Monocular stereoscopic imaging device

1. A monocular stereoscopic imaging device comprising:

an imaging optical system including a taking lens including a zoom lens, and a diaphragm which forms a single aperture;

a single imaging unit configured to continuously acquire a first image and a second image based on image signals output from an imaging sensor including a first pixel group and a second pixel group on which an image of a subject passed through a first area of the taking lens and an image of the subject passed through a second area of the taking lens are formed respectively;

a diaphragm driving unit configured to change a degree of an aperture of the single aperture of the diaphragm; and

a controlling unit configured to acquire an instruction of changing a focus distance, configured to drive the diaphragm through the diaphragm driving unit so as to increase the degree of the aperture when the zoom lens is moved in a direction of decreasing the focus distance in accordance with the acquired instruction of changing the focus distance.

2. The monocular stereoscopic imaging device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the controlling unit drives the diaphragm through the diaphragm driving unit so as to reduce the degree of the aperture when the zoom lens is moved in a direction of increasing the focus distance.

3. The monocular stereoscopic imaging device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the controlling unit controls the diaphragm driving unit to minimize the degree of the aperture when the zoom lens is located at a telephoto end.

4. The monocular stereoscopic imaging device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the controlling unit controls the diaphragm driving unit to maximize the degree of the aperture when the zoom lens is located at a wide-angle end.

5. The monocular stereoscopic imaging device according to claim 1 , wherein

the diaphragm can be driven so as to change the degree of the aperture in n steps (n is a natural number equal to or greater than 2),

the zoom lens can be driven so as to change the focus distance in m steps (m is a natural number equal to or greater than 2), m being greater than the n, and

the controlling unit performs control to reduce the aperture of the diaphragm by one step before the zoom lens is moved when the instruction of changing the focus distance in the direction of increasing the focus distance is input through an input unit, and to reduce the aperture of the diaphragm by one step every time the zoom lens is moved by a predetermined number of steps.

6. The monocular stereoscopic imaging device according to claim 5 ,

wherein the controlling unit limits the driving steps of the zoom lens to be the n steps of the m steps, and performs control to synchronously drive the diaphragm and the zoom lens.

7. The monocular stereoscopic imaging device according to claim 5 , further comprising a digital zoom unit configured to cut off predetermined areas from the acquired images, and configured to electronically change the focus distance,

wherein the controlling unit controls the digital zoom unit to virtually change the focus distance through the digital zoom unit, instead of moving the zoom lens.

8. The monocular stereoscopic imaging device according to claim 1 , further comprising

a storage unit configured to store a relation between the degree of the aperture of the diaphragm and the focus distance,

wherein the controlling unit controls the diaphragm driving unit based on the relation between the degree of the aperture and the focus distance stored on the storage unit.

9. The monocular stereoscopic imaging device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a two-dimensional image generating unit configured to synthesize the acquired images when brightnesses of the acquired images are equal to or less than a predetermined value, so as to generate a two-dimensional image;

a display unit configured to display the two-dimensional image; and

a display controlling unit configured to display the generated two-dimensional image on the display unit when the two-dimensional image is generated by the two-dimensional image generating unit.

10. The monocular stereoscopic imaging device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a display unit configured to recognizably display the acquired images as a three-dimensional image; and

a display controlling unit configured to three-dimensionally display on the display unit the images continuously acquired.

11. A method of controlling a monocular stereoscopic imaging device comprising:

an imaging optical system including a taking lens including a zoom lens, and a diaphragm which forms a single aperture;

a single imaging unit configured to continuously acquire a first image and a second image based on image signals output from an imaging sensor including a first pixel group and a second pixel group on which an image of a subject passed through a first area of the taking lens and an image of the subject passed through a second area of the taking lens are formed respectively; and

a diaphragm driving unit configured to change a degree of an aperture of the single aperture of the diaphragm, the method comprising:

acquiring an instruction of changing a focus distance; and

driving the diaphragm through the diaphragm driving unit so as to increase the degree of the aperture when the zoom lens is moved in a direction of decreasing the focus distance in accordance with the acquired instruction of changing the focus distance.

12. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising driving the diaphragm through the diaphragm driving unit so as to reduce the degree of the aperture when the zoom lens is moved in a direction of increasing the focus distance.