A zoom lens is disclosed which is superior in reduction of the lens diameter and can suppress degradation in performance while a high zoom ratio is achieved. The zoom lens is formed as a zoom lens of a four-group configuration having positive, negative, positive and positive groups. The second and fourth lens groups move whereas the first and third lens groups are fixed. An aperture stop is disposed on the object side of the third lens group. The third lens group includes negative and positive sub groups with an air distance left therebetween. The positive sub group is shiftable perpendicularly to the optical axis to shift an image substantially perpendicularly. A conditional expression 1.4<|f3n|/f3<3 is satisfied where f3n is the focal distance of the negative sub group and f3 is the focal distance of the third lens group.