Focus control apparatus, control method therefor, storage medium therefor, and image capturing apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016309089-A1
Application number	US-201615099778-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 15, 2016
Priority date	Apr 20, 2015
Publication date	Oct 20, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A focus control apparatus having a first mode in which a position of a focus lens is automatically changed, and a second mode in which the position of the focus lens is manually changed, the focus control apparatus comprises: a setting unit configured to set a first area in the first mode and a second area in the second mode; a focus detection unit configured to detect a focus state based on signals output from areas of an image capturing unit; and a focus control unit configured to control the position of the focus lens in the first mode, wherein upon switching from the second mode to the first mode again, the setting unit sets the first area based on a second area that has been determined to be in an in-focus state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A focus control apparatus having a first mode in which a position of a focus lens is automatically changed, and a second mode in which the position of the focus lens is manually changed, the focus control apparatus comprising:
a setting unit configured to set a first area in the first mode and a second area in the second mode, as areas for obtaining signals used in focus detection; a focus detection unit configured to detect a focus state based on signals output from areas of an image capturing unit that correspond to the first area and the second area; and a focus control unit configured to control the position of the focus lens in the first mode based on the focus state of the first area detected by the focus detection unit, wherein upon switching from the first mode to the second mode, the setting unit sets a plurality of the second areas that are each smaller than the first area set in the first mode, and upon switching from the second mode to the first mode again, the setting unit sets the first area based on a second area that is included among the plurality of second areas and that has been determined to be in an in-focus state.

2 . The apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein upon switching from the first mode to the second mode, the setting unit sets the plurality of second areas within the first area set in the first mode.

3 . The apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein upon switching from the second mode to the first mode, when a predetermined condition is satisfied, the setting unit sets the first area in a third area that is larger than the second area that has been determined to be in the in-focus state.

4 . The apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the third area includes the second area that has been determined to be in the in-focus state.

5 . The apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the predetermined condition is satisfied when a difference between the position of the focus lens before switching from the second mode to the first mode and the position of the focus lens after switching from the second mode to the first mode is larger than or equal to a first threshold.

6 . The apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the predetermined condition is satisfied when a change in the focus state detected in the third area is larger than or equal to a second threshold.

7 . The apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the predetermined condition is satisfied when a change in an image capturing condition has been detected, the image capturing condition including at least one of a movement of the focus control apparatus, a focal length, and brightness.

8 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising
a display control unit configured to display an image obtained by the image capturing unit on a display unit, wherein in the second mode, the display control unit displays a content indicating the second area that has been determined to be in the in-focus state in such a manner that the content is superimposed over the image.

9 . The apparatus according to claim 8 ,
wherein in the second mode, when a plurality of the second area has been determined to be in the in-focus state and the plurality of second areas are adjacent, the display control unit combines the plurality of second areas, and displays the combined second areas as one area.

10 . The apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the focus detection unit detects a defocus amount, and the area is determined to be in the in-focus state when the detected defocus amount is smaller than or equal to a predetermined value.

11 . An image capturing apparatus, comprising:
an image capturing unit; and a focus control apparatus having a first mode in which a position of a focus lens is automatically changed, and a second mode in which the position of the focus lens is manually changed, wherein the focus control apparatus includes:
a setting unit configured to set a first area in the first mode and a second area in the second mode, as areas for obtaining signals used in focus detection;
a focus detection unit configured to detect a focus state based on signals output from areas of the image capturing unit that correspond to the first area and the second area; and
a focus control unit configured to control the position of the focus lens in the first mode based on the focus state of the first area detected by the focus detection unit,
upon switching from the first mode to the second mode, the setting unit sets a plurality of the second areas that are each smaller than the first area set in the first mode, upon switching from the second mode to the first mode again, the setting unit sets the first area based on a second area that is included among the plurality of second areas and that has been determined to be in an in-focus state, the image capturing unit includes a plurality of pixels, each pixel having a plurality of photoelectric conversion areas corresponding to one microlens, and the focus detection unit detects the focus state based on signal pairs that are each output from a different one of the photoelectric conversion areas in the plurality of pixels.

12 . A control method of a focus control apparatus having a first mode in which a position of a focus lens is automatically changed, and a second mode in which the position of the focus lens is manually changed, the control method comprising:
setting a first area in the first mode and a second area in the second mode, as areas for obtaining signals used in focus detection; detecting a focus state based on signals output from areas of an image capturing unit that correspond to the first area and the second area; and controlling the position of the focus lens in the first mode based on the detected focus state of the first area, wherein upon switching from the first mode to the second mode, a plurality of the second areas are set, the plurality of second areas each being smaller than the first area set in the first mode, and upon switching from the second mode to the first mode again, the first area is set based on a second area that is included among the plurality of second areas and that has been determined to be in an in-focus state.

13 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a control method of a focus control apparatus having a first mode in which a position of a focus lens is automatically changed, and a second mode in which the position of the focus lens is manually changed, the control method comprising:
setting a first area in the first mode and a second area in the second mode, as areas for obtaining signals used in focus detection; detecting a focus state based on signals output from areas of an image capturing unit that correspond to the first area and the second area; and controlling the position of the focus lens in the first mode based on the detected focus state of the first area, wherein upon switching from the first mode to the second mode, a plurality of the second areas are set, the plurality of second areas each being smaller than the first area set in the first mode, and upon switching from the second mode to the first mode again, the first area is set based on a second area that is included among the plurality of second areas and that has been determined to be in an in-focus state.

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Hongu Hideyasu
• Yokozeki Makoto
• Honda Hirofumi

Classifications

• H04N23/61

  based on recognised objects · CPC title

• H04N23/667 Primary

  Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes · CPC title

• H04N23/635

  Region indicators; Field of view indicators · CPC title

• H04N25/704

  Pixels specially adapted for focusing, e.g. phase difference pixel sets · CPC title

• H04N23/672 Primary

  based on the phase difference signals · CPC title