Patent ID: 6853497

Claim:
A wide-angle zoom lens system comprising a negative first lens group, a positive second lens group, and a positive third lens group, in this order from an object, wherein upon zooming from the short focal length extremity to the long focal length extremity, the distance between said negative first lens group and said positive second lens group decreases, and the distance between said positive second lens group and said positive third lens group decreases; wherein said negative first lens group comprises at least one positive lens element; and wherein said wide-angle zoom lens system satisfies the following conditions: 0.30<fw/f 1P <0.40 −1.0<( r 1P-2 +r 1P-1 )/( r 1P-2 −r 1P-1 )<1.0 wherein fw designates the entire focal length of the zoom lens system at the short focal length extremity; f 1P designates the focal length of a positive lens element having the strongest optical power (hereinafter, power) in said negative first lens group; r 1P-1 designates the radius of curvature of the object-side surface of said positive lens element having the strongest power in said negative first lens group; and r 1P-2 designates the radius of curvature of the image-side surface of said positive lens element having the strongest power in said negative first lens group.