CES goes out with a bang

This week, I’m at CES (the gathering formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show), which is taking place in the massive Las Vegas Convention Center.

Today was my third day, one I’ll call “the last hurrah.” It was also the final day of CES.

I headed to the convention center early because I wanted to at least stop by and see some of the manufacturers whose products Astronomy’s readers use.

First up was Canon. To this day, in excess of 90 percent of the DSLR images I receive at the magazine are taken through Canon cameras. And judging by the people I talked to, the company is still committed in a major way to providing astroimagers the main tool they need. I made not world-rending discoveries in the camera section. Canon has a lot of cool new products, but most of them lie in areas that don’t impact celestial photographers.

I also spent some time at the huge Nikon exhibit. All its latest and greatest wares were there to enjoy. And something else. While I was there, I heard parts of several illustrated talks by photographers who use Nikon equipment. One was a guy who backpacks quite long distances to get just the shots he wants. In a few of his shots, I saw nice starry backgrounds carefully rendered. Afterward, I chatted with him a bit and encouraged him to send me some of the images I saw. Hey, I am photo editor for the magazine. Not everything is about equipment. He’s also going to look through his past work to see if he’s done enough to warrant a profile.

I visited a number of other manufacturers until my feet literally could take no more. I wish I had brought my pedometer with me.

Actually, maybe it’s best that I didn’t.

In sum, CES was a magnificent, often overwhelming conference. But I’ve come away from it with new ideas, products to review, and several contacts who might bring a little bit of the unexpected to the pages of your favorite magazine.