Patent ID: 8345147

Claim:
An image pickup apparatus comprising: an image pickup device for configured to capture an image relating to a subject image; a subject detecting unit configured to detect, from the captured image, a face region of a main subject set as a subject to be focused upon; a determination unit configured to, when the face region of the main subject is detected by the subject detecting unit, determine whether the face region of the main subject is present in one of a plurality of ranging areas; a first focusing unit configured to perform phase difference focus control on the basis of a phase difference detection signal acquired from a particular ranging area, of the plurality of ranging areas, set in an imaging area at a predetermined position, the face region of the main subject being present in the particular ranging area, and each of the plurality of ranging areas having a different phase difference detection signal; and a control unit configured to, if the determination unit determines that the face region of the main subject is not present in the plurality of ranging areas, perform predetermined control for preventing a state in which the face region of the main subject is not in focus.