Patent ID: 6965410

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: (A) an image sensing device; (B) a signal processing device for performing a first image sensing operation for making said image sensing device perform an image sensing operation in an exposure state to obtain a sensed image signal, and a second image sensing operation for making said image sensing device perform an image sensing operation in accordance with said first image sensing operation in a non-exposure state to obtain a sensed image signal, and processing the sensed image signal obtained by the first image sensing operation by using the sensed image signal obtained by the second image sensing operation; and (C) an instruction device for instructing to execute said first image sensing operations for respective different exposure periods of plural image sensing operations, wherein said signal processing device evaluates said different exposure periods for said plural first image sensing operations and selects the longest exposure period from respective different exposure periods in response to the instruction of said instruction device, and performs said second image sensing operation for the plurality times of image sensing operations in accordance with a charge accumulation period of the second image sensing operation corresponding to the selected exposure period, and further processes the plurality of sensed image signals obtained with said different exposure periods by using the sensed image signal obtained by the second image sensing operation.