Canoscan fs2720u vs Epson v700 with vuescan

[RLaverty]

Hi,
I am embarking on digitizing vast amounts of slides and 35mm negatives. I have a Canoscan fs2720u scanner with Vuescan pro as my software. My quandry is to go this route(not concerned about time investment) or get a Epson V700. Many of the negatives have scratches and or dust. I also use Aperture 3 on my mac and am wondering is the flatbed with digital ice is a better route or the film scanner with aperture brushes in post production to take care of the dust and scratches? Any advise would be appreciated, Thanks

[Medley]

Mixed bag. You'll get consistently better scan with the Epson flatbed. While running the ICE will slow down the scan, it may prevent you from having to do a lot of work in post-processing.

That said, if you have the time to invest, and actually LIKE doing pp, you generally get better results doing it yourself rather than relying on software to look at the image globally.

For my money though, with a lot of scans to do, I'd invest in the Epson.

I run Aperture 2.1 for organization, and export to PS for editing, so I can make no specific comment on the brushes in Aperture 3.

- Joe U.