The nebula is not bright enough through binocs to show color. If you look with a telescope, you may begin to see some pastels.
On the other hand, a camera or CCD gathers photons over time (exposure) to reveal the fine details and color which you could not otherwise see.
See, that's the problem with images such as this one, and the great Hubble pics. They attract skywatchers, who go out and get binocs or a small scope and try to find this stuff. When M42 doesn't look like the above image, or they can't even SEE the Horsehead Nebula, they get disappointed and disillusioned.
This is more like what you'd see through binocs or small scope:
