A compound lens comprises three or more optical elements, including first, second, and third optical components, that are cemented together. The material of the second optical element is an organic composite material. The first optical element is cemented to one surface of the second optical element. The third optical element is disposed remotest from the first optical element in an optical axis. The diameters of effective areas of the first optical element on the cemented surface between the first and the second optical elements, and of the second optical element, and the distance ti(φ) between optically effective surfaces of the i-th optical element (i=1, 2, 3) along the optical axis at diameter φ are appropriately designed. The second optical element has such a shape that the decrease in the distance between its optically effective surfaces is small in a region outside the effective surface area.