[Scythels]

You can't make a low volume, complex lens like this with such complex elements "for $200 or so". The costs of producing the elements are far higher than just the raw material costs.

Sure you can.  What is your experience?  From where does your assumed knowledge stem?  This lens costs more than $200 to make because it is not all BK7 -there are probably 4 maybe even 5 or 6 different materials  - but the element count does not directly influence price is my main point.  There are mechanical factors that are accounting for a great deal of the price with this lens. 

 

Additionally, unless it has many aspheres or an aspheric surface on a fragile material (doubtful, design for manufacture is huge) or many fragile materials than it is not more expensive to produce strong curvatures than weak ones, at least not noticeably.  It will take more time but this is somewhat a nonfactor.  Modern production equipment is very stable.  Maximum element thinness was determined long before the lens made it to production and the thinnest portions are stable/easy enough to manufacture. 

 

This hypothetical camera lens is also not low volume, not that you have a real basis for such a claim.  No camera lens is low volume except maybe supertelephotos.  In optics under 100 units per year is right around the threshold for low volume.  Supertelephotos also present greater manufacturing difficulty than this lens because of the large and very heavy elements.  While these elements are not difficult shapes to produce, standard grinding and polishing equipment cannot handle such large objectives and expensive machines capable of producing larger lenses are needed.  These machines cost >$100,000 each so it is a significant investment.