Patent ID: 6975409

Claim:
An illumination device comprising: a light source; an optical fiber bundle; a coupling-in optical system which couples the light of said light source into a first end of said fiber bundle; a coupling-out optical system which couples out the light emerging from a second end of said optical fiber bundle; an illuminating optical system which illuminates an image field; and a homogenizing optical system which is arranged between said coupling-out optical system and said illuminating optical system, wherein said homogenizing optical system homogenizes the nonuniform intensity distribution in the image field of the light emerging from said optical fiber bundle, wherein said homogenizing optical system comprises a microhoneycomb condenser and a lens member which superimpose the exit opening of said fiber bundle in an intermediate image plane to form a homogeneous intermediate image, and wherein homogenization occurs in an intermediate image plane that is outside of an object, and is performed only by the homogenizing optical system.