Imaging apparatus and method, recording medium, and program

An image capturing method comprising the steps of:

• adjusting a focal position of an optical system to a predetermined position in a first image capture period and adjusting so as to change the focal position of the optical system in a second image capture period;
• displaying an image captured in the first image capture period;
• generating a distribution of sharpness corresponding to focal positions based on an image captured in the second image capture period;
• and
• detecting the focal position of the optical system, at which an image of a subject is in focus, based on the generated distribution of sharpness corresponding to focal positions.

A recording medium storing a computer readable program, the program comprising:

• a focal position adjusting control step of controlling an adjustment of a focal position of an optical system to a predetermined position in a first image capture period and an adjustment to change the focal position of the optical system in a second image capture period;
• a display control step of controlling a displaying of an image captured in the first image capture period;
• a distribution generation control step of controlling a generation of a distribution of sharpness corresponding to the focal positions based on the image captured in the second image capture period;
• and
• a focused position detection control step of controlling a detection of the focal position of the optical system, at which an image of a subject is in focus, based on the distribution of sharpness corresponding to focal positions generated by the process of the distribution generation control step.

A program embodied in a computer-readable medium to control a processor to implement a method comprising:

• a focal position adjusting control step of controlling an adjustment of a focal position of an optical system to a predetermined position in a first image capture period and an adjustment to change the focal position of the optical system in a second image capture period;
• a display control step of controlling a displaying of an image captured in the first image capture period;
• a distribution generation control step of controlling a generation of a distribution of sharpness corresponding to the focal positions based on the image captured in the second image capture period;
• and
• a focused position detection control step of controlling a detection of the focal position of the optical system, at which an image of a subject is in focus, based on the distribution of sharpness corresponding to focal positions generated by the process of the distribution generation control step.

An image capturing apparatus comprising:

• a focal position adjusting device operable to adjust a focal position of an optical system to a predetermined position in a first image capture period and change the focal position of the optical system in a second image capture period;
• a display operable to display an image captured in the first image capture period;
• a distribution generator operable to generate a distribution of sharpness corresponding to focal positions based on an image captured in the second image capture period;
• and
• a focused position detector operable to detect the focal position of the optical system, at which an image of a subject is in focus, based on the generated distribution of sharpness.