Image capturing apparatus, image capturing method, and control method for reducing the influence of flicker on still image exposure
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorYuichi Ariga
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
There is provided an image capturing apparatus comprising an image capturing unit. A control unit controls the image capturing unit to capture a first image having exposure unevenness caused by flicker in a light source. A detection unit detects a timing at which there is a low change in a light amount caused by the flicker, based on the exposure unevenness in the first image. An accepting unit accepts an image capturing instruction. The control unit controls the image capturing unit to capture a second image at the detected timing in response to the image capturing instruction.
Claims13
An image capturing apparatus comprising:
- an image capturing unit having an image sensor that starts exposure at different timings from region to region;
- and
- at least one processor programmed to function as a calculation unit and a determination unit, wherein:
- the calculation unit is configured to calculate a timing at which a light amount of a light source meets a predetermined condition based on image data obtained by the image capturing unit;
- and
- the determination unit is configured to determine an exposure timing for the image capturing unit based on the timing that meets the predetermined condition calculated by the calculation unit,
- wherein the image capturing unit obtains image data using a first exposure time that is shorter than a cycle of a change in a light amount of a flickering light source during a period from when the image capturing unit starts to obtain image data for a moving picture to when the image capturing unit starts to obtain image data for a still image;
- the calculation unit calculates the timing that meets the predetermined condition based on the image data obtained using the first exposure time;
- and
- the determination unit determines the exposure timing for the image capturing unit for obtaining the image data for a still image based on the timing that meets the predetermined condition calculated by the calculation unit.
A control method for an image capturing apparatus including an image capturing unit having an image sensor that starts exposure at different timings from region to region, the method comprising:
- calculating a timing at which a light amount of a light source meets a predetermined condition based on image data obtained by the image capturing unit;
- determining an exposure timing for the image capturing unit based on the timing that meets the predetermined condition calculated in the calculating;
- and
- obtaining image data using a first exposure time that is shorter than a cycle of a change in a light amount of a flickering light source during a period from when the image capturing unit starts to obtain image data for a moving picture to when the image capturing unit starts to obtain image data for a still image,
- wherein in the calculating, the timing that meets the predetermined condition is calculated based on the image data obtained using the first exposure time;
- and
- in the determining, the exposure timing for the image capturing unit for obtaining the image data for a still image is determined based on the timing that meets the predetermined condition calculated in the calculating.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.