Patent ID: 8259197

Claim:
An imaging device comprising: an imaging sensor having an array of light receiving elements that includes an imaging area capturing a subject image and a dark image, and an optical black area in which the light receiving elements are covered with a light shielding member and are grouped into a plurality of portions, the imaging area and the optical black area being two different areas; a switching section switching between a first state in which a light is incident on the imaging area and a second state in which the light is prevented from being incident on the imaging area; and a controlling section that is configured to: read out in the second state at least one second signal level from the plurality of portions of the optical black area when a dark image is being captured in the second state after capturing the subject image and reading out first signal levels from the plurality of portions of the optical black area in the first state; compare the at least one second signal level with one of the first signal levels read out from the plurality of portions of the optical black area in the first state, wherein the portion of the optical black area from which the one of the first signal levels has been read out is the same portion from which the at least one second signal level was read out from; and control an exposure time to capture the dark image based on the comparison result.