A prober for preventing a collision between a probe and a probe position detecting camera and a prober operation method are provided. A prober that performs an inspection by bringing a probe into contact with an electrode of a wafer W includes: a probe position detecting camera for detecting the position of the tip of the probe to perform relative positional alignment between the electrode of the wafer W and the probe; a probe height detector, provided separately from the probe position detecting camera, for detecting the height of the tip of the probe from a reference plane serving as a reference for the height of the probe position detecting camera; and a first height adjusting mechanism for changing the height of the probe position detecting camera from the reference plane, based on the detection result of the probe height detector.