# US 7,609,457 B2 · Zoom lens and image pickup apparatus including the same

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- Number: US 7,609,457 B2
- Document ID: US7609457B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 12/127,638
- Filed: 2008-05-27
- Published: 2009-02-12
- Granted: 2009-10-27
- Earliest claimed: 2007-05-28
- Assignees: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
- Inventors: Rei Iwama
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7609457B2

## CPC

- G02B 15/144113: {arranged +-++}
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS

## Abstract

A zoom lens includes a first lens unit having a positive refractive power, a second lens unit having a negative refractive power, a third lens unit having a positive refractive power, and a fourth lens unit having a positive refractive power in that order from an object side to an image side. Zooming is performed by changing distances between the lens units. The first lens unit includes two or less lenses and the second lens unit consists of a negative lens and a positive lens in that order from the object side to the image side. The zoom lens satisfies the following condition: −1.3<m1/√{square root over ((fw·fT))}<−0.8 where fw and fT are focal lengths of the entire lens unit at wide-angle and telephoto ends, respectively, and m1 is an amount of movement of the first lens unit in an optical axis direction during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A zoom lens comprising:
a first lens unit having a positive refractive power;
a second lens unit having a negative refractive power;
a third lens unit having a positive refractive power; and
a fourth lens unit having a positive refractive power,
wherein the first lens unit, the second lens unit, the third lens unit, and the fourth lens unit are arranged in that order from an object side to an image side,
wherein the zoom lens performs zooming by changing distances between the lens units,
wherein the first lens unit includes two or less lenses and the second lens unit consists of a negative lens and a positive lens in that order from the object side to the image side, and
wherein the following condition is satisfied:
−1.3<m1/√{square root over ((fw·fT))}<−0.8
where fw and fT are focal lengths of the entire zoom lens at a wide-angle end and a telephoto end, respectively, and m1 is an amount of movement of the first lens unit in an optical axis direction during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end, the amount of movement m1 being positive when the first lens unit moves toward the image side and negative when the first lens unit moves toward the object side.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following condition is satisfied:
1.0<f3/fw<2.5
where f3 is a focal length of the third lens unit.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following condition is satisfied:
−2.2<m3/fw<−1.6
where m3 is an amount of movement of the third lens unit in the optical axis direction during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end, the amount of movement m3 being positive when the third lens unit moves toward the image side and negative when the third lens unit moves toward the object side.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following condition is satisfied:
1.5<f2/f3<−0.8
where f2 and f3 are focal lengths of the second lens unit and the third lens unit, respectively.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following condition is satisfied:
1.0<(1−β3T)−β4T<3.0
where β3T and β4T are lateral magnifications of the third lens unit and the fourth lens unit, respectively, at the telephoto end.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the following condition is satisfied:
1.0<(1−β3T)/(1−β3W)<2.0
where β3w and β3T are lateral magnifications of the third lens unit at the wide-angle end and the telephoto end, respectively.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the negative lens included in the second lens unit has an aspheric surface, and
wherein the following condition is satisfied:
(N2P+N2N)/2>1.85
where N2N and N2P are refractive indices of materials of the negative lens and the positive lens, respectively, which are included in the second lens unit.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the third lens unit includes at least one cemented lens including a positive lens and a negative lens, and
wherein the following condition is satisfied:
18<ν3P−ν3N<24
where ν3P and ν3N are Abbe numbers of materials of the positive lens and the negative lens, respectively, which form the cemented lens.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The zoom lens according to claim 1, wherein the fourth lens unit moves in a direction from the object side toward the image side to perform focusing from an object at infinity to a close object.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

An image pickup apparatus, comprising:
the zoom lens according to claim 1; and
a solid-state image pickup device that receives an image formed by the zoom lens.