Well, I did a bad thing, but my friend Plume has me covered, because now all my lapses are “for the blog.” A few weeks ago, I saw a great price on a new Lamy 2000 extra-fine. Reader, I leapt at it. So I am a Lamy 2000 extra-fine owner now. Which lets me compare the extra-fine to the Lamy 2000 with fine nib that I’ve been using for years.
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Fountain Pen Follies 
Great review and totally accurate! I’ve used both Lamy 2000 fines and extra fines for years and I couldn’t have described the differences better. I actually prefer the extra fine now. One blogger/ink reviewer told me the Lamy 2000 extra fine is “almost like a fine italic” totally true. Anyway, thanks!
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You’re welcome, and thank you! I ended up keeping my Lamy 2000 fine, and moving along my extra-fine, but that’s because I wanted to buy a Sailor extra-fine. The Sailor extra-fine is remarkably fine, and suits me, along with the Sailor fine, perfectly. But I think I’ll always keep the Lamy 2000 fine — it’s just kind of a perfect workhorse pen.
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Hi Laura, thanks for this review. I’ve been considering whether to get the Lamy 2000 Fine or Extra Fine. Currently, I have a Lamy Safari Extra Fine which I really enjoy, but I’m not sure whether that would translate to a Fine or Extra Fine in the Lamy 2000. What would you think? Thanks so much!
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Hi Laura, thanks for this review. I’ve been considering whether to get the Lamy 2000 Fine or Extra Fine. Currently, I have a Lamy Safari Extra Fine which I really enjoy, but I’m not sure whether that would translate to a Fine or Extra Fine in the Lamy 2000. What would you think? Thanks so much!
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Hi Justin. That’s a tough one. The extra-fine is finer than the fine, in both the Safari and the 2000, but the nibs are so different there’s unfortunately not a one-to-one correlation between the Safari and the 2000. Also, there is sample variation so nib width is more a range. You can get narrow fines and wide fines, and so on. That’s why I think nib width charts, though a good idea, don’t really work. There is always a range.
I like the Safari extra-fine very much, and it’s not really a nib that’s difficult to use. I always recommend the extra-fine Safari, instead of the fine, to students or anyone who has to use poor paper.
With the 2000s, however, I think the 2000 fine is the better choice for most people, especially if you can pick yours out in person and make sure you get a finer one. It’s not really width, it’s more how it writes. The extra-fine in the 2000 has a small sweet spot, and I like to use my extra-fine with a wetter ink. If I could only have one, it would be the fine. But if I only used lower-quality paper, the 2000 extra-fine would probably get the nod.
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Hi Laura, that’s really helpful advice. It’s been really bothering me as I read online posts about how variable people’s opinion is on the difference between the extra-fine and fine nibs. So your comments about how there is a variance even within the ‘fine’ nib explains a lot! (and why nib charts aren’t that helpful) I think I will be leaning towards the Lamy 2000 Fine with some good paper now given your advice. So thank you very much!
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I have a Lamy 2k extra fine and a Pilot Custom 823 fine, and although the one is filled with Lierre Sauvage and the other with Tsuki-yo, I find both lay about the same line. Given the variability of nibs it is hard to say if this is representative though.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for this comparison. I’m stuck trying to decide if I want to get a Lamy 2000 in fine or extra-fine. I tend to write small and need something to use for class notes on everything from notebook paper to cheap copy paper, so I’m leaning toward the extra-fine. Do you have any Pilot Fines? If so, how would you say the Lamy Extra-Fine compares to the Pilot Fine? Thank you so much for your help!
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Hi Victoria. That is a tough decision. 😊 I’m on vacation so I can’t check but I think the Pilot fine is in the middle of these two Lamy nib sizes. If you were looking at a Safari I’d say “get the EF” with no hesitation, but with the 2000 I still favor the F. You can pick an ink that does well on poor paper and writes a narrower line, and that will make a big difference. Pelikan Brilliant Black, for example. Enjoy!
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well if that’s a bad thing, I don’t wanna be good! lol.
I never expected there to be such a visible difference between XF and F! your photos show this very clearly, it’s fascinating. It’s also incredible to see how much variation in line width there is between nibs from different companies that are labeled as the same size!
Love the two-nib shot at the bottom – what a surprising view!
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I quite always use Lamy EF nibs, and I find they are precise, neat and fun to use, as they immediately follow my mind in tracing letters.
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