Pilot Prera

[Ana_]

I just purchased my first Pilot Prera. These pens come in a wonderful range of colors. I opted for the soft cloud blue body. The pen is as vivid in person as it is on the website. (I purchased through jet pens). I did a handwriting review shown below. Here are the highlights for those who may find the writing a bit illegible. The pen arrived in a slide out cardboard encasement with a durable plastic flip top case. It also arrived with one Pilot standard black cartridge. When I initially began to write with it for the first time today, the pen had a scratchy sound to it, that was not reflected in the writing. Not sure what that was about? The pen writes smoothly. I used my apica paper to write the sample, this is a very smooth, silky paper. I also wrote a sample on a scruff tough regular cheap paper notebook I like to use for quick notes and the Prera performed smoothly all the way across! I love a fountain pen that doesn't have to be pampered.

The pen is made of plastic with a metal clip. It is converter compatible and I purchased both the CON-20 and CON-50 converters which are matches for it. In the 3rd photograph shown are the Pilot cartridge that came with the Prera, the CON-20 and lastly at the bottom the CON-50. I am currently using the CON-20 and have inked it up for the first time with J. Herbin 1670's Rouge Hemetite. The cap length is 2 1/8" long, the body length is 4 1/4", and posted, the pen length is 4 3/4". The weight of the pen is 5/8 of an ounce capped and 1/4 of an ounce uncapped. Very light weight both posted or unposted. This pen is much lighter than what I am used to, so that in itself is an adjustment for me, but one i'm sure to make soon enough.

I love the smoothness of the pen and the price point of $49.50 is ok. IMO, given the lightweightness of this model compared to others in its range (Lamy Safari, Inoxcrom) a more appropriate cost point should be $30-$35, but all things considered, post purchase, I am happy to own this one Prera. The converter costs for me were CON-20 $3.30 and CON-50 $5.75.

[PaperDarts]

thanks for your review - the Prera is a great little pen. I have three of the demonstrators and use them a lot. Two have F nibs and the third is an M nib - I find myself using the latter more often since it's smoother on a wider range of papers; the F nibs are more finicky by as you say, but write smoothly on the right paper. Enjoy your pen!

[brunico]

Thanks for the review, as well.

 

It's expensive outside Japan for what it is, but buying from Ebay or J-Subculture makes the price very competitive - even cheaper than the Metropolitan/MR. I wouldn't want to be without mine: it's great for taking notes because it's so quick to uncap.

 

Two points I hadn't noticed myself, from other reviews:

 

• it caps and uncaps with a nice feel and sound, like a posh car door
• the bulge at the top is said to be meant to accommodate the hem of a jeans pocket

I'd get more, but there are five other colours I like, and I can't decide.

[Ana_]

PaperDarts:

I do not own a medium, but I was impressed with the way the fine nib worked on even my rough note book paper, I can see how the medium would do that even more so. Do you own Lamy as well? If so, how would you compare the Medium Prera to a Medium Lamy? I am enjoying my pen, thank you!

 

Brunico:

I will check J-subculture out for future reference to see if it is a lower price point. I do love the color range of the Prera, it was hard for me to decide between the one I purchased, the slate gray and the royal blue. I'm glad you mentioned the cap and uncap sound like a posh car door, I have to admit, when I first capped it after my first write and heard the sound I could not resist pulling it apart and pushing it back together 5 more times. It has a most pleasing sound! How does the bulge at the top accomodatee the hem? What color is the one you own?

[brunico]

It has a most pleasing sound! How does the bulge at the top accomodatee the hem? What color is the one you own?

 

Just that the gap between clip and cap is much wider at the top, as if to allow for a double thickness of denim to nestle there. And I have the lime.

[Misfit]

I'm wanting the demonstrator version with light blue accents and calligraphy nib.

[Ana_]

Brunico,

ha! thank you for the explanation, now that's clever! Ahh, the lime one was stunning.

 

Misfit,

the demonstrators are really really nice too, there is so much to chose from. The light blue accepts sound soothing. I have been wanting to try a calligraphy nib. What size nib are you going for?

[Misfit]

The only one I've seen listed is a medium calligraphy nib. A reviewer thought it was more like a fine calligraphy nib. It would be my first Pilot with said nib. I like Lamy 1.5mm nibs. Not great for small writing, but that isn't a problem for me. :-)

 

This topic might inspire me to follow through and order the Prera demonstrator.

[Misfit]

Brunico,

ha! thank you for the explanation, now that's clever! Ahh, the lime one was stunning.

Misfit,

the demonstrators are really really nice too, there is so much to chose from. The light blue accepts sound soothing. I have been wanting to try a calligraphy nib. What size nib are you going for?

Here's a photo of the nib.

[Misfit]

Wheeeeee! I did it. I ordered the Pilot Prera demonstrator in light blue. It was on amazon.com for $31 sold through Japan Subculture. Estimated delivery is between February 19 to March 12.

 

So thank you to Ana for posting your review. If I remember once it arrives, I'll try to post a photo.

[brunico]

The Prera CM calligraphy nib is the same as the standard Plumix nib, an M, which is a hair narrower than the Lamy 1.1. There's also a Plumix B... and BB, F, EF. But the CM/M suits most people's everyday handwriting.

[knarflj]

I have that same soft blue Prera, and also the slate grey. They're really nice pens, but I admit that if I were just discovering them now, I'd probably think one was enough. Back when I got my first one, though, I decided that it was the perfect grading pen, so it was filled with red ink throughout the school year - and I just had to have another one that I could put other colours in.

 

Do you own Lamy as well? If so, how would you compare the Medium Prera to a Medium Lamy?

 

 

I am not PaperDarts, and I don't own mediums, but seeing that my two Preras with fine nibs write considerably finer than my Safari and Al-Star extra-fines, I would expect a medium Prera to compare more closely with a Lamy fine or (more probably) extra-fine.

 

Jenny

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the Review!

 

I have one in Lime with an M nib, which is very smooooth and writes just a slight bit dry, so is a good match for common copy/print papers and most FP inks.

 

It is one of the few short pens that have the section girth of a full size pen, and are comfy in my grasp either posted or not. Unposted it is barely long enough, but will do for quick notes / form filling / box ticking.

 

With the clip pretty much flush with the cap, little sticks out above the clip, so is less likely to snag on something, which is handy (and discreet) when worn in an outer garment pocket.

 

Bye,

S1

 

Here's my Prera posing alongside the other pens used for the ESSRI Written Samples.

L → R: Pilot Prera, Sheaffer 440, Pelikan M400, Platinum President Purist, Parker Lady Insignia, Waterman Carene, Waterman's 52 1/2 V.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN%20Stuff%20-%202011/Ink%20Review%20-%20ESS%20Registrars%20Blue-Black/c42ebe09.jpg

[Ana_]

Misfit:

CONGRATULATIONS! Yea! I look forward to your soon to be thread reviewing the Prera demontrator with light blue trims and italic nib! Is the medium calligraphy nib the same as a 1.5? It would be great if you could do a review of the 1.5 Lamy vs. the 1.5 Prera. I myself just ordered my first italic nib EVER! I'm very excited about it. I started at the bottom and ordered a Lamy 1.1 and look forward to receiving it. I love the way you displayed the Prera nib! That is a great looking nib and a sharp display method, how did you do that?? I'm soooo glad you bought the Prera for $31and didn't over pay like me! lol If I order another Prera, I will surely order through J Subculture! ((Thank you again Brunico for the tip!)) You're very welcome for the pen review, I love doing them and I look forward to mid February - mid March for your review. Do you know what you'll ink it with first? That's as huge a decision for me as deciding which pen to buy.

 

Brunico:

Again thank you thank you for the J Subculture tip!! And thank you for answering a previous question I posted up there to Misfit regarding the difference between a Lamy 1.1 and a Prera medium. It's amazing all the industry inconsistency, but then I suppose that's a part of what makes life interesting.

 

Jenny:

That makes TOTAL sense! When you're doing heavy grading it's fantastic that you have the one pen always filled with the color you most heavily use, so one more sounds right. Are the nib sizes the same on both your Prera's?

 

Sandy:

That's a niiiice collection! I love to see other FP enthusiasts collections displayed side by side like that because we all know there is a story behind each FP, why it drew us in, who the enabler was... lol (like me with Misfit and this post ) what the reason was behind the nib size and which ink first filled it. Aaahh, FP's are great memory lane's. And again it's fantastic how the Prera color just pops off of the screen! Is the barrel color of the Platinum President Purist a hot pink or salmon color? I like it.

[PaperDarts]

PaperDarts:
I do not own a medium, but I was impressed with the way the fine nib worked on even my rough note book paper, I can see how the medium would do that even more so. Do you own Lamy as well? If so, how would you compare the Medium Prera to a Medium Lamy? I am enjoying my pen, thank you!

 

Ana - I do have Lamy pens, EF and F nibs. I find the Medium Prera nib comparable to the Lamy EF but on the whole I'd say the Prera M is smoother than the Lamy EF unless I've got a very "wet" ink in the Lamy.

[knarflj]

Jenny:

That makes TOTAL sense! When you're doing heavy grading it's fantastic that you have the one pen always filled with the color you most heavily use, so one more sounds right. Are the nib sizes the same on both your Prera's?

 

Yes, both my Preras have fine nibs. When I bought them, none of my other pens came close to being that fine, and I loved the idea of having a nib like that in a daily writer. So with the first Prera on permanent grading duty, I got the second with the same nib, just a different colour. Well really, come to think of it, I didn't buy that second one myself: I dropped a lot of hints, and someone in the family picked them up.

 

Jenny

[Ana_]

PaperDarts:

Thank you for comparing the Medium Prera nib to the Lamy EF nib. That makes visual sense to me. I can remember the first time I wrote with a Lamy EF thinking how much more like a medium it seemed. The first time I ever wrote with the Fine Prera I thought, now this is what I thought a Fine nib would write like. The Bold nib for my Lamy is like writing with those fat chalks we used to use in Kindergarten.. lol I would be tempted to purchase a Medium Prera but the thing that holds me back is the pen weight. It may take me some time to adjust to the light weightness of it. Do you prefer the light Prera over the heavier Lamy? Can Prera's nibs be changed in and out like Lamy's?

 

Jenny:

I like that I have a fine nib too. As I said above, my Lamy's, EF included, write quite thick so its great to have a fine lined FP writer. LOL I love that the second one came by way of dropping hints.. Hmmm, let me see, Christmas is gone... Birthday gone.. Valentines day maybe??

[knarflj]

If you want a medium nib and like heavier pens, you could try a Pilot Metropolitan medium. The Metro's got the same nib as the Prera (I understand that you can swap them, but I haven't done it myself). There's a definite step between the barrel and the section, which some people find uncomfortable; otherwise it's a great pen for the money.

 

Jenny

[PaperDarts]

PaperDarts:

Thank you for comparing the Medium Prera nib to the Lamy EF nib. That makes visual sense to me. I can remember the first time I wrote with a Lamy EF thinking how much more like a medium it seemed. The first time I ever wrote with the Fine Prera I thought, now this is what I thought a Fine nib would write like. The Bold nib for my Lamy is like writing with those fat chalks we used to use in Kindergarten.. lol I would be tempted to purchase a Medium Prera but the thing that holds me back is the pen weight. It may take me some time to adjust to the light weightness of it. Do you prefer the light Prera over the heavier Lamy? Can Prera's nibs be changed in and out like Lamy's?

 

Jenny:

I like that I have a fine nib too. As I said above, my Lamy's, EF included, write quite thick so its great to have a fine lined FP writer. LOL I love that the second one came by way of dropping hints.. Hmmm, let me see, Christmas is gone... Birthday gone.. Valentines day maybe??

 

Okay, I just now got out my Prera and a Lamy Al-Star to compare the weights when writing (purely subjective, I don't have a scale with me!). The Prera is indeed very light if unposted, and feels a bit short even though I have small hands, so I always post the Prera when writing.

 

On the other hand, I rarely post a Lamy Safari or Al-star when writing as it makes the pen quite long and a little unbalanced for me. I would say that the Prera posted feels a bit heavier than the Lamy unposted, but both of the latter are comfortable to use for writing. Hope that helps!

 

p.s. edited to add that I don't think the Prera nibs can be swapped unless you change the whole section - but no doubt others are more knowledgeable about that.

Edited January 22, 2015 by PaperDarts

[bone215]

Ana

Nice color! That is very pretty.

The Pilot Prera is a soft spot for me. I think this is the Lexus of pens, as, everything fits so well, unscrews and screws with precision, and as you have noticed, the snick upon uncapping and capping makes a quality sound as well as an excellent feel.

If this pen were just a tad longer it would be just about the ideal pen for me.

 

I have the grey (slate) M nib and a dark brown M nib. The M nibs are very smooth and with a light hand produce a nicely defined line. The F nibs of Pilot tend to be just a touch too fine, IMO.

I do enjoy F nibs from Pilot it is just that I like the M's better. I find them a bit less paper fussy and I will use my pens to write on anything.

I like your enthusiasm and am happy that you found a nice pen.

 

I can neither confirm nor deny that the Pilot nib in the Prera is the same as the Metropolitan. My M nib Metro writes a bit fatter line than my M nibbed Preras. However, that could just be minor nib variation.

 

As you may be able to tell I am a fan of Pilot.

 

Have fun.