Patent ID: 8310589

Claim:
A digital still camera comprising: a shutter-release button of two-step stroke type; an image sensing device for repeatedly imaging a subject and outputting image data, which represents the image of the subject, at a fixed period in accordance with setting of a shooting mode; a shooting scene discriminating device for performing a first shooting scene discrimination of the subject of the image represented by the image data that has been output from said image sensing device; a photometric value calculating device responsive to pushing of said shutter-release button through a first step thereof for calculating a photometric value representing subject luminance using the image data that has been output from said image sensing device; an exposure amount deciding device for deciding a first amount of exposure, which corresponds to the photometric value calculated by said photometric value calculating device, using a program diagram for the shooting scene discriminated by said first shooting scene discrimination; a shooting control device for performing a first controlling of the image sensing device so as to image the subject at the first amount of exposure decided by said exposure amount deciding device; and a focusing control device for positioning an imaging lens based upon image data that has been output from said image sensing device by shooting the subject under the first controlling of said shooting control device, wherein said shooting control device performs a second controlling of said image sensing device in such a manner that the amount of exposure will become the first amount of exposure decided by said exposure amount deciding device and the subject will be shot at a position where the imaging lens has been positioned by said focusing control device, wherein said shooting scene discriminating device performs a second shooting scene discrimination of the subject represented by image data that has been output from said image sensing device by shooting the subject under the second controlling of said shooting control device, wherein said exposure amount deciding device decides a second amount of exposure, which corresponds to the photometric value calculated by said photometric value calculating device, using a program diagram for the shooting scene discriminated by said second shooting scene discrimination, wherein said shooting control device, responsive to pushing of said shutter-release button through a second step thereof, performs a third controlling of said image sensing device so as to image the subject at the second amount of exposure decided by said exposure amount deciding device, and wherein the digital still camera further comprises a recording control device for recording image data, which is output from said image sensing device by shooting the subject under the control of said third controlling, on a recording medium.