Patent ID: 7986808

Claim:
An image-processing device having a function that performs detection processing on a first image signal to detect a specific target region of a subject, the device comprising: an image-signal generating device that generates a second image signal by digitally amplifying the first image signal, the second image signal being different from the first image signal in terms of luminance level; a target-region detecting device that performs detection processing on the first and second image signals to detect the specific target region of the subject; and a control unit that compares the results of detecting the target region from the first image signal with the results of detecting the target region from the second image signal, and automatically selects the results of detecting the target region from either the first or second image signal depending on respective detected area sizes, wherein the control unit performs at least one of automatic exposure control and automatic focusing control by setting at least one of a light metering frame and a focusing frame according to the automatically selected results of detecting the target region.