Patent ID: 8040402

Claim:
An imaging apparatus comprising: an imaging device including first pixels capable of receiving light from a subject and second pixels incapable of receiving the subject light; imaging control means for carrying out a first imaging action in an exposure period during which the imaging device is exposed to light and carrying out a second imaging action in a non-exposure period during which the imaging device is not exposed to light; storage means for storing first image data acquired from the first pixels in the first imaging action and second image data acquired from the first pixels in the second imaging action; noise data acquisition means for acquiring first noise data based on pixel signals produced in the second pixels in the first imaging action and acquiring second noise data based on pixel signals produced in the second pixels in the second imaging action; noise estimation means for estimating a noise component contained in the first image data by using the second image data and a noise ratio of the noise generated in the exposure period to the noise generated in the non-exposure period, the noise ratio calculated by using the first noise data and the second noise data; noise correction means for removing the noise component from the first image data; and monitoring means for monitoring the amount of the second noise data, wherein the imaging control means initiates the second imaging action after the first imaging action is completed and terminates the second imaging action when the amount of the second noise data becomes substantially the same as the amount of the first noise data.