Patent ID: 8810697

Claim:
An image pickup apparatus, comprising: an image pickup element configured such that a plurality of color filters are respectively arranged on a plurality of pixels including photoelectric conversion elements that are two-dimensionally arrayed in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction; a storage device configured to store information for correcting a sensitivity difference between the plurality of pixels of the image pickup element; and a sensitivity difference correction device configured to correct the sensitivity difference between the plurality of pixels of the image pickup element with use of the information stored in the storage device, wherein the plurality of pixels of the image pickup element share a specific circuit element in units of 2×2 pixels, wherein the plurality of color filters of the image pickup element are configured such that basic array patterns are repeatedly arranged in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, each of the basic array patterns being made of I×J color filters (I represents a number in the horizontal direction while J represents a number in the vertical direction), the color filters of each of three or more colors being arrayed in a mixed state in each of the basic array patterns, an arrangement cycle (I×J) of a basic array pattern is different from an arrangement cycle (2×2) of a sharing configuration pattern which is made of the specific circuit element and the 2×2 pixels, and the basic array pattern includes at least one same-color square array pattern which is made of 2×2 color filters respectively arranged on the 2×2 pixels of the sharing configuration pattern, the 2×2 color filters having a same color, wherein the storage device stores information on sensitivity of the 2×2 pixels corresponding to the same-color square array pattern, the sensitivity being calculated from output values of the 2×2 pixels corresponding to the same-color square array pattern, and wherein the sensitivity difference correction device corrects sensitivity differences of whole pixels corresponding to a picked-up image of the image pickup element with use of the information on the sensitivity of the 2×2 pixels corresponding to the same-color square array pattern stored in the storage device.