Patent ID: 8072851

Claim:
An optical apparatus comprising: a focus lens configured to be movable along an optical axis direction; an actuator configured to drive the focus lens; a position detector configured to detect a position of the focus lens; a target position setting part configured to set a target position of the focus lens, wherein the target position setting part, in a manual focus mode, defines the target position of the focus lens based on an operation direction and an operation amount of a manual focus operation part, and wherein the target position setting part, in an autofocus mode, defines the target position of the focus lens based on an autofocus evaluation value obtained from an image signal processor; a dead-band controlling part configured to set an amount of dead band different between the manual focus mode and the autofocus mode, wherein the amount of dead band in the manual focus mode is set larger than that in the autofocus mode; and a controller configured to control the actuator by a feedback control so that the position of the focus lens approaches a target position based on the difference between the position of the focus lens, which is detected by the position detector, and the target position, which is set by the target position setting part, wherein, in the manual focus mode: when the difference between the position of the focus lens, which is detected by the position detector, and the target position, which is set by the target position setting part, is within the amount of dead band, the controller controls the actuator so that the focus lens is not driven, when the difference is larger than a range of the amount of dead band, the controller controls the actuator so that the focus lens approaches the target position, and wherein, in the autofocus mode: when the difference between the position of the focus lens, which is detected by the position detector, and the target position, which is set by the target position setting part, is within the amount of dead band, the controller controls the actuator so that the focus lens is not driven, and when the difference is larger than a range of the amount of dead band in the autofocus mode, the controller controls the actuator so that the focus lens approaches the target position.