From my rather long experience of 20 years doing scanning I have come to value the software as much or more than the hardware when it comes to scanners. The Lasersoft SilverFast that is supplied with the Plustek OpticFlm 500i I think you will find offers more optoons to obtain as satifactory scan result from either color negatives or B&W negatives . Personally I now shoot chromogenic C-41 process B&W film, either Kodak or Ilford, first because getting it processed is easy and convenient, and the dye image has less tendency to have blocked up highlights than a dye image which is an advantage to scanning.