Comparison of Black Inks

[lovefountainpens]

I own five different black inks in bottles, and I'd like to share my thoughts. The fountain pens I currently own are a Montblanc 149 (with an EF nib) and a Lamy 2000 (with an EF nib). I plan on buying another one in the near future. It will be either a Sailor or a Nakaya. I haven't really decided. Most of the scan was written with my 149. I added Waterman Flordia Blue for comparison. I used clairefountain paper, mead 5-star paper and cheap computer paper. And, in advance, I'm sorry, but these are just some own finished thoughts I've typed below. Let me also add that I am interested in still trying out Noodler's Heart of Darkness and Noodler's Baystate Blue.

 

Montblanc Black

It came with my 149. It doesn't really look very black. It looks like a dark color with pink undertones. I don't use it anymore and would never use it again. It has good flow and feathers on cheap paper. Note that this is not an initial impression. I have used this ink for quite some time. Also, it does look darker on cheaper paper, but I would say it still does not look quite black.

 

Noodler's Black

It has a dark, rich color. It's definitely a dark black with an undertone of brown. I have used it for over over six months now without any problems or any sign of problems in my pens. This is has proved to be the case even after having left the ink in my 149. It always starts flowing when I put my pen on the paper as well. It does have nib creep, but not much if you clean the nib off correctly after filling - otherwise there can be a considerable amount of ink left of the nib. An excellent ink in almost all respects. Note that this is not an initial impression. I have been using this ink for a long time.

 

J Herbin

The ink has a black color with an undertone of gray. It flows well and its is a joy to write with. One thing that disturbs me about this ink is that the color changes. The longer I left the ink in my fountainpen, the darker the color became. This strikes me as odd and undesirable. You can see this is my scans as well. When I wrote on the Clairfontaine paper, the first time I wrote "J Herbin..." I used ink that had been sitting in my Lamy for about five days and the second line is ink that had been sitting in my 149 for a couple minutes. Additionally, another thing that worries me about this ink is that it consistently takes the longest for me to flush out of my fountainpens. It does eventually come out, but it takes considerably longer than the other colors. I used this ink for a couple weeks. I'm not sure if I'd want to use it again given the wide range of color variation it seems to have and how long it takes to flush - makes me think it's not a safe ink.

 

Aurora Black

It has a deep, black color with an undertone of blue. On the mead 5-star paper paper I tried, I found there to be feathering and non-negible (that is quite noticeable) bleedthrough. Aurora black was also the only one out of these five that bleed through the computer paper I used. To be fair, it is cheap computer paper. It has excellent flow, but a bit too much for my taste considering it significantly widened the line of my fountain pen, most noticeably on the clairefountaine paper. I was honestly a bit surprised by Aurora black. I bought a bottle expecting to love it to find that I don't care for it at all. The overall experience of writing with Aurora black just doesn't feel quite right to me. I also think that I just find the color to be a bit strange. I think it's actually a dark blue-blue. It certainly does not look black to me. I think it you did not rely on writing extra-fine lines such as myself, this would be an excellent ink. It did make the width of my line about half a size bigger though, taking my mont blanc extra-fine (which is really in between a extra-fine line and a fine line) to a fine line. Try it out and see if you like it for yourself. Note: this is an initial impression, and I am going to keep using it to see if it grows on me over time. So far not so good.

 

Noodler's Old Manhattan black

A deep, dark black. It seems to be literally completely black. It has almost a solid black line on clairefontaine paper, and on cheaper paper the lighter parts of the line appear to be dark gray. I have also noticed some nib creep with this ink, more so than the other inks. Personally, I find this to be an amazing ink and by far the best ink to write with when writing on clairefountaine paper. I would avoid using it on the other papers. On the mead paper there is a little bit of feathering and a bit of bleed through. I would probably avoid using this all together on cheap paper considering there are better alternatives such as Noodler's black. This is an initial impression, but I have to say that it might just be love at first sight, which I believe in.

 

"Blackest Ink"

From my experience, it really depends which paper you're using. It also really depends on what you mean by "blackest" considering there is a difference between blackest, darkest and highest contrast to the paper being used. I will try to explain this as I go.

 

On Clairefountaine Paper:

1. Old Manhattan Black - it is definitely the blackest looking color and is perhaps second darkest and is tied for highest contrast to paper.

2. Aurora Black - it is definitely the darkest, it is a strange color in my opinion and not really black. It is much more like a dark, dark blue-black. It also is tied for highest contrast to paper.

3. Noodler's Black - it is definitely black, but the undertones of brown really come out on clairefountaine paper. I personally, well, love the brown undertones, so I don't find this much of a problem, but in my opinion the brown undertones make too much of an appearance on clairefountain paper (I hope that makes sense) for me to truely enjoy using Noodler's Black on Clairefountain paper. It has second highest contrast and is certainly the third darkest.

4. J Herbin - take a look at my scan. it looks quite gray.

4. montblanc - pinkish

 

On computer and mead 5-star paper:

1. Noodler's Black - on cheap paper, you can't really see the brown undertones and the color is dark and black with almost no shading. on the computer paper for example, it is definitely the blackest and darkest. I would even say the darkest and blackest ink out of all the inks and papers. It also has the highest contrast

2. Noodler's Old Manhattan Black: second and close to the above. This ink ink is not as enjoyable to use on the cheaper papers though.

3. Aurora Black - it doesn't quite have any of the pop on these papers as it does on the clairefountaine. haha, there's really no other way of describing it.

4. J herbin - again it looks gray to me

 

Conclusion

If there's only one black ink I had to own for the rest of my life, I would undoubtably buy Noodler's Black. Otherwise I would consider using Old Manhattan Black on expensive paper.

 

Let me know if you have any questions/requests.

 

Thank you!

 

Clairefountaine Paper Test

 

 

Mead 5-star Paper Test

 

 

Computer Paper Test

 

Edited April 17, 2010 by lovefountainpens

[sjs]

Thanks for the comparison! It rings true with my experience. I have a hard enough time choosing between Aurora, Herbin and OMB, I don't want to add Noodler's Black to the problem.

[lovefountainpens]

Thanks for the comparison! It rings true with my experience. I have a hard enough time choosing between Aurora, Herbin and OMB, I don't want to add Noodler's Black to the problem.

 

If you ever use something other than Clairefountaine...trust me, it will be worth it. I've found there to be no feathering and no bleed through with that ink. I also have yet to have any problems with it. Haha, sorry to add to your problem.

[TWRDO]

I wonder if your Aurora Black needs to be shaken up, or is old or something. It really is one of the blackest blacks out there. On your sample it looks comparable in "blackness" to the Pilot V-Ball RT, but my Aurora makes the Pilot V-Ball look almost grey.

 

Like you, I get some feathering on Mead 5 Star paper, but I don't get bleedthrough, though I'm sure a lot of that depends on how wet your nib is too. Everyone's mileage varies.

 

Thanks for the comparison!

[lovefountainpens]

I wonder if your Aurora Black needs to be shaken up, or is old or something. It really is one of the blackest blacks out there. On your sample it looks comparable in "blackness" to the Pilot V-Ball RT, but my Aurora makes the Pilot V-Ball look almost grey.

 

Like you, I get some feathering on Mead 5 Star paper, but I don't get bleedthrough, though I'm sure a lot of that depends on how wet your nib is too. Everyone's mileage varies.

 

Thanks for the comparison!

 

 

The Aurora should make the Pilot V-Ball look gray. But the Pilot V7 RT uses a different ink from my personal experience, it is actually quite black. It makes the Pilot Precise V7/V5 ink look gray for example.

 

The Aurora black I bought is from fountainpenhospital, and I would think I received it brand new considering it was on back order when I ordered it. It looks a bit more striking in person on the Clairefountaine paper than what appears in the scan. It is quite black, and is definitely one of the blackest. Keep in my I am only comparing some of the best inks in the entire world (that I know of!). So the fact that Aurora Black is the second blackest ink is saying something! It is definitely the darkest too on the Clairefountaine paper, so I am saying that it is the darkest ink.

 

You have a good point about the bleed through. It is most likely my pen and my writing style. I tend to write slowly and carefully even when I'm in a hurry...so I usually put more ink on the paper.

Edited April 17, 2010 by lovefountainpens

[Breck]

Great scans, and your rankings seem very close to my own experience, echoing SJS above. The MB black almost looks more purple than black on that first scan, but you've got it up against some real heavy hitters.

 

Noodler's Black really is the best ink for the worst papers. I'm surprised to see how much darker it looks compared to OMB on the computer paper, though. That's not a comparison I'd ever made before, and it's very enlightening.

 

Thanks much for these comparisons, and welcome to FPN. You've made a non-negligible (that is quite noticeable) contribution with your first thread, kudos!

[Ed Ronax]

Great comparison you wouldn't think there would be such a difference in one colour.

[TWRDO]

I wonder if your Aurora Black needs to be shaken up, or is old or something. It really is one of the blackest blacks out there. On your sample it looks comparable in "blackness" to the Pilot V-Ball RT, but my Aurora makes the Pilot V-Ball look almost grey.

 

Like you, I get some feathering on Mead 5 Star paper, but I don't get bleedthrough, though I'm sure a lot of that depends on how wet your nib is too. Everyone's mileage varies.

 

Thanks for the comparison!

 

 

The Aurora should make the Pilot V-Ball look gray. But the Pilot V7 RT uses a different ink from my personal experience, it is actually quite black. It makes the Pilot Precise V7/V5 ink look gray for example.

 

The Aurora black I bought is from fountainpenhospital, and I would think I received it brand new considering it was on back order when I ordered it. It looks a bit more striking in person on the Clairefountaine paper than what appears in the scan. It is quite black, and is definitely one of the blackest. Keep in my I am only comparing some of the best inks in the entire world (that I know of!). So the fact that Aurora Black is the second blackest ink is saying something! It is definitely the darkest too on the Clairefountaine paper, so I am saying that it is the darkest ink.

 

You have a good point about the bleed through. It is most likely my pen and my writing style. I tend to write slowly and carefully even when I'm in a hurry...so I usually put more ink on the paper.

 

Probably just the way it looks on my monitor then. If I slow down my writing, it's pretty easy to get bleedthrough, at least with cheaper papers (like Mead 5 Star or regular printer paper). I haven't noticed it with Rhodia.

[lovefountainpens]

 

Probably just the way it looks on my monitor then. If I slow down my writing, it's pretty easy to get bleedthrough, at least with cheaper papers (like Mead 5 Star or regular printer paper). I haven't noticed it with Rhodia.

 

I agree. Aurora Black does not even come close to having any bleed through on Rhodia. Keep in mind that Mead 5-star paper was the cheapest paper I could find. Although it is important to test it considering I use it to take notes in classes - I'm in college currently.

 

Looking at the pieces of paper I wrote on today, since I still have them, I would say this about the bleed through and feathering:

 

Rhodia

all inks had no feathering and no bleed through

 

Cheap computer paper

only aurora black and noodler's old manhattan black have some slight bleed through - essentially negligible. all of the inks display essentially no feathering as well.

 

mead 5 star paper

only noodlers black did not bleed through. waterman's flordia blue had some negligible bleed through. j herbin's ink had some slight bleed through. and noodler's old manhattan black and aurora both had some bleed through, even where i would not use them on the paper. aurora had slightly more, but probably only because more ink came out of my pen when i wrote with it. as for feathering, only noodler's black had zero feathering. waterman's flordia blue had some slight feathering. j herbin has more feathering than watermans, but still not much. aurora black and noolder's oldd manhattan black both have some feathering, and aurora seems to have a bit more feathering than the old manhattan.

Edited April 17, 2010 by lovefountainpens

[tanalasta]

Interesting review, many thanks.

 

And

 

 

I use black inks daily as it is the staple colour preferred at work for our record keeping. I've also used each and every one of the inks you've mentioned except for Old Manhattan Black.

 

1. Noodler's Black I used for many years, also in a Lamy 2000 (EF). However, the nib creep did annoy me and I didn't really need the eternal properties. It is highly saturated and when spilt, was quite annoying to clean (permanently stained a bench). One bottle developed a slime layer on top and I haven't used it since ... makes me think perhaps their anti-fungal properties could be better. It's other fault was that it was easier to smear if it hadn't dried (or bonded) to the paper properly yet. However, it was a dark rich black with otherwise great flow and viscoscity. It is a nice ink for bad paper (controversial, but I include my Moleskine).

 

2. Aurora Black is fantastic for drier writing pens and those who prefer EF/F nibs. It's a dark, deep black and a free flowing ink. Again, quite saturated but it's one of my favourite blacks. Cons? Not as waterfast.

 

3. J'Herbin Perle Noir is currently my staple. I ordered 3 bottles in my last order from Brian Goulet. It's relatively waterfast, quite fluid (thin) and wet with good flow. Handles and behaves well. It did take a while to flush out of my MontBlanc completely, but so did Sheaffer Skrip out of a Duofold that had ink in it for quite some time. I would consider J'Herbin quite a safe ink. It's been tried, tested and be around for years and years from a very reputable French Company. Novel value: the company also owns Clairefontaine. Not quite as dark black.

 

4. MontBlanc: I actually think it has a hint of green in it. More noticeable when you smear it. Considered to be a safe ink but I don't think as waterfast. Love the old MontBlanc Bottle and that's why I bought the ink. Just couldn't bring myself to flushing it down the sink. I actually like it and may ink my Visconti Homo Sapiens with it when it arrives. Heck, there's 50mL of the stuff to go through!