Can I cover or do I need to keep exposed the green "finding" light on my camera?

[StageLeft]

I have a Fujipix A610. It's an entry level 6 mp camera. I will be suspending it from an RC plane and putting it in sport mode. I have done this already and it takes surprisingly clean pics. However, in a new plane I want to minimize its exposure. It has a small green light that it uses to focus (and/or determine lighting; I'm not entirely sure which) with indoors prior to the shot. Can anybody say for sure, on other and similar cameras with this technology, whether it's ok to completely cover that light or whether I should allow it to see what's going on?

 

[996GT2]

That light is only useful when the camera is using AF in dark conditions. It helps the camera find focus faster by providing a source of illumination. In daylight, it's not needed.

 

[StageLeft]

Sweet!! A tiny porthole, then

 

[QuixoticOne]

What's more, the AF assist illuminator only works over a distance of a few meters.
If you can't just disable AF assist illumination in S/W (you often can), I'd cover it so that it doesn't confuse itself, though.
Actually usually cameras in LANDSCAPE mode don't try to use it if they're at all smart, on the other hand, locking it into full manual ISO/FSTOP/Shutter Speed/Resolution/No-Flash/Quality is probably best, in which case you'd have to disable AF assist in another menu.