Oddly enough, I've owned this pen for about a year and a half and am surprised that it hasn't seen the light of day on the blog yet. Actually, this particular Lamy Vista is what I would consider to be my first legitimate fountain pen. I'm sure like many pen people that are looking to dabble in fountain pens, there is an apprehension or nervousness as it really is an entirely new world of pens. Ink, nibs, cleaning...this is some scary stuff if you're used to just popping in a refill when you toss your old one in the trash.
Against the backdrop of my new branding iron tests...
I had used a Pilot Varsity or Zebra V-301 before, but had not yet decided to take the plunge of buying a "real" fountain pen if you know what I mean. While visiting Jay up at Scottsdale Pen (wish I could visit more as he's awesome) and perusing his Lamy selection, I made up my mind that it was time to to buy a fountain pen. While looking through the Safaris and a few other "entry level" fountain pens, my eyes rested on the Vista and I decided that this was going to be the one.
Traditionally, I had really liked more broad tipped pens, so opting for a fine nib as my first go was a bit of a stretch. I'm so glad that I didn't decide to go with a broad as I've since tried them and it may have swayed my interest a bit in fountain pens; at least for a bit longer...
The F nib on the Vista (or Safari or Studio) still puts down a nice solid line. I would probably range it in a 0.7mm gel or your average medium rollerball tip. Not too wide, not too narrow for my writing style. If you've used the Lamy nibs, they tend to be great writers and starters and it didn't take much once inked up for my Vista to start putting down nice smooth lines. If it hadn't, I might have rethought my choice.
This is a really interesting idea as people that love pens that end up trying their first fountain pen could be really put off if they went and dropped $30 and the thing didn't write. On the Pen Addict podcast a few weeks ago, Ana from The Well Appointed Desk guest hosted and she and Brad discussed this very thing. With the Vista I'm so glad that Lamy makes such a great product in their Safari line as it has worked like a charm since the beginning.
I'm not really sure what made me buy the Vista instead of one of the brighter Lamy colors or even the more conservative black or blue models. Maybe it was just the most interesting to me at the time in that price range so I went for it. The demonstrator style of the Vista is really cool and I like that you can see the inner workings and ink through the barrel. It actually looks pretty cool with the converter you can get for it because it has the red twist that adds some color and dimension through the clear barrel.
Painted/Stamped Logo
Indented LAMY logo from White Safari
In the regular Safari line, the "LAMY" on the barrel is more pronounced and is actually indented into the barrel. On the Vista they opted for just a metallic sticker or paint of some kind that isn't textured at all. If I had a choice from Lamy, I would say that the indented logo is a bit more striking which they could have stamped with the silver letters also. I'm sure in production it is just easier to stamp it instead of trying to line the letters up perfectly with the indent.
Posted or unposted, I don't really feel a major difference in my writing as the pen is so light, but I seem to opt for posted due to convenience. I've read some other reviews that say posting the cap makes it a bit top heavy, but I'd imagine this is simply based on your preference or hand size.
I do really love this pen. Not sure if it is a 10 out of 10, but it ranks up there pretty high. Plastic barrel pens don't really push my buttons as well as metal ones and I'm interested in picking up an AL-Star at some point. It might fit my fancy a little more and I've heard good things. But, glad I made the purchase and I don't think you'd be disappointed if you did too.