METHOD OF AUTOMATIC OBJECT DETECTION IN IMAGE

An image is divided into a plurality of subdivision areas. A focus evaluation value representative of the high frequency component contained in the electrical signal from the CCD is calculated for each of the subdivision areas. The object distance is calculated for the respective subdivision areas based on the focus evaluation value. A target object is extracted based on the calculated object distance. The target object is focused. During the focusing operation, when a new object having an object distance smaller than that of the target object is detected in any of remote subdivision areas which have an object distance larger than that of the target object, the target object is re-selected.