Don't feel bad. When I started mig welding I couldn't believe how little I could see.
My guess is that the smoke from stick reflects light back onto the work so yoiu can see the surounding area. The smoke also filters some of the light reaching your eyes so be real careful about going to a lighter filter. Most recomendations I have seen are to use a darker filter for mig than stick. I feel that if I keep the voltage up and the wire speed down a little the wire burns a little higher out of the crater and that helps a little. Keep a little gap between the pieces and you will be able to see it in the front of the crater. Good luck, you get used to it after a while.

Take heed to Mr Guilfords words, there is a lot more in your line of view than just a skinny electrode.

Reposition your self for a better view, you have to find a way to see your puddle and still track the joint. Most people try to use the MIG gun like a pistol and sight down the barrel but it dosent work very well most of the time.

Hi , Lincoln electric makes a filter lens called super visibility.I use a #10 or a #9 for the lighter work.I see considerably better with this lens.Hope this helps.

It's been my experience and my eyes that if I'm running SCT using 220 amps or less, a medium #9 works for me. I always jumped up to a #10 for SMAW and a #11 for FCAW.

There is an old "rule of thumb" I learned when I was just a pup and breaking into welding.- If after you run a bead regardless of the process and when you lift your hood if you have to blink more then once, you have the wrong number filter lens!

Thank you to those who responded. I purchased a #8 and #9 filter. The #8 is too light as was said but the #9 seems to be just right.(It was a #10 that I had before.) Thank you again. (Still waiting on the auto-dimming units to drop in price a little more)