Everyone loves an animated GIF, but they can be a little fiddly to make from scratch. Now a new Kickstarter is simplifying the entire process with a camera that can snap GIFs on the go.

Built around the dinky and highly customisable Raspberry Pi computer module, OTTOsynchronises with your smartphone so that you can easily share the GIFs that you shoot. The user winds a dial as they are shooting and the camera will automatically compose a GIF - simply wind it once the other way to finish. Alternatively, the device is hackable and so can work exactly the way you want provided you've got the coding skills.

All image types - including GIFs and time-lapses - are shared with your smartphone by using the accompanying OTTO app. Once you’ve picked a mode, built-in social connectivity ensures your image is Instagram-ready in no time at all.

The GIF has enjoyed a booming resurgence over recent years, and along with OTTO, there are plenty of other projects that have celebrated the humble image type. Gifpop allowed for GIF-like animated images to be contained in a picture frame, for example, while the .Gifys awards sought to find the most noteworthy GIFs online.