PILOT Namiki Falcon Collection Fountain Pen, Black Barrel with Gold Accents, Soft Medium Nib (60252)

MeUnited States

This pen is amazing. The first pen I ever used was a ...

This pen is amazing. The first pen I ever used was a parker vector, that was about 6-8 years ago when i was in undergrad but i loved it back then, but to be honest i did not do a lot of writing in undergrad, everything was in computers, 3-4 years ago i started using fountain pens almost exclusively as i entered med school and the cheer volume of papers/notes i write demands for a very comfortable (and fun!) instrument. I've tried everything, rolleballs, pencils, mechanical pencil, technical pens, gel pens and with only one exception (parker IM medium rollerball, but I'm not gonna talk about that here) none of those instruments come even close to the smoothness and line "clearness" of a half decent fountain pen (e.g. a cheap parker vector, or a pilot varsity (varsity are actually AMAZING replacement for disposable pens) but even those, as good as they are compared to the non-fountain-pen pens are in a whole different universe as this Pilot falcon. Finally I'm done with my introduction, so what about this product in specific? Well i have 2 of these, first i got myself a rhodium trimmed extra fine nib. A substantial portion of my current writing includes filling forms with patient data, a lot of data goes into a normal page, so there is not a lot of space, i chose extra fine with the idea that maybe i could fit more in the tiny space i have available while maintaining legibility. I was successful with my approach, however the extra fine from Pilot is the finest thinest line i have ever seen on any type of wiring instrument (even a super sharp pencil), such fine nib in conjunction with the very low quality (and coarse paper) that my forms are printed on makes the writing experience a bit less enjoyable (scratchy!) than I personally would like, not terrible but not perfect either. Needless to say that i've tested this pen on much more better paper, and the difference is night and day, on good paper this is a terrific pen to write with, specially since the flexibility of this nib makes it for a nice line variation. Even without trying to flex (e.g. regular fast handwriting) you'd get some nice variation, slow your writing a tadbit and apply some pressure on the downstrokes and all of the sudden you are no longer writing but actually drawing beautiful words! And I don't even know how to flex write, I'm totally "naive". Wait a minute, I said I had 2 pens, but so far I've only talked about one... Well the second one is a medium nib. Now the difference between medium and extra fine is huge. I figured that for my second i didn't want to just get a fine as it would probably be too similar to the extra fine and i figured medium would be more appropriate. Now, the difference is abysmal between extra fine and medium, i love the medium one as well, but a fine would been also fine, because i reckon it would been different enough to the extra fine to be worth it. Now, you might think that perhaps this medium is too broad... no it isn't, is medium, the big difference is because the extra fine is so fine that the medium, in comparison looks like a brush! I love this medium nib, it is super wet, and also has flex! Now, because the extra fine is so fine and also have the same flex, this means that it actually gives a higher degree of line variation as the "thick line" of both pens are very similar, but the "thin line" of the extra fine is like 5-10x thiner than the thiner line the medium can give. So if you read all about these pens being flex and thats the sole purpose you at considering buying one of these, i would probably say that if you tolerate fine nibs go for the EF or F nibs and those might give you the widest degree of variation. If you don't really care much about line variation, and just want a magnificent pen, get the medium. It won't give you earth shattering line variation but its fairly decent and the nib is so much smoother, and wetter that its simply magnificent.

CorsairUnited States

Mine is the gold rather than Rhodium trim - I like my gold to look like gold

The resin Falcon is elegant if conservatively styled. Mine is the gold rather than Rhodium trim - I like my gold to look like gold, and the gold version was $130 rather than $144. Be aware that if you order through a company shipping out of Japan rather than Amazon Prime, you are going to get a big bump for shipping (or wait rather a long time). The pen comes with the Con-50 converter - the metal version fits the larger Con-70, this does not. You can refill a cartridge, or use the slightly larger but opaque Con-20, but the Con-50 seems to work well and you can see the amount of ink remaining. Used with a light hand, the fine nib gets lines of equal weight to the Prera or Metropolitan fine. It can vary out to a broad, maybe a double broad width - I am being conservative in pushing the line width for the moment. It take a conscious effort to flex the pen - it is much easier to flex than an unmodified Noodler's Ahab, but no where near what a dip pen or vintage flex pen can achieve. At it's flexiest, this is a semi-flex pen at the most. Consider the Pilot 742/743/912 FA pen if you want more and easier flex (but more troublesome railroading issues). It is a little more flexible than the Pilot 74/91 soft fine nibs. Railroading was rare for me with Iroshizuku inks, a little more noticable at times with De Atramentis Document Inks. Simply slowing down invariably solved such issues. The resin Falcon is an extremely light pen, to the point that some people equate light must equal cheap. It's not. It's well made. The cap screws on and off smoothly, with about 1.25 turns needed (a little more than a Twsbi Mini). The pen is long enough to be used comfortably in my medium male glove-size hands, but I prefer the extra weight of it being posted, which it does very securely. This does move the balance back towards the end a bit, but nothing that I find distracting. Smoothness. Reasonably smooth - most Pilot nibs are - but it does transmit paper surface texture more readily than the Pilot steel nibs I have used. Bottom Line: It's a pricey pen. If you want a hint of line variation but want to save some money, consider the Pilot 74 or Pilot 91 soft nibs, or the Platinum 3776 soft fine. If you want some flair to your writing, but have never worked with flexible nibs before (I've used very flexible dip nibs for decades) consider a "stub" nib, such as the medium "calligraphy" nib on the Pilot Prera. They are easier to get the hang of, and a whole lot cheaper. If you are an artist, nothing beats flex, but just scale back your expectations to the actual flex this offers, rather than what you may see from highly modified Falcons. The EF will have slightly more dramatic variation, at the cost of a slightly scratchier nib. My advice would be not to let that deter you if you want the finer line - for general sketching, I find the Fine of adequate fineness and easy to use. As to Resin vs. Metal: that's a whole lot of money just to get a brass barrel and a Con-70. Unless you find it on deep discount (it does show up intermittently on Amazon at under $180 Prime delivered rather than the usual $240), can't abide lightweight pens, or you simply need an extremely rugged barrel, my advice would be to save a whole lot of money and get the resin version.

iKnowBetterUnited States

A very good pen.

I intend to use the pen for sketching an writing and ordered a fine nib thinking it wouldn't be so fine. I have not been able in the few ours I own it to see the flexibility of the nib or maybe it is because I am afraid to press too hard and damage it. Nevertheless, I bought it because of its supposed performance as a semi-flex and I haven't seen that. I think that a medium nib would have been better for sketching and drawing; though for writing this fine scratchy one it is good. It feels a little scratchy but I have read that it is always that way with fine nibs? I don't know because I just started using fountain pens again after many years. For me it is a 5 on looks and design. It has the right weight for a woman, don't know about a man with big hands. It is stylish in black and gold and looks expensier that what it cost. A fine pen indeed, but no flex nib here. UPDATE Jan 30 2015 After a few months of use I can say that the flex is there due either to any or a combination of two things: 1) it was broken in by my use or/and 2) I have better experience with flex writing and less fear to break the nib and now I know how much can I press it without damage. I can say I can go from fine to medium flex and the writing looks pretty nice. As a novice on modern flex I would say this is a fine tool for writing. I own two Waterman's with vintage flex and I can see the difference, where vintage flex is better and graciously works without much pressure from the hand- buttery soft and all. More careful management is needed with this modern pen, but it does has a nice medium flex that is attractive to the eye.

LUnited States

Great pen!

Most will tell you to get a fine or extra fine nib on this pen. Although I haven’t specifically tried these sizes, I bought the Medium from the advice of a few forums online, Goulet Pens, and a few YouTube videos, and I don’t regret it. It might be one of my favorite pens I now own. I tend not to enjoy very fine nibbed pens for a variety of reasons. This medium feels remarkably similar to a German medium in size - almost like a lamy safari Medium, but writes much nicer. The soft nib makes the thickness slightly broader than this but not noticeably. The amount of flex is the same on this pen from any nib, so as you move up in nib sizes, you see the amount of line variation slowly fade - which I don’t mind as I use this primarily for everyday writing and drawing. The good: Very light and sleek. Some might not like it’s lightness or thinness but I don’t mind. It writes very smoothly for me and as I said before, it is among my favorites of the pens I own. The bad: Honestly not too much. From what I’ve heard it’s very very easy to spring the nib, and thus I haven’t pushed it too hard. It flexes but especially at a medium nib, don’t expect much or really anything like a real flex pen. The soft nib only cushions your writing and makes it all the smoother. Other thing is depending on the ink and paper, you might get some bleed through or feathering because it is a wet writer, but not overly so. Most medium and broad nibs will experience this.