I got this pen (IM Prestige grey Medium) for Christmas. Didn't really like the Quink cartridge in it. Put in a converter, using Pilot Isroshizuko Take-Sumi (Black) ink. It's a more expensive and wetter ink. What an absolute difference, it writes immediately, first time (even after leaving the pen capped for several days). It puts down a lot of ink and it is wet, but very smooth, no hesitation and no skipping. The pen is all metal. This is a real keeper and for a reasonable price (cost me AU$78 - about US$50-ish). Nice review, that sort of confirms what I have found out. I'd still replace the cartridge with the converter and try a wetter ink though (unfortunately the pen does not come with a converter, I bought a cheap Parker Frontier for $16 that came with a converter, and swapped out the converter - put a cartridge in the Frontier - surprisingly better than I thought it would be, but that's another story)
I have a Parker IM in my collection. I don't write with it every day, but I know the pen pretty well. It has a nice finish and a pleasant nib. I have noticed a number of reviewers are re-discovering Parker pens (and inks) this year. On the whole, I really like Parker products.
I have a black IM for work, and it is fantastic. The nib is so smooth it's like a dream. Yes, I have problems with starting, but I always have a cup of tea to hand, and holding the nib in the steam for a couple of seconds starts reliably. I note the discussion in these comments, and it's true that I keep it nib upwards, so might try keeping it level or nib down in future. I also have the rollerball, which is really nice to use. And a pencil/ballpen/stylus which broadly matches. Thanks for a great review.
I have the rollerball IM as well but cartridges that I've got suck! I have fine tip and they're constantly running out of ink mid word or even tearing paper the tips so sharp and dry. I think I'll order a medium tip and try that
Hi Rob, I thank both you & your wife for enabling this video to be made, it is nice to see what a mid range priced pen looks like before buying it. This looks like a show pen [a pen you would want to take special care with]. It is pretty [love the colour] but sad that it isn't especially hardy like the Lamy Al Star. Brilliant advice on the cartridges & yes that nib does look small. I am surprised that it doesn't reverse write as well as the Vector [very strange that].
Just got an Parker IM with the newer nib. It was quite scratchy but the tines were misaligned. After I fixed that it writes super smooth, definitely not a wet writer. All in all I am very happy with mine. My old IM is a lot wetter, but it hard starts after not being used even a few days.
I have just ordered a black Parker IM with fine nib for 26 euro. I have a similar in light blue colour with medium nib. The medium nib is very smooth. Let us hope the fine nib will be smooth too.
Thanks for the review. I was a bit prejudiced against modern Parkers , made in China, but I'm moving away from chunky oversized to more traditional sized, metal pens and I think I'll check this out. Steel nibs have come a long way in recent years and most gold nibs are fairly stiff and not worth the expense, unless it offers bounce and smooth, decent line variation.
@@FountainPenJourney So I gather - and overpriced, to boot. It's a minefield out there, which is why reviews, like yours are such a boon. I'm now into reasonably priced pens, after playing for a time with the wealthier boys, and have been impressed, of late, by Narwhal, Kilk, Laban, Stilform and the Good Blue.
Just got my first fountain pen last week and it's a Parker IM. I got the brown with the machined design on the barell/cap. As soon as I wrote my first word I fell in love. I have the roller ball IM and I havent been very happy with Parkers refills for it which is unfortunate
I have a few of these. I like their weight. The nib size is indeed a bit of a curiosity in proportion. It does write smoothly but I've found mine to be a little twitchy when left standing for a few days. Unless I leave it nib-down for a few minutes it will dry start. I don't have that issue with my Vectors or my daily workhorse, a Safari. Once the feed is saturated though, it's very smooth for me. So I'd say it's cosmetically one of the better modern budget Parkers that I own, but not the most reliable in my experience.
I store the majority of my pens nib down at home because I rotate through them regularly and I don't like waiting for the feds to resaturate, but I can imagine that this pen would hard start when left nib up for a length of time.
@@FountainPenJourney thanks for the reply. I have too many pens inked up, and write too infrequently, for me to really do that. I've found myself in the nib-up brigade after having two pens leaking into the cap nib-down. The ones that will still write "from cold" make their way into my everyday rotation. The slower starters are at the back of the pile, and the non starters either find their way into the bin or storage. The only Parkers I own that have this behaviour are a plastic Beta and one of the IMs. It's a bit uncharacteristic of Parker's reputation, and my own experience, for any Parker to be less than 100% reliable, but while these two are a bit badly behaved on occasion, they aren't demon children yet!
I haven't found many pens that leak into the caps when left nib down for a while, other than the Noodler's Ahab. Some eyedroppered pens can be problematic, though, for example my Moonman C1 and M2.
I've got the black/gold version of the Parker IM. Bought it because I wanted to start writing down my dreams as get a lot of really vivid ones that feel more like real life than real life does, and I hate ballpoint pens. Had fountain pens as a kid and loved writing with them, but must have lost them over time. I bought the Parker IM and I am thoroughly enjoying it.
Modern IM is kind of failure. Dry and scratchy. I have two and both suffered from problems. Scratching , interrupted ink flow, hard starts. The nib is also very stiff, it doesnt glide, feels like a ballpoint. I flushed pen few times with water, didn't help that much. The only one IM im happy with, is old IM with narrow nib. It is much more smooth and wet than never model. From Parker lineup, Sonnet is much better pen than IM, but a little more expensive.
Hi Rob! This discussion of yours is very interesting, but I think the Parker IM is an emblematic model. I also have a Parker IM that like others of the same type has ink drying problems in the nib. Then problems of resumption of writing after a few days ... I hope you will not find these problems in yours. Thanks for all!
Fountain Pen Journey I was looking at this but don’t know if too cheap price and looks? rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F291193399937
Is this large width body pen as on my work shirt I have a small top hole in chest pocket for a pen I normally for my parker vector pens go in there fine.
I got this pen (IM Prestige grey Medium) for Christmas. Didn't really like the Quink cartridge in it. Put in a converter, using Pilot Isroshizuko Take-Sumi (Black) ink. It's a more expensive and wetter ink. What an absolute difference, it writes immediately, first time (even after leaving the pen capped for several days). It puts down a lot of ink and it is wet, but very smooth, no hesitation and no skipping. The pen is all metal. This is a real keeper and for a reasonable price (cost me AU$78 - about US$50-ish). Nice review, that sort of confirms what I have found out. I'd still replace the cartridge with the converter and try a wetter ink though (unfortunately the pen does not come with a converter, I bought a cheap Parker Frontier for $16 that came with a converter, and swapped out the converter - put a cartridge in the Frontier - surprisingly better than I thought it would be, but that's another story)
I have a Parker IM in my collection. I don't write with it every day, but I know the pen pretty well. It has a nice finish and a pleasant nib. I have noticed a number of reviewers are re-discovering Parker pens (and inks) this year. On the whole, I really like Parker products.
It's good to hear that I'm not the only one who recognises that Parker pens are pretty good.
I have a black IM for work, and it is fantastic. The nib is so smooth it's like a dream. Yes, I have problems with starting, but I always have a cup of tea to hand, and holding the nib in the steam for a couple of seconds starts reliably.
I note the discussion in these comments, and it's true that I keep it nib upwards, so might try keeping it level or nib down in future.
I also have the rollerball, which is really nice to use. And a pencil/ballpen/stylus which broadly matches.
Thanks for a great review.
Many thanks for your comment, and for your tip about the steam from a cup of tea - That's a really great tip!
Enjoy your pens! 😀
I have the rollerball IM as well but cartridges that I've got suck! I have fine tip and they're constantly running out of ink mid word or even tearing paper the tips so sharp and dry. I think I'll order a medium tip and try that
Hi Rob,
I thank both you & your wife for enabling this video to be made, it is nice to see what a mid range priced pen looks like before buying it.
This looks like a show pen [a pen you would want to take special care with]. It is pretty [love the colour] but sad that it isn't especially hardy like the Lamy Al Star.
Brilliant advice on the cartridges & yes that nib does look small.
I am surprised that it doesn't reverse write as well as the Vector [very strange that].
Just got an Parker IM with the newer nib. It was quite scratchy but the tines were misaligned. After I fixed that it writes super smooth, definitely not a wet writer. All in all I am very happy with mine. My old IM is a lot wetter, but it hard starts after not being used even a few days.
I have just ordered a black Parker IM with fine nib for 26 euro. I have a similar in light blue colour with medium nib. The medium nib is very smooth. Let us hope the fine nib will be smooth too.
Damn your lucky, i had to pay 50 for my IM
Thanks for the review. I was a bit prejudiced against modern Parkers , made in China, but I'm moving away from chunky oversized to more traditional sized, metal pens and I think I'll check this out. Steel nibs have come a long way in recent years and most gold nibs are fairly stiff and not worth the expense, unless it offers bounce and smooth, decent line variation.
This is a reasonably good pen, but steer clear of the modern Parker 51, it's really bad!
@@FountainPenJourney So I gather - and overpriced, to boot. It's a minefield out there, which is why reviews, like yours are such a boon.
I'm now into reasonably priced pens, after playing for a time with the wealthier boys, and have been impressed, of late, by Narwhal, Kilk, Laban, Stilform and the Good Blue.
@@ronaldchapman2806 Narwhal and Laban have impressed me (mostly - reviews coming soon) so far. The Diplomat Aero is superb, too. Enjoy your pens! 👍
@@FountainPenJourney I'll be sure to look out for them - if only to reassure myself that I made the right choice! 👍
Just got my first fountain pen last week and it's a Parker IM. I got the brown with the machined design on the barell/cap. As soon as I wrote my first word I fell in love. I have the roller ball IM and I havent been very happy with Parkers refills for it which is unfortunate
Enjoy your new pen 😀
That's a classy looking pen and I like the color of yours.
You and my wife clearly have much better taste than I!
just bought this, cant wait to receive it at home
Enjoy your new pen when it arrives 😀
I have a few of these. I like their weight. The nib size is indeed a bit of a curiosity in proportion. It does write smoothly but I've found mine to be a little twitchy when left standing for a few days. Unless I leave it nib-down for a few minutes it will dry start. I don't have that issue with my Vectors or my daily workhorse, a Safari. Once the feed is saturated though, it's very smooth for me. So I'd say it's cosmetically one of the better modern budget Parkers that I own, but not the most reliable in my experience.
I store the majority of my pens nib down at home because I rotate through them regularly and I don't like waiting for the feds to resaturate, but I can imagine that this pen would hard start when left nib up for a length of time.
@@FountainPenJourney thanks for the reply. I have too many pens inked up, and write too infrequently, for me to really do that. I've found myself in the nib-up brigade after having two pens leaking into the cap nib-down. The ones that will still write "from cold" make their way into my everyday rotation. The slower starters are at the back of the pile, and the non starters either find their way into the bin or storage. The only Parkers I own that have this behaviour are a plastic Beta and one of the IMs. It's a bit uncharacteristic of Parker's reputation, and my own experience, for any Parker to be less than 100% reliable, but while these two are a bit badly behaved on occasion, they aren't demon children yet!
I haven't found many pens that leak into the caps when left nib down for a while, other than the Noodler's Ahab. Some eyedroppered pens can be problematic, though, for example my Moonman C1 and M2.
I've got the black/gold version of the Parker IM. Bought it because I wanted to start writing down my dreams as get a lot of really vivid ones that feel more like real life than real life does, and I hate ballpoint pens. Had fountain pens as a kid and loved writing with them, but must have lost them over time.
I bought the Parker IM and I am thoroughly enjoying it.
Great video. I have the Parker I.M. in red. It's a good writer. 👍🏻✒
Modern IM is kind of failure. Dry and scratchy. I have two and both suffered from problems. Scratching , interrupted ink flow, hard starts. The nib is also very stiff, it doesnt glide, feels like a ballpoint. I flushed pen few times with water, didn't help that much. The only one IM im happy with, is old IM with narrow nib. It is much more smooth and wet than never model. From Parker lineup, Sonnet is much better pen than IM, but a little more expensive.
Hi Rob! This discussion of yours is very interesting, but I think the Parker IM is an emblematic model. I also have a Parker IM that like others of the same type has ink drying problems in the nib. Then problems of resumption of writing after a few days ... I hope you will not find these problems in yours. Thanks for all!
Hi Frank!
I've had this pen inked up since Christmas and I've had no issues with drying out, thankfully 😀
@@FountainPenJourney It is good news! Very well! It is a problem that has affected some lots. Thanks for your feedback!
O so I mite have to go for vector fountain pen then can’t keep it upside down and need it to be reliable.
I find that the Vector is a more reliable fountain pen than the IM.
Fountain Pen Journey I was looking at this but don’t know if too cheap price and looks? rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F291193399937
Thank you, very helpful
Parker im medium vs pilot metropolitan medium vs lamy safari. Please rate these pen out of 10, on considering its smoothness.
Is this large width body pen as on my work shirt I have a small top hole in chest pocket for a pen I normally for my parker vector pens go in there fine.
Does a deluxe parker comverter work on it? Ive read that parker converters should work on most parker pens but I want to make sure it does.
I’m sorry but I don’t know. I’ve not got any Parker converters but I would expect it to fit.
The converter does fit.
According to some threads even Lamy Z27 converters work with Parker pens.
Is it possible to swap off nib and feed as well?
It’s not something that I would try.