Digital BW, The Print

Hi,

I recently scanned a 35 mm Tri X negative at 3200 DPI in 16 bit 
mode. The image was of my daughter sitting on swing in the park in 
daylight.

I was curious to see if the histogram of this file would be 
different if the file was converted to 8 bit. After converting the 
file to 8 bit, I reviewed the histogram and so no changes.

Shouldn't there be a different histogram once the file is converted 
to 8 bit? Going from 16 bit to 8 bit means that the tonal range has 
been reduced, correct?

More importantly, I could not detect any visible differences on the 
screen when the image was in 8 bit vs. 16 bit. I decided to work 
with the 8 bit file as there are more PS features available this way.

Should there be any discernable tonality differences on a print 
created with a 16 bit file vs. 8 bit when printing with an Epson 
2200 using the BO method?

I printed the 8 bit and the 16 bit file and saw no differences. Is 
this what you would expect?

Everything I've read, says to stick with 16 bit.

Does the rule "Stay in 16 bit" apply when printing BO on Epson 2200?

Thanks,
David