2007-06-24
06:36
Lamy 2000 Fountain Pen Review
What Is It?
A fountain pen that still looks modern, though it’s been in production since 1966. It’s a piston-filler, so you have to use bottled ink, not cartridges, and the nib is quite a bit more flexible than most modern pens.
Looks
The 2000 is a great example of German Bauhaus design – simple, minimalist, with clean lines. The form seems purely derived from the function. It’s not a flashy pen, by any means, and you could probably use it almost anywhere without getting a second glance.
How you feel about it depends how you feel about such design. Personally, I love it. If you like a bit of ‘bling’, then you’ll want to look elsewhere.
Feel
The body of the pen is made from Makrolon – it’s the same stuff that’s used for the ‘glass’ in the front of car headlights. With the ‘brushed’ finish, it feels quite similar to wood – pleasantly warm to the touch. It’s a very light pen, which suits me well. Sam usually likes a heavy pen, but she found the Lamy 2000 quite pleasant to hold and use despite the lack of weight.
The piston filler is a little on the stiff side, but turns quite positively, and is still quite easy to operate. The nib is smooth. Mine is an Extra Fine, but Lamy 2000 nibs run very much on the broad side. The Extra Fine is much closer to what most people would describe as a fine, and even what some would probably call medium. Whatever nib width you usually prefer, go one finer with a Lamy 2000.
It’s quite a wide pen, and because it’s smooth all over, you can grip it wherever you like.
In Use
The first thing you have to do to use a fountain pen is get the cap off. This pen uses a pull-off cap, with two tiny lugs that locate into a slot inside the cap. They click nicely into place, and keep the cap on much more securely than you’d expect, yet it pulls back off again very easily. I’m often a little nervous with pull-off caps, in case the cap comes off a bit too easily – especially when I’m carrying the pen clipped into the neck of my t-shirt, with the pen hanging on the outside. In six months of use, though, I’ve never had the cap come off the Lamy 2000 unintentionally.
Filling
Filling with ink is easy – just unscrew the blind cap, dip the nib into ink, and screw it back down again. The piston pulls in plenty of ink, and gives you a good capacity to last a while.
The Nib
As for writing or drawing, I’ve found this pen well suited to either. The nib has a little more flex than most people will be used to, but it’s nice and smooth, and gives a nice wet line with a bit of variation. I’ve used it with a few different inks, including Pelikan, Diamine and Noodler’s, and it’s behaved well with them all.
Like many other nibs, this one will give a finer line when used upside-down. It’s a bit on the scratchy side, and it’s a very fine line. I wouldn’t want to try and write much that way, but it came in useful a few times when I needed a note in a tiny space, or some very fine lines in a doodle.
Ink Window
You can check the ink level through a set of little windows in the barrel. They are fitted perfectly smoothly into the barrel, and I can’t tell at all if they are actually different parts fitted in before the brushed finish was applied, or if they have somehow only blacked out parts of the plastic.
They’re a bit on the small side, so you do have to hold the pen up to the light, and tip it back and forth to get much idea of how much ink is in there. With a little practice, though, it doesn’t take long to check. I’d prefer bigger windows, but they’re not at all bad.
Flushing and Changing Ink
The piston makes changing ink much easier than it is with many pens, but it still takes quite a few flushes through with clean water before you get all the previous ink out. My Pelikan makes this quite a bit easier, but the Lamy is easier than most other pens.
Conclusion
I used this pen for six months. I say used because I’ve now sold it on eBay. That doesn’t mean it was a bad pen at all – it was my favourite until I got a Pelikan M600, and even then, it was very, very close. They’re great value, and wonderful pens to hold and to use. If you like the minimalist styling, I’d certainly recommend it. I bought mine new on eBay, and sold it for more than I’d paid six months later – negative depreciation!
Why might you not like the Lamy 2000? Well, if you don’t like the styling, it’s probably not something you’d get used to. If there’s an element of status symbol to your choice of pen, few people would think you spent so much on it. You may also want the option of using cartridges, rather than having to take a bottle of ink with you when you travel – if you don’t mind that, though, the Lamy will hold more ink than a cartridge/converter pen, and you don’t have to take it apart to fill it.
I’ve heard of some people who find the little lugs that locate into the cap annoying – depending on your grip, they could be where you fingers are. All I can really say is that they never bothered me at all.
If you like the looks, and you want a well made German piston filler, the Lamy is hard to beat for value. If you want something a bit flashier, I can certainly recommend Pelikans, but the Lamy 2000 is a beautifully simple pen that feels great to use.
Update, 2010-10-03: I soon missed the 2000 after selling it, and ‘borrowed’ the OM-nibbed version Sam had. I didn’t get on so well with the oblique nib, but reground it down to a flat Medium, and I’m still using it regularly. With more time, it’s the Pelikan that fell into disuse.
I would just like to add that the feel of the pen just gets better and better over time. I don’t even know how to describe it, somewhere between a favorite stone from the beach or the handle of a favorite tool. I don’t know if the Makrolon absorbs hand oils but it does develop a lovely patina over time as well.
Also I understand Lamy is producing a ‘new’ 2000, you can distinguish it as the Makrolon feed below the nib has been replaced by a metal one and I believe the piston has been re-worked. It is 6g heavier than its predecessor and I have only seen good reviews. I was looking for and excuse to get another 2000 in a different nib size, thanks Lamy.
Hi Birdfish,
I suspect the ‘patina’ is mainly down to the rough finish wearing smooth, though the roughness may also catch hand oils and such like over time. I don’t think the plastic would be able to absorb anything.
We’ve noticed the newer version – the metal under the nib being the most obvious difference. The older models could occasionally leak at that point, so it’s probably a good change. The nibs seem to have become a bit finer, too, more in line with ‘normal’ sizes. Stocks are still coming through in old and new versions for now, depending on the nib size.
[...] “A fountain pen that still looks modern, though it’s been in production since 1966. It’s a… [...]
Cool review. It’s a great pen to write with. Having used mine for a couple of months, now, my only gripe (aside from the ink-view windows, which I’ve finally gotten the hang of) is that I find it just a little on the light side.
Very pleasant to write with, though.
The review is really nice. Made me want to dig out my wife’s Lamy (don’t remember the exact model) and give it a try)
Pelikan M600 is my current favorite too. I carry a blue/black one with me all the time.
There is a fantastic resource on the net that I have just come across. Pendata.pdf is a file that contains detailed weight, size and even centre of gravity information on loads of pens.
I was looking at the details of the Pelikan 600 v the Pelikan 800 and this is amongst what it said: -
Length (P600) 123mm (P800) 126mm Length Capped (P600) 133 (P800) 141 Length Posted (P600) 153 (P800) 163 Weight (P600) 11.25g (P800) 20.25g CofG of Pen (P600) 0.57 (P800) 0.63 CofG of Pen Posted (P600) 0.60 (P800) 0.58
So the P800 is considerably heavier. The centre of gravity is measured from the nib so unposted the CofG of the P800 is slightly back on the P600, but posted it is the other way around.
The file is at http://www.vintagepens.com/pendata.pdf Well worth a read. The Lamys don’t get a mention though!
Thanks, Andy, that sounds useful. Yes the M800 has a brass piston, so it’s a lot heavier, and the extra weight is at the back, so it’s relatively top-heavy. Not a good combination for me, but suits many people. That’s also why there’s a fairly big jump in price between the M600 and the M800 – well, that and the different nib – 18k instead of 14k.
Great review, it’s been my favorite pens for 4+ years now!
Hi Andy,
Yes, I have the M600 in green and black stripes – couldn’t resist the classic look. Fine nib.
I think I still slightly prefer the looks of the Lamy, and the cap is great. The Pelikan is much easier to change ink in, though – the nib unit unscrews so easily to clean it out with a quick rinse.
The M800 was a bit too heavy for me, and the extra weight is mostly at the top – I don’t like top-heavy pens, and I never post (well, except for the Pilot Birdies, anyway), so the 600 is ideal.
Excellent review. I have been waiting so long for this!!
So, you have a Pelikan now? What colour is it? Be careful they get addictive! I bought an 805 Souveran and now have a 250 with a 400 nib, two yellow Citroenpers Pelikan 200s on the way and a 605 Souveran on the way too.
What do you think of the 600? If you like light pens then the 800 series might have been a bit on the heavy side. The 250 will be going back on eBay shortly with a fine standard nib, downgrading it back to a 200.
Pelikans are wonderful pens that I wish that I had discovered before, but it spolis you a bit and the Lamy 2000 that I lusted after for so long has now taken a back seat.
Finally got around to ordering the Lamy 2000. Every review that I have read tells of how good it is so can’t wait for mine to get here. I am beginning to wonder whether an OB nib was a good idea. It may write like an OBB – eek.
Do you know, yours is the only review that I have seen of the filling knob unscrewed. Everyone else must want to keep it a secret!
Based on this review and others, I ordered an EF L2K from Joon in NYC.
The pen arrived today, and I managed to get ink into it while waiting for some code to compile.
First impressions: * The L2K is much lighter than my 2nd generation Rotring 600, but the style is even more understated.
The L2K’s EF nib is very similar to my 1998 Namiki Vanishing Point’s M nib.
It takes very little pressure to get the L2K nib to spread (“flex”). The VP nib bends more under pressure, but its degree of spread is similar.
The spring-clip seems much safer than the VP’s death grip clip
I expect the Makrolon will be nearly as robust as the Rotring. The paint on my VP started flaking off after a year or two of daily use.
Ive had this pen for years already, and have never had a single prob. with it (knock on wood) These things are amazing, theyre strong and smooth and dont look to expensive (<- i like that) And they hold a lot of ink. lots. Wouldnt switch for anything. only con: i hate the ink view windows… they only show you you have no ink left when the line starts to fade…
Hi Chucklem,
I sold the XF one, then missed it. I started using the Oblique Medium, but it was just too broad, so in the end, I reground its nib to a sort of fine-ish semi-stub, and I use it quite a lot again now.
1) I had that happen a little at first, but it stopped after a while. Possibly ink dried in there and plugged the leaks!
2) I have found that, but I found it wiped out ok with firm pressure with a finger, wiping along the grain.
3) Yes, that’s pretty much true. It’s been pushed to one side at the moment in favour of a a Sheaffer Clipper Snorkel I got from Andy’s Pens.
Thanks for adding your thoughts and findings.
excellent review, but as a 6+ year user of the Lamy 2000, i think i have some things to point out… Firstly, in these 6 years since i bought it, it has been my steady pen. i havent used anything besides it. thats how good it is. Some issues that become evident over time: 1) the ink may start to leak out of the joins. annoying, you just gotta use an ink with the right degree of viscosity. 2) ink can get trapped in the brush finish in the grip. 3) once you pick up this thing, you never want to put it down!!!
hope ive given you some additional insight