This invention is an apparatus for ophthalmic surgery comprising a laser source (52) that generates a laser beam (54); a scanner (56) comprising an input for said laser beam, and an output of a spatially scanned laser beam (54); controlling circuitry that drives said scanner (56) to remove tissue in a desired pattern on the eye (40); a microscope (58) for viewing said tissue removal; and a beam combiner (70) comprising a first input for a line of sight of said microscope (58) and second input for said spatially scanned beam (54).