US Patent 7224536 Imaging device having a rotatable optical element

An imaging device includes a rotatable optical element rotated stepwise only in a forward direction to produce a specific photographic effect; a manual operation device which selectively generates a forward rotation signal indicating a number of angular steps of the rotatable optical element, and a reverse rotation signal indicating a number of angular steps of the rotatable optical element; and a rotation controller which rotates the rotatable optical element in the forward direction by the number of angular steps upon inputting the forward rotation signal, and rotates the rotatable optical element in the forward direction upon inputting the reverse rotation signal by a number of angular steps that is obtained by subtracting the number of angular steps from a number of angular steps for one full rotation of the rotatable optical element.