[TimButterfield]

I have a small collection of fountain pens and have bought and sold many others. I have found that much of this is personal taste and how you use it. Some pens feel comfortable in the hand. Different pens sizes (length and diameter), shapes, and weights will feel good to different people. Some prefer to post the cap on the end of the pen while writing. Others prefer not doing that. Doing it affects balances differently for different pens.

There are also a wide variety of nibs to choose from. They can vary in material, widths, firmness, and how they flow across different papers. If you mostly like a nib, but it's still not quite right for you, you can have a nibmeister tune it more to your liking.

Some who write a great deal are not comfortable with the smaller quantity of ink in a cartridge converter or the shorter refill cartridges. I have used pens with these and still have some, but prefer a piston filler for the usually larger quantity of ink it can hold. It is even better (for me) when I can also look at it and see how much ink remains. But, if you have those and then rarely use it, ink can dry in the feed. In that case, something with an ink cut-off, like the Pilot Custom 823 Amber, may let the majority of ink remain even if not used. That pen is one of my favorites.

You can try any pen as a starter. But, if you don't like it, remember the preferences. That pen may not suit you, but another may be a perfect fit. Welcome to the hunt for the perfect pen.