Patent ID: 7349014

Claim:
An image pickup apparatus comprising: an image pickup apparatus body; a power switch provided in said image pickup apparatus body; a mirror supported by a hinge axis provided in said image pickup apparatus body; an image pickup optical system provided in said image pickup apparatus body; a foreign substance detecting device that detects a foreign substance in said image pickup apparatus body; and a controller that provides control such that said foreign substance detecting device is activated automatically when the power switch is turned from an OFF state to an ON state; wherein the foreign substance detecting device includes a lighting device for illuminating the image pickup optical system, wherein the lighting device is located between a lens and the image pickup optical system; wherein the controller actuates the hinge axis so that the mirror is movable between a mirror up position and a mirror down position; and wherein the controller actuates the hinge axis so that the mirror is in the mirror up position when the foreign substance detecting device is activated and the image pickup optical system is illuminated with the lighting device.