Patent ID: 7889265

Claim:
An imaging apparatus comprising: an imaging element that photoelectrically converts a photographic subject image formed by an imaging optical system; a face region detecting unit that repetitively detects a face region based on a signal obtained from the imaging element; a storage unit that stores coordinate data of the face region detected by the face region detecting unit; a focus control unit that reads the coordinate data from the storage unit and executes a focus control process to control a focusing action of the imaging optical system with respect to a subject indicated by the coordinate data read from the storage unit; a still image storage unit that executes a storage process to store an image signal obtained from the imaging element in a memory as a still image; and an operating member that instructs, so that the focus control unit reads the coordinate data from the storage unit and executes the focus control process in response to a first actuation of the operating member, and the still image storage unit executes the storage process in response to a second actuation of the operating member, wherein the coordinate data which is read by the focus control unit from the storage unit in response to the first actuation of the operating member is stored in the storage unit before the first actuation of the operating member, and the imaging optical system is controlled to be in focus with respect to the coordinate data of the subject which is read by the focus control unit.