A wide angle lens whose field angle exceeds 160 degrees, includes a front group, an aperture stop, and a rear group arranged in this order from an object-side toward an image-side. The front group includes a first lens (negative meniscus) whose convex surface faces the object, a second lens (negative), a third lens (negative), and a fourth lens (positive), arranged in this order from the object-side toward the image-side. The rear group includes a fifth lens (positive), a sixth lens (negative), and a seventh lens (positive), arranged in this order from an aperture-side toward the image-side. The fifth and sixth lenses are combined, forming a cemented lens having positive refractive power. The fifth and sixth lenses are made of materials having Abbe numbers of greater than or equal to 50 and less than or equal to 30, respectively. A surface of the seventh lens facing the image is aspheric.