Looking for new Eyepiece advice

[notFritzArgelander]

I would not say they will not as they will but the extra money spent for the last 5% gained is up to the purchaser.
In 30+ years I have yet to find a reason to place a camera anywhere near my telescopes so I will just continue to rotate through my collection of eyepieces

I'm surprised that you haven't been attracted to the dark side of astrophotography. It is quite rare for me to use an eyepiece, as I normally use binoculars for visual use and I have even aimed cameras through them.

I think that an extra 5% of money is OK but some eyepieces are about £500 and I would not use them with a beginner or intermediate 'scope.

Buying a very good eyepiece that costs mucho dinero will assure that you can improve your visual observing skills. The differences are smaller as the price increases but long hours of practice gets rewarded. I've paid for Takahashi and TeleVue with no regret.

[Refractordude]

By its nature a Newtonian turns the view around while a refractor with a diagonal gives a mirror image. Correcting this always leads to a loss of image quality so don't bother. You get used to these little things like upside down or left and right inverted views.

I like my GSO 32mm 52° Plöosl. It's a very nice eyepiece that gives about the same true view as my 34mm 68°:
Stellarium-Oculars.png
Both show the largest section of the sky that you can see in a 1.25" focuser.

I take the 32mm Plössl along when I go bird watching. It is nice and lightweight. The 24mm 68° I use in my 6" SCT. It's a bit bulkier and heavy. Both eyepieces work well with my Barlows.

The views in the image above are screenshots from Stellarium. Using its included Oculars plug-in you can enter the specs of your actual and prospective telescopes, barlows and eyepieces. This way you can get an idea how wide a view you will get from any combination. Get Stellarium for free from https://stellarium.org. You'll also find a manual there. Use that to find out how to set up the Oculars plug-in. Stellarium is a beautiful planetarium program that can be a great help in planning observations.

I'd advise a decent 2x Barlow and the 24mm ES 68°. To save money you could get the GSO instead of the ES.

How sharp and clear was the GSO compared to the ES?

[Ruud]

How sharp and clear was the GSO compared to the ES?

First off, the GSO is excellent value, where the ES 68°, almost five times as expensive, is on the steep side.

The ES has better coatings and slightly less scatter so it has a bit better contrast. I notice this on branches silhouetted against a bright daytime sky. The situation is a bit extreme though.
Toward the edge (at f/5) the ES has some astigmatism. In IQ the ES 68° approaches the TV Panoptic, it's say 95% as good.

The GSO wins during the day because it is less sensitive to seeing due to its lower magnification. I haven't yet noticed any astigmatism in it. Again about 95% as good, this time compared to a TV Plössl.
At night the 32mm GSO shows more light pollution. It has a 33% wider exit pupil so it is brighter. Not so much a flaw of the eyepiece, but it is less well suited for light polluted skies. This affects the perceived contrast of the eyepiece. 3x Barlowed, on the surface of the Moon, the GSO is actually very acute.

The ES has better build quality but the GSO is just fine and I appreciate it's lighter weight.
That the ES is waterproof and Argon purged is a gimmick. It solves a problem that does not exist.

68° versus 52° is a big difference. That is the most important aspect that separates these two eyepieces.