Electronic camera

Abstract

An electronic camera of the present invention includes an image pickup part performing “still image pickup generating a still image signal” and “control image pickup successively generating control image signals having higher frame rate” in time division; a still image processing part applying predetermined still image signal processing to the still image signal; a control image processing part applying predetermined control signal processing to the control image signals to extract control data; and a control part performing at least one control operation out of exposure control, focus control, and white balance control, based on the control data output from the control image processing part. Particularly, in the present invention, the control image processing part and the still image processing part are configured to operate independently. The control image processing part performs the signal processing on the control image signals successively generated, even when the still image signal is being signal-processed.

1 . An electronic camera comprising: 
 an image pickup part for performing “still image pickup for shooting a subject image to generate a still image signal”, and “control image pickup for successively generating control image signals having a frame rate higher than that of said still image signal” in time division;    a still image processing part for accepting said still image signal generated by said image pickup part and applying predetermined still image signal processing thereto;    a control image processing part for accepting said control image signals generated by said image pickup part and applying predetermined control signal processing thereto to extract control data; and    a control part for accepting said control data output from said control image processing part and performing at least one control operation out of exposure control, focus control, and white balance control, based on said control data, wherein 
 said control image processing part and said still image processing part are configured to operate independently, and  
 said control image processing part performs the signal processing on said control image signals successively generated, even when said still image signal is being signal-processed.  
   
     
     
         2 . An electronic camera comprising: 
 an image pickup part for performing “still image pickup for shooting a subject image to generate a still image signal” and “monitor-image pickup for successively generating monitor-image signals having a frame rate higher than that of said still image signal” in time division;    a still image processing part for accepting said still image signal generated by said image pickup part and applying predetermined still image signal processing thereto; and    a monitor-image processing part for accepting said monitor-image signals generated by said image pickup part and applying predetermined monitor signal processing thereto, wherein 
 said monitor-image processing part and said still image processing part are configured to operate independently, and  
 said monitor-image processing part performs the signal processing on said monitor-image signals successively generated, even when said still image signal is being signal-processed.  
   
     
     
         3 . The electronic camera according to  claim 2 , comprising 
 a display part for displaying said still image signal and said monitor-image signals in one of a juxtaposed fashion, a nested fashion, and a selective fashion.    
     
     
         4 . The electronic camera according to  claim 3 , wherein said display part 
 has a first memory region for storing said still image signal for monitor display use and a second memory region for storing said monitor-image signals, said first and second memory regions being independent from each other, and    switches the memory region to be displayed on a monitor to replace display on the monitor.    
     
     
         5 . The electronic camera according to  claim 2 , comprising 
 a control image processing part for accepting said monitor-image signals generated by said image pickup part and applying predetermined control signal processing thereto to extract control data; and 
 a control part for accepting said control data output from said control image processing part and performing at least one control operation out of exposure control, focus control, and white balance control, based on said control data, wherein  
 said control image processing part and said still image processing part are configured to operate independently, and  
   said control image processing part performs the signal processing on said control image signals successively generated, even when said still image signal is being signal-processed.    
     
     
         6 . An electronic camera comprising: 
 an image pickup part for performing “still image pickup for shooting a subject image to generate a still image signal” and “monitor-image pickup for successively generating monitor-image signals having a frame rate higher than that of said still image signal” in time division;    an image processing part for applying predetermined still image signal processing to said still image signal generated by said image pickup part and for applying predetermined monitor signal processing to said monitor-image signals generated by said image pickup part;    a control image processing part for accepting said monitor-image signals generated by said image pickup part and applying predetermined control signal processing thereto to extract control data; and    a control part for accepting said control data output from said control image processing part and performing at least one control operation out of exposure control, focus control, and white balance control, based on said control data, wherein 
 said control image processing part and said image processing part are configured to operate independently, and  
 said control image processing part performs the signal processing on said control image signals successively generated, even when said still image signal is being signal-processed.  
   
     
     
         7 . The electronic camera according to  claim 6 , comprising 
 a display part for displaying said still image signal and said monitor-image signals in one of a juxtaposed fashion, a nested fashion, and a selective fashion.    
     
     
         8 . The electronic camera according to  claim 7 , wherein said display part 
 has a first memory region for storing said still image signal for monitor display use and a second memory region for storing said monitor-image signals, said first and second memory regions being independent from each other, and    switches the memory region to be displayed on a monitor to replace display on the monitor.