Yes, you will need a transparency adapter. I recomend you scan the negative in color mode. YOU WILL RETAIN MORE DETAIL IN THE SCAN. You can then convert the image to gray scale in Photoshop. When you do that, the size of the file will also decrease (if file size is a condern). I also recomend not to use any of the interpulated resolutions on the scanner. If you do, you will not gain anything and have a poorer quality scan as well. I currently use a 3 year old Microtek Scanmaker III with a transparency adapter which does a fair job. I use it mostly to create digital proof sheets and play with the cropping and composition before I take the negative in the dark room. If your intent is to create a critical end product, well, a flat bed scanner just can't quite get you there yet. A drum scan would be in order. My advice is to try the above. You will see what I'm talking about. Most of all, have fun!