Lamy Black

[girlieg33k]

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Usual disclaimer: Colour representation is not always accurate in a scanned image, reproduction of the scanned image in different computer monitors, and variations in pen/paper combinations.

[CharlieB]

Thanks for posting the first benchmark review of this ink! For months I have been curious about the claim made by two different FPN members that Lamy Black was really a very very dark blue. Looking at your review, I don't see it either. So, for me, those claims no longer hold water. If other members feel differently, please speak up.

[girlieg33k]

If other members feel differently, please speak up.

Oh no... Don't encourage people to disagree with me. My delicate nature won't be able to handle it.

 

OK, let me preempt any disagreement on whether Lamy Black has any blue in it. I've always been quick to say that colour is very subjective because it is. Ask someone to describe the colour "yellow" and you'll get different examples. We each have our own perceptions of colour, so yellow can be described as the colour of sunflowers, school buses, bananas, and so forth. All these objects are yellow -- different hues of yellow -- but we understand yellow by examples of what we already know to be yellow. So it's very subjective based on our perceptions. One would think black would be so basic a colour that it cannot be perceived as anything but black, but even black can be viewed under a spectrum.

 

This is why I was intrigued when someone claimed that Lamy Black appeared dark blue. I was curious to see what hue of blue I would find because I could not recall seeing any. I did the review -- not to prove anyone wrong -- but to satisfy my own curiosity.

 

If some people see blue in this one, then they see blue. Perhaps their vision is that much more discerning than mine, and they can distinguish variations of black hues with dark blue. I wish I could see some blue in Lamy Black, but I do not. And that's my loss because if it appeared dark blue to me (even the darkest blue I can imagine), I would use in other ways other than darkening Lamy Blue for my own version of Lamy Blue-Black.

Edited February 9, 2008 by girlieg33k

[garyc]

Thanks for posting the first benchmark review of this ink! For months I have been curious about the claim made by two different FPN members that Lamy Black was really a very very dark blue. Looking at your review, I don't see it either. So, for me, those claims no longer hold water. If other members feel differently, please speak up.

How very odd, as soon as I looked at it I thought - its not black, its very dark blue (just look at the first smear test). Quite a nice dark blue-black in fact. I'm using an old Compaq CRT, if that makes any difference. When I'm at work on Tuesday I'll take a look on a new Dell LCD to see if there is any difference. I would not expect with a scanner there is too much need to check the colour balace I usually take my pics just using a digital camera (which are worse than scans as the lighting colour temperature is not well controlled as with a scanner), then compensate for colour balance in Paint Shop pro by forcing the paper to be white. But I don't see any major colour problems on that scan, assuming the paper is white.

 

That cursive italic nib really does suit your style of handwriting btw.

[girlieg33k]

Gary, you've just done my head in...

 

Seriously though, I'm glad you can see a nice dark blue and nice blue-black in the scan. Thanks for at least considering the accuracy of the colour on scanned versus photographic images, and variations depending on different monitors. I'm quite curious if the scan will appear similar to you when you view it on an LCD. I viewed it, after I posted it, on a CRT and LCD as well, and the colour appeared black on both monitors, and of course on the page. And yes, the paper is white.

 

By the way, do you happen to have Lamy Black? I'm flummoxed why some people can see a dark blue or a nice blue-black in Lamy Black, and others cannot. I thought I saw a bit of blue when I was flushing the pen and the colour was running off, but when I viewed the residue better -- both under a superficial light source and then sunlight coming through the window -- it was still black. I ran it on paper towels and a coffee filter -- and again, it was still black.

 

P.S. Thanks also for the comment on the nib suiting my handwriting. It's one of my favourites for that reason.

 

Edit: Added P.S.

Edited February 9, 2008 by girlieg33k

[Mameluke]

Hi

 

 

I can see blue as well. I would describe this as a very dark blue, very close to black but I see the blue.

 

I should mention that I AM colourblind but it only affects my green and red spectrum so blue spectrum is good.

 

 

 

Anyone else?

 

 

 

Mame

[CharlieB]

Hmmm.... SOME people say they see the blue. Most don't.

 

Well, one thing is pretty clear. If there is blue, it is so hidden that only some people see it!

 

I got my answer.... Lamy Black is not the perfect dark blue ink that I was looking for, because it is basically a black ink.

[garyc]

Well I've looked at the sample on an IBM Z60m laptop screen and on a Dell E197FP. The dark blue effect was not quite as noticeable on the IBM, but on the Dell its still fairly pronounced. I showed it to some colleagues (including one who is red/green colour blind) and they all noted it looked dark blue.

 

Thinking it might be a psychological effect of the colour of the lines of the squared paper, I pulled the jpeg into Paint Shop Pro and sampled the colours using the eyedropper tool. Here are the R,G,B numbers:

 

Darkest portion of the top left hand squiggle: 0,0,18 ; 3,4,24

Lightest portion of the top left hand squiggle: 100,115,134

Various samples of the writing: 39,44,84 ; 36,41,77 ; 57,67,92

Paper (background): 243,243,241

Line 182,186,198 (difficult to get a satisfactory average due to the aliasing/subsampling)

Smear 119, 151, 174

 

The paper value as a reference looks correct for white with no colour bias, so I would conclude there is at least a 7% blue bias in this black (18/255*100). The writing samples show even more bias - if the squiggles were done with a brush, could the pen have blue contaminant in it?

 

Have you tried holding the bottle up to a strong light and tilting it back and forth? This can often reveal the colour tint of a black (eg my Quink SolvX black shows blue, a more modern bottle shows deep red).

 

[simonrob]

Hi

 

 

I can see blue as well. I would describe this as a very dark blue, very close to black but I see the blue.

 

[snip]

 

Anyone else?

 

Mame

 

I see the blue too, especially in the drying time smear. I have dual monitors which aren't colour-calibrated exactly the same, but I see blue on both (not that that means much; they could both have a blue bias, for all I know). I've not seen the ink in person, however. Whatever it is, it looks nice in girlygeek's review (but then her handwriting is so attractive it tends to make any ink look nice...).

 

Simon

[savarez]

Hmmm.... SOME people say they see the blue. Most don't.

Well, one thing is pretty clear. If there is blue, it is so hidden that only some people see it!

I got my answer.... Lamy Black is not the perfect dark blue ink that I was looking for, because it is basically a black ink.

 

"Most"? That's an interesting comparative qualifier, since you and the author are the only ones in the thread so far claiming to see no blue! And, I guess, since GG33 has the original... she's the superdelegate!

 

It looks pretty blue hued to me as well. Perhaps we should.... er.... caucus!

Edited February 11, 2008 by savarez

[RayMan]

Thanks for the review. The only Lamy ink I've tried is blue. I'd like to give this one a try.

 

I just noticed that I like the way you do your lower case "g", i.e., the one in "looking" and "feathering." I may try to work that "g" into my style.

 

I've just started getting used to italic nibs. I like that .7mm cursive italic you use.

[ajaxline]

Thank you for the review. I recently picked up my first bottle of Lamy black ink, and loaded my Lamy Accent Black with it. I had originally filled this pen with Diamine Jet Black, but had problems with slow starting that led to my discontinuing it.

 

I like the design of the Lamy ink bottles, including the roll of blotter paper built into the bottle. It looks great displayed next to my pen tray.

 

Cheers,

A.J.

 

[tapsalteerie]

My husband and I are both looking at the sample. I see BLUE, he sees BLACK. Maybe it's just how some of us register the color in our minds. I instantly registered the color as a dark blue-black, he instantly said it was black with maybe a hint of blue, but definitely black. I'm blue eyed, he's green hazel... maybe I just see BLUE :roflmho:

[RaymondvW]

I have a Lamy Black cartridge in my Lamy Accent.

 

I think it's more of a very dark green than proper black. In fact, I was reading up on the reviews of black inks to find an alternative to this black ink. I think I'm going to try out the aurora black

 

 

[acbutler4]

First thing I though when I looked at the review was "Gee, what a nice blue-based black." To me, it is almost a superdark navy in fact. It is interesting to see how differently colour can be perceived.

[BruceW]

Perhaps to hijack this topic...

 

girlieg33k, I always appreciate your ink reviews for several reasons, but the one I am interested in right now is drying time/smear. Many reviews don't mention this aspect. You've mentioned that your favorite blacks are Sailor & Aurora (I think) and like the certain quality that Dupont has. Would you care to comment as to the drying times you've found for these three inks? Or maybe even post a review of one of them with some comparisons?

 

I did find one review where someone indicated the Aurora black had a little longer drying time, more prone to smearing. I also read someone who felt Diamine black was pretty good for drying time, and while not the last word in blackness, was fairly black compared to many of the pretenders.

 

Thanks

[girlieg33k]

Bruce,

 

Sorry that it took so long for me to discover your questions about drying time of other black inks (I'm assuming, specifically how it compares to Lamy Black).

 

As I noted, I like Aurora and Sailor for black inks -- but will often also use Dupont Black. Waterman Black and Sheaffer Black both dry faster than Aurora Black and Dupont Black. Sailor Black dries reasonably fast. I like Aurora, Sailor, and Dupont for black inks for my own reasons. These reasons vary from appearance, flow, and yes, drying time as well.

 

If memory serves though, the fastest drying black ink I've used is Pelikan Black. I'm making that statement only as to the black inks that I already own, and I don't own that many black inks (relatively speaking). For instance, I don't own any Noodler's black inks, so I cannot comment on their drying times.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Kate

 

 

[nicholasyeo]

First thing I though when I looked at the review was "Gee, what a nice blue-based black." To me, it is almost a superdark navy in fact. It is interesting to see how differently colour can be perceived.

 

It really appeared that way when looking at the inkwell. It seemed a very dark blue. Lamy ink is pretty watery and not really very black anyways, so it is a real possibility.

[Nellie]

I actually looked at this review to see if they had accidentally filled blue-black in the black Lamy bottle I bought today, as it looks soo blue. I can see it in your review too.

Nellie

(who's happy she hasn't bought an iron-gall ink for her friend who isn't exactly the best at pen maintenance)

[bwnewton]

On some paper, the Lamy Black has a bit of a bluish tent IMO, kind of a "steely" look which I find appealing, sort of a vintage look.

 

I didn't like this ink at first but now I find myself using it as my "knock around" ink in my Safari, partly for the color and partly for the safety factor.

 

When you flush your pen after using LB, you'll really see some blue!