When a release button is pressed halfway after setting a digital still camera in a sequential shooting mode, photometric elements measure brightness values from sixteen photometric divisions (V1 to V16) of an image shooting field, to obtain brightness distribution of the image shooting field. The brightness distribution is compared with the latitude of an image sensor. If the brightness distribution is wider than the latitude, the number of shoots to be made at one sequential shooting is determined by the ratio of the brightness distribution to the latitude. According to the number of shoots, differences in exposure amount between the exposures are determined. Then exposure conditions such as the aperture size and the exposure time are determined according to the different exposure amounts for the respective exposures. Upon the release button being fully pressed, the given number of shoots are made in continuous succession under the different exposure conditions.