I have primarily fished Nautilus and Hatch so I'll focus on those.
First, the NVG is a worse reel than the CCFX2, so it isn't worth the money. The CCFX2 has a more nuanced drag - turn the knob a little and the drag increases or decreases a little. The NVG kind of has two settings free spool and lots of drag. Also the knob on the CCFX2 is a lot bigger and easier to adjust when your fighting a fish. Sounds like you are leaning towards the CCFX2 anyway, so your on the right track there.
Second, neither the Hatch or the Nautilus are great reels. Both are pretty good though. I haven't found a great reel in the 8 weight range.
I don't trust Nautilus with their current line up. This is kind of hard to explain, but I'll try and include some photos. A few years ago Nautilus identified a problem with their reels, which was that under load the spool could deform enough so that it would grind against the reel (I have never experienced this). They tried to remedy this by increasing the tolerances between the reel and the spool. They essentially made it so that you cannot quite screw the spool all the way onto the reel. Its weird and dumb. What this results in is a decent gap between the reel and the spool. The line can skip out. This has happened to me and it sucks. They made this change to the CCFX2 and the NVG. I have a CCFX2 from before they did this and two from after. The older one is the better reel. I would not have bought the newer ones if I had known about this before hand.
The click sound mechanism on the CCFX2 is pathetic. They use these little spring loaded plastic fingers on the spool that click in and out of detents on the reel as it spins. The plastic fingers get warn down quickly and the reel is silent after that. Not the end of the world, but very stupid for the price.
Also, with the Nautilus you often need a tool to take the spools off the reels. This is particularly problematic if the reel will allow your line to skip out unexpectedly due to an intentionally large space between your reel and your spool. I carry a set of plumbing pliers which have rubber jaw covers to take the spool off.
Don't get me wrong. The CCFX2 is a good reel. I just don't trust the current iteration.
The Hatch has, in my opinion, one major problem. The reel foot is machined to the reel. Not screwed on like most other manufacturers. This means that if you drop your reel, and bend the foot, then your screwed. I have no idea why they did this. I've dropped and bent reel feet two or three times over the years. Its usually as easy as calling up the company and getting a new one, then simply screwing it on. Not with Hatch. I don't know what you do with them.
The drag on the Hatch is nice. Not nearly as powerful on the top end as the Nautilus. But it still has plenty of power.
I've only fished the Finatic, but I'm sure the Iconic is similar in the important stuff.
The weight of any of these reels is a non issue. If you are putting together a real 8 weight setup, then that's the price you have to pay.
Someone else mentioned Galvans. They are fine. Kind of a drag on or off without much adjustment in between type of deal.
I have the Ross Evolution R. It is trash. The hub is not waterproof and water gets in there. This will result in a horrible whining sound. I've told Ross and they traded me for a new reel. Then that one did the same. So they gave me another one. Then that one did the same thing, so I retired it. Just plain junk.
Regarding the photo of the new CCFX2 with the large gap: I have added a piece of sticky felt in the gap to try and prevent the line skipping thing. So that's what you can see there.
