Fuji Photo Film Company, Limited

Hitachi, Ltd.

Fujifilm Corporation

Hitachi Chemical Company, Ltd.

Takashi Soga

Minoru Arai

Izumi Miyake

Kiyotaka Kaneko

Kozo Mochiji

Shigekazu Fukada

Taro Ogawa

Hiroaki Oizumi

Takashi Yano

Fumio Murai

Seiichi Murayama

Akihisa Yamazaki

Hiroshi Tamayama

Takeshi Kimura

Shinji Kuniyoshi

Nobuaki Hayashi

Hiroshi Shiraishi

Eiji Takeda

Naoki Kubo

Hitoshi Hirobe

Isao Ochiai

Tadashi Fujii

Masaaki Ito

Toshio Sakamizu

Hitoshi Koike

Ryuji Kawaguchi

Seiji Yamamoto

Kazuki Iwabe

Akihiko Kishimoto

Masanaga Yamamoto

A digital still camera includes a lens system. A cold mirror separates object light incident on the lens system into a visible light component and an infrared component. A visible light image sensor outputs a first image signal of a visible light image by receiving the visible light component. An infrared light image sensor outputs a second image signal of an infrared image by receiving the infrared component. A contour signal generator extracts a high frequency component from a luminance signal determined according to the second image signal, to produce an edge enhancement signal. An adder adds the edge enhancement signal to a luminance signal determined according to the first image signal. Addition of the edge enhancement signal is adapted to the object light from an object at a far distance. Specifically, the cold mirror reflects the visible light component and transmits the infrared component.

Image pickup apparatus and method using visible light and infrared

A digital camera comprises an angular velocity detector for detecting angular velocity of a camera body in a yaw direction and a pitch direction. In capturing panoramic image, when movement of the camera body is detected, a system controller determines an image capturing interval based on the detected angular velocity in the yaw direction, and controls a CCD image sensor to perform plural times of image capturing at the determined image capturing interval. The system controller temporarily stores the captured image data for the plural images in a buffer memory, and controls an image signal processor based on the angular velocity in the pitch direction and the image-capturing interval so as to compose the image data for the plural images to form a single panoramic image.

Digital camera for capturing a panoramic image

It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital camera that forms, on a solid state imaging device, an object image resulting from object light transmitted via a photographing optical system, to obtain image data representative of the object image, the digital camera enabling a photographer to take his or her intended photograph accurately. After a composition determining operation has been finished and before an actual photographing operation is started, an image display section displays a composition and a through image in a superimposing manner. The distance to an object is measured when the composition determining operation is performed. During the actual photographing operation, focusing is carried out in accordance with the distance measured when the composition determining operation is performed.

Digital camera having composition determining operation for temporarily storing freeze image data representative of a composition

A digital still camera is designed so that even a beginner can acquire photographic technique. To this end, picture-taking advice conforming to the subject of photography is displayed, in a shooting mode, on the display screen of a liquid crystal display device with which the camera is provided. By viewing the displayed picture-taking advice, the user becomes aware of the essentials of photography. The user is prevented from making picture-taking errors by shooting in accordance with the picture-taking advice.

Digital still camera with composition advising function, and method of controlling operation of same

In order to easily manage image data for each image pickup theme, the last one of consecutive frame numbers for the image pickup theme is stored in a flash memory in a digital still camera. When the image pickup theme is set, the last frame number for the image pickup theme is read out of the flash memory, and new frame numbers are assigned to image data obtained by imaging such that they are consecutive frame numbers in the image pickup theme. Since the consecutive frame numbers are assigned for the image pickup theme, the image data for the image pickup theme become relatively easy to manage.

Digital still camera and method of controlling the same

The image of a subject is displayed on a display screen of a liquid crystal display device provided on the back side of a digital camera. An assistance frame is displayed in a form superimposed on the image of the subject and the composition of a photograph to be obtained by shooting the subject is decided based upon the assistance frame. As the user decides the composition of a photograph in accordance with the assistance frame, the user acquires a well-balanced photographic technique.

Digital still camera with composition assist function, and method of controlling operation of same

The arrangement of electric circuit boards and an optical unit including a CCD is optimized to minimize the volume of the electronic camera, and to shield the circuit boards from one another by utilizing the essential components of the camera themselves. A memory card chamber and an LCD unit are separately shielded with conductive walls. An analog circuit board, a power source circuit board, the memory card chamber, a digital circuit board and the LCD unit are arranged in that order, parallel to one another, and perpendicular to the optical axis of the optical unit. Thus, the digital circuit board that is the worst source of noises can be shielded by the memory card chamber and the LCD unit without any special shielding members, and a signal wire between the CCD and the analog circuit can be perpendicular to the circuit boards. A metal casing of the camera connects to the walls of the memory card chamber and the LCD unit in order to reinforce the ground.

Electronic image recording apparatus

An optical element which allows replication of a refined pattern and a projection exposure apparatus employing the optical element are disposed so that side face portions of predetermined patterns which create shadows from oblique incident exposure radiation may be minimized at a predetermined incidence angle of vacuum ultrasonic radiation or X-radiation, or the patterns of the optical element are formed such that the direction in which incident radiation is reflected regularly and the direction of side faces of the patterns may extend in parallel to each other. When the optical element is irradiated to replicate or image the patterns of the optical element, refined patterns can be replicated or imaged.

Optical element and projection exposure apparatus employing the same

An amount-of-light-emission control data for controlling the amount of light-emission is corrected so that the amount of strobe light-emission becomes proper. In the adjustment process after manufacturing a digital still camera, a subject is placed in a predetermined position, and is photographed by determining a predetermined guide number GN. A guide number GN corresponding to the amount of light-emission of a strobe 45 is calculated from a video signal obtained by the photography. The predetermined actual guide number GN and the guide number GN corresponding to the actual amount of light-emission are compared with each other, to correct the value of control data for determining the amount of light-emission so that there is no difference therebetween. The corrected or updated value of control data in which the predetermined updated corrected guide number GN and the guide number GN corresponding to the actual amount of light-emission are approximately equal to each other is stored in a memory 6. At the time of actual photography, the updated corrected value of control data is read out from the memory 6 in conformity with the updated corrected guide number GN, and the data read out is applied to an amount-of-light-emission control circuit 30, so that a strobe flash is fired.

Still video camera and device for adjusting control data for amount of

An analog/digital converting circuit necessary for recording processing is also used when exposure control is performed employing digital image data. A gamma corrector circuit 10 capable of being changed over between a gamma-correction characteristic and a linearly proportional characteristic in response to depression of a two-stage shutter release button is provided. When exposure control is carried out, changeover of the gamma-corrector circuit 10 is controlled in such a manner that the input/output characteristic of the circuit will be a linearly proportional characteristic. When exposure control is performed, a b terminal of a changeover switch 14 is connected to the A/D converting circuit 13 so that a photometric value is calculated using circuits 15, 16, and 17. When processing for recording image data is executed, changeover of the gamma-corrector circuit 10 is controlled is such a manner that the output signal thereof takes on the value of the input signal raised to the 0.45 power, and an a terminal of the changeover switch 14 connected to the A/D conversion circuit 13. The image data is recorded on a memory card 40 using circuits 31, 32, 33 and 34.

Digital electronic still-video camera and method of controlling same

In a method of and apparatus for split photometry, a plurality of split photometric areas are established by setting a plurality of horizontal and vertical photometric intervals respectively within intervals in a horizontal scanning direction and a vertical scanning direction of the solid-state electronic image sensing device. An extracted luminance-signal component is integrated over a horizontal integration interval designated by an integration control signal. Integrated values obtained by the integration operation are summed, in every split photometric area, over the corresponding vertical photometric interval, and a photometric value is calculated for every split photometric area based upon the value obtained by summing the integrated values in another embodiment, data for controlling exposure or controlling the focusing of an image pick-up lens can be obtained for each of a plurality of blocks set in a photographic area. From data representing the image of a subject, a luminance signal is generated and converted into digital luminance data which is applied to a gate array. The luminance data is summed block by block in the gate array and the summed data is outputted in block units. Only the necessary data is selected from the summed luminance data of every block and a photometric value is calculated. A diaphragm and an electronic shutter is controlled based upon the photometric value calculated. A high-frequency component signal for focusing control can be calculated for each and every block in a similar manner.

Video camera and photometric method therein, image pick-up apparatus and

A video signal, which is obtained from a solid-state electronic image sensing device, is used to obtain a photometric value corresponding to the environment in which a subject is present. Photometric areas that differ for every field in one frame are set within a photographic area of a CCD. A luminance-signal component extracted from the video signal by a Y.sub.L synthesizing circuit is integrated by an integrating circuit, under the control of a CPU, with respect to a horizontal scanning interval and vertical scanning interval corresponding to the photometric area. Obtained integrated values are added field by field and a photometric value is calculated field by field from the value resulting from adding the integrated values.

Video camera, method of photometry therein, and method of focusing same

In an X-ray exposure method, consideration was made to application of a concept of a phase shift method which is used for a light exposure method, in order to improve the resolution. As a result, phase shift layers made of a material having an appropriate refractivity are provided on side walls of an absorbing pattern of an X-ray mask to improve the resolution by an interference effect. One or more layers made of a material having a refractivity different from that of the absorbing pattern are formed on the side walls of the absorbing pattern of the X-ray mask.

X-ray exposure method with an X-ray mask comprising phase shifter

A lithographic method for forming a mask pattern is useful for etching wiring or insulator layers on a substrate. A catalyst generation layer and a latent image formation layer are formed on the target layer prior to application of actinic radiation to activate a catalyst in the catalyst generation layer in accordance with a predetermined pattern. The activated catalyst diffuses into the latent image formation layer to form a latent image, which then serves as a mask pattern for etching the catalyst generation layer, latent image formation layer and target layer. The catalyst generation layer may be formed prior to the latent image formation layer, or vice versa. In another embodiment, the catalyst generation layer is formed prior to the radiation step, but the latent image formation layer is formed after application of the actinic radiation.

High-resolution lithography and semiconductor device manufacturing method

A mask for exposing a wafer with radiation and its exposition method in which the radiation exposure mask is provided with at least two radiation exposure windows which each include a mask pattern of a smaller pattern area obtained by dividing a pattern area constituting an integrating circuit chip into a plurality of the areas, and a semiconductor wafer is exposed with radiation while the radiation exposure mask is intermittently moved by a distance of the size of the small pattern area.

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Asaka, Japan

Takashi Soga