Red or Green dot sights?

[DadSmith]

I'm going to get a Holosun for my CZ P10F. One with the circle dot reticle.
I've played with cheap reflex sights and found my astigmatism seems to be okay with a circle dot sight or a T dot sight. Some reason it let's me focus on the dot and the usual flare is gone and I can see a nice round dot.
So now I'm down to which color should I go with for 24/7 use. Red or Green?
I know there are several competitors on here, and optic knowledge people. So what is the best color for a reflex sight?

 

[IT_Guy]

Color is subjective to be honest and environment can have some impact when considering contrast. When I lived in the south there was so much green foliage I picked up a red dot better.

When I lived in TX I felt either worked fine but had a slight preference to green as the environment was more brown and earthy. Same applied to my fiber optic picks, sometimes it is just trial and error.

 

[NHT3]

Color is subjective to be honest and environment can have some impact when considering contrast. When I lived in the south there was so much green foliage I picked up a red dot better.

When I lived in TX I felt either worked fine but had a slight preference to green as the environment was more brown and earthy. Same applied to my fiber optic picks, sometimes it is just trial and error.

Good advice! Some find that just turning the brightness down on the dot will lessen or eliminate the starburst.

 

[Ggreen]

Green emitters require more current draw by 2x or more. You suffer battery life going with any color but red.

 

[TTB Yeee]

I have a pretty bad astigmatism. I also got the Holosun 507c, as the "busy-ness" of the reticle seemed to work well with my astigmatism. I've read that GREEN seems to be the better choice for astigmatisms, but I had the opposite reaction. I bought a red because I got tired of waiting for a green reticle. When I did finally look thru the green reticle, it was pretty blurry/smudged. May have been the brightness of it, but my red reticle works well.

As stated above, it all depends on situations, but I would buy red (it's likely a few $$ less) and not look back!

 

[DadSmith]

I have a pretty bad astigmatism. I also got the Holosun 507c, as the "busy-ness" of the reticle seemed to work well with my astigmatism. I've read that GREEN seems to be the better choice for astigmatisms, but I had the opposite reaction. I bought a red because I got tired of waiting for a green reticle. When I did finally look thru the green reticle, it was pretty blurry/smudged. May have been the brightness of it, but my red reticle works well.

As stated above, it all depends on situations, but I would buy red (it's likely a few $$ less) and not look back!

Thanks for the input from someone who has astigmatism also. So far it looks like red is best with what I have read from you guys.
Red is better in the woods
Red has longer battery life
Red is better with astigmatism.

 

[Tombs]

There's physiological reasons for red being the standard.

Red light does not dilate your pupils, so you retain your natural night vision. This will allow you to have much better contrast in low light situations.

I'm not quite sure why green was created, the main concept behind it would be that at an equal power level it would appear brighter. But most things in the world are green so it needs to be brighter to compensate, anyway. On top of that, green light is what your eyes are most sensitive to and will constrict most easily with, causing it to eliminate your natural night vision and cause you to lose contrast in low light.

Amber is a nice compromise if you want something different, it has most of the benefits of red. The primary reason for its existence is for color blind people who can't properly see red.

My astigmatism is pretty bad and both red and amber seem to work about the same for me, with green being the hardest color to get a clear image of.

(As a side note, I remain baffled why red phosphor night vision tubes aren't more common of a thing.)

 

[Ggreen]

There's physiological reasons for red being the standard.

Red light does not dilate your pupils, so you retain your natural night vision. This will allow you to have much better contrast in low light situations.

I'm not quite sure why green was created, the main concept behind it would be that at an equal power level it would appear brighter. But most things in the world are green so it needs to be brighter to compensate, anyway. On top of that, green light is what your eyes are most sensitive to and will constrict most easily with, causing it to eliminate your natural night vision and cause you to lose contrast in low light.

Amber is a nice compromise if you want something different, it has most of the benefits of red. The primary reason for its existence is for color blind people who can't properly see red.

My astigmatism is pretty bad and both red and amber seem to work about the same for me, with green being the hardest color to get a clear image of.

Amber washes out against blue

 

[Tombs]

Amber washes out against blue

I've not really had that experience with my amber holosun red dot. In the fall, looking at cornfields, it does lose some contrast, but nothing compared to a green reticle against foliage.

 

[DadSmith]

Thanks guys great information. So glad I ask before jumping into a sight.

 

[jerrob]

I have purchased several of the Veridian EONs that offer the red, green, blue color option on the optic.
I understand these wouldn't be suitable for your application, but they have taught me that each color has situations where they do noticeably better than the others.

 

[DadSmith]

I have purchased several of the Veridian EONs that offer the red, green, blue color option on the optic.
I understand these wouldn't be suitable for your application, but they have taught me that each color has situations where they do noticeably better than the others.

Can you elaborate more on that?

 

[jerrob]

Can you elaborate more on that?

Not sure about which part, but I'll try.
These are designed for "long guns", not pistols.I assume your application is for pistol.
There are different circumstances where a color (for me) performs better than the others, but each have their place. A very bright, sunny day , dusk, a foilage or bright blue sky in the background ect. This optic offers all 3 colors as well as 3 power settings for each color.
These are a budget optic by every definition and not something I'd recommend for SD or competition.

 

[ACC]

Color is subjective to be honest and environment can have some impact when considering contrast. When I lived in the south there was so much green foliage I picked up a red dot better.

When I lived in TX I felt either worked fine but had a slight preference to green as the environment was more brown and earthy. Same applied to my fiber optic picks, sometimes it is just trial and error.

Great rational reasonable experience-based input. Kudos. There is not always a “right” answer.

 

[DadSmith]

Update:
I got a Holosun HS507C X2 red multi reticle ordered.

https://holosun.com/index/product/detail/id/104.html

Thank you to everyone who offered their knowledge.

 

[jerrob]

Update:
I got a Holosun HS507C X2 red multi reticle ordered.

https://holosun.com/index/product/detail/id/104.html

Thank you to everyone who offered their knowledge.

Let us know how it works out for ya.

 

[DadSmith]

Just mounted it and tried it out. Closed all the curtains shut doors and got it as dark as possible. I used night camera mode on my cellphone that's why it looks so red. Will play with it more when it is totally dark outside. I have it set on automatic so far so good and the shake awake works great.