Patent ID: 7423684

Claim:
An image pickup apparatus configured to switch between color and black & white photographing modes, comprising: an image pickup optical system; an image pickup element that receives a light through the image pickup optical system and opto-electronically converts the received light; a first luminance detecting unit that detects a luminance of a photographed object based on a signal from the image pickup element; a second luminance detecting unit that detects the luminance of the photographed object by receiving a light without intervention of the image pickup optical system; and a converting mechanism for interposing any one of an infrared cutoff filter and an optical element in an optical path of the image pickup optical system, the infrared cutoff filter being interposed at a time of the color photographing mode, and the optical element being interposed at a time of the black & white photographing mode, wherein the infrared cutoff filter is exchanged with the optical element based on a detected result of the first luminance detecting unit, and the optical element is exchanged with the infrared cutoff filter based on detected results of the first and second luminance detecting units, and wherein the image pickup element is disposed at a position located within a focal depth of the image pickup optical system whether the infrared cutoff filter or the optical element is interposed in the optical path of the image pickup optical system.