IMAGE PICKUP DEVICE

PURPOSE: To attain image pickup of an object moving at a high speed and to extent the dynamic range by dividing a light receiving plane of a 2-dimension light receiving element into very small areas as if the light were received from the same part of the image pickup object. CONSTITUTION: An ND filter made of metallic vapor-deposition film is formed on the light receiving plane of a CCD image pickup element 1 as an extinction filter FL in plural stripes. Thus, the light receiving plane is divided into very small areas comprising extinction areas subject to extinction and non-extinction areas not subject to extinction, and a signal processing means SP regards it that the very small areas receive a light from the same part of an object and provides an output of an image signal with respect to the very small areas. Thus, the dynamic range for a stronger intensity of a received light and the dynamic range for a weaker intensity of a received light are provided. Since a detection signal of the extinction area and a detection signal of the non- extinction area are read simultaneously during the scanning for one image picture, the reduction in an output signal is suppressed to the utmost and then an image pickup object moving at a high speed is picked up.