A scanning surveying system, comprising: - a base; - an alidade mounted on the base and rotatable relative to the base about a first axis; - a first motor configured to rotate the alidade relative to the base; - a rotating mirror mounted on the alidade and rotatable relative to the alidade about a second axis; - a second motor configured to rotate the rotating mirror relative to the alidade; - an optical distance measuring unit configured to direct measuring light onto the rotating mirror such that it is reflected towards objects surrounding the scanning surveying system, and to receive measuring light back from these objects via the rotating mirror; - at least one camera configured to record at least one image; and - a user interface including a display configured to display a representation of the at least one image recorded by the at least one camera to a user and to receive position data representing a selected location within the recorded image; - characterized by a controller configured to control the first motor based on the at least one recorded image such that the measuring light is reflected from the rotating mirror in a direction corresponding to the selected location within the image, and the controller being further configured to control the optical distance measuring unit and the second motor to perform, after the controller has controlled the first motor such that the measuring light is reflected from the rotating mirror in the direction corresponding to the selected location within the image, a distance measurement in the direction corresponding to the selected location. - a base; - an alidade mounted on the base and rotatable relative to the base about a first axis; - a first motor configured to rotate the alidade relative to the base; - a rotating mirror mounted on the alidade and rotatable relative to the alidade about a second axis; - a second motor configured to rotate the rotating mirror relative to the alidade; - an optical distance measuring unit configured to direct measuring light onto the rotating mirror such that it is reflected towards objects surrounding the scanning surveying system, and to receive measuring light back from these objects via the rotating mirror; - at least one camera configured to record at least one image; and - a user interface including a display configured to display a representation of the at least one image recorded by the at least one camera to a user and to receive position data representing a selected location within the recorded image; - characterized by a controller configured to control the first motor based on the at least one recorded image such that the measuring light is reflected from the rotating mirror in a direction corresponding to the selected location within the image, and the controller being further configured to control the optical distance measuring unit and the second motor to perform, after the controller has controlled the first motor such that the measuring light is reflected from the rotating mirror in the direction corresponding to the selected location within the image, a distance measurement in the direction corresponding to the selected location. a controller configured to control the first motor based on the at least one recorded image such that the measuring light is reflected from the rotating mirror in a direction corresponding to the selected location within the image, and the controller being further configured to control the optical distance measuring unit and the second motor to perform, after the controller has controlled the first motor such that the measuring light is reflected from the rotating mirror in the direction corresponding to the selected location within the image, a distance measurement in the direction corresponding to the selected location.