Patent ID: 7525593

Claim:
A position detection apparatus for detecting a position of an image pickup device, comprising: a light source; an illumination lens constructed and arranged to cause light from said light source to illuminate said image pickup device; and a position detecting section for detecting a relative position, based on the output of said image pickup device, of said image pickup device, said relative position being relative to said illumination lens; wherein said image pickup device is constructed and arranged to provide an output related to light incident thereon, and comprises: an array of photo-detecting elements, each of which provides an output corresponding to an intensity of light incident thereon; and a plurality of micro-lenses corresponding to respective photo-detecting elements, each having a respective optical axis at a position deviated to the inside from the center of its corresponding photo-detecting element as said corresponding photo-detecting element is distant from the center of said array; and a moving section for changing said relative position to a position set in advance by moving at least one of said image pickup device and said illumination lens based on said relative position detected by said position detecting section.