Pilot Vanishing Point/capless Nib Size Question

[ognjen93]

Hello, to all good people outrhere!

 

I am new member of the forum, and I will introduce myself in proper section, just a lill bit later.

 

Here is my question. I decided I want to buy Pilot Capless/ Vanishing Point. I have trouble deciding between fine and medium nib. I have been browsing the web a lot lately, and I figured out that medium is more like western mediums, and fine is like usual Japaneese fine.

 

However I do now have Pilot Metropolitan in Medium nib, and I find its width perfect. Does anyone have both Pilot Metropolitan Medium and Vanishing Point in Fine. And if anyone does, I would be grateful if they could post a writting sample comparing the two, and generally giving brief comparison between the two. I know there is Goulet Nib Nook, but in my humble experience it sometimes can be misleading. I have also found comparisons between Metropolitan Fine and Vanishing point fine, but they are of little help, since I find Metro fine too fine for my taste.

 

And unifortunately I do not have a chance to try a pen in the store, since where I live noobody is willing to let you dip the pen

 

All help much appreciated!

[Buzz_130]

I have the VP in medium, and my wife has two VPs in fine. While I don't have a Metro for comparison, my medium is much finer than any modern Western M I own. In fact, I find my wife's VP fines to be too narrow for my tastes (although they work remarkably well on non-FP friendly paper because they lay down so little ink).

 

As a point of comparison, my VP in medium writes similarly to my Sailor Pro Gear and 1911 as well as my Paltinum Fs.

 

Buzz

[fphilipp]

I have 4 VP's, one fine and three mediums. The fine is really fine, more like extra fine. The mediums are, contrary to what I have read on this forum, more like a broad (very different from the other Pilot M nibs).

[ognjen93]

Life would be soo much easier if I just could try the pen Thank you for both of your responses, do you find significant difference in smoothness between fine and medium? (I know a lot depends on ink/paper, so the broad generalisation is what I am interested in)

[Brian1]

I have three VP's (one faceted) and nibs from B to XF. Between the M and F nibs I don't notice any difference in smoothness.

[fphilipp]

They're smooth allright. I am most impressed by the fine being so smooth, while at the same time being so (extra) fine.

[kapanak]

Pilot fine and mediums, and even their extra fines are known for their consistency and smoothness despite the very thin line. As far as my experience tells me, the VP medium is about the same thickness as the Metropolitan medium.

 

I'd order from Japan or Japanese sellers, given your current location, to get the best prices

[ognjen93]

Pilot fine and mediums, and even their extra fines are known for their consistency and smoothness despite the very thin line. As far as my experience tells me, the VP medium is about the same thickness as the Metropolitan medium.

 

I'd order from Japan or Japanese sellers, given your current location, to get the best prices

 

I intend to order from Japan since here (in Serbia) it costs about $200. Well, I guess I will have to order both in the end, and then sell the one I like less

 

Many thanks to everybody on helpful responses!

Edited June 5, 2016 by ognjen93

[ehemem]

You don't have to buy 2 pens to compare them, only 1 pen and an extra nib unit. That should save you some money...

[kapanak]

You don't have to buy 2 pens to compare them, only 1 pen and an extra nib unit. That should save you some money...

 

That's a great idea. A pen from Japan will be $120-$150, and a nib unit $60-$80.

[ognjen93]

There are VP's going for 80-90$ on ebay (with shipping from Japan included), should I be worried that those may be fake?

And I am planning to sell the pen I like less, and losse maybe 25-30 $, while as when buying nib unit only I guess it would be much more difficult to sell, especially locally....

[Paperlate]

Most of the VPs I've seen for sale on eBay for $80-90 from Japanese sellers have the alloy nib available to the Japanese domestic market, not the 14k nib found on VPs sold in the US. So it's possible you are comparing apples and oranges.

[kapanak]

There are VP's going for 80-90$ on ebay (with shipping from Japan included), should I be worried that those may be fake?

And I am planning to sell the pen I like less, and losse maybe 25-30 $, while as when buying nib unit only I guess it would be much more difficult to sell, especially locally....

 

Those are not gold nib VPs. They are Japanese domestic market stainless steel alloy nib VPs.

[Hippocratic]

Sadly I don't have the pen you wanted a comparison to but I did write a sample of all the pens I have currently. Sadly I got rid of my medium LAMY nib yesterday so I am unable to add that to the sample. The fine is a little thicker than my Pilot G-tech in 0.4 so I agree it's about 0.5mm. Sadly I couldn't find any 0.5 pilot pens to compare it to. I hope this is of some help..

[ognjen93]

Most of the VPs I've seen for sale on eBay for $80-90 from Japanese sellers have the alloy nib available to the Japanese domestic market, not the 14k nib found on VPs sold in the US. So it's possible you are comparing apples and oranges.

Thank you, I wasn't aware of that.

[ognjen93]

Sadly I don't have the pen you wanted a comparison to but I did write a sample of all the pens I have currently. Sadly I got rid of my medium LAMY nib yesterday so I am unable to add that to the sample. The fine is a little thicker than my Pilot G-tech in 0.4 so I agree it's about 0.5mm. Sadly I couldn't find any 0.5 pilot pens to compare it to. I hope this is of some help..

I was hoping it would be a little bit thicker than pelikan ef... it seems too fine for my taste. Thank you a lot!