Patent ID: 7554075

Claim:
An imaging apparatus comprising: (a) a drive mechanism capable of moving an imaging device subunit, in which an imaging device for creating an image signal associated with a subject is mounted, in a first direction and a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction; (b) a first actuator for moving the imaging device subunit in the first direction; (c) a second actuator for moving the imaging device subunit in the second direction; (d) sensing means for detecting the direction of gravity; and (e) dust-removing means for shaking off dust adhering to the imaging device subunit by moving the imaging device subunit using at least one of the first and second actuators; wherein the dust-removing means has (e-1) setting means for setting a direction of motion in which the imaging device subunit is moved, based on the direction of gravity detected by the sensing means and (e-2) selecting means for selecting an actuator used to drive the imaging device subunit in the direction of motion set by the setting means from the first and second actuators.