The invention provides a zoom lens, characterized by comprising, a zoom lens, which comprises, in order from an object side thereof: a first lens group of negative refracting power, a second lens group of positive refracting power, a third lens group of negative refracting power, and a fourth lens group of positive refracting power, wherein: upon zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of the zoom lens, a separation between the respective lens groups changes, upon focusing from a focusing-on-infinity state to a close-range focusing state, the third lens group moves in an optical axis direction, and the conditions (1) and (2) are satisfied at the wide-angle end.