Newbie Seeks LF Equip. Advice

[ourmodern]

Greetings everyone. I am completely new to this format, and this community seems to give great advice. I recently bought a Cambo 4x5 camera (pretty sure it is an SC2 judging by the pictures) from eBay for a relatively okay price. So far, I am pretty excited on my purchase however I have a few questions:

1. The camera does not include a lens nor lens board. Are lens boards relatively easy to create? I am in search for both a lens and lens board in the Toronto area, recommendations are welcomed.

2. The camera seems to only include bag bellows. As a beginner I have a feeling I am going to start out with a "normal" angle lens. Can something like a 210mm lens be shot with bag bellows on, or will the fabric material obscure the picture plane?

3. Another issue with the bag bellows is that the seller has pointed out that the bag has small holes that is currently repaired by tape. Is there a better method of patching these holes?

I would love to hear some advice on my embarrassing newbie questions. Thanks.

[cowanw]

Greetings back from Hamilton.
The Cambo board is fairly complicated to make as there are light traps molded in the back. Usually you can get them fairly frequently here and on the bay.
Rack your bag bellows out to the longest you can and that will be the length of lens you can shoot at infinity. Anything closer requires a longer bellows.
I expect you will be looking for a regular bellows as well as the board.
Enjoy
Bill

[ourmodern]

Thanks for the reply Bill. Nice to see a fellow Canadian on the board. It had not crossed my mind about measuring the bellows, doh! I guess I will have to wait and see. I will def look out on ebay, but it sucks that since I am new on this board I have to wait 30 days to gain access to the buy & sell section.

[Brian Stein]

You may also want to check out keh www.keh.com ; they usually have a good selection of lensboards

[largeformat apt]

If you know somebody with a vertical mill and a lathe you can make your own boards. I did so, had them powder coated. I made 4 for $60.00 aud.
Pat