Eyepieces for a C-8?

I have recently purchased a Celestron C-8, starbright non-XLT with CG-5 mount(soon to be motorized). It was a huge upgrade from an older C-90. I am learning my way around the sky and having a blast.

I have a few generic plossl eyepieces which aren't worth much but I do have a 40mm Celestron plossl that is very nice and a celestron SMA 25mm wide angle that seems to be a big step up from my Meade MA25. I have Celestron SMA 10 and SMA 12 which don't seem to perform well and neither does the meade 9mm. The only "serious" eyepiece I own is a University Optics 18mm ortho which now is duking it out with the 40mm as my favorite. I also have an Orion 2x barlow which is marvelous at times and horrible at others. I have also recently obtained a DGM Optics NPB filter. Which really improves the view of the Orion nebula which is all I've had a chance to try it on.

So here's the question. How much of an eyepiece is it worth buying for a non XLT C-8?

I can't see spending $250 plus for a Panoptic (yet), but would I be able to appreciate a Televue wide angle or a Nagler for $125-150?

Should I invest in a better quality Barlow? The Orion 2X with the 18mm UO is amazing on the moon but seems horrible on the Orion Nebula, very dark with or without the NPB filter.

If I was going to drop $150+ dollars on an eyepiece, what would you reccomend?

Thanks
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Dave Johanson

Invest in a high quality 2 inch diagonal (ie: William Optics, TeleVue, StellarVue etc.) and purchase a 19mm Panoptic. You won't be sorry.

If your Orion barlow is the "Shorty Plus" version, it's pretty well regarded and you probably won't be able to make a substantive improvement, except maybe shelling out for a Televue Powermate. Going over 200x with an 8-inch telescope will make most deep-sky objects look too dim (although on the Orion nebula it might be good for seeing detail in the central, brightest portion). Or you may just want to buy a 12mm or 9mm Orthoscopic, like Mark suggested, and forget about the barlow.

It's definitely worth upgrading eyepieces on nearly any scope from generic plossls and Kellner-class eyepieces. (I've had that Meade 9mm eyepiece - what a piece of crud!). I have a cheap Chinese dob that I now use mostly Televue eyepieces on. Boy, did THAT improve the view.

Mark's recommendations are very nearly identical to advice I gave a short while back in the "Beginners" forum. Good quality plossls and orthoscopics give a great bang for the buck, and making the mid range eyepiece a wide-field is a good idea. I can't better Mark's recommendation for a 19mm Panoptic, if you can accept the price of a used one.

If that blows your budget, the cheaper wide-field eyepieces should actually work quite well on your f/10 scope. But Panoptics...mmmmmmmm.

David,
To get the widest possible field of view out of your scope you should invest in the Televue Plossl 55mm. Great for the Orion nebula and M31. You can also squeeze in M81 and M82 in the same field. I was in the same situation you are in now with my 8" Celestron SCT and that eyepiece really made a big difference. If you look in the classifieds you should be able to pick one up for around $150.....I did. Trust me you won't be sorry.

Jay