LIGHTING DEVICE

PURPOSE:To attain image pickup under an optimum illuminance in response to the state of an object by detecting the illuminance of the object from a video signal by pickup and turning on a light source under a prescribed illuminance or below. CONSTITUTION:An image pickup element 2 picks up an object through a lens block 1 and outputs a video signal. The video signal is supplied to an automatic exposure signal circuit 3, which detects the illuminance of the object and outputs an automatic exposure signal. Then a light source control circuit 5 controls the light source 8 based on the automatic exposure signal and when the illuminance of the object is a preset illuminance or below, the light source lamp 8 is turned on and the quantity of light is controlled in response to the illuminance of the object. Thus, the pickup with an optimum illuminance is attained.