Patent ID: 8081843

Claim:
An image-pickup apparatus which picks up an image of an object, the image pickup apparatus comprising: a processor including: a producing unit for producing a pair of object images, the object images being displaced from each other in accordance with a displacement of the object from an in-focus position in an optical axis direction, wherein the producing unit includes pupil splitter for splitting a pupil area into a pair of areas placed symmetrically with respect to a direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction and to a direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction; and an image combining unit for superposing and combining the pair of object images produced by the producing unit into an image; and a display unit for displaying the image resulting from the combination by the image combining unit, wherein one of the pair of object images is formed through one of the symmetrical paired areas, and the other of the pair of object images is formed through the other of the symmetrical paired areas.