Leonardo Photo Thread

[JonSzanto]

A friend asked for a photo so I just set the pen on the desk and got out my phone. I ended up getting this lovely thing for (remarkably) under $100 brand-new and am very impressed with materials, execution and performance. Even at retail the pen bats way above it's price range.

[sansenri]

 

Here are some pictures of the pens with a less distracting background. The thing about the Caraibe is that the marbled blue parts are nice and crisp chunks, while the green is all fuzzy and blurry. It's a nice color, I'm just not wowed by it. I also got the Caraibe with a stainless steel nib, and the Copper with the 14k nib, so you can see the very slight difference here. Still, they're both big, beautiful pens!

 

 

 

 

 

I actually think both of them are very nice.

Granted the Copper material is crispier, but the Caraibe does have that underwater blurred effect in the lights that is very "sea like". I will have a hard time choosing (will very likely get one...). I've been very close to pulling the trigger on the Pietra Marina also...

[Vicary]

 

I actually think both of them are very nice.

Granted the Copper material is crispier, but the Caraibe does have that underwater blurred effect in the lights that is very "sea like". I will have a hard time choosing (will very likely get one...). I've been very close to pulling the trigger on the Pietra Marina also...

 

I think the Pietra Marina really splits the difference between the two....but I still think the Copper is the pick of the litter...

 

Edited September 30, 2019 by Vicary

[Carrau]

Here are some pictures of the pens with a less distracting background. The thing about the Caraibe is that the marbled blue parts are nice and crisp chunks, while the green is all fuzzy and blurry. It's a nice color, I'm just not wowed by it. I also got the Caraibe with a stainless steel nib, and the Copper with the 14k nib, so you can see the very slight difference here. Still, they're both big, beautiful pens!

/quote]

 

Thanks for posting the additional pictures. I see what you mean about the green of the Caribe. I went back to look at the companys pictures, and now that youve pointed out the blurry green, I can see it in their pics as well. I hadnt looked that closely at that particular pen before, as I found the colors attractive in and of themselves. The Caribe pattern has a three dimensionally to it though, and perhaps the green gives it that. I still like it, and I like the Coffee. Too much to like!

Edited September 30, 2019 by Herrjaeger

[ingolf]

All that beautiful Leonardos.

Thank you for posting.

[Carrau]

Well, my Leonardo Momento Zero Grande in Copper resin arrived this morning, and its a beauty. I didnt realize, however, that it has an oversized non-removeable convertor, that holds 1.2ml of ink (vs. 0.86 for usual standard Intl convertor). That was an unexpected and happy surprise. Below is a photo of the LMZ standard and Grande versions of the convertor. The stub nib writes as well as my other Leonardos have right out of the box. The vendor sent me a complimentary 40ml bottle of Leonardo Green ink to try as well, that looks close to Diamine 150th Anniv. Ink Tropical Green or Noodlers Green Marine.

[Michael R.]

Nice to see the new Grande models :-)

They look very nice!

[JemC]

@Herrjaeger Is the Grande's section bigger than the regular version, other than the addition of the trim ring?

[Carrau]

@Herrjaeger Is the Grande's section bigger than the regular version, other than the addition of the trim ring?

The section’s length appears to be the same, however, its width seems slightly wider eyeballing it (holding a standard LMZ in front of a Grande, the Grande is visible behind the standard, so it appears slightly wider). I don’t have a micrometer to measure it, and trying to measure it with a ruler or tape measure is problematical as the section is tapered.

[Vicary]

Added another pair of Grandes to the collection...I'll have to post a picture of the two Hawaiis together- they're quite different.

 

I really like the Sand color. Reminds me of the old Stipula Duetto material.

 

[Carrau]

I’d like to see the Hawaii pens together. Is it hard to photograph the Hawaii material? From what I can see in the commercial photos I have a difficult time getting an impression of what it looks like. I’ve really enjoyed using the Grande pen in Copper, and have had it inked with Diamine Ancient Copper for the past 10 days with no nib creep. I’ll try to post a picture tomorrow.

[langere]

Makes me feel like I should buy another Leonardo - I "only" have three-

 

Erick

[JonSzanto]

I’d like to see the Hawaii pens together. Is it hard to photograph the Hawaii material? From what I can see in the commercial photos I have a difficult time getting an impression of what it looks like.

 

Any celluloid pen whose material has any depth to it, and even more so if there is chatoyance in evidence, will not present itself realistically in a static photograph. My one example (in the Marina material) is a perfect example of that. Every change in lighting evokes new colors and reflections. I've seen this for years with good Italian celluloids. About the only thing that gives one a reasonable impression of how the pen will look is a bit of video, with the pen being rotated in-hand to show the changes in refraction of light. Everything else is just a snapshot in time, not reflective of the deeper nature of the materials.

[Carrau]

Any celluloid pen whose material has any depth to it, and even more so if there is chatoyance in evidence, will not present itself realistically in a static photograph. My one example (in the Marina material) is a perfect example of that. Every change in lighting evokes new colors and reflections. I've seen this for years with good Italian celluloids. About the only thing that gives one a reasonable impression of how the pen will look is a bit of video, with the pen being rotated in-hand to show the changes in refraction of light. Everything else is just a snapshot in time, not reflective of the deeper nature of the materials.

I suspected as much, as the color seems very popular, yet rather drab in pix. Thx.

[Carrau]

LMZ Grande in Copper inked with Diamine Ancient Copper, on Rhodia Dot.

[Storch]

I’d like to see the Hawaii pens together. Is it hard to photograph the Hawaii material? From what I can see in the commercial photos I have a difficult time getting an impression of what it looks like. I’ve really enjoyed using the Grande pen in Copper, and have had it inked with Diamine Ancient Copper for the past 10 days with no nib creep. I’ll try to post a picture tomorrow.

 

I can defienitely relate. It wasn't until months after the initial release that I realized that was depth of color in the material and not just reflections of all the various lights used in the photo setup.

 

[Vicary]

Here are the regular Hawaii and Grande Dark Hawaii together. As you can see from the photos, the materials are pretty similar. It seems that the Dark Hawaii is the darker parts of the regular Hawaii, minus the brighter teal blue.

 

Edited October 14, 2019 by Vicary

[Carrau]

Are there ivory/ brown components in the material, or is that just the way the light is reflecting off the curve of the pen barrel?

[sansenri]

yes, there are ivory/brown elements in the material

this is one of the reasons why it looks rather unordinary

[Vicary]

I think of it as sand on the beach...there's a light brown component that is visible in the barrels of both of mine but not so much in the cap. I don't know if that's a fluke or not. Here I've compared with a Delta in the same material. The material has multiple blues, from bright turquoise to more of a Prussian Blue, and the streaks of brown. The newer Leonardo Dark Hawaii is the same stuff minus the turquoise. The funny thing is, there's so much variety in each individual pen that the Delta looks just like the Hawaii Dark from one side, and just like the regular Hawaii from the other...