Patent ID: 8441565

Claim:
An image pickup apparatus comprising: a plurality of pixel units, wherein each of the pixel units includes: a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements each producing electric charges corresponding to incident light; a plurality of transfer transistors respectively corresponding to the photoelectric conversion elements and each transferring electric charges generated at the corresponding photoelectric conversion element; and a charge storage portion coupled with the photoelectric conversion elements through the transfer transistors and storing electric charges generated at each of the photoelectric conversion elements, wherein each of the pixel units further includes a plurality of coupling transistors coupling together the charge storage portions of two pixel units of the pixel units, wherein each of the pixel units is coupled with at least one of the coupling transistors, wherein the image pickup apparatus further comprises a scanning circuit switching on or off the transfer transistors and the coupling transistors included in each of the pixel units, wherein the image pickup apparatus has normal read mode and lower sensitivity read mode as read modes for individually reading electric charges generated at each photoelectric conversion element of the pixel units on a photoelectric conversion element-by-photoelectric conversion element basis, wherein when reading electric charges of a first photoelectric conversion element included in a first pixel unit to be read in the normal read mode, the scanning circuit turns on a transfer transistor corresponding to the first photoelectric conversion element and turns off every coupling transistor coupled with the charge storage portion of the first pixel unit, and wherein when reading electric charges of the first photoelectric conversion element in the lower sensitivity read mode, the scanning circuit turns on a transfer transistor corresponding to the first photoelectric conversion element and turns on at least one coupling transistor coupled with the charge storage portion of the first pixel unit.