Provided is a slit lamp microscope that examines a patients eye by means of continuous illumination using an LED and can capture images of the eye during the examination by means of pulse illumination using said LED. This slit lamp microscope is equipped with: an illumination optical system (21) that has an LED (51) and illuminates the eye (E) an examination / imaging optical system (6) that has an image pickup element and can capture images of the eye (E) during examination thereof and a control circuit (70) that controls the current flowing in the LED (51), and switches from continuous illumination to pulse illumination by linking the continuous illumination for examination and pulse illumination for imaging to the operation of an imaging switch.
