scanners and dust under the glass - print scanning recommendations?

I need to scan some old in-law family photos recently recovered from incredibly humid southern China. Many of the photos are old or have been damaged by the hot humid environment they were in. In the space of only 2 or 3 years print photos can become completely destroyed in the environment they came from - even laminated photos. When I saw them I was amazed and saddened. Now the photos are in dry Utah. <br /><br /> I currently have an old Cannon flatbed scanner. It works ok for documents. But when I do high resolution scans of photos I do see dust, most likely from dust under the scanner glass. Is having dust under the scanner glass still an issue for newer scanners when doing print scanning? <br /><br /> I'm in the market either for a new stand alone flatbed scanner, or an all in one that has a nice scanner, so that I can digitize these old photos before they degrade further. Let me know if you've had dust under the glass issues with the newer scanners, and recommendations for either stand along or all in one units that have worked good for you for print scanning. <br /><br /> I'd like a new scanner that still works ok for documents, but that's also good enough quality for print scanning.

<p>I haven't had my Epson V500 long enough to determine if dust will be a problem or not. My Epson 1640SU and inherited 1650 took several years to get noticeable dust on the under side of the glass. These scanners disassemble easily but cleaning the glass streak free and reassembling without any dust inside is difficult.</p>

<p>Not dust, but after some years the glass on my Canonscan had a cloudy deposit on its underside.<br>

I found it relatively easy to dismantle the scanner and clean the glass.<br>

At least I did the second time - the first time I failed to notice I'd left a fingerprint behind and had to start again...</p>

<p>Would save you buying a new one..</p>

<p>Yes, dust can/will eventually get on the underside of any scanner. Some runs of new scanners have poor quality control and thus come with dust under the glass when you take it out of the box. Scanners are not sealed tight so air moves in and out and carries dust inside the shell of the scanner. I think it is a tradeoff though. If it was completely sealed the fogging from the out-gassing of the plastic would be even worse.</p>