Patent ID: 7636519

Claim:
A lens control system comprising: an endlessly turnable operating member for indicating the position of a movable lens in an optical system for imaging a picture; a relative position detection device which detects the amount of change in the rotational position of the operating member; a temporary target position setting device which sets temporary target positions of the movable lens one after another, which obtains from the relative position detection device the amount of change in the rotational position of the operating member after setting the preceding temporary target position, and which sets, as the present temporary target position, the position displaced from the preceding temporary target position by the amount of displacement corresponding to the obtained amount of change, the temporary target position setting device storing an amount of change in the rotational position of the operating member beyond a movable range of the movable lens when the temporary target position is out of the movable range of the movable lens; a normal target position setting device which sets normal target positions of the movable lens one after another, which, when the temporary target position set by the temporary target position setting device is within the movable range of the movable lens, sets as a normal target position the temporary target position set by the temporary target position setting device, and which, when the temporary target position set by the temporary target position setting device is out of the movable range of the movable lens, sets as a normal target position the position at the end of the movable range closer to the temporary target position; and a lens control device which moves the movable lens to the normal target position set by the normal target position setting device.