You seem knowledgeable in this space. I’ve researched scanners for only scanning old prints but get mixed messages. What would be your advice on a scanner for this purpose to get 90% good enough… epson 650/700?
Yep! Just card stock. For some reason having a white backing behind the image causes worse scans when the bright light can penetrate the image you're scanning and gets reflected internally off that white sheet. I always just put a thin piece of black cardstock on top of everything I scanned.