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Lamy 2000 Vs. Pelikan M200


Martolod

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Hello, I posted this in the Pelikan board but thought the Lamy board would have something to add. Lately I've been looking at Pelikan pens a lot and the M215 and M200, but I'm hesitant because I've got a lot of German nibs, andI already have a German nib piston filler in the Lamy 2000 and TWSBI Eco. I should also mention I haven't had issue no.1 with either pen, and never seen the "sweet spot" problem. Is there anyone who owns both pens and finds it worthwhile? Is the nib a different enough writing experience to buy it?

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I like my L2K nib much more than my M200 nib. I also prefer the balance of the 2k in general.

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Here's a thought: I have a collection of about two hundred pens. A lamy 2000 in EF and a few Pelikan M200s included. A collection provides the opportunity to use now this pen, then tanother. The Lamy 2000 and the steel nibbed Pel 200 are different and give a different experience. Further, put a gold 14K nib in the Pel 200, and it becomes different yet. It's worthwhile if you like the option of using one or the other to suit your mood. Among the pens in my collection, these two are on a short list of the ones that are any good at all.

 

You can pick apart either of these pens, and many will. They are different. It takes more care and familiarity to find the sweet spot on a Lamy 2000, or so many complain. It is, however, a nice writing experience. The Pelikans might be a little more easygoing writing experience, easy to find the sweet spot--really a non-issue. Different and worth experiencing.

 

In a forum of collectors, will anyone discourage you from expanding your collection?

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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Here's a thought: I have a collection of about two hundred pens. A lamy 2000 in EF and a few Pelikan M200s included. A collection provides the opportunity to use now this pen, then tanother. The Lamy 2000 and the steel nibbed Pel 200 are different and give a different experience. Further, put a gold 14K nib in the Pel 200, and it becomes different yet. It's worthwhile if you like the option of using one or the other to suit your mood. Among the pens in my collection, these two are on a short list of the ones that are any good at all.

 

You can pick apart either of these pens, and many will. They are different. It takes more care and familiarity to find the sweet spot on a Lamy 2000, or so many complain. It is, however, a nice writing experience. The Pelikans might be a little more easygoing writing experience, easy to find the sweet spot--really a non-issue. Different and worth experiencing.

 

In a forum of collectors, will anyone discourage you from expanding your collection?

200 pens? Wow~~ No, nobody will discourage me, but definitely, delay making the buy. My collection is only a dozen pens. So, for the sake of being a reasonable collector, I want to limit myself to one or two new additions a year, only pens over 100 or 200 dollars, because I'd go broke just snatching up cute cheap pens all year. But you have a point, if the pens do feel different enough and will go with different moods, I'm probably bound to get it. The Pelikan logo is just too attractive on the nib for me not to get it! haha

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The Pelikan M200/205 is a sufficiently different pen from the Lamy 2000. I have multiple copies of each--the first M200 going all the way back to 1997. It's still in my collection, still used, still perfect with the occasional application of silicon grease to the piston. The stainless steel nib is, to me, a bit more springy than Pelikan's gold nibs. It's a much smaller pen than the Lamy 2000, but long enough and well-balanced with the cap posted. The Pelikan offers a bit more in terms of aftermarket nibs. You can get all sorts of stainless steel and 14k nibs for the M200/205 with any number of special grinds and tips.

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I agree with Pajaro that those two are on

the short list of pens that are any good at all. In fact I'm writing with both of them right now. I'm a bit of a pen snob so the humble M200 often isn't on my radar. But just the other day I was thinking that in many ways this is the essence of the traditional piston filling pen - without the fancy add-ons. It's an honest and reliable writer, the steel nibs are quite good, and exchangeable, and the price is doable though a bit high in my opinion. Try to get it under 100$. It's sufficiently different from the L2000 to add it to your desk. It will feel a little flimsy in comparison at first, but if you're really a writer, that disappears, because it performs well on the page.

Have fun!

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."

– Lin Yu-T'ang

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I'd say wait a bit to save your money and spring for a brown tortoise Pelikan 400N or 400NN. True, you'd be buying used instead of new, but a vintage pen has a wonderful quality about it being "broken in". Plus, they have the screw-in nib benefit so you can always swap.

[MYU's Pen Review Corner] | "The Common Ground" -- Jeffrey Small

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I'd say wait a bit to save your money and spring for a brown tortoise Pelikan 400N or 400NN. True, you'd be buying used instead of new, but a vintage pen has a wonderful quality about it being "broken in". Plus, they have the screw-in nib benefit so you can always swap.

Hm? I tried looking for it but everybody posting about it is already familiar with that model. What's the difference to the M200? Size? Nib? Better material?

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I agree with Pajaro that those two are on

the short list of pens that are any good at all. In fact I'm writing with both of them right now. I'm a bit of a pen snob so the humble M200 often isn't on my radar. But just the other day I was thinking that in many ways this is the essence of the traditional piston filling pen - without the fancy add-ons. It's an honest and reliable writer, the steel nibs are quite good, and exchangeable, and the price is doable though a bit high in my opinion. Try to get it under 100$. It's sufficiently different from the L2000 to add it to your desk. It will feel a little flimsy in comparison at first, but if you're really a writer, that disappears, because it performs well on the page.

Have fun!

There are some heavy pens I love, and some light pens that only need to be capped to balance them out and that makes it easier to use (and the lighter pens actually force me to not death-grip pens). But, my collection has a few of each. With the M200, I'm really interested in the Brown Marble one, the material is so pretty. Do you think it's worth it to order from the Nibsmith with nib and tune adjustments for $139 or is the pen itself really not worth more than 100+?

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There are some heavy pens I love, and some light pens that only need to be capped to balance them out and that makes it easier to use (and the lighter pens actually force me to not death-grip pens). But, my collection has a few of each. With the M200, I'm really interested in the Brown Marble one, the material is so pretty. Do you think it's worth it to order from the Nibsmith with nib and tune adjustments for $139 or is the pen itself really not worth more than 100+?

Personally, I would say an M200 is not worth over $100 because I remember the days before Pelikan raised US prices so much, but if the question is should you spend $139 to get it from nibsmith or $109 to get it from Amazon, I think it is worth the premium to get it from nibsmith and have the benefit of Chartpak warranty support and the possible of the free nib exchange if you end up not liking the type of nib you get.

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Personally, I would say an M200 is not worth over $100 because I remember the days before Pelikan raised US prices so much, but if the question is should you spend $139 to get it from nibsmith or $109 to get it from Amazon, I think it is worth the premium to get it from nibsmith and have the benefit of Chartpak warranty support and the possible of the free nib exchange if you end up not liking the type of nib you get.

Oh, see I'm totally uninformed with Pelikan, I had no idea they had raised US prices. But, it seems every pen maker outside of the US has weird pricing strategies for the US. Marketing departments~ Well, I'll keep an eye on eBay. Getting the warranty support and nibsmith to make sure the nib is tuned and smooth seemed worth it to me~

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Hm? I tried looking for it but everybody posting about it is already familiar with that model. What's the difference to the M200? Size? Nib? Better material?

 

The material is superior to the modern M200. I had a fairly modern M200 that I never used. Just sat in its beautifully made gift box with ink bottle. Then about 8 years later, decided to sell it. Didn't think I'd get as much as I had paid, and then was stunned when it sold for double. Looks to me like Pelikan isn't using quite the same plastic / resin as they used to. The 400 has a larger body. I can't recall, but it may be compatible with the 200 on nibs. But in any case, the tortoise pattern is beautiful... and there's variation so no two are exactly alike.

[MYU's Pen Review Corner] | "The Common Ground" -- Jeffrey Small

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There are some heavy pens I love, and some light pens that only need to be capped to balance them out and that makes it easier to use (and the lighter pens actually force me to not death-grip pens). But, my collection has a few of each. With the M200, I'm really interested in the Brown Marble one, the material is so pretty. Do you think it's worth it to order from the Nibsmith with nib and tune adjustments for $139 or is the pen itself really not worth more than 100+?

Personally, the brown marble is not my favorite look, but that's beside the point. I just ordered a M120 from the NibSmith and will pay the extra $30 to have the nib "tuned" ... mostly because the steel nibs can be a bit uninteresting out of the box. I think it's worth the money. The nib is the heart of the pen and how it writes makes all the difference. You can also upload pictures of how you hold your pen on

the website to give an idea of what you're looking for. I think that's neat. Haven't tried his services before, but am giving it a shot.

"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."

– Lin Yu-T'ang

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I have the M215, M200 and Lamy 2000 but not the TWSBI. The M215 is going to be closer in weight to the Lamy 2000, and may feel more substantial than the M200. To be honest once using it I don't notice the difference between the M215 and the M200. In terms of a writing experience I prefer by quite a bit the Pelikan M200 to the Lamy 2000. I like a touch of feedback in my pens and the Pelikan though writing a broader line than I usually prefer, it is not as smooth as the Lamy 2000. (Though it's not one you're comparing I vastly prefer the M200 nib to the M600 nib which (1) writes far wider than the extra fine on the M215 though it's also denominated Extra Fine, (2) is too smooth. </Rant>)

 

The Lamy 2000 Extra Fine writes a nice thin line, on mine at least.

 

You may like the utility of ink window in the Pelikan M200 compared to the Lamy 2000 (the one on the L2K is more like a low ink indicator). The ink window on the M215 is very dark and can be difficult to see compared to the M200, but still usable... But it fits the more conservative design.

Inked: Aurora Optima EF (Pelikan Tanzanite); Franklin Christoph Pocket 20 Needlepoint (Sailor Kiwa Guro); Sheaffers PFM I Reporter/Fine (Diamine Oxblood); Franklin Christoph 02 Medium Stub (Aurora Black); Platinum Plaisir Gunmetal EF (Platinum Brown); Platinum Preppy M (Platinum Blue-Black). Leaded: Palomino Blackwing 602; Lamy Scribble 0.7 (Pentel Ain Stein 2B); Uni Kuru Toga Roulette 0.5 (Uni Kuru Toga HB); Parker 51 Plum 0.9 (Pilot Neox HB)

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Spend the extra money to get it from Dan Smith and have him grind the nib into a cursive italic. You would want to write with anything else after using the cursive italic!!

...............      .................    

This post made with recycled electrons.

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Spend the extra money to get it from Dan Smith and have him grind the nib into a cursive italic. You would want to write with anything else after using the cursive italic!!

Well, I pulled the trigger and ordered it from Dan Smith. But, I ordered a Fine with some tune&smooth. I already have a TWSBI Mini AL and a Pilot Prera in Cursive Italic, and don't use them as much as I'd like to, despite having them inked up, not really looking for another little cursive pen to find something to do with. Not that they don't write beautifully, just a personal taste thing, this pen stuff can be so ridiculously arbitrary at times haha. (Not that I'm never gonna try the nib swapping feature ;)

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Spend the extra money to get it from Dan Smith and have him grind the nib into a cursive italic. You would want to write with anything else after using the cursive italic!!

Actually, now that I think about it, the slow steady hand you need to write cursive italics,and stubs, is just a bit too slow for me to keep up with lecture notes. I only use them for novel writing on quiet weekends.

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Hm? I tried looking for it but everybody posting about it is already familiar with that model. What's the difference to the M200? Size? Nib? Better material?

 

I see no one has actually answered your question. The M200s are the same size as the M400s, but don't have gold nibs (they have gold plated nibs, so the pens are less expensive; plus they come in some different colors, such as the translucent ones that match Pelikan's Edelstein "Ink of the Year" inks. They may also be a less expensive grade of plastic.

I have both M200s and M400s. I think the nibs on the M400s are a tad better (and on my older ones a LOT better). But the main differences are the nib, the materials/color, and the price.

As for the discussion of M200s vs. the Lamy 2000? I don't have a 2000 because it's a heavier pen than my M200 is (although I do also have a TWSBI 580-AL -- which are made in Taiwan, BTW, not Germany -- and that is a fairly heavy pen).

All I can tell you is that if you have a chance to try a Lamy 2000 before buying one, to do so -- and then you can decide whether it's worth getting one or not.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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Please report back once you give your new Pelikan a trial run for your lecture notes. I use my red M205 with a fine nib to take rapid notes during interviews and meetings.

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