Digital camera having automatic exposure control for different photographing modes
AssigneeMinolta Co., Ltd.
InventorToshiyuki Tanaka
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A digital camera includes an image pick-up element which receives light reflected from an object and generates image data of the object, and a light-receiving element which receives light reflected form the object and outputs light-quantity data for the object. The light-receiving element differs from the image pick-up element. In the sequence photograph mode, the exposure amount of the image pick-up element is controlled based on the light-quantity data output from the light-receiving element. In the other modes, the exposure amount of the image pick-up element is controlled based on the image data generated by the image pick-up element itself.
Claims15
A digital camera having a sequence-photograph mode and other modes, said digital camera comprising:
- an image pick-up element for receiving light reflected from an object and outputting image data of the object;
- a light-receiving element for outputting data as to a light quantity received from the object, said light-receiving element being different from said image pick-up element;
- a first controller for controlling an exposure amount of said image pick-up element for a next frame in a sequence of photographs directly based on the light-quantity data for a previous frame output from said light-receiving element in the sequence-photograph mode;
- and
- a second controller for controlling the exposure amount of said image pick-up element based on the image data output from said image pick-up element in the other modes,
- wherein the light-receiving element outputs the light-quantity data during each frame in the sequence-photograph mode.
A method for controlling an exposure amount of a digital camera which has a sequence-photograph mode and other modes, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving light reflected from an object and generating image data of the object using an image pick-up element;
- receiving light from the object and generating light-quantity data of the object using a light-receiving element which differs from the image pick-up element;
- controlling an exposure amount of the image pick-up element for a next frame in a sequence of photographs directly based on the light-quantity data for a previous frame generated by the light-receiving element if the digital camera is in the sequence-photograph mode;
- and
- controlling an exposure amount of the image pick-up element based on the image data generated by the image pick-up element if the digital camera is in the other modes,
- wherein the light-receiving element outputs the light-quantity data during each frame in the sequence-photograph mode.
A digital camera having a sequence-photograph mode and other modes, said digital camera comprising:
- an image pick-up element for receiving light reflected from an object and outputting image data of the object;
- a light-receiving element for outputting data as to a light quantity received from the object, said light-receiving element being different from said image pick-up element;
- and
- a controller, for controlling an exposure amount of said image pick-up element for a next frame in a sequence of photographs directly based on the light-quantity data for a previous frame output from said light-receiving element in the sequence-photograph mode, and for controlling the exposure amount of said image pick-up element based on the image data output from said image pick-up element in the other modes,
- wherein the light-receiving element outputs the light-quantity data during each frame in the sequence-photograph mode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.