A retractable lens system includes optical elements of a photographing optical system, and are positioned on a common optical axis when in a ready-to-photograph state. When the retractable lens system changes from the ready-to-photograph state to a retracted state, a removable optical element of the optical elements is moved to a removed position, and the removable optical element and an element of the remaining optical elements are moved rearward. The element of the remaining elements includes a linearly movable element which moves in the common optical axis direction without changing a distance between the linearly movable element and the removable optical element in the ready-to-photograph state. A part of the removable optical element and a part of the linearly movable element are positioned on a common plane perpendicular to the common optical axis when the retractable lens system changes from the ready-to-photograph state to the retracted state.