A zoom lens including, from an object: a front group having negative power; and a rear group having positive power, the rear group including, from the object, a positive lens, a negative lens having a concave surface facing the object, a cemented positive lens constructed by a negative lens and a positive lens, and a cemented lens constructed by a positive lens and a negative lens, the rear group further including a focusing group disposed to the object side of the positive lens La for focusing from infinity to a close object by moving from the object side to an image side, a distance between the front group and the rear group being varied thereby zooming from a wide-angle end state to a telephoto end state, and given condition being satisfied, thereby providing a downsized zoom lens having wide angle of view and excellent optical performance with fewer lenses.