28-70mm Century

[Matt Garrett]

I'd like to know more about this lens.
Looking at it for an upcoming shoot that wants a lot of handheld.
It it funky while zooming?
How is it's flare?

[David (dudi) Namir]

This is a nice lens for steadycam and hand held.
There are two Century zooms, 17-35 and 28-70. Converted from stills being put on a Red they must be around 21-40 and 30-80.
I use them as a set with a clip on LMB-5 95mm diameter

[Mike Prevette]

They are great lenses for their age, but truthfully I think the Red 17-50 and 50-150 might be a better choice.

[Matt Garrett]

I'm just really not a fan of the early red zoom mechanics but they may just be the right lenses for the job.

[Mike Prevette]

I know, I am not really a fan either. HOWEVER they are a great form factor for handheld work, have a nice close focus, and do the job.

[Nils J. Nesse]

So the Red zooms aren´t that impressive mechanically - when compared to high end lenses like Master Primes and RPPs.
But are these Century zooms (also converted SLR lenses) actually any better?

[Matthew Duclos]

The Century converted zooms will give you similar mechanics to the RED zooms. Totally different designs concepts, but a lot of the same downfalls.

[Ken Robings]

Speaking as a ex-Century engineer, these two zooms were designed by the same guy who designed the UniqOptics primes, first rate mechanical design, but the 28-70 is a rather old optical design (ie not very sharp), you could do better. The 17-35 is much better.