Camlin is a leading pencil manufacturer of India with origins dating back to 1931. Their products are not available in Canada or anywhere close, and I would like to express my gratitude to hemmant for sending these pencils to me. (hemmant, I love the urban grittiness of the Chicago “L” train. I’ve taken it but once.)
The pencils are marked “Finest Crystalline Graphite Lead.” The box has a line drawing of a camel, the pencils have just text markings.
The varnish is a camouflage pattern – I think Camlin is an innovator here. The pencils (six) are in B, 2B, 4B, 5B, 6B, and 8B grades. The 6B and 8B pencils are larger in diameter.
I think they are of reasonable quality – the lead is not the smoothest, but sharpening is easy, the finish is unique, and the range of leads a pleasure to work with.
Certainly they have some unique qualities, and I recommend trying them if your path should cross this Camel’s track.
Nice package presentation. Will keep an eye out for them on my next trip to Canada.
Hi Alberto, you may find them on your next trip to India, but not on your next trip to Canada.
I know this company Camelin in India..
They are one of the prime manufacturer of Art Material and Scholastic and Office Stationery.
Camelin do not manufacture any kind of Pencils. They have some sister concerns who makes pencils from Camlin.
And those DRAWING PENCILS are never manufactured by any of their sister concern!!
It comes from CHINA and packed by them in India.
Most of Camlin Pencils comes from CHINA!!
This way Camlin is enemey of Indian economy!!
Nikunj
^ now this guy has some issues^
i have used these pencils for a while now, being an indian this as close you can get to artist grade pencils.But when it comes to quality the entire company sucks. You guys would be better off buying the faber castell black matt drawing pencils or any other from other popular brands than buying these. The wood is better and the leads are way superior. Trust me the last time i bought some charcoal pencils from this manufacturer the lead kept breaking during sharpening, and in the end what remained was a stub of a pencil(i’m quite sure that it even shorter than my pinky)and still no sharp point. Still these graphite pencils are less prone to the leads breaking than its charcoal relatives.
I’m going to India in December and will look for the pencils they have there. Will let you know what I find.
Hi again,
Have just spent more than an hour on your blog and I love it!! Here is a link for a pencil company in India that I have some pencils from.
http://hindustanpencils.com/hppl/intro.aspx
Misty
Thank you, Misty. Enjoy the trip!
Hey Misty,
Have you tried pencils from an Indian company called DOMS? Give it a try & let me have your feedback. These are doing very goods in India as well as Middle East.
Thanks
Hi Suraj,
No, I haven’t heard of DOMS…will check it out. Thanks!
Misty
I think the Indian brand ” Apsara ” made by Hindustan Pencils is an excellent brand and very cheap compared to Derwent or Faber Castell if you are a serious pencil artist!
I grew up using those pencils during my school years and,later on,in the University!
I use pencils for note taking. I tried Derwent, Natraj and Camlin(we dont get much of a choice here in Sri Lanka!!)
I found the camlin 4B to be the smoothest. Derwent 7B is not as dark as camlin 4B. Nataraj 6B was close but the lead coloring was not consistent and the wood was rough.
FYI the prices in Sri Lanka for a single pencil in US$: Derwent 1.20 Nataraj 0.30 Camlin 0.34
I like the camlin enough to post this review…
My 2 cents :)
These Camlin drawing pencils also come in grades 9B and 10B. The 10B is as dark or slightly darker than the Hi uni 10B in my opinion. Feel free to email me and I will send you one 10B for your testing.