COLLAPSIBLE ZOOM LENS BARREL AND METHOD OF COLLAPSING ZOOM LENS BARREL

Japanese Patent JP3820263

B2

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a collapsible lens barrel of which the storage length can be shortened furthermore and to obtain a collapsing method. SOLUTION: In the collapsible zoom lens barrel having a plurality of lens groups which are placed on a single optical axis in a photographing permission state and are concerned in magnification varying, the plurality of lens groups include at least one retreating lens group which is placed off the single optical axis in such a collapsed state that photographing is impossible, and a distance between the lens group nearest to the object side, which is placed on the single optical axis in the collapsed state, and the lens group nearest to the image side is shorter than that between the lens group nearest to the object side, which is placed on the single optical axis in the photographing permission state and the lens group nearest to the image side.