Patent ID: 7948538

Claim:
An image capturing apparatus comprising: an image capturing unit configured to generate a long-exposure image signal and a short-exposure image signal on the basis of light transmitted from a subject, the image capturing unit outputting the long-exposure image signal and the short-exposure image signal as image capturing signals, the long-exposure image signal being generated by exposure for a period longer than an exposure period for the short-exposure image signal; a signal processing unit configured to generate a combined image signal by combining the long-exposure image signal and the short-exposure image signal, a pixel in the combined image corresponding to the long-exposure signal when a luminance level of the pixel is lower than a predetermined luminance level, the pixel in the combined image corresponding to the short-exposure signal when the luminance level of the pixel is higher than the predetermined luminance value; a detection unit configured to generate luminance information of the combined image signal; and a control unit configured to perform automatic exposure control for the short-exposure image signal using the luminance information in an exposure setting mode in which exposure control is performed in accordance with a user setting, which sets the exposure period of the long-exposure signal.