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Well, the names usually refer to a certain way of construction, but they are also sometimes fixed product names (like TeleVue Nagler oder Panoptik), which, of course, also refer to a certain kind of construction.
For Deep Sky objects, in my opinion, a wide field of view is really necessary, it's the only way to really bring out the whole beauty of the objects. I'd go for wide angle (around 66° FOV), super wide angle (around 70° field of view) or ultra wide angle (around 80° FOV or more). This way you can see a lot more of the field surrounding the objects, which provides a more aesthetical view - at least that's what I think.
Those eyepieces can, of course, also be used at the planets, even though they're no planet specialists. For planets you can also use eyepieces with smaller FOV (around 40° or 50°), such as Plössels, for example, because what you are looking for is not a big FOV, but higher magnifications and good contrast. Pentax also provides great eyepieces for plantes, unfortunately,they're not the cheapest.
How much you invest, is another thing. You can get cheap eyepieces for 30 or 40 US Dollars, but you can also get really expensive ones, like TeleVue Nagler for example, which rank in the field of 600 or 700 US Dollars. This all depends on how much you are willing to invest and also what you want to view and what kind of telescope you own.
A f/8 telescope will basically "swallow" any eyepiece, no matter how cheap it is. Sure, better eyepieces provide better views, but it's not that critical. This is also the case with most f/6 telescopes. Once you get into faster ranges like f/5 or f/4, it's getting more difficult, those telescopes usually react highly critical to cheap eyepieces, so it's basically a good idea to get better ones, otherwise, viewing might be not so much pleasure.
When buying a telescope, you definitely have to think about the eyepieces, that's what beginners often forget, they get expensive telescopes, but then there's no money left for the eyepieces - and the best telescope is worth nothing with a bad eyepiece. Take that into account before buying.
I personally like Speers Waler a lot for the shorter focal lengths (i.e. higher magnifications), because they are still reasonably priced, work great even at f/5 or f/4 telescopes, plus the Speers Waler Zoom (5mm-8mm), is one of the moste genius things I've ever purchased, with a FOV of over 80° at all magnifications.
For the longer focal lenghts - 20mm upwards - there is no other choice for me, but Nagler, I can't help it. They're simply great.
Well, this is a highly subjective opinion, it's also difficult to cover the whole topic here. Others will supply their point of view as well - and for any questions: you can always ask!
Sebastian
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