A solid image capturing device outputs image data and characteristic data of the solid image capturing device on the same output signal line. Both outputs are processed by the same circuit. In one embodiment, the characteristic data is optically stored in the solid image capturing device. In another embodiment, the characteristic data is non-optically stored in the solid image capturing device. The image field of the solid image capturing device includes an invalid image field located outside the effective image field. Signals output from the invalid image field include those concerning the characteristic data of the solid image capturing device.