Patent ID: 7298408

Claim:
An imaging apparatus, comprising: an image optical pick-up device including vertical charge transfer paths and configured to photoelectrically convert an incident light image of a subject of a photograph and to output a conversion result as image signals; a first driving mechanism configured to drive the image optical pick-up device and having a rapid sweep function for rapidly draining unnecessary electric charges remaining in the image optical pick-up device through the vertical charge transfer paths; a shutter configured to open and close a light passage for passing the incident light image of the subject of the photograph into the image optical pick-up device; a second driving mechanism configured to generate pulses to drive the shutter; and a driving current controlling mechanism configured to control the image optical pick-up device and the shutter such that under predetermined environmental imaging conditions a pulse for closing the shutter is shifted earlier in time, and thereby a first duration in which the first driving mechanism operates the rapid sweep function and a second duration in which the second driving mechanism generates the pulse for closing the shutter do not overlap under the predetermined imaging environmental conditions.