| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 348347000 | With zoom position detection or interrelated iris control | 61 |
| 20080239140 | Adaptive aperture for an imaging scanner - An apparatus and method is provided for focusing an image of a target object. The apparatus comprises imaging circuitry for analyzing an image reflected from a target object that is projected onto an imaging sensor coupled to the imaging circuitry. A fixed imaging lens having an optical axis in alignment with the imaging sensor focuses the reflected image onto the imaging sensor. One of a plurality of apertures located within a selectable aperture of varying sizes is selected for optically enhancing the fixed imaging lens. An actuator is coupled to the selectable aperture for selectively selecting the one of the plurality of apertures in a direction transverse to optical axis for optically enhancing the fixed imaging lens. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080252773 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS, FOCUSING CONTROL METHOD AND PRINCIPAL OBJECT DETECTING METHOD - In a digital still camera, an image is picked up by detecting object light from a lens system having a focus lens. A region of a human face is detected within the image by image analysis thereof. An estimated distance of the facial region is determined according to a size of the facial region. A lens moving distance of the focus lens is determined according to the estimated distance. A contrast value of the image is acquired in moving the focus lens by the lens moving distance. An in-focus lens position is determined according to the contrast value, to set the focus lens in the in-focus lens position. Furthermore, before the image pickup step, so great an aperture value of the lens system on the optical path is set as to enable image pickup of the facial region within a depth of field. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20090015707 | Method of exposure control and image pickup apparatus - A method of exposure control in an image pickup apparatus includes determining whether a zoom lens has been moved, determining whether an F value obtained from information about focal position of a focus lens linked to movement of the zoom lens has changed, estimating a variation in the focus luminance before and after a change in the F value from the F values before and after the change when the F value has been changed, changing the shutter speed determined according to a focus luminance before the change to a shutter speed determined according to the focus luminance after the change, based on the estimated variation in the focus luminance, and changing a frame rate determined according to the focus luminance before the change to a frame rate determined according to a focus luminance after the change according to the changed shutter speed. | 01-15-2009 |
| 20090040363 | Zoom optical system and electronic imaging apparatus having the same - An electronic imaging apparatus includes a zoom optical system having, in order from the object side, a first lens unit with positive power, a second lens unit with negative power, and an aperture stop, in which the first lens unit is composed of a single positive power unit and the second lens unit has a single negative lens element located at the most object-side position, both surfaces of which are concave, and a positive lens component located at the most image-side position; an electronic image sensor located on the image side of the zoom optical system; and an image processing section electrically processing image data obtained by the electronic image sensor to change the form thereof. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090046198 | LENS BARREL, CAMERA AND MOBILE INFORMATION TERMINAL DEVICE HAVING THE SAME - At least one object of the present invention is to provide a lens barrel, including: a fixed frame ( | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090046199 | Image-capture apparatus and variable magnification lens - An image-capture apparatus includes a variable magnification lens, imaging means for converting an image taken by the variable magnification lens into an electrical image signal, and imaging control means. By referring to a conversion coordinate coefficient, the image control means moves a point on the image and outputs the new image signal. In the variable magnification lens, in order from the object side, a first lens group having positive refractive power, a second lens group that has negative refractive power and performs a variable magnification action by shifting on an optical axis, a third lens group having positive refractive power, a fourth lens group that has negative refractive power and a fifth lens group having positive refractive power are arrayed. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090051806 | Device for Connecting a Camera Lens to a Movie Camera - A device for connecting a camera lens to a movie camera has a camera housing with a lens mount and a device for acquiring data relating to the camera lens connected to the lens mount. Said device further comprising a miniaturized electronic system with data memory for storing data relating to the camera lens such as lens type, serial number, conversion tables and the like, and with a contact region that is arranged on a data interface between the lens mount of the movie camera and the lens fastening means of the camera lens and which is aligned with the contact region arranged in the lens mount of the movie camera is integrated in the lens fastening means of the camera lens or in a modified lens fastening means connected to the lens fastening means of the camera lens or replacing the latter. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090059059 | Electronic Camera - An electronic camera includes an image sensor having an imaging surface for capturing an object scene through a focus lens. When the object scene captured by the imaging surface includes a face portion of a human, a CPU designates, as a focal-point search area a first imaging area for covering an outline of the face portion. The CPU also designates, as a frequency-component detection area, a second imaging area that is smaller than the first imaging area and is for capturing an inner side of the outline of the face portion. Subsequently, the CPU obtains a high-frequency AF evaluation value and a mid-frequency AF evaluation value detected corresponding to the frequency-component detection area, and designates, as a lens moving range, a range different depending upon a relative ratio between the high-frequency AF evaluation value and the mid-frequency AF evaluation value. Thereafter, the CPU moves the focus lens within a designated range, and references a partial image generated on the imaging surface in a manner to correspond to the focal-point search area so as to search a focal point for the face portion. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090059060 | LENS BARREL ROTATION DETECTION APPARATUS AND LENS BARREL ROTATION TYPE IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - A lens barrel rotation detection apparatus for detecting a rotational state of a lens barrel to which a lens for image pickup is attached and which is rotated in a horizontal direction or a vertical direction by driving force of a driving section, includes: a single rotatable member rotatable together with rotation of the lens barrel; and three rotation detection section for detecting a rotational state of the rotatable member. The rotatable member has a fixed pattern formed thereon so as to be detected by said rotation detection section and a rotation limit section indicative of limit positions of a range of rotation of the lens barrel. The rotation detection section is disposed for detection of presence or absence of rotation of the rotatable member and the limit positions of the range of rotation. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090059061 | Digital photographing apparatus and method using face recognition function - A digital photographing apparatus and method using a face recognition function for obtaining an image in which a plurality of faces are focused by setting AF areas in the plurality of recognized faces and photographing the faces in a bracket mode based on the set AF areas. The digital photographing apparatus includes: a face recognition unit detecting face information from a real image; an AF region setting unit setting a plurality of AF areas based on the detected face information; and a control unit operating so that an image is captured by adjusting focuses of the set plurality of AF areas. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090066833 | METHOD FOR GENERATING IMAGES AND OPTICAL DEVICE - A method for generating a series of images at different zoom angles is disclosed. The method comprises providing an optical device ( | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090115884 | VARIABLE POWER OPTICAL SYSTEM, IMAGING LENS DEVICE AND DIGITAL APPARATUS - There is provided a zoom optical system having lens elements produced with less difficulty i.e. with substantially the same skill level as the conventional arrangement, with sufficient miniaturization. The zoom optical system includes a first lens group having a negative optical power, and a second lens group having a positive optical power in the order from the object side, the distance between the first lens group and the second lens group being decreased in zooming from a wide angle end to a telephoto end The first lens group is constituted of a negative lens element and a positive meniscus lens element. The second lens group is constituted of a biconvex positive lens element and a negative meniscus lens element. Assuming that D1 represents a thickness of the first lens group on the optical axis AX from a forwardmost lens surface to a rearmost lens surface, fw represents a composite focal length of the entirety of the optical system at the wide angle end, and f2 represents a composite focal length of the second lens group, the zoom optical system satisfies the following relation: | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090115885 | Imaging system with improved image quality and associated methods - An image capturing device may include a detector including a plurality of sensing pixels, and an optical system adapted to project a distorted image of an object within a field of view onto the sensing pixels, wherein the optical system expands the image in a center of the field of view and compresses the image in a periphery of the field of view, wherein a first number of sensing pixels required to realize a maximal zoom magnification {circumflex over (Z)} at a minimum resolution of the image capturing device is less than a square of the maximal zoom magnification times a second number of sensing pixels required for the minimum resolution. | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090135291 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS AND IMAGE PICKUP METHOD USED FOR THE SAME - An aspect of the present invention provides an image pickup apparatus, comprising: an image pickup optical system which forms an image of a subject; an imaging device which obtains an image by picking up the image of the subject via the image pickup optical system; a target detection device which detects a size of a target in the image; a first control device which controls a focus position of the image pickup optical system according to the size of the target detected by the target detection device; and a second control device which performs continuous AF that detects a focusing position where a contrast in the image reaches a local maximum by moving the focus position of the image pickup optical system, moves the focus position of the image pickup optical system to the focusing position and keeps an in-focus state. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090153725 | IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR, AND PROGRAM - An image capturing apparatus comprises an image capturing unit, a motion vector detection unit which detects a motion vector quantity representing a shift amount between images from image signals successively obtained by the image capturing unit, an angle conversion unit which converts the motion vector quantity into an angular displacement amount between the images on the basis of a zoom position of the zoom lens, a shift angle calculation unit which calculates a shift angle from an optical axis of the imaging optical system by calculating the angular displacement amount, a shift amount conversion unit which converts the shift angle into a shift amount on an image plane of the image capturing unit on the basis of the zoom position of the zoom lens, and a correction unit which corrects a shift on the basis of the shift amount on the image plane. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090167930 | METHOD AND APPARATUS WITH FAST CAMERA AUTO FOCUS - A method and apparatus improves an auto focus system by altering, such as by positioning, at least one lens of a digital camera to a plurality of predetermined nonuniform lens positions corresponding to predetermined nonuniform lens position data. The method and apparatus selects a final lens position for the lens based on the predetermined nonuniform lens position data. In one example, a fixed number of predetermined nonuniform lens positions define a set of lens positions used to capture images during an auto focus operation. A final image is captured using a final lens position. The final lens position is determined by comparing focus metric information from each of the frames obtained at the various predetermined nonuniform focus lens positions and selecting the frame with, for example, the best focus metric as the lens position to be used for the final picture or image capture. | 07-02-2009 |
| 20090262236 | Zoom lens and imaging apparatus incorporating the same - A zoom lens consists of, in order from its object side,
| 10-22-2009 |
| 20090268079 | IMAGE-CAPTURING APPARATUS AND IMAGE-CAPTURING METHOD - To provide an image-capturing apparatus and an image-capturing method which keeps, even when an object or a photographer moves, the object-missing capturing to a minimum and which allows recording for a longer period of time. The image-capturing apparatus ( | 10-29-2009 |
| 20090273703 | AUTO-FOCUSING DEVICE - It is intended to provide an auto-focusing device capable of attaining focus on a subject in a short time even in the case where the lens is defocused to a large extent during zooming. There are provided a camera lens having a zoom lens and a focus lens; an image input portion for taking an optical image of a subject through the camera lens and outputting an image signal; an evaluation value calculating portion for calculating an evaluation value on the basis of high-frequency components of the image signal; and a control portion for executing, during zooming of the zoom lens, a first process (step S | 11-05-2009 |
| 20090284642 | Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus equipped with same - A zoom lens has a negative object side lens unit (or first lens unit G | 11-19-2009 |
| 20090284643 | IMAGING APPARATUS AND CAMERA SYSTEM - An imaging apparatus includes an optical system including a focus lens, a driver configured to drive the focus lens, a controller configured to control a supply of power to the driver, and a setting unit configured to set a power supply mode for specifying a method of supplying power to the driver. When a predetermined power supply mode is set, the controller determines according to a magnitude of a depth of field of the optical system during whether holding power for holding the state of the focus lens is supplied to the driver when the focus lens is stopped, and controls the supply of the holding power to the driver according to the result of the determination. | 11-19-2009 |
| 20090295982 | ZOOM LENS SYSTEM AND CAMERA INCLUDING THE SAME - Disclosed is a zoom lens system including a first lens unit having a positive optical power, a second lens unit having a negative optical power, and a rear unit including at least one lens unit, which are disposed in the stated order from an object side to an image side. At least two lens units move for zooming so that a distance between adjacent lens units is changed. In this zoom lens system, the first lens unit includes a composite optical element in which a first optical element having a positive optical power and a second optical element having a negative optical power are cemented to each other. Refractive indexes and Abbe numbers of materials of the first optical element and the second optical element are set appropriately so that high optical performance is realized. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20100002127 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS AND AUTO-FOCUS DETECTION METHOD - An image pickup apparatus capable of focusing on an object with stability based on a recognized object area. A video camera includes an image pickup device for picking up an image formed by an image-pickup optical system including a focus lens, a face detection processing circuit for detecting, based on a video signal output from the image pickup device, an object area on an imaging screen and the likelihood of an object being present in the object area, and a computer for controlling a focus adjustment based on the object area when determining that the likelihood detected by the face detection processing circuit satisfies a predetermined condition, which is varied according to an imaging state. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100007784 | IMAGING APPARATUS - The imaging apparatus of the present invention is provided with an image-forming lens that images light from a photographic subject; an imaging part that accumulates a pixel signal that corresponds to an optical image formed by the image-forming lens, reads the pixel signal and outputs the pixel signal as an imaging signal; a lens magnification control part that controls a magnification of the image-forming lens; a read-out region control part that controls the size of a read-out region of the pixel signal; and a frame rate control part that controls a frame rate of the imaging signal. In the imaging apparatus of the present invention, the magnification of the image-forming lens, the size of the read-out region, and the frame rate are controlled so that an angle of view of an image based on the imaging signal is constant. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20100033618 | SIMPLE METHOD FOR CALCULATING CAMERA DEFOCUS FROM AN IMAGE SCENE - An imaging acquisition system that generates a picture depth from an auto focus curve generated from picture of a three dimensional spatial scene is described. The auto focus curve comprises a step edge. The system generates the depth based on the step edge and a reference auto focus normalization curve. | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100045848 | ELECTRONIC CAMERA - An electronic camera includes an imaging device. The imaging device has an imaging surface irradiated with an optical image of an object scene. A CPU executes an AF process based on output of an AF evaluating circuit to adjust a position of a focus lens to a position to be optically converged on a specific object present in an object scene. Upon completion of the AF process, the CPU detects a distance from a lens distal end to the specific object by referencing a current position of the focus lens, and further detects brightness information of the object scene based on output of an AE/AWB evaluating circuit. Moreover, the CPU adjusts an imaging parameter by determining whether or not an object scene attribute including the detected distance and brightness information satisfies a predetermined condition. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100157134 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - An image pickup apparatus which is capable of accurately acquiring evaluation values at target positions for contrast evaluation value acquisition to thereby suppress degradation of accuracy of autofocus due to skipping the reading of a contrast evaluation value at an in-focus position and an increase in autofocus time. The image pickup apparatus acquires from an interchangeable lens at least one of a drivable defocus amount of the interchangeable lens, and a driving speed in driving of a focus lens to focus adjustment positions. The image pickup apparatus changes a lens driving method for focus detection, based on at least one of the drivable defocus amount, the driving speed, and a charge storage interval for charge storage in an image pickup element for acquiring a signal for use in focus detection. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100225800 | AUTOMATIC FOCUSING METHOD FOR CAMERA PERFORMING ADDITIONAL SCANNING - An automatic focusing method for a camera, including scanning in a macro mode, scanning in a normal mode, and additional scanning. In the scanning in the macro mode, a region within a first distance is scanned if the macro mode is set by a user. In the scanning in the normal mode, a region beyond the first distance is scanned if the normal mode is set by the user. In the additional scanning, the scanning in the normal mode is performed additionally if it is determined that the position of the focus lens found in the scanning in the macro mode does not have the largest focus value, and the scanning in the macro mode is performed additionally if it is determined that the position of the focus lens found in the scanning in the normal mode does not have the largest focus value. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100231783 | Lens Systems And Method - An optical system includes a first deformable lens having a membrane with a deformable portion. A sensor is configured to receive the light focused by the first deformable lens. An optical path extends through the first deformable lens and to the sensor. The first deformable lens is tuned according to an applied electrical signal in order to directly focus light traversing the optical path onto the sensor. A first volume of a first optical media and a second volume of a second optical media are defined at least in part by the deformable portion of the membrane. The first volume and the second volume are completely enclosed by the housing. The first volume and the second volume remain substantially constant for all configurations of the first deformable lens. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20110001869 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - The image pickup apparatus is configured to move a focus lens and an image pickup element to perform focusing, the image pickup element being moved in a predetermined movable range. The image pickup apparatus includes a position detector configured to detect a position of the image pickup element moved for the focusing; and a controller configured to move, after the focusing, the image pickup element to a specific position closer to a center of the predetermined movable range than the position detected by the position detector and to move the focus lens so as to decrease generation of defocus due to the movement of the image pickup element to the specific position. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110058095 | METHOD FOR USING FLASH TO ASSIST IN FOCAL LENGTH DETECTION - A method for assisting in focal length detection is applicable to a digital camera having the flash. The method includes the following steps. First, the flash of the digital camera is actuated and a first image is captured. Afterwards, a characteristic exposure value of the first image is calculated. A focus range comparison table is looked up according to the characteristic exposure value to obtain an initial focus position. Then, a focus procedure is performed according to the initial focus position to obtain a target focal length. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20120120303 | IMAGE-PICKUP APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ADJUSTING TRACKING CURVES - The method includes a first adjusting step of adjusting a first tracking curve which has been set so as to keep an in-focus state between a position of a magnification-varying lens and a position of an image sensor, and a second adjusting step of adjusting a second tracking curve which has been set so as to keep the in-focus state between the position of the magnification-varying lens and a position of the focus lens for an object distance. The magnification-varying lens is moved in an optical axis direction during a variation of magnification. The image sensor generates an image signal by photoelectrically converting an optical image formed by an image-pickup optical system. The image-pickup optical system including the magnification-varying lens and a focus lens moved in the optical axis direction during focusing. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120133822 | IMAGING APPARATUS AND METHOD - The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus and method capable of improving operability regarding a zooming operation and suppressing the photographing of an unstably focused image. A zoom information acquisition section | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120320255 | DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME - A digital photographing apparatus and a method of controlling the same. The digital photographing apparatus includes a body unit and an exchangeable lens installed to the body unit, wherein the exchangeable lens includes: a power zoom performer for performing a power zoom operation; and an iris for adjusting an amount light penetrating through an imaging lens, the body unit includes: an image pickup device for generating an image signal by capturing the light; a shutter for controlling light exposure of the image pickup device; and a release controller for controlling operations of the shutter and the iris, and the power zoom operation is prohibited when the release controller starts to drive the shutter or the iris. Accordingly, the power zoom operation is stably controlled. | 12-20-2012 |
| 20120320256 | DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHING APPARATUS - A digital photographing apparatus includes an exchangeable lens and a body unit to which the exchangeable lens is installed. The exchangeable lens includes a plurality of actuators and a storage unit that stores power consumption information related to driving of the plurality of actuators. The body unit includes an actuator controller that controls the driving of the plurality of actuators based on the power consumption information. Accordingly, the plurality of actuators included in the exchangeable lens may be stably controlled. | 12-20-2012 |
| 20130107106 | ELECTRONIC CAMERA, COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM RECORDING IMAGING CONTROL PROGRAM THEREON AND IMAGING CONTROL METHOD | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130113985 | IMAGING APPARATUS INCLUDING ZOOM LENS, FOCUS LENS AND FOCUS DRIVER - An imaging apparatus includes a zoom lens, a focus lens, a focus driver for moving the focus lens, a zoom position detector for detecting a position of the zoom lens, a focus position detector for detecting a position of the focus lens, a storing unit for storing the positions of the zoom lens and the focus lens, and a controller. When powering off, the controller stores detected positions of the zoom lens and the focus lens in the storing unit. When powering on, the controller compares a current position of the zoom lens which is detected at the power-on of the imaging apparatus with the stored position of the zoom lens, and controls the focus driver not to move the focus lens to a predetermined initial position of the focus lens. | 05-09-2013 |
| 20130148009 | ZOOM LENS AND IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - A zoom lens includes, from the object side, a positionally-fixed first lens group having a positive refracting power, a second lens group having a negative refracting power and movable in an optical axis direction for zooming, a third lens group having a positive refracting power, and a fourth lens group movable in the optical axis direction. The first lens group includes a negative lens, a positive lens and another positive lens disposed in order from the object side and satisfies | 06-13-2013 |
| 20130188092 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - An image pickup apparatus comprising: a lens apparatus having: an image pickup optical system including a focus lens unit and a zoom lens unit; a zoom state detector; and a controller; a camera apparatus having: a light receiving unit; and an image display unit; an AF frame operation unit; and a distance measuring unit installed with a parallax with respect to an optical axis of the image pickup optical system, in which the controller is configured to: select, from among measured distances obtained by the distance measuring unit, a measured distance obtained in an angle of field of the AF frame, based on a position of the zoom lens unit detected by the zoom state detector and a position of the AF frame set in the display; and perform the focusing by driving the focus lens unit based on the selected measured distance. | 07-25-2013 |
| 20130208177 | ELECTRONIC APPARATUS HAVING OPERATION PORTION - In an electronic apparatus of the present invention, a torsion spring includes a coil portion and paired arm portions. An operation member is provided with paired engagement target portions with which the tip portions of the paired arm portions of the torsion spring engage. A housing is provided with paired receiving portions on both sides of the tip portions of the paired arm portions of the torsion spring. The operation member is provided with a seat portion where the coil portion of the torsion spring is to be installed. In connection with the seat portion, the installation face of the coil portion has a height difference, so as to allow the coil portion to be inclined in the direction uniformizing the engagement amount of the paired arm portions with respect to the paired engagement target portions. | 08-15-2013 |
| 20130250163 | IMAGING DEVICE AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME - A document camera has an automatic focus function, and performs the automatic focus process for automatically adjusting the focus lens to the focal position in accordance with the subject distance when the document camera is started up, or when the focus key of the input operation section is operated. Further, when performing the automatic focus process, the document camera is arranged to detect the focal position in the state in which the zoom lens is temporarily moved to the telephoto end with shallow depth of field, and then restore the position of the zoom lens to the original position. | 09-26-2013 |
| 20130278816 | INTERCHANGEABLE LENS, CONTROL METHOD THEREOF, IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - The interchangeable lens includes a lens controller to control drive speed of a focus actuator moving a focus lens by using speed control data. The image pickup apparatus includes a focus controller to acquire focus information by using an image pickup signal from an image sensor. The lens controller receives, from the focus controller, timing information showing a timing relating to acquisition of the focus information, performs a reachability determination for determining, by using the timing information and the speed control data, whether or not the focus lens is able to reach a target focus information acquisition position by a scheduled focus information acquisition timing and performs, when determining that the focus lens is not able to reach target focus information acquisition position by scheduled focus information acquisition timing, calculation of a predictive focus position at scheduled focus information acquisition timing by using speed control data. | 10-24-2013 |
| 20140002717 | ENCODER, LENS APPARATUS, AND CAMERA CAPABLE OF DETECTING POSITION OF OBJECT | 01-02-2014 |
| 20140016018 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - An image pickup apparatus includes a controller configured to perform an autofocus processing and an image pickup processing, the image pickup processing including a display of a live-view image, an exposure for recording of the image pickup element and a generation of a recording image from an image signal acquired by the exposure. The controller moves the image pickup element to a specific position closer to a center of the predetermined movable range of the image pickup element than the position of the image pickup element detected by the position detector, and subsequently performs a correction movement in which the focus lens moves so as to decrease generation of defocus for the image pickup element due to the movement of the image pickup element to the specific position after the exposure for recording before the display of the live-view image in the image pickup processing. | 01-16-2014 |
| 20140022439 | IMAGING DEVICE AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM - An imaging device includes a capturing lens; an imaging element in which a pair of horizontal light receiving units receiving a pair of split light of a horizontal direction and a pair of vertical light receiving units receiving a pair of split light of a vertical direction are two-dimensionally arranged; a movement unit that moves the imaging lens in the optical axis direction; a specifying unit that specifies one of the pair horizontal light receiving units or the pair vertical light receiving units, of which the calculated absolute value of the signal amount difference is smaller; and a control unit that performs correlation computation based on the signal amount of the plural photoelectric conversion elements aligned in a direction of the specified one of the pair of horizontal light receiving units or the pair of vertical light receiving units and controls the movement unit based on the correlation computation. | 01-23-2014 |
| 20140085531 | ZOOM LENS AND IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS - There is provided a zoom lens including a first focus lens group having negative refractive power and moving in orientation to an image side along an optical axis in focusing from a long distance to a short distance, and a second focus lens group having positive refractive power, the second focus lens group being arranged on a closer side to an image relative to the first focus lens group and moving along the optical axis in focusing. The first and second focus lens groups move in association with each other. | 03-27-2014 |
| 20140125859 | AUTOFOCUS CAMERA SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - Disclosed is an autofocus camera system and a control method thereof. A CCTV camera system which includes a main processor installed in a CCTV, a memory unit connected with the main processor, an input unit, a CCD camera, a video processing unit, a focus lens, and a zoom lens is provided. The CCTV camera system is designed to input and output control instructions through RS-485 communication and is controlled by a focus motor driver and a zoom motor driver which are connected to the main processor in which a focus motor and a zoom motor are comprised of stepping motors. | 05-08-2014 |
| 20140232927 | FOCUS ESTIMATING DEVICE, IMAGING DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM STORING IMAGE PROCESSING PROGRAM - A focus estimating device has an area setting unit which sets an area in which focusing of an image is determined and divides the area into a plurality of blocks, a block selecting unit which selects a block to be used for focus determination, a block focus determination unit which performs focus determination for each block from an edge in each color component of the block selected by the block selecting unit, and a focus determination unit which determines focusing of the area based on the focus determination. | 08-21-2014 |
| 20140253783 | FOCUS CONTROL FOR PTZ CAMERAS - Systems and methods for focus control in a pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera system are described herein. An example of a method described herein includes identifying a set of trace curves associated with the camera system, each of the trace curves specifying relationships between focus lens positions and zoom lens positions for a corresponding camera position, selecting a trace curve using the set of trace curves and one or more of pan angle, tilt angle or installation height of the camera system, and identifying a focus lens position for a current zooming factor of the camera system based on the selected trace curve. | 09-11-2014 |
| 20140300799 | IMAGING DEVICE, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING IMAGING DEVICE, AND INFORMATION STORAGE DEVICE - An imaging device includes an objective lens that includes a movable lens that is configured so that an in-focus object plane position is changed along with a change in angle of view, an image sensor that acquire an image, a focus control section that implements an autofocus (AF) operation by controlling a position of the movable lens, a reference lens position setting section that sets a reference lens position based on a moving range of the movable lens during a wobbling operation, the wobbling operation being performed every given cycle during the AF operation, and a magnification correction section that performs a magnification correction process that reduces a change in the angle of view of the image due to a change in the position of the movable lens during the wobbling operation relative to the reference lens position. | 10-09-2014 |
| 20140300800 | IMAGING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING SAME - Provided is an imaging apparatus that acquires an object distance to an object and focus position information for each of a plurality of divided areas of an imaging screen corresponding to an imaging area. The imaging apparatus acquires data of the amount of field curvature corresponding to the imaging distance and removes a field curvature component from the object distance and the defocus amount so as to determine a plurality of objects which is equi-spaced from the imaging apparatus and faces the imaging apparatus. When the plurality of objects is equi-spaced from the imaging apparatus and is arrayed so as to face the imaging apparatus, a focused position at which an error in the defocus amount on the entire imaging screen is minimized is calculated. If otherwise, a focusing reference area is selected and then a preferential focusing operation is performed for an object corresponding to the area. | 10-09-2014 |
| 20150029387 | IMAGING APPARATUS - An imaging apparatus includes: an imaging optical system having a variable power lens and a focus lens; an imaging element that generates image data via the imaging optical system; a movable frame that holds the focus lens and is movable along an optical axis of the imaging optical system; a first driving unit that causes the movable frame to move toward an in-focus position along the optical axis direction; a focus sensitivity determination unit that, based on a zoom position of the variable power lens, determines whether a focus sensitivity indicating a ratio of a change amount of the in-focus position to a movement amount of the focus lens is equal to or smaller than a specified value; and a driving controller that drives the first driving unit to move the movable frame to the in-focus position if the focus sensitivity is larger than the specified value. | 01-29-2015 |
| 20150350528 | IMAGING APPARATUS - An imaging apparatus according to the present disclosure includes: a focus lens, a motor for driving the focus lens, an origin detection unit for detecting an arrival of the focus lens at a reference position, a drive amount detection unit for detecting an amount of drive of the focus lens driven by the motor, and a controller for recognizing a position of the focus lens based on an output from the drive amount detection unit and for controlling the position of the focus lens. The controller receives a detection signal from the origin detection unit during driving the focus lens, and determines an occurrence of step-out of the motor based on both the received detection signal and the position of the focus lens recognized by the controller. | 12-03-2015 |
| 20150350558 | ZOOM LENS SYSTEM, INTERCHANGEABLE LENS APPARATUS AND CAMERA SYSTEM - A zoom lens system comprising a positive first lens unit, a negative second lens unit, and subsequent lens units composed of three or more lens units and an aperture diaphragm, wherein intervals between adjacent lens units vary in zooming, the first lens unit is composed of two or less lens elements and moves along an optical axis in the zooming, three or more negative lens elements are located between the first lens unit and the aperture diaphragm, and the conditions: 0.30<|BF | 12-03-2015 |
| 20160037051 | LENS UNIT, IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS, AND METHODS OF CONTROLLING LENS UNIT AND IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - A lens unit L | 02-04-2016 |
| 20160065834 | CAMERA AUTO-FOCUS APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING LENS POSITION COMPENSATION TO DETERMINE FOCUSED LENS POSITION AND REALTED CAMERA AUTO-FOCUS METHOD - A camera auto-focus apparatus includes a lens scan control circuit, a lens position compensation circuit, and a lens position decision circuit. During an auto-focus procedure, the lens scan control circuit controls movement of a lens according to a plurality of lens positions, and obtains a plurality of focus values corresponding to the lens positions respectively. The lens position compensation circuit determines a position compensation value according to the movement of the lens. The lens position decision circuit determines a focused lens position according to the position compensation value, the lens positions and the focus values. | 03-03-2016 |
| 20160094791 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR FINDING OPTIMAL ZOOMING SPEED - An optimal zooming speed determining device includes: a storage to store a zooming speed at each position of a zoom lens; a tracking implementer to calculate a position of the zoom lens changed in a unit time at a zooming speed at each position of the zoom lens; a moving time calculator to calculate a difference between a position of a focus lens corresponding to a position of the zoom lens before the position of the zoom lens is changed and a position of the focus lens corresponding to the changed position of the zoom lens, and calculate a focus moving time by dividing the difference between positions of the focus lens by a highest moving speed of the focus lens; and a zooming speed determiner to reduce the zooming speed at each position of the zoom lens, if the focus moving time is greater than the unit time. | 03-31-2016 |
| 20160100094 | VIDEO RECORDING DEVICE AND ASSOCIATED VIDEO RECORDING METHOD - A video recording device and an associated video recording method are provided. The video recording device includes a main capturing module, a supplementary capturing module and a controller. The main capturing module records a to-be-captured target according to a main focus parameter. The supplementary capturing module captures the to-be-captured target and generates a plurality of supplementary capturing pictures. The controller is electrically connected to the main capturing module and the supplementary capturing module. The controller selectively updates the main focus parameter according to the supplementary focus parameter. The supplementary focus parameter is obtained according to the supplementary capturing pictures. | 04-07-2016 |
| 20160191784 | IMAGING DEVICE - Provided is an imaging device, including: an image acquisition unit for acquiring a plurality of images having different focal positions; an orientation acquisition unit for acquiring orientation information of the image acquisition unit; and an image processing unit for generating, from the plurality of images, an image having a depth of field which is enlarged compared to a depth of field of one of the plurality of images, in which a focal position setting value by which the focal position is determined is provided, and the focal position setting value is corrected based on the orientation information. | 06-30-2016 |
| 20160191785 | AUTO-FOCUS APPARATUS AND METHOD - An auto-focus apparatus and an auto-focus method are provided. The auto-focus apparatus includes: a lens, a lens driving component, and a focus control module; wherein the lens is configured to guide light transmitted from a target object; wherein the lens driving component is configured to drive the lens to move to the multiple positions to obtain the original images, and drive the lens to a focusing position obtained by the focus control module; and wherein the focus control module is configured to obtain frequency respond results each of which corresponds to interested pixels in one of the original images, calculate a desired frequency respond result based on the obtained frequency respond results and take a first position of the lens corresponding to the desired frequency respond result as the focusing position. Accordingly, focus accuracy and focus speed under conditions of poor contrast texture and weak light are improved. | 06-30-2016 |
| 20160205310 | PHOTOGRAPHING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD FOR PHOTOGRAPHING APPARATUS | 07-14-2016 |
