The correct spelling of the word GIF is still topic of dispute, but that didn’t stop some creative people from developing a crank-powered camera that captures animated images in this format.
The developers of Otto launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, where they hope to raise $60K in the next 29 days. Early birds had the chance to secure an OTTO camera for themselves by backing the project with $149, but since all those spots are gone, the only chance to get a GIF-recording crank-powered camera is by pledging $199.
As described by the manufacturers, “OTTO lets YOU decide how it takes pictures. Besides being the only camera that makes animated GIFs, OTTO’s an image making machine that can transform into hundreds of different cameras with a quick tap. GIFs, time lapses, impromptu photo booths, or something brand new, OTTO is ready for adventure!
OTTO lets you take photos with a real camera, while still being able to easily share them to your favorite people. Photos taken with OTTO are viewed and shared from your smartphone.”
In terms of technical specs, OTTO is not exactly out of this world, but it does have some decent features: “Image capture is done though an f/2.0 35mm equivalent optical glass lens onto an Omnivision OV5647 5 megapixel 1/4-inch 1.4µm backside illuminated pixel CMOS sensor, capable of images up to 2592x1944px, HD video up to 1080p30 / 720p60, and VGA 640×480 at 90 frames per second.”
The most interesting feature of the Raspberry Pi-running camera is definitely the ability to add filters to the captured GIFs. As seen in the following image, you can opt between:
- Shades
- Map
- D/Mesh
- Stereo
Neither these are otherworldly, but you should keep in mind that OTTO is the first of its own, and that’s what matters the most. The camera is hackable, and the manufacturers decided that a lot more could be achieved if both the software and the hardware can be accessed by developers.
OTTO may look a lot like a disposable camera (and given its inconspicuous design, thieves might label it as unattractive), but it packs quite a lot of functionality. To be fair, the price could be lower, but considering the uniqueness of the device, we might turn a blind eye on this one.
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