Image capturing apparatus, method of displaying image, and storage medium storing program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9924089-B2
Application number	US-201615018608-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 8, 2016
Priority date	Feb 10, 2015
Publication date	Mar 20, 2018
Grant date	Mar 20, 2018

Abstract

In an image capturing apparatus that sequentially photographs a plurality of images by changing a focus position of a lens unit by a predetermined amount, a display area is selected according to a ratio of a vertical line component to a horizontal line component of a main subject for each of the plurality of images photographed by the image capturing apparatus. A display unit displays a plurality of display areas corresponding to the focus detection area selected by the selection unit, by arranging the plurality of display areas side by side.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
a bracket photographing unit configured to sequentially photograph a plurality of images while changing a focus position of a lens;
a calculation unit configured to calculate an evaluation value in a horizontal direction and an evaluation value in a vertical direction; and
a display unit configured to select a display area for each of the plurality of images photographed by the bracket photographing unit and display a plurality of the display areas,
wherein when the evaluation value in the horizontal direction for a main subject, which is calculated by the calculation unit, is higher than the evaluation value in the vertical direction, the display unit selects and displays a display area that is longer in the horizontal direction than in the vertical direction, and when the evaluation value in the vertical direction is higher than the evaluation value in the horizontal direction, the display unit selects and displays a display area that is longer in the vertical direction than in the horizontal direction, and
the main subject is a subject to be focused.

2. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the evaluation value is a value based on at least a ratio of a vertical line component and a horizontal line component and the calculation unit calculates the evaluation value in the horizontal direction and the evaluation value in the vertical direction of the main subject for a corresponding focus detection area.

3. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein when the ratio of the vertical line component is greater than a predetermined ratio, the evaluation value in the horizontal direction is higher than that when the ratio in the vertical line component is smaller than or equal to the predetermined ratio, and when the ratio of the horizontal line component is greater than a predetermined ratio, the evaluation value in the vertical direction is higher than that when the ratio in the horizontal line component is smaller than or equal to the predetermined ratio.

4. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein when the evaluation value in the horizontal direction is the same as the evaluation value in the vertical direction, the display unit displays a display area that is long in a predetermined direction.

5. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a memory configured to store data related to a lens position when the bracket photographing is performed in association with each image photographed by the bracket photographing unit; and
a control unit configured to drive a focus lens based on data related to a lens position associated with a display area selected by a user from among the plurality of display areas displayed by the display unit.

6. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 4 , further comprising:
wherein the lens position includes data related to a lens drive amount.

7. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the display area is a part of an image photographed by the bracket photographing unit.

8. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein when the evaluation value in the horizontal direction for the main subject that is a subject to be focused is higher than the evaluation value in the vertical direction, the display unit displays the plurality of display areas by arranging the plurality of display areas in the horizontal direction, and when the evaluation value in the vertical direction is higher than the evaluation value in the horizontal direction, the display unit displays the plurality of display areas by arranging the plurality of display areas in the vertical direction.

9. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 8 ,
wherein when the evaluation value in the horizontal direction is the same as the evaluation value in the vertical direction, the display unit displays the plurality of display areas by arranging the plurality of display areas in a predetermined direction.

10. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein when a display scale of one of the plurality of display areas displayed by the display unit is changed, the display unit changes the display scale of the other display areas in the same manner.

11. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein when at least one display area of the plurality of display areas displayed by the display unit is changed, the display unit also changes the display areas of the other images in the same manner.

12. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the display unit automatically selects and displays a pattern of which line width is the smallest of image patterns common in a plurality of image display areas displayed by the display unit.

13. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein when a user selects at least one image from a plurality of images displayed by the display unit, the display unit displays the selected image by increasing a width or a height of the image.

14. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a focus detection sensor configured to photoelectrically convert a pair of subject images, which pass through different positions of a photographing lens to be formed, into a pair of subject image signals;
a focus detection unit configured to detect a defocus amount of focus by using the pair of subject image signals photoelectrically converted by the focus detection sensor; and
a control unit configured to drive a focus lens based on data related to a lens position associated with a display area selected by a user from among the plurality of display areas displayed by the display unit,
wherein the focus detection unit detects the defocus amount of focus in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction or the vertical direction of which evaluation value is higher than the other, and
the control unit drives the focus lens based on a defocus amount of focus detected by the focus detection unit.

15. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an image capturing element configured to output two image signals having different parallaxes respectively;
a focus detection unit configured to detect a defocus amount of focus by using the two image signals having different parallaxes outputted from the image capturing element; and
a control unit configured to drive a focus lens based on data related to a lens position associated with a display area selected by a user from among the plurality of display areas displayed by the display unit,
wherein the focus detection unit detects the defocus amount of focus in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction or the vertical direction of which evaluation value is higher than the other, and
the control unit drives the focus lens based on a defocus amount of focus detected by the focus detection unit.

16. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an image capturing element configured to photoelectrically convert an optical signal into an image signal; and
a contrast state detection unit configured to detect a contrast state of the image signal,
wherein a direction in which the contrast state is detected is the same as a direction in which the plurality of display areas are arranged.

17. An image capturing apparatus comprising:
a bracket photographing unit configured to sequentially photograph a plurality of images while changing a focus position of a lens;
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Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Nakagawa Kazuyuki

Classifications

• H04N23/631

  Graphical user interfaces [GUI] specially adapted for controlling image capture or setting capture parameters · CPC title

• H04N23/672

  based on the phase difference signals · CPC title

• H04N23/673

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

• H04N23/676 Primary

  Bracketing for image capture at varying focusing conditions · CPC title

• H04N23/743

  Bracketing, i.e. taking a series of images with varying exposure conditions · CPC title