A system for the simultaneous videographic or photographic acquisition of images, in particular of samples in a plurality of sample chambers of a sample plate, preferably a microtiter plate, includes an array of microscopes having mutually parallel optical axes, wherein each microscope includes an imaging chip and an objective. The imaging chips are attached to a carrier board as an array of columns and rows. An electronics unit for processing image data for all the microscopes is associated with the carrier board.