Patent ID: 7489343

Claim:
An electronic camera comprising: an image pickup section converting light received from an object through a lens into an electrical signal to generate image data; a displaying section displaying the image data; a release section which has a standby mode, a preparation mode, and a shooting mode, the release section switching from the standby mode to the preparation mode and instructing the image pickup section to prepare for shooting when user operation is received, and the release section switching from the preparation mode to the shooting mode and instructing the image pickup section to start shooting when the user operation is received; and a shooting mode controlling section setting the image pickup section to an appropriate mode for moving-image photographing when the release section is in the standby mode, and when the release section is switched to the preparation mode, the shooting mode controlling section setting the image pickup section to an appropriate mode for still-image photographing before the release section is switched to the shooting mode, wherein the image pickup section includes an image sensor having a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements and a plurality of charge transfer electrodes; the appropriate mode for moving-image photographing is a mode in which blooming is substantially prevented by control of electric potential difference in the image sensor; and the appropriate mode for still-image photographing is a mode in which the control of electric potential difference is not performed.