詩雲:
到了北京才知道官小
到了深圳才知道錢少
到了海南才知道身體不好
拍了體操才知道像機不好
So I found out f/2.8 lens is not fast enough for gymnastics, and I could not walk closer to use my 50mm f/1.4 lens. So I got 85mm f/1.8, and here is the second attempt at photographing gymnastics.
1. For stationary poses, f/2.8 would be fast enough (although the following two photos were taken at ISO 6400, the optimal ISO would be 1600-3200 for better noise. They were taken at ISO 6400 because there was no time to reset the ISO between shots). When I think about the gymnastics photos that I saw in the past, they were mostly this kind photos: stationary. The most action photos that I recall were like #3: the subject is momentarily stationary at the highest point of a jump.
2.
3.
4. For real action photos, f/1.8 seems to barely make it. However, 85mm is a little short. But if walking just a little closer is an option, 85mm would work.
The following photos are slightly cropped. Canon 135mm f/2 would be a lot nicer: probably no cropping would be needed, so that noise would be better.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
General comments: 85mm f/1.8 seems to be a very nice, inexpensive lens. It auto focuses very fast.