Photographing apparatus and method for fast photographing capability

A photographing apparatus comprising:

• a drive portion driving a focus lens included in a photographing optical system in a focus adjustment direction when a shutter button is pressed;
• a photographing portion continuously and sequentially outputting images of an object formed on an image forming surface through the photographing optical system, as either image data corresponding to the number of all pixels or image data corresponding to less than all pixels according to a press of the shutter button;
• an in-focus position detection portion detecting an in-focus position of the focus lens based on the image data sequentially output from the photographing portion;
• an in-focus control portion for driving the focus lens and then maintaining the focus lens at the in-focus position by controlling the drive portion based on a result of the detection by the in-focus position detecting portion;
• and
• a recording portion sequentially recording the image data corresponding to the number of all pixels output from the photographing portion during which the focus lens is driven and maintained at the in-focus position after the shutter button is pressed.