Detection circuits (1) for detecting movements of movable objects (2) such as joysticks are provided with first detectors (100) for detecting first movements of the joysticks in first directions, comprising first detection units (101) for detecting a presence/absence of light spots (3), locations of the light spots (3) depending on said first movements, and with second detectors (200) for detecting second movements of the joysticks in second directions, comprising second detection units (201) for detecting first second intensities of the light spots (3), intensities of the light spots (3) depending on said second movements. Such detection circuits (1) are less sensitive to misalignment of components during an assembly and simpler to produce and less costly. The second detectors (200) are entirely located within the light spot (3) independently from positions of the joysticks and the first and third detectors are partly located within the light spot (3) dependently on positions of the joysticks. The detection units (101) comprise photo diodes (120) and transistors (121) for digitizing the signals from the photo diodes (120).