Patent ID: 7680403

Claim:
An image pickup apparatus, comprising: an image sensor for acquiring subject images via a photographing lens; a shift mechanism, holding the image sensor, capable of moving the image sensor in a first direction orthogonal to the optical axis of the photographing lens, and in a second direction that is different from. the first direction; an optical element, arranged in front of the image sensor, that is displaced by the shift mechanism together with the image sensor; a drive circuit including a first actuator for driving the shift mechanism along a first direction, a second actuator for driving the shift mechanism along a second direction, and a driver for supplying electric power to the first actuator and the second actuator; a camera shake sensor for detecting vibration applied to the imaging apparatus; a camera shake compensation circuit for providing a control signal for a camera shake compensation operation according to output of the camera shake sensor; a controller for providing a control signal for a dust removal operation for driving the shift mechanism along a specified direction a plurality of times, the controller disconnecting a power supply to the camera shake sensor before driving the shift mechanism to execute the dust removal operation.