Zoom lens system

1. A zoom lens system comprising a positive first lens group, a negative second lens group, a positive third lens group and a positive fourth lens group, in that order from the object side,

wherein upon zooming from the short focal length extremity to the long focal length extremity, each of said first through fourth lens groups move along the optical axis thereof, and

wherein the following conditions (1) and (2) are satisfied:

1.05< ft/f 1<1.75  (1), and

3.7< M 3 t/M 3 w< 6.3  (2), wherein

f 1 designates the focal length of said first lens group,

ft designates the focal length of the entire zoom lens system at the long focal length extremity,

M 3 t designates the lateral magnification of said third lens group when focusing on an object at infinity at the long focal length extremity, and

M 3 w designates the lateral magnification of said third lens group when focusing on an object at infinity at the short focal length extremity.

2. The zoom lens system according to claim 1 , wherein the following condition (3) is satisfied:

0.27<Δ3 Gx /( y max*( ft/fw ))<0.60  (3),

wherein

Δ 3 Gx designates the movement amount of said third lens group along the optical axis upon zooming from the short focal length extremity to the long focal length extremity,

ymax designates the maximum image height,

ft designates the focal length of the entire zoom lens system at the long focal length extremity, and

fw designates the focal length of the entire zoom lens system at the short focal length extremity.

3. The zoom lens system according to claim 1 , wherein said third lens group comprises a positive lens element; a cemented lens having a positive lens element and a negative lens element; and a positive lens element having at least one aspherical surface formed thereon, in that order from the object side, and wherein the following condition (4) is satisfied:

20<ν32−ν33<45  (4), wherein

ν 32 designates the Abbe number, with respect to the d-line, of the positive lens element of the cemented lens provided within said third lens group, and

ν 33 designates the Abbe number, with respect to the d-line, of the negative lens element of the cemented lens provided within said third lens group.

4. The zoom lens system according to claim 1 , wherein the following condition (5) is satisfied:

−8.8< ft/f 2<−5.8  (5), wherein

f 2 designates the focal length of said second lens group, and

ft designates the focal length of the entire zoom lens system at the long focal length extremity.

5. The zoom lens system according to claim 1 , wherein the following condition (6) is satisfied:

2.6< M 2 t/M 2 w< 4.2  (6), wherein

M 2 t designates the lateral magnification of said second lens group when focusing on an object at infinity at the long focal length extremity, and

M 2 w designates the lateral magnification of said second lens group when focusing on an object at infinity at the short focal length extremity.

6. The zoom lens system according to claim 1 , wherein said second lens group comprises a negative lens element, a negative lens element, and a positive lens element, in that order from the object side, wherein the following conditions (7) and (8) are satisfied:

n 21>1.8  (7), and

20<ν22−ν23<45  (8), wherein

n 21 designates the refractive index, at the d-line, of the negative lens element on the object side provided within said second lens group,

ν 22 designates the Abbe number, with respect to the d-line, of the negative lens element on the image side provided within said second lens group, and

ν 23 designates the Abbe number, with respect to the d-line, of the positive lens element provided within said second lens group.

7. The zoom lens system according to claim 6 , wherein said third lens group comprises a positive lens element closest to the image side, and

wherein each of the negative lens element provided on the image side within said second lens group and the positive lens element provided closest to the image side within said third lens group is a plastic lens element.

8. The zoom lens system according to claim 6 , wherein said third lens group comprises a positive lens element closest to the image side, and

wherein each of the positive lens element provided within said second lens group and the positive lens element provided closest to the image side within said third lens group is a glass-molded lens element.

9. The zoom lens system according to claim 1 , wherein the following condition (9) is satisfied:

0.06< D 1/ f 1<0.13  (9), wherein

D 1 designates the thickness of said first lens group, and

f 1 designates the focal length of said first lens group.

10. The zoom lens system according to claim 1 , wherein said first lens group comprises a negative lens element and a positive lens element, in that order from the object side, wherein the following condition (10) is satisfied:

25<ν12−ν11<45  (10), wherein

ν 11 designates the Abbe number, with respect to the d-line, of the negative lens element provided within said first lens group, and

ν 12 designates the Abbe number, with respect to the d-line, of the positive lens element provided within said first lens group.

11. The zoom lens system according to claim 1 , wherein said fourth lens group comprises a positive single lens element, and wherein said positive single lens element constitutes a focusing lens group which moves in the optical axis direction during focusing.