photometric calculation step for obtaining subject brightness according to a comparison result between the reference value and the output values of the selected plurality of photometric areas;
An image pickup apparatus control method comprising: An area division process for dividing the imaging screen into a plurality of areas;
A photometric area selection step of selecting a plurality of areas to be a photometric target from the divided areas;
A reference value setting step for setting a reference value from outputs of a plurality of photometric areas selected by the photometric area selection step;
A first photometric value calculation step of calculating photometric values of the plurality of selected photometric areas;
The first photometric calculation process for obtaining subject brightness according to a comparison result of the reference value, the output values of the selected photometric areas, and the output values of photometric areas other than the selected area A second photometric calculation process for performing photometric calculation different from
An image pickup apparatus control method comprising:

Images