The Optio SV is equipped with a Pentax smc optical zoom lens that covers 5.8 - 29mm (equivalent to 36 - 180mm in 35mm format) with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 (Wide) and f/4.7 (telephoto.) It is made up of 10 elements in 8 groups (2 dual-sided aspherical elements.) When powered down the lens automatically retracts into the camera and is protected by a built-in lens cap. It features a TTL contrast detection autofocus system with options for Multi or Spot AF.

Autofocus Range:

Normal: 1.97 ft. (0.6m) to infinity.
Macro: 4.7 in. (0.12m) to 2.3 ft. (0.7m).
Super Macro: 1.2 in. (0.03m) to 5.5 in. (0.14m) Wide angle only
Manual focus: 1.2 in. (0.03m) to infinity.

The optical viewfinder has about 85% coverage, but no dioptric adjustment. There are no framing or focus area indicators in the viewfinder. The two LEDs indicate auto focus and flash status.

The built-in flash has modes for auto, flash off, flash on, auto + red-eye reduction, and flash on + red-eye reduction. The flash working range in wide angle is approx. 4.7 in. - 13.8 ft. (0.12m - 4.2m) (5.8mm at ISO 200); in telephoto is approx. 2.0 ft. - 8.2 ft. (0.6m - 2.5m) (29mm at ISO 200)

Controls on the back:

Top right is the Mode Dial, which gives you quick access to: Program AE, Picture (Scene), Night Scene, Movie, Voice Recording, User and Manual modes. There are dedicated buttons for the Flash mode, Focus mode (image Delete in play), and Drive modes. The zoom controls function as the image Index and Magnify buttons in play mode. The button to the left of the zoom control is the Play mode button, press it to review images and tap the shutter release to quickly go back to record mode again. Along the bottom of the LCD is the MENU button, which calls up or dismisses the onscreen menu system and the FN (Function) button which allows you to gain fast access to frequently used settings.

The 4-way selector switch is for navigating menu options, press the OK button in the center to accept selections (the OK button also acts as the DISPLAY button and turns the color LCD on/off and controls the data overlayed on it as well as the histogram and grid display modes.) Press "Right" and "Left" to change the exposure compensation. The user can assign Functions to the Up, Down, Left and Right buttons when used in conjunction with the Function button. You can assign any one of these functions to each of the 4-way's buttons: Image size, image quality, white balance, focusing area, AE metering, ISO speed, Etc.

On top you'll find the power On/Off button and the shutter release.

Images and movie clips are stored on a Secure Digital (SD) memory card, Pentax provides a 32MB size SD card with the camera. Any capacity SD card can be used.

Capacity of 64MB SD Card

There is a miniature connector on the side to facilitate both the USB 2.0 (High-Speed) data cable and the Audio / Video cable for connection to a TV set.

Below that is the DC IN port for an optional AC power supply or external battery pack.

The Optio SV is powered by a proprietary D-LI8 3.7V 710mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack. Pentax claims the battery life is good for approx. 100 shots (LCD turned on and using the flash 50% of the time.)

The D-LI8 battery can be charged in the camera with the included recharging base or the battery can be charged by itself. Charging time is a maximum of 100 minutes.