I would choose the Noctivid, in fact I have chosen it as my 8x42. For me, the natural balance and saturation of the colours, the excellent central sharpness and the contrast make it stand out from the others. It has an excellent focuser, is very resistant to glare and other difficult lighting conditions (which is an under-appreciated real world characteristic), and has a wide enough field but with no annoying panning behaviour. If you don't get the eye position exactly right you can get a little CA off axis but it rarely intrudes and I am someone who is quite sensitive to it.
Be aware that all roof prism binoculars produce CA to some extent, including all the others mentioned here. This is sometimes forgotten. My Meopta Meostar HD is the best I have ever seen on this, the Zeiss HT 10x42 I used to have was also very good, and Kowa binoculars have an excellent reputation but I have never used one.
I have not looked through the Vortex.
The EL and NL are both excellent in their own ways, especially if you want a very wide FOV. For my taste they are a little blue- or cool-toned compared to reality, and rather susceptible to glare. Some do not like the panning behaviour either, especially in the EL. The NL focuser is excellent, the EL not so much. Be careful with the armouring! There have been some serious problems with it peeling off and it apparently has not been completely solved yet.
The SF is great to handle (focuser, lightness, balance) and has a wide FOV. To my eyes though, the contrast and overall image quality is lacking somewhat compared to the other 'alphas' and I still see a greenish hue in the latest version i.e. not enough red or blue in the image. Some people love it though. I prefer the image through their previous top model the HT, as I think the contrast, colour representation and sharpness are all superior.