ENDOSCOPE WITH VARIABLE ILLUMINATION ANGLE

An endoscope having a light source unit, a light guide fiber for guiding illumination light from the light source unit to the distal end in the inserting section of the endoscope main body, an optical system provided in the distal end for guiding the illumination light transmitted via the light guide fiber to an object, and a solid-state image pickup element incorporated in the distal end. A lens of the optical system is supported by a frame movable along an optical axis thereof. The frame is moved along the optical axis by a wire operating device provided in a control section of the endoscope main body in order to vary the angle of view of the optical system, i.e., the illuminating angle of the illuminating light. The image obtained by the solid-state image pickup element is enlarged by an image enlargement processor in accordance with the angle of view of the optical system, and is displayed. The image enlargement processor has a first frame memory and a second frame memory. The first frame memory receives only a predetermined horizontal scanning line components of the image which corresponds to the angle of view, and enlarges the image along the horizontal direction. The second frame memory receives only a predetermined component of each scanning line component read out from the first frame memory which corresponds to the angle of view, and enlarges the image along the vertical direction.