An image capture method for flash photography includes: capturing at least one first image while a strobe device is operating under a first strobe intensity setting for emitting main flash, capturing at least one second image while the strobe device is operating under a second strobe intensity setting different from the first strobe intensity setting, and generating an output image by blending the at least one first image and the at least one second image.

A color correction device comprises an illumination information acquisition circuit, a color correction processing circuit, and a communication circuit. The illumination information acquisition circuit is used for acquiring illumination information of an external flash; the color correction processing circuit is electrically connected to the illumination information acquisition circuit to be used for performing color correction processing according to the illumination information and generating color correction result information; the communication circuit is used for communicating with the external flash; and the communication circuit is electrically connected to the color correction processing circuit so as to receive the color correction result information and send the color correction result information to the external flash, so that the external flash corrects illumination according to the color correction result information.

A smart flashlight control method and a mobile terminal are provided. The method includes: when detecting that a photographing mode of a mobile terminal is turned on, detecting ambient light intensity of the mobile terminal; when the ambient light intensity of the mobile terminal is smaller than a first threshold, turning on a flashlight; detecting whether a target to be photographed by the mobile terminal includes a predetermined type; and when the target to be photographed includes the predetermined type, adjusting light intensity of a fill light in the mobile terminal, to achieve the best photographing effect.

The invention relates to a control module for a camera and an illumination apparatus, a camera, a production system and a method for acquiring images by means of such a camera. The exposure times and illumination times are controlled on the basis of a common control clock signal. Due to this, beats can be avoided. This even applies if short flashes are executed at irregular times.

In implementations of photography lighting control, a camera device includes a camera to capture an image of a subject in an environment. The camera device implements an image exposure module that can determine ambient lighting conditions of the environment, and discover fixed light sources that are usable to illuminate the subject for image capture in the environment. The image exposure module can determine optimal lighting for the image capture of the subject in the environment, as well as control one or more of the fixed light sources used to adjust the ambient lighting conditions of the environment for the optimal lighting and the image capture of the subject. The image exposure module can then initiate use of the controlled fixed light sources to capture the image of the subject.

An automatic illumination control apparatus for adjusting an output of an illumination device depending upon a distance between a subject and the illumination device, includes: a distance measuring sensor installed at a position close to the illumination device to measure distance information between the illumination device and the subject; and an illumination managing unit configured to generate a management signal including an illumination intensity of illumination which is outputted from the illumination device according to the distance information, and send the management signal to the illumination device. With the present invention, even though the subject comes toward or away from the main illumination device and thus the distance between the subject and the illumination is changed, the illumination intensity indicative of the subject and the space around the subject and the color temperature can be constantly maintained, thereby obtaining the still picture or the motion picture with constant quality.

An image pickup apparatus capable of preventing degradation of user-friendliness during execution of automatic bounce drive control. A strobe device can change an irradiation direction of light from a strobe head. The automatic bounce drive control determines an irradiation direction of the light based on a result of ranging of a target object, and drives the strobe head in the determined irradiation direction. When a switch unrelated to the automatic bounce drive control is operated during execution of the control, out of control related to an operation of the switch and the automatic bounce drive control, the automatic bounce drive control is preferentially executed, whereas when a switch related to the automatic bounce drive control is operated during execution of the control, out of the control related to an operation of the switch and the automatic bounce drive control, control related to the operation of the switch is preferentially executed.

An image pickup apparatus capable of preventing degradation of user-friendliness during execution of automatic bounce drive control. A strobe device can change an irradiation direction of light from a strobe head. The automatic bounce drive control determines an irradiation direction of the light based on a result of ranging of a target object, and drives the strobe head in the determined irradiation direction. When a switch unrelated to the automatic bounce drive control is operated during execution of the control, out of control related to an operation of the switch and the automatic bounce drive control, the automatic bounce drive control is preferentially executed, whereas when a switch related to the automatic bounce drive control is operated during execution of the control, out of the control related to an operation of the switch and the automatic bounce drive control, control related to the operation of the switch is preferentially executed.

An image pickup system includes a stereoscopic endoscope including image pickup optical systems having a parallax therebetween and a first image pickup device and a second image pickup device, and a processor including a first photometric measurement section configured to photometrically measure a luminance value of a first image pickup signal related to the first image pickup device, a second photometric measurement section configured to measure a luminance value of a second image pickup signal related to the second image pickup device, and a control section including a threshold value comparison section configured to compare the luminance value with a threshold value. When the luminance value of either one of the first image pickup signal and the second image pickup signal exceeds the threshold value, the image pickup system performs light adjustment control of a light source based on a photometric value of the other image pickup signal.

An image pickup system includes a stereoscopic endoscope including image pickup optical systems having a parallax therebetween and a first image pickup device and a second image pickup device, and a processor including a first photometric measurement section configured to photometrically measure a luminance value of a first image pickup signal related to the first image pickup device, a second photometric measurement section configured to measure a luminance value of a second image pickup signal related to the second image pickup device, and a control section including a threshold value comparison section configured to compare the luminance value with a threshold value. When the luminance value of either one of the first image pickup signal and the second image pickup signal exceeds the threshold value, the image pickup system performs light adjustment control of a light source based on a photometric value of the other image pickup signal.