Imaging device, control method and program thereof

Abstract

To perform a rotation control for a fan in accordance with a photographing environment without any special operation by a user.SOLUTION: An imaging apparatus having an imaging unit has a determination unit for determining a subject and a photographing environment on the basis of data obtained by the imaging unit, an air-cooling unit for rotating a fan to cool the imaging apparatus and a control unit for controlling the rotation speed per unit time of the fan of the air-cooling unit. Here, the control unit sets an upper limit value for the rotation speed of the fan of the air-cooling unit in accordance with the determination result by the determination unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an imaging device, and more particularly to a cooling control technique for an imaging device. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a television camera system having a switch for specifying an automatic mode and a switch for specifying a silent mode for fan control. It discloses that when the silent mode is selected by the user operating the switch, if the temperature is below a certain threshold, the fan rotates at a lower speed than in the automatic mode at the same temperature. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-200778 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the method described in Patent Document 1 requires the user to manually select the fan rotation speed during shooting, making it difficult for the user to concentrate on shooting. As a result, the technology described in Patent Document 1 leads to a decrease in the usability of the imaging device.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention provides a technique that allows fan rotation control according to the shooting conditions without any special operation by the user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve this problem, for example, an imaging device of the present invention has the following configuration: An imaging device having an imaging means, an air-cooling unit that rotates a fan to cool the imaging device; a determining means for determining a subject and a photographing environment based on data obtained by the imaging means, the data representing sensitivity of the photographing environment to rotation noise of the fan; a thermometer for measuring the temperature of the imaging device; a control means for acquiring the number of revolutions per unit time of the fan rotated by the air-cooling means based on the temperature measured by the thermometer; The control means further sets an upper limit value for the number of revolutions of the fan rotated by the air-cooling means in accordance with the result of the determination by the determination means, and when the acquired number of revolutions per unit time of the fan exceeds the upper limit value, limits the number of revolutions per unit time of the fan to the upper limit value so that rotation noise of the fan does not affect the shooting environment. and when the acquired number of rotations per unit time of the fan is equal to or less than the upper limit value, the acquired number of rotations per unit time of the fan is used. It is characterized by: [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, fan rotation can be controlled in accordance with the shooting environment without any special operation by the user. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing components of the imaging device and the cooling device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] 6 is a flowchart showing a process for determining the rotation speed of a fan according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] 4A to 4C are diagrams showing the sequence of the temperature, the photographed scene, and the rotation speed of the fan of the imaging device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing a fan rotation speed determination process according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the claimed invention. Although multiple features are described in the embodiments, not all of these multiple features are necessarily essential to the invention, and multiple features may be combined arbitrarily. Furthermore, in the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same or similar components, and redundant explanations will be omitted.

[0010] [Embodiment 1] 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of an image capture device 100 and a cooling device 120 according to the first embodiment. The cooling device 120 has a fan (cooling fan) for cooling the image capture device 100. The image capture device 100 is, for example, a network camera, and distributes captured video data over a network. However, since the configuration related to video distribution is not the main focus of the present invention, it should be noted that only the configuration related to cooling is shown in the figure.

[0011] The imaging device 100 includes a lens unit 101 , an imaging element 102 , a system control unit 103 , a thermometer 106 , a battery 108 , a power supply circuit 109 , a power switch 113 , and a connection port 110 .

[0012] The frame indicated by reference numeral 100 also represents the housing of the imaging device 100. The housing of the imaging device 100 is provided with ventilation holes 111 and 112.

[0013] The lens unit 101 converges light from a subject image and forms an image on the imaging surface of the image sensor 102. The image sensor 102 is, for example, a CMOS sensor. The image sensor 102 converts the optical image formed on the imaging surface by the lens unit 101 into an electrical signal and supplies the electrical signal to the system control unit 103 as image data.

[0014] The system control unit 103 controls the imaging device 100 and the cooling device 120. The system control unit 101 includes one or more CPUs, a ROM that stores programs executed by the CPU, various parameters, and tables, and a RAM used as a work area for the CPU. The image processing unit 104, scene determination unit 105, and fan control unit 107 included in the system control unit 103 function when the CPU executes programs stored in the ROM. However, the image processing unit 104, scene determination unit 105, and fan control unit 107 may be configured as hardware independent of the CPU.

[0015] The image processing unit 104 receives image data supplied from the image sensor 102, performs image processing, and converts the image data into image data in a predetermined still image / moving image format.

[0016] The scene determination unit 105 performs a process of identifying a subject in an image and / or identifying the shooting environment of the imaging device 100 based on image data obtained from the imaging element 102 or image data in a given format converted by the image processing unit 104. For example, the scene determination unit 105 can determine the shooting scene, such as whether the imaging device 100 is currently located outdoors or indoors, based on multiple pieces of information, such as brightness information of the subject in the image indicated by the image data obtained by the imaging element 102 and lighting flicker information. Furthermore, the system control unit 103, which includes the scene determination unit 105, uses deep learning technology to learn a large amount of image data of shooting scenes and their features in advance. The scene determination unit 105 then extracts image features from the image data from the imaging element 102 or image data converted by the image processing unit 104. Using the stored learning data, the scene determination unit 105 determines the shooting scene, such as where the imaging device 100 is currently located and what it is trying to shoot. The scene determination unit 105 supplies the determination result to the fan control unit 107 as photographic scene information.

[0017] The thermometer 106 measures the temperature of the image capture device 100 and supplies information indicating the measured temperature to a fan control unit 107 of the system control unit 103. There may be multiple thermometers 106. The thermometers 106 are, for example, thermistors or digital thermometers.

[0018] The fan control unit 107 controls the rotation speed (more precisely, the number of rotations per unit time, measured in units of rpm (rotations per minute)) of the fan included in the cooling device 120 to cool the imaging device 100. To this end, the fan control unit 107 determines a target rotation speed of the fan based on temperature information acquired from the thermometer 106 and shooting scene information acquired from the scene determination unit 105. If multiple thermometers 106 are present, the fan control unit 107 may calculate an average value of the temperatures indicated by the multiple pieces of temperature information from the thermometers and determine the target rotation speed of the fan based on the calculated average value and the scene information. After determining the target rotation speed, the fan control unit 107 calculates a duty ratio for PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control according to the target rotation speed. Then, the fan control unit 107 PWM-controls a DC motor that rotates the fan using a signal of the calculated duty ratio. This controls the effective voltage applied to the DC motor, making it possible to drive the fan at a target rotation speed.

[0019] The battery 108 is housed in the imaging device 100. The power supply circuit 109 converts the voltage of the battery 108 into a voltage suitable for each component of the imaging device 100 (such as the image sensor 102 and the system control unit 103), and supplies the voltage.

[0020] The connection port 110 connects the imaging device 100 to the cooling device 120. A signal from the fan control unit 107 is supplied to the cooling device 120 via this connection port 110. Furthermore, the connection port 110 can supply power for operating the cooling device 120 from the imaging device 100 to the cooling device 120. The connection port 100 is, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector.

[0021] The power switch 113 switches between supplying and cutting off power from the battery 108 to the power supply circuit 109. When the user turns on the power switch 113, power is supplied from the battery 108 to the power supply circuit 109, and the imaging device 100 begins to function.

[0022] The cooling device 120 includes a connection port 121 , a battery 122 , an external power supply port 123 , a power supply circuit 124 , a motor drive unit 125 , and a blower unit 126 .

[0023] The connection port 121 connects the cooling device 120 to the imaging device 100. The cooling device 120 can receive control signals from the imaging device 100 via this connection port 121. In addition, the cooling device 120 can receive power for operating the fan from the imaging device 100 via this connection port 121. The connection port 121 is, for example, a USB connector.

[0024] The cooling device 120 can operate using power supplied from the imaging device 100 via a connection port 121. The cooling device 120 can also operate using power from a battery 121. The cooling device 120 can also operate using power supplied from an external power source (not shown) via an external power supply port 123.

[0025] The power supply circuit 124 can convert power from the battery 122, power received from the imaging device 100, or power from an external power supply connected to the external power supply inlet 123 into an appropriate voltage for driving the fan. Furthermore, when power is input from multiple power sources, the power supply circuit 124 can select one of the power sources and use the power from the selected power source to drive the cooling device 120. For example, when an AC adapter is connected to the external power supply inlet 123 and power is also supplied from the battery 122 and the imaging device 100, the power supply circuit 124 preferentially selects the power from the AC adapter and uses it to operate the fan. This makes it possible to operate the fan while reducing the consumption of each battery.

[0026] The motor drive unit 125 drives the DC motor in the blower unit 125. The fan control unit 107 of the imaging device 100 can drive the DC motor at any rotation speed by supplying a PWM modulation signal to the DC motor. At this time, the voltage applied between the terminals of the DC motor is the voltage supplied from the power supply circuit 124.

[0027] The blower 125 is composed of the DC motor and a fan (propeller). The rotation of the DC motor rotates the fan, generating a flow of air. The fan of the blower 125 is located near the vent 112. This allows the blower 125 to send air from the outside into the imaging device 100 through the vent 112. Another vent 111 of the imaging device 100 releases warm air from inside the imaging device 100 to the outside. In this way, the imaging device 100 is air-cooled.

[0028] Although the configuration diagram of FIG. 1 shows an example in which the cooling device 120 is provided outside the imaging device 100, the imaging device 100 may have a built-in cooling device 120.

[0029] Next, the cooling process of the image capturing device 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0030] 2 is a flowchart showing a process of determining the rotation speed of the fan by the fan control unit 107 in embodiment 1. It is assumed that the fan control unit 107 executes the process of FIG. 2 at preset time intervals (for example, every 10 seconds).

[0031] In S201, the fan control unit 107 acquires temperature information required to determine the rotation speed of the fan from the thermometer 106. Then, the fan control unit 107 advances the process to step S202.

[0032] In step S202, the fan control unit 107 converts the temperature indicated by the temperature information acquired in step S201 into a tentative fan rotation speed. The cooling effect increases in proportion to the fan rotation speed. Therefore, the higher the temperature, the more it is necessary to increase the fan rotation speed to improve the cooling effect. Conversely, if the temperature is low, the fan rotation speed may be reduced. Therefore, the fan control unit 107 calculates the tentative fan rotation speed f, for example, according to the following equation: f=k × temperature of the imaging device 100 Here, "k" is a positive conversion coefficient for converting the temperature of the image capture device 100 into the rotation speed of the fan. Note that the reason it is called a "provisional rotation speed" here is because the rotation speed calculated here may be changed in subsequent steps.

[0033] Next, in step S203, the fan control unit 107 acquires the photographic scene information from the scene determination unit 105.

[0034] Then, in step S204, the fan control unit 107 converts the acquired photographic scene information into an upper limit value for the rotation speed of the fan.

[0035] The cooling effect can be improved by increasing the rotation speed of the fan. However, the higher the rotation speed of the fan, the louder the operating noise of the fan. The blower 126 of the cooling device 120 of this embodiment has such characteristics.

[0036] Depending on the environment in which the imaging device 100 is placed or the subject being photographed, there are cases where the operating noise generated by the fan needs to be kept low, or where a loud operating noise is acceptable. For example, when photographing wild birds in a forest, it is desirable to minimize noise because the noise may frighten the birds and cause them to flee. Therefore, when photographing wild birds, it is desirable to reduce the operating noise of the imaging device's fan. Furthermore, at concert venues, the operating noise of the fan may be a nuisance to surrounding spectators. Even in such shooting situations, it is necessary to minimize the operating noise of the fan. On the other hand, when taking snapshots in the city or at a child's sports day, even if the operating noise of the fan is loud, people around will likely not notice or be bothered by it. Thus, the acceptable level of operating noise from the fan depends on the shooting situation.

[0037] Therefore, the system control unit 103 of this embodiment stores a table 200 in an internal ROM or RAM. This table 200 is used to associate photographic scene information with the upper limit value of the fan rotation speed.

[0038] For example, if the photographic scene information indicates "wild bird," the upper limit of the fan rotation speed is "R1." This indicates that when the image capture device 100 is photographing a wild bird, the allowable range of the fan rotation speed of the blower unit 126 is 0 to R1. Also, if the photographic scene information indicates "city center," the upper limit of the fan rotation speed is "R2." This indicates that when the image capture device 100 is photographing a city center, the allowable range of the fan rotation speed of the blower unit 126 is 0 to R2. Note that the table 200 includes "unknown," which indicates a case where scene determination is impossible, and an upper limit of the fan rotation speed R0 in that case. Here, the relationship between the upper limit of the fan rotation speed R0 to R3 is as follows: R0 <R1<R2<R3である。

[0039] In S204, the fan control unit 107 determines the upper limit of the rotation speed of the fan of the blower unit 126 based on the photographic scene information acquired from the scene determination unit 107 as described above. Then, the fan control unit 107 advances the process to step S205.

[0040] In step S205, the fan control unit 107 compares the provisional rotation speed calculated in step S202 with the upper limit calculated in step S204. If the provisional rotation speed is equal to or less than the upper limit, the fan control unit 107 proceeds to step S206. If the provisional rotation speed is greater than the upper limit, the fan control unit 107 proceeds to step S207.

[0041] In step S206, the fan control unit 107 determines the tentative rotation speed calculated from the temperature information as the final rotation speed of the fan. Even if the rotation speed of the fan is increased up to the upper limit determined based on the shooting scene information, the operating noise of the fan will not affect shooting. However, increasing the rotation speed of the fan more than necessary for the temperature of the imaging device 100 leads to an increase in power consumption. Therefore, in step S206, the tentative rotation speed calculated from the temperature information is used as the rotation speed of the fan as is, regardless of the shooting scene.

[0042] In step S207, the fan control unit 107 determines the upper limit value (one of R0 to R3 in this embodiment) determined based on the photographic scene information as the final rotation speed of the fan.

[0043] FIG. 3 is an example of a sequence diagram of temperature information, shooting scene information, and fan rotation speed.

[0044] "Period 0" is the period from when the imaging device 100 is turned on until scene determination becomes possible. For the scene determination unit 105 to be able to perform scene determination after the user turns on the power switch 113, components such as the power circuit 109, system control unit 103, and image sensor 102 must be properly initialized and operational, which requires a considerable amount of time. Additionally, the scene determination unit 105 may not be able to recognize the captured scene until the subject and shooting environment are stable. Therefore, during Period 0, the fan control unit 107 determines R0 as the upper limit of the fan rotation speed. Here, R0 is the smallest value among all upper limit candidate values ​​{R0 to R3}. Alternatively, the rotation speed of R0 may be set to "0." Setting R0 = 0 means that the fan is stopped. As a result, even if the user turns on the power switch 113 of the imaging device 100 with the intention of capturing a scene where the acceptable level of fan noise is relatively low, the generation of loud fan noise contrary to the user's intention can be suppressed. This can be easily understood by imagining, for example, a case where the user notices the presence of a wild bird and turns on the power of the imaging device 100. The period from when the power is turned on until the imaging device 100 is able to capture an image of the wild bird corresponds to "period 0." Therefore, the operating noise of the fan of the blower 126 does not interfere with the capture of the wild bird.

[0045] Furthermore, even if the scene has been determined once after the imaging device 100 has been started up, if scene determination becomes impossible for some reason, the upper limit of the fan rotation speed may be set to R0. This prevents the fan operating noise from exceeding an allowable level, for example, in a situation where the scene changes rapidly and the scene determination unit 105 cannot keep up with the scene determination. Alternatively, even if the scene has been determined once after the imaging device 100 has been started up, if scene determination becomes impossible for some reason, the upper limit of the fan rotation speed may be set to an upper limit determined corresponding to the most recently determined scene. This makes it possible to maintain the fan rotation speed and provide cooling, for example, when the scene changes only for an instant during shooting and scene determination cannot be performed at that instant.

[0046] Returning to the explanation of FIG. 3, "Period 1" is a period during which scene determination becomes possible and the user is taking snapshots in the street. Furthermore, since the shooting scene information indicates "in the street," the upper limit of the fan rotation speed is R2. In Period 1, the rotation speed determined from the temperature information is equal to or less than R2. Therefore, the processing of step S206 is performed, and the fan of blower 126 operates at a rotation speed determined by the temperature information.

[0047] "Period 2" is a period during which wild birds are photographed. Furthermore, since the photographic scene information indicates "wild birds," the upper limit of the fan rotation speed is R1. In period 2, the upper limit of the rotation speed calculated from the temperature information is R1. Therefore, the processing of step S206 described above is performed. Therefore, the fan of blower 126 operates at a rotation speed determined by the temperature information.

[0048] "Period 3" is a period in which photographing wild birds continues from "Period 2." Therefore, the upper limit of the fan's rotation speed is R1. In Period 3, the rotation speed calculated from the temperature information exceeds R1, so processing in step S207 is performed. Therefore, the fan operates at R1, the upper limit of the rotation speed determined based on the photographic scene. This keeps the fan's operating noise below an acceptable level, enabling cooling to be performed without affecting the user's photography.

[0049] In "Period 4," the user switches from photographing wild birds to photographing towns and cities, and photographs the city. Furthermore, since the photographing scene information indicates "towns," the upper limit of the fan rotation speed is R2. In Period 4, the fan rotation speed calculated from the temperature information is equal to or less than R2, so the processing of step S206 described above is performed, and the fan of blower unit 126 operates at the rotation speed determined by the temperature information. In this way, by setting the upper limit of the rotation speed high in photographing scenes where the acceptable level of fan operating noise is relatively high, the fan rotation speed increases, and the cooling effect can be improved.

[0050] As described above, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to provide an imaging device that enables cooling control while suppressing the influence of the operating noise of the fan on imaging. Furthermore, according to the imaging device 100 of the first embodiment, the user does not need to perform an operation to control the rotation speed of the cooling fan, and the user can concentrate on imaging.

[0051] In the above description, the fan control unit 107 executes the flowchart of Fig. 2 at intervals of, for example, 10 seconds. Here, if the process of step S207 is executed consecutively a preset number of times, the fan control unit 107 may cause a warning lamp (not shown) to blink. If the blinking of the warning lamp continues even after a preset time has elapsed, the fan control unit 107 requests the system control unit 103 to turn off the power. In response to this, the system control unit 103 may turn off the power to the imaging device 100.

[0052] [Embodiment 2] The cooling operation of the imaging device 100 in the second embodiment will be described below.

[0053] 4 is a flowchart showing the processing of the fan control unit 107 in the second embodiment. As in the first embodiment, the fan control unit 107 periodically (for example, at 10-second intervals) executes the processing corresponding to the flowchart in FIG. 4. The processing of the fan control unit 107 in the second embodiment will be described below with reference to the same figure. The device configuration is the same as that in FIG.

[0054] Steps S401 and S402 are similar to steps S201 and S202 in FIG. 2, and therefore their description will be omitted.

[0055] In step S403, the fan control unit 107 compares the temperature indicated by the temperature information acquired from the thermometer 106 with a predetermined temperature threshold T t Furthermore, the fan control unit 107 compares the provisional rotation speed calculated in step S402 with a predetermined rotation speed threshold T r Here, the rotation speed threshold T ris defined as the rotation speed at which the fan noise begins to affect shooting in a relatively silent environment. t is defined as the rotation speed threshold converted to temperature. t If the temperature is equal to or lower than the threshold value T t If the fan speed exceeds the threshold value Tr, the fan control unit 107 proceeds to step S404. In S403, two comparisons are made, one between the temperature and the threshold value, and the other between the rotation speed and the threshold value, but it is also possible to make only one of the comparisons.

[0056] Steps S404 and S405 are similar to steps S203 and S204 in FIG. 2, and therefore their explanation will be omitted.

[0057] Upon completion of the process of S405, the fan control unit 107 proceeds to step S406. In step S406, the fan control unit 107 compares the provisional rotation speed calculated in step S402 with the upper limit of the rotation speed determined from the photographed scene calculated in step S405. If the provisional rotation speed is equal to or less than the upper limit of the rotation speed, the fan control unit 107 proceeds to step S407. On the other hand, if the provisional rotation speed exceeds the upper limit of the rotation speed, the fan control unit 107 proceeds to step S408.

[0058] Steps S407 and S408 are similar to steps S206 and S207 in FIG. 2, and therefore their explanation will be omitted.

[0059] As described above, according to the second embodiment, information about the captured scene is used to determine the fan rotation speed only when the temperature of the imaging device 100 becomes high. When the temperature is sufficiently low, cooling by high-speed fan rotation is not necessary, and as a result, the operating noise of the fan does not affect shooting in most captured scenes. In other words, while the temperature is low, there is no need to determine the captured scene. During periods when scene determination is not being performed, the amount of calculations in the system control unit 103 can be reduced, making it possible to reduce power consumption in the system control unit 103. Furthermore, it is possible to shut off the power of devices required for scene determination, thereby enabling further reductions in power consumption.

[0060] In the first and second embodiments, the fan is controlled to operate at a rotation speed calculated from temperature information that is equal to or lower than the upper limit of the rotation speed based on the shooting scene. However, the fan may be controlled to operate at a rotation speed calculated from other factors or an arbitrary algorithm, not limited to temperature information, that is equal to or lower than the upper limit of the rotation speed based on the shooting scene.

[0061] (Other Examples) The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and having one or more processors in the computer of the system or device read and execute the program.The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

[0062] The invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the following claims are appended to apprise the public of the scope of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0063] 100...imaging device, 102...imaging element, 103...system control unit, 104...image processing unit, 105...scene determination unit, 106...thermometer, 107...fan control unit, 120...cooling device, 125...motor driving unit, 126...air blowing unit

Claims

1. An imaging device having an imaging means, an air-cooling unit that rotates a fan to cool the imaging device; a determining means for determining a subject and a photographing environment based on data obtained by the imaging means, the data representing sensitivity of the photographing environment to rotation noise of the fan; a thermometer for measuring the temperature of the imaging device; a control means for acquiring the number of revolutions per unit time of the fan rotated by the air-cooling means based on the temperature measured by the thermometer; The control means further sets an upper limit value for the number of revolutions of the fan rotated by the air-cooling means in accordance with the result of the determination by the determination means, and when the acquired number of revolutions per unit time of the fan exceeds the upper limit value, controls the number of revolutions per unit time of the fan to be limited to the upper limit value so that rotation noise of the fan does not affect the shooting environment, and when the acquired number of revolutions per unit time of the fan is equal to or less than the upper limit value, controls the number of revolutions per unit time of the fan to be used. An imaging device characterized by:

2. An imaging device having an imaging means, an air-cooling unit that rotates a fan to cool the imaging device; a determining means for determining a subject and a photographing environment based on data obtained by the imaging means, the data representing sensitivity of the photographing environment to rotation noise of the fan; a thermometer for measuring the temperature of the imaging device; a control means for acquiring the number of revolutions per unit time of the fan rotated by the air-cooling means based on the temperature measured by the thermometer; The control means further sets an upper limit value for the number of revolutions of the fan rotated by the air-cooling means in accordance with the result of the determination by the determination means, and when the acquired number of revolutions per unit time of the fan exceeds the upper limit value, limits the number of revolutions per unit time of the fan to the upper limit value so that rotation noise of the fan does not affect the shooting environment, and when the temperature measured by the thermometer is equal to or less than a first threshold value set in advance or when the acquired number of revolutions per unit time of the fan is equal to or less than a second threshold value set in advance, further controls the determination means not to perform a determination process, and uses the acquired number of revolutions per unit time of the fan. An imaging device characterized by:

3. The control means sets the minimum value among the settable candidates as the upper limit value during a period when the determination by the determination means is impossible.

3. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging device is a lens.

4. the imaging device has a power switch for starting up; The control means sets the minimum value among the settable candidates as the upper limit value during the period from when the power switch is turned on until the determination means makes its first determination.

4. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second lenses are arranged in a plane parallel to each other.

5. The control means controls the number of revolutions per unit time of the fan so as to stop the rotation of the fan by the air-cooling means during a period in which the determination means cannot determine the subject and the photographing environment.

5. The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second lenses are arranged parallel to each other.

6. A control method for an imaging device having an imaging unit and a fan, comprising: a determining step of determining a subject and a photographing environment based on data obtained by the imaging means, the data indicating sensitivity of the photographing environment to rotation noise of the fan; a measuring step of measuring the temperature of the imaging device; a control step of acquiring the number of rotations per unit time of the fan for cooling the imaging device based on the temperature measured in the measurement step; a setting step of setting an upper limit value of the rotation speed of the fan in accordance with the result of the determination step; a limiting step of limiting the number of rotations of the fan per unit time to the upper limit value when the number of rotations of the fan per unit time acquired based on the temperature exceeds the upper limit value so that rotation noise of the fan does not affect the shooting environment; a rotation step of rotating the fan at either the rotation speed per unit time of the fan acquired in the control step or the upper limit value limited in the limiting step, A control method for an imaging device, characterized in that, if the number of rotations per unit time of the fan obtained in the control process is equal to or less than the upper limit value, the rotation process rotates the fan at the obtained number of rotations per unit time of the fan.

7. A control method for an imaging device having an imaging means and a fan, comprising: a determining step of determining a subject and a photographing environment based on data obtained by the imaging means, the data indicating sensitivity of the photographing environment to rotation noise of the fan; a measuring step of measuring the temperature of the imaging device; a control step of acquiring the number of rotations per unit time of the fan for cooling the imaging device based on the temperature measured in the measurement step; a setting step of setting an upper limit value of the rotation speed of the fan in accordance with the result of the determination step; a limiting step of limiting the number of rotations of the fan per unit time to the upper limit value when the number of rotations of the fan per unit time acquired based on the temperature exceeds the upper limit value so that rotation noise of the fan does not affect the shooting environment; a rotation step of rotating the fan at either the rotation speed per unit time of the fan acquired in the control step or the upper limit value limited in the limiting step, If the temperature measured in the measuring step is equal to or less than a first threshold value set in advance, or if the acquired number of rotations per unit time of the fan is equal to or less than a second threshold value set in advance, the control step further controls the judging step not to perform a judgment process, and the rotation step uses the acquired number of rotations per unit time of the fan.

10. A method for controlling an imaging device comprising:

8. A program that, when read and executed by a computer, causes the computer to execute each step of the control method according to claim 6 or 7.

Images