When I started school I learn to write with a deep in pen then in elementary school it was obligatory to used fountain pens. All my school years I used pelikan pens, waterman, Mont Blanc, parker, scheaffer fountain pens and I forget some I am sure. So now to see people buying all these fountain pens make me smile. A fountain pen need to be used as same as a regular pen not as a collection item. It has to be a prolongation of you when you write. Cheerish what you have but use it daily. Thank you for the video
Michele Martens Agree! I’m a fountain pen user, not a collector. I think it’s so cool you were exposed to all those fountain pens in school. I didn’t get to write with one for the first time until adulthood. Thanks for watching!
I totally agree with your assessment of the Pelikan 200 and 400. Pelikans have become my all time favorite pens to write with. I have a 200, 250, & 400 and I tend to reach for the 200 & 250 more than the 400. I was considering an 800 but I’m so pleased with the 200 models I don’t know if I want to spend the extra $ for the 800. I’ll look for your review after you get the 800 back from the nib miester before I make a decision.
Wow, same deal, I have m200 steel as first my "good" pen and wanted to try gold nib, decided on Parker Vaccumatic. Well...that is a stiff nib and makes you wonder what's the fuss about with gold nibs. As it has it, seems first you learn the affordable steel nibs are not as desired as gold. Then we newbies have to learn that not all gold nibs are made equal. Looks like the expensive pens have a lot of nib issues, so I guess when it's time I will have the pen shop write with it and check it I guess. Thanks for sharing this:)
I've read M600 is the softest gold nib among the line, while M800 is the most firm one. I really liked the inks you were using, what was the one you used in M800?
I really like the Galen pen cases. I don't own one yet but it's on my wishlist. I'm still getting to know my starter fountain pens. Plus my Opus 88 koloro I've been enjoying. I love the look of Pelikan fountain pens & definitely want one in the future. Thanks for the comparison. These reviews help with realizing that the less expensive in collections sometimes perform just as good or better than the most expensive.
I like my M200, though I think I paid full retail, which is way too much for it. I’ve been meaning to get the M400 for a long time, but am thinking I might go vintage instead. If money were no object, the M1000 Raden models are probably the most beautiful pens ever made.
Have you considered contacting Pelikan? If it is a faulty nib i am sure they would fix it. Although it not being springy would not be part of that category.
Lena Rose I haven’t. The firm nib will be fine but it feels almost scratchy in one direction. I bought it from a retailer overseas and I’m sure they would exchange it; I think I would just rather have the nib work done domestically to avoid the overseas shipping process. Good point tho; thank you! 😉
In my experience (I have one M600 and two M800 nibs) modern Pelikan nibs are stiff. I have also heard other reviewers say the Pelikan nibs are stiff. The nib should not be scratchy though, so that should be fixed. Have you tried using micro mesh? Thanks for the review! Beautiful pens and handwriting!
Fountain Pen Insanity Thank you! Yes...with a little more research I would’ve expected that the M800 would be a stiff nib...my M200/M400 aren’t stiff at all though; completely different writing experiences. The M800 only feels scratchy when I move it to the right, so def going to send it off. No, I haven’t tried micro mesh. I’ve considered trying it on a starter pen but wouldn’t feel comfortable doing it to this nice of a pen by myself (would be first time so don’t trust myself, Lol). Do you like your M600? Thank you for watching!
Paper Made Me Do It I was surprised when you said the M200 and M400 nibs were not stiff. I have not tried them. I have also heard that the M1000 nib is not stiff. I understand being nervous about messing up an expensive pen, but using micro mesh is really easy. You could try it on some inexpensive pens first. Of course it is up to you whether you want to send your pen off to be smoothed. I smooth lots of my pens, inexpensive and expensive, because it is not hard to get a good result and it’s a cheap, quick fix. It took me a while to get used to my M600 because I prefer pens which are a bit heavier. I like the M800 better. Also, my medium M600 definitely writes like a broad. I found my M800 with a stiff fine nib to be a little boring, so I got a medium nib with an architect grind to replace it and now I enjoy it.
Micro mesh is a scary term, take a 4side nail file and use the softest surface used to polish the nail. Its so soft that it feels somewhat as regular paper. M200 in my experience was quite soft nib , while m400 is quite stiff also easy to damage nib.
Thanks for an interesting video. The Pelikan nibs are a world unto themselves. I have the full range from EF, F, M, B and Italic Broad and they are each individual. Sometimes a fine writes more like a medium. The EF nibs, in my experience, are the trickiest. I have the M800 Blue Dunes with an EF and that is a wonderful writer, especially useful when making corrections on drafts between lines of type. But my M600 EF nib is so fine is it more like an Extra Fine and rather scratchy. In the end, I now normally settle for F as these nibs are sufficiently fine to suit my handwriting style but often have a little more breadth which makes the "fine" ink flow on the page more interesting. I also share your love of brown pens- and brown inks!- especially the Pelikan "Smoky Quartz" or my new favourite, the Diamine Macassar.
Just found out that I actually own a M400, that was handed to me by my dad (wo also didn’t know) but the nib was sadly bent. I researched a bit and ended up getting an M200 nib, since I sadly can’t afford a M400 at the moment, but it would also be too sad not to use it.
I'm still so new with fountain pens, but usually seem to prefer a medium nib (I write quickly, so fine nibs don't seem to give me enough ink to write smoothly)...but different brands can be so different. Your sample writings don't look like "fine" lines to me, so I'm wondering if these pens just put out more ink than it seems a fine nib would do?
Becca Carrillo The European nibs are going to run about a size larger than the Japanese nibs of each size in general. But I find my M200 EF writes like a Japanese M out of the box. Same with the M400, but when having the nib tuned/smoothed I also asked for a wet writing experience and it is a very juicy writer now. I forgot to mention that in the video but I love it! 😉😉😉
Pelikans run super broad even by German standards. Great pens but brooooad. I love fine and extra fines. So even the extra fine in Pelikan is too broad for journaling or letter writing. But i find uses!
Nice review and much appreciated. I am trying not to buy more pens until I honestly use all I have - ha! The Pelikans are just stunning to look at, for sure. I follow another UA-camr that also has some beautiful pens. For me I think the M800 would be a bit big, at that price. I would test out a larger pen that was more reasonably priced. What was the ink you put in the M400 and M800? Thanks again for this review. I also need another pen case and that smoky gray is gorgeous!!
When I started school I learn to write with a deep in pen then in elementary school it was obligatory to used fountain pens. All my school years I used pelikan pens, waterman, Mont Blanc, parker, scheaffer fountain pens and I forget some I am sure. So now to see people buying all these fountain pens make me smile. A fountain pen need to be used as same as a regular pen not as a collection item. It has to be a prolongation of you when you write. Cheerish what you have but use it daily. Thank you for the video
Michele Martens Agree! I’m a fountain pen user, not a collector. I think it’s so cool you were exposed to all those fountain pens in school. I didn’t get to write with one for the first time until adulthood. Thanks for watching!
I totally agree with your assessment of the Pelikan 200 and 400. Pelikans have become my all time favorite pens to write with. I have a 200, 250, & 400 and I tend to reach for the 200 & 250 more than the 400. I was considering an 800 but I’m so pleased with the 200 models I don’t know if I want to spend the extra $ for the 800. I’ll look for your review after you get the 800 back from the nib miester before I make a decision.
Rebecca Mcbryde Sounds good! I’m not familiar with the 250; will have to look that one up. Thanks!
The only difference between the 200 and 250 is the accent finish. 200’s are gold, 250’s are silver.
@@innerding hi, perhaps the finishing is indicated by 205, not 250?
Wow, same deal, I have m200 steel as first my "good" pen and wanted to try gold nib, decided on Parker Vaccumatic. Well...that is a stiff nib and makes you wonder what's the fuss about with gold nibs. As it has it, seems first you learn the affordable steel nibs are not as desired as gold. Then we newbies have to learn that not all gold nibs are made equal.
Looks like the expensive pens have a lot of nib issues, so I guess when it's time I will have the pen shop write with it and check it I guess.
Thanks for sharing this:)
YW, thanks for watching. The M200 is still in my top favorite pens. Sometimes I forget it’s not a gold nib pen Lol
Your beautiful handwriting and the pen review made me decide to buy a m200. I bought a green marble with medium nib. 😊
Thank you! I hope you enjoy your new pen! 😉😉😉
I've read M600 is the softest gold nib among the line, while M800 is the most firm one. I really liked the inks you were using, what was the one you used in M800?
I think it was Diamine Ancient Copper 😉
I really like the Galen pen cases. I don't own one yet but it's on my wishlist. I'm still getting to know my starter fountain pens. Plus my Opus 88 koloro I've been enjoying. I love the look of Pelikan fountain pens & definitely want one in the future. Thanks for the comparison. These reviews help with realizing that the less expensive in collections sometimes perform just as good or better than the most expensive.
Nikki Lillard 😉😉😉 Thanks for watching Nikki!
I like my M200, though I think I paid full retail, which is way too much for it. I’ve been meaning to get the M400 for a long time, but am thinking I might go vintage instead. If money were no object, the M1000 Raden models are probably the most beautiful pens ever made.
Have you considered contacting Pelikan? If it is a faulty nib i am sure they would fix it. Although it not being springy would not be part of that category.
Lena Rose I haven’t. The firm nib will be fine but it feels almost scratchy in one direction. I bought it from a retailer overseas and I’m sure they would exchange it; I think I would just rather have the nib work done domestically to avoid the overseas shipping process. Good point tho; thank you! 😉
In my experience (I have one M600 and two M800 nibs) modern Pelikan nibs are stiff. I have also heard other reviewers say the Pelikan nibs are stiff. The nib should not be scratchy though, so that should be fixed. Have you tried using micro mesh? Thanks for the review! Beautiful pens and handwriting!
Fountain Pen Insanity Thank you! Yes...with a little more research I would’ve expected that the M800 would be a stiff nib...my M200/M400 aren’t stiff at all though; completely different writing experiences. The M800 only feels scratchy when I move it to the right, so def going to send it off. No, I haven’t tried micro mesh. I’ve considered trying it on a starter pen but wouldn’t feel comfortable doing it to this nice of a pen by myself (would be first time so don’t trust myself, Lol).
Do you like your M600?
Thank you for watching!
Paper Made Me Do It I was surprised when you said the M200 and M400 nibs were not stiff. I have not tried them. I have also heard that the M1000 nib is not stiff. I understand being nervous about messing up an expensive pen, but using micro mesh is really easy. You could try it on some inexpensive pens first. Of course it is up to you whether you want to send your pen off to be smoothed. I smooth lots of my pens, inexpensive and expensive, because it is not hard to get a good result and it’s a cheap, quick fix. It took me a while to get used to my M600 because I prefer pens which are a bit heavier. I like the M800 better. Also, my medium M600 definitely writes like a broad. I found my M800 with a stiff fine nib to be a little boring, so I got a medium nib with an architect grind to replace it and now I enjoy it.
Micro mesh is a scary term, take a 4side nail file and use the softest surface used to polish the nail. Its so soft that it feels somewhat as regular paper.
M200 in my experience was quite soft nib , while m400 is quite stiff also easy to damage nib.
Thanks for an interesting video.
The Pelikan nibs are a world unto themselves. I have the full range from EF, F, M, B and Italic Broad and they are each individual. Sometimes a fine writes more like a medium. The EF nibs, in my experience, are the trickiest. I have the M800 Blue Dunes with an EF and that is a wonderful writer, especially useful when making corrections on drafts between lines of type. But my M600 EF nib is so fine is it more like an Extra Fine and rather scratchy.
In the end, I now normally settle for F as these nibs are sufficiently fine to suit my handwriting style but often have a little more breadth which makes the "fine" ink flow on the page more interesting.
I also share your love of brown pens- and brown inks!- especially the Pelikan "Smoky Quartz" or my new favourite, the Diamine Macassar.
Freespirit The Smoky Quartz was actually next on my wish list...such a pretty pen! Thank you so much for your input 👍🏼
Just found out that I actually own a M400, that was handed to me by my dad (wo also didn’t know) but the nib was sadly bent. I researched a bit and ended up getting an M200 nib, since I sadly can’t afford a M400 at the moment, but it would also be too sad not to use it.
The m200 nibs are nice! I think you’ll enjoy it. What a cool find!
I'm still so new with fountain pens, but usually seem to prefer a medium nib (I write quickly, so fine nibs don't seem to give me enough ink to write smoothly)...but different brands can be so different. Your sample writings don't look like "fine" lines to me, so I'm wondering if these pens just put out more ink than it seems a fine nib would do?
Becca Carrillo The European nibs are going to run about a size larger than the Japanese nibs of each size in general. But I find my M200 EF writes like a Japanese M out of the box. Same with the M400, but when having the nib tuned/smoothed I also asked for a wet writing experience and it is a very juicy writer now. I forgot to mention that in the video but I love it! 😉😉😉
@@papermademedoit Wet writing is what I like. :) Can't stand anything remotely scratchy. Thanks for the information.
Pelikans run super broad even by German standards. Great pens but brooooad. I love fine and extra fines. So even the extra fine in Pelikan is too broad for journaling or letter writing. But i find uses!
@@nadines.1107 Letter writing is exactly what I would want it for, so many it's not a pen for me then.
Thanks for the review! What is that gorgeous ink in the M800?
Mystery Arts and Crafts Thanks for watching! Sorry I forgot to mention that one. It’s Organics Studio Oscar’s Copper 😉
Paper Made Me Do It wow, I’ve never seen it show up like that. I have a bottle and will have to try it in some different pens:)
Mystery Arts and Crafts Yes, it always amazes me how inks can look so different when used in different pens/nibs!
Nice review and much appreciated. I am trying not to buy more pens until I honestly use all I have - ha! The Pelikans are just stunning to look at, for sure. I follow another UA-camr that also has some beautiful pens. For me I think the M800 would be a bit big, at that price. I would test out a larger pen that was more reasonably priced. What was the ink you put in the M400 and M800? Thanks again for this review. I also need another pen case and that smoky gray is gorgeous!!
stampinsan Thanks for watching! The M400 was Kyo No Oto Yamabuki-Iro #4 and the M800 was Organics Studio Oscar’s Copper 😉
Beautiful! And what a cute email