Patent ID: 8164680

Claim:
An imaging system comprising an interchangeable lens and a camera body, the interchangeable lens comprising: an optical system that includes a focus lens capable of moving backward and forward in an optical axis direction, and is operable to generate an optical image of an object, a first communication unit; and a lens controller operable to control drive of the focus lens; and the camera body comprising: a second communication unit capable of communicating with the first communication unit; an imaging element operable to generate an image signal from the optical image, and a main body controller operable to transmit a reference signal for providing a reference of a driving start timing of the focus lens to the lens controller through the second communication unit and the first communication unit, wherein the main body controller transmits the reference signal to the lens controller during a period for which neither communication of predetermined signals other than the reference signal nor process related to the communication is performed between the first communication unit and the second communication unit, and wherein the lens controller controls the drive of the focus lens based on a timing provided by the reference signal received from the main body controller.