Lamy Dialog 3 Ef (Expanding Long Term Review)

[TheDutchGuy]

I was considering one of these pens, ended up going for the pilot VP, sold it and since I've tried a couple dialog 3s and I enjoyed them more than the VP in my hand. Great review

 

 

Thank you! The Dialog3 and the VP are both outstanding, high-quality pens. In the hand, they feel very different. The VP is a smaller, tapering pen whereas the Dialog is just a cylinder. And a heavy one at that. I'd expected the Dialog to be uncomfortable, but once I got used to it the pen just felt great. It's a really distinctive, unique writing instrument. I've never been able to bond with Lamy's classic models like the 2000, but the Dialog 3 ticks my boxes.

[WLSpec]

I want one even more now...

 

 

Nice review! This seems like a fantastic pen.

[TheDutchGuy]

I want one even more now... Nice review! This seems like a fantastic pen.

 

 

It is, but try before you buy. Of all the people who tried mine, half went ‘Ugh!’, a quarter went ‘hmm, what’s this, then?’ and the rest was hooked before they even wrote with it.

[Honeybadgers]

 

 

It is, but try before you buy. Of all the people who tried mine, half went ‘Ugh!’, a quarter went ‘hmm, what’s this, then?’ and the rest was hooked before they even wrote with it.

 

This, it's definitely a polarizing experience that I wouldn't recommend to everyone.

[TheDutchGuy]

Why? Most people who tried mine are not fountain pen enthousiasts at all; most use cheap ballpoints or hardly write with pen and paper anymore. A lot of those find the Dialog to be too large, too heavy, too expensive, too cumbersome, etc. Some are intrigued (“on the fence”) and yes, some are immediately won over by its design. One person I know is totally into Bauhaus design and bought one simply because of that.

[Honeybadgers]

I don't think you quite understood - I was agreeing with you.

[TheDutchGuy]

[Ravi Gautam]

I tried this pen in an exclusive Lamy shop. It wrote scratchy and I didn't look great. Sailor pens are better in terms of value for money.

[Donald2]

Im interested in purchasing the Dialog 3 with the Fine nib. I already own the Lamy 2000 in EF that I purchased brand new last year (1 year ago) and my 2000 writes very buttery smooth. Ive been reading here that the EF nib on the Dialog 3 is an architect nib with an architect feel when writing with it. What do you mean by that? Please explain what you mean by this.

 

I basically do regular print and cursive writing with my Lamy 2000 EF and its buttery smooth. I dont feel any scratchiness when I write with mine. I would like to know whether the EF nib on my Lamy 2000 is the same exact nib thats also on the Dialog 3 EF? If not, is the EF nib on the Dialog 3 a special type of nib thats made for architects or is there also a non architect EF nib that the Dialog 3 can be purchased with? The other question that I have is does the Dialog 3 with the fine (F) nib have the same line like the Lamy 2000 with the EF nib? I prefer a solid line when Im writing, but not a very thick line. I dont want the line to be very thin or too thick. I know that the Lamy 2000 with the fine (F) nib writes more like a medium and that the Lamy 2000 with the medium (M) nib writes like a Broad. Thats why Im asking these detailed questions. Hopefully some people in here will know the answers to my questions to help me decide which nib size that I should get with the Lamy Dialog 3.

 

Also, which online sellers are reputable that currently have decent prices for this particular fountain pen? I purchased my Lamy 2000 from Goulet. They say that they will be closed for many weeks until further notice because of the Coronavirus and that they are not taking any orders or shipping out any orders. Who else besides Goulet is an authorized Lamy seller?

[TheDutchGuy]

An architect nib writes a narrow vertical line and a broader horizontal line. Just google it and you’ll see many writing samples. Here is the architect EF nib from my old MB146:

 

 

If you look closely, then you can see that the tip of the nib seems to curve upward and that it is taller than it is wide. The EF that Lamy uses for the Dialog 3 has a similar character, but it less refined. The one I got was toothy to the point of being unpleasant.

 

 

Here you can see the line width variation.

 

Architect nibs aren’t for everyone. The one in my MB is extremely nice, but I don’t use it very often because its horizontal strokes are quite wide and therefore I need to write much larger than I usually do.

 

I don’t own a Lamy 2000 so I cannot compare these pens.

 

I’m sure that many online retailers in the US stock the Dialog3, but if they don’t, then Appelboom does.

[Donald2]

Excellent review

[El Monstro]

Nice review. The Dialog 3 is one of my favorites, hefty in a good way. And you're right, it's very nice to hold...and a joy to write.

[TheDutchGuy]

As I’m currently having some issues with my hand, I find myself reaching for the Dialog 3 more often. The clip and the diameter of the pen somehow make it very easy for me to hold the pen in such a way that my hand doesn’t hurt. And the clip prevents me from rotating the pen when writing, which is one of my bad habits (and causes me trouble with hooded nibs).

 

The Dialog 3 seems to be a pen that I appreciate more and more as time goes by. It’s over-engineered and is close to indestructible. The F nib in my pen has nicely settled in, smooth but with a nice tactile feel, good control and excellent flow. It also performs 100,0% regardless of often I use it, regardless of which ink I put in it, and regardless of my style of writing (as long as line variation isn’t part of it). It’s a very, very, very consistent pen that just works. And it is fun to use.

 

What is not, is exquisite. It’s feel on paper will not make you forget your top-tier Aurora, Sailor or MB pens (just to name a few). That’s not a criticism.

[AL01]

What do you think about the weight of the pen?

[TheDutchGuy]

What do you think about the weight of the pen?

 

How people perceive the shape and weight of a pen is highly subjective. The weight doesn’t bother me at all when I pick up the pen and start writing, but it might bother you. When I switch to another pen after using the Dialog 3, the perceived weight difference is huge.

[AL01]

Interesting.

 

I guess the Dialog 3 is just one of those pens that must be tried out in person.

[Paul-in-SF]

I really appreciate this review because it has taught me something about my pen that I didn't know. I also have one with an EF nib and I never realized that it had the architect nib effect, I just thought it wrote rather wide for an EF. I too may consider having it ground down to be more like a regular EF.

 

Also, I got the piano white, and I like it quite a lot. I don't kow if I would have liked the feel of the matte black more, but I didn't want another black pen at the time. I bought it around the end of 2018, also from Endless Pens (for $180 at that time).

 

I had this pen inked for quite a while after I bought it but I was having trouble with it drying out between uses, and I thought maybe there was a flaw with the closing and sealing mechanism. Finally I just cleaned it out and put it away for a while. Recently I inked it up again, and now I think the problem was the ink was too dry -- I was using Kyo no Oto Moonlight of Higashiyama, which is a kind of dark orange color, and inks in that color range always seem to be to be rather dry (if anyone knows of orange or red inks that are not dry, I'd love to know about them). Now it has The Blues ink from Papier Plume, which from my experience is quite wet, and I have had no drying out problem at all.

 

People have talked about the weight -- it is very well balanced and I don't find it particularly heavy at 47 grams, but then I don't write for hours at a time either. I also don't have occasion to take it out of the house, so I can't speak to the effectiveness of the clip. On mine at least, the motion of the clip into the pen body when the nib comes out is so slight as to be almost unnoticeable.

 

I can only echo what TheDutchGuy said (with envy at him living so close to such a good B&M store) that this pen is beautifully engineered and feels like it will last forever (in pen years). I also echo the sentiment to try it out before you buy it. I have two VPs that I don't care much for and am ready to sell on, but this one is a keeper. eta: I forgot to mention that I also prefer the longer nib of the Dialog 3 to the small VP nibs, I like the way it affects my writing.

Edited May 1, 2020 by Paul-in-SF

[TheDutchGuy]

 

 

.I too may consider having it ground down to be more like a regular EF.

It’s a fairly unique nib. A good nibmeister will be able to turn it into a dream machine for you, while maintaining the unique architect character (to the extent that you’d like it to be maintained). The world is rife with EF nibs, but really good architects are much less common and they’re quite distinctive.

 

Also, I got the piano white, and I like it quite a lot. I don't kow if I would have liked the feel of the matte black more...

The white one and the black one feel quite different in the hand. I love the feel of the black one, but the white one was too slippery for me.

 

...with envy at him living so close to such a good B&M store...

That’s pure luck, but yes, it’s wonderful to be able to walk 5 minutes to a place like that.

 

I forgot to mention that I also prefer the longer nib of the Dialog 3 to the small VP nibs, I like the way it affects my writing.

That’s an interesting aspect. Are the Dialog nibs really longer, or are the VP nibs partly obscured by the section? Either way, your fingers are further removed from the paper when using the Dialog and yes, that makes a difference.

[TheDutchGuy]

Recently I had my Dialog3 F nib re-ground to a real mini-stub (think Western EF stub). Instead of doing it myself, this time I asked Anabelle (in-house nibmeister of Appelboom) to do it for me. I wanted to see how far my own skills are removed from those of a pro. Well, the nib turned out fabulous. And as an amateur nib tinkerer I have a long way to go .

 

 

(The railroad you see on one stroke was caused by me pressing too hard.)

 

The subtle variation of this nib is totally addictive. I love it. As an added bonus, the nib became quite soft. Before the re-grind, it was a nail. Happy!

[Tasmith]

Recently I had my Dialog3 F nib re-ground to a real mini-stub (think Western EF stub). Instead of doing it myself, this time I asked Anabelle (in-house nibmeister of Appelboom) to do it for me. I wanted to see how far my own skills are removed from those of a pro. Well, the nib turned out fabulous. And as an amateur nib tinkerer I have a long way to go .

 

 

(The railroad you see on one stroke was caused by me pressing too hard.)

 

The subtle variation of this nib is totally addictive. I love it. As an added bonus, the nib became quite soft. Before the re-grind, it was a nail. Happy!

Looks great! I love my fine crisp italic MB 146. For me, I find a lighter hand can give a better line variation.