A surface plasmon resonance imaging system (40) and method is provided. The system (40) includes a light source (42) comprising a light-emitting diode (LED) array that is positioned at the focal point of a collimating lens (44). The light source (42) and collimating lens (44) are used to illuminate the substrate surface (50) at a range of angles dependent upon which one or more LEDs are lit. The substrate surface (50) receives light from the collimated lens (44) at a selected incident angle, which can be varied by selective illumination of one or more of the LEDs in the LED array. The system (40) further includes a detector (60) that is positioned such that it is capable of detecting an image reflected from the substrate surface (50).