An aerial camera system is disclosed that comprises at least one camera arranged to capture a plurality of successive images. Each camera including at least one respective image sensor, and the field of view of each camera is movable in a substantially transverse direction across a region of the ground. The system also includes a stabilisation assembly associated with each camera that has at least one steering mirror. The steering mirror is controllably movable so as to translate the optical axis of the camera relative to the at least one image sensor in synchronization with image capture, so as to effect stabilisation of an image on the at least one image sensor during image capture as the field of view of the camera moves in a substantially transverse direction across a region of the ground. The system is arranged to control the at least one camera to capture successive images at defined intervals as the field of view of the camera moves in a substantially transverse direction across a region of the ground.

A method of correcting an image obtained by an image acquisition device includes obtaining successive measurements, G.sub.n, of device movement during exposure of each row of an image. An integration range, idx, is selected in proportion to an exposure time, t.sub.e, for each row of the image. Accumulated measurements, C.sub.n, of device movement for each row of an image are averaged across the integration range to provide successive filtered measurements, G, of device movement during exposure of each row of an image. The image is corrected for device movement using the filtered measurements G.

Techniques for improved focusing of camera arrays are described. In one embodiment, for example, an apparatus may comprise a processor circuit and an imaging management module, and the imaging management module may be operable by the processor circuit to determine, for each of a plurality of candidate displacement factors for an image array comprising a plurality of images, a corresponding sharpness, determine an optimal displacement factor comprising a candidate displacement factor corresponding to a maximized sharpness, and transform the image array based on the optimal displacement factor. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

The present invention is applied to an image pickup apparatus for which, for example, a CMOS solid-state image pickup element is used. One screen image is divided into a plurality of blocks, and a motion is detected for each of the blocks to control the exposure time of the block.

Provided is an interchangeable lens digital camera that is capable of correcting a rolling shutter distortion in a live view image without delay in displaying the image. At the start of live view imaging, a lens controller in an interchangeable lens controls a shake detection sensor to detect the direction and amount of a shake, and produces deviation information on the basis of shake detection signals from the shake detection sensor, the deviation information indicating fluctuation in direction and amount of the shake for one frame of the live view image in the form of a parameter. The deviation information is transmitted to a body controller of a camera body through a serial communication unit, to correct the rolling shutter distortion on the basis of the deviation information.

A method and apparatus for capturing digital video includes displaying a preview of a field of view of the imaging device in a user interface of the imaging device. A sequence of images is captured. A main subject and a background in the sequence of images is determined, wherein the main subject is different than the background. A sequence of modified images for use in a final video is obtained, wherein each modified image is obtained by combining two or more images of the sequence of images such that the main subject in the modified image is blur free and the background is blurred. The sequence of modified images is combined to obtain the final video, which is stored in a memory of the imaging device, and displayed in the user interface.

An image processing apparatus determines whether a feature amount in a partial region of an image satisfies a preset condition, selects a second image to be combined with a first image from a plurality of images based on the result of the determination, and performs a composition process on the aligned first image and second image based on a motion vector between these images. From the plurality of images, the image processing apparatus selects as the second image at least any one of an image having a partial region with the feature amount determined to satisfy the preset condition and an image corresponding to a partial region out of a plurality of partial regions set in the first image with the feature amount determined to satisfy the preset condition.

An image sensor includes: a plurality of light-receiving elements that receive light from a subject and are arranged in a 2-dimensional form; a detection unit that detects a movement amount of a projected image of the subject projected to the plurality of light-receiving elements arranged in the 2-dimensional form; and a light-receiving element control unit that adaptively controls a timing at which pixel data is read from the plurality of light-receiving elements arranged in the 2-dimensional form for each line according to the movement amount.

An phase detect (PD) module including a phase detect (PD) lens, PD image sensor, and a PD controller is disclosed. The PD module may be configured to provide a control signal to an electromechanical device, such as a voice coil motor (VCM), of an image capture module to move a lens assembly to focus an image of an object to be imaged onto a primary image sensor. The PD module may direct the capture of a PD image by the PD image sensor and perform a phase detect (PD) technique on the captured AF image to identify a focus point of the lens assembly. This determined focus point may be used to displace the lens assembly relative to the primary image sensor to achieve focus of the object onto the primary image sensor.

Methods, systems and computer program products for automatic adjustment of video orientation are provided. A computer-implemented method may include receiving a video comprising a plurality of image frames, detecting an orientation change in the video, determining a standard orientation for the video, and adjusting the video to the standard orientation by resizing one or more of the image frames and by rotating one or more of the image frames to the standard orientation. The adjusted video in the standard orientation then may be provided to a user.