Patent ID: 7536096

Claim:
An autofocus device comprising: a lens-driving unit that drives a lens; a focal-point-position-detecting unit that detects a position of a focal point of the lens; a distance measurement sensor that measures a distance to a subject based on each of a plurality of fields of view for distance measurement, the plurality of fields of view for distance measurement including: a reference field of view for distance measurement having a first angle of view, one or more fields of view for distance measurement being offset outwardly from the reference field of view for distance measurement, and one or more fields of view for distance measurement having a second angle of view which is greater than the first angle of view; and a control unit that performs a focusing operation to control the lens-driving unit to drive the lens, thereby meeting the position of the focal point of the lens detected by the focal-point-position-detecting unit to an in-focus position thereof, wherein the control unit allows the focusing operation to start by setting the lens drive based on a representative value that is selected from the measured distance obtained by the distance measurement sensor and the position of the focal point of the lens detected by the focal-point-position-detecting unit.