Imaging apparatus

The present disclosure relates to an imaging device.

Patent Document 1 discloses an imaging device that detects the amount of rotation operation of a focus ring that is not mechanically connected to the focus lens, and moves / stops the focus lens in the optical axis direction based on the detection result. .. The image pickup apparatus of Patent Document 1 controls the responsiveness of a linear focus change to a detected rotation operation amount of the focus ring at least according to the depth of focus when moving / stopping the focus lens in the optical axis direction.

<p num="0003"><patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-287038</text></patcit></p>

<p num="0004"> The present disclosure provides an imaging device that makes it easy to adjust the focus even in the macro region and has a good operability when performing a manual focus operation.</p>

<p num="0005"> The imaging device of the present disclosure includes a focus lens that adjusts the focusing state of a subject, an operation unit that accepts an operation of a user, and a drive unit that drives the focus lens based on the operation of the operation unit. The drive unit drives the focus lens so that the amount of operation of the operation unit when moving the focus position by a unit distance is constant regardless of the subject distance.</p>

<p num="0006"> The image pickup apparatus in the present disclosure is easy to focus and adjust even in the macro region when performing a manual focus operation, and has a good operability.</p>

<figref num="1">Front perspective view of the digital camera according to the first embodiment</figref><figref num="2">Rear view of the digital camera according to the first embodiment</figref><figref num="3">Block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the digital camera according to the first embodiment</figref><figref num="4">The figure which shows the signal which detects the rotation of a manual focus ring</figref><figref num="5A">Diagram showing the relationship between subject distance and MF operation amount</figref><figref num="5B">Diagram showing the relationship between subject distance and MF operation amount</figref><figref num="6">The figure which shows the relationship between the subject distance and the focus movement amount</figref><figref num="7A">The figure explaining the focus movement amount control</figref><figref num="7B">The figure explaining the focus movement amount control</figref><figref num="7C">The figure explaining the focus movement amount control</figref><figref num="8">A flowchart for explaining an operation of changing the drive of the focus lens according to the amount of blurring of the digital camera according to the first embodiment.</figref>

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. However, more detailed explanation than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed explanations of already well-known matters and duplicate explanations for substantially the same configuration may be omitted. This is to avoid unnecessary redundancy of the following description and to facilitate the understanding of those skilled in the art.

It should be noted that the accompanying drawings and the following description are provided for those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims.

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings below, the same or similar parts are designated by the same or similar reference numerals. However, the drawings are schematic, and the ratio of each dimension may differ from the actual one. Therefore, the specific dimensions, etc. should be determined in consideration of the following explanation. In addition, it goes without saying that the drawings include parts having different dimensional relationships and ratios from each other.

(1. Configuration) Hereinafter, the configuration of the digital camera 100 will be described with reference to the drawings.

(1-1. Configuration of Digital Camera 100) FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the digital camera 100. The digital camera 100 includes a digital camera body 102 and an interchangeable lens 301. Further, the digital camera 100 is provided with an operation unit 180 such as a release button 181, a power switch 183 and a mode dial 184 on the upper surface thereof.

Further, the digital camera 100 includes a microphone unit 111 on the upper surface thereof. The microphone unit 111 includes two microphones, the microphone 111L and the microphone 111R. Of these, the microphone 111L and the microphone 111R are located side by side in the left-right direction on the upper surface of the main body of the digital camera 100.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the digital camera 100. The digital camera 100 is provided with an operation unit 180 such as a center button 185 and a cross button 186 on the back surface thereof. Further, the digital camera 100 includes a display unit 190 and a viewfinder 191 on the back surface thereof.

FIG. 3 is an electrical configuration diagram of the digital camera 100. The digital camera 100 includes a digital camera body 102 and an interchangeable lens 301. The digital camera body 102 includes a CCD image sensor 143, an AFE (analog front end) 144, an audio input system 110, a digital image / audio processing unit 120, a controller 130, RAM 150, an external storage medium 160, ROM 170, and an operation unit 180. It is equipped with a display unit 190, a viewfinder 191 and a speaker 195.

The digital camera 100 generates image information and audio signals from information obtained from the outside. The image information is generated by the image input system 140. The voice signal is generated by the voice input system 110. The generated image information and audio signal are A / D converted, processed by the digital image / audio processing unit 120, and then recorded in an external storage medium 160 such as a memory card. The image information recorded on the external storage medium 160 is displayed on the display unit 190 or the viewfinder 191 in response to the operation of the operation unit 180 by the user. Here, the image information may be displayed on both the display unit 190 and the viewfinder 191. The audio signal recorded on the external storage medium 160 receives the operation of the operation unit 180 by the user and is output from the speaker 195.

The details of each part shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be described below.

The image input system 140 includes an interchangeable lens 301, a CCD image sensor 143, and an AFE 144.

The interchangeable lens 301 is an optical system having a plurality of lenses. The interchangeable lens 301 includes a lens controller 320, a lens mount 330, a focus lens 310, a focus lens drive unit 311, a camera shake correction lens 313, a camera shake correction lens drive unit 314, an aperture 316, an aperture drive unit 317, and an MF (manual focus) operation ring. It is equipped with 312, a gyro sensor 325 that can detect the amount of blur, and so on. The focus lens 310 and the image stabilization lens 313 are lenses that constitute an optical system.

The lens controller 320 controls the entire interchangeable lens 301. The lens controller 320 can control the focus lens driving unit 311 so as to receive an operation by the user of the MF operation ring 312 and drive the focus lens 310. The lens controller 320 can communicate with the controller 130 via the lens mount 330. The controller 130 may be configured by a hard-wired electronic circuit, or may be configured by a microcomputer using a program or the like.

The lens mount 330, together with the body mount 340 included in the digital camera body 102, is a connecting member for mechanically and electrically connecting the interchangeable lens 301 and the digital camera body 102. When the interchangeable lens 301 and the digital camera body 102 are mechanically and electrically connected, the lens controller 320 and the controller 130 are in a communicable state.

The focus lens 310 is a lens for changing the focus state of a subject image formed on the CCD image sensor 143 by being incident on the optical system of the interchangeable lens 301. The focus lens 310 may have any number of lenses and any number of groups. The focus lens driving unit 311 drives the focus lens 310 to move forward and backward along the optical axis of the optical system based on the control signal notified from the lens controller 320. The focus lens drive unit 311 can be realized by, for example, a stepping motor, a DC motor, an ultrasonic motor, or the like.

The diaphragm 316 is configured to be able to open and close a plurality of mechanical blades. The diaphragm 316 is an adjusting member capable of adjusting the amount of light incident on the optical system of the interchangeable lens 301. The aperture drive unit 317 drives the aperture 316 to change the open / closed state of the mechanical blades based on the control signal notified from the lens controller 320. The diaphragm drive unit 317 can be realized by, for example, a stepping motor, a DC motor, an ultrasonic motor, or the like.

The MF operation ring 312 is an operation member provided on the outer surface of the interchangeable lens 301. The MF operating ring 312 is configured to rotate relative to the interchangeable lens 301. The rotation position and rotation speed of the MF operation ring 312 are detected by a detection unit (not shown) and notified to the lens controller 320. The lens controller 320 can supply a drive control signal to the focus lens drive unit 311 based on the notified rotation position and rotation speed of the MF operation ring 312. The lens controller 320 supplies a drive control signal to the focus lens drive unit 311 so as to drive the focus lens 310 by operating the MF operation ring 312.

The body mount 340 is a connecting member for mechanically and electrically connecting the interchangeable lens 301 and the digital camera body 102 together with the lens mount 330 included in the interchangeable lens 301. When the interchangeable lens 301 and the digital camera body 102 are mechanically and electrically connected, the lens controller 320 and the controller 130 are in a communicable state. The body mount 340 notifies the lens controller 320 of the exposure synchronization signal and other control signals received from the controller 130 via the lens mount 330. Further, the body mount 340 notifies the controller 130 of the signal received from the lens controller 320 via the lens mount 330.

The CCD image sensor 143 captures a subject image formed through the interchangeable lens 301 and generates image information. A large number of photodiodes are arranged two-dimensionally (in a matrix) on the light receiving surface of the CCD image sensor 143. In addition, R, G, or B primary color filters are arranged corresponding to each photodiode. The R, G, and B primary color filters are arranged in a predetermined array structure. The light from the subject to be imaged is imaged on the light receiving surface of the CCD image sensor 143 after passing through the interchangeable lens 301. The imaged subject image is converted into color information sorted into R, G, or B according to the amount of light incident on each photodiode. As a result, image information showing the entire subject image is generated. Each photodiode corresponds to the pixel of the CCD image sensor 143. However, the color information actually output from each photodiode is any of the primary color information of R, G, and B. Therefore, the color to be expressed in each pixel is the primary color information (color, amount of light) output from the photodiode corresponding to each pixel and the photodiodes around it in the digital image / audio processing unit 120 in the subsequent stage. Generated based on. The CCD image sensor 143 can generate image information of a new frame at regular intervals when the digital camera 100 is in the shooting mode.

In AFE144, noise suppression by correlated double sampling for image information read from CCD image sensor 143, amplification to the input range width of A / D converter by analog gain controller, A / D conversion by A / D converter. Is given. After that, the AFE 144 outputs the image information to the digital image / audio processing unit 120.

The voice input system 110 includes a microphone unit 111 and an analog voice processing unit 115. The microphone unit 111 includes microphones 111L and 111R. The microphone unit 111 converts an acoustic signal into an electric signal by each microphone and inputs it to the analog voice processing unit 115. The analog audio processing unit 115 A / D-converts the processed audio signal by the A / D converter and outputs the processed audio signal to the digital image / audio processing unit 120.

The digital image / audio processing unit 120 performs various processes on the image information output from the AFE 144 and the audio signal output from the analog audio processing unit 115. For example, the digital image / audio processing unit 120 performs gamma correction, white balance correction, scratch correction, coding processing, and the like on the image information according to the instruction from the controller 130. Further, the digital image / audio processing unit 120 performs various processes on the audio signal according to the instruction from the controller 130. The digital image / audio processing unit 120 may be realized by a hard-wired electronic circuit, or may be realized by a microcomputer or the like that executes a program. The digital image / audio processing unit 120 may be realized as one semiconductor chip integrally with the controller 130 and the like.

The digital image / audio processing unit 120 performs arithmetic processing on the output of the microphone unit 111 to perform directional synthesis processing as acoustic zoom processing.

The display unit 190 is arranged on the back surface of the digital camera 100. In the present embodiment, the display unit 190 is a liquid crystal display. The display unit 190 displays an image based on the image information processed by the digital image / audio processing unit 120. The image displayed by the display unit 190 includes a through image and a reproduced image. The through image is an image of a frame continuously newly generated by the CCD image sensor 143 at regular intervals. Normally, when the digital camera 100 is set to the shooting mode and is in the standby state in which still image shooting is not performed or in the moving image shooting state, the digital image / sound processing unit 120 generates the CCD image sensor 143. A through image is generated from the image information. The user can take a picture of the subject while checking the composition of the subject by referring to the through image displayed on the display unit 190. The reproduced image is generated by the digital image / audio processing unit 120 when the digital camera 100 is in the reproduction mode. The reproduced image is an image obtained by reducing a high-pixel recorded image recorded on an external storage medium 160 or the like to a low pixel size according to the size of the display unit 190. The high-pixel image information recorded on the external storage medium 160 is collected by the digital image / audio processing unit 120 based on the image information generated by the CCD image sensor 143 after the release button 181 receives a predetermined operation by the user. Will be generated. The speaker 195 outputs an audio signal recorded on the external storage medium 160. The display contents displayed by the display unit 190 can also be displayed by the viewfinder 191.

The controller 130 controls the operation of the entire digital camera 100 in an integrated manner.

The ROM 170 stores programs related to autofocus control (AF control), automatic exposure control (AE control), strobe light emission control, etc. for execution by the controller 130. The ROM 170 also stores a program for controlling the operation of the entire digital camera 100 as a whole. The ROM 170 also stores various conditions and settings related to the digital camera 100. In the present embodiment, the ROM 170 is a flash ROM.

The controller 130 may be realized by a hard-wired electronic circuit, or may be realized by a microcomputer or the like that executes a program. Further, the controller 130 may be realized as one semiconductor chip integrally with the digital image / audio processing unit 120 and the like. Further, the ROM 170 does not have to exist outside the controller 130 (separately from the controller 130), and may be incorporated inside the controller 130.

The RAM 150 functions as a work memory for the digital image / audio processing unit 120 and the controller 130. RAM150 can be realized by SDRAM or flash memory. The RAM 150 also functions as an internal memory for recording image information, audio signals, and the like.

The external storage medium 160 is an external memory having a non-volatile recording unit such as a flash memory inside. The external storage medium 160 can record data such as image information and audio signals processed by the digital image / audio processing unit 120.

The operation unit 180 is a general term for operation interfaces such as operation buttons and operation dials arranged on the exterior of the digital camera 100. The operation unit 180 accepts operations by the user. For example, the release button 181, the power switch 183, the mode dial 184, the center button 185, and the cross button 186 shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 correspond to this. When the operation unit 180 receives an operation by the user, the operation unit 180 notifies the controller 130 of signals instructing various operations.

The release button 181 is a push-type button that transitions into two stages, a half-pressed state and a fully-pressed state. When the release button 181 is pressed halfway by the user, the controller 130 executes AF (Auto Focus) control and / or AE (Auto Exposure) control, etc., and determines the shooting conditions. In the AF control, the digital image / audio processing unit 120 calculates the contrast value in a predetermined area of the image information. Then, based on this, the controller 130 drives the interchangeable lens 301 and performs feedback control so that the contrast value is maximized. As a result of the AF control, the controller 130 can obtain the focal length to the subject subject to the AF control. Further, as a result of the AF control, the interchangeable lens 301 can form an image of the subject image to be AF controlled on the CCD image sensor 143. Subsequently, when the release button 181 is fully pressed by the user, the controller 130 records the image information captured at the timing of the full press on the external storage medium 160 or the like.

The power switch 183 is a slide-type switch for turning on / off the power supply to each part of the digital camera 100. When the power switch 183 is slid to the right by the user when the power is turned off, the controller 130 supplies power to each part of the digital camera 100 and activates each part. When the power switch 183 is slid to the left by the user when the power is turned on, the controller 130 stops the power supply to each part of the digital camera 100.

The mode dial 184 is a rotary dial. When the mode dial 184 is rotated by the user, the controller 130 switches the operation mode of the digital camera 100 to the operation mode corresponding to the current rotation position of the mode dial 184. The operation mode is, for example, an auto shooting mode, a manual shooting mode, a scene selection mode, and the like.

The central button 185 is a push-type button. When the center button 185 is pressed by the user while the digital camera 100 is in the shooting mode or the playback mode, the controller 130 displays the menu screen on the display unit 190. The menu screen is a screen for allowing the user to set various shooting conditions and playback conditions. When the center button 185 is pressed while the values of the setting items of various conditions are selected by the user on the menu screen, the setting items are determined to the values. The determined setting is stored in the ROM 170.

The cross button 186 includes four push-type buttons provided in the vertical and horizontal directions. The user can select the value of the setting item of various conditions displayed on the menu screen by pressing the button in any direction of the cross button 186.

(1-2. Correspondence with the present invention) The digital camera 100 is an example of the image pickup apparatus of the present invention. The MF operation ring 312 is an example of the operation unit of the present invention. The focus lens drive unit 311 is an example of the drive unit of the present invention. The gyro sensor 325 is an example of the blur detection unit of the present invention. The lens controller 320 is an example of the control unit of the present invention.

(2. Operation) Subsequently, an outline of the operation of the digital camera 100 in the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a detection method when the MF operation ring 312 is operated. When the MF operation ring 312 arranged on the outer periphery of the lens barrel is rotated by the user, a pulse (PI pulse) from the PI (photo interrupter) is output and input to the lens controller 320. The lens controller 320 can detect the rotation direction, rotation speed, and rotation amount of the MF ring from this pulse information.

The lens controller 320 determines whether to drive the focus lens 310 in the infinite direction or the close-up direction according to the rotation direction of the MF operation ring 312, and controls the focus lens driving unit 311. Further, the lens controller 320 determines whether to control the focus lens 310 as "speed control" or "position control" according to the rotation speed (PI pulse output frequency) of the MF operation ring 312, and focuses. Controls the lens drive unit 311. Here, "speed control" controls the focus lens drive unit 311 so that the drive time between infinity and the nearest time becomes a specific time according to the frequency of the PI pulse output. Further, "position control" determines the amount of focus movement according to the number of PI output pulses and controls the focus lens drive unit 311. Therefore, especially with respect to "position control", when determining the amount of focus movement, control peculiar to the macro lens is performed.

As shown in FIG. 5A, in the conventional control of the focus lens, the larger the macro area (the area where the subject distance is closer), the larger the amount of operation of the operation unit when moving the focus position by a unit distance. That is, the amount of focus movement (pulse) per subject distance increases. Here, the focus movement amount is an amount corresponding to the number of pulses, and the unit of the focus movement amount is "pulse". That is, when the user adjusts the focus from infinity to close proximity, even if the MF operation ring 312 is rotated at a constant speed, the change in the subject distance becomes smaller as the macro area becomes larger. Therefore, when adjusting the focus, the user needs to turn the MF operation ring 312 a lot, resulting in poor operability.

In the technique of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 5B, the lens controller 320 calculates the subject distance from the current focus lens position, and the amount of operation of the operation unit when moving the focus position by a unit distance is constant regardless of the subject distance. Control to be. That is, the lens controller 320 controls so that the focus movement amount (pulse) of the unit subject distance becomes a constant amount. By performing such control by the lens controller 320, even if the MF operation ring 312 is rotated at a constant speed, the amount of operation of the operation unit when moving the focus position by a unit distance becomes constant regardless of the subject distance. The focus lens drive unit 311 is controlled.

Next, the technology of the present disclosure will be described with specific examples. FIG. 6 is a graph showing "focus movement amount (pulse) at a depth of focus of 1 Fδ" and "focus movement amount (pulse) at a subject distance of 1 mm" when the MF operation ring 312 is rotated at an ultra-low speed. .. From this graph, the amount of focus movement at a subject distance of 1 mm gradually increases in the macro region closer to the subject distance of 225 mm, and becomes extremely large near the closest subject distance. By the way, such a graph is not obtained except for a macro lens, and the difference between the "focus movement amount (pulse) at a depth of focus of 1 Fδ" and the "focus movement amount (pulse) at a subject distance of 1 mm" is small and has little effect. Therefore, other than the macro lens, there is no problem with the focus movement amount calculated from the conventional "focus movement amount (pulse) of the depth of focus 1Fδ", and the operability is not bad. Here, F of Fδ indicates the F value (f-number), and δ indicates the permissible circle of confusion.

Specific examples will be further described with reference to FIGS. 7A to 7C. Figures 7A to 7C show the amount of focus movement corresponding to one pulse of the number of PI output pulses when the MF operation ring 312 is rotated in the prior art and the technology of the present disclosure at subject distances of 480 mm, 125 mm, and 105 mm. Shown.

Outside the macro region with a subject distance of 480 mm shown in Fig. 7A, when the MF operation ring 312 is rotated at an ultra-low speed, the amount of focus movement corresponding to one pulse of the PI output pulse is 3 pulses at a depth of focus of 0.25 Fδ. It is considerable. When this is converted to the subject distance, it becomes 2.096 mm, and there is no problem with the conventional "focus movement amount (pulse) based on the depth of focus" control.

However, in the macro region, the "focus movement amount (pulse) with a subject distance of 1 mm" gradually increases. In the macro region with a subject distance of 125 mm shown in FIG. 7B, the amount of focus movement is 0.036 mm when the equivalent of 5 pulses with a depth of focus of 0.25 Fδ is converted into the subject distance. Therefore, in this technology, the focus movement amount from the depth of focus is not calculated, but the focus movement amount is calculated so that the focus movement amount (pulse) of the unit subject distance is constant. That is, the amount of focus movement at a subject distance of 1 mm is equivalent to 134 pulses.

Further, at the shortest shooting distance of 105 mm shown in FIG. 7C, the focus movement amount is equivalent to 8 pulses with a depth of focus of 0.25 Fδ, which is 0.015 mm when converted to the subject distance. Similarly, when the focus movement amount is calculated so that the subject distance is constant, the focus movement amount at a subject distance of 1 mm is equivalent to 516 pulses.

The focus movement amount (pulse) with a subject distance of 1 mm can be tuned by changing the MF operation ring 312 according to the rotation speed or by setting parameters. Further, it is also possible to calculate the "focus movement amount based on the depth of focus" and the "focus movement amount based on the subject distance", compare the focus movement amounts, and apply them to the actual control. As a specific example, the "focus movement amount based on the depth of focus" and the "focus movement amount based on the subject distance" are compared, and a value having a large focus movement amount is applied as the final control.

In the focus adjustment at the time of manual focus, conventionally, the focus movement amount is calculated so that the depth of focus becomes constant according to the pulse output amount of the MF operation ring 312. For this reason, the more the subject becomes the macro area, the more the MF operation ring 312 must be turned, the more the subject focus position does not change, the focus adjustment becomes difficult, and the operability is poor. Also, with a macro lens with a long focus stroke, the focus could not be moved from infinity to the closest position without turning the MF operation ring 312 a lot. For this reason, when panning or when deciding the subject composition, it may be rough, so it is not possible to quickly adjust the MF focus, and the operability is poor.

In this way, conventionally, when the user adjusts the MF focus, it has been necessary to turn the MF operation ring more as it gets closer to the macro area. However, the control of the present disclosure as described above enables comfortable MF focus adjustment with a constant amount of rotation even in the macro region.

Next, a technique for changing the drive of the focus lens 310 according to the amount of blurring of the digital camera 100 will be described.

Based on the information from the gyro sensor 325 that can detect the amount of blur, the lens controller 320 calculates whether the amount of blur is a predetermined amount in a certain period of time, and if the amount of blur is less than or equal to the predetermined amount, "No. Judge that it is "1 situation". If the amount of blur is larger than the predetermined amount, it is judged to be the "second situation". That is, depending on the "first situation" and the "second situation", the lens controller 320 switches the focus movement amount (pulse) even when the detection amount by the rotation operation of the MF operation ring 312 by the user is the same.

The "first situation" is assumed to be a state in which the camera is firmly held even in tripod shooting or handheld shooting, and the focus is finely adjusted by manual focus. In the "first situation", the MF focus accuracy (accuracy of focus adjustment by manual focus) is emphasized, and the focus movement amount with respect to the rotation amount of the MF operation ring 312 is reduced. On the other hand, the "second situation" is a state in which the composition of the subject is determined during panning such as handheld shooting, and it is assumed that the focus adjustment is quicker than the fine adjustment of the focus. In the "second situation", the MF focus speed (the speed of focus adjustment by manual focus) is emphasized, and the focus movement amount with respect to the rotation amount of the MF operation ring 312 is increased.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of changing the drive of the focus lens according to the amount of blurring of the digital camera 100. The lens controller 320 calculates the amount of blurring for a certain period based on the information from the gyro sensor 325, and if the amount of blurring is less than or equal to the predetermined amount, it determines that it is the "first situation", and the amount of blurring is greater than the predetermined amount. If it is large, it is judged as "second situation" (S801). The focus lens drive unit 311 is driven in the first state in the first situation (S802). On the other hand, the focus lens drive unit 311 is driven in a second state different from the first state in the second situation (S803). Here, in the first state, the driving amount of the focus lens 310 is smaller than that in the second state, and the focus moving amount is small.

With the above control, if you want to fine-tune the MF focus according to the shooting scene of the user, you can fine-tune the focus, and if you want to make an approximate focus adjustment faster than the fine-tune MF focus, you can focus with good response. Adjustment is possible. That is, the focus can be adjusted according to the shooting conditions.

The determination of the "first situation" and the "second situation" may be made based on the camera shake correction switch on the lens side or the selection information of the camera shake correction mode on the body side. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the focus movement amount is linearly changed according to the amount of blur, instead of completely dividing the "first state" and the "second state" into two.

(Other embodiments) As described above, the first embodiment has been described as an example of the technology disclosed in the present application. However, the technique in the present disclosure is not limited to this, and can be applied to embodiments in which changes, replacements, additions, omissions, etc. have been made. It is also possible to combine the components described in the first embodiment to form a new embodiment.

Since the above-described embodiment is for exemplifying the technique in the present disclosure, various changes, replacements, additions, omissions, etc. can be made within the scope of claims or the equivalent scope thereof.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the digital camera 100 has been described as an example of the imaging device of the present disclosure, but examples of the imaging device of the present disclosure include a movie camera as well as a digital camera.

The image pickup apparatus in the present disclosure is easy to focus and adjust even in the macro region when performing a manual focus operation, and has a good operability. Therefore, the present disclosure is useful as an imaging device or the like.

100 digital camera 102 Digital camera body 110 Voice input system 111 Microphone section 111L microphone 111R microphone 115 Analog audio processing unit 120 Digital image / audio processing unit 130 controller 140 image input system 143 CCD image sensor 150 RAM 160 External storage medium 170 ROM 180 Operation unit 181 release button 183 Power switch 184 mode dial 185 center button 186 Cross button 190 Display 195 speaker 301 Interchangeable Lens 310 focus lens 311 Focus lens drive unit 312 MF operation ring 313 Image stabilization lens 314 Image stabilization lens drive unit 316 aperture 317 Aperture drive 320 Lens controller 325 Gyro sensor 330 lens mount 340 body mount