Abstract: Provided is an imaging apparatus capable of obtaining images of an object at high precision even if the intensities of illuminating light temporally varies. The imaging apparatus 1 comprises a lamp unit 10, lens 21, a half mirror 22, a lens 23, a liquid crystal tunable filter 24, a lens 25, a reference mirror 31, a reference mirror 32, an image capturing unit 40, an operation unit 50, and a display unit 60. The reference mirrors 31 and 32 are provided at the positions to which illuminating light led by an optical system for illuminating light is irradiated and which are located at a part of the view of the image capturing unit 40. The operation unit 50 corrects the value of the image part of the object 2 by using the value of the image part of the reference mirrors 31 and 32 out of the images captured by the image capturing unit 40.

Abstract: A photographing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: an imaging section converting an object image into image data; a photographing section obtaining the image data from the imaging section in response to release operation and also obtaining the image data of continuous shooting from the imaging section before or after the release operation; a trimming section generating trimming images sequentially for frames in different areas, respectively, using the image data of the continuous shooting; and a control section recording the trimming image generated in the trimming section and the image data obtained in the release operation.

Abstract: The image pickup system is constituted by a lens apparatus including a focus lens and an image pickup apparatus performing image pickup through the lens apparatus. The system includes an operating part being operated to instruct a movement of the focus lens, a controller performing focus position control to move the focus lens to a position corresponding to an operation amount of the operating part, a ranging part detecting an object distance in each of plural ranging areas included in an image pickup region, and a determining part determining a distance range where the object distances detected in the plural ranging areas are distributed. The system further includes a changing part changing a relationship between the operation amount of the operating part and the position of the focus lens in the focus position control according to a determination result by the determining part.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a light sensor includes four cell arrays, one for each color of the Bayer pattern, and four lenses each focusing the light coming from the scene to be captured on a respective cell array. The lenses are oriented such that at least a second green image, commonly provided by the fourth cell array, is both horizontally and vertically shifted (spaced) apart by half a pixel pitch from a first (reference) green image. In a second embodiment, the four lenses are oriented such that the red and blue images are respectively shifted (spaced) apart by half a pixel pitch from the first or reference green image, one horizontally and the other vertically, and the second green image is shifted (spaced) apart by half a pixel pitch from the reference green image both horizontally and vertically.

Abstract: A CMOS image sensor includes a photodiode, a switch configured to transfer a signal sensed by the photodiode to a sensing node, and a comparator electrically and directly connected to the sensing node and configured to compare the sensed signal of the sensing node and a ramp signal. Reset offset of the comparator is maintained at a constant offset voltage level during an initialization mode.

Abstract: A video distribution system which is enhanced in flexibility in distribution mode switching. In a camera server connected to a viewer via a network, a video capture board captures a video image. A CPU processes the captured video image according to an electronic PTZ mode for cutting out a part of the captured video image and a mechanical PTZ emulation mode for cutting out parts of the captured video image and interpolating the cut-out images. The CPU distributes the processed video image to the viewer via the network. The CPU performs mode switching between the electronic PTZ mode and the mechanical PTZ emulation mode based on control information transmitted from the viewer.

Abstract: At least one exemplary embodiment is directed to an image processing apparatus that generates control information related to the generation of image data executed in shooting processing, and generates component information of a special effect, for example, such as a film grain, based on the control information.

Abstract: An image sensing apparatus includes an image sensing unit which sequentially generates still image data, a holding unit which holds a plurality of still image data, a display unit which displays the still image data, a setting unit which sets a predetermined state as the start timing of shooting by the image sensing unit, a determination unit which determines whether the predetermined state has been obtained, a shooting control unit which causes the image sensing unit to start shooting when the determination unit determines that the predetermined state has been obtained, a display control unit which causes the display unit to sequentially display, at a display speed lower than an actual time, the still image data, a selection unit which selects one of a plurality of image data displayed on the display unit, and a recording unit which records the selected image data.

Abstract: An imaging apparatus capable of preventing photographing sensitivity from being increased more than necessary, reducing image quality degradation caused by camera shake or object shake and easily photographing images in good image quality. The imaging apparatus includes an imaging optical system that forms an optical image of a photographing object. An imaging sensor receives the optical image and converts the optical image to an electrical image signal. A detector determines, based on the image signal, whether the photographing object is a specific photographing object likely to move while a photograph is being captured that corresponds to information stored in a memory device provided to the imagining apparatus. A control section establishes an operational mode causing the imaging apparatus to continuously take a plurality of photographs of the photographing object when the photographing object is determined to be the specific photographing object that is likely to move.

Abstract: This invention has been made to solve the problem that when a duplicated image is generated by capturing an original image using a digital camera and printing the captured image, lighting unevenness occurs in an image captured under a viewing light source, compared to that under flash light with a predetermined irradiation amount, and accurate color conversion cannot be performed. To solve this problem, pixels exhibiting identical colors are selected from a plurality of positions from the image captured under flash light. The positions of the corresponding pixels are selected from the image captured under the viewing light source. If the color values at the pixel positions differ, the influence of lighting unevenness in the viewing light source exists. Thus, shading correction data for the image captured under a viewing light source is generated so as to remove the shading of the image captured under the viewing light source.

Abstract: An imaging apparatus includes an imaging unit; a display unit capable of displaying a moving image based on the image data generated by the imaging unit; a setting unit that receives setting of a user; a shutter operable to adjust an exposure time of the imaging unit according to a shutter speed; a determination unit operable to determine the shutter speed according to setting related to exposure set by user through the setting unit; and a controller operable to control the imaging unit and the display unit. The controller controls the imaging unit to be exposed for an exposure time corresponding to the shutter speed determined by the determination unit, and changes a frame rate of displaying the moving image on the display unit according to the determined shutter speed.

Abstract: Provided is a method and apparatus for blurring an image background, in which a moving image information and a focal distance information, which is matched to the moving image according to a movement distance of an AF motor, are obtained for the same object and background blurring is applied to a still image differentially, based on focal distances of the moving image and the still image. The apparatus includes a digital signal processing unit capturing a moving image and a still image of the same object, comparing focal distances of at least one frame forming the moving image with focal distances of the still image, and applying background blurring to the still image according to differences between the focal distances.

Abstract: In an imaging evaluation method, camera, and system, a scene is imaged with a camera. User inputs to the camera are received concurrent with the imaging. The inputs each define a setting of one of a plurality of operational functions of the camera. The inputs are valued to provide a set of input values. An image value index is calculated using the input values.

Abstract: A zoom lens system of the present invention has a plurality of lens units each composed of at least one lens element and, in order from the object side to the image side, comprises: a first lens unit having negative optical power and composed of two lens elements; a second lens unit having positive optical power; and a third lens unit having positive optical power, wherein in zooming, the lens units are moved such that an interval between the first lens unit and the second lens unit should decrease and that an interval between the second lens unit and the third lens unit should increase, so that magnification change is achieved, wherein the first lens unit is, in order from the object side to the image side, composed of a first lens element having negative optical power and a second lens element having positive optical power, and wherein the condition is satisfied: 0.50<fL2/fT<1.00 where, Z=fT/fW>4.

Abstract: An optical image system includes an image pickup module, a swinging mechanism, a first swinging calibration element and a second swinging calibration element. When the optical image system is tilted because of handshaking, the image pickup module is swung by the swinging mechanism. At the same time, the first swinging calibration element and the second swinging calibration element detect whether the image pickup module is swung to an ideal position where the handshaking problem is eliminated.

Abstract: A solid-state imaging device includes a pixel section including light receiving sensors, horizontally spaced vertical transfer registers including vertical transfer channel regions and vertical transfer electrodes formed above the vertical transfer channel regions, vertically spaced horizontal transfer registers each including a horizontal transfer channel region and horizontal transfer electrodes formed side by side in a horizontal direction above the horizontal transfer channel region and formed in the same layer as the vertical transfer electrodes, and a horizontal-to-horizontal transfer portion formed between adjacent two of the horizontal transfer registers and including a horizontal-to-horizontal transfer channel region interconnecting respective parts of the horizontal transfer channel regions positioned under the horizontal transfer electrodes to which the transfer drive pulses having different phases are applied, and a horizontal-to-horizontal transfer electrode formed above the horizontal-to-horizon

Abstract: A specific target included in an image is detected by a specific target detection unit based on a specific target evaluation value representing likeliness of the specific target. Using a first white balance correction value calculation unit for obtaining a first white balance correction value for the region of the image other than the specific target, a second white balance correction value calculation unit for obtaining a second white balance correction value for the specific target region, and a white balance correction value comparison unit for making a comparison between the first and second white balance correction values, white balance in the region other than the specific target is corrected using the first white balance correction value, and white balance in the specific target region is corrected using the second white balance correction value, if the white balance correction values are different from each other.

Abstract: An image sensing apparatus according to this invention includes an image sensing unit which sequentially generates still image data, a holding unit which holds a plurality of still image data, a display unit which displays the still image data, a setting unit which sets a predetermined state as the start timing of shooting by the image sensing unit, a determination unit which determines whether the predetermined state has been obtained, a shooting control unit which causes the image sensing unit to start shooting when the determination unit determines that the predetermined state has been obtained, a display control unit which causes the display unit to sequentially display, at a display speed lower than an actual time, the still image data, a selection unit which selects one of a plurality of image data displayed on the display unit, and a recording unit which records the selected image data.

Abstract: An image capturing apparatus includes: an imaging unit configured to capture an image of a subject and outputs image data containing the image; a display unit configured to display a live preview image of the subject based on the image data output from the imaging unit; a processor configured to set an image size of the image to be recorded and perform image processing on the live preview image to control a display range of the live preview image to be displayed on the display unit based on the image size to be recorded.

Abstract: A lens barrel includes a correction lens to move along an optical axis to perform zoom tracking, a correction lens driver to drive the correction lens, a zoom lens, a zoom ring to be turned by a user, a zoom lens driver to mechanically move the zoom lens according to an amount of turn of the zoom ring, a position detector to detect a position of the zoom lens, a rate detector to detect a change rate of the position of the zoom lens, a storage unit to store relational information which associates the position of the zoom lens with a focus position of the correction lens, and a controller to control the correction lens driver. The controller determines a focus position of the correction lens corresponding to a position more distant by a predetermined amount from the position of the zoom lens detected by the position detector, by referring to the relational information, and controls the correction lens driver to drive the correction lens with a target position set to the determined focus position.