A lens barrel for holding a lens group includes: a holding mechanism for movably holding the lens group in a direction parallel to an optical axis; an electromagnetic motor including a cylindrical stator with an axis parallel to the optical axis being taken as a center axis and a cylindrical rotor that is coaxial with the stator and rotates about the center axis with respect to the stator; a converting mechanism for converting a rotating motion of the rotor to a straight-ahead motion for allowing the holding mechanism to move the lens group in the direction parallel to the optical axis; and force applying means that applies a magnetic force to the rotor in the direction parallel to the optical axis.