Patent ID: 7580061

Claim:
An image sensing apparatus capable of performing prior photographing to pick up an image of a subject which constitutes a white reference beforehand and accordingly calculate a gain for white balance adjustment prior to actual photographing, the apparatus comprising: image sensing section which picks up a subject image passed through an optical system to thereby output an image signal; image signal processing section which adjusts a white balance with respect to the image signal output from the image sensing section; and control section which reads a first white balance correction coefficient performing correction corresponding to a characteristic relating to a diaphragm of the optical system and corresponding to a diaphragm value at a prior photographing time at an actual photographing time, reading a second white balance correction coefficient further performing correction corresponding to the characteristic relating to the diaphragm of the optical system and corresponding to a diaphragm value at the actual photographing time, and a white balance modification coefficient further modifying the first and second white balance correction coefficients and performing correction corresponding to an optical characteristic of the image sensing section, calculating a digital gain amplifying a signal for each color included in the image signal output from the image sensing section by the white balance modification coefficient, and adjusting the white balance by the image signal processing means based on the digital gain.