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I'm in the market.

What is "grind mode" ? How does it work?

Grind mode allows the helmet to be used as a protective shield by preventing the lens from darkening while grinding.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/miller-welding-helmet.html
Grind mode is shade 3. You cant use just any auto darkening helmet to grind. The sparks will be detected by the sensors and will make it go dark...if you have tried grinding with your auto darkening helmet you know how annoying this is.
Being able to grind without the sensors making the helmet go dark allows for this miller welding helmet to double as a grinding face shield. Lets be real...sometimes we are all tempted to grind with only safety glasses on...or worse, with no eye protection at all. Having a welding helmet that doubles as a grinding shield makes it convenient to be safe.. ..joe

And as Joe eluded to Jim Bow, I would go with a more expensive
helmet like a Miller because you can get parts, service and
accessories for it like magnifiers for it, and at our age we do
need magnifiers.
I do have a HR helmet I picked up for less than $40 on sale,
which I use when I have an observer around to critique my welding.
dg

Have two Millers and no complaints, one is almost 10 years old now.

Grigg

I'm good with my Miller.

I feel obligated to waive the red Lincoln flag. I'll vouch for their auto-darkening helmets.

And cheater lenses are the cats meow, at least for us older cats.

I'm still old fashioned. I feel more comfortable with a peep hole helmet and nod my head when I'm ready to weld. I use reading glasses and a I have lenses from 2 up to 12 depending on the amperage I'm using. I've been doing it this way for over 50 years and it works. I had to go to the reading glasses about 30 years ago.

Been welding since I was just a sprout Ken. Made a living for
many of my productive years by dumping the helmet. When I
picked up my Miller-matic a few years back I threw in one of
their fancy helmets, even though it knows when to go dark I
still find myself dumping the helmet and nearly always raise
it at the end of a weld, ever if I'm running a string of skips.
But.....It is the nuts when you're working in a lot of
different positions where you need need a lot of different
settings and you need more or less lens. a twist of the knob
and you've gone from a 9 to a 12 rather than stopping an
swapping lenses. and with my bifocals I can't get my head
back far enough to see overhead so the magnifiers turn the
trick. Now if the cataracts weren't on the rise I might be
able to see where the joint is and quite running off to now
mans land with my beads. Funny how 20 years ago I would have
had a fit if my welds turned out like some do now. Guess I've
mellowed out in my old age.

dg

Yeah, the newest Lincoln Viking series here. LOVE it. And the cheater lenses make it so much better than before. The reason I got rid of the last one is that I need the shades to go from about 8 to 13, not the usual 9-13. I just needed to be able to see better. The new ones go from 6-13 and grind mode. No matter what brand, I am sure Miller is great too, get one that accepts the magnification (cheater) lenses. Took 20 years off my life during welding!

What shade do y'all prefer for light MIG welding?

I am no expert, and I think that statement is very subjective, depending on your eyesight. If, for example you pointed a high output halogen light at the work before welding, I could weld okay with a 10 shade. If its just everyday light, I need an 8 and even then I need to focus hard. I try to get some light on the work if I can, but I am most comfortable with 8.

Also, 'light welding' is subjective. I use an 8 if I am welding trailer hitches together on deep penetration, or if I am welding light sheet metal on very light penetration.

I guess if I had anything useful to say, it would be.. Be able to see the joint you are welding, but just barely. Don't guess where you are going to stitch next, but don't make it so you can see it too easily. This is why I am so happy about cheater lenses. Magnification lenses allow you to get right down to the closest you can be so light is less necessary. Since I got my Viking 3 helmet, welding has been a whole lot more fun. Now it isn't about grinding off all the welding that was not even necessary, but rather getting good penetration and higher quality. Night and day! Hope this helps!

Deve is correct in saying how dark of a lens is purely subjective.
All the welding lenses block UV and that's the bad guy. You
need as much light as your old eyes ask for to see what your
doing, that varies with the individual. As we get older as I
mentioned earlier the old eyes start to get cloudy. Here a
little bit from Mayo about cataracts for the younger guys
that think they're never gonna have bad eye sight. The last
paragraph especially applies to what we've been talking
about---light that is.

"A cataract is a clouding of the normally clear lens of your
eye. For people who have cataracts, seeing through cloudy
lenses is a bit like looking through a frosty or fogged-up
window.

Clouded vision caused by cataracts can make it more difficult
to read, drive a car (especially at night) or see the
expression on a friend's face.

Most cataracts develop slowly and don't disturb your eyesight
early on. But with time, cataracts will eventually interfere
with your vision.

At first, stronger lighting and eyeglasses can help you deal
with cataracts. But if impaired vision interferes with your
usual activities, you might need cataract surgery. Fortunately,
cataract surgery is generally a safe, effective procedure."

DG

Any thoughts on magnification on the "cheater lens"? I see they go right up to 2x.

I got a 1.5 but now that I like it, next time I will get the highest one. The view is clear and undistorted.

Well I read this old article. what happens as soon as I strike an arc I go instantly blind, I can not see what I am doing, can not see puddle or where I am going with weld, Denny's cataract statement and seeing to drive at night got me to thinking.
so I when to my truck where I keep my night driving lens, yellow lens, clip on, so I can see when driving at night. Well I used my clip on night lens on my reading glasses and found I was able to see what I was doing , not a great welder but was able to weld flex pipe on wife's 2006 exhaust, I could see puddle and hold a straight line around exhaust pipe, Might want to give it a try worked for me. Was nice not to be welding all over the place for a change, Jbennett

Bought a $200 Hobart for TIG. The HF works great for my MIG, don't care how much it gets beat up. Just get another one.
The HF gave me a headache on TIG, it is not fast enough to darken. The new Hobart auto darkens in 1/30,000 of a second. The HF is like 1/10,000. After a bit you get a little flash you don't even recognize. Just a mild headache.
Think most of the top brand helmets are pretty good these days.

Good timing on this topic. I am repairing a door and the auto dark helmet is set to 9 which is the lightest setting but still to dark to see the weld well. Talking to a welding buddy and he suggested a light on the work. But I wonder if the problem is my glasses. They are the transition lenses and I wonder if they are darkening from the weld? This is my first set of these. Thinking the magnifer may be a better idea. Any one had this experiance?

I too have Transitions lenses. Nope, nothing to do with it. I also have the same problem you do with 9 being too dark. Good news is, the new helmets that are available through Lincoln or Miller go from 6 to 13. I went to 8 and everything is GREAT! Also the new ones have a slot for magnifiers. I chose the 1.5 and I love it. For years I suffered through putting dual Halogen lights on the work and even then I couldn't see sufficiently. There IS a great solution in the newer helmets.

I bought one of these about a year ago when Zoro had one of their 30% off sales.

http://www.zoro.com/jackson-safety-welding-helmet-shade-3-5-9-to-13-3018118/i/G4019687/

I have been welding for over 50 years and I will never again use a cheap helmet. I take off my normal glasses and wear a pair of reading glasses. In my opinion, seeing what you are doing is the most important factor in welding next to having the right machine. When I can see my penetration and see how fast the wire is burning, I can make a good weld. I don't use a stick much, but when I do it is a Trailblazer 440. I have cranked the lens up to 13 when I was burning big rods. But there too, seeing is a big factor in the integrity of the weld.