Patent ID: 6046770
Filing Date: 2000-04-04
Classification: G02B,H04N

Abstract:
An imaging apparatus arranged to form an optical image on an imaging surface of a solid state imaging device via a predetermined optical system including a zoom lens and to produce an output image in the form of a video signal after said optical image is converted to an electrical signal, comprising:an optical zooming device for moving said zoom lens of said optical system along its optical axis for magnifying or reducing said optical image of an object formed on said imaging surface;an optical zooming controller for controlling said optical zooming device with an open loop control;an electronic zooming device for magnifying and reducing said output image by changing the extracting size of the image on said imaging surface;a memory for storing a value corresponding to an amount of mechanical play of said optical zooming device;a play calculator for calculating an instantaneous amount of mechanical play of said optical zooming device on the basis of the value of the amount of mechanical play stored in said memory and a control result of said optical zooming controller; andan electronic zooming controller for controlling the output image of said electronic zooming device to continuously magnify and reduce the output image and for changing the interlocking operation starting position of electronic zooming so that the magnifying and reducing operations performed by said optical zooming device and by said electronic zooming device are smoothly interlocked, in case of an interlocking operation of said optical zooming device and said electronic zooming device, depending on the amount of mechanical play of said optical zooming device as calculated by said play calculator.