Bronx

Not surprised that you are looking to upgrade from 8X25 glasses. The exit pupil is the diameter of the stream of light emerging from the ocular lens to you eye. The wider the exit pupil the more light gets to your eye, therefore, bigger (wider) exit pupil binos are brighter than more narrow ones. Exit pupil is calculated by dividing the objective lens diameter in mm by the magnification of the glass. So 8X25 have an exit pupil of only 3.125 mm. By contrast, 8X43s have an exit pupil of 5.375. The difference is very noticable, especially in dim or poor light conditions such as early or late in the day, on cloudy days, or in the woods.

As you increase power it also reduces exit pupil. A 10x42 bino has an exit pupil of 4.2, making them only 80% as bright as an 8X glass with the same diameter objective lens. That is another reason I favor 8X binoculars.

A "full size" 8X42 or 43 glass is not overly obtrusive. They are relatively light and, with a good bino harness such as that sold by crooked horn outfitters, you will forget that you are wearing them. The harness and binos are an essential part of my hunting equipment and I rarely ever take the harness off the binos. Nice for viewing wildlife, scouting, or watching ballgames too.

Nikon ATBs are a nice glass. I didn't go with them because of the warranty, which was only 10 years at the time of my purchase of the Pentax DCF-SPs rather than lifetime. Don't know if they are still warranted for just 10 years today.