This Rugged Screenless Camera Can Go Where Retro Cameras Can’t
Screenless cameras have gotten me into the mindset that I don’t need to obsess over getting the perfect picture. I can simply hit the shutter button and move on. And I don’t risk getting distracted by a ping or a bummer-ridden news alert every time I go to take a picture of a pretty sunset or my niece making a silly face. So when I found out that Nocs — maker of eye-catching, rugged binoculars and monoculars — was coming out with a screen-free camera, I immediately wanted to try it out. Since I started testing it a couple of months ago, it has given me some of the most fun I’ve ever had taking pictures.
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Nocs Portal AFN7
Rather than try to replicate the retro aesthetic of an old disposable film camera (as many screenless cameras do), the Nocs Portal looks like a mishmash of the company’s outdoorsy binoculars and a GoPro camera: A chunky square houses the lens and a digital viewfinder, while you aim and shoot with a colorful, textured grip that wouldn’t look out of place on a pair of ski poles. And it doesn’t just look like an adventure camera: The Portal is more ruggedly built that its competitors, with an IP56 dust- and water-resistance rating and an impact-absorbent housing, so you can take it anywhere without having to put it in a protective case.
More important, photos taken with the Portal’s 16-megapixel camera look so good I’ve hardly missed taking pictures on my iPhone. On a recent trip to Kauai, I snapped several photos on the shores of Poipu Beach, all of which came out sharp, vibrant, and even with a hint of nostalgia thanks to filters that can — despite the Portal’s distinctly modern look — give you the same nostalgic feel that more retro-styled competitors like the Camp Snap and Flashback aim for.
The back of the Portal doesn’t have any sort of display, so you can’t preview your images before connecting it to another device like your computer or tablet, but it does have a digital viewfinder. The screen inside the viewfinder is pretty low-resolution, which adds to the old-school charm. Since the viewfinder is electronic, you can preview the camera’s digital zoom (up to 8x) and the effects of your selected filter in real time. You still can’t view images after you’ve captured them, so you can’t hyperfixate on getting the perfect shot, maintaining the snap-and-move-on nature of screenless cameras that makes them so fun.
On its own, the Portal is an excellent digital camera with a charming design that’s as fun as it is functional. But its most exciting feature is its ability to use Nocs’ binoculars and monoculars as a sort of telephoto lens. Using a plastic ring that fits over the Portal’s lens, you can place a monocular (or one side of a pair of binoculars) over the camera to snap photos of things from afar. It takes some getting used to. While lounging on the beach, I managed to spot a sea turtle hanging out on a nearby island. I pulled out my monocular, adjusted the focus, and watched the turtle for a little while before turning on the Portal and taking a few pictures. I hadn’t gotten the focus just right, so the photos turned out a tad blurry, but I still enjoyed the meditative process of pulling out the monocular, observing the turtle for a while, and considering the framing of my shot before even turning on the camera.
At $180, the Portal is notably more expensive than either the Flashback or the Camp Snap, both of which offer a similar screen-free experience (as well as similar built-in retro filters). But for your money, you get a more weather-resistant design that stands out a bit more than those other cameras, the ability to shoot 4K video, and a real-time preview of your filters so you know you’re getting precisely the shot you want.
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