Image capturing apparatus and monitoring system

An image capturing apparatus comprising:

• an image sensor configured to control an exposure time for each of a plurality of areas and set an exposure time, based on luminance information for each of the plurality of areas in an image captured by the image sensor;
• one or more processors;
• and
• a memory coupled to the one or more processors, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
• determine whether an autofocus mode for adjusting a focus position of an imaging optical system using a contrast evaluation value within an evaluation frame set for the image is enabled,
• wherein the exposure time is determined for each of the plurality of areas so that, within the evaluation frame, a variance of exposure times of the plurality of areas in a case where the autofocus mode is enabled is smaller than a variance of exposure times of the plurality of areas in a case where the autofocus mode is disabled.