Comparing Lamy Z50 Nibs feat. Lamy Safari Scarlet

Review Summary: Lamy Safari Scarlet and Z50 Nibs

Elise compares Lamy’s Z50 fine, medium, and broad nibs using the Lamy Safari Scarlet, the same ink, and the same pen body to keep the test consistent. The Scarlet’s matte, deep plum-purple finish with black accents is a key appeal; Elise finds it classier-looking than a glossy finish. Though she initially thought the color was a limited edition, she says it had become part of Lamy’s standard lineup.

Nib Comparison and Writing Experience

• Fine: Produces the thinnest line and best suits Elise’s naturally small handwriting. Her letters stay legible with well-balanced negative spaces. It has noticeable feedback but still feels smooth, and the ink shows some shading.
• Medium: Gives writing more body and shows shading more clearly. Elise needed to write larger to keep her letters legible. It has less feedback than the fine nib and suits slower writing or occasions when she wants the ink to stand out more.
• Broad: Lays down a very wet, thick line and still displays shading, but ink gathers into darker areas. Elise’s small writing can become crowded or merge into blobs; she expects the broad nib to work better for people who write larger.

As rough comparisons to gel pens, Elise says the fine resembles a 0.5 mm, the medium a 0.7 mm, and the broad might be close to 1.0 mm. These are estimates, not measured equivalents.

Drying and Left-Handed Use

Elise is a left-handed over-writer and side-writer, so smudging is a concern. In her test:

• Fine: Still wet after 1 second, nearly dry by 5 seconds, and dry by 10 seconds.
• Medium: Still very wet after 1 second; at 5 seconds, it looks roughly like the fine nib did after 1 second.
• Broad: Extremely wet; smudging after 1 second can make the writing nearly indecipherable, and it is still very wet after 10 seconds.

She notes that moisture, sweat, or natural finger oils can reactivate writing. She uses a cloth under her hand or angles the page as workarounds.

Other Points

• Z50 nibs are easy to swap: only the nib needs to be removed, not the feed. After a few test strokes, the pen writes normally.
• Elise values nib swapping as a way to vary the experience of pens she already owns without buying another pen.
• For the controlled comparison, she used Robert Oster “Day to Night” ink, which matched the Scarlet and seemed moderately wet and well-behaved. She considers Robert Oster inks a potentially beginner-friendly choice.
• Her initial writing sample used different Lamy pens and inks, but she considered it less controlled because ink and pen performance could affect the results. She then compared the nibs in one Safari with one ink.
• No numerical rating or score is given.

Verdict

The review presents the Z50 nibs as an easy way to tailor a Lamy Safari’s line width and feel. Fine is Elise’s preferred fit for small handwriting and dries quickest; medium offers more visible ink and a fuller line; broad is very wet and better suited to larger writing, with a significant smudging drawback for left-handed users.

Speaker perspective: Elise provides the review and all the stated preferences and observations.