Image pickup apparatus, control method therefor, and storage medium storing control program therefor
An image pickup apparatus that is capable of reducing the load of the process required to combine images with different exposures to generate a composite image. An image pickup unit performs continuous image pickup that shoots a subject continuously under different exposure conditions. A control unit controls the image pickup unit so that the exposure condition for the first shot in a current set, which is a second or later set, is coincident with the exposure condition for the last shot in the previous set when a plurality of sets of the continuous image pickup are performed. A composing unit composes the images acquired by one set of the continuous image pickup by the image pickup unit to generate one output image.
1. An image pickup apparatus comprising:
an image pickup unit configured to perform continuous image pickup that shoots a subject continuously under different exposure conditions;
a control unit configured to control said image pickup unit so that the exposure condition for the first shot in a current set, which is a second or later set, is coincident with the exposure condition for the last shot in the previous set when a plurality of sets of the continuous image pickup are performed; and
a composing unit configured to compose the images acquired by one set of the continuous image pickup by said image pickup unit to generate one output image.
2. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a detection unit configured to detect movement of the subject,
wherein said control unit control said image pickup unit so that the exposure condition for the first shot in a current set, which is a second or later set, is coincident with the exposure condition for the last shot in the previous set when a plurality of sets of the continuous image pickup are performed and when the movement detected by said detection unit is less than a predetermined threshold value, and
wherein said control unit control said image pickup unit so that intervals of the shoot timings under the exposure condition that is used in preference to the other exposure condition become regular in the continuous image pickup when the movement detected by said detection unit is not less than the predetermined threshold value.
3. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the exposure conditions are determined depending on a correct exposure condition that is acquired based on subject brightness and a sensitivity of an image pickup device provided in said image pickup unit.
4. A control method for an image pickup apparatus that performs continuous image pickup that shoots a subject continuously under different exposure conditions, the control method comprising:
a control step of controlling the image pickup unit so that the exposure condition for the first shot in a current set, which is a second or later set, is coincident with the exposure condition for the last shot in the previous set when a plurality of sets of the continuous image pickup are performed; and
a composing step of composing the images acquired by one set of the continuous image pickup by the image pickup unit to generate one output image.
5. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a control program causing a computer to execute a control method for an image pickup apparatus that performs continuous image pickup that shoots a subject continuously under different exposure conditions, the control method comprising:
a control step of controlling the image pickup unit so that the exposure condition for the first shot in a current set, which is a second or later set, is coincident with the exposure condition for the last shot in the previous set when a plurality of sets of the continuous image pickup are performed; and
a composing step of composing the images acquired by one set of the continuous image pickup by the image pickup unit to generate one output image.