To provide an automatic focusing apparatus capablr of absorbing differences between individuals in the amount of focus correction used to drive a focusing means or difference between photographing environments.

An imaging apparatus uses a filter for extracting specific spatial frequencies of a plurality of subjects of different characteristics, and calculates AF evaluation values with a plurality of BPFs from a low area to a high area, thereby evaluating each reliability. The apparatus selects the most reliable BPF, and adopts an amount of BP correction (a prescribed amount of shifting) corresponding to the selected BPF. Alternatively, as the lower area is used in BPF, an error increases due to individual differences in the amount of BP correction, subject dependence, light source dependence, or the like. Therefore, the imaging apparatus calculates the AF evaluation values for the plurality of BPFs and evaluates each reliability. A BPF with a characteristic in the highest area is selected from the evaluation values with a prescribed value or above in reliability. The amount of BP correction (the prescribed amount of shifting) corresponding to the selected BPF is adopted.

COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT