JP2009038479A - Exposure controller and imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an exposure controller capable of surely obtaining an excellent image by effectively utilizing an imaging device that can control an exposure condition in each area of a photographed picture, and an imaging apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The exposure controller (11 to 23) includes a control means (19) in an exposure controller for performing exposure control of the imaging device 13 that can adjust the exposure condition in each area of a photographed picture. The control means (19) adjusts the exposure condition of each area calculated individually from proper exposure of each area of the photographed picture in a direction in which variation among the exposure conditions are suppressed and performs exposure control of the imaging device (13) under the exposure condition of each area after adjustment. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an exposure control device used for an electronic camera or the like and an imaging device such as an electronic camera.

  A general image sensor mounted on a camera can control exposure conditions (combination of shutter speed and photographing sensitivity) only for each frame. For this reason, when multiple objects with large luminance differences are included in the camera field, the nonlinear part of the input / output characteristics of the image sensor, that is, the low level side and the high level side of the dynamic range are used. Therefore, some objects may be expressed in colors different from the actual colors.

Patent Document 1 discloses an image sensor that can control an exposure condition for each area of a photographing screen. If this image sensor is used in a camera and the balance between shutter speed and shooting sensitivity is adjusted for each area of the shooting screen, the above-mentioned problem of linear breakdown can be avoided and all bright objects can be expressed in the correct colors. It is considered possible.
JP 2004-172858 A

  However, when this method is adopted, it has been found that, although excellent reproducibility is obtained in the gradation direction, a new problem occurs such as a boundary between areas in the spatial direction.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. An object of the present invention is to provide an exposure control device and an imaging device that can effectively use an imaging device that can control exposure conditions for each area of a shooting screen and can reliably obtain a good image.

  An exposure control apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is an exposure control apparatus that performs exposure control of an image sensor capable of adjusting an exposure condition for each area of a shooting screen, and includes a control unit. This control means adjusts the exposure condition of each area calculated individually from the appropriate exposure of each area of the shooting screen in a direction in which variation between the exposure conditions is suppressed, and the exposure condition of each area after the adjustment. The exposure control of the image sensor is performed under.

  According to a second invention, in the first invention, the control means obtains a difference between the whole or representative appropriate exposure of the plurality of areas and the appropriate exposure of each of the plurality of areas, and the difference is equal to or more than a threshold value. The exposure condition is brought close to the exposure condition calculated from the entire plurality of areas or the representative appropriate exposure.

  According to a third invention, in the first or second invention, the control means calculates the exposure condition of the area where the luminance difference in the area is equal to or greater than the threshold value from the whole or representative appropriate exposure of the plurality of areas. Same as condition.

  According to a fourth invention, in any one of the first to third inventions, the control means calculates the exposure condition of the area including the pixel having the maximum luminance from the whole of the plurality of areas or the representative appropriate exposure. The exposure conditions are the same.

  In a fifth invention according to any one of the first to fourth inventions, the control means adjusts so that variations in exposure conditions of a plurality of areas fall within a predetermined range.

  In a sixth aspect based on the fifth aspect, the control means changes the setting of the predetermined range in accordance with the mode set by the user in the exposure control device.

  In a seventh aspect based on the fifth or sixth aspect, the control means changes the setting of the predetermined range in accordance with the photographing sensitivity set by the user in the exposure control device.

  In an eighth invention according to any one of the first to seventh inventions, the control means adjusts so that a saturated pixel does not occur in each of the plurality of areas.

  In a ninth aspect based on any one of the first to eighth aspects, the control means determines the necessity of strobe light emission based on the lowest luminance among the luminances for each area in the plurality of areas.

  In a tenth aspect based on the ninth aspect, when the control means determines that the strobe light needs to be emitted, the strobe light is pre-flashed and the brightness of the shooting screen when the strobe light is pre-flashed is set. Make adjustments based on this.

  In an eleventh aspect based on any one of the first to tenth aspects, when the control means has a contour line extending between adjacent areas among the plurality of areas, the areas are regarded as one area. .

  An image pickup apparatus according to a twelfth aspect includes image pickup means for picking up an image of a shooting screen via a shooting lens, and the exposure control apparatus according to any one of the first to eleventh aspects.

  In the present invention, the exposure of each area of the shooting screen is appropriately controlled, and further, the exposure difference between the areas is controlled in the entire shooting screen. Therefore, by using the present invention, it is possible to reliably obtain a good image in any shooting scene, for example, in a scene of shooting a plurality of objects having a large luminance difference.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic camera to which the present invention is applied. The electronic camera includes a photographic lens 11 and a lens driving unit 12, an image sensor 13, an analog signal processing unit 14, a timing generator (TG) 15, a buffer memory 16, an image processing unit 17, a monitor 18, and a control. A unit 19, an operation unit 20, a photometric unit 21, a recording medium 22, and a bus 23 are included. Here, the buffer memory 16, the image processing unit 17, the monitor 18, the control unit 19, the photometry unit 21, and the recording medium 22 are connected via a bus 23. Further, the lens driving unit 12, the image sensor 13, the analog signal processing unit 14, the TG 15, and the operation unit 20 are each connected to the control unit 19.

  The photographing lens 11 includes a plurality of lens groups including a focus lens and a zoom lens, an aperture stop, and the like. For simplicity, FIG. 1 shows the photographing lens 11 as a single lens.

  The lens driving unit 12 generates a lens driving signal in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 19, moves the photographing lens 11 in the optical axis direction, performs focus adjustment, zoom adjustment, and aperture diameter adjustment, and passes through the photographing lens 11. A subject image by the light flux is formed on the light receiving surface of the image sensor 13. The aperture diameter is controlled to a value corresponding to an Av value (described later) set by the control unit 19.

  The image sensor 13 is disposed on the image space side of the photographing lens 11 and photoelectrically converts a subject image formed on the light receiving surface thereof to generate an analog image signal. Further, the image sensor 13 controls the shutter time (exposure time) and gain for each area of the photographing screen in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 19. The shutter time of each area is controlled to a value corresponding to a Tv value (described later) set by the control unit 19. The output of the image sensor 13 is connected to an analog signal processing unit 14. The image sensor 13 is a CCD type or CMOS type image sensor.

  The analog signal processing unit 14 performs analog signal processing such as CDS (correlated double sampling), gain adjustment, and A / D conversion on the analog image signal output from the image sensor 13 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 19. And the processed image signal is output. Further, the analog signal processing unit 14 sets an adjustment amount for gain adjustment based on an instruction from the control unit 19. Accordingly, the shooting sensitivity of each area of the shooting screen is determined by the combination of this gain and the gain set for each area. The shooting sensitivity of each area is controlled to a value corresponding to the Sv value (described later) set by the control unit 19. The output of the analog signal processing unit 14 is connected to the buffer memory 16.

  The TG 15 supplies timing pulses to the image sensor 13 and the analog signal processing unit 14 based on instructions from the control unit 19. The drive timing of the image sensor 13 and the analog signal processing unit 14 is controlled by the timing pulse.

  The buffer memory 16 temporarily stores the image signal output from the analog signal processing unit 14 at the time of shooting and shooting mode setting as image data. The buffer memory 16 temporarily stores image data created in the course of processing by the control unit 19.

  The image processing unit 17 performs image processing such as white balance adjustment, color separation (interpolation), edge enhancement, and gamma correction on the image data in the buffer memory 16 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 19. The image processing unit 17 is configured as an ASIC or the like.

  The monitor 18 is an LCD monitor provided on the back surface of the electronic camera housing or the like, an electronic viewfinder having an eyepiece unit, and the like, and displays various images according to instructions from the control unit 19.

  The operation unit 20 includes operation members such as a release button and a mode setting button, and sends an operation signal according to the content of the member operation by the user to the control unit 19. The user can specify the photographing sensitivity (Sv value) and the photographing instruction to the control unit 19 through the operation unit 20.

  In accordance with an instruction from the control unit 19, the photometry unit 21 is based on the image data recorded in the buffer memory 16 by a known photometry method such as multi-division photometry (multi-pattern photometry), center-weighted photometry, spot photometry, An evaluation value indicating the subject brightness of the entire shooting screen and the subject brightness of each area of the shooting screen is calculated. Here, the photometry unit 21 calculates the maximum Bv value (BvMax) of each area of the shooting screen, the minimum Bv value (BvMin) of each area, the average Bv value (BvAve) of each area, and the multi-pattern of the entire shooting screen. A Bv value (GBv) by photometry is calculated.

  Image data after compression processing in the JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) format or the like is recorded on the recording medium 22 by the control unit 19. The recording medium 22 is a memory card incorporating a semiconductor memory, a small hard disk, or the like.

  The control unit 19 controls each part of the electronic camera according to the operation signal sent from the operation unit 20. For example, when the electronic camera is set to the shooting mode, the control unit 19 drives the lens driving unit 12 and the TG 15 to start shooting a through image. At this time, the image sensor 13 is driven in the draft mode, and the image data of the through image is sequentially recorded in the buffer memory 16 via the analog signal processing unit 14. The control unit 19 performs focus adjustment control (AF) of the imaging lens 11 in cooperation with the lens driving unit 12 based on the image data of the through image. Further, when the control unit 19 drives the photometry unit 21 to calculate the evaluation value of the shooting screen based on the image data of the through image in the buffer memory 16, the setting contents of the analog signal processing unit 14 and the like are based on the evaluation value. Adjust.

  At the time of shooting, the control unit 19 determines an exposure condition based on the evaluation value calculated by the photometry unit 21, and drives the lens driving unit 12, the image sensor 13, the analog signal processing unit 14, and the TG 15 under the determined condition. Let's shoot. At this time, the image sensor 13 is driven in the frame mode, and the image data of the captured detailed image is recorded in the buffer memory 16 via the analog signal processing unit 14. Next, the control unit 19 drives the image processing unit 17 to perform image processing on the image data of the through image or the detailed image recorded in the buffer memory 16. Thereafter, the control unit 19 displays the image after image processing on the monitor 18 and drives a compression / decoding unit (not shown) to perform compression processing on the image after image processing. Is recorded on the recording medium 22.

  Hereinafter, the exposure control operation in the electronic camera of this embodiment will be described. Exposure control of the electronic camera of this embodiment is performed for each area of the shooting screen. The exposure control operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The flow in FIG. 2 is executed at the time of shooting when the electronic camera is operating in the shooting mode.

  Step S101: The control unit 19 divides the shooting screen into 10 × 10 areas from [1] to [100], for example, as shown in FIG. The Tv value of the area is set to an initial value determined from the type of shooting mode being set in the electronic camera. In addition, the Sv values of all areas are set to Sv values designated in advance by the user. Therefore, the exposure conditions (shutter speed and shooting sensitivity) set in this step are common to all areas.

  Step S102: The control unit 19 calculates an appropriate Ev value (GEv) for the entire shooting screen based on the Bv value (GBv) for the entire shooting screen calculated by the photometry unit 21. The calculation is performed on the assumption that the Sv value of the entire shooting screen matches the Sv value designated by the user.

  Step S103: The control unit 19 refers to the maximum Bv value (BvMax, minimum Bv value (BvMin), and average Bv value (BvAve) of the area calculated by the photometry unit 21.

  Step S104: The control unit 19 determines whether or not the value obtained by subtracting the minimum Bv value (BvMin) from the maximum Bv value (BvMax) of the area obtained in Step S103 exceeds the threshold value X. If the value exceeds the threshold value X, the control unit 19 proceeds to step S105. On the other hand, when the value is equal to or less than the threshold value X, the control unit 19 proceeds to step S106.

  Step S105: The control unit 19 sets the appropriate Ev value (GEv) of the entire shooting screen calculated in step S102 as the Ev value to be set in the area. And the control part 19 transfers to step S114.

  Step S106: The control unit 19 adopts the average Bv value (BvAve) of the area as the Bv value of the area.

  Step S107: The control unit 19 calculates an appropriate Ev value for the area based on the Bv value for the area (here, BvAve). The calculation is performed on the assumption that the Sv value of the area matches the Sv value designated by the user.

  Step S108: The control unit 19 compares the appropriate Ev value (AEv) of the area calculated in Step S107 with the appropriate Ev value (GEv) of the entire shooting screen calculated in Step S102.

  Step S109: The control unit 19 determines whether or not the appropriate Ev value (AEv) of the area is higher than the appropriate Ev value (GEv) of the entire shooting screen by a predetermined value or more (for example, 2 Ev or more here). To do. If the value is 2Ev or higher, the control unit 19 proceeds to step S110 in order to bring the exposure of the area closer to the exposure of another area. On the other hand, when that is not right, the control part 19 transfers to step S111.

  Step S110: The control unit 19 corrects the appropriate Ev value (AEv) of the area to an iEv (for example, 1 Ev) undervalue, and sets the corrected value (AEv−iEv) as the Ev value to be set in the area.

  Step S111: The control unit 19 determines whether or not the appropriate Ev value (AEv) of the area is lower than the appropriate Ev value (GEv) of the entire shooting screen by a predetermined value or more (for example, 2 Ev or more here). To do. If the value is 2Ev or lower, the control unit 19 proceeds to step S112 in order to bring the exposure of the area closer to the exposure of other areas. On the other hand, when that is not right, the control part 19 transfers to step S113.

  Step S112: The control unit 19 corrects the appropriate Ev value (AEv) of the area to an iEv (for example, 1 Ev) over value, and sets the corrected value (AEv + iEv) as the Ev value to be set in the area.

  Step S113: The control unit 19 sets the appropriate Ev value (AEv) of the area as the Ev value to be set in the area.

  Step S114: The control unit 19 determines whether or not all areas of the shooting screen have been processed. When all the areas have been processed, the control unit 19 proceeds to step S115. On the other hand, when there is an unfinished area, the control unit 19 proceeds to step S103 and continues the process for the next area.

  Step S115: The control unit 19 calculates an appropriate Tv value (GTv) for the entire imaging screen and an appropriate Av value (GAv) for the entire imaging screen based on the appropriate Ev value (GEv) for the entire imaging screen. The calculation of the appropriate Tv value (GTv) and the appropriate Av value (GAv) based on the appropriate Ev value (GEv) is according to a program diagram prepared in advance. The calculation is performed on the assumption that the Sv value of the entire shooting screen matches the Sv value designated by the user. The control unit 19 sets the calculated GAv as an Av value to be set in common for each area.

  Further, the control unit 19 sets the Ev value to be set in each area on the assumption that the Av value of each area is GAv and the Sv value of each area matches the Sv value specified by the user. Convert to Tv value to be set in the area. And the control part 19 calculates Sv value which should be set to each area from Tv value which should be set to each area. At that time, the control unit 19 gives the same value as the Sv value specified by the user to the Sv value of the area where the Tv value matches GTv, and the Sv value of the area where the Tv value is smaller than GTv has the Tv value. A smaller value is given, and a smaller value is given to the Sv value in the area where the Tv value is larger than GTv. In this way, the control unit 19 aligns the signal levels in all areas.

  Thereafter, the control unit 19 sets the Av value common to all areas, the Tv value of each area, and the Sv value of each area to the electronic camera, and performs shooting under the settings.

  Note that the control unit 19 of the electronic camera of the present embodiment may be used for shooting after finely adjusting the Ev value or Tv value of each area calculated in the above steps as described below. The fine adjustment may be performed at the Ev value stage or at the Tv value stage, but here it is performed at the Tv value stage.

  Hereinafter, fine adjustment processing between the areas will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

  An example of the Tv value of each area calculated by the processing in steps S101 to S115 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 4 (1), the maximum value of the Tv value is 8.0 (shutter seconds: 1/250 seconds), and the minimum value is 2.0 (shutter seconds: 1/4 seconds). The variation in the Tv value is too large for the entire shooting screen. Even if the Sv value of each area is adjusted by adjusting the Sv value of each area with the Tv value as it is, the boundary between the areas may be raised, so the control unit 19 is adjacent to each area. Tv values are averaged with the area. Specifically, for example, when the area [84] of the areas divided into 10 × 10 in FIG. 4 (1) is averaged, the area [84] and eight adjacent areas ([73 ] To [75], [83], [85], [93] to [95]), and the total (37.0) of the Tv values is obtained, and the total value is divided by the number of areas 9 to obtain an average. Tv value (4.1) is obtained. In this way, the control unit 19 averages the Tv values for all areas in FIG. FIG. 4B shows the Tv value of each area after the averaging. In FIG. 4B, averaging is performed by weighting a slightly central area such as area [45]. The numerical values shown outside the areas in FIGS. 4A and 4B are the Tv values of the temporary adjacent areas set by the control unit 19 in order to average the areas located on the outermost side of the shooting screen. It is.

  Further, the control unit 19 in FIG. 4 (2) prevents the exposure difference between the same areas of FIG. 4 (1) before averaging and FIG. 4 (2) after averaging from becoming larger than a predetermined value. The Tv value after averaging is adjusted. This is because the same problem as described above occurs when the difference between the Tv values increases. As an example of this adjustment, FIG. 4C shows the Tv value of each area when the control unit 19 performs the adjustment using the threshold value set to 2. The Tv value before averaging of area [26] is 7.0 (FIG. 4 (1)), and the Tv value after averaging is 4.5 (FIG. 4 (2)), so the difference is 2 .5 and 2 or more. For this reason, for example, the control unit 19 adds 1 which is a half value of the threshold to the averaged Tv value 4.5, and sets the adjusted Tv value to 5.5 (FIG. 4 (3)). ).

  Furthermore, the control unit 19 adjusts the Tv value of each area in FIG. 4 (3) so that the Tv value of each area after the adjustment falls within a predetermined range on the entire photographing screen. As an example of this adjustment, FIG. 4 (4) shows the Tv value of each area when the control unit 19 adjusts the predetermined range of the Tv value to 4.0 to 6.0. Areas whose Tv values in FIG. 4 (3) are outside the range of 4.0 to 6.0, such as area [10: Tv value 3.7] and area [55: Tv value 6.4], are predetermined. Clipped to the upper and lower limits of the range, in FIG. 4 (4), the Tv value of area [10] is adjusted to 4.0, and the Tv value of [55] is adjusted to 6.0. On the other hand, in areas [2: Tv value 4.7] and areas [84: Tv value 4.1] such that the Tv value in FIG. 4 (3) is within a predetermined range, the Tv value is adjusted as it is. (FIG. 4 (4)).

  Note that (1) to (4) in FIG. 5 show differences in Tv values between areas in the shooting screen for each of (1) to (4) in FIG. The difference in Tv value between areas in the shooting screen gradually decreases as the processing proceeds from FIG. 5 (1) to FIG. 5 (4).

  When the fine adjustment is completed as shown in FIG. 4 (4), the control unit 19 calculates the Sv value to be set in each area from the Tv value of each area after the fine adjustment. The calculation method is the same as the calculation method in step S115.

  Thereafter, the control unit 19 sets the Av value common to all areas, the Tv value of each area, and the Sv value of each area to the electronic camera, and performs shooting under the settings.

  The exposure control operation in the electronic camera of this embodiment has been described above.

  In step S101, the shooting screen is described as being divided into equally spaced areas such as 10 × 10. However, the method of dividing the area is not limited to this. For example, at least two or more areas divided into 10 × 10 may be combined as one area.

  Moreover, when an outline extends over an area and an area adjacent to the area, two or more areas over which the outline extends may be combined as one area. This is because those areas are preferably photographed with the same exposure because no color shift or the like occurs in the contour line extending between the areas.

  Hereinafter, the effect of this embodiment will be described.

  According to the electronic camera of this embodiment, the exposure of each area of the shooting screen is appropriately controlled. For this reason, even when a plurality of objects having a large luminance difference are included in the shooting screen, all the objects are represented in actual correct colors.

  Furthermore, according to the electronic camera of the present embodiment, the exposure difference between the areas is controlled within an appropriate range in the entire shooting screen. For this reason, there are no problems such as a step between areas or a boundary rising.

  Therefore, a good image can be reliably obtained in any shooting scene.

(Other)
In steps S109 to S112, the appropriate Ev value for the area is adjusted stepwise in order to calculate the Ev value to be set for the area, but may be adjusted continuously. In that case, a relational expression between the difference between the appropriate Ev value of the area and the appropriate Ev value of the entire photographing screen and the adjustment amount may be prepared in advance.

  In step S109 to step S112, an Ev value to be set in each area may be determined so that a saturation level pixel does not occur in the area after exposure control. In that case, the control unit 19 may estimate the maximum signal level of the area after exposure control and determine whether or not the maximum signal level reaches the saturation level. When the image sensor 13 has a white balance adjustment function, it is necessary to estimate the maximum signal level after white balance adjustment.

  In steps S109 to S112, the adjustment for suppressing the variation in the Tv value between the areas is performed at the Ev value stage. However, the same adjustment may be performed at the Bv value stage or the Tv value stage. . Further, when the adjustment is performed at the Bv value stage, the fine adjustment described above can also be performed at the Bv value stage.

  In addition, the reference (the predetermined value or the predetermined range) for limiting the difference in Tv value between the areas in the fine adjustment process described above can be changed by the user from the menu or mode setting of the electronic camera. Also good.

  Further, the above-described standard is preferably strict when the photographing sensitivity specified by the user is high, and is loose when the photographing sensitivity is low. Further, the severity may be changed according to the mode set in the camera.

  In the above description, strobe light emission has not been described, but the control unit 19 determines the necessity of strobe light emission based on the Bv value of each area (or the appropriate Ev value of each area). It is advisable to emit a strobe light by giving an instruction to a strobe light emitting unit (not shown) at the time of shooting. In this case, it is desirable to determine the necessity of strobe light emission based on the lowest Bv value in each area (the highest value among the appropriate Ev values in each area).

  Further, when strobe light emission is performed at the time of shooting, the control unit 19 causes a strobe light emission unit (not shown) to perform pre-light emission, and obtains the Bv value (or appropriate Ev value of each area) of each area acquired at that time. Based on this, it is desirable to perform the adjustment again. In addition, when strobe light is emitted at the time of shooting, setting the Tv value for each area has almost no effect. Therefore, if the Tv value to be set for all areas is made common and only the Sv value is set for each area. Good. The Sv value of each area is adjusted in the same manner as the Tv value of each area is adjusted.

  In the above description, the Bv value in the shooting screen is calculated based on a through image generated by the image sensor 13, but may be calculated based on an output value of a photometric sensor provided separately from the image sensor 13.

1 is a block diagram of an electronic camera to which the present invention is applied. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of exposure control in an electronic camera. It is an image figure at the time of dividing | segmenting an imaging | photography screen into a 10 * 10 area. It is the figure which illustrated the process in which the process of the fine adjustment between areas progresses. It is the figure which showed the difference of Tv value between areas for every progress step of the process of fine adjustment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Shooting lens, 12 ... Lens drive part, 13 ... Image sensor, 14 ... Analog signal processing part, 15 ... Timing generator (TG), 16 ... Buffer memory, 17 ... Image processing part, 18 ... Monitor, 19 ... Control part , 20 ... operation section, 21 ... photometry section, 22 ... recording medium, 23 ... bus

Claims (12)

In the exposure control device that controls the exposure of the image sensor that can adjust the exposure conditions for each area of the shooting screen
The exposure condition of each area calculated individually from the appropriate exposure of each area of the shooting screen is adjusted in a direction in which variation between the exposure conditions is suppressed, and the exposure condition of each area after the adjustment is adjusted. An exposure control apparatus comprising: control means for performing exposure control of the image sensor. The exposure control device according to claim 1,
The control means obtains the difference between the whole of the plurality of areas or the representative appropriate exposure of each of the plurality of areas and the appropriate exposure of each of the plurality of areas, and determines the exposure condition of the area where the difference is equal to or greater than a threshold value. Alternatively, the exposure control device is characterized in that the exposure condition is close to the exposure condition calculated from the representative appropriate exposure. In the exposure control device according to claim 1 or 2,
The control means makes the exposure condition of the area where the luminance difference in the area is equal to or greater than a threshold value the same as the exposure condition calculated from the whole or representative appropriate exposure of the plurality of areas. apparatus. In the exposure control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The said control means makes the exposure condition of the area containing the pixel used as the maximum luminance the same as the exposure condition calculated from the whole of the plurality of areas or the representative appropriate exposure. In the exposure control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The said control means performs the said adjustment so that the dispersion | variation in the exposure conditions of these areas may be settled in a predetermined range. The exposure control apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The exposure control apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
The said control means changes the setting of the said predetermined range according to the mode which the user set to the said exposure control apparatus. The exposure control apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. In the exposure control device according to claim 5 or 6,
The said control means changes the setting of the said predetermined range according to the imaging sensitivity which the user set to the said exposure control apparatus. The exposure control apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. In the exposure control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The exposure control apparatus, wherein the control unit performs the adjustment so that a saturated pixel does not occur in each of the plurality of areas. In the exposure control device according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The exposure control apparatus, wherein the control means determines the necessity of strobe light emission based on the lowest luminance among the luminances for each of the plurality of areas. The exposure control device according to claim 9, wherein
When it is determined that the strobe light needs to be emitted, the control means pre-flashes the strobe light and performs the adjustment based on the brightness of the shooting screen when the strobe light is pre-flashed. Exposure control device. In the exposure control device according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
The exposure control apparatus, wherein when the contour line extends between adjacent areas among the plurality of areas, the control means regards the areas as one area. An image pickup means for picking up an image of the shooting screen via the shooting lens;
An imaging apparatus comprising: the exposure control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

Images