An image pickup system includes a plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements configured to emit light of a plurality of colors including light of a predetermined color for illuminating an object, a light amount detecting unit configured to detect each of light amounts of light emitted from the plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements, an image pickup device configured to pick up an optical image of the object, a control unit configured to set a light amount control pattern according to image pickup operation of the image pickup device and drive a reference semiconductor light emitting element which emits the light of the predetermined color based on the set light amount control pattern, an exposure period setting unit configured to set an exposure period of the light amount detecting unit based on the light amount control pattern, and a color balance adjusting unit configured to adjust color balance of the light of the plurality of colors by driving each of the semiconductor light emitting elements other than the reference semiconductor light emitting element based on the light amounts of the light of the plurality of colors detected during the exposure period of the light amount detecting unit and the light amount control pattern.
