Which type of lens commonly experiences chromatic aberration?

Chromatic aberration is a phenomenon that occurs due to the dispersion of light, where different wavelengths (colors) of light are refracted by different amounts as they pass through a lens. Convex lenses, which are designed to converge light rays, are particularly susceptible to this form of distortion because they can cause different colors to focus at slightly different points along the optical axis.

The design of a convex lens typically leads to varying degrees of bending for various wavelengths, resulting in a colored fringe around images. This aberration can compromise image quality, producing noticeable blurs or color fringes along edges in high-contrast images. The other types of lenses mentioned, such as concave, plano-convex, and cylindrical lenses, also experience some level of chromatic aberration; however, convex lenses are more commonly recognized for this issue due to their typical use in applications where precise imaging is critical, such as in cameras and telescopes. Thus, they are often the lens type most associated with this type of aberration.