Being an amateur genealogist and also a records manager in the oil and gas industry, I can tell you from experience that 400 dpi works best for photographs that you intend to preserve for long periods of time.  I say this because, thanks to the speed at which technology changes, you will likely have to migrate your pictures from one storage media device to another and even copies of electronic media deteriorate over time after they've been copied over several times.    Yes, it does take a longer time to scan them, but it is usually worth the effort if you have a personal or corporate interest in long term preservation strategies.  Those who start out with the best images are able to preserve a good copy for a longer period of time than those who scan at a lower dpi.  Since I have photographs that have to be maintained for as long as 50 years and perhaps then some, I definitely use a higher dpi when scanning digital photos of significant events in the history of the company that require long term preservation. 

It also demonstrates due diligence at the effort to maintain a good copy of the information in its native format (digital photograph) without really knowing how we are going to retrieve it 30 to 50 years from now...if we have to produce it for any reason.

Warmest regards,

Angie Fares
Quicksilver Resources

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