Patent ID: 7990467
Filing Date: 2011-08-02
Classification: G03B,H04N

Abstract:
1. A parallax image pickup apparatus for forming a parallax image train by photographing an object from a plurality of directions, the apparatus comprising: image pickup means in which an image pickup device and an image forming optical system are integrated in order to photograph parallax images of the object; rotating means on which the image pickup means is mounted and which rotates the image pickup means in a parallax direction; image pickup unit moving means for rectilinearly moving the image pickup means and the rotating means synchronously with the rotation of the rotating means; control means for controlling so that a virtual image pickup center portion is always located at the center of a photographed image; focal distance control means for continuously changing a focal distance of the image pickup means; image processing means for processing so that when the virtual image pickup center portion is set to the center of gravity and a rectangle which is parallel with the linear motion direction is virtually arranged, although the virtual rectangle to be photographed becomes a trapezoid with respect to each of the photographed parallax images, the virtual rectangle is set to a rectangle by correcting the trapezoidal distortion in a real-time manner upon photographing by also executing magnification conversion in the vertical direction; and magnification variable means which can optically vary a magnification, correcting the trapezoidal distortion and executing magnification conversion in the vertical direction is performed on the basis of data which has been preliminarily programmed, the data including data relating focal distance to time and data relating camera angle to time, wherein a zoom lens in the image pickup means is moved synchronously with the rectilinear movement on the basis of a known distance between an image pickup device and the virtual image pickup center portion.