I recently got back to fountain pens. It's been 20 years! If you're looking at really good but affordable ones, start with the Chinese Jinhao brand - 992 - pla

I recently got back to fountain pens. It's been 20 years! If you're looking at really good but affordable ones, start with the Chinese Jinhao brand - 992 - plastic body and very light, decent nibs and easy to write. The X450 and X750 are metal bodied and have good nibs. You can then upgrade to Pilots and Lamys.