Patent ID: 8054356

Claim:
An image pickup apparatus comprising an image pickup device, the image pickup device comprising: a semiconductor substrate; a photoelectric conversion element stacked above the semiconductor substrate; and a charge storage section in the semiconductor substrate, the charge storage section storing a charge generated in the photoelectric conversion element, to outputs a signal responsive to the charge stored in the charge storage section to an outside of the image pickup device, wherein the photoelectric conversion element comprises: a lower electrode above the semiconductor substrate; a photoelectric conversion layer on the lower electrode; and an upper electrode on the photoelectric conversion layer, wherein the charge storage section is electrically connected to the lower electrode or the upper electrode, wherein the image pickup apparatus further comprises: a charge sweeping away section that sweeps away the charge stored in the charge storage section; and an electrode potential fixing section that keeps a potential of the lower electrode or the upper electrode constant at least for a continuous given time period in a time period from end of an exposure time period of the image pickup device to start of a subsequent exposure time period, wherein the given time period is a time longer than a minimum necessary time for the charge sweeping away section to sweep away a maximum amount of the charge in a state in which the maximum amount of the charge that can be stored in the charge storage section is stored in the charge storage section.