I just have a flood light that is on the patio. When I look through the viewfinder I can barely pick out some white. IF I zoom in it goes black. ANY way, my camera you push the shutter button half way and it will blink when it' s focused. When it does I snap the picture. I put it in the landscape mode that focuses the object of your picture and the background so it really doesn' t matter except holding it still. They' re still almost black when I download to the computer but just by using the photo software and setting the lightness to about 90 percent I get a picture. I really need to get a spot put on the patio pointing toward the food and I could get some good pictures. With good light the camera takes a good picture. This is through the window and storm window on a rainy day.