Patent ID: 7483116

Claim:
A lens barrel comprising: a lens barrel main body that encloses an optical system leading the object image; an electrical light control element which is arranged on an optical axis of said optical system and supported by said lens barrel main body, said electrical light control element having three or more transparent substrates extending parallel to each other at certain intervals, opposing transparent electrodes formed on opposing surfaces of said transparent substrates, and light control layers each interposed between said opposing transparent electrodes, with said transparent substrates, transparent electrodes, and light control layer being placed on top of each other in a stacked structure, each of said light control layers controlling an amount of light passing in a direction of the thickness of said light control layer that is a dimension of said opposing transparent electrodes, such that said transparent substrate being at an intermediate position in the stacked structure has a projecting part which projects in a surface direction of said transparent substrate from the other transparent substrate, and said projecting part has a plurality of terminals electrically connected to the transparent electrode of each of said transparent substrates; and a connector having an engaging concave part into which said projecting part is inserted and a driving voltage is applied to said transparent electrodes through said terminals, wherein said projecting part of said electrical light control element is accommodated in said connector in a floating manner and said projecting part is relieved from undue force from said connector.