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Hi John,
I agree with Patrick. You want to look for a planetary eyepiece that gives around 200x. If your scope is f6, then this would be a 6mm, with an exit pupil of 1mm. You would rarely be able to go higher than that because of atmospheric conditions, and 200x is enough to enable you to see a lot of detail, especially on Jupiter and Saturn.
I would suggest you look at the Long Perng "planetary" series if possible. Andrews have them listed for $99, but the 6mm is shown as "sold out", so I would ask them if they are getting them in. The Orion "edge-on planetary" and Williams "super planetary" series are, I believe, identical to the Long Perng, but more expensive (although cheaper than the ones you have mentioned). They all have a very nice 20mm eyerelief, 55 degree fov, and are very sharp.
Another very good planetary eyepiece would be the Vixen SLV6 Lanthanum. A bit more expensive than the Orions, but excellent reviews, and again a 20mm eyerelief.
The classic eyepieces for planetary work are the orthoscopics, but they have narrow fov and very limited eye relief at that fl. They are very difficult if you wear glasses. Astronomy and Electronics Centre stock the Fujiyama Orthoscopics. They all have 42degree fov, and the 6mm has only 4.9mm eyerelief. Although if you want the sharpest and highest contrast views, they are arguably as good as you can get, especially for $115.
All the best, and enjoy your "re-start" in astronomy!
- Dean
(PS: the only reason I would look at the 4 or 5mm 68-degree or 82-degree FOV's that you mention is so I don't have to push my scope quite so often, but they are a lot of money for that convenience if you aren't going to be able to use them often because of atmospheric conditions, and I suspect neither would be as sharp as the ones above...)
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