Patent ID: 8873139

Claim:
A microscope system comprising: a zoom section having a changeable zoom magnification to magnify a sample being observed along an observation optical path by the microscope system; a switching section including a plurality of objective lenses having a plurality of different magnifications, respectively, the switching section being operable to insert a respective objective lens of the plurality of objective lenses in the observation optical path so that the sample is magnified with both the magnification of said respective objective lens and the zoom magnification of the zoom section, and to then remove the respective objective lens from the observation optical path and insert a different objective lens of the plurality of objective lenses in the observation optical path to thereby switch from said respective objective lens to said different objective lens so that the sample is magnified with the magnification of said different objective lens and the zoom magnification of the zoom section; a zoom magnification determining section to determine the zoom magnification of the zoom section to be used when said different objective lens is inserted in the observation optical path so that a total magnification of the magnification of said different objective lens inserted into the observation optical path and the zoom magnification of the zoom section is equal to a total magnification of the magnification of said respective objective lens and the zoom magnification of the zoom section when said respective objective lens was inserted in the observation optical path; and a zoom control section to control the zoom section, the zoom magnification of the zoom section being set equal to the zoom magnification determined by the zoom magnification determining section.