Thank you for an informative response. One would have thought that the Japanese algorithmic steps for bringing a camera to market would have strongly studied this, especially because not having done this would have compromised the perceived quality of their lenses. I really think that this was a serious matter and, although I have no reason whatsoever to doubt you, I also find it hard to believe that the Japanese simply glossed over this manufacturing criterion. - David Lyga
Hi David,
The Nikkormat was an amateur camera while the F2 was the professional camera. The Nikkor lenses were intended for the Nikon F camera originally, a pro camera. The Nikkorex appeared soon and believe me, there's nothing 'smooth' about the Nikkorex, so, yes, the Japanese at Nippon Kogaku can 'gloss over' some refinements. The Nikkormat was to follow the Nikkorex.
Now, the build quality of the Nikkormat is excellent, of course, as is its precision. As I said, i'm not sure how real would be the impact of the vertical Nikkormat shutter on actual pictures. I got fine pictures with my Nikkormat, but a real test would have to be done with slow shutter speeds and a "control" camera for comparison.