Epson V700 - dust even with Digital ICE?

So I've been scanning a few negatives recently and noted that there has been more dust than usual. Fine. It's black and white and sometimes the room gets dusty and I don't clean it properly.
However, I was recently scanning color drug store film with Digitial ICE on (on my Epson V700) and for some reason, there was still a lot of dust! I took a glass cleaner to the glass and used an air blower to remove as much of the dust as I could and there was still a significant amount.

Do the Epson scanners develop dust issues? Any ideas on what could be wrong?

Digital ICE can only remove/repair to a certain level. I'm not sure but on your V700 can you alter the level of ICE that can be applied?

I can on my V500, but it is apparent, the more you apply the softer the image gets. Apply unsharp mask to restore the apparent sharpness and you are back to seeing dust again. Perhaps not to the full extent of an image where it isn't used but it is there. Swings and roundabouts I'm afraid.

I don't know if Epson scanners are more susceptible to dust than other scanners but I kind of doubt it.

I rarely use digital ICE because it has not been all that effective for me. I typically dust everything very thoroughly before I start, as I progress, and even at the end. But I know I will still have to do some dust spotting if I decide I want to PP a given scan. If the one I decide I want to work with is really dusty I will sometimes scan that negative again.

I use a V500 and I dust the lid glass, the bottom glass and the anti-newton glass. Then I pass the film strip through an anti-static brush. I usually keep the film strips inside the PrintFile sleeves until just before I scan. Dust is a PITA but it is an unavoidable part of the process.

"color drug store film" is famous for having lots of dust embedded in the emulsion during processing.

RKNewcomb said:

"color drug store film" is famous for having lots of dust embedded in the emulsion during processing.

Click to expand...

I never checked the "embedded dust" box whenever I got cheap C-41 processing done. Must be an extra cost option. What malarkey.