US-12621567-B2 - Apparatus and method executed by apparatus

US12621567B2US 12621567 B2US12621567 B2US 12621567B2US-12621567-B2

Abstract

An apparatus comprising a sensor capable of generating a signal pair used in focus detection. The apparatus obtains, based on a defocus amount obtained using the signal pair, a focus distance of a lens unit that is mounted to the apparatus and adjusts a focus distance of the lens unit based on the obtained focus distance. When the lens unit is a multi-scopic lens unit having a plurality of optical systems having different axes, the apparatus obtains the focus distance using an adjustment value obtained based on an axis position that is a position on the sensor through which an axis of the multi-scopic lens unit passes.

Inventors

Yumi Takao
Nobutaka Mizuno
Junichi Imamiya

Assignees

CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240801
Priority Date: 20210611

Claims (14)

1 . An electronic device that controls a display device to perform a live view display based on a captured image, comprising: at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory having instructions that, when executed by the processor, performs operations as: an obtaining unit configured to obtain a first live view image captured through a first optical system and a second live view image captured through a second optical system, wherein the first and second live view images have parallax with each other and wherein optical axes of the first and second optical systems are parallel; and a display control unit configured to display a first display item indicating a difference between focus conditions of the first live view image and the second live view image together with the first live view image and the second live view image.
2 . The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the first display item indicates the difference as a relative value and a direction with reference to the focus condition of the first live view image or the focus condition of the second live view image.
3 . The electronic device according to claim 2 , wherein the first display item indicates the direction as a sign of the relative value and the sign is positive for front focus and negative for back focus.
4 . The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the display control unit does not display the first display item if reliability of one or both of the focus conditions is determined to be low.
5 . The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the display control unit display the first display item if an operational mode of the electronic device is set to an adjustment mode for adjusting a difference in degree of focus between the first optical system and the second optical system.
6 . An electronic device that controls a display device to perform a live view display based on a captured image, comprising: at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory having instructions that, when executed by the processor, performs operations as: an obtaining unit configured to obtain a first live view image captured through a first optical system and a second live view image captured through a second optical system, wherein the first and second live view images have parallax with each other, wherein optical axes of the first and second optical systems are parallel, and wherein a difference in degree of focus between the first optical system and the second optical system is adjustable according to user operation; and a display control unit configured to display the first live view image with a first display item superimposed on the first live view image and indicating information on a focus condition of the first live view image.
7 . The electronic device according to claim 6 , wherein a binocular lens unit comprising the first optical system and the second optical system further comprises a first focus ring operable by a user to perform focus adjustment of the first optical system and a second focus ring operable by a user to perform focus adjustment of the second optical system.
8 . The electronic device according to claim 6 , wherein a binocular lens unit comprising the first optical system and the second optical system further comprises a focus ring operable by a user to perform focus adjustment of the first optical system and the second optical system in parallel.
9 . The electronic device according to claim 6 , wherein the first display item is superimposed at a position based on the optical axis of the first optical system.
10 . The electronic device according to claim 6 , wherein the first display item is superimposed at a position around a focus detection region of the first live view image.
11 . A method performed by an electronic device for controlling a display device to perform a live view display based on a captured image, comprising: obtaining a first live view image captured through a first optical system; obtaining a second live view image captured through a second optical system, wherein the first and second live view images have parallax with each other and wherein optical axes of the first and second optical systems are parallel; displaying a first display item indicating a difference between focus conditions of the first live view image and the second live view image together with the first live view image and the second live view image.
12 . A method performed by an electronic device for controlling a display device to perform a live view display based on a captured image, comprising: obtaining a first live view image captured through a first optical system; obtaining a second live view image captured through a second optical system, wherein the first and second live view images have parallax with each other and wherein optical axes of the first and second optical systems are parallel, and wherein a difference in degree of focus between the first optical system and the second optical system is adjustable according to user operation; and displaying the first live view image with a first display item superimposed on the first live view image and indicating information on a focus condition of the first live view image.
13 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a program having instructions executable by a computer, wherein the instructions, when executed by the computer, causes the computer to perform a method comprising: obtaining a first live view image captured through a first optical system; obtaining a second live view image captured through a second optical system, wherein the first and second live view images have parallax with each other and wherein optical axes of the first and second optical systems are parallel; displaying a first display item indicating a difference between focus conditions of the first live view image and the second live view image together with the first live view image and the second live view image.
14 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a program having instructions executable by a computer, wherein the instructions, when executed by the computer, causes the computer to perform a method comprising: obtaining a first live view image captured through a first optical system; obtaining a second live view image captured through a second optical system, wherein the first and second live view images have parallax with each other and wherein optical axes of the first and second optical systems are parallel, and wherein a difference in degree of focus between the first optical system and the second optical system is adjustable according to user operation; and displaying the first live view image with a first display item superimposed on the first live view image and indicating information on a focus condition of the first live view image.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a Continuation of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 18/325,892 filed May 30, 2023, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/835,844, filed Jun. 8, 2022 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,924,548 on Mar. 5, 2024, which claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-098165, filed on Jun. 11, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entireties. BACKGROUND Technical Field The aspect of the embodiments relates to an apparatus and a method executed by the apparatus, and particularly relates to an apparatus capable of capturing an image using a lens unit having a plurality of optical axes and a method executed by such an apparatus. Description of the Related Art A stereoscopic camera including a plurality of imaging optical systems and capable of shooting stereo images with a single image sensor is known (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-205558). Meanwhile, in recent years, due to the drop in cost of VR goggles and other factors, there is demand for easier methods for shooting stereoscopic images. For example, it is conceivable to capture stereoscopic images using a typical interchangeable lens-type image capture apparatus by incorporating two imaging optical systems into a single lens barrel as an interchangeable lens unit. However, the image plane phase detection method of focus detection currently used mainly in mirrorless cameras assumes that the lens unit has a single optical axis. Therefore, when a lens unit having a plurality of optical axes, such as a lens unit in which two imaging optical systems are incorporated into a single lens barrel, is mounted, the accuracy of focus detection can drop. SUMMARY According to an aspect of the embodiments, there is provided an apparatus comprising: a sensor capable of generating a signal pair used in focus detection; and at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory having instructions that, when executed by the processor, performs operations as: an obtaining unit configured to obtain, based on a defocus amount obtained using the signal pair, a focus distance of a lens unit that is mounted to the apparatus; and an adjusting unit configured to adjust a focus distance of the lens unit based on the obtained focus distance, wherein when the lens unit is a multi-scopic lens unit having a plurality of optical systems having different axes, the obtaining unit obtains the focus distance using an adjustment value obtained based on an axis position that is a position on the sensor through which an axis of the multi-scopic lens unit passes. According to an aspect of the embodiments, there is provided a method executed by an apparatus including a sensor capable of generating a signal pair used in focus detection, the method comprising: obtaining, based on a defocus amount obtained using the signal pair, a focus distance of a lens unit that is mounted to the apparatus; and adjusting a focus distance of the lens unit based on the obtained focus distance, wherein when the lens unit is a multi-scopic lens unit having a plurality of optical systems having different optical axes, the obtaining includes obtaining the focus distance using an adjustment value obtained based on an axis position that is a position on the sensor through which an axis of the multi-scopic lens unit passes. According to an aspect of the embodiments, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program executable by a computer included in an apparatus having a sensor capable of generating a signal pair used in focus detection, the program causes, when executed by the computer, to perform a method comprising: obtaining, based on a defocus amount obtained using the signal pair, a focus distance of a lens unit that is mounted to the apparatus; and adjusting a focus distance of the lens unit based on the obtained focus distance, wherein when the lens unit is a multi-scopic lens unit having a plurality of optical systems having different axes, the obtaining includes obtaining the focus distance using an adjustment value obtained based on an axis position that is a position on the sensor through which an axis of the multi-scopic lens unit passes. Further features of the disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to the attached drawings). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective views illustrating an example of the external appearance of a camera 100 serving as an example of an image capture apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of a camera system. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating another example of the functional configuration of the camera system. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a pixel array of an image sensor of the camera 100. FIG. 5 is a diagram schematicall