As others have stated, the Sony manual isn't likely to win the Pulitzer Prize.

Regarding the Camera Set screen menu, I'm all crossed up on two menu items:
"Shutter" and "EX Slow Shutter".

Under "Shutter" there's a "Mode" selection that gives you four options: speed, angle, ECS and SLS. I'm good (marginally) with the first three, but "SLS" is confusing because also on the "Camera Set" screen is the "EX Slow Shutter" option. As far as I can tell, both these menu items do the same thing -- give pinpoint control of the shutter speed? Slowing shutter way way down? If so, it's confusing that they'd divide the same procedure in to two menu items.

Yes, you're correct. They both do the same thing. But EX Slow Shutter is more extreme than SLS. So it depends on how slow of a shutter you want.

It's nice to add a bit of slow shutter (exactly how much I haven't determined yet) when shooting time lapse of fast moving objects like traffic, or people in the city. I've currently only used EX Slow Shutter at the fastest setting (I think 15....maybe 16....can't remember for sure) It adds a nice motion blur so the fast motion doesn't look so mechanical.

It's as Mitchell says; SLS goes up to 8 frame accumulation whilst EX Slow Shutter does 16, 32 and 64 frame accumulation. Things to watch are:

- EX Slow Shutter takes priority over any of the shutter menu settings

- SLS only works if the shutter switch is on, whilst EX Slow Shutter will work regardless

- A given number of frames gives twice the accumulation period in a /25p mode as compared with /50