Auto-darkening helmets are fine for occasional use, espescially if you blink when the arc starts.
There was a fairly long thread on this a few months ago where several people said (me included) that auto-helmets are not allowed in their production facility becasue there is a brief flash exposure at the start of each weld. On thousands of welds per day this can be an issue. For 'home use' it isn't a big deal.
The reason people can't get the head nod/mask down techique mastered is that they think the torch has to be in free space to start the weld. A proper nozzle is insulated and can be rested on the material you are welding while you get the arc started. Once you get that trick down it is dead simple.