Scanning software question

I received an Epson v700 scanner for Christmas so I could start to digitize all my old film and slides. With regards to the bundled software, how important is it to use the image correction features within the scanning software? As long as I scan at the appropriate resolution can I just do all of my corrections within Lightroom, or does the scanning software (Silverfast) allow me to do something that can't be done in PP.

Silverfast has world class Digital ICE technology that actually uses IR light to detect and correct scratches and dust on the slides. It does take longer to scan but you should get much better removal of imperfections than Lightroom or Photoshop can do with their cloning tools. It also has presets for the type of film and can automatically adjust for the colour and contrast of a particular film.

I scan all my film through Silverfast.

I wouldn't even attempt to scan color negs without Digital ICE. Without it you'll be working on your negs for years trying to get rid of the scratches and dust spots. Unfortunately it only works for color (except Kodachrome) and not for B&W.

Example for badly scratched negatives from the 70's:

- Single color image would take me about 15 minutes in Photoshop after scanning with Digital ICE to straighten/crop, remove grain, color correct, apply curves and USM. With Digital ICE there are essentially zero noticeable scratches or dust spots.

- Single B&W image can take two hours just to remove scratches and dust spots. Note that I do use canned air before scanning and the room/scanner is pretty clean.


I don't use DEE, GEM, ROC, curves or USM when scanning as I feel I get a much better result in Photoshop (more control). I do use 4X multi-sampling (above that is a waste of time IMO).