In a picture reading apparatus according to this invention, in the pre-scan, an approach is employed to control a CCD line sensor 5 and a film carrying roller 103 so that plural pictures recorded on an optical film 1 are read at a predetermined sampling rate in order from the latest frame to generate frame position data indicating position of left and right ends of frame, etc. Further, in the main scan, an approach is employed such that, in controlling the CCD line sensor 5 and a film carrier 100 so that plural pictures recorded on the optical film are read at a sampling rate higher than the predetermined sampling rate in order from the oldest frame, the reading start and end timings of the CCD line sensor 5 are controlled on the basis of frame position data obtained by the pre-scan. As a result, in this picture reading apparatus, it is possible to precisely obtain picture data of picture of frame in the state where no positional shift takes place. In addition, since the pre-scan is carried out at a low sampling rate, frame position data can be obtained in a short time.