Imaging apparatus, unmanned moving object, imaging method, system, and program

An imaging method of an imaging apparatus including an imaging optical system including a wide angle optical system and a telephoto optical system having a common optical axis, and a directional sensor that includes a plurality of pixels configured with photoelectric conversion elements arranged in two dimensions, the directional sensor including the plurality of pixels selectively receiving luminous flux incident through each of the wide angle optical system and the telephoto optical system by pupil separation, the imaging method comprising:

• generating, based on an image signal from the directional sensor, a wide dynamic range wide angle image obtained by enlarging a dynamic range of a wide angle image captured through the wide angle optical system;
• acquiring a wide dynamic range wide angle image group configured with the wide dynamic range wide angle image, and a telephoto image group which is captured at the same time as the wide dynamic range wide angle image group and is configured with a telephoto image which is the image signal from the directional sensor and is captured through the telephoto optical system, a subject being imaged in the wide dynamic range wide angle image group and the telephoto image group while an imaging position is changed;
• acquiring composition information to be used for compositing the telephoto image group by analyzing the acquired wide dynamic range wide angle image group;
• and
• generating an image in which the telephoto image group is composited, based on the composition information, information related to focal lengths of the wide angle optical system and the telephoto optical system, and the telephoto image group.

A system comprising an imaging apparatus and an image generation apparatus,

• wherein the imaging apparatus includes:
• an imaging optical system including a wide angle optical system and a telephoto optical system having a common optical axis;
• a directional sensor having a plurality of pixels configured with photoelectric conversion elements arranged in two dimensions, the directional sensor including the plurality of pixels selectively receiving luminous flux incident through each of the wide angle optical system and the telephoto optical system by pupil separation;
• and
• a camera-side micom configured to generate, based on an image signal from the directional sensor, a wide dynamic range wide angle image obtained by enlarging a dynamic range of a wide angle image captured through the wide angle optical system, and
• the image generation apparatus includes at least one processor configured to:
• acquire a wide dynamic range wide angle image group configured with the wide dynamic range wide angle image generated by the camera-side micom, and a telephoto image group which is captured at the same time as the wide dynamic range wide angle image group and is configured with a telephoto image which is the image signal from the directional sensor and is captured through the telephoto optical system, a subject being imaged in the wide dynamic range wide angle image group and the telephoto image group while an imaging position is changed;
• acquire composition information to be used for compositing the telephoto image group by analyzing the acquired wide dynamic range wide angle image group;
• and
• generate an image in which the telephoto image group is composited, based on the composition information, information related to focal lengths of the wide angle optical system and the telephoto optical system, and the telephoto image group.

A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium causing a computer to execute an imaging step of an imaging apparatus in a case where an instruction stored in the recording medium is read out by the computer, the imaging apparatus including an imaging optical system including a wide angle optical system and a telephoto optical system having a common optical axis, and a directional sensor that includes a plurality of pixels configured with photoelectric conversion elements arranged in two dimensions, the directional sensor including the plurality of pixels selectively receiving luminous flux incident through each of the wide angle optical system and the telephoto optical system by pupil separation, the imaging step comprising:

• generating, based on an image signal from the directional sensor, a wide dynamic range wide angle image obtained by enlarging a dynamic range of a wide angle image captured through the wide angle optical system;
• acquiring a wide dynamic range wide angle image group configured with the wide dynamic range wide angle image, and a telephoto image group which is captured at the same time as the wide dynamic range wide angle image group and is configured with a telephoto image which is the image signal from the directional sensor and is captured through the telephoto optical system, a subject being imaged in the wide dynamic range wide angle image group and the telephoto image group while an imaging position is changed;
• acquiring composition information to be used for compositing the telephoto image group by analyzing the acquired wide dynamic range wide angle image group;
• and
• generating an image in which the telephoto image group is composited, based on the composition information, information related to focal lengths of the wide angle optical system and the telephoto optical system, and the telephoto image group.