Processing device, imaging apparatus, and processing method

Abstract

To obtain an image in which a deterioration of a resolution feeling and a generation of Moire are suppressed even in the case where a subject that becomes a factor generating the Moire is photographed.SOLUTION: Each of processing devices 10 and 12 includes an imaging element 11 performing a photographing of a subject via an optical system 32, and is used for an imaging apparatus that can perform a photographing by moving at least one element from optical elements contained in the imaging element and the optical system in order to obtain a low-pass filter effect. The processing device generates a first image by making the photographing device to photograph to the subject without moving both of the imaging element and the optical element, and makes it to perform the photographing to the subject while moving at least one element in order to generate a second image. In the case where it is determined that a Moire is contained in the first image, the first and second images are synthesized to generate a third image.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an imaging device such as a digital camera. [Background technology]

[0002] In an imaging device, if a subject image formed by an optical system contains high-frequency components equal to or higher than the sampling frequency of the imaging element, moire that does not actually exist in the subject will occur. A method for suppressing moire is known in which a low-pass filter effect is obtained by driving the imaging element or the lens in the optical system at high speed with a small amplitude (hereinafter referred to as LPF driving). However, when LPF driving is performed, the resolution of the captured image decreases. Patent Document 1 discloses an imaging device that allows a user to select the better image after shooting by shooting multiple times while switching between using (ON) and not using (OFF) LPF driving. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6554761 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The images obtained by the imaging device of Patent Document 1 are either high-definition images with moiré or images with no moiré but low resolution. However, moiré often does not occur over the entire image but only in parts. For this reason, images obtained with LPF drive ON in order to suppress the occurrence of moiré in parts have a lower overall resolution. As a result, there is a risk that a user will not be able to obtain a satisfactory image even if there is no moiré.

[0005] The present invention provides an imaging device that can obtain an image in which a decrease in resolution and occurrence of moire are suppressed even when an object that causes moire is photographed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A processing device according to one aspect of the present invention is used for an imaging device having an imaging element that captures an image of a subject through an optical system, and capable of capturing an image by moving at least one of the imaging element and the optical element included in the optical system to obtain a low-pass filter effect. The processing device is characterized by having an imaging control means for causing the imaging device to capture an image of the subject without moving either the imaging element or the optical element to generate a first image, and to capture an image of the subject while moving at least one of the elements to generate a second image, and an image generating means for synthesizing the first image and the second image to generate a third image when it is determined that the first image contains moire. Note that an imaging device having the above processing device also constitutes another aspect of the present invention.

[0007] A processing method according to another aspect of the present invention is used for an imaging device having an imaging element that captures an image of a subject through an optical system, and capable of capturing an image by moving at least one of the imaging element and the optical element included in the optical system to obtain a low-pass filter effect. The processing method includes a step of causing the imaging device to capture an image of the subject without moving either the imaging element or the optical element to generate a first image, and a step of causing the imaging device to capture an image of the subject while moving at least one of the elements to generate a second image, and a step of synthesizing the first image and the second image to generate a third image when it is determined that the first image contains moiré. Note that a program for causing a computer to execute processing according to the above processing method also constitutes another aspect of the present invention. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, even when a subject that causes moire is photographed, an image can be obtained in which the decrease in resolution and the occurrence of moire are suppressed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an imaging apparatus according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of an imaging element according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] 5 is a graph showing an image stabilization driving amount in the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a photographing scene in the first embodiment. [Diagram 5] 11A and 11B are diagrams showing images captured with LPF drive ON in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] 11A and 11B are diagrams showing images captured with LPF driving OFF in the first embodiment. [Figure 7] 5A to 5C are diagrams showing composite images in a moire reduction mode in the first embodiment. [Figure 8] 4 is a flowchart showing a moire reduction process in the first embodiment. [Figure 9] 13A and 13B are diagrams showing images with a reduced resolution from an image captured with LPF driving OFF in the third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. EXAMPLES

[0011] 1(a) and (b) show the configuration of a digital camera (hereinafter simply referred to as camera) 1, which is an imaging device of Example 1. An interchangeable lens 3 is detachably attached to the camera 1. The camera 1 and the interchangeable lens 3 are electrically connected via a lens contact 20.

[0012] The camera 1 has an image sensor 11 that photoelectrically converts an image of a subject formed as an optical image by the photographing optical system 32 in the interchangeable lens 3, and an image processing unit 12 that generates image data from an image signal output from the image sensor 11. The camera 1 also has a memory unit 13 that records image data and various information, a focal plane shutter (hereinafter simply referred to as a shutter) 14 that controls the exposure of the image sensor 11, an operation unit 15 that recognizes operations by a user, and a display unit 16 that displays image data and various information. As shown in FIG. 1(b), the display unit 16 includes a rear display unit 16a provided on the rear surface of the camera 1, and an electronic viewfinder 21 having a finder display unit 16b and an eyepiece 21a. The user can arbitrarily switch between the rear display unit 16a and the electronic viewfinder 21 to display an image.

[0013] The camera 1 also has a camera shake correction unit 17 that corrects image shake caused by camera shake such as hand shake by moving (shifting) the image sensor 11 in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis 31 of the photographing optical system 32, and a gyro sensor 18 as a vibration detection means that detects the angular velocity of the camera shake. The camera 1 further has a camera control unit 10 that controls the overall operation of the camera 1 and the interchangeable lens 3.

[0014] The camera control unit 10 is a microcomputer configured with one or more processors such as CPUs, and includes a shake correction control unit 10a and a low-pass filter (LPF) drive selection unit 10b. The camera control unit 10 is capable of communicating with a lens control unit 30 (described later) through a lens contact 20. The camera control unit 10 and the image processing unit 12 configure a processing device, the camera control unit 10 corresponds to the shooting control means, and the camera control unit 10 and the image processing unit 12 correspond to the image generation means.

[0015] The interchangeable lens 3 has a photographing optical system 32 including a variable magnification lens, an aperture, a shift lens 36, and a focus lens, a focus driving unit 33 that drives the focus lens, and a lens shake correction unit 34 that drives and shifts the shift lens 36 as an optical element in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis 31. The shift lens 36 may be shifted in a direction including a component perpendicular to the optical axis 31 by rotating around the optical axis 31. Furthermore, the lens control unit 30 controls the operation of the interchangeable lens 3 in response to commands from the camera control unit 10, etc. The lens control unit 30 is also a microcomputer composed of one or more processors such as CPUs.

[0016] In the camera 1 and interchangeable lens 3 configured as above, when the release switch included in the operation unit 15 is half-pressed, the camera control unit 10 performs shooting preparation operations such as automatic exposure control (AE) and autofocus (AF) together with the lens control unit 30. At this time, the camera control unit 10 also controls the LPF drive, which will be described later.

[0017] Thereafter, when the release switch is fully pressed, the camera control unit 10 performs a still image shooting operation. In the still image shooting operation, as shown in FIG. 1(b), the exposure amount of light from the shooting optical system 32 to the image sensor 11 is controlled by moving the front and rear shutter curtains included in the shutter 14. An image signal output as an analog signal from the image sensor 11 is converted to a digital signal by an A / D converter (not shown) and input to the image processing unit 12. The image processing unit 12 performs white balance, gamma correction, interpolation calculation, etc. on the digital signal to generate still image data. The still image data generated by the image processing unit 12 is stored in the memory unit 13 and displayed on the display unit 16.

[0018] Next, image blur correction will be described. First, image blur correction in the camera 1 will be described. The gyro sensor 18 is an angular velocity sensor that detects the angular velocity of the horizontal (pan) and vertical (tilt) rotations of the camera 1 and outputs an angular velocity signal. When the direction in which the optical axis 31 shown in FIG. 1(b) extends is the Z-axis direction, the rotation in the pan direction is the rotation in the X direction around the Y axis, and the rotation in the tilt direction is the rotation in the Y direction around the X axis. The gyro sensor 18 also detects the rotation around the Z axis (roll direction) and outputs an angular velocity signal.

[0019] The shake correction control unit 10a in the camera control unit 10 performs filtering and integration processing on the angular velocity signal to calculate the amount of angular shake, and outputs a sensor drive signal and a lens drive signal for correcting image shake corresponding to the amount of angular shake to the camera shake correction unit 17. The camera shake correction unit 17 corrects (reduces) image shake caused by camera shake in the pan direction, tilt direction, and roll direction by shifting the image sensor 11 within the XY plane or rotating it around the Z axis in response to the sensor drive signal.

[0020] Meanwhile, in the interchangeable lens 3, the lens shake correction unit 34 receives a lens drive signal from the camera control unit 10 (shake correction control unit 10a) via the lens control unit 30, and drives the shift lens 36 to shift within the XY plane in response to the lens drive signal. This corrects image shake caused by camera shake in the pan direction and tilt direction.

[0021] 2(a), (b) and 3(a), (b) will be used to explain LPF driving of image sensor 11 for obtaining a low-pass filter effect using camera shake correction unit 17. Figures 2(a) and (b) show an enlarged view of a portion of image sensor 11, showing only four pixels: B pixel 11a, G pixel 11b, G pixel 11c, and R pixel 11d.

[0022] In Fig. 2(a), a pixel group consisting of four pixels 11a to 11d includes an R pixel, two G pixels, and a B pixel arranged in a matrix at an interval of pixel pitch p, and a plurality of such pixel groups are arranged in the X and Y directions on the image sensor 11. When performing LPF driving, the camera shake correction unit 17 moves the image sensor 11 at a uniform speed on a circular orbit (hereinafter referred to as a circular orbit) with a diameter d, as indicated by an arc arrow 101 in Fig. 2(a). In the following description, moving the image sensor 11 at a uniform speed on a circular orbit is referred to as circular driving of the image sensor 11. The circular orbit indicated by the arrow 101 passes through approximately the center of the four pixels 11a to 11d, and the diameter d is expressed by the following formula (1).

[0023] d=p / √2 (1) When the image sensor 11 is driven circularly during exposure of the image sensor 11 for still image shooting (still image exposure), the light beam from the subject that would otherwise only be incident on the B pixel 11a is uniformly incident on the four pixels 11a to 11d. By making the light beam from the subject incident on a plurality of pixels of different colors in the image sensor 11, it is possible to obtain an LPF effect equivalent to the optical LPF effect. This is the LPF drive of the image sensor 11.

[0024] In order to obtain the LPF effect by the LPF drive of the image sensor 11, it is sufficient to perform at least one cycle of circular drive of the image sensor 11 during exposure of a still image, but it is preferable to perform multiple cycles of circular drive during exposure of a still image. If multiple cycles of circular drive are not performed, the amount of light beam incident on the four pixels will not be uniform, resulting in uneven brightness. In contrast, by performing multiple cycles of circular drive and performing circular drive at a high frequency with a cycle sufficiently short relative to the exposure time of the image sensor 11, the difference in the amount of light beam incident on each pixel will be reduced, and a sufficient LPF effect can be obtained.

[0025] By performing high-frequency circular driving, it is not necessary to change the frequency of the circular driving according to the exposure time, and control can be simplified. In this embodiment, a mode in which the LPF driving of the image sensor 11 (and the shift lens 36 as described later) is performed in order to obtain the LPF effect is called the LPF driving mode. In particular, in this embodiment, a good LPF effect is obtained by performing high-frequency circular driving of the image sensor 11 in the LPF driving mode. Note that although the diameter d of the circular orbit in the circular drive is expressed by formula (1), other diameters may be used, and the LPF effect can be strengthened by increasing the diameter. In addition, in a case where image data is generated using imaging signals from some intermittent pixels of the image sensor 11 in order to display a preview image on the display unit 16 before still image capture, the diameter d may be set according to the interval between the some pixels.

[0026] Also, instead of circular driving, the LPF effect may be obtained by rectangular driving of the image sensor 11 as shown in Fig. 2(b). That is, as shown by a rectangular arrow 102, the image sensor 11 may be driven at a constant speed in a rectangular shape with one side having a length of p.

[0027] A method of driving the image sensor 11 by the camera shake correction unit 17 will be described with reference to Figs. 3(a) and (b). Fig. 3(a) shows the time change of the drive amount of the image sensor 11 in the X direction and the Y direction with a solid line and a dashed line. The image sensor 11 is driven by a sine wave drive amount with an amplitude of d / 2 and a frequency of f [Hz] in the X direction. The image sensor 11 is also driven by a sine wave drive amount with an amplitude of d / 2 and a frequency of f [Hz] in the Y direction, but is driven with a phase shift of π / 2 from the X direction. Fig. 3(b) shows the movement of the center of the image sensor 11 in the XY plane when the drive shown in Fig. 3(a) is performed. As shown in Fig. 3(b), the center of the image sensor 11 moves in a circular orbit with a radius of d / 2, which corresponds to the circular drive with a diameter of d as shown in Fig. 2(a). The drive method of the image sensor 11 is not limited to the circular drive or the rectangular drive as long as the exposure time of each pixel included in one pixel group is approximately equal. For example, the pixels 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d may be driven in an approximately figure-8 shape so as to be repeatedly exposed in this order.

[0028] Next, the LPF drive of the shift lens 36 by the lens shake correction unit 34 will be described. In the LPF drive mode, the lens shake correction unit 34 obtains the LPF effect by driving the shift lens 36 at a high frequency so that the light beams condensed toward each pixel shown in FIG. 2(a) move as shown by the circular arrow 101. The driving method of the shift lens 36 at this time differs depending on the sensitivity of the light beam movement on the image sensor to the amount of movement of the shift lens 36, but the shift lens 36 may be circularly driven by performing sine wave driving in each of the X direction and the Y direction as shown in FIG. 3(a). The LPF effect may also be obtained by driving the shift lens 36 at a high frequency so that the light beams condensed toward each pixel shown in FIG. 2(b) move as shown by the rectangular arrow 102.

[0029] In the above-described LPF driving, there is a risk of the perceived resolution of the captured image being reduced by driving the image sensor 11 and the shift lens 36 at high frequencies. Although the occurrence of moire in a part of the captured image is suppressed by LPF driving, the perceived resolution of the image area where no moire occurs is also reduced.

[0030] Therefore, in this embodiment, a mode (hereinafter referred to as a moiré reduction mode) is provided in which continuous shooting (multiple shooting) is performed while switching between ON and OFF of LPF drive, and image processing is performed to further reduce moiré. Specifically, in the moiré reduction mode, the camera control unit 10 judges the presence or absence of moiré in the image shot with LPF drive OFF after continuous shooting. If no moiré is present, an image with high resolution obtained with LPF drive OFF is output. On the other hand, if moiré is present, an image is output in which the area where moiré occurs in the image shot with LPF drive OFF is replaced with an image without moiré obtained by shooting with LPF drive ON.

[0031] FIG. 4 shows an example of a shooting scene. This shooting scene includes multiple people, and the clothes worn by person 41 have a regular striped pattern. Such striped patterns are generally prone to generating moire. When this shooting scene is shot in the moire reduction mode, an image shot with LPF drive ON shown in FIG. 5 (hereinafter referred to as the second image) and an image shot with LPF drive OFF shown in FIG. 6 (hereinafter referred to as the first image) are obtained. At this time, shooting with LPF drive ON and OFF may be performed once each, or two or more times. In this embodiment, shooting is performed once each.

[0032] In the second image in Figure 5, the occurrence of moire is suppressed but the resolution is reduced, whereas in the first image in Figure 6, the resolution is high but moire occurs.

[0033] The camera control unit 10 determines whether or not moire occurs in the first image, and if moire does occur, the area where moire occurs (hereinafter referred to as the moire area). Moire occurs in the area of ​​the shirt worn by person 41 in the first image of Fig. 6. For this reason, the camera control unit 10 causes the image processing unit 12 to perform image processing for replacing the moire area in the first image with an image area corresponding to the moire area in the second image of Fig. 5, thereby generating a new image (third image: hereinafter referred to as the composite image) shown in Fig. 7.

[0034] By shooting in the above-described moire reduction mode, the occurrence of moire is suppressed and a high-resolution composite image can be obtained.

[0035] 8 shows a process for photographing in the moire reduction mode. The camera control unit 10, which serves as a computer, executes this process according to a program.

[0036] When the user presses the release switch all the way down (release ON) in step S101, the camera control unit 10 determines in step S102 whether or not the moiré reduction mode is set. The moiré reduction mode is set by the user operating a mode setting switch included in the operation unit 15. If the moiré reduction mode is not set, the camera control unit 10 performs normal shooting in step S107. Thereafter, in step S106, the captured image is output to the memory unit 13 and / or the display unit 16 (rear display unit 16a), and this process ends.

[0037] On the other hand, if the moire reduction mode is set in step S102, the camera control unit 10 performs continuous shooting (shooting at least once each) while switching the LPF drive ON and OFF in step S103.

[0038] In the subsequent step S104, the camera control unit 10 judges whether or not moiré occurs in the first image obtained by shooting with the LPF drive OFF, and judges the moiré area. If it is judged that moiré occurs, the camera control unit 10 causes the image processing unit 12 to generate the above-mentioned composite image in step S105. Then, the process proceeds to step S106, where the composite image is output to the memory unit 13 and the display unit 16, and this process ends.

[0039] If it is determined in step S104 that no moire has occurred, then in step S108 the camera control unit 10 selects the first image obtained by shooting with LPF drive OFF, and proceeds to step S106 to output the selected first image to the memory unit 13 and / or the display unit 16, thereby terminating this process.

[0040] According to the present embodiment described above, even when a subject that causes moire is photographed, it is possible to obtain a third image that suppresses the occurrence of moire while maintaining the sense of resolution by combining the first and second images.

[0041] In this embodiment, a method for generating a third image by image processing for replacing a moire region in a first image with an image region in a second image corresponding to the moire region has been described, but other methods may be used as long as the image processing generates a third image by synthesizing the first image and the second image. For example, instead of replacing the moire region in the first image with the image region in the second image corresponding to the moire region, a method for synthesizing (weighted addition) the moire region in the first image with the image region in the second image corresponding to the moire region may be used. In this method, since the moire becomes noticeable when the ratio of the moire region in the first image is large, it is preferable to make the ratio of the moire region in the first image smaller than the ratio of the image region corresponding to the moire region in the second image.

[0042] Also, the blending ratio may be changed according to the degree of influence of the moiré region of the first image on the image. For example, the blending ratio of the moiré region of the first image may be changed between when the moiré region is located at a first position and when the moiré region is located at a second position that is farther from the center of the image than the first position. In this case, since the moiré becomes more noticeable the closer the moiré region is to the center of the image, the blending ratio may be set smaller when the moiré region is located at the first position than when the moiré region is located at the second position.

[0043] Furthermore, the composition ratio of the moiré region of the first image may be changed between when the size of the moiré region is a first size and when the size of the moiré region is a second size smaller than the first size. In this case, since the larger the moiré region is, the more noticeable the moiré is, the composition ratio may be set smaller when the size of the moiré region is the first size than when the size of the moiré region is the second size. Based on a similar concept, the composition ratio of the moiré region of the first image may be changed depending on the combination of the position and size of the moiré region.

[0044] In addition, the method of determining whether or not moiré occurs in this embodiment is not limited to a specific method, but the determination process of step S104 may be performed based on the position and size of the moiré region. For example, if the position and size of the moiré region are such that moiré is not noticeable, it may be determined that moiré does not occur and the process may proceed to step S108. EXAMPLES

[0045] Next, a second embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, when determining whether or not moire occurs in the first image (FIG. 6) obtained by shooting in the moire reduction mode with LPF drive OFF in step S104 in FIG. 8, the spatial frequency of the first image is measured and obtained. In general, the higher the spatial frequency of an image, the more likely it is that moire will occur.

[0046] For this reason, in this embodiment, it is determined that moire occurs in an area where the spatial frequency acquired in the first image is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (threshold value), and the area is determined to be a moire area. EXAMPLES

[0047] Next, a third embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, when determining whether or not moire occurs in the first image (FIG. 6) in step S104 in FIG. 8, the image processing unit 12 first performs image processing for reducing the overall resolution of the first image. As a result, the image shown in FIG. 9 is obtained.

[0048] The rate at which the resolution is reduced in this image processing is set to a value that will obtain a resolution equivalent to that of the second image (FIG. 5) obtained by shooting with LPF drive ON. The camera control unit 10 then compares the second image with the image with the reduced resolution (FIG. 9), and determines whether moiré has occurred and the moiré area based on the difference between the two. EXAMPLES

[0049] Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, in order to determine whether or not moire occurs in the first image (FIG. 6) in step S104 of FIG. 8, information relating to the characteristics of the image in which moire occurs is stored (held) in advance in the camera control unit 10. For example, hundreds to thousands of patterns of information relating to the characteristics of the image in which moire occurs are stored (held) as learning data. Then, the camera control unit 10 determines whether or not moire occurs in the first image and the moire area by comparing the first image with the characteristics of the stored image in which moire occurs.

[0050] In the above embodiments, the processing device is built into the camera 1, but the processing device may be configured as a personal computer separate from the camera. In this case, the processing device causes the camera to capture an image via communication, and the processing device receives the image generated by the camera via communication and determines whether or not moiré is present in the first image and generates a third image.

[0051] The above embodiment includes the following configurations.

[0052] (Configuration 1) A processing device used for an imaging device having an imaging element for capturing an image of a subject through an optical system, the imaging device being capable of capturing an image by moving at least one of the imaging element and an optical element included in the optical system in order to obtain a low-pass filter effect, the processing device comprising: an imaging control means for controlling the photographing device to photograph the subject without moving either the imaging element or the optical element to generate a first image, and to photograph the subject while moving at least one of the elements to generate a second image; 13. A processing device comprising: an image generating means for generating a third image by combining the first image and the second image when it is determined that the first image contains moire. (Configuration 2) The processing device according to configuration 1, characterized in that the image generating means generates the third image by combining a moire region in the first image containing the moire with an image region in the second image corresponding to the moire region. (Configuration 3) The image generating means includes: Obtaining a spatial frequency of the first image; 3. The processing device according to configuration 1 or 2, wherein it is determined that the moire is included in an area of ​​the first image where the spatial frequency is greater than a predetermined value. (Configuration 4) The image generating means includes: performing image processing on the first image to reduce its resolution; 3. The processing device according to configuration 1 or 2, wherein the processing device determines whether the first image contains the moire pattern based on a difference between the image with reduced resolution and the second image. (Configuration 5) The image generating means includes: Holds information about images, including moire, 3. The processing device according to configuration 1 or 2, characterized in that it is determined that the first image contains the moire by comparing the first image with the information. (Configuration 6) 6. The processing device according to any one of configurations 1 to 5, wherein the photographing control means moves the at least one element in a circular or rectangular orbit for a plurality of periods during exposure of the imaging element. (Configuration 7) A processing device according to any one of configurations 1 to 6; An imaging device comprising the imaging element.

[0053] (Other Examples) The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that implements one or more of the functions.

[0054] The embodiments described above are merely representative examples, and various modifications and alterations are possible for each embodiment when implementing the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0055] 1 Camera 3 Interchangeable lenses 10 Camera control section 11 Image sensor 12 Image processing section 17 Camera shake correction section 34 Lens shake correction unit

Claims

1. A processing device used for an imaging device having an imaging element for capturing an image of a subject through an optical system, the imaging device being capable of capturing an image by moving at least one of the imaging element and an optical element included in the optical system in order to obtain a low-pass filter effect, the processing device comprising: an imaging control means for controlling the imaging device to capture an image of the subject without moving either the imaging element or the optical element to generate a first image, and to capture an image of the subject while moving at least one of the elements to generate a second image; and an image generating unit configured to generate a third image by combining the first image and the second image when it is determined that the first image contains moire.

2. 2 . The processing device according to claim 1 , wherein the image generating means generates the third image by combining a moire region in the first image including the moire with an image region in the second image corresponding to the moire region.

3. The image generating means includes: Obtaining a spatial frequency of the first image; 2. The processing device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined that the moire is included in an area of ​​the first image where the spatial frequency is greater than a predetermined value.

4. The image generating means includes: performing image processing on the first image to reduce its resolution; The processing device according to claim 1 , further comprising: a processor configured to determine whether the first image includes the moire pattern based on a difference between the image with reduced resolution and the second image.

5. The image generating means includes: Holds information about the image, including moiré, The processing device according to claim 1 , further comprising: a processor for determining whether the first image includes the moire pattern by comparing the first image with the information.

6. 2. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said photographing control means moves said at least one element in a circular or rectangular orbit for a plurality of periods during exposure of said image pickup element.

7. A processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6; An imaging device comprising the imaging element.

8. A processing method for an imaging device that has an image sensor that captures an image of a subject through an optical system, and that can capture an image by moving at least one of the image sensor and an optical element included in the optical system to obtain a low-pass filter effect, comprising: a step of causing the photographing device to photograph the subject without moving either the image sensor or the optical element to generate a first image, and causing the photographing device to photograph the subject while moving at least one of the elements to generate a second image; and if it is determined that the first image contains moire, combining the first image and the second image to generate a third image.

9. A program for causing a computer to execute a process according to the control method of claim 8.

Images