Image processing apparatus and image processing method for performing image synthesis

An image processing apparatus comprising:

• a photographing unit configured to continuously photograph a first image by first photographing with an emission by an emission unit and plural sheets of second images by second photographing without the emission;
• a sensitivity setting unit configured to set a sensitivity of the first photographing to be lower than a sensitivity of the second photographing;
• a gain processing unit configured to perform gain processing in which image data of the first image is multiplied by a gain amount;
• an averaging unit configured to create an averaged image based on the first image gain processed by said gain processing unit and the plural sheets of the second images;
• and
• a synthesis unit configured to compare pixel values of the first image photographed by said photographing unit with pixel values of the averaged image created by said averaging unit and select pixel values, whichever are brighter, and create a synthesized image based on the selected pixel values.

An image processing method executed by an image processing apparatus, comprising:

• a sensitivity setting step of setting a sensitivity of a first photographing with an emission by an emission unit to be lower than a sensitivity of a second photographing without the emission;
• a photographing step of continuously photographing a first image by the first photographing and plural sheets of the second images by the second photographing with the sensitivities set in said sensitivity setting step;
• a gain processing step of performing gain processing in which respective pixel values of the first image are each multiplied by a gain amount;
• an averaging step of creating an averaged image based on the first image gain processed in said gain processing step and the plural sheets of the second images;
• and
• a synthesis step of creating a synthesized image by synthesizing, on a per pixel basis, the first image photographed in said photographing step and the averaged image created in said averaging step.

An image processing method executed by an image processing apparatus, comprising:

• a sensitivity setting step of setting a sensitivity of a first photographing with an emission by an emission unit to be lower than a sensitivity of a second photographing without the emission;
• a photographing step of continuously photographing a first image by the first photographing and plural sheets of second images by the second photographing with the sensitivities set in said sensitivity setting step;
• a gain processing step of performing gain processing in which respective pixel values of the first image are each multiplied by a gain amount;
• an averaging step of creating an averaged image based on the first image gain processed in said gain processing step and the plural sheets of the second images;
• and
• a synthesis step of comparing pixel values of the first image photographed in said photographing step with pixel values of the averaged image created in said averaging step and selecting pixel values, whichever are brighter, and creating a synthesized image based on the selected pixel values.