[Elena Voss]

I’m thinking about getting the Qinux BlackOptic for camping trips, but I don’t want to buy an SD card right away. Can you still use the night vision and viewing with it, or is it basically useless without one? Also, does it come with any internal storage for photos or videos, or is that a separate thing? Just wondering if I need to budget for that extra piece before I order.

[Tina M]

It’ll view fine without one, you just won’t be saving anything you look at.

[Rachel Cole]

Then you’re just paying for a viewer that can’t save anything, which kind of defeats the purpose if you ask me. It’ll work fine for looking at stuff in the dark, but if you see something worth keeping you’ll be stuck describing it to people instead of showing them. I’d rather wait and get the card with it than deal with that frustration later.

[Liam Cross]

I’d say just factor the SD card into the price before you order. The viewing will work fine without it, but once you’re actually out there and see something cool in the dark, you’ll kick yourself for not being able to save it. The internal storage isn’t really meant for keeping much.

[Dani Moon]

If you’re only using it to look around at night, it works fine without an SD card. But the whole point of a digital unit like this is being able to record what you see. I’d rather wait and get a card than buy it and find myself wishing I could save something I spotted. Budget for it before you order.

[Zoe Matthews]

I’d skip it until you have the card, honestly.

[pixelnomad]

If you’re just planning to use it for looking around camp at night, no card needed. The screen will show you everything fine on its own.

I’d still grab one before your first trip though, since the recording is kind of the main reason to pick a digital unit over a cheaper analog one. Not a huge deal if you wait, just means you’re limited to eyeballing stuff until you get one.

[Casey M.]

Got mine without a card at first too. Worked fine for just walking around and checking things out, the screen does its job. But honestly, once I saw something cool and couldn’t save it, I ordered a card the next day. Just depends if you’re okay with that.

[Parker S.]

It’ll still work as a viewer without the card, so if you just want to look around at night you’re fine. But if you think you’ll want any proof of what you saw later, you’ll kick yourself for not having it. Storage is definitely not built in, that’s on you to sort out. Just order the card at the same time and save yourself the hassle.

[LauTop]

Seems backwards to me. I’d grab a card first, otherwise you’re just carrying around a fancy monocular.

[HanSolo]

No card needed if you just want to look through it. I ran mine for a couple weeks without one before grabbing a card, used it around the yard and on a night hike, screen does what it needs to. The internal storage might hold a few snaps but it’s not worth relying on. Just know you’re buying a viewer until you get the card.

[Kate 87]

It’s kind of a bummer they don’t just throw a small card in the box for the price. I get wanting to skip it at first, but I think you’d end up ordering one pretty fast anyway just so you don’t lose any cool shots from your trip.

[Emma Locke]

It does have a tiny bit of internal memory, but it’s really just enough to mess around with settings and maybe a test shot or two. I wouldn’t count on it for storing anything you actually want to keep. The viewing side of things works perfectly fine without a card though, which is what I mostly cared about.

[EnderWizard]

You can definitely use it without the card for just looking around. I actually used mine for a whole weekend trip before I bothered getting one and it was fine. The screen quality is good enough that you don’t feel like you’re missing out on anything just by not recording.

The internal storage thing is basically a joke though. It’ll let you take a photo or two just to test that it works, but you can’t really rely on it for anything. I remember taking a couple of shots of some deer in my backyard thinking I’d check them later and it filled up fast. So if capturing anything is part of the plan, that SD card becomes a necessity pretty quickly.

For your first trip though, if you’re mainly wanting to see animals or navigate in the dark, skip the card for now. Order it when you’re ready to start keeping stuff.

[Elena Voss]

Pretty much what I figured. Good to know it’s not totally dead in the water without a card, even if the storage situation is stingy. I’ll probably grab one anyway, but nice to have the option to wait.

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