Image pickup apparatus, control method for the same, and program for implementing the control method

An image pickup apparatus comprising:

• an image pickup device that picks up an image of a subject and converts the image to an image pickup signal;
• a display device that displays a picked-up image based on the image pickup signal outputted from said image pickup device;
• a selecting device that selects at least one from a plurality of focus detecting regions on a screen of said display device;
• an extracting device that extracts a focus signal from the image pickup signal in the at least one focus detecting region selected by said selecting device;
• a focus adjusting device that carries out focus adjustment on said image pickup device based on the focus signal extracted by said extracting device;
• an operating element that enables a photographer to instruct to change the at least one focus detecting region selected by said selecting device;
• a confirming device that confirms the at least one focus detecting region instructed to change by the photographer using said operating element when a predetermined condition is satisfied;
• and
• a recording device that records the image pickup signal outputted from said image pickup device,
• wherein the predetermined condition is that an operation of recording the image pickup signal has been started by said recording device.

A control method for an image pickup apparatus comprising:

• a display step of displaying, on a display device, an image pickup signal outputted from an image pickup device that picks up an image of a subject and converts the image to the image pickup signal;
• a selecting step of selecting at least one from a plurality of focus detecting regions on a screen of the display device;
• an extracting step of extracting a focus signal from the image pickup signal in the at least one focus detecting region selected in said selecting step;
• a focus adjusting step of carrying out focus adjustment on the image pickup device based on the focus signal extracted in said extracting step;
• and
• a confirming step of confirming the at least one focus detecting region instructed to change by the photographer using an operating element that enables a photographer to instruct to change the at least one focus detecting region selected in said selecting step when a predetermined condition is satisfied,
• wherein the image pickup device is capable of picking up the image of the subject with zooming, and the predetermined condition is that a zooming operation has been started by the pickup device.

A control method for an image pickup apparatus comprising:

• a display step of displaying, on a display device, an image pickup signal outputted from an image pickup device that picks up an image of a subject and converts the image to the image pickup signal;
• a selecting step of selecting at least one from a plurality of focus detecting regions on a screen of the display device;
• an extracting step of extracting a focus signal from the image pickup signal in the at least one focus detecting region selected in said selecting step;
• a focus adjusting step of carrying out focus adjustment on the image pickup device based on the focus signal extracted in said extracting step;
• and
• a confirming step of confirming the at least one focus detecting region instructed to change by the photographer using an operating element that enables a photographer to instruct to change the at least one focus detecting region selected in said selecting step when a predetermined condition is satisfied;
• and
• a recording step of recording the image pickup signal outputted from said image pickup device,
• wherein the predetermined condition is that an operation of recording the image pickup signal has been started in said recording step.

A computer-readable medium storing a computer program for an image pickup apparatus, the computer program comprising:

• a display module for displaying, on a display device, an image pickup signal outputted from an image pickup device that picks up an image of a subject and converts the image to the image pickup signal;
• a selecting module for selecting at least one from a plurality of focus detecting regions on a screen of the display device;
• an extracting module for extracting a focus signal from the image pickup signal in the at least one focus detecting region selected by said selecting module;
• a focus adjusting module for carrying out focus adjustment on the image pickup device based on the focus signal extracted by said extracting module;
• and
• a confirming module for confirming the at least one focus detecting region instructed to change by the photographer using an operating element that enables a photographer to instruct to change the at least one focus detecting region selected by said selecting module when a predetermined condition is satisfied,
• wherein said image pickup device is capable of picking up the image of the subject with zooming, and the predetermined condition is that a zooming operation has been started by said pickup device.

A computer-readable medium storing a computer program for an image pickup apparatus, the computer program comprising:

• a display module for displaying, on a display device, an image pickup signal outputted from an image pickup device that picks up an image of a subject and converts the image to the image pickup signal;
• a selecting module for selecting at least one from a plurality of focus detecting regions on a screen of the display device;
• an extracting module for extracting a focus signal from the image pickup signal in the at least one focus detecting region selected by said selecting module;
• a focus adjusting module for carrying out focus adjustment on the image pickup device based on the focus signal extracted by said extracting module;
• and
• a confirming module for confirming the at least one focus detecting region instructed to change by the photographer using an operating element that enables a photographer to instruct to change the at least one focus detecting region selected by said selecting module when a predetermined condition is satisfied;
• and
• a recording module for recording the image pickup signal outputted from said image pickup device,
• wherein the predetermined condition is that an operation of recording the image pickup signal has been started by said recording module.