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US 7,071,986 B2Granted
Digital camera utilizing illumination from a flash light for focus detection and control
AssigneeMinolta Co., Ltd.
InventorsYoshiharu Kobayashi, Masahito Niikawa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Flash emission is required when image data have a low luminance value and when it is determined that flash emission is not prohibited, the built-in flash is used for autofocus (AF). An AF evaluation value is obtained under the flash emission, and the lens is driven based on this value. This operation is repeated until it is determined that the lens is focused, and accurate AF is executed even in dark conditions.
Claims8
A digital camera comprising:
- an image sensing element for generating image data of an object;
- a light emission device for emitting light to illuminate the object during photography;
- a first detector for detecting contrast of the image data;
- a focus evaluator for evaluating focus of a lens based on the detected contrast;
- a lens driver for driving the lens based on the contrast detected by the first detector in response to the focus evaluation;
- a second detector for detecting luminance of the image data;
- a light emission controller for executing the light emission of the light emission device to detect the contrast when the luminance detected by the second detector is less than a specific value;
- a power source for supplying an electrical power to the light emission device, the power source being chargeable, wherein a determination of whether the detected contrast is a maximum value is made in parallel with charging the power source;
- and
- a lens drive controller for inhibiting the driving of the lens by the lens driver during charging of the power source.
7 more elements
A digital camera comprising:
- an image sensing element for generating image data of an object;
- a light emission device for emitting light to illuminate the object during photography;
- a first detector for detecting contrast of the image data;
- a focus evaluator for evaluating a focus condition based on the detected contrast;
- a lens driver for driving a lens based on the contrast detected by the first detector responsive to a focus evaluation;
- a second detector for detecting luminance of the image data;
- a setter for setting prohibition of the light emission by the light emission device;
- and
- a light emission controller for prohibiting the light emission during detection of the contrast when prohibition of flash emission has been set by the setter, and for executing the light emission of the light emission device to detect the contrast when the luminance detected by the second detector is less than a specific value and when the prohibition of flash emission has not been set,
- wherein a determination of whether the detected contrast is at a maximum value is performed while charging the light emission device.
7 more elements
A digital camera comprising:
- an image sensing element for generating image data of an object;
- a light emission device for emitting light to illuminate the object during photography;
- a first detector for detecting contrast of the image data;
- a lens driver for driving a lens based on the contrast detected by the first detector;
- a second detector for detecting luminance of the image data;
- a light emission controller for executing the light emission of the light emission device to detect the contrast when the luminance detected by the second detector is less than a specific value;
- a power source for supplying an electrical power to the light emission device and being chargeable;
- and
- a discriminator for discriminating whether or not the detected contrast is a maximum value based on the contrast obtained by the first detector in parallel with the charging of the power source.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.