A lens barrel of the present invention is of a retractable type. After one frame is retreated from a photographing optical path, another frame moves in an optical axis direction to a position where the one frame has been disposed. The one frame is, for example, a lens frame, and the other frame is, for example, a shutter frame. The present invention can be understood as the invention of a method of switching the lens barrel to a stored state (a retracted state).