Microscope for conventional fluorescence microscopy and total internal reflection microscopy

A microscope for conventional epi-fluorescence microscopy and for total internal reflection microscopy, comprising:

• a first light source emitting conventional fluorescent illumination light along a first illumination path;
• a second light source emitting evanescent illumination light along a second illumination path that differs from said first illumination path;
• at least a first and a second objectives for emitting light onto an object to be viewed, the first and the second objectives being interchangeable against each other for selecting either the first or the second objective with the first objective having a smaller pupil than the second objective;
• a beam combiner directing the conventional fluorescent illumination light and the evanescent illumination light into a selected one of the first and second objectives while keeping said first and second illumination paths between the beam combiner and the objective geometrically separated, wherein the beam combiner comprises:
• at least two spatially separated first zones for coupling in the conventional fluorescent illumination light;
• and
• at least two spatially separated second zones for coupling in the evanescent illumination light;
• wherein
• said first and second zones are adapted in their size and position to the objective pupils of the first and second objectives.