JP5769534B2 - Imaging apparatus, imaging method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a multi-lens imaging apparatus, an imaging method, and a program for a multi-lens camera system having an autofocus function for adjusting a focus position to a subject at high speed in a multi-lens imaging apparatus.

  The auto focus (hereinafter referred to as AF) is a function that automates and performs adjustments related to the focus position of the camera without the user setting operation. There are several methods for realizing the AF, and a method called a contrast detection type is adopted in many compact cameras because the camera can be easily downsized. Here, the contrast detection type is a method in which the lens position where the contrast of the image of the subject is the highest on the image sensor is brought into focus.

  The problem with this method is that the time until a focused image is detected is relatively long. As a result, with this method, it is difficult to focus on a subject that moves at high speed. In other words, it may happen that the subject is out of frame and cannot be shot while focusing.

  In view of this, in a multi-lens imaging device, a method has been invented in which the focus position of each imaging unit is shifted in advance and the most focused image is selected as the final image from the captured images (Patent Document) 1, 2).

JP 2009-216600 A JP 2005-109622 A

  However, the methods proposed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 have a problem that an accurate focus position cannot be determined or the number of necessary imaging units increases. This is because the focus position that can be selected by this method is only the focus position shifted in advance. For example, if the number of image pickup units is three, only three focus positions can be selected, but the subject may or may not be at a preset focus position, and all three of the final positions are final. It may be unsuitable as an image.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to determine a focus position at high speed with high accuracy in a multi-lens imaging apparatus.

  The present invention provides a plurality of imaging units and a first movement range that defines a range in which a focus position is moved for each of the plurality of imaging units in a first movement range group for the plurality of imaging units. Based on the evaluation by the setting means for setting, the evaluation means for evaluating the degree of focus of the images captured by the plurality of imaging units, and the evaluation by the evaluation unit so that the ranges do not overlap each other, Determining means for determining a common focus position, and each of the plurality of imaging units captures a plurality of images while moving the focus position at a first movement interval in the first movement range, The setting unit includes the plurality of the plurality of moving ranges according to a first moving range in which an image evaluated as having the highest degree of focus by the evaluating unit is captured in the first moving range group. For each of the imaging units, a second movement range that is narrower than the first movement range that defines a range for moving the focus position is overlapped with each other in the second movement range group for the plurality of imaging units. Further, the plurality of image pickup units pick up a plurality of images while moving the focus position at a second movement interval narrower than the first movement interval in the second movement range. And the determining means determines the focus position corresponding to the image determined to have the highest focus degree by the evaluation means among the images captured in the second moving range group as the plurality of imaging units. The image pickup apparatus is characterized in that it is determined as a common focus position.

  According to the multi-lens imaging device and the imaging method according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a focused image with high speed and high accuracy.

It is the figure which showed an example of the multiview imaging device provided with the some imaging part. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of a multiview imaging device. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of an imaging part. It is a figure for demonstrating the operation | movement of AF in a multi-lens imaging device. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a concept of maximum contrast value detection according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a concept of a focus position determined by AF processing in the first embodiment. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging unit control unit 208 in Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a camera information reading unit 500 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a focus position search range determination unit 501 in Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of AF processing according to the first embodiment. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of processing for acquiring camera parameters according to the first embodiment. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for focus position search range determination processing according to the first exemplary embodiment. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing unit 212 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging unit control unit 208 according to Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an operating range of the focus lens according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram conceptually showing an operating range of a focus lens of Embodiment 2. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of search range calculation processing according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining contents for further speeding up processing in the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining contents for further speeding up processing in the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an area for AF distance measurement according to an additional form of the second embodiment. It is a figure which shows notionally the operating range of the focus lens of Embodiment 3. It is a figure which shows the structure of the image process part 2200 in Embodiment 3. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of an image processing unit according to the third embodiment.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a multi-lens imaging apparatus using a multi-ocular system including a plurality of imaging units according to the present invention.

  Reference numeral 100 denotes a housing of the multi-lens imaging device. Inside the housing, nine image capturing units 101 to 109 capable of acquiring a color image and a photographing button 110 are provided. Note that the nine imaging units 101 to 109 are evenly arranged on the square lattice.

  When the user presses the shooting button 110, the imaging units 101 to 109 receive light information of the subject with a sensor (imaging device), and the received signal is A / D converted, so that a plurality of color images (digital data) are simultaneously displayed. To be acquired.

  With such a multi-lens imaging device, it is possible to obtain a group of color images obtained by imaging the same subject from a plurality of viewpoint positions.

  Here, the number of image pickup units is exemplified as nine, but the number of image pickup units is not limited to nine. The present invention can be applied if the multi-lens imaging device includes a plurality of imaging units.

  In addition, although an example in which nine imaging units are equally arranged on a square lattice has been described here, the arrangement of the imaging units is arbitrary. For example, they may be arranged radially or linearly, or may be arranged at random.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the multi-lens imaging apparatus 100. As shown in FIG.

  Reference numeral 201 denotes a central processing unit (CPU) that comprehensively controls each unit described below.

  Reference numeral 202 denotes a RAM which functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 201.

  A ROM 203 stores camera parameters (view angle and camera mode), a control program executed by the CPU 201, and the like.

  A bus 204 serves as a transfer path for various data. For example, digital data acquired by the imaging units 101 to 109 is sent to a predetermined processing unit via the bus 204.

  An operation unit 205 receives user instructions, and includes buttons, a mode dial, and the like.

  Reference numeral 206 denotes a display unit that displays captured images and characters. For example, a liquid crystal display is used. The display unit 206 may have a touch screen function. In that case, a user instruction using the touch screen can be handled as an input of the operation unit 205.

  Reference numeral 207 denotes a display control unit 207 that performs display control of captured images and characters displayed on the display unit 206.

  An imaging unit control unit 208 controls the imaging system based on instructions from the CPU 201 such as focusing, opening / closing a shutter, and adjusting an aperture. Details of processing related to AF of the imaging unit control unit will be described later.

  A digital signal processing unit 209 performs various processes such as white balance processing, gamma processing, and noise reduction processing on the digital data received via the bus 204.

  An encoder unit 210 performs processing for converting digital data into a file format such as JPEG or MPEG.

  An external memory control unit 211 is an interface for connecting to a PC or other media (for example, a hard disk, a memory card, a CF card, an SD card, or a USB memory).

  An image processing unit 212 performs processing for selecting and outputting an image having no blur from the color image group acquired by the imaging units 101 to 109 or the color image group output from the digital signal processing unit 209. Details of the image processing unit 212 will be described later.

  In addition, although the component of a multi-lens imaging device exists besides the above, since it is not the main point of this invention, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of the imaging units 101 to 109. Note that the internal configurations of the imaging units 101 to 109 are the same.

  The imaging units 101 to 109 include lenses 301 to 303, a diaphragm 304, a shutter 305, an optical low-pass filter 306, an iR cut filter 307, a color filter 308, a sensor 309, and an A / D conversion unit 310.

  The lenses 301 to 303 are a zoom lens 301, a focus lens 302, and a shake correction lens 303, respectively. The sensor 309 is a sensor such as a CMOS or CCD.

  When the light amount of the subject is detected by the sensor 309, the detected light amount is converted into a digital value by the A / D conversion unit 310, and is output to the bus 204 as digital data.

<Principle of the invention>
Next, AF operation in the multi-lens imaging device will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4A is a diagram for explaining an AF operation according to a multi-view contrast detection method in a normal camera module. Here, a trinocular multi-lens camera is taken as an example, but any number of imaging units may be used as long as the number is two or more. This camera system performs contrast calculation for determining the focus position for the entire movable range of the focus lens of the imaging unit. That is, the imaging units 101, 102, and 103 independently perform contrast calculation from the shortest subject distance to the far side, and determine the subject distance that maximizes the contrast as the focus position. Therefore, assuming that the cost for the contrast calculation is almost zero, the time required for AF is the time required for the focus lens to move from the shortest subject distance to the farthest distance.

  FIG. 4B is a diagram for explaining the AF operation in the multi-lens imaging apparatus according to the present invention. In this case, the contrast measurement for the imaging unit 101 is set to the section A, the contrast measurement for the imaging unit 102 is set to the section B, and the contrast measurement for the imaging unit 103 is set to the section C. Thus, each section is set not to overlap. The focus lens of each imaging unit is driven in the set section. Then, the measurement is completed, and the subject distance corresponding to the maximum value (peak shown in FIG. 5) in the maximum contrast of each section is determined as the focus position. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the position indicated by three vertical lines is determined as the final focus position. That is, each imaging device captures an image by driving the focus lens within the set driving range. Then, an optimum focus position is determined by calculating and evaluating a contrast value indicating the degree of focus for each captured image.

  Assuming that the sections A, B, and C shown in FIG. 4B are equidistant and the moving speeds of the focus lenses of the imaging units are equal, the time required for AF is the imaging units 101, 102, and 103. It is equal to the time during which the focus lens moves in the sections A, B, and C. That is, the time required for AF in the present invention can be reduced to 1/3 that of the conventional method shown in FIG. This can be further shortened according to the number of multi-view cameras.

  The processing units related to the principle of the described invention are the imaging unit control unit 208 and the image processing unit 212. Therefore, these two processing contents will be described below.

<Configuration of Imaging Unit Control Unit 208>
FIG. 7 shows only the processing unit related to the principle of the present invention in the configuration of the imaging unit control unit 208. The imaging unit control unit 208 includes a camera information reading unit 500, a focus position search range, and the like. And a determination unit 501.

  The camera information reading unit 500 reads not only information on the camera body but also information on each imaging unit. Details of the camera information reading unit 500 will be described later.

  The focus position search range determination unit 501 sets the focus position search process start position Si and end position Ei of each imaging unit. Details of Si and Ei and the focus position search range determination unit 501 will be described later. Note that the range of Si and Ei is the driving range of the focus lens.

  In the present embodiment, the camera characteristics of the imaging unit are the same, and the movable range of the focus lens is 9 mm. In the following, the number N of image pickup units is set to three for simplicity of explanation, but the configuration is the same regardless of the number of image pickup units.

<Configuration of Image Processing Unit 212>
As shown in FIG. 13, the image processing unit 212 includes a first contrast AF unit 1300, a second contrast AF unit 1301, a third contrast AF unit 1302, a maximum value detection unit 1303, and a focus position determination unit 1304. Yes.

  The first contrast AF unit 1300, the second contrast AF unit 1301, and the third contrast AF unit 1302 calculate a contrast value for each image output from the imaging units 101, 102, and 103. Then, the maximum contrast value is output. In the contrast AF method, a high frequency component is extracted from a video signal generated based on a signal from an image sensor. In this method, the level of the high frequency component is observed at a predetermined sampling interval, and the focus adjustment lens is driven in a direction in which the level of the high frequency component is directed to the peak (hereinafter referred to as a contrast AF (autofocus) method). Thus, when the level of the high frequency component finally reaches a predetermined peak range, it is determined that the focus is achieved.

  The maximum value detection unit 1303 further detects a maximum value from the maximum contrasts output from the contrast AF units 1300, 1301, and 1302.

  The focus position determination unit 1304 determines the position of the focus lens corresponding to the contrast value output by the 1303.

  Next, the details of the AF processing for determining the focus position according to the present invention performed by the imaging unit control unit 208 and the image processing unit 212 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the AF process starts, first, in step 1001, the camera information reading unit 500 reads the camera parameter P stored in the ROM.

  Next, in step 1002, based on the obtained camera parameter P, the focus position search range determination unit 501 determines the AF start position Si, i = 0, 1, 2, and end position of each imaging unit (single eye). Ei, i = 0, 1, 2 is determined. Note that i = 0, 1, and 2 correspond to the imaging units 101, 102, and 103.

  Next, in step 1003, the focus lens of each imaging unit moves from the start position Si to the end position Ei. At this time, the focus lens moves by the minimum movement amount M = 0.001 [mm] defined by the camera module. For each movement, the first contrast AF unit 1300, the second contrast AF unit 1301, and the third contrast AF unit 1302 are configured to detect the maximum contrast value Ci, i = 0, 1, 2 are measured. Further, the focus lens position fi when the maximum contrast values Ci, i = 0, 1, and 2 are measured is recorded.

  Finally, in step 1004, the maximum value Cm that is the maximum among the maximum contrast values Ci obtained for each imaging unit is specified, and the position of the focus lens corresponding to Cm is extracted from fi. The final focus position is determined by the above AF processing.

<Camera information reading process>
As shown in FIG. 8, the camera information reading unit 500 includes a camera number acquisition unit 600 and a focus lens movable range acquisition unit 601.

  The camera number acquisition unit 600 acquires the number of imaging units.

  The focus lens movable range acquisition unit 601 acquires a range in which the focus lens of each imaging unit can move.

  The flowchart in FIG. 11 shows details of step 1001 in FIG. The details of the camera parameter P acquisition processing by the camera information reading unit 500 will be described with reference to this flowchart.

  First, in step 1101, the camera number acquisition unit 600 acquires the number of cameras N = 3 [units].

  Next, in step 1102, the focus lens movable range acquisition unit 601 acquires the focus lens movable range d = 9 [mm]. FIG. 15 conceptually shows the operating range d of the focus lens.

  In this way, the camera parameters are acquired and the process ends.

<Focus position search range determination process>
As shown in FIG. 9, the focus position search range determination unit 501 includes a focus lens movement distance calculation unit 700 and an imaging unit focus search range determination unit 701.

  The focus lens movement distance calculation unit 700 determines for which range each imaging unit performs contrast value calculation processing. The imaging unit focus search range determination unit 701 determines, for each imaging unit, a start position and an end position that are necessary when executing the contrast value calculation process.

  The flowchart in FIG. 12 shows details of step 1002 in FIG. Details of the focus position search range determination process by the focus position search range determination unit 501 will be described with reference to this flowchart.

  In step 1201, the focus lens moving distance calculation unit 700 determines each AF ranging range D by dividing the movable range d by the number N of imaging units (Formula 1). This D corresponds to AF target sections A, B, and C of the imaging units 101, 102, and 103 shown in FIG.

  Next, in step 1202, the imaging unit focus search range determination unit 701 sets the arrow origin Si (i = 0, 1, 2) corresponding to the imaging units 101, 102, and 103 shown in FIG. Determine based on Equation 2. i = 0, 1, and 2 correspond to the starting points of the imaging units 101, 102, and 103, respectively.

  a is a parameter for adjusting the initial value, and 0 is entered this time. Each AF measurement starts from Si, moves by D, and the contrast value calculation process ends. Since it may be difficult to move by exactly D due to limitations of the focus lens control motor and the like, it may be set in consideration of accuracy as in Equation 3.

  By performing the processing as described above, the focus position search range determination unit 501 determines the start position and the end position.

  As described above, according to the embodiment, the present invention can shorten the processing time related to AF by limiting the movement range of the focus lens in each imaging unit.

(Embodiment 2)
First, the operation principle according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 16.

<Operating principle>
In the first embodiment, the contrast value calculation process is performed on the entire movable range of the focus lens. Since the time required for the focus processing is the time required for the lens to scan the entire movable range, in the first embodiment, the AF processing is speeded up by dividing and limiting the movable range. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the speed is further increased by scanning only a part of the movable range of the focus lens.

  The part of the movable range of the lens is set according to the camera mode. For example, FIG. 16A shows an AF distance measurement range of each image pickup unit set on the assumption of shooting a distant mountain or tree. In the first embodiment, the AF range of each imaging unit is set so as to cover all d illustrated in FIG. 16 as a focusable range. However, in the second embodiment, since it is assumed that the subject is far away, processing is performed so that the AF distance measurement range covers only far away. For example, FIG. 16B assumes a case where a subject such as a portrait is present at a relatively short distance, and therefore the AF distance measurement range covers only the middle distance range. FIG. 16C assumes macro photography, and the AF distance measurement range covers only a very short distance from the imaging apparatus. That is, when the camera mode is landscape, the AF distance measurement range is as shown in FIG. 16A, when it is a person, FIG. 16B, and when it is macro, it is FIG. 16C.

  The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment only in the configuration of the imaging unit control unit 208. Therefore, only the configuration of the imaging unit control unit 1200 according to the second embodiment will be described below.

<Configuration of Imaging Unit Control Unit 208>
FIG. 14 illustrates a configuration of the imaging unit control unit 208 according to the second embodiment. The imaging unit control unit 208 includes a mode switching unit 1400, a camera information reading unit 500, and a focus position search range determination unit 501.

  The mode switching unit 1400 changes the values of a and d shown in Equation 1 and Equation 2 according to the camera mode determined by the user or the CPU. The camera information reading unit 500 and the focus position search range determination unit 501 perform the same operations as in the first embodiment.

  Next, details of the operation of the focus position search range determination unit 501 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the search range calculation process starts, first, in S1701, a camera mode (mode) is acquired. For example, mode = 0 is set when the camera mode is landscape, mode = 1 is set when the camera is a person, and mode = 2 is set when the camera is macro. The mode is identified according to the currently set mode. Get the numeric value for.

  Next, in S1702, the value of the acquired mode is determined. Depending on the value of mode, the process proceeds to S1703, S1704, and S1705.

  If the acquired mode is 0, a = 6 * 90/9 = 60 and d = 3 × 90/9 are set in S1703.

  If the acquired mode is 1, in S1704, a = 2 * 90/9 and d = 3 × 90/9 are set.

  If the acquired mode is 2, a = 0 and d = 90/9 are set in S1705.

  When the values of a and d are set according to the above processing procedure, the search range calculation process ends.

  In this embodiment, the AF distance measurement range in the depth direction (from the lens to the subject) is divided. However, the horizontal and vertical directions may be divided according to the angle of view and the installation location of the imaging unit. I do not care.

  Here, FIG. 18 is a schematic view of a twin-lens multi-lens camera composed of two imaging units having different angles of view as viewed from above. This multi-lens camera achieves high image quality by superimposing images taken by each imaging unit. Therefore, the high-quality image finally acquired by the user includes only the subject projected on both imaging units surrounded by the bold line shown in FIG. Here, when focusing on the imaging unit 101, the subject exists only in the right half of the angle of view. That is, it is not necessary to perform AF processing on the left half of the angle of view. FIG. 19 shows an AF distance measurement range in the preview screen corresponding to FIG. The imaging unit 101 corresponds to the preview screen of FIG. 19A, and the imaging unit 102 corresponds to FIG. 19B. In FIG. 19, a rectangle indicated by a solid line represents an AF distance measurement area, and a rectangle indicated by a broken line is an area where AF distance measurement is not performed. As shown in FIG. 19, the imaging unit 102 performs AF on the entire screen, and the imaging unit 101 performs AF distance measurement only on the right side. As described above, according to the angle of view of the imaging unit, it is possible to improve the AF speed by omitting the AF process for an area where no subject exists.

  A more specific example will be described with reference to FIG.

  θ1 = 60 ° and θ2 = 20 ° represent the angles of view of the imaging units 101 and 102, respectively. l = 10 mm represents the baseline length between the cameras, h1 represents a range of an area where AF distance measurement is unnecessary, and h2 represents a range of an area where AF distance measurement is necessary because a subject exists. When the camera mode is set to a person and a subject exists within a distance d = 5000 mm, the ratio between h1 and h2 is as shown in Equation 4.

  Therefore, in this mode, AF ranging is not performed for the range of h1 in FIG. 19 corresponding to 10 / (10 + 7) of the entire screen.

(Embodiment 3)
First, the operation principle of the invention according to Embodiment 3 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 21 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a range in which the focus lens of each imaging unit is moved in the AF processing according to the third embodiment.

<Principle of the invention>
In the first embodiment, each imaging unit shares the AF range. In the AF processing performed at that time, the focus lens moves by the minimum movement amount defined by the camera module. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 21A, first, a contrast value is calculated for each AF distance measurement range only three times. That is, the contrast AF is rough. Next, as shown in FIG. 21B, the section with the largest contrast value is divided into three, and AF distance measurement is performed three times. This operation is repeated, and finally the focus position is determined as shown in FIG.

<Configuration of Image Processing Unit 2200>
Next, the configuration of the image processing unit 2200 that is a feature of the present embodiment will be described.

  As illustrated in FIG. 22, the image processing unit 2200 includes image processing units 2202 and 2203 and a parameter changing unit 2201. The image processing unit 2200 is the image processing unit 212 shown in FIG. The parameter changing unit 2201 changes the parameters si, ei, and M.

  Next, the operation of the image processing unit 2200 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, when image processing starts, in step 2301, the minimum movement amount M of the focus lens is set to 0.1 [mm]. The focus lens can be moved by 0.01 [mm] at a minimum.

  Next, in step 2302, the same image processing as that of the image processing unit 212 is performed. That is, since the minimum movement amount M is set to 0.1 [mm], rough contrast AF processing is executed as shown in FIG.

  Next, in step 2303, the values of si, ei, and M are changed. Specifically, if the maximum contrast value is detected in the section in which the maximum contrast value of each imaging unit obtained in step 2302 is calculated, for example, k2 (FIG. 21A), si and ei are within the k2 section. It is reset as shown in FIG. M is set to 0.01 [mm].

  Next, in step 2304, the same operation as that of the image processing unit 212 is performed according to the reset si, ei, and M. As a result, the final focus position is determined as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the focus position is driven by dividing the AF into two times. However, when the movable range of the focus lens is long, the AF process may be performed by repeating the operation a predetermined number of times to drive the focus position.

(Other embodiments)
The object of the present invention can also be achieved by executing the following processing. That is, a storage medium that records a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus is stored in the storage medium. This is the process of reading the code. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code and the storage medium storing the program code constitute the present invention.

Claims (5)

A plurality of imaging units;
For each of the plurality of imaging units, a first movement range that defines a range in which a focus position is moved is set so that the movement ranges do not overlap with each other in the first movement range group for the plurality of imaging units. Setting means;
Evaluation means for evaluating the degree of focus of images captured by the plurality of imaging units;
A determination unit that determines a focus position common to the plurality of imaging units based on the evaluation by the evaluation unit;
Each of the plurality of imaging units captures a plurality of images while moving a focus position at a first movement interval in the first movement range,
Each of the plurality of imaging units is set according to a first movement range in which an image evaluated as having the highest degree of focus by the evaluation unit is captured in the first movement range group. On the other hand, the second movement range that is narrower than the first movement range that defines the range in which the focus position is moved is set so that the movement ranges do not overlap with each other in the second movement range group for the plurality of imaging units. Set further
Each of the plurality of imaging units captures a plurality of images while moving a focus position at a second movement interval narrower than the first movement interval in the second movement range;
The determination unit is configured to share a focus position corresponding to an image determined to have the highest degree of focus by the evaluation unit among images captured in the second moving range group in the plurality of imaging units. An imaging apparatus characterized by being determined as a focus position.   The setting unit divides a movement range in which an image evaluated as having the highest degree of focus by the evaluation unit in the first movement range group is captured according to the number of the plurality of imaging units. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a thing is set as the second movement range.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit sets a moving range of a focus position of the imaging unit according to a shooting mode. An imaging method executed by an imaging apparatus having a plurality of imaging units and an evaluation unit that evaluates a degree of focus of an image captured by the plurality of imaging units,
For each of the plurality of imaging units, a first movement range that defines a range in which a focus position is moved is set so that the movement ranges do not overlap with each other in the first movement range group for the plurality of imaging units. A first setting step;
A first imaging step of imaging a plurality of images while moving a focus position at a first movement interval in each of the plurality of imaging units in the first movement range;
A focus position is determined for each of the plurality of imaging units according to a first movement range in which an image evaluated as having the highest focus degree by the evaluation unit is picked up in the first movement range group. A second movement range that is narrower than the first movement range that defines the range in which the movement is to be performed is set so that the movement ranges do not overlap each other in the second movement range group for the plurality of imaging units. A setting process;
A second imaging step in which each of the plurality of imaging units captures a plurality of images while moving a focus position at a second movement interval narrower than the first movement interval in the second movement range; ,
A focus position corresponding to an image determined to have the highest degree of focus by the evaluation unit among images captured in the second moving range group is determined as a focus position common to the plurality of imaging units. An imaging method comprising: a determining step to perform.   The program for making an imaging device perform the imaging method of Claim 4.

Images