US-20260129302-A1 - IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS CAPABLE OF TRACKING SUBJECT THAT IS FOCUSABLE EVEN WITH NARROW ANGLE OF VIEW, OUT OF SUBJECTS RECOGNIZED IN WIDE-ANGLE IMAGE

US20260129302A1US 20260129302 A1US20260129302 A1US 20260129302A1US-20260129302-A1

Abstract

An image pickup apparatus capable of tracking a subject focusable even with a narrow angle of view is provided. The image pickup apparatus includes a first image pickup unit obtaining a wide-angle image, a second image pickup unit obtaining an image having an angle of view narrower than an angle of view of the first image pickup unit, a pan and tilt apparatus holding the first image pickup unit and the second image pickup unit so that they are capable of rotating in pan and tilt directions, and a control unit that determines as a tracking target, based on range finding results of subjects recognized from an image obtained by the first image pickup unit, a subject existing within a distance range focusable by the second image pickup unit among the recognized subjects, and controls the pan and tilt apparatus so as to track the subject being the tracking target.

Inventors

Junichi Saito

Assignees

CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251030
Priority Date: 20241106

Claims (10)

1 . An image pickup apparatus comprising: a first image pickup unit configured to obtain a wide-angle image; a second image pickup unit configured to obtain an image having an angle of view that is narrower than an angle of view of the first image pickup unit and is included in the angle of view of the first image pickup unit; a pan and tilt apparatus configured to hold the first image pickup unit and the second image pickup unit so that the first image pickup unit and the second image pickup unit are capable of rotating in a pan direction and a tilt direction; and at least one processor and/or circuit configured to function as a control unit that determines as a tracking target, based on range finding results of subjects recognized from an image obtained by the first image pickup unit, a subject that exists within a distance range that is focusable by the second image pickup unit among the recognized subjects, and controls the pan and tilt apparatus so as to track the subject that is the tracking target.
2 . The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein in a case of having been predicted based on a history of the range finding results that the subject that is the tracking target will be out of the distance range that is focusable by the second image pickup unit, the control unit stops tracking of the subject that is the tracking target.
3 . The image pickup apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein after the control unit has stopped the tracking of the subject that is the tracking target, in a case where there is another subject within the distance range that is focusable by the second image pickup unit among the recognized subjects, the control unit determines the another subject to be a new tracking target, and controls the pan and tilt apparatus so as to track the another subject that is the new tracking target.
4 . The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein in a case of having been predicted based on a history of the range finding results that the subject that is the tracking target will be out of the distance range that is focusable by the second image pickup unit, the control unit causes to start saving of the image obtained by the first image pickup unit.
5 . The image pickup apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the saving of the image obtained by the first image pickup unit is continued until the subject that is the tracking target becomes out of the angle of view of the second image pickup unit.
6 . The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit obtains a difference between the range finding result of the subject recognized from the image obtained by the first image pickup unit and a range finding result of a subject recognized from an image obtained by the second image pickup unit, and in a case where the difference exceeds a predetermined value, even if a subject exists within the distance range that is focusable by the second image pickup unit, the control unit does not determine the subject as the tracking target.
7 . The image pickup apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein in the case where the difference exceeds the predetermined value, the control unit causes to move a focus position by the second image pickup unit to a position indicated by the range finding result of the subject recognized from the image obtained by the first image pickup unit, and then performs obtainment of the difference again.
8 . The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein in a case where the control unit has stopped tracking of the subject that is the tracking target, the control unit stops the pan and tilt apparatus at that time point, and continues to stop the pan and tilt apparatus until the subject that is the tracking target is newly determined.
9 . The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein in a case where the pan and tilt apparatus is not positioned at a predetermined position and a state in which the subject that is the tracking target is not capable of being determined is continuous over a predetermined number of frames, the control unit returns the pan and tilt apparatus to the predetermined position, and keeps the pan and tilt apparatus waiting at the predetermined position until the subject that is the tracking target is determined.
10 . The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first image pickup unit is a stereo camera, and the range finding results are obtained based on parallax information of two images obtained by the first image pickup unit.

Description

BACKGROUND Field of the Technology The present disclosure relates to an image pickup apparatus. Description of the Related Art An image pickup apparatus having a tracking function that uses a pan and tilt mechanism to perform framing of a subject has been known. For example, in an image pickup apparatus to be used for photographing sporting events, wild animals, etc., a photographing direction is determined by remote control (remote operation), and photographing is carried out. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (kokai) No. 2000-115621 has disclosed a technique that uses a mirror block and a pan motor to control a photographing range of a telephoto camera, based on the movement of a subject that has been detected by a wide-angle camera. In addition, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (kokai) No. 2018-88647 has disclosed a technique, in which, in order to accurately detect eyes of a driver driving a car, the position of the eyes of the driver is detected from a wide-angle image, and based on the detection result, a telephoto camera is panned and tilted to capture a magnified image of the eyes of the driver. In the technique disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (kokai) No. 2000-115621, although the focus adjustment of the telephoto camera has been described, it is assumed that the intended subject is capable of being photographed with the telephoto camera. In addition, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (kokai) No. 2018-88647, in the case of detecting the eyes of the driver, since the position of the driver and the position of the camera are known to some extent, there is no need to consider whether or not it is possible to focus the eyes of the driver with the telephoto camera. However, in the case of photographing sporting events, when attempting to carry out photographing by a telephoto camera, with a camera such as that disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (kokai) No. 2000-115621, the following issue will arise. In other words, even in the case where a subject is capable of being focused in a wide-angle image that has been obtained by performing pan and tilt control, it may not be possible to perform focusing on the telephoto camera side that is used to carry out actual photographing (main photographing) because, for example, the subject distance is too close, and a focused image (an in-focus image) may not be obtained. SUMMARY The present disclosure provides an image pickup apparatus capable of tracking a subject that is focusable even with a narrow angle of view, out of subjects recognized in a wide-angle image. Accordingly, an aspect of the present disclosure provides an image pickup apparatus comprising a first image pickup unit configured to obtain a wide-angle image, a second image pickup unit configured to obtain an image having an angle of view that is narrower than an angle of view of the first image pickup unit and is included in the angle of view of the first image pickup unit, a pan and tilt apparatus configured to hold the first image pickup unit and the second image pickup unit so that the first image pickup unit and the second image pickup unit are capable of rotating in a pan direction and a tilt direction, and at least one processor and/or circuit configured to function as a control unit that determines as a tracking target, based on range finding results of subjects recognized from an image obtained by the first image pickup unit, a subject that exists within a distance range that is focusable by the second image pickup unit among the recognized subjects, and controls the pan and tilt apparatus so as to track the subject that is the tracking target. Features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. The following description of embodiments is described by way of example. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image pickup apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the image pickup apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a pan and tilt processing executed by the image pickup apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of an image pickup apparatus according to a modification of the embodiment of the present disclosure. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS The present disclosure will now be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing embodiments thereof. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image pickup apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the image pickup apparatus 1000 shown in FIG. 1. The image pickup apparatus 1000 includes a first camera 100 (a first image pickup unit), a second camera 200 (a second image pickup unit), and a pan and tilt apparatus 300. The angle of view of the first camer