It cant do any harm trying with your HP scanner but I doubt you'll have any success. I also looked at speicalised scanners but didn't find one under $8000, so your $3000 seems relatively cheap. It just seems to me that this niche in Family History has been overlooked. Perhaps there is room to buy an expensive scanner and scan other people's microfiche for a small fee to recuperate some of the cost? I'll keep looking !!
Chris