# US 11,994,746 B2 · Zoom lens, optical apparatus and method for manufacturing the zoom lens

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- Number: US 11,994,746 B2
- Document ID: US11994746B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/526,082
- Filed: 2021-11-15
- Published: 2022-03-10
- Granted: 2024-05-28
- Earliest claimed: 2015-09-30
- Assignees: Nikon Corporation
- Applicants: Nikon Corporation
- Inventors: Keiichi Nakamura
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11994746B2

## CPC

- G02B 9/60: having five components only
- G02B 13/02: Telephoto objectives, i.e. systems of the type + - in which the distance from the front vertex to the image plane is less than the equivalent focal length
- G02B 13/06: Panoramic objectives; So-called "sky lenses" {including panoramic objectives having reflecting surfaces}
- G02B 15/145121: {arranged +-+-+}
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS

## Abstract

A zoom lens comprises, in order from an object: a first lens group (G1) having positive refractive power; a second lens group (G2) having negative refractive power; a third lens group (G3) having positive refractive power; a fourth lens group (G4) having negative refractive power; and a fifth lens group (G5) having positive refractive power, in which the first to the fifth lens groups (G1 to G5) each move in an optical axis direction upon zooming from a wide angle end state to a telephoto end state, at least a part of the fourth lens group (G4) is configured to serve as a focusing lens group to move in the optical axis direction upon focusing, the first lens group (G1) consists of two lenses, and the following conditional expression is satisfied. 0.30<GD3/ft<0.8 where, GD3 denotes a thickness of the third lens group (G3) on the optical axis, and ft denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the telephoto end state.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A zoom lens comprising, in order from an object: a first lens group having positive refractive power; a second lens group having negative refractive power; a third lens group having positive refractive power; and a fourth lens group having negative refractive power; wherein
respective distances between the first to the fourth lens groups in an optical axis direction vary upon zooming from a wide angle end state to a telephoto end state,
the third lens group comprises two single lenses disposed closest to the object in the third lens group,
at least a part of the fourth lens group is configured to serve as a focusing lens group to move in the optical axis direction upon focusing,
the fourth lens group comprises a single lens having negative refractive power, and
following conditional expressions are satisfied:
1.10<f1/ft<2.30
1.400<(ft/fw)/FNw<1.900
where,
f1 denotes a focal length of the first lens group,
ft denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the telephoto end state,
fw denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the wide angle end state, and
FNw denotes the maximum aperture in the wide angle end state.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, further comprising a fifth lens group consisting of a single lens.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The zoom lens according to claim 2, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:
0.80<(β45w)/(β45t)<1.30
where,
β45w denotes a combined magnification of the fourth lens group and the fifth lens group in the wide angle end state, and
β45t denotes a combined magnification of the fourth lens group and the fifth lens group in the telephoto end state.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:
0.85<(βFw)/(βFt)<1.20
where,
βFw denotes a magnification of the focusing lens group in the wide angle end state, and
βFt denotes a magnification of the focusing lens group in the telephoto end state.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:
1.35<FNw<2.6
where,
FNw denotes the maximum aperture in the wide angle end state.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:
0.21<GD2/ft<0.55
where,
GD2 denotes a thickness of the second lens group on the optical axis, and
ft denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the telephoto end state.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:
1.90<TLt/ft<3.80
where,
TLt denotes a total length of the zoom lens in the telephoto end state, and
ft denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the telephoto end state.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:
7.0°<ωt<22.0°
where,
ωt denotes a half angle of view in the telephoto end state.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:
30.0°<ωw<60.0°
where,
ωw denotes a half angle of view in the wide angle end state.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein two lenses of the first lens group are a cemented lens having a meniscus shape with a convex surface facing the object.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the third lens group comprises, in order from the object: a positive lens, a negative lens, and a positive lens component, the lens component being a single lens or a cemented lens.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

An optical apparatus comprising the zoom lens according to claim 1.

### Claim 13

A zoom lens comprising, in order from an object: a first lens group having positive refractive power; a second lens group having negative refractive power; a third lens group having positive refractive power; a fourth lens group having negative refractive power; and a fifth lens group having positive refractive power, wherein
the first to the fifth lens groups each move in an optical axis direction upon zooming from a wide angle end state to a telephoto end state,
the third lens group comprises two single lenses disposed closest to the object in the third lens group,
at least a part of the fourth lens group is configured to serve as a focusing lens group to move in the optical axis direction upon focusing, and
following conditional expressions are satisfied:
1.10<f1/ft<2.30
1.000<(ft/fw)/FNw<2.000
0.35<GD3/ft<0.80
where,
f1 denotes a focal length of the first lens group,
ft denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the telephoto end state,
fw denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the wide angle end state,
FNw denotes the maximum aperture in the wide angle end state, and
GD3 denotes a thickness of the third lens group on the optical axis.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The zoom lens according to claim 13, wherein the fifth lens group consists of a single lens.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

The zoom lens according to claim 13, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:
0.21<GD2/ft<0.55
where,
GD2 denotes a thickness of the second lens group on the optical axis, and
ft denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the telephoto end state.

### Claim 16 (depends on 13)

The zoom lens according to claim 13, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:
1.90<TLt/ft<3.80
where,
TLt denotes a total length of the zoom lens in the telephoto end state, and
ft denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the telephoto end state.

### Claim 17 (depends on 13)

The zoom lens according to claim 13, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:
7.0°<ωt<22.0°
where,
ωt denotes a half angle of view in the telephoto end state.

### Claim 18 (depends on 13)

The zoom lens according to claim 13, wherein the following conditional expression is satisfied:
30.0°<ωw<60.0°
where
ωw denotes a half angle of view in the wide angle end state.

### Claim 19 (depends on 13)

The zoom lens according to claim 13, wherein at least a part of the first to the fifth lens groups is configured to serve as a vibration-proof lens group with a displacement component in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis.

### Claim 20 (depends on 13)

The zoom lens according to claim 13, wherein a range in which focusing is possible is moved toward a short distant side with at least one of the lens groups not serving as the focusing lens group being moved, at any focal length between the wide angle end state and the telephoto end state.

### Claim 21 (depends on 13)

The zoom lens according to claim 13, wherein the third lens group comprises two lenses both having negative refractive power.

### Claim 22 (depends on 13)

An optical apparatus comprising the zoom lens according to claim 13.

### Claim 23

A method for manufacturing a zoom lens including, in order from an object: a first lens group having positive refractive power; a second lens group having negative refractive power; a third lens group having positive refractive power; and a fourth lens group having negative refractive power;
the method comprising:
arranging the third lens group so that the third lens group comprises two single lenses disposed closest to the object in the third lens group,
arranging the first to the fourth lens groups so that at least a part of the fourth lens group is configured to serve as a focusing lens group to move in the optical axis direction upon focusing,
the method further comprising one of the following features A or B, wherein
the feature A comprising:
respective distances between the first to the fourth lens groups in an optical axis direction vary upon zooming from a wide angle end state to a telephoto end state,
the fourth lens group comprises a single lens having negative refractive power, and
following conditional expressions are satisfied:
1.10<f1/ft<2.30
1.400<(ft/fw)/FNw<1.900
where
f1 denotes a focal length of the first lens group,
ft denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the telephoto end state,
fw denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the wide angle end state, and
FNw denotes the maximum aperture in the wide angle end state, and
the feature B comprising:
the zoom lens further comprising a fifth lens group having positive refractive power, which is placed next to the fourth lens group on an image side,
the first to the fifth lens groups each move in an optical axis direction upon zooming from a wide angle end state to a telephoto end state, and
following conditional expressions are satisfied:
1.10<f1/ft<2.30
1.000<(ft/fw)/FNw<2.000
0.35<GD3/ft<0.80
where
f1 denotes a focal length of the first lens group,
ft denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the telephoto end state,
fw denotes a focal length of the zoom lens in the wide angle end state,
FNw denotes the maximum aperture in the wide angle end state, and
GD3 denotes a thickness of the third lens group on the optical axis.