(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)
Who knew that the Bossman already did a review of the Yamamoto Canopus Paper? Clearly not me, because I did a bunch of background work last week, only to realize he reviewed it back in August. Oops! Anyhoo, he wanted me to go ahead with it cuz I might have a different opinion or experience (or maybe I’d do a better job? Just kidding, Boss!), so here we are.
At the San Francisco Pen Show, I bought the Yamamoto Bullet Jotter along with the Canopus refill. I’ve been wanting to see how Canopus compared with the Sheeps Cloud Bond and Soliste papers that came with the Bullet Jotter. I have since written dry some of the pens I had used for that review, so I made some substitutions. I also picked more pens that either had wet nibs, super fine nibs, or interesting inks, and used them on all 3 papers.
In addition to the Jotter refill (right), I also bought the Canopus A5 notebook, as well as 2 packs of A4 blank Canopus paper (not pictured). The review is for the Canopus Jotter refill.
Left to right: Pilot Custom Heritage 91 (BCI), Platinum Plaisir (Fine), Woodshed Pen Co (BB SIG), Leonardo Momento Zero (Stylosuite EF X-Wing Harpoon flex), Kaweco Piston Sport (Fine), Pilot Custom 823 (FM), Zodiac Pen Co (Fine Monoc), Krusac L-15 (Regalia Sequel).
Additional FPs for writing samples: Platinum 3776 (Stacked Coarse by Gena Salorino), Schon Dsgn Pocket 6 (Masuyama Needlepoint), TWSBI Eco (Broad), TWSBI Eco (1.1), Pelikan M215 (EF), Montblanc 146 (Medium), Visconti Comedia (Medium), Zodiac Pen Co (Fine Monoline by Kirk Speer).
I used a wide variety of nibs from Needlepoint to stacked Coarse, to flex and stubs, and Canopus was pleasant to write on. It is a fairly smooth paper, but also has a wee bit of texture. I wondered how it would behave with the flex and Needlepoint nibs and both were nice to write on and none of the nibs caught on the paper.
Look at the ink puddles from the Stylosuite flex nib!
Gena’s stacked 3776 Coarse nib left some ink puddles too!
Canopus handled that stacked nib like a champ - no feathering. It’s hard to tell from the picture but there is subtle gold/green sheen that’s visible in real life.
Writing samples from the first set of FPs above, Sheeps Cloud Bond (left), Soliste (middle), and Canopus (right).
Writing samples from the second set of FPs.
No ghosting or bleedthrough on either of the two sheets!
Sailor Manyo Fuji, Sailor Suiseki, and Sailor Ink Studio 243 are all lovely shading inks, but Canopus didn’t show as much shading as the other two papers, and the chromashading blue/purple Fuji just looks purple (albeit a pretty purple).
Canopus seemed to “soak up” ink more than the other two, making inks look a bit darker/more saturated. The writing wasn’t actually broader than the others, but the darker ink makes it seem like it is. That said, it is still a very pleasant writing experience and has a bit of “heft” without feeling thick.
Standard pens (l to r): Uni-ball Signo DX, 0.38, Pilot G-2 07, Frixion Clicker 07, Lamy Tipo Medium, Parker Jotter, Ballpoint, Parker Flighter, Gel, Spoke Clickstream, Schmidt EasyFlow 9000 M, Zebra Sarasa Clip 05, Ticonderoga 2HB Soft, Sakura Pigma Micron 05, Tombow ABT, color 476, Sharpie.
Standard pens and pencil on Canopus. The Frixion erased fairly easily (including when I messed up “Pilot” and had to erase and rewrite it). I had a little problem at the beginning of the Pilot G-2 ink scribble.
As usual, only the Sharpie produced any bleedthrough.
I did a brief writing test on Canopus at the SF Show, and took a chance on getting a couple packs of A4. I promptly handed both packs to Steve Curnow of Curnow Bookbinding and Leather to custom make a notebook for me.
Vintage Winnie-the-Pooh book converted to a notebook by Steve Curnow. Kaweco Sport painted by Praveena Nagaratnam.
New book copying project! (I absolutely love the lining!)
Inked up the EF Kaweco Sport with Teranishi Nostalgic Honey (cuz vintage Pooh) and it was a lovely writing experience, even with an EF!
Very minimal ghosting on the back.
All in all, I’m very happy with Canopus, even if shaders aren’t as shady on it. While I liked Cosmo Air Light more than Brad, I like Canopus more because it doesn’t have the squishy/pillowy feel. Good thing, since I have a new notebook to fill!
(Disclaimer: All Canopus products were purchased by me at regular price at the Yamamoto table at the SF Pen Show. All pens/pencils/inks are my own.)
