Patent ID: 7768725

Claim:
A lens barrel comprising: a stationary frame; a movable frame which includes a plurality of lens holding frames for respectively holding a plurality of lens groups, and which is supported by the stationary frame such that the movable frame is movable along an optical axis of the lens groups between a retracted state where at least one part of the plurality of lens groups is retracted into the stationary frame and a shooting state where the lens groups are moved toward an object of shooting; a through hole formed in at least one of the plurality of lens holding frames; a retreating lens holding frame which is included in at least one of the plurality of lens holding frames, and which turns and retracts the held lens group on an outer side from an inner diameter of the movable frame in the retracted state; a light shielding piece which is provided on at least one of the lens holding frames such that the light shielding piece is movable between a light shielding state where the light shielding piece rotates on a plane which is perpendicular to the optical axis to close the through hole and an opened state where the through hole is not blocked; and a shaft which is arranged substantially parallel to the optical axis of the lens groups and provided on the stationary frame, the shaft positioning the retreating lens holding frame in a rotation direction at a position where a center of the lens group held by the retreating lens holding frame and an optical axis of the movable frame match with each other, wherein the shaft is inserted in the through hole in the retracted state, the shaft being engageable with the light shielding piece, and wherein an engaging portion is provided between the shaft and the light shielding piece, the engaging portion being configured to generate a component force to move the light shielding piece from the light shielding state to the opened state in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis when the light shielding piece is engaged with the shaft while the lens groups are moved from the shooting state to the retracted state.