Abstract: The invention relates to a method for analyzing properties of a surface by taking an image scene with a camera, wherein at least two images are taken with an illumination with directed and/or diffused light, wherein the image information of the single images is converted into digital signals, and subsequently a three-dimensional image is determined from the digital signals in computer-aided manner. Further, the image relates to an image-taking device for performing this method, comprising a video camera and a lighting appliance being associated with the video camera, the lighting appliance comprising a first lighting system generating diffused light and a second lighting system generating directed light, and a controller through which the first and the second lighting systems are controllable electronically and independently from one another.