Patent ID: 7791654

Claim:
A digital still camera comprising: a shutter-speed setting device for selectively setting a high shutter speed and a normal shutter speed; a solid-state electronic image sensing device having a number of photodiodes arrayed in row and column directions and including a vertical transfer path adjacent to each column of photodiodes; a first control device for controlling said solid-state electronic image sensing device in such a manner that the photodiodes are exposed for a period of time conforming to the shutter speed set by said shutter-speed setting device; a second control device operable, in a case where the normal shutter speed has been set by said shutter-speed setting device, for controlling said solid-state electronic image sensing device so as to sweep out unwanted electric charge, which has accumulated in the vertical transfer path, in response to end of exposure, shift signal charge, which has accumulated in the photodiodes, to the vertical transfer path after the unwanted electric charge has been swept out, and transfer the shifted signal charge in the vertical direction to thereby output a video signal, and operable, in a case where the high shutter speed has been set by said shutter-release setting device, for controlling said solid-state electronic image sensing device so as to halt sweep-out of the unwanted electric charge, shift signal charge, which has accumulated in the photodiodes, to the vertical transfer path in response to end of exposure, and transfer the shifted signal charge in the vertical direction to thereby output a video signal, an exposure adjusting device for adjusting an amount of exposure in such a manner that the image of the subject is sensed at an amount of exposure less than an appropriate amount of exposure; and wherein said second control device halts processing for sweeping out unwanted charge in a case where amount of exposure has been adjusted to be less than the amount of exposure calculated by said exposure calculating device and the high shutter speed has also been set by said shutter-speed setting device.