This report describes a new type of laparoscope manipulator with an optical zoom. The manipulator was designed with regard to its safety in medical settings. It is based on a five-bar linkage mechanism. Back and forth movements of a laparoscope are achieved by an optical zoom. By using the five-bar linkage mechanism with the optical zoom, the manipulator need never interfere with the surgeon or the patient. However, the problem of the quality of the image created by the zoom lens remained. To address this problem, we used a short laparoscope instead of an ordinary laparoscope. In this way, the manipulator achieved a high quality laparoscope image with a sufficient degree of safety