The first still camera manufactured in Poland after World War II was the Start I (a prototype was built in 1953). Its design was prepared by a team of engineers of Warszawskie Zakłady Foto-Optyczne: Janusz Jirowec, Tadeusz Lisowski and Jan Matysiak. The goal was to develop a cheap, easy to operate camera ensuring high quality photographs, made solely of Polish materials. The shutter in the device was based on the design of the Soviet Lubitiel camera, which was an unlicensed copy of the pre-war German Voigtländer Brillant camera.
The Start 66 camera presented here is the fourth model in the family of devices. It is a twin-lens reflex camera, in which the photographs were made on 120 medium format film with backing paper, in a 6×6 cm size. The upper 1:3.5 viewfinder with a focal length of 75 mm is used for setting the focus and framing. The light coming in through the lens is reflected on a mirror and displays the photograph image on a focusing screen. The focusing screen is protected by a folding cover and the frame viewfinder cover. The lower 1:4 lens with a focal length of 75 mm exposes the photographic film when the light passes through the diaphragm and the shutter opens. The lenses have the same focal length, and focus is set in both lenses at the same time by moving the main plate of the camera in which they are embedded. The camera uses a three-element Emitar lens. All Start 66 units were equipped with a shutter with a new sequence of speeds: 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250 and B (bulb mode). The entire camera mechanism is enclosed in a body made of a die cast aluminium alloy. On the right-hand side is a knob for moving the film and a rail for mounting a flash, a rangefinder, or a light meter. On the left is a knob for setting the focus.
The camera was manufactured by the Warszawskie Zakłady Foto-Optyczne (WZFO) in 1967-1978. The enterprise continued the activities of Warszawskie Zakłady Kinotechniczne, established in 1951. Initially, it was supposed to be named Fabryka Aparatów Fotograficznych (Eng.: Factory of Photographic Cameras) but as production of specialist optical equipment such as enlargers, flash lamps, and projectors also began in the enterprise, in the end the name was not adopted. In the late 1960s the enterprise became part of Polskie Zakłady Optyczne.

Authors: Beata Krzaczyńska, Piotr Turowski