Love this camera and the effect of the barrel lens (210mm). However, getting a full length portrait to be sharp is difficult. I notice that it's slightly out of focus, especially at wide open. I usually shoot wide open, but even when I go to stop down after focusing, bellows can move, t/f throwing it out again. Is taping down the camera a good idea?

Are there any tricks to get the focus sharper. Someone mentioned wearing magnifying glasses? Any thoughts?

best, jerry

Not to point out something too obvious, remember that wide open your lens (you did not say what you had) will have minimal DOF, and may be soft even when focused critically. So you may have to stop down a bit, or live with the soft charachter.

If the focus is loose and wants to move on you (I have an RB-AUTO that does this) you need to practice holding the focusing knob still while you stop the lens down. If you have enough extension out, you could also hold a finger on the side of the camera and overlap the side of the front standard to hold it still.

I gave my RB-D a quick look and did not see any provison for adjusting the looseness of the focusing; maybe someone else here can tell if that can be easily done.

If you wear glasses, depending on your eyesight you may be able to focus without them. Try it; I find that I can focus some of my Graflexes better that way.

Normal tensioner on these cameras is a washer behind the knob, it has several slits in it, never found one that was very effective! I have fixed a few with a shim on both sides, between the side rails and the body...I secure them with 2 screws into the body (above the side rail)when they wear out, they are easily replaced!
Have a nice day.......Bert