A scanning ophthalmoscope (10) and method is provided for scanning the retina of an eye comprising a source of collimated light (12), a first scanning element (14), a second scanning element (16), scan compensation means (18), wherein the source of collimated light, the first and second scanning elements and the scan compensation means combine to provide a two-dimensional collimated light scan from an apparent point source, and the scanning ophthalmoscope further comprises scan transfer means (20), wherein the scan transfer means has two foci and the apparent point source is provided at a first focus of the scan transfer means and an eye (22) is accommodated at a second focus of the scan transfer means.