Dual-aperture zoom digital camera with automatic adjustable tele field of view
Devices disclosed herein feature a Wide camera with a Wide field of view (FOV w ), a folded Tele camera with a Tele field of view (FOV T ) smaller than the FOV w and including an optical path folding element (OPFE). The device may be configured to rotate the OPFE to thereby shift FOV T relative to FOV w in response to recognition of an object or subject of interest detected in FOV w or FOV T . The device can have high resolution in this overlapping FOV either by fusing the Wide and Tele images or by capturing and saving the Tele image.
1. A mobile device, comprising:
a Wide camera that provides Wide images with a Wide field of view FOV w , wherein the Wide camera includes a Wide lens with a Wide lens optical axis and a Wide image sensor;
a Tele camera that provides Tele images with a Tele field of view FOV T smaller than the FOV w , wherein the Tele camera includes a Tele image sensor; and
a camera controller configured to move FOV T relative to FOV w , causing other portions of a scene to become a Tele image,
wherein a ratio M=FOV T /FOV w is 3/4 for the Wide and Tele image sensors having a 4:3 aspect ratio or 9/16 for the Wide and Tele image sensors having a 16:9 aspect ratio.
2. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the Wide images have a Wide camera resolution, wherein the Tele images have a Tele camera resolution higher than the Wide camera resolution.
3. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the camera controller is configured to track an object with FOV T autonomously.
4. The mobile device of claim 3 , wherein the camera controller is configured to use face detection to decide whether to track the object with FOV T autonomously.
5. The mobile device of claim 3 , wherein the autonomous tracking of the object with FOV T autonomously is done such that the object is as close as possible to a center of the moved FOV T .
6. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the camera controller is configured to move FOV T by +30 degrees around a zero position.
7. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the camera controller is configured to record a Wide image and a Tele image during the FOV T moving and to fuse the Wide image and the Tele image to form a composite image.
8. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the camera controller is configured to record a Wide image and a plurality of Tele images during the FOV T moving and to fuse the Wide image and the plurality of Tele images to form a composite image, wherein the Wide image captures an entire scene simultaneously and wherein the plurality of Tele images captures the entire scene consecutively.
9. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the camera controller is configured to record Wide video streams and Tele video streams during the FOV T moving.
10. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein in a still mode the camera controller is configured to acquire a scene by both cameras simultaneously, and wherein the Wide camera image provides an entire scene and the Tele camera image provides a part of the scene.
11. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the Wide camera is an upright camera.
12. The mobile device of claim 1 , included in a smartphone.
13. A digital camera, comprising:
a Wide camera that provides Wide images with a Wide field of view FOV w , wherein the Wide camera includes a Wide lens with a Wide lens optical axis and a Wide image sensor, and wherein the Wide camera is configured to recognize an object;
a Tele camera that provides Tele images with a Tele field of view FOV T smaller than the FOV w , wherein the Tele camera includes a Tele image sensor, wherein the Tele camera is configured to receive data about the object from the Wide camera and to perform autonomous FOV T tracking of the object in response to recognition of the object,
wherein a ratio M=FOV T /FOV w is 3/4 for the Wide and Tele image sensors having a 4:3 aspect ratio or 9/16 for the Wide and Tele image sensors having a 16:9 aspect ratio.
14. The digital camera of claim 13 , wherein the Wide images have a Wide camera resolution, wherein the Tele images have a Tele camera resolution higher than the Wide camera resolution.
15. The digital camera of claim 13 , configured to use face detection to recognize the object.
16. The digital camera of claim 13 , wherein the autonomous FOV T tracking of the object is done such that the object is as close as possible to a center of FOV T .
17. The digital camera of claim 13 , configured to move FOV T by +30 degrees around a zero position.
18. The digital camera of claim 13 , configured to record a Wide image and a Tele image during the FOV T moving and to fuse the Wide image and the Tele image to form a composite image.
19. The digital camera of claim 13 , configured to record a Wide image and a plurality of Tele images during the autonomous FOV T tracking and to fuse the Wide image and the plurality of Tele images to form a composite image, wherein the Wide image captures an entire scene simultaneously and wherein the plurality of Tele images captures the entire scene consecutively.
20. The digital camera of claim 13 , configured to record Wide video streams and Tele video streams during the autonomous FOV T tracking and to fuse the Wide images and Tele images together to form a composite video stream.
21. The digital camera of claim 13 , configured to acquire in still mode a scene by both cameras simultaneously, wherein the Wide camera image provides an entire scene and the Tele camera image provides a part of the scene.
22. The digital camera of claim 13 , wherein the Wide camera is an upright camera.
23. The digital camera of claim 13 , included in a smartphone.
24. A mobile device, comprising:
a Wide camera that provides Wide images with a Wide field of view FOV w , wherein the Wide camera includes a Wide lens with a Wide lens optical axis and a Wide image sensor;
a Tele camera that provides Tele images with a Tele field of view FOV T smaller than the FOV w , wherein the Tele camera includes a Tele image sensor; and
a camera controller configured to move FOV T relative to FOV w , causing other portions of a scene to become a Tele image,
wherein the Wide and Tele image sensors have the same aspect ratio, and wherein a ratio M=FOV T /FOV w is an inverse of a Wide and Tele image sensor aspect ratio.