Patent ID: 8079720

Claim:
A mirror drive apparatus comprising: a movable unit including a mirror assembly used to switch into and out of an optical path in an imaging apparatus, the mirror assembly including a primary mirror and a secondary mirror; and a drive mechanism that switches the attitude of the movable unit from a first attitude to a second attitude by relatively moving a specific member along a predetermined section defined by an edge of the movable unit from a start point to an end point of the predetermined section, wherein the movable unit includes a protrusion that protrudes from an extension line toward the specific member, the extension line obtained by extending the predetermined section beyond the end point and wherein, in the first attitude, the primary mirror and the secondary mirror generally facially oppose and extend approximately parallel to each other with the mirror assembly positioned out of the optical path and, in the second attitude, the primary mirror and the secondary mirror are oriented perpendicularly relative to one another with the mirror assembly positioned in the optical path.