yes exactly, though it gets confusing when we talk about 'front' and 'back' and these are swapped about! your picture is helpful.
I think we are saying the same thing - that you can turn the camera on its side, use it 'backwards' (lens on rear sled, back on front sled) and the bigger front rise/fall movements (25+18mm) on the Max become bigger rear shift movements for the back. Sadly, used this way you have to lock the camera body to the tripod, which, as you agree, means that you can only do single row stitching. For multi-row stitching (which I prefer to call Lens Locked Stitching, LLS) we would need, when using the camera 'backwards', to be able to lock the lens sled itself to the tripod, like you can do when using the camera the 'right' way around with the front sled and stitching adapter.
I would guess that this 18mm+18mm rear shift on the max is an historical design oversight from when MF sensors were smaller - eg a Phase 39mp at 49x37mm - and so a 38mm shift was sufficient. Then along came bigger full frame sensors like P65+ at 54x40.4mm, and we would prefer bigger shifts, like 20+20mm or more. maybe they'll fix that in a Max2 ?!
But... having said that the Alpa's in general have an issue with their main body aperture, which becomes restrictive to bigger multi stitches - the sensor gets masked by the body aperture after a certain point. Legacy issues like that (its a design from 6x9 film days after all, well before digital stitching) need to be reconsidered by them. One way around this body masking restriction is to use a short barrel lens on front and the 34mm spacer-adapter, or t/s adapter, on the rear (with digital back), which move the restrictive body aperture up the light cone. does that make any sense?
ps- whats the RRS plate you have there?
Yes, that makes sense, though I have no idea what practical effect moving the plane of motion on the Z axis has on image geometry. Any pictures that show perspective comparisons?
Is the aperture still restrictive with the image circles we get from digital lenses? I think they top out about 120 mm (90mm Digaron W) and most are smaller. I have taken the 90 out to +-15 mm using the sideways Max without any restriction but will try going out further to see.
That's an RRS L84. Just happened to have it but turns out to be unnecessary.
Neat thread - started with a simple question, deviated through various confusions (mine), inserts good information about stitching issues, and comes back to a simple answer - which is this. Most any Arca plate will mate an Alpa to the Cube. I like the Markins PL-55 on the TC, with a 400'090'012 spacer. For nonreversed Max, I just bolt the PL55 to the stitching adapter.
For a reversed Max, use the 400'090'012 spacer on the side frame (Alpa's suggestion) as it is held by two thumbscrews (strong). Further advantage is that the same Arca plate is easily moved between the TC and reversed Max. The plate just stays on the spacer.
Here's a pic of the Max with the 400'090'012 spacer, PL-55, T/S adapter on the rear sled, and ready to shift with tilt.
[attachment=18898:_MG_3556.jpg]
