Autofocus device and method

An autofocus method comprising:

• a focal-point-position-detecting step of detecting a position of a focal point of the lens;
• representative-value-selecting step of providing in a distance measurement sensor a reference field of view for distance measurement and any one of a field of view for distance measurement being offset outwardly from the reference field of view for distance measurement and a field of view for distance measurement having a field of view that is different from the reference field of view for distance measurement, measuring a distance to a subject based on the fields of view for distance measurement by the distance measurement sensor to obtain measured distance results and selecting a representative value from the measured distance results thus obtained;
• and
• focus-processing step of starting the focusing operation to meet the position of the focal point of the lens detected in the focal-point-position-detecting step to an in-focus position thereof by setting the lens drive based on the representative value of the measured distance results and the detected position of the focal point of the lens.

A computer program product that allows a computer to execute an autofocus method, said method comprising:

• a focal-point-position-detecting step of detecting a position of a focal point of the lens;
• representative-value-selecting step of providing in a distance measurement sensor a reference field of view for distance measurement and any one of a field of view for distance measurement being offset outwardly from the reference field of view for distance measurement and a field of view for distance measurement having a field of view that is different from the reference field of view for distance measurement, measuring a distance to a subject based on the fields of view for distance measurement by the distance measurement sensor to obtain measured distance results and selecting a representative value from the measured distance results thus obtained;
• and
• focus-processing step of starting the focusing operation to meet the position of the focal point of the lens detected in the focal-point-position-detecting step to an in-focus position thereof by setting the lens drive based on the representative value of the measured distance results and the detected position of the focal point of the lens.