The invention relates to a zoom lens wherein the total of lens components is reduced as much as possible and image-formation capability is enhanced far more stably over the entire zoom range, so that a lot more thickness reductions are achievable upon received at a lens mount, and an electronic imaging system that incorporates it. The electronic imaging system of the invention comprises a zoom lens having a plurality of lens groups G1 and G2 with a variable space between adjacent lens groups during zooming or focusing, wherein the lens group G1 nearest to the object side of the zoom lens comprises two components consisting of a negative lens component and a positive lens component, each having an aspheric surface, and an electronic image pickup device located on an image side of the zoom lens. Image data obtained by taking an image is processed to produce image data with shape changes as an output. The zoom lens satisfies condition (1) that defines the degree of barrel distortion at a zoom wide-angle end.