Nocs Provisions makes some of the more interesting binoculars and monoculars in the market today, combining quality optics with a rugged build and modern aesthetics. They’re designed with contemporary use in mind, too, complete with the ability to use the optics like a telephoto lens for your phone camera. This time around, they’re making an actual camera in the form of the Nocs Provisions Portal ANF7.
That’s right, the guys that make those colorful magnification tools built a dedicated camera and it’s pretty unique. For one, there’s no screen, so you have to shoot everything through the viewfinder. It’s also ruggedized for use outdoors, while being very minimalist, drilling down the point-and-shoot to the bare basics.
The Nocs Provisions Portal ANF7 is a point-and-shoot digital camera that’s designed with rugged and minimalist aesthetics in mind. As such, it’s IP56 rated for guaranteed protection against water and dust, while using the same Toughwave impact-absorbing housing used in their monoculars and binoculars that provides reinforced grip and protection. Basically, if you worry about damaging your phone when taking it out during outdoor adventures, you’ll feel a lot better using this for photos and videos instead. The actual appearance of the camera is even more striking. While it takes on the boxy silhouette of a traditional point-and-shoot, it has a big cutout in the center, essentially making the grip completely open, so you can wrap your entire hand around it for a really secure hold. It’s quite an original and novel concept.
Inside, it houses a small Type 1/3.06-inch CMOS sensor that’s paired with a 22.5mm f/2.2 equivalent lens, so it’s not the most exciting camera hardware. It can shoot 16 megapixel photos and record 4K video at 30 fps, so it should produce decent-enough captures on par with top-of-the-line smartphone cameras from a few years ago. According to the outfit, it offers six film-inspired presets if you like adding that vintage touch to your photos as well as 8x digital zoom.
The Nocs Provisions Portal ANF7 doesn’t have a touchscreen in the back like many modern cameras. Instead, you can frame your shots using the digital viewfinder in the back. There are no complicated menus of settings to fiddle with, either, as it keeps the options simple and basic. You know how they designed an accessory to let you attach their binoculars and monoculars to the camera lenses of smartphones? They also did that here, as the camera is designed from the ground up to allow it. That means, you can use your magnified optics like a telephoto lens for capturing images of faraway objects. Just attach the included NocDoc accessory to equip it accordingly.
There’s no onboard storage, but it has a microSD card slot with a 4GB card preloaded. You can also swap it out for new cards up to 128GB. You can transfer files to PCs and smartphones via USB-C, so you can easily move photos to your other devices for uploading or sharing. It runs on an 1100mAh battery, by the way, which is rated to shoot around 2,250 photos (or 180 minutes of continuous 4K video capture, according to the website). Other features include a LED flash, .96-inch OLED viewfinder, and up to 1600 ISO.
The Nocs Provisions Portal ANF7 is available now, priced at $179.95.
