Nikon Zoom lenses - why the big price difference from 80-400 lens and 200-400 zoom lens?

I'm a fairly competent amateur photographer, and have been a Nikon SLR user for a long time. The Nikon 80-400 Zoom lens costs around $1600 (street price). Yet, the Nikon 200-400 Zoom lens costs well over $5, 000. Since the less costly 80-400 lens has a much wider range of operation than the 200-400, I'm wondering what features make the 200-400 so much more costly?

A quick look at the specs will give you the answer.
It would depend on the quality of the optics, and the perks of each lens.

Features… The 80-400 is VR but not AF-S. The 200-400 is AF-S.

The 200-400 is a truly stellar optical performer, the 80-400 is merely rather good. Price is indeed an issue, a slightly used 500mm prime also comes in at that budget.

Do you also wonder why the 3.5L V6 automatic car is more expensive than one with 1.6L engine and 6-speed manual tranny? Maybe your dilemma is closer to a 6 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 500sqm.floor area 2-floor house compared to a 3 bedroom, 4 bathroom, 2500sqm.floor area range house.

It's not the width of the zoom range that adds to the cost. The complexity of design and cost of materials to make a lens that maintains a constant aperture of f/4 from 200mm to 400mm is considerably higher than that of the 80-400mm. Even a 400mm prime with such a fast aperture is likely to cost well over $2, 000 and would be considerably heavier than the 80-400mm zoom. Beyond that, the 200-400mm is a pro-level, environmentally sealed lens that focuses faster than the 80-400mm.

The 200-400mm has a max aperture of f/4 throughout the zoom range, while the 80-400 only has f/5.6 at its longest setting. This extra f/stop is important to sport photographers who need all the light they can get to use as high as a shutter speed as possible.

The 200-400mm, because of its reduced range, also has better optical quality than the 80-400mm lens. It's also built a lot tougher too- while the 80-400mm lens is made of plastic, the 200-400mm's lens barrel is made of magnesium alloy.

To most people, though differences doesn't warrant a $3000 difference. To pros however, it may be a different story.