Ultimate Fountain Pen Ink Capacity Comparison: 51+ Pens

Fountain pen ink capacities vary widely, with some needing a refill ever 10 pages, while others will write more than 100 pages. Below, I'll list more than 40 pens to make comparing them easy.

Most fountain pens hold between 0.7 and 2.5ml of ink. The total ink capacity largely depends on the type of filling mechanism: cartridge pens hold either 0.7ml or 1.2-1.5ml (short and long cartridges); piston-filler pens hold on average 1.2ml of ink; eyedropper pens hold on average 2.5ml of ink.

Eyedroppers easily hold the largest ink volume of all of them, but piston and vacumatic fillers are a very close second, with some even outdoing their eyedropper counterparts.

In this article:

1. Exact Ink Capacity of 51+ Fountain Pens Compared
2. Ink Capacity per Filling Mechanism
3. Fountain Pens with Large Ink Capacity

Exact Ink Capacity of 51+ Fountain Pens Compared

Below you'll find a comparison of the ink capacity of over 51 fountain pens. Among them are all sorts of filling mechanisms, although most of them will be eyedropper, or some sort of piston or vacumatic filling system. These numbers are sourced both from reliable sources on the internet and my own measurements.

Fountain pen	Ink capacity	Remarks
Aurora 88	1.1ml
Aurora Optima	1.43ml
TWSBI Eco	2.5ml
TWSBI Vac Mini	2ml
TWSBI Diamond 580	2ml
TWSBI Diamond 530	1ml
TWSBI Vac 700	1.7ml	1.4ml on one plunge
Montblanc 146	1.4ml
Montblanc 149	2.1ml
Opus 88	2.0ml
Pelikan M200	1.3ml
Pelikan M205	1.2ml
Pelikan M400	1.4ml
Pelikan M600	1.3ml
Pelikan M800	1.3ml	officialy 1.2ml
Pelikan M805	1.52ml
Pelikan M1000	1.5ml
Moonman Q1 ink capacity	2ml
Moonman C1 ink capacity	4ml
Moonman M2	2.5ml
Parker 51 Vacumatic	1.6ml
Parker 51 Aeromatric	1.1ml
Parker Duofold	1.9ml
Parker IM	0.6ml	uses Parker converter
Parker Sonnet	0.6ml	uses Parker converter
Pilot Custom 823	1.3ml
Pilot Custom Heritage 92	1.2ml
Pilot Vanishing Point	0.4ml	uses
Sailor 1911	0.6ml	large converter
Sailor Realo	1ml
Sheaffer Snorkel	0.7ml
Sheaffer Snorkel PFM	0.95ml
Wing Sung 699	1.3ml
Wing Sung 601	1.5ml	vacumatic
Visconti Homo Sapiens	1.51ml
Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze	1.3ml
Pelikan 140	1.5ml
Pelikan 120	1.5ml
Pelikan 400	2.0ml
Kaweco Sport	0.7ml	uses standard converter
Kaweco Sport	2.5ml	eyedropper
Lamy Safari	0.8ml	uses Lamy Z29 converter
Lamy AL-Star	0.8ml	uses Lamy Z29 converter
Lamy 2000	1.35ml
Pilot Metropolitan	0.9ml	uses sack converter
Platinum Preppy	3ml	eyedropper
Pilot Custom 74	1.1ml	uses CON-70 converter
Noodler's Flex Pen	1.5ml
Noodler's Charlie Pen	2.5ml
Montblanc 14	1.6ml
Montblanc 24	1.5ml

Ink Capacity per Filling Mechanism

As you can see, the number varies widely, and mostly depends on the filling mechanism. For a large ink capacity, eyedropper and piston fillers seem to be the logical choice. For decent filling capacity, long converters or cartridges are the best choice. Small cartridges and converters really hold little ink compared to the alternatives, but are still very usable, since a standard international cartridge will write for 45 pages with a fine nib.

If you're interested in comparing the capacity of different cartridges and converter types instead of pens, I have a similar overview for those. Go to my detailed overview of cartridge and converter ink capacity if you need those.

Fountain Pens with Large Ink Capacity

Thanks to this extensive comparison, we can now pick out high-capacity fountain pens. I really enjoy fountain pens with large ink capacities. An affordable one with the largest ink capacity I've found so far is the Moonman C1, an eyedropper with a remarkable 4ml capacity. It has a lovely no. 6 fine nib, which is smooth and pleasantly stiff. But there are many more to consider, which you can find here.

You can find my full list of interesting large-capacity fountain pens here.

Which fountain pens hold the most ink?

The fountain pen with the highest ink capacity is the Moonman C1 with a total capacity of 4ml. Typically, eyedropper fountain pens hold the most ink, with an average of 2.5ml. Piston-filling pens are second with an average of 1.2ml of ink. Standard cartridges or converters hold between 0.6-0.9ml.

How much ink does a Pelikan M800 hold?

According to the manufacturer's specifications, the Pelikan M800 holds 1.2ml of ink, although many people have reported that it could hold up to 1.3ml of ink with the right filling technique.