Patent ID: 8045046

Claim:
An apparatus for electronically capturing images, comprising: an imaging element disposed on an image capture apparatus; a focus control element coupled to said imaging element; a computer processor coupled to said imaging element and said focus control element; a memory coupled to said computer processor and configured for retaining images captured from said imaging element and for retaining programming executable by said computer processor; a multi-dimensional focus matching model retained in memory as a multi-dimensional polynomial fitting blur differences from image matching curves captured across a range of different focal lengths; and programming executable on said computer processor for, (i) capturing multiple object images, including at least a first and second image, and registering focal length and aperture of said object images, (ii) compensating for motion between said multiple object images, (iii) determining blur difference between said multiple object images, and (iv) automatically estimating subject distance in response to applying blur difference to said multi-dimensional focus matching model.