Film Photo Journal: Summer in Zurich with Canon AE-1

My partner and I spent a long weekend in Zurich this August, crashing with a friend who had recently swapped Amsterdam's canals for the city's famous lake views. He kept raving about Zurich's legendary lake life vibes, and honestly, he wasn't exaggerating — Lake Zurich really is the star of the show.

The city feels almost impossibly curated and intentional. Historic architecture sits alongside pastel buildings with colorful shutters that look straight out of a Wes Anderson film. Everything is clean, calm, and beautiful (I couldn't help but compare it to Amsterdam's growing trash problem). But it's the abundance of water and nature that really makes Zurich special — the lake, the rivers, all that green space right in the city center.

Why I Love Shooting with the Canon AE1

There's something so satisfying about shooting fully manual with the AE1. You have complete control over every aspect of your exposure, which makes each shot feel more intentional. The camera just feels good in your hands — solid, reliable, fun to use. It forces you to slow down and really think about your composition and settings.

For this trip, I paired it with Fujicolor 200, which turned out to be the perfect film choice. The low ISO was ideal for those bright, sunny August days, and the film's natural green tones perfectly captured all that lush nature around the lake. The colors just felt right for a lakeside city where water and greenery are everywhere you look.

All photos here were shot using my Canon AE1 and Fujicolor 200.

Lake Zurich is the place to be during a summer heatwave.

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Active locals make the most of the lakes and rivers flowing through Zurich

View of Zuirch at golden hour

A New Lens in the City of Precision

Before the trip, I'd been struggling with my original 50mm lens. A lot of my photos were coming out soft and hazy, and after getting a few rolls back with extremely disappointing focus, I realized the lens had developed fungus. If you notice that your photos consistently turn out fuzzy, it could be a focus often fungus — and in that case, you need to get rid of that lens quickly because the spores can spread to your other gear. Yuck!

Zurich turned out to be the perfect place to find a replacement. The city is known for precision tools like watches and lenses, so I hit up a local camera shop and found some quality vintage gear. It felt right to be lens shopping in a place famous for optical precision.

Above and below, you can compare my old lens with haze issues to the sharpness of the new lens. What a spectacular difference!