Observation apparatus

An observation apparatus that is for an imaging apparatus including an imaging element and is controlled by a control unit, the observation apparatus comprising:

• an optical system that forms an optical image of a subject in an observable manner by a user;
• a display mechanism that displays an image in an observable manner by the user;
• and
• a light shielding mechanism of which a light shielding rate is variable by an electrical signal,
• wherein the light shielding mechanism is selected from a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal panel, an electrochromic sheet, or a neutral density filter,
• the optical image has a first optical region and a second optical region,
• the image is an image based on a signal generated by the imaging element,
• the display mechanism superimposes the image on the first optical region to display both the image and the optical image in an observable manner by the user,
• the light shielding mechanism is disposed in an optical path between the subject and the display mechanism and has a first light shielding region to be superimposed on the first optical region and a second light shielding region to be superimposed on the second optical region,
• the light shielding rate of the light shielding mechanism varies according to an electrical signal input to the light shielding mechanism and can be controlled for each region by the control unit,
• control processing of controlling light shielding rates of the first light shielding region and of the second light shielding region based on an intensity of ambient light is executed by the control unit with respect to the light shielding mechanism, and
• in the control processing, a light shielding rate of an end part region of the second light shielding region is controlled to be lower than a light shielding rate of a central region of the second light shielding region.

An observation apparatus that is for an imaging apparatus including an imaging element and is controlled by a control unit, the observation apparatus comprising:

• an optical system that forms an optical image of a subject in an observable manner by a user;
• a display mechanism that displays an image in an observable manner by the user;
• and
• a light shielding mechanism of which a light shielding rate is variable by an electrical signal,
• wherein the light shielding mechanism is selected from a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal panel, an electrochromic sheet, or a neutral density filter,
• the optical image has a first optical region and a second optical region,
• the image is an image based on a signal generated by the imaging element,
• an image of an in-focus region and an image of an out-of-focus region other than the in-focus region are present in the image,
• the display mechanism superimposes the image on the first optical region to display both the image and the optical image in an observable manner by the user,
• the light shielding mechanism is disposed in an optical path between the subject and the display mechanism and has a first light shielding region to be superimposed on the first optical region and a second light shielding region to be superimposed on the second optical region,
• the light shielding rate of the light shielding mechanism varies according to an electrical signal input to the light shielding mechanism and can be controlled for each region by the control unit,
• control processing of controlling light shielding rates of the first light shielding region and of the second light shielding region based on an intensity of ambient light is executed by the control unit with respect to the light shielding mechanism, and
• in the control processing, a light shielding rate of a region of the first light shielding region, which overlaps the image of the in-focus region, is controlled to be higher than a light shielding rate of a region overlapping the image of the out-of-focus region.

An observation apparatus that is for an imaging apparatus including an imaging element and is controlled by a control unit, the observation apparatus comprising:

• an optical system that forms an optical image of a subject in an observable manner by a user;
• a display mechanism that displays an image in an observable manner by the user;
• and
• a light shielding mechanism of which a light shielding rate is variable by an electrical signal,
• wherein the light shielding mechanism is selected from a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal panel, an electrochromic sheet, or a neutral density filter,
• the optical image has a first optical region and a second optical region,
• the image is an image based on a signal generated by the imaging element,
• the display mechanism superimposes the image on the first optical region to display both the image and the optical image in an observable manner by the user,
• the display mechanism displays a marker indicating an imaging range of the imaging element together with the image,
• in an overlapping region where a display region of the marker and a display region of the image overlap each other in the display mechanism, out of the marker and the image, one selected by the user is preferentially displayed over the other,
• the light shielding mechanism is disposed in an optical path between the subject and the display mechanism and has a first light shielding region to be superimposed on the first optical region and a second light shielding region to be superimposed on the second optical region,
• the light shielding rate of the light shielding mechanism varies according to an electrical signal input to the light shielding mechanism and can be controlled for each region by the control unit, and
• control processing of controlling light shielding rates of the first light shielding region and of the second light shielding region based on an intensity of ambient light is executed by the control unit with respect to the light shielding mechanism.