Control apparatus, image pickup apparatus, image pickup system, lens apparatus, control method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016134802-A1
Application number	US-201514927651-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 30, 2015
Priority date	Nov 10, 2014
Publication date	May 12, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A control apparatus includes a focus detector configured to perform focus detection based on an image signal obtained via a first optical system, the first optical system having a shallowest depth of field in a plurality of optical systems having focal lengths different from each other, and a controller configured to perform focus control of the plurality of optical systems based on an output signal from the focus detector.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A control apparatus comprising:
a focus detector configured to perform focus detection based on an image signal obtained via a first optical system, the first optical system having a shallowest depth of field in a plurality of optical systems having focal lengths different from each other; and a controller configured to perform focus control of the plurality of optical systems based on an output signal from the focus detector.

2 . The control apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a calculator configured to calculate a movement position of a focus lens of a second optical system in the plurality of optical systems,
wherein: the controller is configured to perform the focus control by moving a focus lens of the first optical system based on the output signal from the focus detector, and the calculator is configured to calculate the movement position of the focus lens of the second optical system based on a position of the focus lens of the first optical system.

3 . The control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to perform the focus control by integrally moving a plurality of focus lenses of the plurality of optical systems by an identical moving amount based on the output signal from the focus detector.

4 . The control apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an acquirer configured to acquire image capturing condition information; and a determiner configured to determine the first optical system based on the image capturing condition information.

5 . The control apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein:
the acquirer is configured to acquire, as the image capturing condition information, information relating to the plurality of optical systems, focal lengths of the optical systems, and F numbers of the optical systems, and the determiner is configured to determine the first optical system satisfying a conditional expression below:

f
i
2

Fno
i

≤

f
1
2

Fno
1

,

where f 1 is a focal length of the first optical system, Fno 1 is an F number of the first optical system, f i is a focal length of one of the optical systems, and Fno i is an F number of the one of the optical systems.

6 . The control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the focus detector is configured to perform the focus detection by a contrast detection method.

7 . The control apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the focus detector is configured to perform the focus detection by a phase-difference detection method.

8 . The control apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the focus detector includes:
a first focus detector configured to perform focus detection by a phase-difference detection method, and
a second focus detector configured to perform focus detection by a contrast detection method, and
wherein the controller is configured to:
perform first focus control based on a first output signal from the first focus detector, and
perform second focus control based on a second output signal from the second focus detector after the first focus control.

9 . The control apparatus according to claim 4 , further comprising:
a region determiner configured to determine a region in which the focus detection is to be performed; and an inclusion determiner configured to determine whether the region determined by the region determiner is included in an image pickup region for each of the plurality of optical systems, wherein the determiner is configured to determine the first optical system based on a determination result of the inclusion determiner.

10 . An image pickup apparatus comprising:
an image pickup element configured to photoelectrically convert an optical image formed via a plurality of optical systems having focal lengths different from each other; a focus detector configured to perform focus detection based on an image signal obtained via a first optical system, the first optical system having a shallowest depth of field in the plurality of optical systems; and a controller configured to perform focus control of the plurality of optical systems based on an output signal from the focus detector.

11 . The image pickup apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the image pickup element includes a plurality of image pickup regions corresponding to the respective optical systems.

12 . An image pickup system comprising:
a plurality of optical systems having focal lengths different from each other; an image pickup element configured to photoelectrically convert an optical image formed via the plurality of optical systems; a focus detector configured to perform focus detection based on an image signal obtained via a first optical system, the first optical system having a shallowest depth of field in the plurality of optical systems; and a controller configured to perform focus control of the plurality of optical systems based on an output signal from the focus detector.

13 . The image pickup system according to claim 12 , wherein the plurality of optical systems include at least two optical systems having an identical focal length.

14 . The image pickup system according to claim 12 , further comprising a holder configured to integrally move a plurality of focus lenses of the optical systems by an identical moving amount during the focus control of the optical systems.

15 . A lens apparatus comprising:
a plurality of optical systems having focal lengths different from each other; and a controller configured to perform focus control of the plurality of optical systems based on an image signal obtained via a first optical system, the first optical system having a shallowest depth of field in the plurality of optical systems.

16 . A control method comprising the steps of:
performing focus detection based on an image signal obtained via a first optical system, the first optical system having a shallowest depth of field in a plurality of optical systems having focal lengths different from each other; and performing focus control of the plurality of optical systems based on a result of the focus detection.

17 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program which causes a computer to execute a process comprising:
performing focus detection based on an image signal obtained via a first optical system, the first optical system having a shallowest depth of field in a plurality of optical systems having focal lengths different from each other; and performing focus control of the plurality of optical systems based on a result of the focus detection.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Inoue Chiaki

Classifications

• H04N23/673 Primary

  based on contrast or high frequency components of image signals, e.g. hill climbing method · CPC title

• H04N23/672

  based on the phase difference signals · CPC title

• H04N5/23212 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• G02B7/285

  including two or more different focus detection devices, e.g. both an active and a passive focus detecting device · CPC title

• G02B7/365 Primary

  by analysis of the spatial frequency components of the image · CPC title