Escura, a photography company, demonstrated an intriguing InstantSnap camera at the 2025 CP+ event in Japan. The innovative and economical InstantSnap camera is just a big optical viewfinder surrounded by a white frame, similar in size and form to a small instant photo print.

Escura is most known for its retro-styled hand-cracked instant camera, the Escura Instant 60s, and the Hasselback, which allows photographers to shoot Instax film on vintage Hasselblad cameras. The new InstantSnap camera is a substantial divergence from Escura’s previous offerings, yet it retains the idea of streamlined image capture.

The Escura InstantSnap is around the size of a credit card, but much thicker, and weighs little less than 30 grams (one ounce). The odd camera has a huge cutout for an optical viewfinder and no digital display. Photographers hold it up, use the viewfinder to line up the shot, and then take a photo using an embedded and reasonably well-hidden button below the viewfinder.

A tiny camera on the back captures photos with a resolution of only 1.3 megapixels. The camera apparently has a fixed shutter speed of 1/125s for images, but it can also switch to video mode via a little lever on the side. This setting also allows users to activate effects such as frames and borders. A special version will include a Showa-inspired throwback look, a new viewfinder appearance, and unique retro-inspired photo effects.

Images and videos, which will be rather low-resolution due to the 1.3-megapixel sensor, can be saved to a microSD card or transmitted to a computer via the built-in USB-C interface.

Escura has not provided exact specifications for the InstantSnap camera, but the company says it will be available in May for around 7,000 yen, or approximately $47 at current currency rates.