Patent ID: 7560675

Claim:
A microscope system, comprising: an electrically-operated unit for electrically controlling an optical member; a detecting unit for detecting control information of the optical member on an optical path; an instruction obtaining unit for obtaining various types of instructions; a recording unit for collecting and recording a state of insertion/extraction or opening/closing of at least one said optical member detected by at least one said detecting unit as one observation state when the instruction obtaining unit obtains an instruction requesting recording of an observation state, wherein the recording unit records a plurality of combinations each comprising a plurality of recorded observation states; a selecting unit for selecting one of the plurality of combinations of observation states recorded in the recording unit when the instruction obtaining unit obtains an instruction requesting selection of a combination of observation states; and a controlling unit for controlling at least one said electrically-operated unit to switch a current observation state of the microscope system to any of the observation states included in the combination selected by the selecting unit, each time the instruction obtaining unit obtains an instruction requesting setting of a different observation state.