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Shoot out: Lamy Vista vs. Rotring 600 Newton lava


MYU

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Across the years there have been a number of notable German pen companies, many still in existence, each with their own particular design style and product philosophy. Just the other day I took delivery of two packages, each containing a German pen: A Rotring 600 Newton and a Lamy Vista. You can see the distinctive company philosophies in each of them (Rotring: "This pen must last forever!", Lamy: "This pen will be your faithful writing servant"). These pens have been reviewed on FPN before, but never directly compared. So, I figured I'd try a "shoot out" comparison review.

 

To start, what do these pens have in common? EF stainless steel firm nibs with a chrome finish, about equal length overall, nearly the same ink capacity, and both made in Germany. Each pen has its own unique blend of characteristics that make it appealing in its own right. Is one clearly the winner over the other? Let's find out. Although some people may like them equally, there will be plenty who have a preference depending on what characteristics appeal to them.

 

The Lamy Vista:

  • Weight: At 1.5gm, the Vista is definitely light footed. However, it is not to the detriment of a quality feel.
  • Dimensions: 5 1/8" uncapped, 5 1/2" capped, 6 7/16" posted, and 1 3/8" barrel circumference.
  • Construction/Appearance: Everything fits together very well. The materials in the clear plastic barrel and cap is of high quality. Aesthetically speaking, it has a strong modern architecture theme to it like a "glass and steel" skyscraper. You see some tasteful chrome accents in the cap and Lamy logo, while the inner structure shows through the exterior "glass" (clear plastic). Size-wise, it feels thicker than the Rotring 600, despite the same barrel circumference, probably due to the "2-sided" barrel and slightly wider cap. Despite being a plastic pen, it does feel well made and will likely survive a lot of drops and impacts. I suspect the clear plastic will camouflage scratches fairly well, certainly better than the pricier Al-Star.
  • Cap: The cap fits into place with a subtle short travel click requiring little effort. It stays in place well. Posting is a gentle friction fit--you don't have to press hard for it to fit comfortably. It sports a nice long chrome clip that has near perfect tension, making it very easy to attach to a pocket and yet requires a deliberate motion to retrieve the pen (it won't detach too easily). The clip also appears to be "pocket friendly", not snagging or causing any abrasion. If you'd rather not have the clip, it can be removed after unscrewing the cap top (which is conveniently grooved for applying a screw driver).
  • Balance: 50/50 when cap is posted.
  • Grip: The section is somewhat triangular on the top side of the nib, promoting an easy grip (much like what Parker did on the model 75). It's a nice variation while not being too extreme (some pen makers design curved indentations for the fingers, but that forces a very specific grip).
  • Nib & Feed: The EF nib is mostly smooth and delivers a nice clean consistent line. I find it a tad scratchy when writing cursive, but I've heard this smooths out after the break-in period. It is a "spot on" Western EF. The flow is immediate upon uncapping, but even if left out long enough for moisture to evaporate from the feed, it doesn't take much to get the ink flowing again. Last but not least, nib replacements are easily found and in a wide variety of sizes.
  • Ink System: The Vista is just a Safari made in clear plastic. They are both cartridge fillers that have an ink window, which is an opening on each side of the barrel that exposes the translucent ink cartridge/converter for an ink level reading. But of course, the Vista being completely transparent makes the ink window superfluous--you can see the entire cartridge! So, I guess it's the ultimate ink window pen. It takes the full size proprietary Lamy converter or cartridges, making for a respectable capacity, but unfortunately international cartridges do not fit.
  • Usage: You can really write with this pen for a very long time without any fatigue, because it is light weight, well balanced, and provides excellent ink flow with little pressure.
  • Price: Cheapest I've found is $18.99, which is a steal for what you get. Average price is about $25.
The Rotring 600 Newton (lava finish):
  • Weight: At 4.5gm, the 600 is 3 times heavier than the Vista. Yet, it doesn't feel like you're lugging around a huge piece of metal. It is heavy enough to cause pocket sag, but light enough for reasonable carry.
  • Dimensions: 4 7/8" uncapped, 5 1/2" capped, 6 9/16" posted, and 1 3/8" barrel circumference.
  • Construction/Appearance: The machining of this all metal pen is first rate--perfect symmetry and alignment of parts. The "Lava" surface treatment is highly unusual--I haven't seen any other pen company make anything like this. The best analogy I can think of is a textured metallic powder coat, almost bordering on a "diamond dust" like finish you see on some special smoothing files. Aside from the lava, other exposed parts are a silver satin finish, very tough and scratch resistant. It's a very handsome color combination. This is an "indestructible" pen and will likely survive an explosion.
  • Cap: Due to the hexagon shaped cap and body, you can cap the pen only once you've aligned the surfaces. And with the pen being new, the fitment requires extra pressure to snap it into place. This is an early ownership frustration, which does seem to "break-in" later on (it has on another 600 pen I have). The good thing is that the cap posts on the back end of the pen quite easily, not forcing any special alignment. A rubber grommet lightly secures it in place. When posted it's a little longer than average, but the narrow hexagon shaped body and uniform cap/barrel circumference makes it appear even longer. The clip is rather pedestrian but functional and can be pried off if so desired.
  • Balance: About 50/50 when the cap is posted.
  • Grip: There's no doubt that it has an excellent gripping surface, while not feeling abrasive, due to the "lava" treatment. I'd say it is on par with the older knurled 600. I don't know how well the finish will hold up over time (getting smooth spots or chipping/flaking off), but it certainly feels like it'll last a lifetime.
  • Nib & Feed: The EF nib has surprisingly excellent flow, given the fact that the nib does not have the usual breather hole where the nib slit ends. The weight of the pen practically provides enough pressure from gravity to allow the ink to flow with no hand pressure. It is a very firm nib, but super smooth. And it delivers a very fine line--I'd say almost a Japanese EF. However, because this is a discontinued pen, you cannot buy nib replacements from Rotring and they are extremely rare to find on-line. This can be quite a drawback if your nib is ever badly damaged.
  • Ink System: It is a cartridge/converter ink system with excellent capacity. You can fit an extra long Waterman cartridge in it with no problem, and also two short international cartridges (one installed and the other stowed as a spare) for good ink source flexibility. Alas, there is no ink window. You have to unscrew the pen to check on the ink. But this should not be a problem given the capacity.
  • Usage: Despite the above average weight of the pen, the 50/50 balance reduces fatigue from long periods of writing. However, it is still weighty and will be a factor for some people.
  • Price: These are discontinued, so prices vary quite a bit. The lowest I've seen one sell at was about $60, with the average being in the upper 70's to mid 80's. Occasionally they will go above $100 upon the serendipity of just one seller and a couple of hungry buyers who have no clue that these do come around fairly often. A few sellers have outrageous Buy-It-Now prices more than double of any sane price.
The Shoot out:
  • Appearance: It's a toss-up. These are two very different looking pens. I'm more partial to the lava finish with satin silver accents, so my vote is for the 600. Otherwise, if it was a silver or black 600 being compared then my choice would be the Vista. I like the modern industrial "steel and glass" appearance of the Vista, but its a shame that the section will show condensation and ink pooling--not very attractive, but I guess that's what a skeleton view is all about. ;)
  • Durability: No question--the 600 wins hands down.
  • Performance: Very similar. Your mileage may vary with different nib types. I prefer the 600 EF nib over the Vista EF nib by a small margin, but you can't go wrong with either one.
  • Convenience: No question--the Vista. The cap is superb, closing on the pen with little pressure and posting effortlessly, as well as having a clip that makes pocketing and retrieving the pen a one handed operation. The light weight Vista makes writing for long periods nearly effortless. Also, I like ink windows--the clear Vista can't hide anything from you. :lol:
  • Value: It is a toss-up. The Vista is cheaper, but then the Rotring is a "forever" pen. 4 Lamy Vistas equals about 1 Rotring 600. Cheaper pens suffer more damage and loss. But then, you could have a Rotring 600 for 10 years and have one fateful day where it slips out of your backpack into a rocky chasm below, forever lost to you (though it will probably be still usable for the person who finds it). If you tend to lose pens, go with the Vista.
The Winner: This was tough to decide on. But I have to say the Lamy Vista wins (by a nose), because it is the better "user" pen. And that's what pens are really all about--using. And the Vista is currently in production, making replacement parts (and nibs) readily available. The Rotring is just a cool pen to have, especially in the lava finish. So, in keeping with FPN tradition, "Buy both!" :)

 

 

 

Anyway, here are some photos:

 

Lamy Vista and Rotring 600 lava, Capped

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Lamy/other/LamyVista-Rotring600_capped.jpg

 

Lamy Vista and Rotring 600 lava, Uncapped

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Lamy/other/LamyVista_Rotring600_uncapped.jpg

Edited by MYU

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

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  • 3 weeks later...
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I think I would definitely like the 600 more. My grip does not match the Vista's shaped section. Actually I think such a grip suggested by the Safari (and those like it) is not a very good grip.

Renzhe

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I am a Rotring Newton fan. I have the pen, pencil, fountain pen and two rollerballs. It blows my mind that they were discountinued. I am of course even more distressed that Parker bought Rotring and it's now gone.

 

Everytime someone sees me with a Newton they ask where I got it, because they had one and loved it and its either lost or broken and they can't find another one. When I tell them Rotring is no more they can't believe it.

 

Even though I myself am a businessman I still believe that some products should exist for the customer and not for profit only.

 

Long live the Newton.

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I am a Rotring Newton fan. I have the pen, pencil, fountain pen and two rollerballs. It blows my mind that they were discountinued. I am of course even more distressed that Parker bought Rotring and it's now gone.

 

Just a clarification: Parker did not buy Rotring. Newell/Rubbermaid bought Rotring, Parker, and Waterman, and rolled them all into one big happy family under the Sanford flag. Parker is as much a victim as Rotring in this regard, as evidenced by the plummet of Parker's quality control and repair service in the last eight years.

Who are the pen shops in your neighborhood? Find out or tell us where they are, at http://penshops.info/

Blog: http://splicer.com/

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I recently bought a Vista (medium nib) and it's a great pen. However I cannot see it ever doing what my old Rotring 600 (black finished brass) did, which was to survive being dropped on a busy main road and being run over by at least one car. I was carrying it in the pen loop of a filofax when I went out to lunch one day, and on the way back from the sandwich shop discovered it had fallen out without me noticing. Retraced my steps and there it was in the gutter at the side of the road. It was a bit battered afterward, with the black finish scraped off the high points of the hexagonal body, but it still wrote first time. The solid brass construction really is solid on those things.

 

The only downsides to the 600 series were the weight, and a tendency for the cap 'click' to lose its efficiency over time with no obvious way to tighten it up again. I retired my 600 because the cap became quite insecure, and started to regularly fall off in the pocket of my kitbag. Also, if you didn't use it for a while (week or so) it had a tendency to dry up and clog, although that might have been to do with the ink or the loose cap rather than the pen itself.

 

But it's a pity they're not still made - I would buy another one tomorrow if I could get a new one.

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I am a Rotring Newton fan. I have the pen, pencil, fountain pen and two rollerballs. It blows my mind that they were discountinued. I am of course even more distressed that Parker bought Rotring and it's now gone.

 

Just a clarification: Parker did not buy Rotring. Newell/Rubbermaid bought Rotring, Parker, and Waterman, and rolled them all into one big happy family under the Sanford flag. Parker is as much a victim as Rotring in this regard, as evidenced by the plummet of Parker's quality control and repair service in the last eight years.

 

Ooops, Thanks Splicer. A local retailer told me it was Parker, thanks for putting me on the right page. I must say that the general fountain pen service in SA is poor.

 

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One other thing, Collector--I can't change my original posting (unfortunately), but despite the model name being 'Rotring Newton 600', it is really just a 600. The next (and last) version that Rotring made of this pen was called just 'Newton' and is strikingly different in a number of respects. So, when referring to the hard edged hexagon pen with straight seams, it's really the 600. See Splicer's writeup of this for more details. He wrote a very nice article that explains all the differences. :)

 

The upshot: There were really just 2 versions of the Rotring 600, with the 2nd generation introducing some minor changes (an additional cap clutch mechanism, shorter cap post section, and elimination of the cap turret that shows the nib size). The 2nd gen was called 'Newton 600'. The 3rd generation was very different from its ancestors, enough for Rotring to drop the '600' and call it just 'Newton'.

Edited by MYU

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

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But then, you could have a Rotring 600 for 10 years and have one fateful day where it slips out of your backpack into a rocky chasm below, forever lost to you (though it will probably be still usable for the person who finds it).

 

Good one. :lol: Of course, the finder would have to pry the 600 out of the rock, something like Excalibur, though I imagine it would start right up as long as some liquid ink remained inside. ;)

Nihonto Chicken

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  • 7 months later...

I have the Rotring Newton Lava

 

and have mail ordered a Lamy Safari

 

 

 

i must say that the grip on the Lamy is more preferred by me than the one on the Rotring Newton

 

 

though I preferred the weight as imposed by the heavier Rotring.

 

 

 

which one would i use it more often?

 

as a on-the-go pen, the Lamy Safari is preferred because

 

 

1. it has a visible ink reserve indicator

 

2. i find the lamy safari tip smoother, though wetter, maybe my rotring is just scratchy and dry, i got no problem with it being a dry writer though.

 

3. lamy is cheap enough to lose, it's not possible to buy the rotring newton in lava finish as easily as it has been.

 

4. i like that human factors design grip on Lamy Safari, compared to the one on Rotring.

 

 

 

 

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I love the Rotring. It's a pity that this model was discontinued :(

 

 

There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, and we must take the current when it serves or lose our ventures.

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hi there,

 

this is my view after owning the rotring lava FP

 

 

 

it's got a nice weight, i wished there were more FP with a heavier weight,

 

i love it's finishing too, instead of the bling bling resin which is more conventionally chosen for a FP, all that wannabe marbling effect makes me shy from a pen, including it's gold plated metal parts...

 

the Rotring lava is true to its form, what you see is what you get,

 

good quality brushed metal with ceramic? finish, without any ornamental design which tries to portray the image of 'ability to afford'.

 

 

 

but...

 

the grip on the pen, is too narrow to allow me to exert a good amount of control of the pen during writing, such that i very much prefer the more value-market plastic safari from lamy, because it allows me to exert more grip on the FP.

 

 

 

otherwise, i would love the rotring as much too, with or without a visible ink reserve indicator on its body.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just received a Rotring 600 Lava EF. It was dry and wrote more like a XXF with Waterman Florida Blue. But now I use Aurora Blue which seems to do miracles on every trouble pen. The 600 now writes a nice XF line. As for the comparison with the Lamy, the Rotring is ahead. The Lamy Vista has no personality, in my opinion.

NO

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