To produce a color fundus image, the eye is illuminated with light pulses of defined wavelengths. Light reflected is recorded by a sensor and transmitted to a control unit. At least three monochromatic images at very short temporal intervals and a dark image of the fundus are recorded. After activation of a spectral-selective optical element, a color intensity distribution of the fundus is recorded by the sensor at white illumination. The monochromatic images are combined by the control unit to obtain a resulting color fundus image, wherein the color intensity distribution is used for the correction of color composition and the dark image is used for taking into account the noise of the sensor. The solution permits monitoring, documenting and/or diagnosing of the fundus and can also be executed with ophthalmological systems based on the principle of optical coherence and/or confocal imaging.