Hi Matt, always good to see someone starting out.
First of all I’d suggest find an astro society that has observing nights near you and go along to see what others use, and if you ask nicely you should be able to try a few of theirs in your scope to see what you like or don’t like.
Not all eyepieces suit all telescopes and there is no such thing as a one size fits all “best” type of eyepiece for all telescopes.
That said, one type that is an excellent match for Newtonians is the Plossl eyepiece, they are easily acquired and should give good sharp images over a 50-55 degree field. Typically sold by Meade, Televue and others over 30 years there are thousands in circulation. Another “oldie but a goodie” are the Edmund RKE set, hard to find now, but originally designed for a small f/4 Newtonian.
For your scope a good set could be 5, 8, 15 and 25mm. A 4 or 3.5mm perhaps for nights with really good seeing on the planets and moon. Alternatively the Vixen 8-24mm zoom (there’s one on EBay for $150) and later on a 5mm or 4mm.
Some of the types you mention are best suited to Celestron SCTs, others (eg Vixen) are best suited to refractors, while Televue ones primarily suit large Dobsonians. In addition for some years there has been a bit of an arms race as to who can build the biggest, fattest and heaviest eyepiece for no other reason than that they are destined for use on 29” dobsonians. However very good ultra-wides don’t have to be the size of coke bottles, have green lettering nor weigh a kilo - for example Vixens SSW series.
Alternatives...
1. Look at
www.andrewscom.com.au, in their optical section among other things there are several types of budget eyepieces, your budget would easily cover a set of 4 GSO 68 degree ones with change to spare.
Ditto
www.myastroshop.com.au They still sell Vixen NPL (Plossl) eyepieces starting from $55, 8mm ... 40mm.
2. Keep an eye on the eyepiece section in IceTrades, and be ready to pounce. Plossls and sets do occasionally come up but often sell fast; you missed on three today.
3. Put an ad in the wanted section of IceTrades. Many of use have a few spares we could part with, self included, but can’t be bothered advertising.
4. As above pay attention to what’s for sale on
www.astromart.com, it’s easy to buy reasonable eyepieces there, primarily look for sellers who have been there a long time and have a reputable history.
PS no need to cross-post here and on CloudyNights. The cloudynights standard answer to everything is a big dobsonian and a suitcase full of Televue Naglers or Ethos. Most there wouldn’t realise your whole scope weighs less than some of these eyepieces.