US Patent Issued to Nikon on March 11 for "Zoom optical system, optical apparatus and method for manufacturing the zoom optical system" (Japanese Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,248,128, issued on March 11, was assigned to Nikon Corp. (Tokyo).

"Zoom optical system, optical apparatus and method for manufacturing the zoom optical system" was invented by Hiroshi Yabumoto (Yokohama, Japan).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "This variable power optical system (ZL(1)) has a plurality of lens groups (G1-G7), and the intervals between the respectively adjacent lens groups change during power variation. The plurality of lens groups include a first focusing lens group (G6) that moves during focusing, and a second focusing lens group (G7) that is disposed closer to the image surface than is the first focusing lens group and mo...