Patent ID: 8542305

Claim:
An imaging device comprising: an ocular finder; a display unit provided near the finder; a distance measuring unit that measures a distance between the finder and an operator; and a control unit that controls brightness of the display unit according to the distance measured by the distance measuring unit; wherein the control unit is configured to perform (i) a first brightness control such that the brightness becomes a first brightness value, (ii) a second brightness control such that the brightness becomes a second brightness value which is smaller than the first brightness value, and (iii) a third brightness control such that the brightness becomes darker in a continuous or stepwise manner between the first brightness value and the second brightness as the die measured by the distance measuring unit becomes shorter; wherein the control unit is configured such that: when the distance measured by the distance measuring unit is larger than a first threshold value, the control unit executes the first brightness control; when the distance measured by the distance measuring unit changes from being larger than the first threshold value to being between the first threshold value and a second threshold value which is smaller than the first threshold value, the control unit switches from the first brightness control to the third brightness control; and when the distance measured by the distance measuring unit changes from being between the first threshold value and the second threshold value to being smaller than the second threshold value, the control unit switches from the third brightness control to the second brightness control; and wherein the control unit controls the finder such that: in a state in which the control unit controls the brightness of the display unit to become darker as the distance measured by the distance measuring unit becomes shorter, the finder is in a display ON state of a given brightness value when the distance is smaller than a given threshold value, and the finder is in a display OFF state when the distance is equal to or larger than the given threshold value; and in a state in which the control unit controls the brightness of the display unit to become brighter as the distance measured by the distance measuring unit becomes longer, the finder is in a display ON state of a predetermined brightness value when the distance is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value which is larger than the given threshold value, and the finder is in a display OFF state when the distance is larger than the predetermined threshold value.