Patent ID: 7365789

Claim:
An autofocus apparatus comprising: a first switch configured to instruct starting of a photographing preparation operation for driving a focus lens which performs a focus adjustment of an object; a photo-electric conversion device configured to convert an object image formed by the focus lens to an electric signal; an extraction device configured to extract a signal representing a contrast of the object from an output signal of said photo-electric conversion device; a focus lens driving instruction switch configured to instruct to manually drive the focus lens; and a controller configured to control the autofocus apparatus, wherein in case of autofocus mode, said controller controls so that the focus lens is driven within a first driving range by operation of said first switch, and wherein in case of a manual focus mode, the controller controls the focus lens to stop an in-focus position based on the output of said extraction device while driving the focus lens within a second driving range which is narrower than the first driving range in accordance with an operation of a second switch other than the first switch after the focus lens is driven in accordance with an operation of said focus lens driving instruction switch, and the focus lens is driven to a stop position which is caused by the operation of said focus lens driving instruction switch and is stored after the operation of said focus lens driving instruction switch, in a case that the in-focus position is not detected.