Well the rumored 12-60 f2.8 Panasonic lens mentioned earlier in this thread is a lot closer than the RED 17-50. I own the older RED 18-50 T3 and that lens is horrible. I do hear the new one is much better tho.
Brian this lens is what it is. It's also really cheap. I've also shot with it a bunch on red and I never thought it looked "horrible". I'd actually love to have one for my AF100.