Paterson PCA2060 diffuser?

Hi all,

I've been very kindly given a Philips/Paterson PCA2060 colour analyser, and I'd like to take a shot at getting it working.

The only downer is that as I understand things, it should have come with a diffuser lens which mounts under the enlarger lens, in order to take averaged readings. Inevitably, I'm missing that lens.

Does anyone know if it's possible to cobble together a substitute for this (would simply holding the probe directly under the lens rather than on the baseboard just do the trick, for example?!) Even if original parts were still available - which I doubt - I can't help thinking it'd probably cost more to buy a new lens than the unit is worth, so I'm looking for cheap ideas!

Thanks in advance

I'd expect any sort of diffusing material would work, so long as it doesn't introduce a color bias (and maybe it would work even then; you'd just end up setting different numbers on the dials). If you can't find anything else, though, PM me; I've got a non-functional Philips color analyzer with its diffusing disk that I might be willing to part with. Shipping would be cheapest if you're in the US.

Another alternative is to take readings on parts of the image with a constant color. This would work best if you take a photo of the same object, with a fairly neutral color, on each roll and in each lighting condition. For instance, if you photograph a gray card at the start of each roll, you could take your readings on it. Assuming your lighting doesn't change much through each roll, this should work perfectly well; however, if your lighting does change (daylight to tungsten, tungsten to fluorescent, etc.), this procedure won't work too well unless you take another gray-card shot.