An image pickup optical system according to the present invention is provided for forming a light flux from an object into an optical image on an image pickup element. The image pickup optical system includes: a first lens group having a positive power; a second lens group having a negative power; a third lens group having a positive power; a fourth lens group having a negative power; and a fifth lens group. A distance between each neighboring lens groups changes with the fourth lens group statically positioned, for varying power of the image pickup optical system. The fourth lens group moves in a direction substantially perpendicular to an optical axis for shake compensation. The image pickup optical system fulfills the predetermined conditional formulas according to focal lengths of the first and fourth lens groups.