Patent ID: 7933510
Filing Date: 2011-04-26
Classification: G02B,G03B

Abstract:
1. A focus detection apparatus comprising: a plurality of sensors, each sensor comprising a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, for receiving light beams passing through a lens to be focus-detected; a first accumulation unit which accumulates pixel signals obtained by one sensor from among said plurality of sensors; a second accumulation unit which accumulates pixel signals obtained by the remainder of said plurality of sensors other than the one sensor; an area determination unit which sets a size of an area of the one sensor segmented into a plurality of areas, on the basis of the information of the lens, and which sets a size of an area of said remainder of said plurality of sensors other than the one sensor segmented into the same number of areas as that of the one sensor, on the basis of the information of the lens, wherein the information of the lens includes maximum defocus information and position information of the lens; a first accumulation control unit which controls, for each of the areas, an end of accumulation of pixel signals obtained in each of the areas of the one sensor by said first accumulation unit, wherein said first accumulation control unit separately controls the end of accumulation based on signals accumulated by each of the areas of the one sensor; a second accumulation control unit which controls, for each of the areas, an end of accumulation of pixel signals obtained in each of the areas of said remainder of said plurality of sensors other than the one sensor by said second accumulation unit, wherein said second accumulation control unit separately controls the end of accumulation based on signals accumulated by each of the areas of said remainder of said plurality of sensors other than the one sensor; and a defocus detection unit which detects a defocus state of the each areas from a phase difference between an output signal from said first accumulation unit and an output signal from said second accumulation unit, respectively, wherein said area determination unit sets the size of the area of the one sensor segmented into the plurality of areas and the size of the area of the remainder of the plurality of sensors other than the one sensor, on the basis of a defocus capability of the lens obtained from the information of the lens.