Patent ID: 7773297

Claim:
A scanning microscope comprising: an objective lens configured to focus illumination light onto a specimen; scanning device for deflecting and scanning the illumination light; a pupil-projection optical system configured to illuminate a pupil of the objective lens with the illumination light scanned by the scanning device; a total-magnification specifying unit configured to specify a total magnification, an optical-system selecting unit configured to change at least one of the objective lens and the pupil-projection optical system in such a manner that a magnification of an optical system including the objective lens and the pupil-projection optical system is equal to or less than the total magnification specified by the total-magnification specifying unit and that the numerical aperture of the optical system is maximized; and a deflection-angle determination unit configured to determine a deflection angle of the illumination light deflected by the scanning device on the basis of the ratio of the magnification of the optical system to the total magnification so as to achieve the total magnification.