Digital BW, The Print

I am thinking about getting a Microtek 2500 scanner for black and
white 4x5.  I can get a used scanner with 12bit output somewhat
cheaper than a new scanner with 16 bit output.  

I know that there is a quality difference between 8 and 16 bit for
black and white.  Also I have read that Photoshop allows you to
manipulate the 12 bit as a 16 bit file.  So is there a perceptible
quality difference between 12 and 16 bit output from the scanner?