Canon S400 - S500 question

[Dan Gerous]

I'll be buying a new digital camera pretty soon and have been very happy with my Canon PowerShot G2. The only problem is I find it too big/heavy sometimes. I want to get a camera that I can carry in my pockets, bring on my mountain biking rides and when I go snowboarding.

I looked around and pretty much decided I want the new Canon PowerShot S500 digital Elph. Simple, small, light... My question is, according to Canon's web site specs, the flash settings seems unclear:

Operation Modes:
Auto, Red-Eye Reduction On/ Off, Slow-Sync

Does that mean:
- Auto
- Red-Eye Reduction on/off
- Slow-Sync

I want to be able to turn any type of fash off in any lighting condition, can I? And while I'm at it, what is the Slow-Sync mode?

[Van A]

I'll be buying a new digital camera pretty soon and have been very happy with my Canon PowerShot G2. The only problem is I find it too big/heavy sometimes. I want to get a camera that I can carry in my pockets, bring on my mountain biking rides and when I go snowboarding.

I looked around and pretty much decided I want the new Canon PowerShot S500 digital Elph. Simple, small, light... My question is, according to Canon's web site specs, the flash settings seems unclear:

Operation Modes:
Auto, Red-Eye Reduction On/ Off, Slow-Sync

Does that mean:
- Auto
- Red-Eye Reduction on/off
- Slow-Sync

I want to be able to turn any type of fash off in any lighting condition, can I? And while I'm at it, what is the Slow-Sync mode?

For the flash modes:
Auto = Flash will fire when the camera thinks there is insufficient light.
Redeye Reduction Auto = Same as Auto but with redeye function activated.
On = Flash will fire every time.
Off = Flash is deactivated
Slow sync = (with slow shutter speeds) Flash will fire, thus lluminating subjects close to the camera and will stay open until the rest of the scene is properly exposed.

I also own a Canon G2 but wanted a small, pocketable camera for certain situations. I went with the S400, which will be replaced by the S410. Amazon.com was running a deal at the time (earlier this month) with a 256mb card. So far I have been very impressed by this little dynamo.