Wow, Extra Fine is... extra fine.

[Omegaham]

I just got my Pilot 78G and Lamy Safari in the mail, and being tired of my Hero 132, I inked them both up and gave them a spin, and I have to say that the Pilot is awesome. I actually wanted a medium pen, (therefore a fine one) but accidentally ordered a fine one, and therefore got an extra fine pen. Surprisingly, I love it. It's AMAZING. My Lamy is great, too, but I have just been introduced to fountain pen heaven.

 

What are your thoughts on extra fine pens?

[ANM]

I prefer the Japanese fine nibs. I have a newer Parker Duofold with a fine nib that I never use (line is way too fat) and my Pelikan with a fine nib is a beauty to behold only tempered by the fact that the fine nib isn't really all that fine. My Sailor and Namiki-Pilots all have fine nibs and I love the way they write.

[KCat]

Extra-fine nibs don't help my handwriting.

 

But I don;t care. I love 'em. That's why when I had the opportunity to get a second Sapporo for a good price, I went with yet another "fine" nib which is of course, an XF (if not even finer depending on the ink.) A deliciously smooth EF ("F") nib like Sailor and Pilot make is a thing of great joy.

 

One of my Pelikan "F" nibs is a M-B. I still love it because it is a flawless writer. But "Fine"? Not even close.

Edited April 12, 2008 by KCat

[markmorris]

I wish I would have discovered Sailor extra fine nibs and Pilot fine nibs 30 years ago.

These pens are what I have been needing all my life.

They are to me the almost perfect size of nib as well as being smooth writers.

I don't have to spend extra money on the pen this way.

These pens are the way all pens should be right out of the box.

[gregoron]

Yes, my fine nib Pilot 78G is finer than all the EF pens I have including my Lamy 2000 and Pelikan M150. I also like my Esterbrook Dollar Pen with a 9556 fine nib. It is not is fine as the 78G, but it writes a darker black with the same Pelikan black ink.

 

I wish there was an international standard in classifying nib widths. I use a Pilot G-2 gel pen comparison and the way I see it, the 78G's line width compares with a 0.38 mm G-2, which in Pilot's classification is an ultra fine. My Estie 9556 writes like an extra fine at 0.5 mm, while my Lamy 2k and Pelikan M150 EF's write more like a fine with 0.7 mm on the G-2.