Patent ID: 8730600

Claim:
A lens barrel comprising: a plurality of lens groups including at least one retractable lens group; a plurality of lens retaining frames configured to respectively retain the plurality of lens groups; a movable lens barrel configured to retain the plurality of lens retaining frames therein; and a lens retaining frame driving device configured to drive the lens retaining frames via the movable lens barrel, wherein the lens retaining frames, the movable lens barrel, and the lens retaining frame driving device are configured to move the plurality of lens groups between a collapsed state, in which the plurality of lens groups are stored with at least part of the plurality of lens groups collapsed, and a photographing state in which at least part of the plurality of lens groups is positioned at an object side, wherein the plurality of lens retaining frames includes a retractable lens retaining frame configured to movably retain the at least one retractable lens group so as to position the plurality of lens groups on a single photographing optical axis in the photographing state and to retract the at least one retractable lens group to a retractable lens housing located outside of an inside diameter position of the movable lens barrel in the collapsed state, and wherein the retractable lens retaining frame is movable between a position on the photographing optical axis and a position inside the retractable lens housing at least by moving in a direction inclined relative to the photographing optical axis and moving in a direction orthogonal to the photographing optical axis.