Pictures are coming out dark and often can't get it to focus

Load up the ATG Canon EOS Utility on your camera & check by shooting tethered. Then view it on a big screen,

hi melissa,
your problem is the focusing areas, im sorry that I do not know how to turn it off, the rectangle you see is the area is focusing on, and the darkness is what the camera doesnt focus on, try reading the manual, or turning it off yourself.

It's probably too dark and the flash isn't powerful enough to assist the focus mechanism on far away objects (more than 10-15 feet).

If you will need to switch to manual focus and maybe manual exposure.

Things to watch out for:

• Make sure that your finger is not blocking the flash while you are holding the camera
• Make sure that the exposure settings are set properly (user manual page 11)
• Make sure that you press the shutter button half-way down and wait a couple of seconds for the camera to focus. Once it has focused then go ahead and press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture. (user manual page 10)

Hello
When you look at your pictures are they dark, murky and hard to see? If you took pictures at a wedding, dance recital, theater performance or any indoor event and they came out dark, read on to learn why your pictures are dark, and how to fix this common camera problem.

Many people take pictures of indoor events, only to be unsatisfied with the final outcome of their photos. Although you may have bought the top of the line film or digital camera, there are a few limitations that you need to know about.
To correctly expose your pictures, you camera needs a lot of light. The compact point and shoot varieties adjust for this when you're outside during the daytime, and usually your pictures turn out fine, right? Well, then how come when you take indoor pictures, they sometimes come out too dark? There are two culprits; your zoom function and your flash.
Most compact cameras today offer a zoom function. When I used to work in retail photography sales, the first feature that consumers would ask for is zoom. People love to get close-up pictures without using their feet. Although zoom does bring your subject matter in closer, it also decreases the amount of light that can get into your camera. Essentially, the more you zoom, the less light your camera can receive, and your pictures will be darker.
So, if your taking pictures indoors, in a dark church, gym or other window-less room it is very difficult for your camera to get enough light to properly expose your pictures.
This is when most photographers decide to turn on their flash. The flash on your camera is a great tool to illuminate dark situations that are in close proximity to the camera. Most built-in flash units are designed to allow the light to travel 8-10 feet away in poor quality light and up to 15-20 feet in brighter situations.
What most camera users fail to realize is that although your zoom function is visually bringing you closer to the action, you flash cannot reach that far to illuminate the subject, and your pictures will be dark.
Hope it helps, if so do rate the solution

first GET TO AUTO MODE WITH FULL AUTO
if this doesn't work try going to manual and setting the exposure up to +1 or +2

I am not familiar with this camera, but if it has a manual setting for ISO when it starts to get dark outside you should set the ISO to 800 and see if it works. That's my only guess. I use all manual cameras so I'm not sure if your camera would have a manual setting like that, but I had a canon powershot that allowed me to adjust the ISO so maybe yours does too.

yeah dont be scared your camera has level 7 access live video feed if your connecting to a source you can upload from this particular setting

The focus mechanizm does nee to 'see' what it is looking at. Check you manual see if there is a setting for fixing the focus so thatr the camara can shoot from near- about 2m to infinity without the focus operating.

Try using the night mode on your FZ10, but use a tripod.