Dust, ICE, Epson 4870, Nikon V

[im5150too]

Well, after a couple of weeks of scanning with my new scanners, I wish
I had the negatives for all my family pictures. The ICE in the Nikon
works extremely well, just about getting rid of any sign of dust. But
despite lots of cleaning and dusting with both dust free pads and a
photo brush before scanning, the photo's I'm scanning on the Epson
4870 still have lots of dust spots, especially when I try to enlarge
them. The ICE makes very little difference on photo's, although it
does work moderately well when I use the Epson for medium frame
negatives.

Anybody have any magic ideas?

 

[Robert Feinman]

Well, after a couple of weeks of scanning with my new scanners, I wish
I had the negatives for all my family pictures. The ICE in the Nikon
works extremely well, just about getting rid of any sign of dust. But
despite lots of cleaning and dusting with both dust free pads and a
photo brush before scanning, the photo's I'm scanning on the Epson
4870 still have lots of dust spots, especially when I try to enlarge
them. The ICE makes very little difference on photo's, although it
does work moderately well when I use the Epson for medium frame
negatives.

Anybody have any magic ideas?

One idea to try is to scan twice with the image rotated 180 degrees
between scans. It's possible that the ICE will work better on some
defects with the shadows coming from the other direction.
Then open both images in your photo editor, rotate one and combine
them as layers. Adjust the blend mode and transparency for the best
effect.

 

[im5150too]

One idea to try is to scan twice with the image rotated 180 degrees
between scans. It's possible that the ICE will work better on some
defects with the shadows coming from the other direction.
Then open both images in your photo editor, rotate one and combine
them as layers. Adjust the blend mode and transparency for the best
effect.

I'll take a look at that, but my Photoshop skills are still beginner
level. Also seems like quite a job, especially with a lot of photos.