Howdy Albert,
You can get SMA connectors for RG-8X (and -59, any .242" coax), tho you do of course need the ratchet crimper with the appropriate dies.. I got both on amazon a while back.
PL-259s are not that bad; the modern ones with Teflon are supposedly considerably better than the old phenolic ones. And the impedance bump is a small fraction of the wavelength at 2M.
Consider that most 2 meter mobile antennas are using 15-18 feet of RG-58 and a PL-259...
Also, consider that final tuning of the antenna is measured at the radio end of the coax; the object being to get 50 ohms at the radio.
73, --kv5r
