Teleoperator techniques often make use of at least one input device which can be selectively operatively associated with, for example, either a surgical instrument (26) to treat tissues, or with an image of a surgical worksite shown to a system operator on a display (14). A novel image manipulation arrangement (12) effects movement of the image connected to the input device, optionally while the instrument (or instruments) (26) remain at a fixed location at the worksite. This can give the operator the appearance of grasping and/or manipulating target tissue and worksite into a desired position for viewing, while movement of the image is actually effected by repositioning of the image capture device (24), electronic image manipulation, or the like. Alternative embodiments may make use of dedicated input devices for the image capture device (24) and the instrument (26), and these image manipulation and teleoperator techniques will find uses in industrial, hazardous environment, and other applications.