Digital microscope and method for acquiring a stack of microscopic images of a specimen

A method for acquiring a stack of microscopic images of a specimen, the method comprising the steps of:

• acquiring microscopic images of the specimen from different focus positions, wherein a plurality of the microscopic images of the specimen are respectively acquired from each of at least some of the different focus positions
• the acquiring including applying different illumination settings of an illumination unit for illuminating the specimen at each of at least some of the different focal positions, wherein the illumination settings with which the microscopic images of the specimen are acquired are determined individually in each case at least for several of the focus positions;
• the acquiring further including:
• applying a first setting of the illumination unit for illuminating the specimen;
• acquiring a first microscopic image of a first series of microscopic images from the first focus position of a set of different focus positions using the first illumination setting;
• checking whether overexposed or underexposed regions are present in the first microscopic image of the first series of microscopic images;
• applying a second setting of the illumination unit for illuminating the specimen if overexposed or underexposed regions have been detected in the first microscopic image of the first series of microscopic images;
• acquiring a second microscopic image of the first series of microscopic images from the first focus position of the set of different focus positions using the second illumination setting;
• applying the first setting of the illumination unit for illuminating the specimen;
• acquiring a first microscopic image of a second series of microscopic images from the second focus position of the set of different focus positions using the first illumination setting;
• checking whether overexposed or underexposed regions are present in the first microscopic image of the second series of microscopic images;
• applying the second setting of the illumination unit for illuminating the specimen if overexposed or underexposed regions have been detected in the first microscopic image of the second series of microscopic images;
• and
• acquiring a second microscopic image of the second series of microscopic images from the second focus position of the set of different focus positions using the second illumination setting.